Mr.Goodbytes
09-27-2001, 03:15 AM
While reading through Proper Posting Techniques (http://www.sysopt.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15491), I realized we no longer have the Brainstorming Forum. Thanks a lot, Scott! :p Joe King.
Anyway, in light of recent events, two topics came to mind, and one other: Possibilities for military campaigns in Afghanistan (or wherever we end up in all this). Reasonable ones too, not just "bomb 'em" or whatever, and also including intelligence options, like misinformation and other games we can play. I think developing some realistic scenarios could be rather enjoyable and in the long run may actually answer some questions that are no doubt floating around in everyone's heads.
The second topic has been looming in my mind for a while, but was brought to light with the recent price gouging that took place the day of the attacks. It has to do with energy in general really, more so with power plants and such. (at least that's where it began in my mind) We need to come up with new ways to create electricity, or a new type of energy to power our homes, businesses, and equipment in general. And I don't necessarily mean going to solar power or fusion, although there is an aspect of solar power that got this started.
When you go to a gas, coal, hydro, or nuclear fission plant, what do you see? You see mechanical energy being used along with magnets and copper coils (I know it's more complicated than that) creating electrical energy. In all but hydro, we use the energy bound in molecules and atoms to create heat energy that drives the mechanical energy that becomes electrical. Do you see where I'm going with this yet? Now I know in a perfect system, energy is not lost; it is transferred. But what we're doing here can't possibly being efficient. We're converting the energy so many times before we get to the product that a good percentage has to be lost. Steps need to be removed. We need to be able to go straight from that energy bound in atoms and molecules to electricity, or whatever energy product we eventually end up with. That's what I think is so remarkable about solar power. The reactions in the solar cells create an electrical current, albeit a rather weak one in comparison, without having to power a turbine that drives a shaft to spin magnets around copper fast enough to create an electrical current. No, solar power is much more simple by design (although the creation of the cells is not) and could possibly be the most efficient as well. But say we could go straight from uranium or tritium to a useable type of energy; can you imagine the potential of its uses?? We would break through so many boundaries that limit us today.
That brings me to my last brainstorming topic (for now): Space travel. I think it's fair to say that based on our current rate of progress, interplanetary space travel will be impossible for hundreds of years. Our children's children's children won't live to see it. We need breakthroughs in many areas including propulsion, communications (biggie), and overall ship design (i.e. hull plating). But the way we think today (based on what I know of declassified information) is not sufficient to make these advances. I envision some great minds coming along and telling us we're going about it all wrong, and telling us how we are screwing it up and what we need to be looking at to achieve our goals.
I'm going to leave it at that for now. I am hoping some of you who took the time to read through my ramblings will want to continue this. I'd love to start threads on these ideas and see what our combined intelligence can come up with. And since this is the best forum out there, there have to be a huge number of great minds here that would jump on the chance to discuss this. Who knows, we may even surprise ourselves. Hope to be deep in discussion of at least one of these soon. Thanks for bearing with me guys and ladies.
Anyway, in light of recent events, two topics came to mind, and one other: Possibilities for military campaigns in Afghanistan (or wherever we end up in all this). Reasonable ones too, not just "bomb 'em" or whatever, and also including intelligence options, like misinformation and other games we can play. I think developing some realistic scenarios could be rather enjoyable and in the long run may actually answer some questions that are no doubt floating around in everyone's heads.
The second topic has been looming in my mind for a while, but was brought to light with the recent price gouging that took place the day of the attacks. It has to do with energy in general really, more so with power plants and such. (at least that's where it began in my mind) We need to come up with new ways to create electricity, or a new type of energy to power our homes, businesses, and equipment in general. And I don't necessarily mean going to solar power or fusion, although there is an aspect of solar power that got this started.
When you go to a gas, coal, hydro, or nuclear fission plant, what do you see? You see mechanical energy being used along with magnets and copper coils (I know it's more complicated than that) creating electrical energy. In all but hydro, we use the energy bound in molecules and atoms to create heat energy that drives the mechanical energy that becomes electrical. Do you see where I'm going with this yet? Now I know in a perfect system, energy is not lost; it is transferred. But what we're doing here can't possibly being efficient. We're converting the energy so many times before we get to the product that a good percentage has to be lost. Steps need to be removed. We need to be able to go straight from that energy bound in atoms and molecules to electricity, or whatever energy product we eventually end up with. That's what I think is so remarkable about solar power. The reactions in the solar cells create an electrical current, albeit a rather weak one in comparison, without having to power a turbine that drives a shaft to spin magnets around copper fast enough to create an electrical current. No, solar power is much more simple by design (although the creation of the cells is not) and could possibly be the most efficient as well. But say we could go straight from uranium or tritium to a useable type of energy; can you imagine the potential of its uses?? We would break through so many boundaries that limit us today.
That brings me to my last brainstorming topic (for now): Space travel. I think it's fair to say that based on our current rate of progress, interplanetary space travel will be impossible for hundreds of years. Our children's children's children won't live to see it. We need breakthroughs in many areas including propulsion, communications (biggie), and overall ship design (i.e. hull plating). But the way we think today (based on what I know of declassified information) is not sufficient to make these advances. I envision some great minds coming along and telling us we're going about it all wrong, and telling us how we are screwing it up and what we need to be looking at to achieve our goals.
I'm going to leave it at that for now. I am hoping some of you who took the time to read through my ramblings will want to continue this. I'd love to start threads on these ideas and see what our combined intelligence can come up with. And since this is the best forum out there, there have to be a huge number of great minds here that would jump on the chance to discuss this. Who knows, we may even surprise ourselves. Hope to be deep in discussion of at least one of these soon. Thanks for bearing with me guys and ladies.