Comments

  • Military, Aviation & Space

    Going Up?

    By Paul Adams Posted on 9.24.2008 46 Comments

    One of the most promising technologies for the aspiring outer-space commuter is the space elevator. The concept, like quite a few others, was pressed into the public imagination by Arthur C. Clarke, who in his 1979 novel The Fountains of Paradise described a incredibly thin, incredibly strong carbon filament with one end anchored on Earth and the other extending up to a satellite in geostationary orbit. Now, a group of Japanese scientists are convinced that they can build a space elevator more quickly and cheaply than has been believed possible. Such a cable could convey cargo into space very cheaply and easily. Carriages would travel up and down the cable under modest power, not the vast expenditures of energy that are currently needed to send anything into orbit.

    9.25.2008 at 03:17pm - Comment by strictbusiness14

    if space elevators became fairly common, couldn't there be a potential problem with travel by air (planes, helicopters, etc.)? or would they primarily exist on a temporary basis? there might be something i'm missing here, but it doesn't sound completely practical.

  • Entertainment & Gaming

    MLB's Major Tech Woes

    By Posted on 6.19.2008 8 Comments

    A memo sent from Major League Baseball’s Umpires Union to its members last week suggests instant replay will be implemented by August 1st. In typical MLB fashion, the proposed plan is a decade late, ignores the potential provided by modern technology and will likely create more questions than answers. In the words of Yogi Berra, “This is like déjà vu all over again.” (see: steroid debacle). But fear not Red Sox Nation and Marlin fan! We've concocted an ingenious plan that will save baseball from its masochistic ways. Before PopSci rescues America’s Pastime, it’s important to detail the current plan so we might strip it naked and expose the deficiencies.

    Article Rating:
    1
    6.21.2008 at 09:27pm - Comment by strictbusiness14

    I believe that baseball needs instant replay and I completely agree that Major League Baseball's plan for instant replay is going to fail miserably, but I think the plan outlined in this article is flat out idiotic. The only thing that made sense was the idea of using the Hawk-Eye system. Of course, tennis is much different than baseball and implementing it to work properly in baseball stadiums (while great in theory) may be impossible at this time. MLB's idea of a central replay "war room" is dumb, but leaving the call in the hands of the very umpire(s) who messed up is even worse. Some umpires in the big leagues would rather say they were right the first time than get the call right. The challenge system serves no practical purpose in either college or professional football. In college every play is reviewed upstairs anyway, so why do they need challenges? In the NFL you need to challenge in order to have any chance of getting the play overturned, but get penalized a timeout for challenging. Penalizing a team for challenging makes no sense because they have no way of knowing what the outcome will be. This definitely includes the idea of adding strikes to the next batter for the team that lost the challenge. Whatever plan eventually gets implemented has to be approved by the owners, GMs, and the player's association. The players will NEVER approve a system that adds a strike to the count. It reduces their chances of getting a hit. Fewer hits means worse statistics. Worse statistics mean lower salaries. There needs to be a replay official in the booth (at the ballpark) that reviews every play and calls down with the decision (instead of a description). No challenges necessary. The only calls that can be reversed are ones that have something objective in question. No ball/strike judgments since they're subjective. Does the guy who wrote this article have any reasonably significant knowledge of the sport, or did he just decide to arbitrarily give his opinion on what may very well be a game-changing issue? Take it from someone who used to play baseball himself and whose father played, coached, and scouted for MLB teams; if done correctly, instant replay can change the sport for the better. But using plans such as those hastily outlined by MLB and in this article, the sport and its public image could enter into a downward spiral very quickly.

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