261–270 of 309 posts
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Are there any forces in effect as it gets closer and swings around the sun that might cause it to separate from the comet if there is no further attachment by then?
Absolutely! If its attached, its via surface ice. That ice will all melt on close approach to the sun. At some point the probe will drift away.
Absolutely stunning feat of engineering. My bosses are on the drill team for Philae and were amongst the nervy faces being beamed all over the world. Great example of what European nations can do when politics don't get in the way. ExoMars [1] and Bepi-Colombo [2] are perfect examples of the inverse. Look forward to the first pictures from the surface. I'm at the Division on Planetary Sciences (DPS) meeting [3] in Tu…
I have to say this is Science Awesomeness at it's best, and I'm bothered by the lack of media coverage. Perhaps if all of us posted and retweeted we could get some motion on this?
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Few people agree that taxation is the same as theft. You appear to be someone who does have this view. That is fine but it is not a commonly held belief and generally is subject to derision and down voting. This should not come as a shock to you. A very large percentage of people believe that having a functioning government is necessary and taxation is a necessary component for this. There are no examples of large po…
Taxation might not fit the strict definition of theft (easy when the gov creates its own jargon), but it is the threat of force to take property from someone against their will. I mean, how many of us are giving money directly to the gov by our own volition? I don't know of anyone. We were born into this system and we never agreed to it. Let's at least be honest about that. > There are no examples of large population…
I do. I also make it a point not to seek out ways to decrease the taxes I'm obligated to pay.
I'd probably donate directly to some governmental agencies if I knew of such a mechanism.
There. Now you know someone who does.
Congratulations Europe. But why don't we hear people saying that the EU should focus on their poverty first and would be better off putting this money into getting the Greece, Spain, and Italy economies in order?
I'm reminded of http://xkcd.com/1232/ (Edit: Not intended to be snarky; I just think people do ask those questions all the time, and this xkcd answers it well.)
IMHO, It is quite simply a travesty that there is still so much absolute poverty and deaths (through malnutrition easily curable and/or preventable diseases) in the third world. Many of these problems were solved in the early 20th century- It is a lack of political will of governments and the collective apathy of its citizens, who are engrossed in their own first-world problems. To answer the xkcd comic: Yes. 15 years should be enough to at least halve world-wide deaths due to hunger and diseases like Malaria and Cholera, If the citizens of the first world make it a voter issue. Such endeavours will pay themselves multiple times over. (increased human output, new trading markets for companies, reduced population growth) And you don't need to sacrifice funding for scientific research to do it(coughs military budgets).
ITT downvoting to invisibility because you disagree with someone honestly held and cogently expressed opinions. Silencing diverse opinions is quite possibly the worst facet of HN.
Libertarian world philosophy is totally bunk (if that's what you were referring to). I down vote most of that because it's generally ridiculous.
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You're kidding right - this would have lowered my taxes by about 20 cents a year, or 3E50 total. Careful not to spend it all at once. So much for lowering taxes. Simply put, Rosetta's budget was about 70m Euros per year over 20 years. That's like funding maybe two schools, or one hospital ward, spread over the whole EU. None of these enrich humanity as much as Rosetta is. As for employment, well, the project is creat…
>That's like funding maybe two schools, or one hospital ward, spread over the whole EU. None of these enrich humanity as much as Rosetta is. Really? You're basically saying you'd prefer a robot on a comet over thousands of healthy and educated peers. Who are you to decide this?
Absolutely stunning feat of engineering. My bosses are on the drill team for Philae and were amongst the nervy faces being beamed all over the world. Great example of what European nations can do when politics don't get in the way. ExoMars [1] and Bepi-Colombo [2] are perfect examples of the inverse. Look forward to the first pictures from the surface. I'm at the Division on Planetary Sciences (DPS) meeting [3] in Tu…
At the risk of turning political, it's a great example of how our taxes are wasted. Playing with space toys shouldn't be funded with taxpayer money. I'm sure I'll get downvoted to hell for this, but why should my money be funding this? Sorry, but it has no benefit whatsoever. edit: Instead of downvoting a dissenting voice, why not argue your case - why should taxpayers fund space toys? edit2: Well, looks like I'm ban…
Absolutely stunning feat of engineering. My bosses are on the drill team for Philae and were amongst the nervy faces being beamed all over the world. Great example of what European nations can do when politics don't get in the way. ExoMars [1] and Bepi-Colombo [2] are perfect examples of the inverse. Look forward to the first pictures from the surface. I'm at the Division on Planetary Sciences (DPS) meeting [3] in Tu…
I have to say this is Science Awesomeness at it's best, and I'm bothered by the lack of media coverage. Perhaps if all of us posted and retweeted we could get some motion on this?
Absolutely stunning feat of engineering. My bosses are on the drill team for Philae and were amongst the nervy faces being beamed all over the world. Great example of what European nations can do when politics don't get in the way. ExoMars [1] and Bepi-Colombo [2] are perfect examples of the inverse. Look forward to the first pictures from the surface. I'm at the Division on Planetary Sciences (DPS) meeting [3] in Tu…
I agree, stunning stunning bit of science and engineering. Everybody involved in this should be beaming with joy. Once again the light of reason continues to chase away humanity's ancestral boogiemen.
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Could you speak more on the "everyday impact" about this landing? I'm trying to understand why this was worth the billion euros. It's seriously cool but that's all anybody seems to be saying. How does this really affect us?
Let's say a comet is going to impact Earth in a few decades. One proposal among many [0] to divert a comet is to aim a laser at it for a few years, long enough for the outgassing from the laser spot to push the comet onto an orbit that misses the Earth. If you were designing a mission like that, wouldn't you want to have first-hand knowledge about the comet's surface? This is also a baby step. We now feel more confid…
Going to space for science (or beating the Russians) is one thing, going there for profit is a completely different matter and will attract heavy investors.