WestAir

I'm saying those gases are not part of the Earths exosphere or atmosphere. Earths gravitational influence for loose particles extends to about halfway between the Earth and the Moon. Above that, solar radiation pressure on atomic hydrogen exceeds that of the Earth’s gravitational pull. I never argued the point that it did. The OP did.

But there is a point where it does become zero. Unless you're saying we'll detect traces of our atmosphere over Pluto, or Andromeda. Eventually it ends because everything does. That is the one constant of our Universe. The Karman Line is a very unrealistic measure of that point, however.

What the OP is asking is: If gravitons exist, and gravitons propagate at C, wouldn't a graviton need to travel faster than C to deliver the information of the singularity to the outside universe? If gravity propagates at C, and the curvature of space-time is bent in such a way that gravity must propagate faster than C to reach objects away from the singularity, how does that not violate causality? It's certainly an enticing query. Everything I've read on singularities suggest that within the event horizon, space-time is bent in such a way that all vectors lead towards the singularity. How then does gravity find a vector back to normal space? The answer could simply be that gravity isn't affected by spacetime, that gravity isn't affected by its own force, or that gravity isn't transmitting any information at all. I've always wondered if this meant gravity could be used for FTL communication. Photons stand still at the event horizon - gravity does not.

Technically they were Squid.

I was told that, and someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I was told that the moon has these random pockets of intense gravity. Pockets strong enough to force any orbiting station to constantly burn fuel to repair its orbit, making the moon a terrible location for a space station. I think I read that on wikipedia.

What's the largest Stanford Torus we can construct before the structure fails under the stress of a 1G environment?

That's why the speed of light is better for us than FTL travel. At 2x the speed of light it will take forever to get anywhere, but with the limit of C, we can travel to distant galaxies in hours with proper (unrealistic, but that's beside the point) acceleration.

Do two objects make a ring or a pair of moons? At what point does it change?

I'd put it in a box and mail it to some random person.

One day, everything we've ever built or loved: including our cities, the Earth, and even humanity itself, with be destroyed by the growing Sun.

Muchas gracias senor. My mistake. Rofl. I stand corrected.

Let's be absolutely clear here: 1GJ of Microwave radiation will burn you, set you on fire, and kill you through thermal effects. 1 GJ of Gamma radiation will tear you apart. The argument becomes mute at that point, because we're no longer talking about the invisible effects of radiation (I.E, cancer risk). Non-ionizing radiation at the levels used in commercial products do not set you on fire. They also don't knock atoms out of your molecules and give you cancer. Ionizing radiation however, like those from medical x-rays, can. This isn't a discussion of apples and oranges, it's bananas and laptops. Ionizing radiation is certainly more dangerous than non-ionizing radiation, and for you to suggest otherwise because 1 GJ of microwaves will kill you is to overlook the point here.

0. Laptops don't emit ionizing radiation.

As long as the fluid medium being traveled has pressure then there is a speed for which an airfoils lift will overcome weight. I'm not certain how that works on a craft with no weight to overcome, however.

Some of you are talented in mathematics and science, which is great for answering this random question that popped into my head: How fast would you have to be traveling in a dense Stellar Nursery or Nebula to achieve lift in a generic aircraft? Due to the obvious lack of gravity, would this mean that a rocket with wings would eventually reach a point where it must fire its thrusters nearly perpendicular to its direction of travel to move "forward"? Much appreciated to anyone who can do the math or who has knowledge of both aeronautical science and astronomy.

What happens, when the day comes, when an AI is given a position of power? Let's say, just playing complete and total make-believe here, that the Swiss Confederation decides to appoint an advanced, sentient AI like Data from Star Trek to its Judicial Court. If that's okay, then what about one becoming, say, CEO of Microsoft? Secretary of Defense? President? Is there a line that *should* be drawn, or is it fair game for all individuals - human or AI?

How do you harvest from a Neutron Star without the equipment becoming part of the star? Hurl a high-speed missile at it then collect the jettisoned, escaping particles?

I think you're being overly aggressive when dissecting the authors intent. The author was being sensational, and exaggerating, but in a world where you can easily find people who believe microwaves actually do emit crazy nuclear radiation, how could you not write an article on radiation without having fun with it? I took the authors work here as a tongue-in-cheek informative piece, rather than an uneducated work of ignorance. Even if I'm wrong, it's certainly not inviting of such grossly aggressive critique.

No, but some of them do ironically operate pulse doppler radar equipment. While the ARINC 708 isn't nearly as dangerous as the cosmic background, it's still an ironic face-palm when someone says they're okay with it, but not okay with the exact same technology used elsewhere. Peoples irrational fears kill me inside.

I work in an environment where I (apparently) do get an occupational dose of ionizing radiation. My co workers that work with me travel often, and a lot of them complain about the radiation from TSA's millimeter wave body scanners. The most face-palming story concerning this was a person who I overheard say "TSA is safe from the radiation because they're wearing latex gloves." To add insult to injury, this person boarded my plane and got a lovely 0.05 millisieverts for the flight, compared to the 0.00 from the body scanner.

I would recommend two satellites. One for data storage, one for data collection. The satellite for data collection simply can't last as long as the satellite for data storage because collection requires moving parts, power consumption, and a certain type of mobility. These things prohibit you from making perfect hard shells and protecting internal contents.

What happens if we're hit by a fist-sized ball of iron going at similar velocities to the Oh-My-God-Particle?

I think what K^2 is saying is that a change to the suns velocity will propagate along its gravity field at C. If the sun were to suddenly STOP moving, relative to the Galactic Disc, the information that it had stopped will propagate through its field of influence at C. Otherwise, all objects will assume its velocity has been constant and will orbit its current location. From an outsiders perspective this would look like gravity propagated instantly, rather than at C, because they'd always orbit where the Sun is rather than where it was x minutes ago.

Not only that, it would orbit where the sun SHOULD be were it not to disappear, as if its velocity had remained constant.

I've asked this question before (How does a Black Hole transmit gravitons to objects outside the event horizon when it must accelerate past C to do so) and the answer was pretty unfullfilling. Either gravitons are allowed to violate causality, or our theory on gravity just isn't good enough to answer such a question.