As a kid in the early nineteen-sixties, I came across a landscape-format book at my local library in Borehamwood, England, which was called Kriegspiel and written by none other than H G Wells, perhaps some fifty years before. All I can recall of it now was it had many photographs in black and white of Kriegspiel tables and games in progress.
I found it utterly fascinating and took the book out several times. Sadly, none of my fiends were interested or I might have become an avid Kriegspiel player.
David Foster: There seem to be a lot more press releases about things that can *use* hydrogen than about things that can *generate* hydrogen with high energy conversion efficiency AND reasonable capital cost.
Altitude Zero: “What is it we the United States want to do? Now that established, what is it you want the military to do?” These questions will not be asked as long as the PTB are in control, because the answer to the first question, if asked of the American people, would probably be “Run a fairly free, fairly prosperous mercantile republic with a minimum of fuss and bother to the populace” and the answer to the second question would be “Defend sain mercantile republic from...
Altitude Zero: This will never do. The “Environmental Activists” want to get rid of private cars and freedom to travel, not actually cut carbon emissions. Watch them oppose developments like this with all their might, just like they do with nuclear power.
Bob Sykes: And hydrogen magically appears whenever needed.
Freddo: Mining, transportation and agriculture are of course the proper industry sectors for equipment that needs to be highly tuned or it will burn itself out (best case).
Bomag: “Modern society does not care about the future.” Modern society is actively destroying its future. Which is a kind of caring. I guess.
Geopolycule: No, that’s not true. Joseph Davidovits rediscovered Roman Concrete; he calls it Geopolymer, and it doesn’t have the same behavior as modern concrete because it’s made completely differently. Type “geopolymer” on YouTube and rejoice.
Isegoria: I would think that a collapsing concrete structure would have a negative salvage value.
David Foster: Both depreciation calculations and discounted-cash-flow calculations should use realistic estimates of likely building life, but rarely if ever actually do.
Bert: Concerning earthquakes: unreinforced Roman buildings must have been struck by quakes now and then over 20 or so centuries.
AJ Alpha: Concrete and steel have very similar expansion and contraction rates relative to temperature changes. Important for a reinforcement. Not certain about basalt rebar. Reducing the production cost of carbon fiber sufficiently might solve the problem. I knew a concrete expert at NY|NJ Port Authority 30 years ago who had produced an example of concrete with added carbon fiber. The sample one or two millimeters thick x 2 inches x 24”. He’d sit in his office and demonstrate how he could tie it in a...
VXXC: Be that First Principles guy: What is it we the United States want to do? Now that established, what is it you want the military to do? Now that the ends are established let us discuss the resources necessary and costs. The goals should be adjusted to the resources and the methods allowed. Methods: as anything that looks bad in the media results in instant treachery to the soldiers or policemen or spies who do it, they are tossed to the wolves. Which brings us to reality: you ain’t got shit...
Isegoria: Thanks, David. I don’t know how it went awry, but it’s fixed now.
David Foster: Something is messed up with the link.
Jim: The only dilemma is how fledgling colonels and generals can earn their wings once the Pentagon finally pries from the Air Force brass’ cold, stiff, elderly grasp their otherwise-useless Cold-War hardware and its antique mystique. Ninety percent of the alleged F-35′s alleged trillion-dollar budget goes into massless-drive development, nine percent goes into subterranean bases, nine-tenths of one percent buys the finest politicians’ lubricant for the self-licking ice-cream-cone...
Jim: I’m sure I’ll be able to find an unmutated cell chilling out somewhere. Alternatively it’s entirely possible that courtesy of the present global clinical trial I myself will simply live forever. Hail Bourla! Hail Pfizer! *Heel click.*
Harry Jones: That’s not how genetic disorders work. It’s accumulated mutations. If you don’t compensate somehow — such as with interbreeding plus natural selection — they will cause ever increasing problems. A naive approach to eugenics is a recipe for disaster. So is cloning, for the same reason.
Roy in Nipomo: What evidence is there that throwing the money that would be spent on keeping proven, currently fairly adequate planes flying would suddenly fix the problems with the F-35. The promise of cake tomorrow does not feed us today, and today is when we have the need.
Freddo: A literal clone would of course only be as inbred as the original.
Michael van der Riet: Genetics is a crap shoot. Great. There goes the entire discipline of statistics. Heredity isn’t a great predictor for individuals, look at me for example, but it seems to work well in aggregate.
That was really interesting. Thanks for sharing.
As a kid in the early nineteen-sixties, I came across a landscape-format book at my local library in Borehamwood, England, which was called Kriegspiel and written by none other than H G Wells, perhaps some fifty years before. All I can recall of it now was it had many photographs in black and white of Kriegspiel tables and games in progress.
I found it utterly fascinating and took the book out several times. Sadly, none of my fiends were interested or I might have become an avid Kriegspiel player.
Little Wars is the game of kings — for players in an inferior social position.