MigL

The SR-71 ( since its been brought up ) was originally developed to also do hi-speed/hi-altitude interception as the YF-12A, so yes, missile launches are usually done from a hi-energy ( hi-speed ) state to maximize missile range/persistence. The only caveat is that the missile launch has to be cleared for various speeds as aerodynamic interference between missile and airplane at separation could cause it to strike the plane ( most are only cleared for low-supersonic launches, not M3, the speed of an SR-71 ). Also SAMs are launched on intercept courses not a chase, so the problem with shooting down an SR-71 is not catching it, but after you've used up all the rocket's fuel to reach the 70000 cruising altitude ( of the SR-71 ) there's nothing left for final maneuvering.

There are at least a dozen ways to respond to RiceAWay's claims and show how wrong they are. As Swansont and CharonY tried to do. Phi, on the other hand, simply labels him a 'preacher', and refuses to have any discussion with him or his 'soapboxing'. I have to ask how constructive this approach is. Or is it making things worse ? Do you think you'll ever convince him of the validity of AGW by belittling and ignoring his position ? Or do you think I'm not a stupid person, but this is a really stupid position to take, and you need to make it CLEAR to me ?

Since you addressed me personally Phi, youopened the door, so I will respond. I have never supported Trump. If you recall, 15 months before the election, I was a Clinton supporter. But don't let the facts get in the way of your warped narrative. The voter turnout was 58%, so roughly 29.5% voted for Clinton while 28.5 voted for Trump, who won by Electoral College votes. I don't know what that tells you, but what it tells me is that 70.5% of eligible voters are either happy that Trump won because they voted for him, or they couldn't care less because they didn't vote. Now you call those voters 'vacuous, stupid' people, and you call me the hateful one. No sense letting the facts get in the way of your warped narrative. You've always associated everything bad with 'conservatism', even bad driving ( I guess Insurance companies have it all wrong ). Is it any wonder then that nothing 'conservative' will ever be good for you. That is the definition of a bias, is it not ? You also like to apply labels to people, like you have to me, several times. Very divisive is it not ? Come to think of it, by your definition, these are Conservative traits. Maybe you should look in a mirror when you spout off about other people, but no sense letting that get in the way of your warped narrative. Unlike you I have a great deal of respect for the American people and don't call them names when they have a different opinion than I do. I choose to believe that the people have a reason for voting ( or not voting ) the way they did, no matter what I might think about Trump. And If you and the rest of the 'intellectual' and entertainment snobs don't recognize those reasons, the same thing will happen again in 4 yrs time. AMERICANS WANT A VOICE IN THEIr GOVERNMENT. Or you can choose to ignore it as tha would get in the way of your warped narrative.

OK, I'll shut up about it now. Since you guys know best, I'll leave it up to you to resolve the situation. After all, you' Americans are the ones who created this mess in the first place. Good luck.

Is it a reasonable assumption to make that if 42% of eligible voters didn't vote, Phi, at least some of those would be women? I'm starting to think you wouldn't be welcome in Canada; too confrontational and not 'nice' enough. And is Madonna's speech where she contemplates blowing up the White House also constitutionally protected Acme ? And thanks for looking out for us Canuks, Acme, but maybe the best way would be to overhaul your political system.

You're right Zapatos, I may be. But you Americans let this happen, and bitching and complaining afterwards won't get you anywhere. Normally I wouldn't care as its not my country, but we all know what a huge influence American politics and policies have on Canada. The other thing I find interesting is that those same people jumping on me, like Phi and Ten oz ( don't recall if Acme shared their view ), were always advocating opening channels of communication with the Ayatollas of Iran, or Kim Jung In of Korea, or Saddam Hussein, etc. Yet they think D Trump simply cannot be reasoned with. I think your scales of 'reasonableness' are slightly skewed.

Never mind if there is any evidence ????? Google the voter turnout for the election ! Then put your sanctimonious attitude on display. At least the Brits had the common decency to blame themselves after the foolish Brexit vote. Americans elected Trump, directly or by NOT voting, and are now refusing to take responsibility.

Assume anything you want Phi. But as the voter turnout for this so important election was only about 58 % what would be your conclusion ? EXACTLY ! More than 40% of American voters didn't give a damn !

Are you Nazir S Baaklini ?

Well, if they did vote, they got outvoted by others whose vote is just as valid. So how about getting on with running the country and minimizing the damage D Trump does without descending into anarchy. ( or have you and Madonna been plotting to blow up the White House together ) And unfortunately the election rules have less to do with popular vote than Electoral College votes. If you want to amend the constitution, knock yourself out, but until then, D Trump won the election ( and I had to take 3 people out for $300 in drinks and lunch having bet against him )

Are you assuming that a robot that achieves consciousness ( self- aware and able to reason/learn ) would not have this extraneous human stuff ?

