Hans Moravec’s book Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind.
Telescopes and bathyscapes and sonar probes of Scottish lakes, Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse explained with abstract phase-space maps, some x-ray slides, a music score, Minard’s Napoleonic war: the most exciting new frontier is charting what’s already here.
Trees make babies by dropping tiny wooden tree eggs on the ground.
People often wonder whether we could harvest electrical power from lightning.
As comedian Ron White said about hurricanes, “It’s not that the wind is blowing, it’s what the wind is blowing.
Of the 28 people killed by lightning in the US in 2012, 13 were standing under or near trees.
How much computing power could we could achieve if the entire world population stopped whatever we are doing right now and started doing calculations? How would it compare to a modern-day computer or smartphone?
Could you boil tea if you just stirred it hard enough? No. The first problem is power. The amount of power in question, 700 watts, is about a horsepower, so if you want to boil tea in two minutes, you’ll need at least one horse to stir it hard enough.
Just watch out for salmonella. And the Andromeda Strain.
But I’ve never seen the Icarus story as a lesson about the limitations of humans. I see it as a lesson about the limitations of wax as an adhesive. The cold of Titan is just an engineering problem. With the right refitting, and the right heat sources, a Cessna 172 could fly on Titan – and so could we.
How fast would a human have to run in order to be cut in half at the bellybutton by a cheese-cutting wire? – Jon Merrill.
Heat flow analysis provides a simple rule of thumb: If an unused charger isn’t warm to the touch, it’s using less than a penny of electricity a day. For a small smartphone charger, if it’s not warm to the touch, it’s using less than a penny a year. This is true of almost any powered device.1.
Suppose you’re meeting a friend in an American town that neither of you have been to before. You don’t have a chance to plan a meeting place beforehand. Where do you go?
Our most lasting relic will probably be the layer of plastic we’ve deposited across the planet. By digging up oil, processing it into durable and long-lasting polymers, and spreading it across the Earth’s surface, we’ve left a fingerprint that could outlast everything else we do.
Speed Bump Q. How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? – Myrlin Barber A. Surprisingly fast. First, a disclaimer. After reading this answer, don’t try to drive over speed bumps at high speeds. Here are some reasons: You could hit and kill someone. It can destroy your tires, suspension, and potentially your entire car. Have you read any of the other answers in this book?
Given humanity’s current knowledge and capabilities, is it possible to build a new star?
You might notice that we’re ignoring the pockets of space between the moles. In a moment, you’ll see why.
This quote is often falsely attributed to Mark Twain.
Why don’t we try to destroy tropical cyclones by nuking them?” by Chris Landsea.
We are the zero point nine nine percent!