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Comment Re:Short answers, more like guidelines (Score 1) 103

Parent was correct: same delta-v for differing masses. However, since delta-v is nothing more sophisticated than good ol' acceleration (Force x Mass), you do need more force for a greater mass to reach a given delta-v.

My question was along the lines of inducing acceleration in very low mass particles using the principles seen in a Crookes radiometer. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crookes_radiometer Possible?

Comment Questions questions questions (Score 4, Interesting) 103

For the sake of discussion, let's assume this report showed a problem orders of magnitude worse, and we were on the verge of Kessler syndrome conditions. What technologies exist today to combat the problem? (Yes, I know, no government today would unilaterally scrub space without a quid pro quo...)

If there are 19,000 trackable chunks of debris, how many untrackable (and just as deadly) small particles are there? I know that particle densities are minute. If we launched an array of satellites with Aerogel paneling, is it reasonable to expect a significant improvement in "air" quality up there?

What about that heat-ray device recently pulled our of Afghanistan? Can we launch one of those to spray microwaves tangentially to the Earth's surface? Would the heat applied to a paint-chip sized debris particle be enough to change the orbit? It doesn't take too much delta-v to alter the eccentricity of a paint fleck enough to burn up in orbit, does it?

(Less coffee, more sleep next time, methinks)

Comment Red light Cameras != Speed Cameras (Score 1) 567

I live in Phoenix, AZ where speed cameras were recently deactivated after two years of controversy. The same vendor, Redflex, was snapping pictures if you were driving 11+ mph over the limit.

However, Tempe and Scottsdale still have red-light cameras. I have no issue with red-light cameras, so long as common sense is used when reviewing tickets. TFA:

Although most were still violations of state law, they were considered very close calls or were due to such reasons as vehicles stopping a short distance over the stop bar that did not pose a traffic hazard, vehicles moving out of the way of an emergency vehicle, plates that were unidentifiable and weather related issues.

Speeders going 11-over when the rest of traffic drives 8-over aren't a public safety risk; red-light runners coming perpendicular to broadside traffic and kids in crosswalks are.

Sounds like a sudden outbreak of common sense. Ticket those red-light runners. I paid my ticket for getting there after the yellow; fair and square.

Google

Submission + - Google Voice Offering Invites

kevind23 writes: "I checked my email this evening to find that Google Voice, which has caught the attention of Slashdot several times, is now offering free registrations on an invite-only basis. Unfortunately, unlike Gmail, current users cannot send invitations to their friends (or other interested parties). Google Voice is currently available in the United States, with free domestic calling and SMS, as well as cheap international rates."

Comment Re:I beg to differ (Score 1) 81

I seem to remember a recent article describing the smell of space (http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/crew/exp6/spacechronicles4.html). The senses are completely bombarded with input which our brain ignores, for example the feel of your tongue on your teeth right now, or the weight of your shirt. Remove the background input, and the brain will interpret what is left and reported.

If space can have a smell, it can most certainly have a taste. It just might not be raspberry-flavored in our neck of the Milky Way.

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