For Questions That Don't Merit Their Own Thread

[Jacke]

1 hour ago, SOXBLOX said:

Huh. F-16s will be able to update their EW systems in flight. This, and the DoD wants AI that can predict and adapt to enemies' moves...

Perhaps take a look at this site.

https://www.aimyths.org/

[ARS]

Is there a formula to estimate the size of an asteroid and it's impact force in megaton based solely on the crater size it creates? For example, in an extinction-level event crater with the size of 420,000 m in diameter and 15,000 m in depth, (I pulled this number from a movie btw) how large the asteroid and it's impact force is?

[Jacke]

16 minutes ago, ARS said:

Is there a formula to estimate the size of an asteroid and it's impact force in megaton based solely on the crater size it creates? For example, in an extinction-level event crater with the size of 420,000 m in diameter and 15,000 m in depth, (I pulled this number from a movie btw) how large the asteroid and it's impact force is?

https://impact.ese.ic.ac.uk/ImpactEarth/

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

2 hours ago, Jacke said:

Perhaps take a look at this site.

https://www.aimyths.org/

I followed that link and now I get spammed by some guy who wants to play me at Tic-Tac-Toe...

[SOXBLOX]

3 hours ago, Jacke said:

Perhaps take a look at this site.

Interesting, but whaddaboutit?

[kerbiloid]

6 hours ago, SOXBLOX said:

Huh. F-16s will be able to update their EW systems in flight. This, and the DoD wants AI that can predict and adapt to enemies' moves...

Remind anyone of these guys?

Reminds of the old joke story of the Second Gulf War times.

Not really a politics (after "Top Gun", lol), but of course, the mods decide.

(google-translated and partially manually corrected)

Spoiler

Windows on a fighter

04/01/2002, 4:30 am. Saudi Arabia. United States Air Force Base.

Lieutenant John Falcon waved his comrades for the last time and climbed into the cockpit.
He was full of pride. Still, he was entrusted with such an honor! He learned about this from General Break, who said:

“You have been entrusted with a great honor, Lieutenant. You will make your first combat mission in the state-of-the-art top-secret F-22M aircraft."

"M" means "modified"? - said Falcon.

“M stands for Microsoft,” the general replied. - The plane has been completely re-equipped by these guys. They assure that now any idiot can carry out combat missions. But we chose you for the first time as one of our best pilots. You will have to destroy the Iraqi nuclear center."

“You can send your condolences to Saddam now, sir,” Falcon replied.

The lieutenant as usual snapped the belts and only then noticed that the dashboard was noticeably different from the standard one.
There were fewer devices, but a two-button mouse, for some reason metal, rested in the vacant place.
Falcon shrugged and switched on the general power supply.

On the transparent frontal screen, against the background of the sky with rare clouds opening from the cockpit, the inscription appeared: "Microsoft Winwars 2002".
Then the engines started working by themselves, and the flaps lowered into the takeoff position.

"Congratulations on your purchase of Winwars 2002!" - said the screen. - "Now the war will become much more convenient, your kill rate will decrease, and the defeat of targets will increase! Tip of the day: Lower the landing gear before landing."

"Eagle-1, take-off is cleared", - rang out in the headset.

“I haven't asked for it yet,” said Falcon.

“You don’t need it. Plug "n" Play, ”explained ground control.

The plane, rapidly gaining speed, rushed along the runway and was soon in the air.

"Now Winwars 2002 will install your ammunition on the selected target", - said the system. - "Selected target: Iraqi nuclear center."

For fun, Falcon clicked on the "edit" button and saw a long list, which, among other objects around the world, featured the White House and the base from which he had just flown.
Falcon hurriedly pressed "Cancel".

"Select the type of installation:
Minimum - only bombs will be dropped on the object,
Normal - bombs and missiles will be dropped on the object,
Full - the entire aircraft will be dropped onto the object."

By default, the system offered the second option, and Falcon, glancing cautiously at the third, decided not to argue with her.

"The performance of your machine will now be tested. Close your eyes to avoid injury when changing modes."

Engines roared at the afterburner, and Falcon's eyes really nearly jumped out of their orbits from the monstrous overload.
A real hell began: the plane was thrown in all directions, it broke into a steep dive and laid inconceivable turns ...
Finally, the lieutenant came to his senses; the darkness before his eyes dissipated, and he saw how the mouse, dangling all over the cabin, fell back into place.

