Activity for Dan Smolinske‭

Type	On...	Excerpt	Status	Date
Question	—	How Useful Is Super Strength (for punching)? Comics are full of superheros with super strength. These heroes punch through walls, lift and throw tanks, and wrestle with buildings. But that's superhero physics. The fact is that without leverage, you'll likely knock yourself back from a significantly strong wall before you break it - it weighs... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Question	—	How Do We Keep The Moon From Eating The World? In 2053 a manned mission to the moon, using seismic sensors, discovers that it is not a natural satellite. The moon is actually an egg of Vespula ludicrousmegagiganto. Note that the name is not truly scientific - the shape of the creature is just vaguely wasp-like, and it stuck. By 2071 and after ... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Question	—	What does my moon colony need? I have a group that's building a moon colony. The final end goal is a self-sufficient colony of at least 1 million humans. They have access to one million metric tons of lift per week at nominal cost. If it matters, this is being done by superheros (flyers, energy producers, etc). Most materials ... (more)	—	over 8 years ago
Question	—	How To Cook For Forty Humans? It's the year 2050, and you're the planner for a manned mission to Pluto - New New Horizons. The mission will take 5 years round trip, and there are 40 members of the crew. What's the most efficient way to feed them all, keeping in mind safety margins and contingencies? Efficiency is measured by t... (more)	—	almost 9 years ago
Question	—	Is there a planetary setup with extremely long tide cycles? On Earth, tides generally tie to a 12 or 24 hour cycle depending on the location. The exact times and heights are generally based on the shape of the sea, and the positions of the moon and sun. What I'm wondering is if there's a planetary system setup that would give very long cycles - say at least... (more)	—	about 9 years ago
Question	—	Global Warming, Gravity, and Space - The Fate of the Earth Guns, Germs and Steel is a very thought-provoking book. One of it's theorems is that certain cultures - largely due to geographical reasons - were incapable of getting past certain technological and cultural development points. For example, one of his references is New Guinea, which has had some so... (more)	—	over 9 years ago