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Starbase, LA

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Re: Starbase, LA

#471

Post by testing22321 »

jrflowers wrote: post #451
testing22321 wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want to be clear: I don’t care about Musk as a person. I care about facts. I care about achievements. Just the same as saying Israel is committing genocide is not antisemitism, saying Musk has achieved incredible things is not caring about or supporting him. Both cases are simply stating facts without any judgement or show of support/not support.

It is factually true that Elon Musk has a reputation for saying things will happen that do not end up happening. Picking out some things that you like about him and posting them while excluding the dozens of publicly documented examples of him either lying or ( very charitably) being so “hopeful” that he’s disconnected from reality is indistinguishable from volunteering support. If your Tesla (made by a company he to…

As both you and I said, Elon talks big and has failed to deliver on a ton of things

That does not mean he has achieved nothing incredible.

If John Carmack or Tim Cook or Henry Ford said they were going to make cheap, reliable fusion reactors in every home but never did, they would still be the legends they are for the things they did do successfully. The things they didn’t do don’t change what they did.

The two are unrelated, infact.

Re: Starbase, LA

#472

Post by remarkEon »

sockaddr wrote: post #74

Elon-types won't "dig us out" of our mess. Removing parasitic elements in government spending and policy will. This starts with politics. We first need a healthy, educated, engaged, and safe population. All else follows. These are all things Elon actively works against. You aren't part of his future.

All true but the kind of alignment problem you're talking about is only possible when the core of a society is directed at inspiring, bold, massive projects. There's not much on offer as an alternative to Muskism. It's worth remembering how insane everyone thought he was for claiming you could land the rocket upright and reuse it. And even more so, that you could catch one with chopsticks.

Re: Starbase, LA

#473

Post by phlakaton »

zamadatix wrote: post #431
phlakaton wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you mean the Gulf of Mexico. It's poor form to let a crybaby bully have his way.

I'm not a fan of the guy myself but is this really the way we want to debate things here?

There's no debate. There never was. There is only concession to the diktat or resistance.

Re: Starbase, LA

#474

Post by testing22321 »

jjulius wrote: post #170
testing22321 wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These comments are so strange, because you’re demonstrating how far your head is in the sand, willfully. Of course Musk talks big. He is almost always late. Lots of things have never happened, or have not yet worked (but they’re still trying) At the same time he has monumental successes that nobody, ever, has achieved. Worlds safest car (multiple times) worlds highest selling car (model y), car of the year, massive f…

>At the same time he has monumental successes that nobody, ever, has achieved. "Nobody ever" doesn't really feel accurate here. >Worlds safest car (multiple times)... According to which body? Tesla's interpretation of NHTSA data? Some other organization? Did other cars prior to Tesla's inception obtain this title "multiple times"? >... worlds highest selling car (model y)... In 2023, the Y peaked at ~1.22 million. In…

> ”Nobody ever" doesn't really feel accurate here

Please provide a list of all the companies that have reused a first stage booster many times.

And all the companies that have launched more to orbit in a year than everyone else combined.

> According to which body? Tesla's interpretation of NHTSA data? Some other organization? Did other cars prior to Tesla's inception obtain this title "multiple times"?

August 2013 (Model S): Tesla announced that the Model S achieved a 5.4-star rating from the NHTSA, noting it was the highest score ever recorded at the time.

February 2017 (Model X): The NHTSA gave the Model X a 5-star rating in every category, making it the first SUV with the lowest probability of injury.

August 2018 (Model 3): Tesla published data showing the Model 3 had the lowest probability of injury of any car tested by the NHTSA.

September 2022 (Model Y): The Model Y earned record-breaking safety scores during European testing, achieving the highest overall safety score recorded by Euro NCAP at that time.

December 2024 / 2025 (Model Y & Model 3): The IIHS awarded the Model Y a Top Safety Pick+ designation, while Euro NCAP named both the Model 3 and Model Y as "Best-in-Class" safety winners.

January 2026 (Global NCAP Wins): Euro NCAP and ANCAP crowned the Model 3 as the safest Large Family Car and the Model Y as the safest Small SUV under updated protocols.

> * In 2023, the Y peaked at ~1.22 million. In 1923, the Model T sold ~2.09 million.*

Safe to say the model T had a lot less competition in 1923 than the Y does now. Clearly it’s a bigger achievement now.

> Numerous bodies label things "car of the year", and many cars were named that before and after Teslas were produced.

Tesla were the first electric car to win coty and be highly praised as having a chance to make EVs mainstream. I don’t know how old you are and if you remember, the Model S was nothing like we had seen before (I’m an automotive journalist, FWIW)

Never owned a Tesla.

No horse in the race.