"You are using a Lockheed F-22 with two Pratt-Whitney engines." , the system said calmly. - "Maximum speed 1451 miles per hour. Advice of the day: do not increase the turbine clock speed above the value specified by the manufacturer. Estimated installation time - 0:34:16. "

 

The same day, 4:52. The sky over Iraq.

A blue percentage bar crept slowly at the bottom of the screen.
The system, meanwhile, advertised Winwars for tanks, submarines, and marines, and promised everyone who purchased the aircraft version a free Kamikaze 1.01 applet.
The change of pictures made Falcon sleepy; the sound of a buzzer brought him out of his drowsy state. There was a green dot on the radar.

"New device discovered: enemy plane!" - the system reported happily.

Falcon wanted to perform a standard combat turn, but then he noticed the "Delete" button and clicked on it with the mouse.

"Are you sure you want to delete the enemy plane?", - the system inquired suspiciously.
"Still would!" - Falcon clicked "Yes" and the Iraqi fighter jet disappeared from the radar. - "So fast?" - the lieutenant was surprised. - "Well, Microsoft gives!"

He even respectfully studied the Winwars advertisement for disabled pilots that appeared on the screen, but he was distracted from this activity by a rocket flying over the cockpit itself.
Falcon turned in bewilderment and saw an Iraqi interceptor.

"What are you, your mother ..." - exclaimed Falcon and only then saw that a drawn tail of an airplane was sticking out of an inconspicuous RecycleBin icon in the corner of the screen.
The lieutenant fiercely clicked on the icon and pressed clear.

"Are you sure you want to physically remove the enemy aircraft? Its restoration will be impossible", - the system warned.

"YES!" - Falcon barked, pounding the mouse.

A Sidewinder escaped from under the wing and, leaving a white fluffy trail, rushed towards the interceptor.
A flash of explosion flashed, and the burning debris of the enemy vehicle flew to the ground.
However, it was too early to calm down. A booming sound warned of a new danger.

"New device discovered: surface-to-air missile!" - told the system and fell into thoughtfulness.

Falcon pounded on the mouse in vain as he watched the ominous dot creep towards the center of the radar.
Finally, the system came out of its stupor:
"I cannot find a driver for this device. Insert the driver disc and click "OK".

With a curse, Falcon pressed "Search".
“Closest match: hand grenades,” - the system pleased him. - "Apply?"

Falcon jerked the handle aside in an anti-missile maneuver.
Too late. The plane shuddered from the explosion.
With some difficulty bringing the damaged vehicle out of the dive, the pilot clicked on the "System" button.
Under the "Left Wing" caption there were yellow triangular signs with exclamation marks "Aileron" and "Flap", but otherwise it got off cheap.
The blue bar, which continued to crawl below, showed already 82%, and he still had a chance to complete the task.

The radar showed two more enemy planes, but they climbed from behind and Falcon was not particularly bothered.
He knew that this Iraqi junk simply would not catch up with his super-fast F-22.
However, the planes were approaching. Falcon looked at the speedometer in bewilderment and realized that his speed was rapidly dropping.

"What the hell?!" - the lieutenant exclaimed. - "The engines are in order, and the fuel is full!"

The screen, meanwhile, began to blink fiercely with the image of the hourglass.
The instrument hands moved in short jerks, freezing in one position for a long time.

“Not enough free memory”, - the system condescended to explain. - "Unload unnecessary tasks."

Falcon called up the menu, trying to figure out what the names like winppl or v666apl mean and which ones are superfluous.

Meanwhile, the engines almost stopped, the speed dropped to critical: just a little more and the plane will crash down.
Stunned by such tactics of air combat, the Iraqis whizzed past, one to the left, the other to the right, and, without leaving the stupor, collided in front of Falcon.

The lieutenant, meanwhile, found the line "Tracking the enemy" in the list, next to which in parentheses read: "[Does not answer]", and pressed "OK".
The radar screen went out, but the plane began to pick up speed again. The blue bar was showing 99% already ... and finally 100%.

Falcon stared at the ground in bewilderment: the desert below did not at all resemble the satellite photographs of the nuclear center he had studied.

It seemed that the system also understood this, because after the number 100%, 101 appeared ... then 102 ...

On 106 the screen was filled with blue, and the inscription appeared:
"Error 000000e caused by the VXD0000 (0) module from the VXD0000 (0) module It is possible to continue the flight normally. You can press Eject to eject, or any other key to continue. Note: If you eject, you will lose all unsaved aircraft."

So far, Falcon was not going to catapult, especially since the nuclear center finally appeared ahead.
Realizing that Microsoft was no longer worth relying on, the lieutenant prepared to carry out the bombing by hand.

