@swope@mstdn.plus
@swope@mstdn.plus avatar

swope

@swope@mstdn.plus

Aerospace engineer working to make aircraft greener & safer.

He/him. 🇺🇲

[TBD - What else goes in a profile?]

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

Julie, to ai
@Julie@social.coop avatar

Wow. Yes. #AI

swope,
@swope@mstdn.plus avatar

@pmorinerie

I see this and call it pareidolia -- like seeing a face on a Mars rock.

Humans are social animals and the penalty for not seeing a face or underestimating intelligence could be rejection from the group. So I can see why our brains are biased towards recognizing intelligence even with thin evidence.

gerrymcgovern, to random
@gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green avatar

“Investigators digging through Tesla’s trash discovered hazardous waste violations at more than 100 facilities. Within a couple days, the Elon Musk-led company agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle the suit that says the company “intentionally” and “negligently” disposed of materials that should have been handled with care.”
How bad is Tesla’s hazardous waste problem in California?, Justine Calma, The Verge, 2024
https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/3/24058476/tesla-hazardous-waste-suit-settlement-california

swope,
@swope@mstdn.plus avatar

@gerrymcgovern I'm guessing that $1.5M is a lot less than what it would cost them to be environmentally responsible, so they will continue as before.

cstross, to random
@cstross@wandering.shop avatar
  • Looks out window at: three bus stops, 2-5 pubs, a row of restaurants, and a busy shopping street at ground level *

Reader, those things were all there before I moved here. They're a big chunk of the reason WHY I moved here. 17 years ago …

swope,
@swope@mstdn.plus avatar

@cstross

Weird that places that have this in USA tend to be very expensive. Like demand is sky high and supply is extremely limited.

nyrath, to random
@nyrath@spacey.space avatar

https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2024/03/01/nasa-cancels-osam-satellite-refuel-project/8751709328434/

swope,
@swope@mstdn.plus avatar

@nyrath well that sucks. It's such a good concept.

nyrath, to random
@nyrath@spacey.space avatar

And they told us to tell you hello

https://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/manamplifier.php#curiosity

swope,
@swope@mstdn.plus avatar

@nyrath

I think this is a poem.

jynersolives, to space
@jynersolives@mastodon.social avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    swope,
    @swope@mstdn.plus avatar

    @nyrath @jynersolives does "possible" include launch azimuth angles that are not allowed due to safety? Like Kennedy cannot launch too much to the north because spent stages or fragments of exploded failed launches would land too near the coast of New England.

    Most of the restrictions on launch direction come from range safety concerns. Otherwise, whatever the launch locations latitude is, that's the minimum orbital inclination.

    nyrath, to random
    @nyrath@spacey.space avatar

    I'm trying to remember old pulp scifi stories containing an old scifi troupe.

    The idea was in the story, there existed telepathy and other mental powers. Some people's powers were latent, they had them but could not use them. Often were unaware that they had them.

    BUT ... if another telepath tried to read their mind, they could see (internally) how it is done. Suddenly the latent telepath was a full telepath.

    Can you remember scifi stories like that?

    swope,
    @swope@mstdn.plus avatar

    @nyrath extrapolating on these thoughts... Would there be other entities making "sounds" in this fictional sensory modality? Like animals, plants, spirits?

    Has anyone described a sort of physics model for how the signals propagate, reflect, and attenuate?

    I sort of think of it like radio-frequency sensing.

    swope,
    @swope@mstdn.plus avatar

    @nyrath I don't remember any specific instances.

    But I remember talking about this with friends and analogizing it to a hearing person living in a community of deaf people. When they encounter a speaking person, they probably do not understand that spoken language's words, but the tone of voice are still understandable.

    nyrath, to random
    @nyrath@spacey.space avatar

    https://futurism.com/fungi-lichens-just-survived-18-months-outside-iss-means-might-able-survive-mars

    swope,
    @swope@mstdn.plus avatar

    @nyrath when asked about living in Mars-like conditions, the lichen said: "I love the way this sucks!"

    swope,
    @swope@mstdn.plus avatar

    @nyrath I wonder if they gradually changed the conditions to Mars-like, would the lichen adapt over a few generations?

    nyrath, to random
    @nyrath@spacey.space avatar

    The word on the street is that the computer game Kerbal Space Program 2 might have died aborning.

    The publisher said it was going to fire employees and cancel projects in order to save money. So far the Kerbal team has lost seventy workers. Including the Kerbal community manager.

    I hate this timeline.

    swope,
    @swope@mstdn.plus avatar

    @nyrath

    The For Science! update was so good. It got my hopes up for a recovery.

    nyrath, to random
    @nyrath@spacey.space avatar

    Space artists might want to look into NASA's JPL modular habitat system. The mix-n-match modules can be shuffled to make a wide variety of spaceships and habitats.

    https://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/habmod.php#mhs

    image/jpeg
    image/jpeg
    image/jpeg

    swope,
    @swope@mstdn.plus avatar

    @nyrath I would love that. I feel a tension in KSP similar to LEGO. Small, general parts vs large multifunctional parts. I prefer the simplest pieces that can be reconfigured in the most permutations, but I understand there is a maximum part count that limits PC performance.

