Profile for *i
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Displayed name | *i |
| Member number | 6 |
| Title | The Establishment |
| Postcount | 3726 |
| Homepage | |
| Registered | Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
Recent posts
Pages
| Author | Recent posts |
|---|---|
| Question 1: Energy in General | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Wednesday, April 26 2006 12:46
Profile
Strontium -- Did you read my post? He quotes the reserves, not the total resources. I agree, as we define reserve today, yes, we will be out. However, if we look at future potential reserves (reread my post for an exact definition), we have a massive supply. I'm running short of time, so I did a quick Google search. Not the best source, biased I'd say, but it references scientific articles that you may persue for greater credibility: Uranium Resources -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Question 1: Energy in General | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Wednesday, April 26 2006 12:19
Profile
quote:I'm afraid this one is a myth. The correct term is that our "reserve" of uranium will be depleted. This may seem pedantic, but it is a vital distinction. A reserve is defined as something that is an established resource is both been measured directly and is definitely profitable to mine. Deposits of a resource that are quite certain but not directly measured are not part of the reserve. The economic definition is one that depends on whether a business would choose to exploit it TODAY. The thing with uranium is that there was a huge amount of exploration in the 1950s, a century's supply was found, and people stopped looking for the most part until the Carter administration where more were proven. Geologists are quite sure there is plenty more, it is just that there has not been a need to find it. Geologists suspect there are tens of thousands of years worth, if we exclude seawater. Including that, there is likely billions of years. The economics aspect means that only the highest grade ores are used. As these deplete, we will need to go to lower grade ores. These may still be profitable, but are not included because there are better ones available right now. Even if we go to lower grade ores, uranium is such a dense fuel that to reasonably affect the overall fuel cost, the actual cost of mining the ore would have to increase by about 50-100 times. Most of the energy/cost is in the enrichment and conversion processes. So be careful when you read these things. The definition of reserve to geologist and a business person means something drastically different to the lay person. We will never run out of oil, it will just become uneconomic to use it as a fuel anymore. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| International Bad Pun Day in General | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Wednesday, April 26 2006 06:40
Profile
A neutron walks into a bar and asks the bartender for a drink. The neutron asks how much and the bartender replies, "For you, no charge!" -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Backyard Mythbusters in General | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Wednesday, April 26 2006 06:38
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I see no laws of physics that would prevent it. By all means, knock yourself out. At any rate, what myth are you trying to bust? -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Question 1: Energy in General | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Wednesday, April 26 2006 04:29
Profile
quote:I hope you are joking, but just in case: Solar power does not depend so much on heat, but photons in the visible spectrum. The visible photon flux is roughly constant and independent of heat. They are energetic enough to cause movement of electrons to generate a current. "Heat" as we like to think of are photons in the infrared range, too low to cause currents directly. They interact with the molecular translational, rotational, and vibrational states to give them kinetic energy. Unfortunately, in order to extract useful work, you need a sizable temperature difference. Because of the roughly uniform local nature of the photon flux, achieving such a local temperature difference (think 100s of degrees C) would be likely impossible. An interesting idea is is called OTEC or Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion. This uses a temperature difference with respect to the bottom of the ocean and the surface to cause a current. Feel free to read up on it. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| The Afterlife in General | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Wednesday, April 26 2006 04:09
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MagmaDragoon -- I suggest you read the "Last Answer" by Isaac Asimov. It's a fairly short story with an interesting view on the afterlife and living forever. Fortunately, someone transcribed the story in its entirity: The Last Answer [ Wednesday, April 26, 2006 04:11: Message edited by: *i ] -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| A Change of Structure in General | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Tuesday, April 25 2006 21:13
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Sssh...Alorael, don't give away the secrets of the moderator board. :P -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| a4 is the best game yet in Avernum 4 | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Tuesday, April 25 2006 21:10
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Do you prefer the geneforge or the avernum series? -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| change shaper graphics? in Geneforge Series | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Tuesday, April 25 2006 21:07
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llama -- Your recent flurry of posts has elevated to the level of spam. Desist or your membership privledges will be suspended indefinitely. More on topic, changes of graphics can be fun at first, but really lose their coolness factor after a while. Of course, if you are easily entertained, have fun! [ Tuesday, April 25, 2006 21:09: Message edited by: *i ] -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| the why do you have it? topic in General | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Tuesday, April 25 2006 21:03
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I'll keep it open if you stop spamming now. :mad: -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Favorite Words in General | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Tuesday, April 25 2006 21:00
Profile
I'm a big fan of tautology myself because I am and therefore I like it. [ Tuesday, April 25, 2006 21:05: Message edited by: *i ] -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Question 1: Energy in General | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Tuesday, April 25 2006 20:58
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I agree, we shouldn't waste the resources. How should we encourage people not to use too much? -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Old windows graphics: for Exile II in General | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Tuesday, April 25 2006 20:57
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rantalot -- You are not a moderator here. If you feel a topic has been misplaced, please contact one of them privately. Otherwise, do not spam the topics. For the record, this is the general board, so I'm willing to let most things go. If it were a direct question on a game or about scenario design, then it would be more appropriate for that forum. Otherwise, this one is non-specific enough to be fine. Besides, I don't think it would be extensively useful in the Exile Trilogy forum. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| the why do you have it? topic in General | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Tuesday, April 25 2006 20:54
