I don't really think people should support bitcoin.

Bitcoins? Supporting your local currency is probably the best option, as it pays for infrastructure and government (unless your government uses the money to oppress you, of course).

There is code that allows you to perform 32-bit emulation on an 8-bit processor, but does it really work? Now we know.

Well, why would you run 32-bit code on an 8-bit processor? Maybe so you don't have to write code on an 8-bit processor - you know those things can't add past 256.. so if you have some code and just want to use it without wrapping your head around everything that tests it's limits you can safely do this now.

Honestly, I don't even know why I'm explaining this on slashdot of all the places.

I think reducing the weight is the main thing here. As an exhibit, one possibility, the new electronics will just need to project Hubble images onto windows - like you're flying around.. and play some space music. And some flashing lights, of course.

Already happened, it was called "I am Legend" (the movie). Will Smith saved us but I think the zombies got him in the end.

Wouldn't the receiver/transmitters of neutrino data with artificially generated neutrinos directed at them make neutrino interactions less rare at said locations? IOW, in nature it is rare for them to interact, but nature is out the window if we are creating artificial sources of them..

if pressure is force per unit area then it sounds like area and pressure are related - the smaller area for the same force will have higher pressure because force divided by a smaller value will continue to increase, right?

Does the study suggest that dropping out causes criminal behavior (or just increases)? Everyone in prison isn't necessarily pathologically anti social or destructive, and even teenagers mellow out eventually.

And I doubt that anyone is "pulling down 300 terabytes a month on a $50 connection". Now, as far as real numbers are concerned - 3GB is a tiny amount of bandwidth that gets smaller every day.

He says he has independently carried out some tests and thus has arrived at a somewhat specific figure which is what you all wanted to know [why he said 23 and not 25,50,75 or even 10,20,30,...] - so whats the problem?

They're not all going to solve it. One of theirs, chosen by the clouds, will fix it - how else can a population of mystics have cellphones to begin with? It was the will of the gods. In the meantime they will probably be denouncing science and technology with text messaging.

Why would I send the asteroids at a lower speed, they would have the same propulsion system as the ship. The ship would probably be a similarly equipped asteroid. The real problem I see is sustaining that rate of acceleration for a sustained period of two years - the asteroid itself would have to somehow be the fuel and the expent fuel couldn't be in the path so it would have to create a tunnel with it's expulsion pattern as opposed to a trail. I am not suggesting going the speed of light which is why I went to the trouble of saying "appreciable fraction of" and you still heckle me over this like by reminding me it is a "limit" as if I want to break the speed of light. Not even what I said. So what is the point of the mass increasing to a factor of 2-7 anyways, of course you and your craft are going to have mass - so explain without being so patronizing what is wrong with that. Or better yet, why don't you use your imagination to propose a solution to travelling 44light years which is the discussion.

Since there is little friction in space what is there from stopping us from reaching an appreciable fraction of the speed of light? I was reading that we might attain lightspeed in about 1 year at 1G acceleration rate which only adds a couple of years to the trip..

I would first launch a volley of asteroids towards the planet to clear a path, then the equipment, and then follow in their wake.

In this case you simply have to carry on without the lens, like when your radio quits working, or you run out of your finite supply of ammunition.

My guess would be - for the experience.