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Comment Re:Well...let's run some numbers. (Score 3, Insightful) 49

I see the real value as being able to design earth orbit satellites that have a longer operational life given that running out of propellant to boost orbits seems to be a leading cause of satellites reaching their end of life.

Other use cases may be more niche, but having new options is always a good thing.

Comment Re:wow, clever. (Score 1) 49

As they point out the energy doesn't matter, it is there for free from the solar panels, so good for decades. The real problem is time, as you say small forces, so maneuvers are they going to take a while to complete. For unmanned operations that is ok, but put some astronauts on board and its not going to be viable.

By comparison a photon rocket needs an energy source that implies a finite operation limit. Using solar panels to source the photons would effectively just be a complicated and less efficient solar sail.

Comment Re:wow, clever. (Score 1) 49

From the last paragraph it says "It gives you acceleration without fuel" and "could, in the future, propel spacecraft on missions to the moon and Mars using only solar power". From that I would assume it has the potential to boost it's orbit to counter any orbital decay, and therefor stay in orbit indefinitely. With suitable quality parts and construction I would assume it could be decades.

Comment Re:Languages or intelligence? (Score 1) 100

To both yours and swillden's point I think the key is effort you put into thinking. Being young make learning languages easier and living in a multilingual environment make learning a second language easier, but the real advantage for those people is they had to put in more brain effort using language, and continue to do so over their whole life. For them it is normal to use more effort, so don't really realise they are thinking harder.

The flip side of this is people who retire and turn off their brain by spending the whole day sitting in a chair and watch Fox news. That can't be good for your brain's aging.

Comment Re:Languages or intelligence? (Score 1) 100

From trying to learn a couple of languages, Russian and now Japanese, there are two distinct areas of challenge, vocabulary and grammar. As a programmer I have found the grammar part not too bad but the vocabulary a real challenge. I think the ability to learn grammar doesn't change much with age but young brains have a massive advantage in learning vocabulary. Learning Kanji characters is also the same class of difficult as learning vocabulary.

Comment Re:ok (Score 1) 100

Maybe, do you find them difficult or easy to learn? I find them generally easy to learn because they have a small vocabulary and, usually, a logical structure. So if you are like me they probably don't count.

I started leaning spoken language, currently Japanese, because it is mentally challenging. My father died of dementia. He was intelligent person during his working life, but when he retired he no longer had any challenges to deal with and this was probably a factor in his decline. It was depressing to watch the progress and I realised he was not much older than me when it started. They say, and this study backs up, that you can slow the effects of brain aging and likelihood of dementia by making your brain do tasks it finds challenging. I knew from earlier learning some Russian that I suck at spoken languages. In looking for a mental challenge I knew writing code would not be the way to go as I find it reasonably easy. So I started learning Japanese. Six years later and I still suck at it, such slow progress shows it is challenging for me. I guess the next decade will show if it has been worth the effort, so far it just makes anime more interesting to watch and travel to Japan more enjoyable.

Comment Re:Crap tools (Score 1) 242

Sorry, yes I mean Internet Explorer and Edge, I don't use Windows so not in the habit of being specific about it's software names. Not sure what Chinese cameras you have tried to set up but the bulk of them when you try and use http or https set up it will direct you to download and install a windows exe which goes through the normal Window install process of demands. For example with Firefox on Linux you will see messages like:

- "Please click here to download and install VideoPlay Tool"
- "The plugin is not installed or the version needs to be updated, please click Here to download and install. Before installation, please close your browser."
- "Please click here to download and install the plug-in"

Once you get the settings correct they are usually quite usable thru their RTSP and ONVIF ports.

Comment Re:We need them, but (Score 1) 250

I generally sequence high load usage to keep it down to 10kW max. My issue is the grid connection is about 0.6 Ohms so depending on the street voltage if I try to push to much power the house voltage rise is more than I like. I have the inverters set to derate at 255V. I have a bitcoin rig I got cheap to use as a load, but it is not plug and play, so I have some research to do before I use it.

Comment Re:We need them, but (Score 1) 250

I agree carbon capture and sequestration is important but I haven't seen anything that looks good at scale yet. When there is a decent solution it would be ideal at times of surplus generation when power is otherwise unable to be used. At the small scale I have an issue where in summer my solar surplus is more that my rural grid connection can handle so when my hot water is heated and the house and car are charged I end up with the solar inverters derating. I have not found a good use for such surplus power yet, but carbon capture would be ideal.

Comment Re:We need them, but (Score 1) 250

Actually I see decline in the USA as sad. I used to enjoy traveling there and didn't care about your internal politics. How you deal with internal issues like illegal immigration etc was your choice, it didn't affect us so we left you to do things your own way.

The problem was trump made the USA's problems the world's problem. And we have not ignored them. We know that the USA is no longer a stable ally or trading partner. So we are refocusing trade to new agreements with other countries. We buy weapon systems from other countries and strengthen our relationships with them.

I realise from the inside looking out many Americans think they have the same power and/or influence they did before but try actually talking with pretty much anyone outside the USA and you will get a different answer. Maybe you are confusing hard power with soft power?

Comment Re:We need them, but (Score 1) 250

Well, I generally agree here. There will be a crash, but it is the late to the party investors that are going hurt from a crash. For the established big players it will be a simple blip in their plans.

Your comparison with the dot-com bubble bursting is pretty much how I see it playing out. A lot of people will lose a lot of money but demand for AI will be largely unaffected.

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