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Google Pays for Drones To Bust African Rhino Poachers

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Re: Google Pays for Drones To Bust African Rhino Poachers

#31

Post by htf »

podperson wrote: post #25
pmorici wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The government isn't exactly known for procuring things at an economical price or designing for efficiency. I mean just look at the cost difference between a space shuttle launch vs SpaceX.

SpaceX's 2010 technology sure kicks NASA's 1975 technology's butt. Look, I love Elon Musk and SpaceX as much as the next guy but probably most of the cost advantage has to do with improved technology (especially materials science).

But then one has to wonder why NASA's technology has not improved during the 37 years that came after 1975 despite a budget of over 10 billion dollars a year.

Re: Google Pays for Drones To Bust African Rhino Poachers

#32

Post by sliverstorm »

htf wrote: post #31
podperson wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SpaceX's 2010 technology sure kicks NASA's 1975 technology's butt. Look, I love Elon Musk and SpaceX as much as the next guy but probably most of the cost advantage has to do with improved technology (especially materials science).

But then one has to wonder why NASA's technology has not improved during the 37 years that came after 1975 despite a budget of over 10 billion dollars a year.

NASA does not get 10 billion a year just to explore the moon. They had and have other priorities. Why would they develop a new-and-improved shuttle when space exploration was basically canceled?

Re: Google Pays for Drones To Bust African Rhino Poachers

#33

Post by sliverstorm »

tedunangst wrote: post #30
denom wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are you advocating here? This is a very disturbing statement.

Everybody is equal, except the people we don't like.

Yeah, it sure is an affront to the basics of civilized society when violent criminals are prosecuted. I mean, what justification is there aside from "we don't like them"?

Re: Google Pays for Drones To Bust African Rhino Poachers

#35

Post by ekianjo »

htf wrote: post #31
podperson wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SpaceX's 2010 technology sure kicks NASA's 1975 technology's butt. Look, I love Elon Musk and SpaceX as much as the next guy but probably most of the cost advantage has to do with improved technology (especially materials science).

But then one has to wonder why NASA's technology has not improved during the 37 years that came after 1975 despite a budget of over 10 billion dollars a year.

Because NASA has no incentive to become more efficient. When you are a national organization the incentive is to keep your budget as high as possible and spend as much as you can to prove that you need the money, every year. That is precisely why such businesses are ripe for disruption, because they were never built for achieving a lot while spending less. If we ever see Space Tourism develop, it will not be through NASA operations, that is for sure.

Re: Google Pays for Drones To Bust African Rhino Poachers

#37

Post by philwelch »

pmorici wrote: post #23
guelo wrote: post #14

The USAF's and CIA's use of drones in the Middle East has sparked the imagination across all kinds of projects such as this one. But the reality is that military-style drones that can stay aloft for days are extremely expensive to purchase and to operate. The well-known Predator drone, for example, costs $4 million per airplane, and it requires a classified global satellite network, an uplink station manned with thre…

The government isn't exactly known for procuring things at an economical price or designing for efficiency. I mean just look at the cost difference between a space shuttle launch vs SpaceX.

Well yeah, NASA is a research agency and SpaceX is a company trying to commercialize space technology. That's like saying the Human Genome Project cost billions of dollars but you can get your genome sequenced for $99 from 23andMe, so obviously the Human Genome Project was a waste of money.

Re: Google Pays for Drones To Bust African Rhino Poachers

#38

Post by philwelch »

ekianjo wrote: post #35
htf wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But then one has to wonder why NASA's technology has not improved during the 37 years that came after 1975 despite a budget of over 10 billion dollars a year.

Because NASA has no incentive to become more efficient. When you are a national organization the incentive is to keep your budget as high as possible and spend as much as you can to prove that you need the money, every year. That is precisely why such businesses are ripe for disruption, because they were never built for achieving a lot while spending less. If we ever see Space Tourism develop, it will not be through…

NASA's mission is not to efficiently commercialize space technology. That's the sort of thing best left to the private sector.

Re: Google Pays for Drones To Bust African Rhino Poachers

#39

Post by mtgx »

podperson wrote: post #25
pmorici wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The government isn't exactly known for procuring things at an economical price or designing for efficiency. I mean just look at the cost difference between a space shuttle launch vs SpaceX.

SpaceX's 2010 technology sure kicks NASA's 1975 technology's butt. Look, I love Elon Musk and SpaceX as much as the next guy but probably most of the cost advantage has to do with improved technology (especially materials science).

That doesn't explain why other companies still have much more expensive rockets, though. As far as I know, SpaceX has the cheapest ones by far.

Re: Google Pays for Drones To Bust African Rhino Poachers

#40

Post by knowledgesale »

philwelch wrote: post #37
pmorici wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The government isn't exactly known for procuring things at an economical price or designing for efficiency. I mean just look at the cost difference between a space shuttle launch vs SpaceX.

Well yeah, NASA is a research agency and SpaceX is a company trying to commercialize space technology. That's like saying the Human Genome Project cost billions of dollars but you can get your genome sequenced for $99 from 23andMe, so obviously the Human Genome Project was a waste of money.

You have no clue what you are talking about.

Human Genome project is an example of complete DNA sequencing while 23andMe only tests for specific variations at specific loci. 23andMe and similar companies use commercially available solutions like DNA microarrays [1] with probes preprogrammed [2] for specific target variations and they cannot "read" arbitrary DNAs.

[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_microarray

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybridization_probe

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