Re: Starbase, LA

#475

Post by edg5000 »

Brybry wrote: post #424
jackhalford wrote: post #418

> In Vermilion Parish, the shoreline is eroding between 3.3 and 23 feet per year What does this mean, how can a shoreline erode

Grade school level Louisiana info (probably somewhat wrong): It's generally brackish marsh/swamp land. Basically think silt/dirt with a bunch of plants evolved for this specific environment. Then you take a bunch of humans and you cut down all the really old cypress trees for lumber. To facilitate that process you cut channels through all the plants that are in the way so you can ship that lumber via new unobstructed…

In the Netherlands we rely on beach grass, a type of grass that can root well in loose sand, to keep dunes together. This forms the main sea barrier. The grass has historically been replanted at least partially to maintain the protection. This spans back at least a few hundred years I believe.

It's interesting that Lousisana works so differently. I always kind of assumed that dunes would always be needed to keep the sea out in low lying areas, but that's not the case at all.

Re: Starbase, LA

#476

Post by remarkEon »

nrr wrote: post #417
WalterBright wrote: post #394

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Asking for evidence is not "willfully ignorant". People making claims have the onus of backing them up. Anyhow, the link to the canceled projects is: https://airtable.com/appGKlSVeXniQZkFC/shrFxbl1YTqb3AyOO?jnt... I looked at maybe a dozen at random, and only one seemed to have anything about scientific research. Of course, that is not a complete survey, but none of them looked important. I'm sure there are a few tha…

I might be biased, but everything under the Division of Mathematical Sciences in the MPS directorate is important. Math is one of those weird fields that tends to touch everything else even if not directly, and it's impossible to know prima facie which areas of research will be useful downstream to the sciences and engineering.

Most of the important maths research is funded by the Department of War. NSF is a good chunk, I'd have to look it up, but I wouldn't be concerned about this at all. Math is important for the war planners, always has been always will be.

Re: Starbase, LA

#477

Post by kulahan »

thrance wrote: post #438
kulahan wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's take the two pieces you put out there and just look at logical conclusions., because it's kinda hilarious to imagine you actually hold this actually-insane position. 1. Everything is political 2. Talking about something without mentioning political and human implications is "pointlessly incomplete" Topic: "Anyone wanna go swimming?" Normal people: "Sure." You, apparently: "Are you aware of how water is unequall…

Nice strawman.

Nope, just showing how ridiculous it is to hold the position that everything is political. It's okay to just talk about things casually, dude. Chill out, it'll serve you well.

If your position isn't that everything is political, don't say it is. If it is your position, this is perfectly in line with what you stated.

Re: Starbase, LA

#478

Post by sockaddr »

jvwww wrote: post #359
dgellow wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It takes someone naive and optimistic enough to try something different. You mean Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, right?

Tesla would be nothing without Musk. That doesn't take away from Eberhard and Tarpenning; they started the company after all and are great engineers. But it would be nothing without Musk.

And it would be nothing without Eberhard and Tarpenning

Re: Starbase, LA

#479

Post by zamadatix »

phlakaton wrote: post #473
zamadatix wrote: post #431

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not a fan of the guy myself but is this really the way we want to debate things here?

There's no debate. There never was. There is only concession to the diktat or resistance.

Debate used to be the staunchest form of resistance. This last decade, racing to call the opposition a crybaby and declare it activism seems to be more in vogue.

Re: Starbase, LA

#480

Post by WalterBright »

wyre wrote: post #464
WalterBright wrote: post #442

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Free markets mean the only way to make money legally is to provide a product or service that other people want to buy. And people want to be healthy, educated, engaged and safe. In other words, it takes advantage of the inherently selfish nature of people to make others better off. > obesity is at all time highs Obesity is a choice. I know people won't like me writing that. I know it is very hard to lose weight. It's…

Body weight is controllable, but is not the same thing as obesity, but scientific evidence does not suggest obesity is voluntary, but I'm not trying to talk about obesity. I was just merely using it as a proxy for societal health, because I hope you can agree that obesity is not healthy. > The government is the primary institution that provides education I thought there was a large section of free market libertarians…

> The middle class became the dominant class post-WWII.

I've heard that before, and it's simply not true. Pre-revolutionary colonial America had a thriving middle class.

Consider this. A couple of decades ago, a sunken Missisouppi river steamboat was found in the mud. It had foundered before the Civil War, I don't recall the date. And so it was dug out, and researchers went over its cargo.

They were shocked to find out what the cargo was.

It was everything needed for a general store. Pots, pans, jars, knives, forks, shoes, clothing, preserved meats and candies, tools, etc. Nothing in it was for rich people, it was all meant for the middle class. And it was packed to the gills with that cargo.

If you like, look at paintings and photographs of towns in the 1800s. Do you see a couple mansions, and a bunch of shacks? Nope. You see middle class homes, general stores, all signs of a prosperous middle class.

> all more effective when provided by the government

Government providing that has a pretty sorry history.

> due to the price of those assets going up

The price of the asset is a function of its ability to create value.

Do me a favor and point to an American history book that informed your point of view. But fair is fair, I submit:

https://www.amazon.com/ALASTAIR-COOKES-AMERICA-Alastair-Cook...

Read it and tell me that the US consisted of overlords and serfs. Yes, I know about the slave South, which was an overlord/serf economy.

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