I find it strange that everyone is outraged by the hacks on the DNC, but no one is outraged that they reveal the collusion to award the nomination to H Clinton over B Sanders. That would be similar to you looking through your wife's phone, finding that she's having an affair, and she then gets mad at you for violating her trust by snooping through her phone. Now, I've made it clear I dislike D Trump, but a few of the things he says do make sense... All these women ( led by privileged celebrities who are used to getting their own way ) who marched in protest yesterday should, maybe, have gotten off their asses and voted. Those extra votes may have made a difference and we wouldn't be in this situation. Maybe they should have cared BEFORE the election.

Immigrants ( I am one ) tend to vote for their way of life with their feet ( or planes/boats ). If my parents didn't think the 'western' ( or white Judeo-Christian ) way of life was the best, they would have gone somewhere else. Similarly, if Muslims or Orientals didn't think our way of life is better, why are they coming to the West in such numbers ? Have you noticed the large numbers pouring into southern Europe ? Do they think they're going to a 'worse' place ? Reminds me of all the tourists who go to Cuba and say what a wonderful place it is, meanwhile the people who live there are braving shark infested waters on inner tubes to get to Miami. But who knows, now that Fidel is dead and Donald is President that will change. And did you see President Donald dance ? That's one white guy who definitely can't dance.

Gravity doesn't 'contain' the fusion reaction. It provides the pressure and heat needed. Most accelerators can provide the needed energies to a couple of particles to fuse them. The only problem to overcome is getting to economies of scale. ( lots of fused particles for little cost )

Falling straight through ( radially or even elliptically ) through the Earth is a valid 'orbit'. Has a lot more challenges but would be vastly quicker. Have you seen the new version of Total Recall ( no Arnold, but Kate Beckinsdale !!!) ?

And you can grow potatoes with human waste. ( what do you mean, its just a movie ? )

Higher dimensions were postulated in string theories as 'compacted' dimensions. They don't need to be infinite in extent like length, width, height an ( possibly ) time. Rather they can be a compact/finite, orthogonal dimension which curves back on itself,at each point in space-time. So compact ( Planck scale possibly ) that we would never notice or detect them, but they could possibly affect gravity, allowing it to 'leak' into these compacted dimensions such that it 'seems' weaker than it actually is. Only at the compact scale ( Planck ? ) would gravity have equivalent strength as other forces. These compacted dimensions take the form of Calabi-Yau spaces or manifolds, have been an important tool for theoretical physics and are an active area of study. You should look them up. Don't be so dismissive of Flatland. While a fantasy, it is a useful reduced dimensional analogy which gives insight into 3D and 4D spaces.

Microwaves cause intramolecular vibrations, otherwise known as heat. A typical microwave oven produces 750 watts ( I think ) and takes two minutes to boil a cup of water. A cellphone produces 0.3 watts in a non enclosed space. I don't think you need to worry. Incidentally why are you worried about harm to your genitals ? Are you sending selfies of your junk ?

Your friend's solution doesn't describe a limit, but is more closely related to Zeno's paradox. If the turtle advanced half the distance for each subsequent second, it will need an infinite amount of seconds to reach twice the distance. Since this is an impossibility, we say that the limiting value is 2 as the time approaches infinity. This is a limit.

The D-T reaction is just one of the possible mechanisms. But I agree, they all have very large hurdles to overcome.

in-groups ? Cliques ? Am I back in high-school ? And more importantly, will there be a 'rumble' after class ? But seriously, of course swansont is biased. So is Phi, and every other moderator and member of this forum. Including you, Proximity1. We are, after all, human ( except Strange, he's an alien ) and our 'biases' are part of our character. And so we have this understanding... I won't point out their biases if they ignore mine.

" As a solution to our current and accumulating climate problem fusion isn't a viable option " WHY NOT ? The only source of 'renewable' energy available to us IS a fusion reactor. It is that bright ball in the sky 93 mil miles away.

Haven't researched Horava gravity, maybe one of the other members ( Mordred ? ) may have heard of it and can add some insight... If the electrons in graphene move slowly such that relativistic effects are negligible, that doesn't mean they are absent. And if they speed up to relativistic speeds these effects become more pronounced such that they can no longer be ignored, but Lorentz symmetry or covariance is in effect in both cases. That being said, the early universe underwent one or more symmetry breaks during the first fraction of a second as it rapidly cooled. During this symmetry break the Higgs mechanism allowed certain particles to modify one of their properties to one we call mass. Previously all particles were massless, and so moved at the speed Lorentz covariance dictates. But I don't see how the fact, that every particle was massless and moved at c, doesn't require Lorentz covariance.

I don't agree Ed. It is not intimidation or bullying. It simply makes it clear what the alternatives to peaceful, diplomatic negotiations are.

The most 'basic' jet engine is called a ram-jet. It uses the engine's forward motion to compress air, then combusts it with fuel to give it energy/momentum, and momentum conservation imparts additional forward motion to the engine. Anything added to this set up, like variable area and shock ramp inlets, multi stage compressors, annular/cannular combustion chambers, multi stage turbines, after-burning/re-heat, variable area exhaust or even low pressure bypass fan flow, only serve to increase efficiency and optimize the engine for a specific regime. I do have some books on the subject, mostly dealing with military turbojets and turbofans, but it would be a chore to find them. I would think the General Electric, Pratt and Whitney or Rolls Royce websites would have some information.