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26 Comments
- pudly, on 11/04/2009, -0/+15Elevator Sequence:
The integral of how many people are in the elevator to the number of people that know who farted:
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9... people in elevator
1,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1... people that know who farted - DjBearPDX, on 11/04/2009, -0/+13Ah, the joys of progress
- bixby1, on 11/04/2009, -6/+19I want this thing built and I wanna drop a huge fart right when the door closes.
- jrm125, on 11/04/2009, -0/+10It's more fun when it's just you and one other person...and then you say "It wasn't me!"
- MikeMania, on 11/04/2009, -1/+10Make it fast.
- FKnight, on 11/04/2009, -0/+7I think a Space Escalator would be better.
- missinglink, on 11/05/2009, -0/+5It's an AP story. No need to subject yourself to annoying pop-ups and ads at AskMen.
Read it here: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5 ... - grubeater, on 11/04/2009, -1/+6eff you askmen.com!!!!
Can I get this submitted in dailymail.co.uk form please? - doublsh0t, on 11/04/2009, -2/+5Assuming you'd be in said elevator, that is. Otherwise I'm sure it'd be just another mundane every-5-minute release.
- jander86, on 11/04/2009, -0/+3I wonder how much weight it would take to pull something out of orbit and down to earth. I suppose it would depend on how heavy the satellite is. Does anyone know?
- marktastic, on 11/04/2009, -0/+2Maybe you can get in on that contest with a fart powered elevator.
- TechnoRabbit, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2Actually, if you use counterweights it's not so bad. As something goes down, something goes up. They explore this concept in the Red Mars/Green Mars/Blue Mars trilogy.
They also explore the concept of a space elevator cable breaking and wrapping around the planet three times, killing lots of people. - BigManOnCampus, on 11/04/2009, -0/+2Depends on mass, but presumably if you are a spacecraft returning from elsewhere in the solar system, you've saved enough fuel to safely coast into an orbital path that brings you near-stationary with the elevator cable... otherwise, you're either stuck in orbit or you ass is re-entering the atmosphere like the big-balls air force pilots used to to... straight in, plasma-bubble-encased
- Enlefo, on 11/04/2009, -0/+2Cool, I hope this encourages an increase in development for related tech. Don't think we can pull it out without cheap mass production of carbon nanotubes.
- InfiniteNothing, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2"for reals" means 22k miles not 1/2 a mile.
- werdywerd, on 11/04/2009, -0/+2I hope the door "close" button will actually work in this elevator.
- kaosethema, on 11/05/2009, -0/+1what ads?
- ydobonobody, on 11/06/2009, -0/+1Making the cable itself is actually part of a different, but related X-Prize-style contest called the Strong Tether Competition if I remember correctly. One of the stipulations of this contest is that your solution also has to be 50% faster than the previous winner, which is where the requiring innovative breakthroughs comes in. None of this was mentioned in the article, however.
- randomerratum, on 11/05/2009, -1/+2Space Elevator > Wonka-vator
I've been a long-time proponent of the space elevator idea...
...but the concept of how it will be built or how the cable will be strung into orbit has always escaped me... am I just retarded and missing the obvious?
The best I can come up with is to place a reel of guide cable in the geo-synced location, and somehow pilot the end of the cable down to the location on earth - to hoist up the "real" cable or structure against the centrifugal force of the mass in space.....? - Jarasmen, on 11/05/2009, -0/+1Bring it on, space!
- missinglink, on 11/05/2009, -0/+1I got a big pop-up screen that turned everything black until I closed it.
- mikemehak, on 11/05/2009, -0/+1either that or tie a long rope to the shuttle when it's going to the space station
- LarkStew, on 11/05/2009, -0/+1A space elevator will only get you halfway... I therefore present to the world the latest concept in interplanetary travel... the SpaceBridge!
http://img258.imageshack.us/i/spacebridge.png/ - LarkStew, on 11/05/2009, -0/+1Somebody tell Roland Emmerich! If anyone can do massive space elevator breakage, he can!
- desertDenizen, on 11/04/2009, -3/+3I applaud the use of X-Prize-style contests for stimulating unconventional thinking and innovation from the private sector, but doesn't the elevator/climber part of this seem like a fairly straightforward engineering project that could be aptly handled by any one of a hundred well-regarded aerospace engineering contractors? ... I mean, the cable itself (made of carbon nanofibers)... I get that part; it requires a real breakthrough and a contest makes sense. But an electric car with what amounts to solar panels? Frankly, this seems more like a publicity stunt to build public awareness and support for the space elevator concept. (And if that's the point, well okay, I suppose.)
- Langford, on 11/04/2009, -3/+1The whole idea of a space elevator seems... words fail me. It seems impossible, yet if it could be done, it could change everything.
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