doesn't matter if they're volunteers...but thanks for confirming for everyone that my first point was accurate, while simultaneously *contributing nothing* to the actual conversation

So, how does the fact that "Arctica" uses volunteers negate the point I made here:

Nothing you said addresses that at all...

They can be volunteers and still douchebags...the point is it's obvious they could do it faster but they dont care

which i feel confirms my theory about Burning Man, as does your last comment

TFA's tech is all an extension of Google Glass in a way

Google's after the defense contractor market now...developing/marketing Glass as a consumer product was an afterthought and mostly for PR, imho

also: I reject your acknowledgement of my feelings

so what were you suggesting then? when you said this:

We already have all the worst sides of authoritarianism, so why not get what few good things there are, too?

you're an idiot

just because some asshats are screening new hire's facebook page doesn't mean we should surrender all privacy rights

really, everything about your post is upside-down...

are you saying that Japan does not pad it's crime rates? Or are you criticizing the source in the particular movie, or using movies as sources no matter what, or...?

just criticizing a source with no context is trolling...

The problem w/ the "women only" conclusion is that it myopically focuses on **ONE** factor as if it is the determining factor in mission success.

Part of this is the fault of NASA admin/beauracracy: "We can't spare the weight" is an excuse for all kinds of ideas NASA wanted to kill...

"Too heavy" is almost a trope in NASA/space circles...it's the go-to way for beauracrats to make their presence known.

As others have pointed out, weight and food requirements are not a determining factor in mission success.

At best, the "weight is everything" mentality is obsolete...IMHO it was never about weight ultimately (of course it matters to mission planning)...it was just a handy excuse.

Also...there is some misplaced feminism here...women have been dismissed from science b/c sexism for centuries, and often the reasons given are something **other than gender**...a beaurecratic answer that belies the real motivation for the decision.

All in all, dumb analysis like in TFA are a legacy of sexism and bad beaurecratic management...it's like the sexism equivalent of what the CIA calls "blowback"

this is why i don't like Burning Man...

1st problem is in bold...see, Burning Man is about overcomplicating and mystifying something to make it have social cachet...****ANYTIME**** you ask a question like this to a Burning Man veteran, you should expect a bullshit answer...somehow it will be bullshit

2nd problem is in italics...the problem is not trusting your own common sense! obviously they are full of shit and just making stuff up to sound like they know what is going on

in other words, the problem lies with the ice truck people ("Arctica")...they are just douchebags...they could try to make it better but they don't care....the problem with this system is that Burning Man as an event encourages this superiority complex mentality

depends on the school!

some schools matter, and some do not....and some that matter are a benefit, and some are a drawback!

if an applicant came from a program that distinguishes itself among others by *requiring all grads to make a capstone project* for example...that could be a point in the applicants favor over others who did not do a capstone

everyone wants a fighting robot league...it's like jetpacks, hover boards, and other stuff featured in sci fi depictions of "the future"

fighting robots are awesome...this is not in dispute...

here are the 3 most salient factors as to when we will have a fighting robots league:

1. technology...especially materials science...we've gotten to the point conceptually that we can model any form of robot, but it's making the materials stand the stress, and batteries to power it...those are our limitations now

2. $$$...fighting robots are expensive...a league needs money

3. competition > PR...they have to be the opposite of MLS or WWE...this has to be done right and not over marketed or over simplified (how it can go wrong: something like the random narrator voice in Mythbusters)

this is your formula for a robot fighting league

just stop it

you admit that China's "space program" is mostly PR (like most of what a totalitarian communist gov't does...) but then somehow make a logical "leap" to just assuming that China will advance beyond the US's capability

see, we went to the moon for many reasons...for science, to hide our development of ICBM's, because Americans are explorers by nature, to make sure the Russians' didn't use space to dominate us, AND...among many other reasons...'public relations'

China has never leapfroged anyone in the modern world except in one area: pollution

i don't think someone orchestrated the need for both parents to work as part of a way to alter the brain structure of a generation...

but there is no denying that people with low impulse control make better consumers...

China is not a modern country...they can barely do PR stunt space exploration

wake me up when these countries don't have masses of people pooping in plastic shopping bags in the streets

again...China's space program is PR not exploration and not a 'threat' in any way shape or form