Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
While speeds might be reduced, you can fly to the other side of the globe in a days time, that is an amazing feat.
As far as landing a man on Mars. It is a lofty goal, would it be possible yes, if we wanted to. We can and have sent a robot there and it does the same thing and more than what a manned mission can do.
We have satellites that have left the solar system and still write home every so often. Another, the Hubble, that looks way out into deep space, and gives us views never before seen from earth.
The satellite that left the solar system was launched in the 70s, the first "soft" unmanned mars landing was also in the 70s. It's all old news. There is a risk to manned space flight obviously, particularly to lofty targets such as another planet. And it's expensive. And yes robots can do it with less expense and risk. But people forget all the benifits that came from the manned space flight programs of the 60s and 70s - financially, culturally, scientifically - it was much more than simply Tang. It far exceeded the costs and risks.
The satellite that left the solar system was launched in the 70s, the first "soft" unmanned mars landing was also in the 70s. It's all old news. There is a risk to manned space flight obviously, particularly to lofty targets such as another planet. And it's expensive. And yes robots can do it with less expense and risk. But people forget all the benifits that came from the manned space flight programs of the 60s and 70s - financially, culturally, scientifically - it was much more than simply Tang. It far exceeded the costs and risks.
I am not advocating abandoning manned space flight. We have the space station for longterm experiments. While it is old news, the cameras are better, the other scientific instruments have hugely improved in 40 years. We are still gaining knowledge from even the most recent of robots.
Society is actually more advanced then we thought we would be today as many of the tools they had on sci fi shows we have in real life. The problem was back in the 50's, 60's even the 70's and 80's people did not understand how technology advanced. Thus they made "predictions" based on what seemed logical given what the technology was at the time. That is why you see vastly different predictions every decade as the technology improved so they would use the new technology and just advance it.
Now starting in the 60's we developed More's law but it was not fully understood till the 90's. Now we can look ahead with reasonable certainty till about 2045 when the current models break down.
This is a graph of what computers have done and are foretasted to do until the current models break down around 2045.
Society is actually more advanced then we thought we would be today as many of the tools they had on sci fi shows we have in real life. The problem was back in the 50's, 60's even the 70's and 80's people did not understand how technology advanced. Thus they made "predictions" based on what seemed logical given what the technology was at the time. That is why you see vastly different predictions every decade as the technology improved so they would use the new technology and just advance it.
Now starting in the 60's we developed More's law but it was not fully understood till the 90's. Now we can look ahead with reasonable certainty till about 2045 when the current models break down.
This is a graph of what computers have done and are foretasted to do until the current models break down around 2045.
The biggest advancement in the second half of the 20th century is clearly the microchip, or the semiconducter. Almost everything we have today vs. 40 years ago is based on that technology - the ability to minitarize amazing computing power - PC's obviously, as shown above. But in phones, MP3 players, cameras, home appliances, automobiles, almost everything...expect that to continue to be the wave of the future. Microchips will be implanted into our bodies next.
The biggest advancement in the second half of the 20th century is clearly the microchip, or the semiconducter. Almost everything we have today vs. 40 years ago is based on that technology - the ability to minitarize amazing computing power - PC's obviously, as shown above. But in phones, MP3 players, cameras, home appliances, automobiles, almost everything...expect that to continue to be the wave of the future. Microchips will be implanted into our bodies next.
I agree 100% and very few people understand the total implications of this and how it will change the way we live, learn, work and allow us to live longer then we do today.
We are starting to see it now but by the mid 2020's 80% of people will have some kind of micro chip implanted in them. Get ready the future is here.
Hopefully, I also kind of find it weird that most of the technology comes in the middle of the Century. Back in 1912 it still looked to be a bit like the 1800s almost. But if you look at 1945 or 1965 they look completely different. Maybe it would be the same for 2012 to still look a bit like the 90s but will be different in 2045 or 2065.
Hopefully, I also kind of find it weird that most of the technology comes in the middle of the Century. Back in 1912 it still looked to be a bit like the 1800s almost. But if you look at 1945 or 1965 they look completely different. Maybe it would be the same for 2012 to still look a bit like the 90s but will be different in 2045 or 2065.
That is because technology advances at a exponential rate. So the changes we will experience in the next 20 years (2012 - 2032) will dwarf the changes the people experienced from 1892 to 1912.
I would argue that cell phones and the internet and especially cell phones -with- the internet make flying cars and moon colonies look quaintly old-fashioned.
LOL! I never considered a rocket or jet strapped to my back giving me a wedgie (or worse if you dress left or right) to be a good thing, especially at 100 feet in the air when adjustments are ... ummm... difficult.
I'll confess I've never considered that particular problem, lol. (But I can certainly see where that would be a concern. ) We were also promised a monorail system that would run in the middle of the freeway system in So Cal. I'm still waiting for that too.
I'll confess I've never considered that particular problem, lol. (But I can certainly see where that would be a concern. ) We were also promised a monorail system that would run in the middle of the freeway system in So Cal. I'm still waiting for that too.
We can build a monorail system (just look at Disney) it's just cost prohibitive.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
) We were also promised a monorail system that would run in the middle of the freeway system in So Cal. I'm still waiting for that too.
