zurp
Re:De Beers admits defeat over man-made diamonds
on Tuesday May 29, 2018 @10:44PM (#17184624)
"Yeah we sell that cheap-ass lab shit too. But you should really buy the really expensive natural stuff that we've manipulated the price of for decades."
Re:Space catapult startup SpinLaunch comes out of stealth
on Thursday February 22, 2018 @05:53PM (#16442320)
> Two sources say physicists who’ve looked into the company said a potential challenge could be air resistance on the cargo when the catapult fires. Earth’s atmosphere is so dense that it could be like the cargo was hitting a brick wall upon ejection.
Reminds me of the calculation that shows Santa Claus and his reindeer, if they ever existed would have vaporized instantly at the beginning of first Christmas delivery:
...353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance — this will heat the reindeer up in the same fashion as spacecraft reentering Earth’s atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules of energy. Per second. Each. In short, they will burst into flame almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them, and create deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second. Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal forces 17,500 times greater than gravity. A 250-pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force. In conclusion — If Santa ever DID deliver presents on Christmas Eve, he’s dead now.
Re:After 37 years, Voyager has fired up its trajectory thrusters
on Friday December 01, 2017 @06:57PM (#15828906)
This is cool. Thanks.
Re:Old Calculator Web Museum
on Friday December 01, 2017 @02:59PM (#15826826)
I wish they had an emulator for each that would display values visually as close to the original as possible. You could then test them each out to see how the following result is displayed:
16017 * 5
Re:Breaks Observed in Rover Wheel Treads
on Wednesday March 22, 2017 @11:48AM (#13931854)
Darth Bubba: "I find your lack of duct tape disturbing."
Re:How to Clear a Path Through 60 Feet of Snow, Japanese Style
on Friday March 17, 2017 @06:01PM (#13898366)
“I remember when I was in high school there was a lot more snow,” says Tanikawa, who is now 50. “In the morning snow fell and it would fall all day while we were at school. When I came back home there would be 40 to 50 centimeters of snow to clear.”
“My children,” Tanikawa adds, “have not had that experience.”
And he had to walk 10 km uphill both ways to and from school, I'll bet.
Re:Apple applies to patent a paper bag with at least 60% post-consumer...
on Tuesday September 20, 2016 @04:35PM (#12543133)
Sounds like the Apple Package Design department got dinged by corporate for not having enough patents this year.
"Umm, ok guys, what the hell can we write up as patent so we get our bonuses this year?"
Re:Can't sign in to Google calendar on my Samsung refrigerator
on Monday December 14, 2015 @04:03PM (#10733849)
> We're building a shitty internet, not an internet of shitty things
I think we're building a shitty internet of shitty things.