[silk] Space truckin' / Smoke on the water
http://www.physorg.com/news151938445.html Long, Stretchy Carbon Nanotubes Could Make Space Elevators Possible January 23rd, 2009 by Lisa Zyga in Nanotechnology / Materials A space elevator would extend 22,000 miles above the Earth to a station, and then another 40,000 miles to a weighted structure for stability. (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists from Cambridge University have developed a light, flexible, and strong type of carbon nanotube material that may bring space elevators closer to reality. Motivated by a $4 million prize from NASA, the scientists found a way to combine multiple separate nanotubes together to form long strands. Until now, carbon nanotubes have been too brittle to be formed into such long pieces. And a space elevator - if it ever becomes reality - will be quite long. NASA needs about 144,000 miles of nanotube to build one. In theory, a cable would extend 22,000 miles above the Earth to a station, which is the distance at which satellites remain in geostationary orbit. Due to the competing forces of the Earth's gravity and outward centrifugal pull, the elevator station would remain at that distance like a satellite. Then the cable would extend another 40,000 miles into space to a weighted structure for stability. An elevator car would be attached to the nanotube cable and powered into space along the track. NASA and its partner, the Spaceward Foundation, hope that a space elevator could serve as a cost-effective and relatively clean mode of space transportation. NASA's current shuttle fleet is set to retire in 2010, and the organization doesn't have enough funds to replace it until 2014 at the earliest. To fill the gap, NASA is hiring out shuttles to provide transportation to the International Space Station from private companies. So NASA could use a space elevator, the sooner the better. Space elevators could lift material at just one-fifth the cost of a rocket, since most of a rocket's energy is used simply to escape Earth's gravity. Not only could a space elevator offer research expeditions for astronauts, the technology could also expand the possibilities for space tourism and even space colonization. Currently, the Cambridge team can make about 1 gram of the new carbon material per day, which can stretch to 18 miles in length. Alan Windle, professor of materials science at Cambridge, says that industrial-level production would be required to manufacture NASA's request for 144,000 miles of nanotube. Nevertheless, the web-like nanotube material is promising. The key thing is that the process essentially makes carbon into smoke, but because the smoke particles are long thin nanotubes, they entangle and hold hands, Windle said. We are actually making elastic smoke, which we can then wind up into a fiber. Windle and his colleagues presented their results last month at a conference in Luxembourg, which attracted hundreds of attendees from groups such as NASA and the European Space Agency. John Winter of EuroSpaceward, which organized the conference, thought the new material was a significant step. The biggest problem has always been finding a material that is strong enough and lightweight enough to stretch tens of thousands of miles into space, said Winter. This isn't going to happen probably for the next decade at least, but in theory this is now possible. The advances in materials for the tether are very exciting. via: Times Online and Gizmodo © 2009 PhysOrg.com -- ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
Re: [silk] are there other Deepas on this list?
On Tue, Feb 3, 2009 at 5:20 PM, Bonobashi bonoba...@yahoo.co.in wrote: Oh, you LUCKY little mannie, you. Imagine my dismal plight as I plough through the mail addressed to the 637 other bonobashis on the list; we might as well be a little tribe by ourselves. 637!! Wood-dweller...I did read about the success of the cloning program, but didn't quite realize.! :) Deepa.
Re: [silk] Space truckin' / Smoke on the water
On Tue, Feb 03, 2009 at 01:44:22PM +0530, Udhay Shankar N wrote: http://www.physorg.com/news151938445.html On the Moon, aramide would do. Long, Stretchy Carbon Nanotubes Could Make Space Elevators Possible January 23rd, 2009 by Lisa Zyga in Nanotechnology / Materials -- Eugen* Leitl a href=http://leitl.org;leitl/a http://leitl.org __ ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820 http://www.ativel.com http://postbiota.org 8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A 7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE
Re: [silk] Unskilled and unaware
Alok G. Singh alephn...@hcoop.net wrote: From today's Miscellanea [1]: Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments [2] Please stop kicking where it hurts most. Thank you. ;-)
[silk] Unskilled and unaware
From today's Miscellanea [1]: Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments [2] Abstract: People tend to hold overly favorable views of their abilities in many social and intellectual domains. The authors suggest that this overestimation occurs, in part, because people who are unskilled in these domains suffer a dual burden: Not only do these people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it. Across 4 studies, the authors found that participants scoring in the bottom quartile on tests of humor, grammar, and logic grossly overestimated their test performance and ability. Although their test scores put them in the 12th percentile, they estimated themselves to be in the 62nd. Several analyses linked this miscalibration to deficits in metacognitive skill, or the capacity to distinguish accuracy from error. Paradoxically, improving the skills of participants, and thus increasing their metacognitive competence, helped them recognize the limitations of their abilities. I'm surprised no one has forwarded this to me already with a snarky comment ... Footnotes: [1] http://miscellanea.wellingtongrey.net/ [2] http://www.apa.org/journals/features/psp7761121.pdf -- Alok An idea is not responsible for the people who believe in it.
