Huffy Flounce

Isn't this the gravimetric disturbances Data was always going on about in ST:TNG?

Well, we all know Star Trek Changed The World, so I would say yes.

Where's my goddamn warp trousers?

All my trousers are warped.

You know, because of my huge dick.

People are always talking about my huge dick. Every time they see me they always say "There goes that massive cock!"

Same thing with me, but instead people seem to focus on my ass.

It's because you got a... GREAT ASS!!!

I'm so geeked. In April I'm going to a lecture by a physicist on time travel for writers. I'm so sure I'm going to love it, I suspect I've sent myself a message from the future.

In other space-ish news, my offspring just informed me he is considering taking his aerospace degree ... and working on a nuclear submarine. I think he wants to be more hands-on with the cool toys.

That's neat, Negs. I wish your offspring well. Thanks to The Hunt for Red October (the movie, specifically), my ex-stepbrother became obsessed with submarines. He became so obsessed that he joined the Navy and eventually found his way on a sub. I think he put in over a year, all told. It cured him of his obsession.

My ex-stepbrother brought this to my attention:

Confessions Of A U.S. Navy Submarine Officer

It's pretty interesting stuff. He said it echoed his experience almost exactly.

I hope he's not claustrophobic.

The Swollen Goiter of God wrote:That's neat, Negs. I wish your offspring well. Thanks to The Hunt for Red October (the movie, specifically), my ex-stepbrother became obsessed with submarines. He became so obsessed that he joined the Navy and eventually found his way on a sub. I think he put in over a year, all told. It cured him of his obsession.

My ex-stepbrother brought this to my attention:

Confessions Of A U.S. Navy Submarine Officer

It's pretty interesting stuff. He said it echoed his experience almost exactly.

Funny, that movie was a staple in our house, too. We'll see what happens, he's doing the tour but continuing his aero job search, too. Thanks for the link.

Serious science question. Watching ' The Martian' and also thinking about 'Interstellar'. Where they show a space ship with that big rotating hub with accommodation around the outside..... would that really generate enough gravity for people to walk around???

I assume that it would work on the basis of centripetal force. Basically, the centripetal force of the rotating ring would be acting on the people standing on the ring, thus simulating gravity. I guess this force would have to equal 9.8 m/s^2 in order to approximate Earth's gravity, but it could also be less than that if the goal is just to create any simulation of gravity at all.

There is a Wikipedia entry on artificial gravity if you're interested in reading about it.

The movies often seem to make the mistake of having the turning radius too small. The Discovery in 2001, for example. Though the space station in that same movie got it right.

Also, you want to ideally have two rotating sections going in opposite directions to cancel out torque. Apparently.

That's what I meant - something that looks, max, about 30m across in a lot of movies. I thought that was too small. And to counter rotate two huge sections of space station in opposite directions - what kind of power does that need?!?!

Probably not much, really. I think Interstellar nailed that part of it--small thrusters to get it moving, then let inertia do the rest. But with a small radius you get Coriolis forces, headaches, dizziness and disorientation. There was some talk of sending two vehicles on long space trips and having them tethered to each other, turning end-for-end to simulate gravity.

Some of the original concept art for the Nostromo from Alien was supposed to be an end-for-end type rotating spaceship:

Cool!!!! Certainly beats magnetic boots!!

But those boots were made for walkin.

Even in a zero G situation!

This is big...... right?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-36540254

How could it possibly be big? They didn't give us a vague notice two weeks beforehand that they would be making a major announcement. They always do that before they make a major announcement.

Space time ripples. Maybe they did but we haven't heard it yet!

Eddies in the space time continuum.

Modern fighter pilots!