The Heiwa Challenge 2

[JebKeb]

So, there's this guy named Anders Björkman who is a crazy "engineer" that doesn't understand a darn thing but still continues to blather on uninformedley. He has several "challenges" offering €1,000,000 that look very interesting in a psychological sense to try to complete. I think he'll just say "Y'all be drinkin' the NAXA kool aid about delta g and escape tautology!", but it would still be fun to poke at him with real science.

So, does anyone want to design a moon rocket and space model to show him? I've already drafted up a basic rocket that theoretically works. 

Here is the link to the "challenge".

[YNM]

It seriously depends on whether he "believe" that gravity, with all laws in it, is true. I mean, if he's a flat-earther or at least geocentric as well it'll be hard. How can we even use Newton's gravity if that's the case ?

[Nibb31]

So the guy is offering €1 million to run the rocket equation ?

[KSK]

Looks like it. I think YNM put his finger on the problem though - persuading this guy that the rocket equation is actually valid is going to be the real challenge. Given that the sidebar on his website states that 'humans cannot travel to the Moon' is a proven fact, I think communication rather than physics is the problem here.

[magnemoe]

49 minutes ago, KSK said:

Looks like it. I think YNM put his finger on the problem though - persuading this guy that the rocket equation is actually valid is going to be the real challenge. Given that the sidebar on his website states that 'humans cannot travel to the Moon' is a proven fact, I think communication rather than physics is the problem here.

So he says that the entire space program is an hoax, involving the US, Soviet union, Russia, China, India, EU and Japan the last 50 years
had he offered more the Russians would be happy to put him in orbit and returned him after he paid

[p1t1o]

Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmm......................from the website:

" Terrorists, Holocaust or Holodomor deniers and people having seen and flown in Flying Saucers and UFOs of all kind are also welcome to participate in order to confirm their actions/ideas/services! "

Oh and also this little titbit:

"Any legal disputes will be handled in France. I cannot visit USA today as I am punished by death there (in absentia) having revealed military secrets of no value. It is not funny being punished by death. "

 

For about 50 reasons, I strongly suggest we all forget that the website exists. Like that bit at the end of "sphere".

 

[KSK]

Yeah, I wouldn't even bother poking fun at this guy. I doubt he's going to be satisfied by any high-level rocket design or answer to his challenge, and will keep on requesting more and more details to the point where he either can't or won't understand them. He'll then use that lack of understanding as 'proof' that your design or answer is flawed.

Seriously, I'd bet that a bit of digging through the NASA Apollo archives and/or the plans for Mars Direct would answer his challenge quite handily. If he really wanted to understand this stuff, all the information he needs is out there already. Therefore, the fact that he's offering this challenge at all, suggests to me that he's more interested in pushing his own agenda than a serious answer to his questions.

[p1t1o]

He's not selling a book by any chance....

**edit**

Of course he is. Weirdly, they are not about crazy space theories but crazy...ferry disaster theories?

Also, he doesn't think A-bombs work either. I've got a good way to demonstrate that to him...

 

Anyhoo, Im getting sucked in by the crazy, disconnecting.

Edited June 22, 2016 by p1t1o

[cantab]

I don't believe in giving people like that clicks.

This kind of thing happens from time to time. "I'm so convinced X is impossible I'll give money to anyone who I think proves me wrong." And that kind of person won't admit when they're shown wrong, especially not when they're already wrong.

Case in point, the saga of compressing random data: http://www.patrickcraig.co.uk/other/compression.php

Nobody involved in that is a crank, it's just that the guy making the challenge overlooked a loophole in his 'rules'. That case was resolved pretty amicably, probably because everyone involved knew it was blatant loophole abuse, but it's pretty clear the challenger had no intention of giving up their $5,000.

[RainDreamer]

This is not the first time I hear about this guy. Have anyone verified this is real, like an actual person holding that belief, instead of an elaborate prank by 4chan anon or something?

[YNM]

2 hours ago, KSK said:

Looks like it. I think YNM put his finger on the problem though - persuading this guy that the rocket equation is actually valid is going to be the real challenge. Given that the sidebar on his website states that 'humans cannot travel to the Moon' is a proven fact, I think communication rather than physics is the problem here.

Yep. Because otherwise what you need is KSP with RO/RSS, and KSP-TOT's Mission Planner. Job done.

[cubinator]

4 hours ago, Nibb31 said:

So the guy is offering €1 million to run the rocket equation ?

Yep. 

