For Krogh, the source of the number, it was a quite reasonable estimate, which was about all that was possible at the time. And it was ‘wrong’ by less than an order of magnitude … compared to the newest estimate. AND an estimate of a truly unimportant number is as good as you can get (or need) in many cases. What’s the total length of all the ice cores drilled since Camp Century? And their total volume is?

Sabine is a very competent physicist. That’s why her viewpoint - right or wrong - is well worth hearing. The fact that the Nobel went to a computer scientist instead says a lot about the state-of-the-art.

Sabine knows her shit. May she coax some physicists into getting back into experimenting… and away from Big Science funding.

Here’s a picture of it while it’s still in the shop. https://inspenet.com/en/noticias/nasa-tests-solar-sail-in-solar-in-orbit/

Haven’t heard about the NASA design yet, but JAXA’s 2010 IKAROS used "Eighty blocks of LCD panels are embedded in the sail, whose reflectance can be adjusted for attitude contro ".

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“Works perfectly” huh? That’s better than most can claim before freezing! ACT NOW! for a BIG discount!

The 2003 event produced the biggest-ever solar flare ever measured, an X45. That year, several BIG transformers exploded in South Africa. This event’s biggest so is 8.7. A lot depends on where it’s aimed at … but anyway , no, we are not prepared.

Yeah! Did that once, many years back. took a couple weeks. Used a ripper program that went out on the net and got all the metadata, saved to a HD (now on the third one). Put the CDs in Logic cases (no-wear), recycled the jewelboxes.

Over time, started to drop album folders into VLC, save the playlists, at ur fingertips.

Dear Alex, Welcome to Waking Life !!

Yeah… well (we have to admit) the ‘hole’ quantum part was very long and VERY nerdy for a whole lot of people. (Their loss.)

“We don’t pay taxes; only the little people pay taxes.” - Leona Helmsley. (~ 1989)

(Convicted of extortion; sentenced to 16 years; released after months.) Her husband’s death left her with the Helmsley hotels, the Helmsley Palace and the Empire State Building. (Yes, that one.)

If you’ve not dipped into William Gibson (Neuromancer) and several trilogies since), I’ve enjoyed all that I’ve gotten to so far. (Wanna ‘re-read’ the ‘Bridge Series’ in audiobook.)

(I’m also a fan of Stephenson, Dan Simmons, Charles Stross, and that ilk.)

Really good science news communicators (including many teachers because how are admins to judge?) are too rare … on YTube there’s … a half-dozen, maybe, at best?

" the Selfish Gene, which I could rip on for pages "

Please put me on the list to read that!

Yeh! Good to see the rusty machine (and self-deprecating) model fading away and being replaced by real appreciation of the true marvels that have emerged over millions of years. (Science’s mechanical models were all so … 18th century!)

(Not so familiar with biology but did enjoy hearing about the tack Lee Cronin’s taken.)

No, it isn’t … although batteries are getting cheaper there are far cheaper ways. But they’re too practical, and the game’s still about big money-making while the political heat is growing.

Fission’s not just more expensive then rewewables, it’s way Way WAY more expensive. Even if you don’t count the costs of safely (if ever) securing wastes for thousands of years. Or paying for the on-land spills (too dangerous for remediations for decades). Or the health costs of the emissions (recorded and unrecorded). Or ever-skyrocking costs (and failures) of renovation. Or using loads of ever-scarcer river water, or water from oceanside earthquake zones like Fukushima.

Luckily, we have a reactor in the sky 90 million miles away. Right now, every day, It provides the Earth with hundreds of times the amount of energy humanity currently consumes. FREE ENERGY. Windmills have been in use for well-over a century, yet utilized little. Why? Because when FREE energy is everywhere, up for grabs, it’s hard to centralize material formats in nice, big, very profitable power plants … especially when you don’t count externalities (especially invisible ones, like emissions or mines hidden away in places no one who matters ever visits.).

Takes a lot of propaganda to keep people divided and discouraged while they decide out how to hold onto the bank.

And to think that their colleagues told them not to bother, that there was nothing there. Must feel really gratifying after all those years.

One of the rare examples of sci-fi mixed with a skillfully unfolded mystery. Even when you know ‘the answer’, there are plenty of ‘how did they do that’ film-making mysteries.

I forgot to mention his entirely ‘I, Robot’, VG 2004 film … maybe because robots don’t don’t seem so science-fictionish these days…