    I hope that these variations can be made of subcomponents and reconfigured by the KSP player.

    swope,
    @swope@mstdn.plus avatar

    @nyrath certainly feels like someone has been playing KSP...

    nyrath, to random
    @nyrath@spacey.space avatar

    https://www.livescience.com/space/space-exploration/russia-and-china-announce-plan-to-build-shared-nuclear-reactor-on-the-moon-by-2035-without-humans

    swope,
    @swope@mstdn.plus avatar

    @eldadoinquieto @nyrath yeah, autonomy and fission. What could possibly go wrong?

    nyrath, to random
    @nyrath@spacey.space avatar

    The movie industry is going to go ballistic when they see this. The AI is capable of making movie clips in response to simple prompts.

    In the sixth slide-show, the seventh clip done in tilt-shift mode was impressive

    https://openai.com/sora

    swope,
    @swope@mstdn.plus avatar

    @nyrath amazing. But immediately after watching these I saw a regular ad, and I can't tell if it's a real thing or some meaningless AI generated thing.

    swope,
    @swope@mstdn.plus avatar

    @nyrath I fully expect Amazon to be swamped with fake items with AI generated images, if it isn't already.

    nyrath, to random
    @nyrath@spacey.space avatar

    New research suggests that leafy greens grown on the ISS could be more prone to bacterial infections in space, exposing the crew to potential health risks.

    https://gizmodo.com/space-salad-iss-bacteria-health-risks-salmonella-1851189658

    swope,
    @swope@mstdn.plus avatar

    @nyrath recently Loral was talking about a plant experiment they are doing now, and she got a little teary seeing plants for the first time in several months.

    I think having plants in space is going to be essential for humans, just for companionship!

    nyrath, (edited ) to random
    @nyrath@spacey.space avatar

    Rocket packs have drawbacks.

    Jet packs carry chemical fuel but uses atmospheric oxidizer. About 10 minutes before the fuel is used up.

    Rocket packs carry both fuel and oxidizer. About 30 SECONDS before the fuel is gone.

    Hard to increase duration, short of nuclear energy.

    Users typically fly with rocket packs at an altitude too low to use a parachute (below 30 meters) but too high to survive the fall (above 9 meters)

    swope,
    @swope@mstdn.plus avatar

    @nyrath

    The Rocketeer GIF

    nyrath, to random
    @nyrath@spacey.space avatar

    From https://x.com/beanhowitzer at the hell-site.

    Little thing says it likes Space War.
    Audience thinks it means cheesy fake-ass space-opera space-war crap.
    What time really means is hard-science-fiction scientifically-accurate space war.

    https://x.com/beanhowitzer/status/1791616943230697624

    swope, (edited )
    @swope@mstdn.plus avatar

    @nyrath

    nyrath, to random
    @nyrath@spacey.space avatar

    Well, my smartphone just screamed at me. It informed me that at 5:00 EST the army Corp of engineers will be using explosive cutting charges to slice up the part of the collapsed Francis Key Bridge which is currently draped over the cargo ship.

    They said anybody within 2,000 feet should either wear hearing protection or hide inside a house.

    I will comply...

    swope,
    @swope@mstdn.plus avatar

    @nyrath @jstevenyork

    ... I mean, unless we're talking nautical miles because a ship is involved.

    nyrath, to random
    @nyrath@spacey.space avatar

    https://www.space.com/nasa-mars-sample-return-obstacles-oig-report-february-2024

    swope,
    @swope@mstdn.plus avatar

    @nyrath I think the recent layoffs at JPL hit Sample Return really hard.

    nyrath, to random
    @nyrath@spacey.space avatar

    High-level radioactive waste disposal (1974)

    Contains a short discussion on using the Space Shuttle to send radioactive wastes into deep space

    https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4313401

    Click on the green "View Conference" button to download PDF report

    swope,
    @swope@mstdn.plus avatar

    @nyrath interesting that the diagram shows a delta wing shuttle growing a horizontal tail on ascent.

    nyrath, to random
    @nyrath@spacey.space avatar

    https://www.planetary.org/articles/jpl-msr-layoffs

    swope,
    @swope@mstdn.plus avatar

    @nyrath I hope all these folks land good jobs, and it looks like a good economy for them. But it's NASA's loss because they are unlikely to come back.

    nyrath, to random
    @nyrath@spacey.space avatar

    https://gizmodo.com/darpa-new-12-ton-robot-tank-glowing-green-eyes-vehicle-1851432307

    swope,
    @swope@mstdn.plus avatar

    @nyrath

    The face is like a jumping spider.

    nyrath, to random
    @nyrath@spacey.space avatar

    Spaceplanes: why we need them, why they have failed, and how they can succeed

    https://www.thespacereview.com/article/4791/1

    swope,
    @swope@mstdn.plus avatar

    @60sRefugee @nyrath

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • megavids
  • thenastyranch
  • rosin
  • GTA5RPClips
  • osvaldo12
  • love
  • Youngstown
  • slotface
  • khanakhh
  • everett
  • kavyap
  • mdbf
  • DreamBathrooms
  • ngwrru68w68
  • provamag3
  • magazineikmin
  • InstantRegret
  • normalnudes
  • tacticalgear
  • cubers
  • ethstaker
  • modclub
  • cisconetworking
  • Durango
  • anitta
  • Leos
  • tester
  • JUstTest
  • All magazines
    •