Alert for Frosty - Watch SBS July 13

Discussion in 'The big picture' started by heuristics, Jul 7, 2006.

  1. Douglas J.E. Barnes

    Douglas J.E. Barnes Junior Member

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    What about me for emperor? :wink:

    Well, I appreciate your putting the idea forward. That's what forums are for. Someone can present an interesting idea and others can comment or debate that idea.

    There are a couple of problems here, I think. First, Columbus (though I'm much more impressed with the navigational feats of South Pacific nations) was not travelling into a vacuum that was totally inhospitable to human life - he was merely following where Asians, Vikings and Portugese fishermen (who were smart enough to keep their mouths shut about great fishing spots) had gone before. To cross an ocean is one thing. To cross half the distance of the Earth to the sun to find a planet that would even be remotely possible for colonisation (one that is too cold, with too thin an atmosphere and with too light a gravity) is quite another thing.

    Next, the current world military budget is around $1 trillion USD. To carry out colonisation of Mars would require much, much more than this. And most alarmingly, it would entail the stripping of resources of this planet to gamble on the possibility that another planet might be made habitable. The more sensible and economical approach to take would be to stick with the planet you have and stop ruining it.

    Why bother? We can lead infinitely more enjoyable lives above ground on the planet we have.

    Shielding needn't be worried about - if we stay on Earth. The Earth has a magnetic field that protects us. Just stay here - it's cheaper and safer.

    As for why the ISS wasn't built as a big rotating wheel, it would have been too expensive. The system now is modular and can be expanded, but it's tough to expand a wheel. Also, to be practical, the wheel must be of sufficient radius otherwise your head would notice a significantly different sensation of gravity than your feet. Not a very nice sensation, I'd imagine.

    Interesting thoughts, though.
     
  2. Douglas J.E. Barnes

    Douglas J.E. Barnes Junior Member

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    Interesting stuff. Thanks.
     
  3. Douglas J.E. Barnes

    Douglas J.E. Barnes Junior Member

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    The poem about soldiers reminds me of that Monty Python skit in The Meaning of Life:

    GENERAL: Well, of course, warfare isn't all fun. Right. Stop that! It's all very well to laugh at the Military, but, when one considers the meaning of life, it is a struggle between alternative viewpoints of life itself, and without the ability to defend one's own viewpoint against other perhaps more aggressive ideologies, then reasonableness and moderation could, quite simply, disappear. That is why we'll always need an army, and may God strike me down were it to be otherwise. (God strikes him down).

    SERGEANT: STOP GAWKING!!! HAVE YOU NEVER SEEN THE HAND OF GOD BEFORE?!?!?
     

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