[Robotengineer]

This guy is an idiot. If you look at the other posts on his website, he attaches the word fake to use about everything. Him on the Falcon 9 booster landings. 

Quote

All 100% fake of course! Imagine a fake helicopter filming the fake rocket landing live on fake TV in the middle of a fake nowhere at sea.

He also believes that atom bombs do not exist. 

Quote

Every single nuclear weapon explosion was the result of photo manipulation and animation, aided by the skills of a tradition of Walt Disney/CalArts-style trained animators and their Soviet counterparts taught to manipulate the truth in secret. 

So really, why are we giving him the attention he so obviously wants?

[p1t1o]

5 hours ago, Nibb31 said:

So the guy is offering €1 million to run the rocket equation ?

 

35 minutes ago, cubinator said:

Yep. 

 

He actually has all of the figures on his website, all of the Apollo 11 figures, for example. But he found that slightly different figures are quoted in different sources (imagine that!) which he says shows they are all fake. He also layers it with a healthy topping of "Its just tooo hard theres no way it could be done." There is a lot of "you have to arrive at position X with velocity Y going in direction Z, and if you don't, you crash." with the implication that this means it must be impossible.

Its all very vague. For example, heatshields don't work. Why? Because they melt, obviously, duuh.

At least he makes a small departure from your run-of-the-mill nutbar in that he's quite insulting about it, which can be refreshing: "You probably suffer from cognitive dissonance..." ;  "Media incl. newspaper chief editors are kindly requested to get psychological assistance..."

 

It must be very frustrating for him to be the only sane person in the world.

 

**edit**

ooooomg....the reason he thinks all atom bombs are fake? Because nuclear weapons only produce pure energy so an explosion should only be a flash of light - so where does all the smoke come from?

And of course (quote) "But you cannot compress an atom or a solid piece of metal by a collision. It just bounces."

 

Someone help me please I cant stop reading it...

 

[PB666]

2 hours ago, p1t1o said:

Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmm......................from the website:

" Terrorists, Holocaust or Holodomor deniers and people having seen and flown in Flying Saucers and UFOs of all kind are also welcome to participate in order to confirm their actions/ideas/services! "

Oh and also this little titbit:

"Any legal disputes will be handled in France. I cannot visit USA today as I am punished by death there (in absentia) having revealed military secrets of no value. It is not funny being punished by death. "

 

For about 50 reasons, I strongly suggest we all forget that the website exists. Like that bit at the end of "sphere".

Oh, this one is fresh, alright. Gavia neticus. 

[Plusck]

1 minute ago, p1t1o said:

Someone help me please I cant stop reading it...

Too late for me - I just wasted about 2 hours on the site due to its infectiousness.

There are a few things he just doesn't get though:

- gravity: he seems to think that if you're on a highly elliptic orbit, you'll suffer crushing forces accelerating you at the tight end of the orbit. He also seems to think that if you leave Earth going a touch slower than Earth's orbital speed, you'll "spiral into the sun and crash": therefore he doesn't understand how gravity and orbits work (despite having all the numbers) and will never accept any kind of proof to the contrary.

- drag: he doesn't understand that since drag is the square of velocity, the vertical component of drag (slowing vertical acceleration to less than 9.81m/s) will be higher as horizontal velocity increases. He's hung up on the "bullet dropping at same speed whether fired or dropped" fallacy.

- computer navigation: he simply refuses to believe that a computer can be programmed to guide things accurately.

[cubinator]

Don't waste your time with this guy. He's too deep in his predetermined beliefs to take anyone seriously. For at least the third time, take this xkcd conspiracy medicine:

This guy is not a senator. There is nothing bad he can do to you, and nothing good either. Close the tab, take a deep breath, and go watch the Earth drift by. 

[p1t1o]

25 minutes ago, Plusck said:

<snip>

I wanted to add a few more things to the list, but they all turned out to be variations of "He believes this trash because he believes this trash because he believes this trash etc..." and there's only so much mileage you can get out of that.

He makes much more sense as a living entity if you consider him a religious nut, and his religion is his own personal science. Like a one-man religion.

At times I wonder if I am being too harsh or closed-minded, then you see him use words like " asstronuthole " and feel better about the whole thing.

 

6 minutes ago, cubinator said:

Close the tab, take a deep breath, and go watch the Earth drift by. 

Good. Advice.

He is fascinating though, I wanna follow him around for a day, see what gets up to, see how he survives...

Edited June 22, 2016 by p1t1o

[YNM]

56 minutes ago, p1t1o said:

He is fascinating though, I wanna follow him around for a day, see what gets up to, see how he survives...

