space elevator

Even ignoring the matter of capital, one's expectation for such a project to be submitted for planning permission is quite modest. The aversion amongst older segments of the proletariat to soaring architectural projects is perennial.
 
Zin5ki said:
Even ignoring the matter of capital, one's expectation for such a project to be submitted for planning permission is quite modest. The aversion amongst older segments of the proletariat to soaring architectural projects is perennial.
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Disregard OAPs, acquire space elevator...

..or escalator.
 
I think I read once, that a group of Japanese scientists were looking into how plausible the technology in the Gundam franchise was, and whether it's possible to make a "Gundam". It's surely only a matter of time.
 
With actual technology it's "easier" to build a space elevator than a giant robot. The biggest trouble in building a huge robot is the power source, with actual knowledge the power source would be bigger than the robot itself. The only solution would be using a cable, like in Evangelion, but even this would lead to tons of other troubles.



Teo
 
teonzo said:
With actual technology it's "easier" to build a space elevator than a giant robot. The biggest trouble in building a huge robot is the power source, with actual knowledge the power source would be bigger than the robot itself. The only solution would be using a cable, like in Evangelion, but even this would lead to tons of other troubles.
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Sending power through air / space is probably the best bet. Tesla managed it and we have wireless recharging now, in the future laser power beaming looks interesting (especially from the point of view of allowing mech fights in space). The US Air Force seem to think it's worthy of consideration anyway. Advances in this area would probably pave the way for energy weapons as well.
 
Can't say I've indulged in either, but I do enjoy my regular Wiki-walks. Perhaps one day the many hundreds of hours I've wasted will enable me to beat a quiz machine.
 
ayase said:
Sending power through air / space is probably the best bet. Tesla managed it and we have wireless recharging now, in the future laser power beaming looks interesting (especially from the point of view of allowing mech fights in space). The US Air Force seem to think it's worthy of consideration anyway. Advances in this area would probably pave the way for energy weapons as well.
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Yes, those could be viable solutions. Like could be portable power plants (sooner or later sub-atomic research will give results in this area). The problem is that a huge robot would need HUGE amounts of energy, with current technology it's simply impossible to build a power source inside the robot, and simply impossible to transfer that amount of energy via something different than a cable.
But I was talking about actual technology. With actual technology we can try to start projecting a space elevator, but not a giant robot like a gundam, there are far too many obstacles about electrical (nuclear or whatever energy related) and mechanical engeneering that need to be solved. So it's much more probable we will be able to see a space elevator before dying than a giant robot (unfortunately, as far as I'm concerned).



Teo
 
all this tech talk makes me want one of these

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If you are interested in robotics then there are a boatload of interesting videos on youtube.
Personally, and from an engineering point of view, I consider this robotic hand the best achievement in the last years, but I'm biased since some friends worked on it.

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Teo
 
These spambots are getting better at imitating a real persons post, aren't they? I read that sentence about 3 times trying make sense of it, before I realized it made none.
 
Sometimes, you read news which just gives you a bit of hope for the future. For me, this is one such news piece:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17851603

I've been reading snippets about this engine for a long time and TBH, never thought it would make it to this stage. Nothing to do with lack of belief in the technology, more to do with lack of funding and political will to make it happen (see also Project Daedalus). If it performs as expected, this now looks like it could be not only a viable space shuttle replacement, but a viable replacement for long-distance air travel as well. And it's British. Excellent.



Bumping this thread rather than starting a new one because it's topically similar and had already started diversifying from the original topic - perhaps it should become a general hi-tech thread?
 
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