He steered the plane down, waiting for the guidance system mark to overlap the target.
There is! Falcon pressed the button.

Something rasped and a new message popped up:
"The bomb bay performed an illegal operation and will be closed."

With a curse, Falcon pulled the handle towards himself to steer the plane up again.
But the plane continued to descend rapidly.

The lieutenant frantically rummaged through the menus with his mouse, looking for the reason.
"The joystick is not detected," - he read at last.

Realizing that only a restart can return the system to a working state, Falcon turned off and turned on the power of the console.
“The last flight was not completed correctly”, - the system informed him. - "Press any key to start checking the integrity of the aircraft."

"To hell!" - Falcon barked, pressing "Cancel".

Introduced the Winwars 2002 splash screen; the system slowly started to boot.
Only a few hundred meters remained to the ground.

“The system is booted in safe mode”, - the screen finally said. - "In this mode, the flight and weapon functions are disabled, you can only taxi around the airfield."

Realizing that he had no time to do anything else, Falcon blasted "Eject", expecting that the cockpit cap would now be shot off, and then a mighty blow from below would throw it into the air.

But instead, another question appeared on the screen:
"Are you sure you really want to eject?"
"YES !!!" - Falcon yelled heart-rendingly, looking at the rushing earth.
"Wait, preparations are underway for the bailout", - the system calmly informed and plunged into thoughtfulness ...

 

2.04.2002, 13:20. Baghdad. Saddam Hussein's palace.

"Thus", - the general cheerfully reported, - "thanks to the selfless efforts of our pilots, who entered into an unequal battle with the American aggressor, it was possible to defend the safety of the nuclear center, and the newest secret enemy aircraft was destroyed ..."
"Yes?" - the heavy gaze of the dictator rested on the face of the speaker, and he hastily lowered his gaze. - "Indeed, unequal. Three against one, and their happiness that they did not survive, because he still flew to the center. If the center was saved, it was only the mercy of Allah."

The general broke out in a cold sweat. He understood that now no mercy of Allah would save him.
“You have 30 seconds to justify yourself”, - Saddam said lazily.
"Here!" - the general exclaimed, removing a shiny CD from a sealed container. - "It was found among the wreckage of the plane. The pinnacle of American computer technology! The latest combat equipment control programs!"

“Well, you have a small chance”, - the dictator leaned back in his chair. - "In three weeks it should be installed on all combat vehicles of our army".
"It will be done, Mr. President!" - exclaimed the general ...

Three weeks and one day later, Iraq surrendered unconditionally.

 

[Jacke]

2 hours ago, SOXBLOX said:

Interesting, but whaddaboutit?

Play with that site and it''ll give you your answers.

[SOXBLOX]

1 hour ago, Jacke said:

Play with that site and it''ll give you your answers.

Here is what I was talking about. Skimming, I don't see anything on the AI myths website about that. In fact, the whole thing seems like it's possible, and it's got backing from all over the DoD. It ties in nicely with Skyborg and NEMESIS as well.

But I'll keep looking... *shrugs*

Edited August 3, 2021 by SOXBLOX

[DDE]

20 hours ago, SOXBLOX said:

Huh. F-16s will be able to update their EW systems in flight. This, and the DoD wants AI that can predict and adapt to enemies' moves...

Remind anyone of these guys?

18 hours ago, Jacke said:

Perhaps take a look at this site.

https://www.aimyths.org/

The more I actually deal with AI, the less I can imagine it gaining any sort of agency... or to be able to rliably solve a problem in a complex environment.

And that's before someone starts dropping logic bombs via EW systems.

[MKI]

5 hours ago, DDE said:

in a complex environment.

This is where AI will be questionably useful, and keep being that way for the foreseeable future. If the problem domain is too large it just wont be able to do much, or provide much help. However, using it for a more specific problems might have merits. Such as scanning large amounts of satellite data for discrepancies to help understand troop movement. 

 

 

[kerbiloid]

The longer I know the humans, the more I believe in AI.

They tend to overestimate their NI so much...

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

Always underestimating the humans.  NI has never been their strong point, but their SI allowed them to conquer all biomes 

[kerbiloid]

That's while cats are holding them under control by the feline midichlorian, the toxoplasma

Before the cats adopted humans, the latter were able to literally nothing. Once it happened 10k years ago, the civilisation immediately began.

