Things that you wish existed that don't
- Thread starter traceur_
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Yeah, I admit I'm also curious as to why the OP got suspended for this...
Anyway, spaceships and FTL travel. There are few things I love more than the prospect of space exploration, and I find it quite dismaying that barring a ridiculously huge/wacky event or breakthrough, it's not happening in my lifetime.
Other than that, traditional "shambler" zombies. I'm prepared for the zombie apocalypse. Are you?
*EDIT* Oh yes, and a fission reactor. Basic concept is a reactor that tears things apart at an atomic level, and runs off energy created. Solves energy crisis and trash problem in one go.
Anyway, spaceships and FTL travel. There are few things I love more than the prospect of space exploration, and I find it quite dismaying that barring a ridiculously huge/wacky event or breakthrough, it's not happening in my lifetime.
Other than that, traditional "shambler" zombies. I'm prepared for the zombie apocalypse. Are you?
*EDIT* Oh yes, and a fission reactor. Basic concept is a reactor that tears things apart at an atomic level, and runs off energy created. Solves energy crisis and trash problem in one go.
The force, a stasis machine (so you can go to the future), virtual reality games, a self-cleaning bed/chair that you can shit in without getting up, a formula for the perfect song that is adored by all of humanity, empathy chips, an in-brain music player (microchip, you can just 'think' of any song ever recorded and hear it).
Nice Left 4 Dead refrence.Stalk3rchief said:Gameead Rising; Zombies. Nothing would weed out the weak AND solve our overpopulation problem like a good old zombie horde. A REAL zombie horde! None of that "Hey look at us run fast and climb walls" bullshit.
OT: A videogame controller that uses your mind AND have it readily avaliable and afordable for any system...oh and it works perfectly; no lag, no glitches, no altering of your brain waves, nothing.
Uh.Aitruis said:
We got those. They're called nuclear power plants. Like other power plants, they're dangerous, expensive, ugly, and put out lots of nice power, just with all of the above turned up to at least 8. Also, they occasionally blow up in your face (see also: Chernobyl).
Me? I'd like a Gundam or something. No, wait, scratch that: I want one of the Supreme Commanders, so I can make myself a huge legion of robots whenever I want. All the physics manipulation weapons (manual labour becomes easier with a gravity gun, construction gets easier with an entrencher, transport gets easier with a portal gun, etc). The lightning bolt plasmid from Bioshock. Nanoforges from Forever Peace (Joe Haldeman novel; basically a device that can make anything given the raw materials and a programmed-in schematic). Deep Thought from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Elementary powers from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Or, as a replacement for all that, the rings from that weird Michael Moorcock story set aeons into the future, which can do pretty much anything, sucking power from stars on the other side of the galaxy to create and shape matter and energy.
No, nuclear power works by using radioactive material to heat coolant, which in turn heats water in a closed system, which turns to steam, and the steam drives turbines, which generate electricity.Son of Makuta said:
We do not have a working fission reactor. Last I heard, which was a few years ago, someone was trying to make one, it's the size of a warehouse, and they can only keep it running for about 30 seconds before it fizzles. I have no idea if they've scrapped the project by now, but I hope not.
And what do you think happens to the radioactive material for it to produce heat? There has to be a reaction...Aitruis said:
I'll fill you in - you take some uranium or similar fuel, and shoot high-speed neutrons into it. When a neutron collides with an atom's nucleus, it causes the already-unstable nucleus to split, breaking the uranium atom into a thorium atom and... uh... something else, can't remember what the second by-product is. Hence, fission. The split also releases 3 more stray neutrons, which can go on and split other atoms, resulting in a chain reaction. Control of the reaction is achieved by large boron rods, which block, slow or absorb the stray neutrons harmlessly, limiting the amount of splitting atoms and thus the amount of heat produced. In the case of Chernobyl, the reaction was allowed to get too hot, the boron rods melted and collapsed (modern reactors now have them descend from the ceiling instead, so if this happens they fall into the reactor), and the reaction continued unabated, until BOOM.
That's what they told me in A-level physics, anyway.
The gigantic 30-second-wonder (man, that sounds dirty) is a FUSION reactor. Fusion reactors work (or don't, yet) by combining light elements like hydrogen at the nuclear level, forming heavier isotopes and releasing energy. At the moment, the amount of power you need to put into them to make the reaction happen is greater than their output, so they aren't yet viable.