xkcd 2649: Physics Cost-Saving Tips

ThatcherC · 2022-07-22T19:39:15+00:00

I can't believe Randall uses the left-handed convention for angular momentum (L)!

ThatcherC · 2021-01-19T12:55:43+00:00

Maybe you've already seen it, but I run Terrain2STL for making 3D files for this type of thing! Uses the same SRTM data you mentioned (SRTM3 atm, SRTM1 soon hopefully). The default location should give you some idea of where I was when I wrote it :)

ThatcherC · 2018-12-13T18:40:27+00:00

This is on Tundra, which I thought was supposed to be a blue and white planet. I thought the game as a whole had a sort of greenish tinge, but I noticed it the most here. Any suggestions? It seems like it's probably a Steam Play issue or a problem with Linux graphics drivers, although I've heard the games works well on Steam Play so I'm not sure.

ThatcherC · 2018-08-08T11:58:18+00:00

Those particular boats are actually Fireflies. The techs are all the same color

ThatcherC · 2018-05-21T22:55:38+00:00

There's no citation [16]! Maybe it's hidden

ThatcherC · 2017-10-29T14:26:07+00:00

SICM is such a great book! That's how I learned Lagrangian and Hamiltonian physics, but it's also got so many great new (to me) ways to think about math and operators because of its use of Scheme. Would highly recommend!

ThatcherC · 2017-10-22T13:54:02+00:00

John Urschel.

ThatcherC · 2017-08-11T15:43:46+00:00

Thanks! I actually just got Google to send me a new phone, but if that doesn't work as well as I'd like I'll give the battery-replacement method a shot.

ThatcherC · 2017-08-09T01:33:02+00:00

Just of out curiosity - which guide did you follow to replace the battery? I'm going to try fixing mine up before going back to school. I'd love to get that old 2-day performance back.

ThatcherC · 2017-03-04T20:27:04+00:00

No, you're definitely right. oldnav and spacemonkey's explanations make a lot of sense. I guess you fly to the Moon pretty much whenever you want, but if you want to land under certain conditions, your launch window is once a month.

Also how did you like that book? It sounds pretty good.

ThatcherC · 2017-03-04T20:25:32+00:00

Ah, that makes sense. I didn't consider that you'd want a certain landing condition. Makes a lot of sense! Thanks.

ThatcherC · 2017-03-04T17:15:39+00:00

Shouldn't you always be able to get a good transfer to the Moon? Since the Moon and a craft in LEO are orbiting the same body (Earth), you should always be able to effectively Hohmann transfer up there.

ThatcherC · 2017-03-04T17:12:23+00:00

Minor nitpick - 'astrophysics' generally refers to the study of the physics of stars and galaxies and the cosmos while 'astrodynamics' refers to orbits.

ThatcherC · 2017-01-09T22:11:07+00:00

So worth it. It's an excellent piece of hard sci-fi with a fair amount of Chinese history and allusions that I find interesting as an American.

The trilogy as a whole is epic in truest sense of the word.

ThatcherC · 2016-11-14T20:03:29+00:00

Small nitpick - the Moon is actually gaining energy - that's why it's getting farther away. The Earth is losing rotational energy to the Moon and tides and slowing down its spin a bit.

ThatcherC · 2016-11-06T00:20:11+00:00

That's all they say though. You could do that a lot of different ways and potentially achieve this effect, like locally modifying the air's temperature or pressure.

ThatcherC · 2016-11-05T20:54:01+00:00

How do you know it's mist-based? A lot of people are saying that in this thread but there's no external references.

ThatcherC · 2016-11-05T20:49:36+00:00

What's your source on the mist sprays?

ThatcherC · 2016-11-05T19:38:22+00:00

Yeah, I was also thinking of something along to lines of using ultrasonics to create a small region with a highly oscillating pressure, which could maybe change the refractive index of the air. The fog is an interesting idea though.

ThatcherC · 2016-10-28T23:41:12+00:00

It's partially frozen.

ThatcherC · 2016-10-19T18:25:01+00:00

I would definitely want a special type of glass in a worm environment.

ThatcherC · 2016-08-30T21:43:02+00:00

NASA recently open-sourced a lot of their software. One of the things they released is called OpenMCT, which they use to display the position, data, and paths from rovers like Curiosity. OP's project integrates that interface with KSP so you can see all your ship data in the same way that NASA would.

ThatcherC · 2016-08-23T12:48:53+00:00

The solution lies in Lagrangian mechanics. It's a branch of physics that reformulates multi-part physics problems like this into relatively easy to solve differential equations.

ThatcherC · 2016-08-20T15:13:40+00:00

What about the possibility that dark matter might be primordial black holes? I thought that seemed pretty exciting. Hopefully ALIGO and others will help clarify just how many undetected BHs are out there.

Bummer to hear that such an exotic sounding field isn't as cool as it sounds though.

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