Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

[fredgiblet]

Interesting. What do you want to bet that American companies won't capitalize on those and manufacturing will stay overseas?

[Grayhome]

um... a lot. Most devices in the home can be crafted by a 3d printer that is affordable for the average home, and shipping things from nation to nation costs money. Why ship something overseas when you can easily manufacture it your back yard with materials bought from a local store. Things like the parts of cars and the like would be much cheaper to manufacture, assemble and distribute locally and skip the overseas shipping process.

[GeoModder]

um... a lot. Most devices in the home can be crafted by a 3d printer that is affordable for the average home, and shipping things from nation to nation costs money. Why ship something overseas when you can easily manufacture it your back yard with materials bought from a local store. Things like the parts of cars and the like would be much cheaper to manufacture, assemble and distribute locally and skip the overseas shipping process.

It still means the raw materials need to be shipped to the country going for a 3D printing spree.

[Grayhome]

It still means the raw materials need to be shipped to the country going for a 3D printing spree.

I don't know how much in the way of plastics and metals the United States imports, but since we are supplying China with the scrap metal they are using to build their navy (which China, in turn is using to threaten and annex territory belonging to U.S. allies) I would imagine it to be not so much. Even if it is a lot, the jobs created in the United States would be a tremendous boon sparking entirely new industries and updating old ones.

[GeoModder]

I'm betting the scrap metal the US is supplying China with comes from the dismantling of US Navy ships.
I'm also betting if the US had a sufficiently cheap way to reuse said scrap metal, they would do so.

[icekatze]

hi hi

People often times lack serious foresight to see what the consequences of their actions might be. I might argue that if someone ever figures out how to do direct matter <-> energy conversion, then they'll have pretty much won the game. But even with that kind of miraculous invention, if you don't also infinite travel speed, you still won't be able to grow indefinitely. Even if you can send colony ships out and colonize new worlds at a speed faster than light, eventually they're going to grow to the point where they are sending out colony ships too. If left to run indefinitely, there will eventually come a point where a person born on earth can't reach a new colony within their lifetime.

(Star Trek, like many television shows, suffered a lot of inconsistency because of conflicting direction between a wide range of authors, producers, directors and from the studio. They were perhaps ahead of their time for trying to approach a post-scarcity society, and as anyone can clearly see, they had to back away from that because they couldn't make it work. So instead they've got a mish-mashed, semi-post-scarcity ecomony.)

[Imbrooge]

So...

Anyone else see living to see sci-fi becoming reality like this coming? Cause hot damn, the future is now.

[RedDwarfIV]

I'm betting the scrap metal the US is supplying China with comes from the dismantling of US Navy ships.
I'm also betting if the US had a sufficiently cheap way to reuse said scrap metal, they would do so.

"The capitalists will sell us the rope we hang them from."
- Joseph Stalin

[Grayhome]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4QKLFSShe0 lasers and rail guns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TctJhFYTHo force fields
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqi3jpBSyCc cloaking

[Karst45]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4QKLFSShe0 lasers and rail guns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TctJhFYTHo force fields
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqi3jpBSyCc cloaking

the Laser video is interesting but the guy presenting this is so bad that i cant take what he said seriously. sorry if he someone you know.

The force fields video is awesome, but i wonder how it would react to nearby soldier? is it like those FF from Stargate? up to some velocity it intercept?, so now we need stronger grenade and dont run at the tank

[fredgiblet]

My favorite in that vein: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVgbtqsmx54

[discord]

lasers and railguns? yes it's coming, and lasers are already around, railguns not quite there yet...kinda like fusion power, but it probably WILL work which is not certain about fusion any time soon....not talking about how to POWER these babies either, that is gonna be an issue.

forcefield? no, active countermeasures. CIWS in a very small package. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIWS

invisibility? again, no not quite, the basic science is sound, but the application is a bitch and a half, basically it's impossible....but you CAN make smart fabric with configurable color/patterns or active camo with cameras to project what is behind in front....still nowhere near as good as a proper ghillie suit, THOSE make you fucking undetectable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghillie_suit

[GeoModder]

So, the ECS list is now up to hull number 215, with about 60 of that named.
Arioch, my question is, if the remaining unnamed hull numbers are all Cavadini tugs and McCracken medium transports (basically, does the TCA deploy 150+ non-military vessels) or if war/patrol ships smaller in size then the Hayes class are included as well?

[Arioch]

So, the ECS list is now up to hull number 215, with about 60 of that named.
Arioch, my question is, if the remaining unnamed hull numbers are all Cavadini tugs and McCracken medium transports (basically, does the TCA deploy 150+ non-military vessels) or if war/patrol ships smaller in size then the Hayes class are included as well?

The numbers include about 40 vessels that are no longer in service (mostly early exploration vessels and transports) as well as a variety of non-military government vessels that are not listed. Many are courier vessels and small VIP transports.

[RedDwarfIV]

Does the TCA have a Single Stage To Orbit spaceplane or shuttle?

If so, do you have any drawings?

[Arioch]

Does the TCA have a Single Stage To Orbit spaceplane or shuttle?

If so, do you have any drawings?

I'm sure they have a variety of such craft, but I don't have any drawings of the human small craft (as they won't appear in the comic).

[RedDwarfIV]

Ah.

If they don't have SABRE engines, then humanity is already doomed.

[Grayhome]

Arioch you said some time in the past that humanity does have shuttles, could those be modified into fighters/bombers/assault shuttles?

[Arioch]

Arioch you said some time in the past that humanities do have shuttles, could those be modified into fighters/bombers/assault shuttles?

In theory, but shuttles designed to carry passengers or cargo generally can't exceed 5 or 6 gees acceleration, and so these would be of very limited use in combat.

[TrashMan]

lasers and railguns? yes it's coming, and lasers are already around, railguns not quite there yet...kinda like fusion power, but it probably WILL work which is not certain about fusion any time soon....not talking about how to POWER these babies either, that is gonna be an issue.

Powering everything is an issue.

Unless you think beam weapons won't have massive power requirements. Especially given those magical fields that keep beam cohesion. So yeah...