Re: [silk] are there other Deepas on this list?
--- On Tue, 3/2/09, Anil Kumar anilkumar.naga...@gmail.com wrote: From: Anil Kumar anilkumar.naga...@gmail.com Subject: [silk] are there other Deepas on this list? To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Date: Tuesday, 3 February, 2009, 8:18 AM On Mon, 2 Feb 2009 10:16:08 +0530, Deepa Mohan mohande...@gmail.com wrote: On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 2:06 AM, Andre Uratsuka Manoel an...@insite.com.brwrote: Hello all, First, let me introduce myself. My name is Andre Uratsuka Manoel and I am a Japanese-Portuguese-Spanish Brazilian from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Hi Andrewelcome to this list! There are plenty of us who don't post anything interesting or insightful, too. Not to mention the no-post-lurkers in their dozens. Cheers, Deepa Mohan. (are there other Deepas on this list? I have found namesakes almost every other list I belong to.) Cheers, Deepa, I don't recall another Deepa on this list; just as I don't think there is another Anil KUMAR here. -Anil KUMAR [whose first name is almost as common as the 2nd name, 'Sharma' in North India] Oh, you LUCKY little mannie, you. Imagine my dismal plight as I plough through the mail addressed to the 637 other bonobashis on the list; we might as well be a little tribe by ourselves. Check out the all-new Messenger 9.0! Go to http://in.messenger.yahoo.com/
Re: [silk] Unskilled and unaware
On Wed, Feb 4, 2009 at 1:17 AM, Alok G. Singh alephn...@hcoop.net wrote: I'm surprised no one has forwarded this to me already with a snarky comment ... We knew you wouldn't get it. [The study it's based on is not recent.] -- Charles
Re: [silk] Unskilled and unaware
From today's Miscellanea [1]: Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments [2] It is interesting, but Andy Hunt's http://www.amazon.com/Pragmatic-Thinking-Learning-Refactor-Programmers/dp/1934356050 [ http://www.pragprog.com/titles/ahptl is down at the moment, weird... ] has a sample chapter available at http://media.pragprog.com/titles/ahptl/chap2.pdf which is kinda cooler.
[silk] trekking in the western ghats
What should two people in Coorg with a tent and a few days free in early June do? (Other than go somewhere with less rain, that is.) -- ams
Re: [silk] Unskilled and unaware
Charles Haynes wrote: On Wed, Feb 4, 2009 at 1:17 AM, Alok G. Singh alephn...@hcoop.net wrote: I'm surprised no one has forwarded this to me already with a snarky comment ... We knew you wouldn't get it. Heh. I did get the snarkiness of your comment though. Don't try so hard next time :) [The study it's based on is not recent.] The four studies in the paper I assume are of the same timeframe as the publication of the paper -- 1999. Is that so long ago as to be outdated? I would think that a study on human behaviour in the Iron Age would still be relevant now. Or was your point about non-recentness something else ? -- Alok We don't have to protect the environment -- the Second Coming is at hand. -- James Watt
Re: [silk] trekking in the western ghats
On Wed, Feb 4, 2009 at 1:18 PM, Abhijit Menon-Sen a...@toroid.org wrote: What should two people in Coorg with a tent and a few days free in early June do? (Other than go somewhere with less rain, that is.) -- ams Yes..it WILL be probably raining to glory then...I remember us going to Madikeri on June 2nd to celebrate our anniversary, and water rose in our parked car upto the floor (I am not kidding)...we renamed the place Muddy Keri. Also, your favourite fruit had better be...lee chee But I think that whenever the rain stops, the birds do come out to look for food I am going to put this question to a few birding friends of mine and send you the answer, too! :) C, D.
