Activity for Vogon Poet‭

Type	On...	Excerpt	Status	Date
Question	—	What would be the most practical raw fuel for a hydrogen economy? In a near-future world we have stopped directly fueling private, public, and mass transit and we have migrated to a hydrogen economy as the standard energy carrier. Consider the following factors: Global energy consumption has grown 15% beyond today. Fuel resource availability Ease of resource dis... (more)	—	about 5 years ago
Question	—	Horizontal lane separation for flying cars? First these are ground effect vehicles, not true aircraft. While Star Trek, Star Wars, Blade Runner, The Jetsons, and every scifi I can think of has "magically hovering" private transportation, I am trying to design a more reality-based highway system for the flying cars in my near future. Click here... (more)	—	about 5 years ago
Question	—	How much antimatter can we theoretically hold in a Minimum Magnetic Field Trap? I will be using solar antimatter production via Schwinger pair production like the VARIES project but I need to store it for bulk use. The containment will be a satellite orbiting the sun close enough to draw the energy needed. This is a question of scale. I want to store my antimatter in a Minimum ... (more)	—	about 5 years ago
Question	—	What star can give an earth-like planet a 1-day year? I did the orbital period for a planet orbiting a mass = 1 sol with a 24-hour year, it's got a semi-major axis of 1.82 million miles - far and away beyond the Roche limit, still beyond the corona, but just a tad too hot. Problem! So what sort of star would be a black body radiator generating earth-li... (more)	—	about 5 years ago
Question	—	Life-supporting climate for an organolithium planetary environment? I'm looking to design one of my warring planets around organolithium chemistry with seas and precipitate primarily composed of a clear organolithium solvent liquid - possibly ammonia. I've searched for physical properties of various organolithium compounds and come up against nearly all subscriber-ba... (more)	—	about 5 years ago
Question	—	Is there any biological reason an extremophyllic organism could not make a diamond? In theory, could any organism using protein folding or another biological process "assemble" the diamond allotrope of carbon, if it were at the correct pressure to do so? In other words, could some organism (or colonial organisms?) exist which has grown diamonds analogous to how an oyster grows pearl... (more)	—	about 5 years ago
Question	—	Can a human crew handle cyclic extended high relativistic speed operations? This question hopes to make a space tug crew's life tolerable. A supply pipeline links two civilizations. Due to the long travel time between the ends, cargo is "thrown" at the other side in unmanned and unpowered cargo barges, save for minor attitude, yaw and pitch thrusters. Tugs push a barge up t... (more)	—	about 5 years ago
Question	—	What kind of planet environment could best host aliens like *Battle: Los Angeles*? If I want a home for aliens like those which invaded in Battle:Los Angeles, what would be the best fitting features? The aliens: Burn water for fuel (assume they are using deuterium for fusion) Their planet is starving for water (maybe they consumed it? Or it's not available as a liquid?) Their bo... (more)	—	about 5 years ago
Question	—	What is the highest theoretical escape velocity a 2 billion metric ton vehicle can achieve using a >20$^{\circ}$ gravitational slingshot? I want to send a flying saucer (a $\frac{1}{10}$ scale Independence Day City Destroyer - calculated as a sphere cap 112m high with 1.2km segment radius, $\rho$ about 43.3kg/m3) away from the sun as fast as possible, accelerating it from some initial velocity $Vi$ to escape velocity $Vf$ by gravity as... (more)	—	about 5 years ago
Question	—	The scientific description of time-asymmetric retro-causality? Doing research into my time braking world I was referred to Split Second by Douglas E. Richards. It turns out he conceived of the exact same machine that I did, however he handled the paradoxes differently, and uses a slightly different explanation involving "dark matter", turning his machine into a ... (more)	—	about 5 years ago
Question	—	Is a Heliostationary Receiver realistic? Advance our technology 200 years, develop very precise celestial navigation controls and very efficient nuclear reactors. Distill to ensure only the most stable elements are used in production, cost is no issue. After those parameters are met, I want a receiver to remain in an exact position within ... (more)	—	about 5 years ago
Question	—	What would be the wingspan and lifting surface area for a 5kg canard-configuration squid glider? I need my jet-propelled squid to be an efficient glider, something similar to an albatross but he's built in the canard configuration like a real flying squid (below). His combined weight is 5 kg He is jet propelled for launch and evasion only, folding his tentacle-wings forward in a reverse delta... (more)	—	about 5 years ago
Question	—	What is a realistic useful life of a calcium carbonate pulse jet deflagration chamber? My jet-propelled squid uses a scavenged shell for its pulse jet deflagration chamber, I am trying to determine how often he'll have to replace it. Including the shell it's a 5 kg animal using a hydrogen-fueled pulse jet in 2-second bursts. The shell needs to absorb 9.6j/s (9.6 Watts) of heat energ... (more)	—	about 5 years ago
Question	—	The moon will fall to earth in 100 years, how fast is the asteroid that knocked it down? We have at most 100 years to abandon earth. The 10-km asteroid which killed the dinosaurs has hit the moon head-on instead. As a result, the moon has slowed down and it's orbit will decay by 400,000 km after 100 years (it will fall to earth). How fast was the asteroid moving relative to the moon's f... (more)	—	about 5 years ago
Question	—	Which of these changes to physics will have the least effect on Earth's biology? The Solar System has entered a region of space where the laws of nature are slightly different. It will experience different physics for 3 years, then things will return to what we know now. Which of the following decay chains will have the least impact on earth's biology during those 3 years? ... (more)	—	about 5 years ago
Question	—	Help cooling living H$_2$ fueled pulse jet engine A squid-like organism uses gravity powered flight but relies on jet propulsion for launch, pouncing, and evasive tactics. It's aerodynamically based on the way a true squid flies however it has evolved atmospheric jet propulsion to replace the constricting hydraulic jets. It's tentacles and fins ... (more)	—	about 5 years ago
Question	—	What evidence would there be if radioactive decay changed 7,000 years ago? I know we generally operate - or religiously operate - on the principle that fundamental things don't change over time. It's the bedrock of geology - Uniformitarianism. I also believe it is unprovable (which may be bad for my question). However, assume 14C was a more unstable isotope 7,000 years ago... (more)	—	about 5 years ago
Question	—	What is the yield of a 1kg solid concrete transporter bomb? I want to beam into solid concrete as a bomb. I have transporters and unlike Star Trek I'm not afraid to use them. Terrorists have taken the tech and have nasty plans for us. The bomb is 1 kg sphere of solid concrete, and the target is also a 2m thick solid concrete wall. The ball will be beamed dir... (more)	—	about 5 years ago