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Tag Archives: space exploration
The difficulty of going to Mars
There’s been a lot of celebration this holiday season of the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 8 mission, the first time humans went into (relatively) deep space and orbited another body, the moon. I’m glad to see Apollo 8 getting … Continue reading
The difficulty of interstellar travel for humans
Futurism.com has an article reviewing the results of a survey they conducted with their readers asking when the first human might leave the solar system. The leading answer was after the year 2100, which make sense given our current level … Continue reading
David Eagleman: Can a computer simulate a brain?
The other day, I highlighted the article by neuroscientist Kenneth Miller on the possibility of mind uploading. Miller saw it as possible, but thought it might be thousands or maybe even millions of years before we could do it. Here’s … Continue reading
Posted in Zeitgeist
Tagged Big Think, Brain, David Eagleman, Mind, Mind uploading, Neuroscience, Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, space exploration
38 Comments
Interstellar: more accurate than the typical sci-fi movie, but still had issues
This week, I watched the movie Interstellar, the Christopher Nolan film about travel to another galaxy, a black hole, a wormhole, and other exotic environments. I enjoyed it immensely, although I also had some issues with it. In the film, at … Continue reading
xkcd: Spacecraft and launch vehicle payloads, in horses
Similar to the relative spacecraft and rocket sizes I linked to the other day, here’s xkcd’s version, in horse units. At first I thought he was referring to horsepower, but then I realized it was horse mass. (Click through … Continue reading
Posted in Zeitgeist
Tagged Nasa, Saturn V, Space, space exploration, Space Shuttle, Spacecraft, xkcd
8 Comments
Wanderers – a short film on exploring the solar system
This is pretty nice. A short video by Erik Wernquist showing humans in various locations around the solar system, with a voiceover from Carl Sagan, always guaranteed to enrich the sense of wonder. via Wanderers – a short film … Continue reading
Posted in Zeitgeist
Tagged Carl Sagan, Erik Wernquist, Future, Solar System, Space, space exploration
9 Comments
I would draw a similar graph for FTL and knowledge of physics
Click through for full sized version and the red button caption. via Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal. Sometimes, learning science means discovering the constraints reality puts on us, and that part isn’t always fun.
The movie ‘Interstellar’ and wormholes
The other day, I did a post on interstellar exploration which linked to one by Sten Odenwald on the problems with interstellar travel. Well, he posted some follow-up remarks, expressing some surprise at the response, doubling down on the aspects of the limitations of … Continue reading
Reaching the stars will require serious out-of-the-box thinking
Sten Odenwald, an astronomer with the National Institute of Aerospace, has an article up at HuffPost that many will find disheartening: The Dismal Future of Interstellar Travel | Dr. Sten Odenwald. I have been an avid science fiction reader all my life, but as … Continue reading