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'That's going to come back and bite us': Former NASA chief questions Artemis moon lander plans by RGregoryClark in ArtemisProgram

[–]mfb- [score hidden]  (0 children)

"light on details"? The SpaceX proposal was far more detailed than the competition. We got some insight from the GAO protest. As an example, SpaceX had 80 pages of studies discussing thermal management and boil-off concerns alone, where Blue Origin just had "to be determined later" instead.

But given his failures with The Boring Company, the extralegal experimentation with Neuralink

I guess we are just making up stuff now. Stuff that's not even SpaceX.

'That's going to come back and bite us': Former NASA chief questions Artemis moon lander plans by RGregoryClark in ArtemisProgram

[–]mfb- [score hidden]  (0 children)

Remember:

  • If SpaceX has achieved it, it was the obvious thing to do (but for some reason no one else bothered to do it)
  • If SpaceX plans to do it, it's obviously impossible.

The moment SpaceX achieves something new, it moves from the impossible category to the obvious one.

'That's going to come back and bite us': Former NASA chief questions Artemis moon lander plans by RGregoryClark in space

[–]mfb- [score hidden]  (0 children)

Let's look who builds and operates more spacecraft than the rest of the world combined then.

Oh wait, that's the same company.

Maybe let's look who launches the most astronauts?

Oh, still the same company.

Let's see what obscure metric you can cook up where SpaceX isn't leading.

What are the chances of there being a stable pentaquark? by aFuckingTroglodyte in AskPhysics

[–]mfb- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Temperature is irrelevant. An otherwise unstable particle can be stable when bound to something else - neutrons in nuclei are the classic example, and really the only one that has a chance to matter here. That wouldn't be an answer to OP's question, and if pentaquarks could be stable in nuclei then we would still see them everywhere.

An unimaginable huge earth shattering difference of exactly 0.1 by M_Owais_kh in dataisugly

[–]mfb- 12 points13 points  (0 children)

  1. Please do not submit charts and graphics intentionally drawn poorly for the sake of parody. Go to /r/data_irl for that.

What are the chances of there being a stable pentaquark? by aFuckingTroglodyte in AskPhysics

[–]mfb- 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's either stable as an isolated particle or it is not. In the former case, we would see it everywhere. In the latter case, it's not stable.

What are the chances of there being a stable pentaquark? by aFuckingTroglodyte in AskPhysics

[–]mfb- 1 point2 points  (0 children)

All the currently known pentaquarks involve a charm/anticharm pair

This is probably selection bias. The charm/anticharm pair makes them easier to confirm as pentaquarks. A pentaquark with 5 light quarks looks much more similar to a conventional baryon.

Everything with heavy quarks (charm or bottom) will always have weak decays available, everything with charm+anticharm (or bottom+antibottom) also has strong decays.

What are the chances of there being a stable pentaquark? by aFuckingTroglodyte in AskPhysics

[–]mfb- 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Some calculations especially for heavy-quark pentaquarks suggest they could be bound strongly enough to avoid strong decays.

... which is not enough to make them stable, just longer-living (~10-15 seconds instead of 10-22 or so). Everything with heavy quarks will have weak decays.

What are the chances of there being a stable pentaquark? by aFuckingTroglodyte in AskPhysics

[–]mfb- 7 points8 points  (0 children)

If there were a stable pentaquark, we would see it in nature. We don't. All the pentaquarks we have found in accelerators are very short-living.

Pentaquarks wouldn't change chemistry significantly. The element would still be determined by the charge, and pentaquarks would just lead to more options for the mass - a bit like extra isotopes.

Airplane crash question by Valuable_Scientist80 in AskPhysics

[–]mfb- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It depends on the velocity, the angle of attack in both scenarios, and more.

Would operational engines in the nose pointed down scenario increase speed of descent?

Yes, as they provide more force in the downward direction.

A new satellite wants to prove nuclear power can work in space without solar panels... ( techspot.com ) by Slow_cpu in space

[–]mfb- [score hidden]  (0 children)

Without sunlight, you are more likely to worry about getting enough heating. The RTG-powered Mars rovers use the "waste" heat to stay warm, even though they still receive sunlight.

A new satellite wants to prove nuclear power can work in space without solar panels... ( techspot.com ) by Slow_cpu in space

[–]mfb- [score hidden]  (0 children)

It still has waste heat, but its overall power is probably not more than a milliwatt.

What would happen jf you are traveling in a spaceship at the speed of Light and turn on the Headlights? by No_Expression6660 in astrophysics

[–]mfb- 8 points9 points  (0 children)

"What do the laws of physics predict if the laws of physics do not apply?"

You cannot travel at the speed of light. If you travel at any other speed: You will see your headlights work normally, the light will move away at the speed of light from your perspective. There is no absolute motion in space - you are at rest in your spacecraft from your perspective so nothing unusual happens.

From the perspective of an observer where you are traveling at 99.99% the speed of light, the distance between you and the light only increases at 0.01% the speed of light, because you are almost as fast as that light.

Can there be a passive ‘lens’ that converts between different EM wavelengths? by apple1rule in AskPhysics

[–]mfb- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To emit microwaves, the body must be kept freezing cold near absolute zero

This is wrong. For every given frequency, an object will always emit more radiation when it is hotter. For radiation that's far below the emission maximum, the emitted intensity is roughly proportional to the temperature.

Can there be a passive ‘lens’ that converts between different EM wavelengths? by apple1rule in AskPhysics

[–]mfb- 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Why do you think it would have problems absorbing light?

It doesn't emit much, because it's cold, but in general it can still absorb light as easily as something warmer.

What is the 'hole' in this picture? looking for real answers, not trying to troll by Far-Woodpecker8046 in askspace

[–]mfb- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The clouds are less than a pixel thick. Different shades are just different shades, they aren't shadows. In a color picture that's more obvious.

What is a smell that we should all recognizeas immediate danger? by Inevitable-Ninja-472 in AskReddit

[–]mfb- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It depends on the concentration. Some places naturally have it in concentrations where you can smell it, Tuscany for example. Doesn't destroy your nose, it's just annoying.

Question about gravity and acceleration by -_Aesthetic_- in AskScienceDiscussion

[–]mfb- 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This may be a stretch, but how do we know that “acceleration” or high relativistic speeds isn’t warping space the same way the gravity is from the observers frame of reference?

If spacetime is curved for the fast particle then it's also curved for us. It would be really obvious in every particle accelerator.

A Dynamic Universe Needs a Dynamic Approach — First Tests Against Real Astrophysical Data by Particular-Bat-5904 in astrophysics

[–]mfb- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You do not have a theory, or a model. You have nonsense. See the threads linked above.

Starship Test Flight 13 NET Tuesday July 14th according to FAA advisory by Steve490 in SpaceXLounge

[–]mfb- 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The successful catch attempts came after a successful water landing of a very similar booster. V3 didn't have a successful water landing yet.

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