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Comment Re:So Painfully Frustrating (Score 1) 226

I agree, the government needs to get out of the supporting-people-just-because-they're-people business. If we weren't supporting multiple generations on welfare and Medicaid, we'd have plenty of money for robotic explorations, scientific research, education, infrastructure maintenance, etc, all things which bring a return on investment.

Comment Re:Classic! (Score 1) 990

As an owner of CFLs, they take upwards of a minute to achieve full brightness. Second, the vast majority of homes are filled with products designed to be appealing in incandescent light (color schemes, paints, fabrics, etc). My wife truly hates the CFLs and the way they make the interior of the house look. The only place she's authorized their use is above the kitchen island. If LEDs can successfully imitate incandescent light, I might be able to get those installed.

Comment Re:"Get your ass to Mars" todo list for next 20 ye (Score 1) 271

You're missing the Russians. The Russians will not allow SpaceX to undercut their pricing agreement with NASA. They also "own" the ISS and are refusing (read: until Musk pays them LOTS of $$ in bribes) to allow the Dragon capsule to dock with the ISS until they are certain (read: not until they milk SpaceX for every Ruble possible) the capsule is "safe".

Comment Re:Why optical over single-copper? (Score 2) 144

The real problem when installing this will be the LOSS of weight...specifically, the center of gravity for every single airframe will now have to be recomputed, and they will find that most of the wire is in the forward fuselage area (where most avionics are located). This means lead weights will have to be added to the forward section to balance out the loss of weight. I know, because I've already had to do it. We had a test F-111 in the early 90's configured with fiber optics. The conversion saved 650lbs of weight, but we had to add 400lbs of lead weights back in to preserve the CG.

Comment Re:Will it cut down (Score 2) 144

Not sure what you're asking, but each military aircraft has several grounding points that use a standard RCA jack for the aircraft and an alligator clip (OK, a big one) on the other end of the wire that grounds the aircraft to a common ground in the concrete. As for in the air, there are electro-static dischargers on the trailing edges that help dissipate charges that build up, but in the case of a lightning strike, well, just about anything goes...

Comment Re:ah faux news (Score 1) 338

From the citation:

"What is more appalling are the five major media outlets that filed briefs of Amici Curiae- or friend of FOX – to support FOX’s position: Belo Corporation, Cox Television, Inc., Gannett Co., Inc., Media General Operations, Inc., and Post-Newsweek Stations, Inc. These are major media players! Their statement, “The station argued that it simply wanted to ensure that a news story about a scientific controversy regarding a commercial product was present with fairness and balance, and to ensure that it had a sound defense to any potential defamation claim.”

And so you would stop using Belo, Cox, Gannett, Media General, and Post-Newsweek and burn them with fire as well?

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