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Engineer Thinks We Could Build a Real Starship Enterprise In 20 Years 589

Posted by Soulskill
from the to-boldly-go dept.
Nancy_A writes "An engineer has proposed — and outlined in meticulous detail — building a full-sized, ion-powered version of the starship Enterprise. The ship would be based on current technology, and would take about 20 years to construct, at a cost of roughly $1 trillion. 'We have the technological reach to build the first generation of the spaceship known as the USS Enterprise – so let's do it,' writes the curator of the Build The Enterprise website, who goes by the name of BTE-Dan."

Comment: Re:Quarters (Score 1) 89

by Jonny_eh (#39156151) Attached to: Inventor of the Modern Pinball Machine Dies At 100
The pinball heyday was the same as the arcade heyday! Remember The Addams Family pinball? It came out in 92, and was the best selling pinball machine of all time. The 90's was fantastic for pinball! All the best machines (IMHO) are from that era. Unfortunately, as arcades got less popular, so did pinball. As time got tough for arcades, pinball unfortunately was the first to go since they were so expensive and difficult to maintain.

Comment: Re:R.I.P., Mr. Kordek. (Score 2) 89

by Jonny_eh (#39156127) Attached to: Inventor of the Modern Pinball Machine Dies At 100
Small correction: As you stated, he didn't invent pinball (he wasn't THAT old), but he also didn't invent the flippers. What he did was put the two flippers at the bottom of the machine, and crank up the juice, so the ball can be flipped across the playfield to the top. Sounds insignificant, but it turned pinball from a pachinko style gambling device into a legitimate competitive game of skill.

To understand a program you must become both the machine and the program.