The identity is fully fake though. Googling on the corporation results in a few unrelated results, two prominent : gambling machine industry and automotive. The name refers to some local swedish athlete in skiing.

This guy is just soo fake that his existence is ALSO fake.

[Dartguy]

His username is Heiwaco  as in Hey Waco.  My honest opinion is that he is just making all of his BS up to draw attention to his site and book.  I read about him a few years ago and read through a huge forum thread where he argued to no end about his garbage with many people that were experts, as in engineers and others that actually worked in the space program.  He is just trolling and he can't believe in the crap he spouts.

[Xorth Tanovar]

6 hours ago, p1t1o said:

Also, he doesn't think A-bombs work either. I've got a good way to demonstrate that to him...

 

Hell, if his claim were true about being "punishable by death" were true, then the entire staff of Analog Magazine would have been in front of a firing squad back in 1979.

 

They ran an article, complete with plans, entitled "Build your own A-Bomb and Wake up the Neighborhood". What they left as an exercise to the reader was exactly how to obtain 16 pounds of U-235...

 

 

Edited June 22, 2016 by Xorth Tanovar

[p1t1o]

1 hour ago, YNM said:

The identity is fully fake though. Googling on the corporation results in a few unrelated results, two prominent : gambling machine industry and automotive. The name refers to some local swedish athlete in skiing.

This guy is just soo fake that his existence is ALSO fake.

Some sign of communication with the...entity. I think someone tried to claim the prize, possibly even using KSP. (hint: you already know how the exchange goes):

https://www.theflatearthsociety.org/forum/index.php?topic=62555.3965;wap2

 

[Findthepin1]

7 hours ago, cantab said:

I don't believe in giving people like that clicks.

This kind of thing happens from time to time. "I'm so convinced X is impossible I'll give money to anyone who I think proves me wrong." And that kind of person won't admit when they're shown wrong, especially not when they're already wrong.

Case in point, the saga of compressing random data: http://www.patrickcraig.co.uk/other/compression.php

Nobody involved in that is a crank, it's just that the guy making the challenge overlooked a loophole in his 'rules'. That case was resolved pretty amicably, probably because everyone involved knew it was blatant loophole abuse, but it's pretty clear the challenger had no intention of giving up their $5,000.

Now that I've read that I've realized I have no idea how file compression works. Any explanations?

[Shpaget]

Basically, a compression algorithm looks for repetition and patterns. Then it stores a copy of a word, phrase, sentence, paragraph... that is repeated multiple times and replaces that entire sequence with just a small marker indicating where this section goes. The marker uses less space than entire sentence.

Example:

I like gummy bears. My favorite gummy bears are Haribo. Some gummy bears are not so good so I don't like them.

A compressed file would look something like this:

I 1 2. My favorite 2 3 Haribo. Some 2 3 not so good so I don't 1 them.

Then you have a list of replaced sections, something like:

1 like
2 gummy bears
3 like

If the text is long, the savings can be quite high.

Image compression is a bit more complex, but still works on same principle - repeating patterns. In lossy compression, neighboring, slightly different pixels can be compressed as identical. This way some data is lost and the original image can not be reproduced from the compressed one.

Then there is lossless compression...

[magnemoe]

4 minutes ago, Shpaget said:

Basically, a compression algorithm looks for repetition and patterns. Then it stores a copy of a word, phrase, sentence, paragraph... that is repeated multiple times and replaces that entire sequence with just a small marker indicating where this section goes. The marker uses less space than entire sentence.

Example:

I like gummy bears. My favorite gummy bears are Haribo. Some gummy bears are not so good so I don't like them.

A compressed file would look something like this:

I 1 2. My favorite 2 3 Haribo. Some 2 3 not so good so I don't 1 them.

Then you have a list of replaced sections, something like:

1 like
2 gummy bears
3 like

If the text is long, the savings can be quite high.

Image compression is a bit more complex, but still works on same principle - repeating patterns. In lossy compression, neighboring, slightly different pixels can be compressed as identical. This way some data is lost and the original image can not be reproduced from the compressed one.

Then there is lossless compression...

This, note that sound is hard to compress lossless images of space is mostly black and easy. 
An compression with loss will win over reducing frame rate and resolution in quality for an set bandwith, this get better as resolution increases. 
An serious weakness with compression with loss is that its pretty analogue, saving and reopening an jpg file will reduce quality same as coping an song on an cassette many times.