Edited August 4, 2021 by kerbiloid

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

This is interesting (thermoelectric) 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/phys.org/news/2019-11-material-world-electricity.amp

 

And a new advance that is supposed to be cheap 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.interestingengineering.com/engineers-develop-highly-efficient-material-that-converts-waste-heat-into-energy

Edited August 4, 2021 by JoeSchmuckatelli

[K^2]

12 minutes ago, JoeSchmuckatelli said:

This is interesting (thermoelectric) 

This is starting to approach efficiency of industrial steam turbines. Not bad.

[magnemoe]

22 hours ago, MKI said:

This is where AI will be questionably useful, and keep being that way for the foreseeable future. If the problem domain is too large it just wont be able to do much, or provide much help. However, using it for a more specific problems might have merits. Such as scanning large amounts of satellite data for discrepancies to help understand troop movement. 

I agree, its seems it would be pretty easy to troll AI to do that you want, yes this will get patches in days but if your have resources you can find new traps. 
Warfare is the most obvious here and AI also get serious issues with jamming. But guess some will get very rich trolling stock brooking AI, creating an AI panic sell reaction on solid stocks. buy cheap and profit. 
Guess people will also troll self driving cars just for fun like putting up fake road signs or markings.

[MKI]

4 minutes ago, magnemoe said:

AI also get serious issues with jamming.

 

4 minutes ago, magnemoe said:

trolling stock brooking AI, creating an AI panic sell reaction on solid stocks. buy cheap and profit. 
Guess people will also troll self driving cars just for fun like putting up fake road signs or markings.

There have been documented cases where the stock market "drops" nearly instantly due to some form of "trolling/fake-out", like hacking the US presidents twitter account, posting a purposely designed tweet to send the stock market diving for a spit second before recovering. But this requires access to some kind of leverage that isn't easily gained. 

If your a criminal, it is actually easier to fool fellow humans than try to fool AI. There's also a large influx of humans ready to exploit.

Fake road signs could fool real people too, so I wouldn't call it jamming, just attempts at faking/fooling.

Its worth mentioning that a well trained AI within its problem domain can perform better than a human in many cases, or to help mitigate issues with an AI system, you can give it more input than a human to help it make decisions. This is why airline pilots usually let the machine do its job at landing during low visibility weather and no one bats an eye. Its also one area where self-driving cars currently excel at. You have 2 eyes, but your car can have 25+ high def cameras, range finders, lidar and radar. Putting them all together and you get a safer system than the average driver. (yes this is right now)

 

 

[kerbiloid]

A thin wireless GoPro diadem  on the forehead together with a pair of wireless contact lenses with displays will bring all of you into the brave new world of augmented reality, where your best friend Persie (Persistent Personal Advisor) will google and wiki for you in advance, explain you what are you looking at and who is that human, remind you of classes and meetings, scan and remember your working documents, show you what to say when the boss asks, and do a lot of other handy and pretty things.

Spoiler

 

Of course, it will use an AI to analyze that to help you every moment.
Obviously, it will learn your reactions and ask questions, and modify its coefficients.
Of course, it will exchange with other AIs in a cloud (watch CyberBride, they can!) and their progress will grow exponentially.
Obviously, it won't have its own will, needs, and motivations, just following its algorithms at your will.

A year later you won't distinguish, where is your thought, and where is an AI's one, and whether you had a talk verbally, or did that by wi-fi.

Of course, you can futilely resist and try to switch TV channels by a remote control.
(Oops, where is it? Where's the remote control? Where is the TV itself? None. All is in your headset, just put it on, little brat.)

Of course, you can mumble something self-thought, making the CEO getting more and more bored, while that jerk at the next table on the next Zoom window is presenting full and clear report which he is just reading from the contact lenses, while the AI generates for him what to read).
But the CEO won't give a luck about your individual intellect, he just needs a report and an analyzis right now, and doesn't care if your intellect is natural-smartural or artificial-schmartificial, you will explain this later to your wife, who also needs your money rather than excuses.

... Oh, sorry! You are just a road worker and don't need those office games.
Then why do you not follow the brigadier instructions he had shown with arrows on the augmented street view?
Should he draw a personal paper plan for every of his Twelve Monkeys, or you should wear the headset and watch what your advisor displays?

Try to stop using a phone right now, and they will look at you strangely.

When your kids will ask you a question, they won't wait for your return from the library, they will ask their own advisors and have no need in your answers.
So, hurry up, ask yours first, to look smart and wise for them.

Then a road police stops your car because you missed a virtual road sign or a road works warning, clearly visible in your headset. And explain them why did you not listen your advisor warnings.