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I think this had already been asked. Perhaps I should lock it out of spite. ;) -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| The Afterlife in General | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Tuesday, April 25 2006 20:53
Profile
Yes, the question was an ideal afterlife. However, my questions are a bit deeper as to what would the nature of an afterlife be. Dream as I want, I'd find it more interesting to discuss meaningless hypotheticals on what the afterlife could be like. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| a4 is the best game yet in Avernum 4 | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Tuesday, April 25 2006 20:46
Profile
quote:Pretty much. :P Out of curiosity, what other games from Spiderweb have you played? -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| The Afterlife in General | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Tuesday, April 25 2006 20:45
Profile
If an afterlife did exist, I doubt it would be anything like we could experience here on Earth. Would we even have a body or form? Or would we be an ethereal being that could interact with the material world? How would information be transmitted from one being to another? Would there even be light or sound (in other words are there electromagnetic waves or molecules to transmit vibrations)? I would say it would be so radically different that I doubt we even have mechanisms for understanding. The words to describe such things would not exist. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Question 1: Energy in General | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Tuesday, April 25 2006 20:33
Profile
As part of a series of 10 questions on broad scale global problems, I offer today's question to the Spiderweb community: How do we meet the energy needs of the developing world? -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Zoophilia in General | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Tuesday, April 25 2006 18:43
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quote:Depends on which version of God you tend to believe in. The Old Testament God tended to be quite vindictive. Even certain Christian sects believe that there are certain things beyond forgiveness. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Deux Mille in General | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Tuesday, April 25 2006 13:22
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You have been promoted to Guild Master. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Earth Day (belated) in General | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Tuesday, April 25 2006 04:35
Profile
Fuel in a typical reactor is U-235. Natural uranium consists primarily of two isotopes U-235 and U-238 (there is a little bit of U-234 for the pedantic). Both are capable of undergoing fission. However, U-235 is capable of doing so with slow or thermal neutrons. This is attractive for a variety of reasons: a thermal flux leads to a higher fission probability, allows use of traditional coolants such as water, and less radiation damage to structures. Although it is not possible to sustain a chain reaction on pure U-238, it is possible for it to capture a neutron and transmute the element to Pu-239. Pu-239 is highly fissile and can make a good fuel, although one needs to be a little bit more careful with it as a Pu-239 powered reactor has a lower control margin. Another fuel discussed is Th-232. Although not fissile by itself, it can make U-233, another fissile isotope. There is a lot of thorium on this planet and between uranium and thorium, there is enough fuel to sustain our civilization indefinitely. Yes, nuclear reactions are about a hundred thousand times more energetic than a chemical reaction. This is attractive as it keeps the waste contained and it makes the energy supply very insensitive to fuel cost. Stability in prices is important to business and is one of the primary reasons industry is looking to expand nuclear power today. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| Earth Day (belated) in General | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Monday, April 24 2006 19:40
Profile
quote:Chernobyl was quite a disaster. One that was, sadly, horribly preventable. Bad design that the Soviets were warned about including positive reactivity coefficients, overmoderation, poor shutdown mechanisms, lack of containment, etc. Bad operating protocols that lacked a focus on safety and regulations. Poor emergency response, no evacutation plans or bans on ingestion. The immediate death toll was under 50 and the total expected (according to the IAEA) can be about 4000. The unfortunate thing is that had the Soviets banned the drinking of milk after the accident limiting Sr-90 intake, virtually all of them could be prevented. Also, had the government reacted better the psychological effects could have been mitigated, which are the largest impact. The good news is that no such designs exist in the US. Three Mile Island was perhaps the biggest non-disaster ever. The core did melt partially, but only negligible and planned radiation releases were made. In other words, the containment systems worked. Fortunately, no one was hurt . Note that since Three Mile Island, the nuclear industry has made great strides in safety, now having less on site personnel accidents at a nuclear plant than a typical office worker. Newer advanced light water reactors being built are a factor of 10-100 less likely to undergo an accident, major or minor. The designs are simpler and work on natural forces such as gavity, natural convection, and pressure gradients. As far as the safety issue, that one has pretty well been addressed. You are far more likely to be killed in a car accident, from second hand smoke, or be struck by lightning than be die as a result of in a nuclear accident. The probability is about on the same order of being killed by a meterorite. Far more potent issues with nuclear power are the spent fuel and the proliferation. These are of greater concern, but also have solutions to them. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| A Change of Structure in General | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Monday, April 24 2006 19:25
Profile
Most of the 1 topic wonders, I suspect, are people asking for help in Tech Support or a specific question on a game. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |
| SDF Max value in Blades of Avernum Editor | |
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The Establishment
Member # 6
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written Monday, April 24 2006 04:51
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quote:Thuryl -- You have an odd definition of a variable as most computer scientists would disagree. Reals, logicals, strings, double precisions, integers are all types of variables -- a fairly general term. What you mean is that 16-bit integers go from -32768 to 32767. Integer is a type of variable, but it is not to only type, just a convenient one for the application of RPGs. I believe the type of variable in C is called a short, either way an 8-bit integer. Flags are indeed variables of an 8-bit integer type. It's just that flags are a special kind of variable (well, an element in an array actually) that has been predefined for us by Jeff. Keep in mind, we can define "short" variables that behave just like flags do. We can also define "int" variables that give us more bits. Unfortunately, we cannot define reals that would allow floating point operations. So the answer is, variables go from *it depends on the type*. -------------------- Your flower power is no match for my glower power! Posts: 3726 | Registered: Tuesday, September 18 2001 07:00 |