Taking Tadao's implicit advice ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by elx
I understand inertial propulsion, i'm slightly insulted that you assumed I had never previously learned of it. It's not all that fascinating to me either, but that's just because i'm more interested in the universe than physics itself.
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With all due respect, you say you are not interested in physics, only in the universe, but to really understand and study the universe, you first will need to master basic and advanced physics. Classical Mechanics, Electromagnetism, Quantum Mechanics all are precursor courses to Astrophysics. I know that you want what you want, but in order to study effectively you need the foundation first.
Quote:
Originally Posted by elx
also, i do still believe that every action has a reaction and every cause has an effect - so i'd be more than happy to debate that last bit with you.
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My expertise is in Chemical Physics (spectroscopy, lasers and quantum phenomena), and classical mechanics was a basic weakness of mine in college. However, I'm game, if you are willing to keep an open mind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by executioneer
i think getting space elevators to work and making ion propulsion more efficient are more practical goals to work for
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I concur.
Quote:
Originally Posted by executioneer
yeah a space elevator is a elevator to space, its cheaper than launching shuttles all the time (or should be!) + if we get efficient space travel we can like mine the asteroids or soem sh*t plus then people can vacation on mars or something idk
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More than this, we could begin to construct substantive solar arrays in space, then beam the total collected energy back to earth in the form of microwaves. It would take a great deal of additional infrastructure, but the returns are obvious – NO MORE FOSSIL FUELS EVER!
Quote:
Originally Posted by executioneer
inertial drive, why not invent a perpetual motion device while you're at it D:
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For all its established existence and ancient aphorisms (objects at rest tend to remain at rest blah blah blah) inertia is not well-understood at the quantum level. Some feel that the subatomic soup that everything moves through (a.k.a. virtual particles, made popular by R.P. Feynmann) gives rise to inertia. If true, then it may also be true that this soup can be somehow rearranged to make motion not only less difficult, but preferred. This is, I believe, the inherent basis for the idea of “inertial propulsion” (and it's
not perpetual motion!)
Any other ideas?