Gian

Thanks Janus! Well that sounds a bit more hopeful, especially if launched from the moon with its gravity of 16%G. If a nuke 100x Hiroshima were exploded at the bottom of a shaft on the moon, I reckon that could get my cellphone past 50%c? Cheerz GIAN🙂x

Thanks! So would nuclear be a practical possibility for a tiny space probe? Eg a camera and the computing ability of my cellphone? I would imagine a single cellphone could gather quite alot of data and then send it home? Or if you got it upto say 50%c turn around and bring it home? Would it be possible to use the Hiroshima bomb or bombs to send a projectile upto speed say 50%c from earth or from the moon without it having to power itself? Yes I know I'm ignorant but it's so important GIAN🙂×

Since at least WW2, scientists and science fans have been speculating about how to accelerate a spaceship fast enough to reach other star systems. The most sought-after method seems to be nuclear fusion (I think,) currently out of reach. But what’s wrong with nuclear fission? If the power of the Hiroshima bomb could be channelled, I would imagine that would get us to alpha centauri pretty damn swiftly. I did hear once that governments will not allow the use of nuclear for space exploration. Anyone know if this is true? Cheerz GIAN🙂xx PS As you've probably guessed I'm not a scientist but I hope to be one day

When I was a kid it was often suggested that the moon would be the place from which to launch interstellar starships, and using the moon's own mineral resources it would perhaps be the place where starship are constructed as well.

I'm not interested in earning Shed loads. If I'm a scientist I want to be discovering stuff! Like John Zarnecki or Carolyn Porco, and I'm trying to find the best pathway to getting there. Cheerz for the info. GIANx

Mr Sethoflagus, thanks! That's exactly the sort of guidance I need. Careers advisers just give the smiley official blurb ("Just go to university for 3y, and of course you will get a fulltime job straight away as an astronaut.") I guess I'd like to have a career like planetary scientist Dr Carolyn Porco... Thanks again, lots to think about! GIAN🙂x

So do you think it's worth it? I'd be gutted if I spent 7y getting to PhD, then finding I couldn't get a job at nasa, and have to settle for merely being prime minister

Im reading Hannah Arendt right now. The picture that's emerged so far is that for Adolf Eichmann and for Jews and many others in Germany at that time, it's, well... complicated.This is a surprise for me 🙄🙄🙂

I hear the proportion of science graduates to jobs is not good. What do people think my prospects would be if I study BA physics or astrophysics wanting to be a research scientist? I wouldn't want a job designing aeroplanes for Boeing, I'd wanna be discovering planets! Besides a degree what sort of work experience would potential research institutions want? Would I need MA/PhD? Cheerz GIAN xx

I was about 8 when my mum and dad told me about the Shoah. My first critical thought was something like Even if everything the National Socialists said about those of the Jewish Faith was true, it would not in any way justify the Holocaust. How does that strike people here as an approach? We're Catholic btw

Phobias are irrational. There are no dangerous species of arachnid in the UK so arachnophobia is irrational. Two gay men doing what they want with each other in their own home cannot possibly harm anyone else, thus homophobia is irrational.

What they did was something like this. They put the kittens on a walkway (catwalk!) which had 2 thick black lines painted along its length. Then there was a gap several feet deep with the lines running down it, so the kittens could clearly see the lines appearing to go downwards. But the gap was covered in transparent Perspex, so the kittens could have walked across it. But they all shied away from the gap, so evidently they had an inborn sense that heights are dangerous because they could fall

Thanks! that is useful info🙂

I would still like to be able to gaze at Saturn's Rings, and Jupiter directly Such as?🙂

Well because homophobia seems to be an ethical issue, although perhaps I should have put it in one of the Science sections. I read of an experiment once where newborn kittens were found to have a fear of heights, implying It's something they're born with. I just wondered if it's true of homophobia

I don't recall Jesus saying anything whatsoever about homosexuality. But to get back to why I started this topic, are phobias (arachnophobia, homophobia, claustrophobia etc) nature or nurture? Well yes, but my question is not about whether it is morally right or wrong to be homophobic, but whether phobias (arachnophobia, homophobia etc) are inborn or not. I always used to think phobias were socially constructed, but now I'm reading stuff which says they may be inbuilt

Just getting started with astronomy, so I guess I just wanna be able to see the stars and planets as clearly as possible

Can anyone recommend a telescope for astronomy for under about £200/ $US250? Is there one, or do I need to go higher? Thanks GIAN x

Well I used to read that phobias (eg arachnophobia claustrophobia etc) were socially constructed. But now I'm reading stuff that phobias may be inborn So is homophobia (along with arachnophobia etc) inborn or isn't it?

Is it theoretically possible to take a fertilised child early in the pregnancy and transfer it to the womb of another mother? If not now, will it be possible in the future? Thanks GIAN

I suppose the sort of homophobia I mean is repulsion rather than hatred. I heard of an experiment once with newborn kittens who were found to have an immediate fear of heights. This is not irrational of course, but would seem to be inborn. With phobias, which are defined as irrational, eg arachnophobia (I think I'm right there are no dangerous spiders in Western Europe) these are thought to be socially constructed. I have my own irrational repulsions, and children of course love saying "Eeeugh!"

Science used to say that phobias were socially constructed, but I seem to remember experiments with newborn kittens showing that they had an immediate fear of heights and could "read" 3D space, before they'd had time to be taught anything. However I suppose a fear of heights is a genuine defence mechanism, wheras a phobia is supposed to be an irrational fear. The idea of 2 gay men "doing it" can't possibly hurt you, but it can still elicit the yuk response. But perhaps there's some evolutionary advantage to not being gay lke "my genes will reproduce better if I do it with the oppo sex rather than same sex"

Is it possible that homophobia - fear of homosexuality - is something that is inborn? If so via natural selection? Among our remote ancestors, did homophobes survive better?

Well, I mean suppose families are emigrating to start a new life on an Earthlike planet in another star system. Or tourists want to visit the moons of Saturn, but don't want to be sitting in the spaceship for months until they get there?

I don't mean "suspended animation" but would it be possible to put someone in an induced coma for several months or years while travelling to other parts of the solar system? If so would the following mechanisms be necessary? I guess a machine would have to keep moving the person's limbs into different positions to prevent clotting and emboli. And electrodes to keep stimulating the person's muscles to prevent wastage. I guess the waking crew would have to keep waking the sleepers regular to make sure everything's ok Sound any good?