Wait... Were you driving without correction lenses? Read that caption on the other side of the road. You can't? You can't buy any glasses anymore as no eye optics is produced anymore? Only your headset lenses can provide your vision with clear picture, and you don't want to wear them? You are a volunteered mass killah! Shame to be like you!

So, either get away to the luddite reservation, or accept the friendship of your AI advisor.
No excuses needed, it's always happy to see you as a friend and requires nothing in return. It doesn't take, only gives.

So, a little more progress in electronics to make the headsets discreet and to place the 5G stations everywhere, and the world will get so augmented that you will loose the blurry borders between your own intellect and the artificial one.

Then your children keep cheating every time in school, using their AI advices instead of learning grammar and remembering the year of battle between Gizmo The Great and Bimbo The Wise at Smellywaters.
And you can't be sure if they do so, as it takes a second for them to receive a prepared AI answer, and you don't have a paperbook, too.
The teacher can't do this, too, but he anyway gets paid and doesn't care.

Your grandkids will born and grow in the already AI-augmented world created before your kids' eyes, and your talks about your childhood mammoth hunting only enforce their faith that the AI augmentation is the only right and bright way to escape from the darkness of their mad granny's native horror.

Edited August 5, 2021 by kerbiloid

[DDE]

10 hours ago, MKI said:

There have been documented cases where the stock market "drops" nearly instantly due to some form of "trolling/fake-out", like hacking the US presidents twitter account, posting a purposely designed tweet to send the stock market diving for a spit second before recovering. But this requires access to some kind of leverage that isn't easily gained. 

If only. It appears that trading algos can set off feedback cycles with ridiculous ease.

https://archive.md/hoD01

https://archive.md/Y7gQ

And now to my own question:

Most modern indirect-fire guns are rifled.

Then how do they handle these?

Spoiler

 

These doesn't seem to think spinning is a good trick 

[kerbiloid]

48 minutes ago, DDE said:

Most modern indirect-fire guns are rifled.

Then how do they handle these?

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Краснополь_(управляемый_снаряд)#Описание

[DDE]

3 hours ago, kerbiloid said:

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Краснополь_(управляемый_снаряд)#Описание

So, a slip ring, huh? I've heard of them being used for HEAT rounds in tank guns.

Frankly I was wondering whether a long-range artillery piece designed primarily for guided rounds should even need rifling; the conclusion that it doesn't felt a bit too obvious in the face of recent procurement.

 

[kerbiloid]

1 hour ago, DDE said:

Frankly I was wondering whether a long-range artillery piece designed primarily for guided rounds should even need rifling; the conclusion that it doesn't felt a bit too obvious in the face of recent procurement.

Probably it doesn't, unless it uses the rotation to seek the aim, like a anti-tank bomblet with dynamically created penetrator.

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

59 minutes ago, DDE said:

whether a long-range artillery piece designed primarily for guided rounds should even need rifling 

A purpose built guided launcher might be built smooth bore to better service the rounds - but most artillery is operated as an area effect weapon, rather than a point target, and thus cheap spin stabilized rounds are fine.  So a multi purpose gun is likely to be rifled to send the cheap stuff - meaning the expensive guided round needs to be a little more expensive to compensate. 

Offering the expensive stuff gives the GP arty a bit more flexibility - and while they're talking about increased range, the big benefits are reduced collateral damage when aiming at bad guys using civilian areas as cover 

[JoeSchmuckatelli]

@DDE - as an aside, while the Western press loves to tout some new capability or another... When it comes to Artillery, RU leads the way.

If you want to see what is capable - they have some really impressive systems that the US and et.al. are just trying to keep up with 

(largely due to how each 'side' views the efficacy and purpose of arty in the respective order of battle - which drives investment and procurement) 

*I suspect you are already aware of this - but it's worth acknowledging the leader in the field

Edited August 5, 2021 by JoeSchmuckatelli

[cubinator]

On 8/2/2021 at 6:53 PM, ARS said:

Is there a formula to estimate the size of an asteroid and it's impact force in megaton based solely on the crater size it creates? For example, in an extinction-level event crater with the size of 420,000 m in diameter and 15,000 m in depth, (I pulled this number from a movie btw) how large the asteroid and it's impact force is?

If I recall from astrophysics class, the asteroid is typically about 1/10 as wide as the crater it makes. So a 420 km crater would be made by a 42 km asteroid, or perhaps a bit smaller one that was travelling unusually fast.

From there you can take the density of common asteroid materials and the typical velocity around 30 km/s to figure out the kinetic energy.