Radical Edward

Well the Nazca lines and all the other historical structures turn out to be pretty doable, even back then. Stonehenge itself is a marvel of engineering and calculational ability.

Well one out of five ain't too bad.

right. so lets get this straight. we now have a uranium rod with an accelerating device, lets call it a rocket, and a guidance system, and possibly some explosives attached too. Lets call this a missile. these already exist. mounting your uranium rods in space is completely pointless.

ekpyrotic.

dear me. their appears to be a spelling mistake in they're someware.

heh, well spotted. give this man a nobel. Perhaps a more accurate statement might be "It is possible to be in relative motion" though.

I find it astounding to think that people think that aliens or humans with vast amounts of technology would use it only to dig a few trenches or move a few pebbles on the Nazca Plateau. we might be getting a bit closer with say, a large sandstone pyramid, but, scale aside, I prefer the iPod as evidence of high technology. call me biased if you like though.

from what reference frame?

if you drop it, it will just stay in orbit. have you seen videos and things of people in space shuttles or the space station while they are in space with all that stuff floating around? that will happen if you drop a uranium rod too.

depends where in the world I am sadly the superior person's book of words does not have ebaytastic in it. I am sure the year 3000 version will though.

touche.

the point is, you need to get it going at 17,300 mph in the direction of your target, otherwise the number is meaningless. for example the moon is going very fast, but it is not a big threat because it is in orbit. so how are you going to accelerate it so it is going at 17,300 mph towards your target?

it is indeed stunning. I wish I was an olmec, then I would have had a big flying machine that I could use to go to work, and fry pedestrians on the way.

problem is, none of this explains things like HERVs, Chromosome 2, Transposons, the Laryngeal nerve or colour TVs. we are not exactly devolving.

how exactly are you going to get the uranium to go that much faster?

I'm pleased we have cleared that up.

I'd love to pull the end of one of those.

I am batman. well, until I get a cool new avatar.

now apply this to your uranium rod scenario.

because bunker busters don't win the technological "I have a big dick" award. As an intellectual aside, there would be a calculable shape/mass/velocity at which it became practical to use orbital bombardment weapons. The problem would be that it would probably be a pretty big thing, and only really useful in planet vs planet battles.

that makes no sense.

it was colonel mustard in the dining room with the candlestick.

indeed. and unless he comes to dresden, there probably isn't a chance now. unless he touches a midget and the film gets relayed across the world.

that makes no sense.

terminal velocity is fun.