Russia plans Mars nuclear station

[Nanami]

Ultraviolet said:

I think that if our population is approaching double-digit billions, we are meant to spread out.

Actually, a report I read said that once we reach about 9 billion the population will start to decrease from starvation, so unless we move to outer space we probably won't get to double-digit billions.

[Ultraviolet]

Nanami said:

Actually, a report I read said that once we reach about 9 billion the population will start to decrease from starvation, so unless we move to outer space we probably won't get to double-digit billions.

I wasn't trying to say that we'd actually reach the double-digit billions, just that we were headed that direction. What I intended to indicate was that our planet might not sustain that much human life and thus we have to move out or face some major bad stuff.

[Nanami]

You know, that makes us sound like the "evil" aliens in ID4. "They move from planet to planet until all the resources are gone and then they move on."

Wow, humans suck!

[Ultraviolet]

A little self-discipline in reproduction would save a lot of trouble. Then again, the necessity to move out to settle a bunch of other planets might do a lot for technology. Maybe the race just isn't *ready* to live right.

[Nanami]

The obvious solution is to kill 97% of the human race and start over with more intelligent people.

[Ultraviolet]

Nanami said:

The obvious solution is to kill 97% of the human race and start over with more intelligent people.

And who decides who deserves to live?

[Fletcher`]

Ultraviolet said:

And who decides who deserves to live?

Non-humans? :)

[Ultraviolet]

ravage said:

Non-humans? :)

Fine. I'll take all you furries with me, though. :P

[Fletcher`]

You rat bastard.

[Ultraviolet]

ravage said:

You rat bastard.

Uh, and here I thought I was one of those damn humans.

[Nanami]

Ultraviolet said:

And who decides who deserves to live?

Me of course. Why would you even have to ask?

[Little Faith]

Nanami said:

The obvious solution is to kill 97% of the human race and start over with more intelligent people.

Another, less draconian solution could be to alter the way we reproduce.

[Disorder]

Why are some people worried about destroying Mars? It's almost certain that there's no life, so what could we possibly destroy? Radiation levels on Mars are too high for humans too survive in anyway. Why not a little more? :)

[Aliotroph?]

For starters, the Russians always come up with big exotic plans they can't manage. They once had it in their heads to orbit a giant mirror to light up Siberia in the winter. Now THAT would be screwing with stuff they shouldn't be.

Their technology has to be more rugged though. It suits the nature of their economies. When they were a "communist" dictatorship people never got paid more for doing more stuff or better stuff. Thus, the workers didn't give a shit and built shit parts and did crap assembly. The scientists worked around this by building stuff that was workable even if it was broken and always kept it simple. Now much is Russia is corrupt and run by mobsters. Well, people still don't get paid so they still build crap and the scientists still come up with genius solutions. I figure those scientist guys are either passionate or they get paid for a change.

Russian rockets use kerosene for fuel. It's WAAAAAY cheaper than the liquid hydrogen/oxygen NASA uses. NASA just realized this too and they're getting the Russians to teach them to use their fuel. I remember reading a NASA guy's comment to the tune of "we've been doing completely the wrong thing for 50 years!" Western electronics are vastly superior for some reason though.

Oh yeah, they did have pocket calculators 30 years ago, but they sucked. It was fun watching Apollo 13 and seeing the astronauts with their slide rules!

I think NASA's way of sending guys into space is pretty sad really. They always have some big thing that costs ten billion dollars and if it blows up they're fucked. Now they're stuck. Their bureaucracy and infrastructure is too big to start from scratch and engineer something cheaper and more effective. That's why Carmack and friends are gonna kick their ass one day!

[Sharessa]

I once saw on some show on Discovery or something where some expert said that the only was to continue space exploration to any extent was to have businesses to do it. Think about it. For one, they have the money. Two, they will try to do it as chaep as possible. Three, they have competition so they will try to do it better than their opponents. That's why I support people like Carmack who are continuing the exploration of the cosmos.

[Fletcher`]

Little Faith said:

Another, less draconian solution could be to alter the way we reproduce.

They did that in Stargate. Except that it was to kill us off completely.

[Grimm]

Heh.

[Ultraviolet]

I agree. (Regulated) commercial space exploration is the key.

[Duker900]

Little Faith said:

Another, less draconian solution could be to alter the way we reproduce.

Bond, James Bond will protect us from such.

[zark]

Disorder said:

Why are some people worried about destroying Mars? It's almost certain that there's no life, so what could we possibly destroy? Radiation levels on Mars are too high for humans too survive in anyway. Why not a little more? :)

Uh, it's been proven that there has been life on Mars at some point. Also, it's very likely that there is some water on Mars so it's also pretty likely that there is still life there.

[Rotting Corpse]

Building a space satation on mars is a huge waste of $$. Try building one on the moon first.

[Naked Snake]

zarcyb said:

Uh, it's been proven that there has been life on Mars at some point. Also, it's very likely that there is some water on Mars so it's also pretty likely that there is still life there.

O_o. Dude, AFAIK, we've never discovered life, even cells, on any other planet.