npts2020

Dang. I just spent parts of the last 30 or so years learning about time, now I am supposed to forget about it. I am still skeptical and would like to see more of the mathmatics but it is very interesting.

The real problem is how to cultivate altruism in young people who are expected to learn to compete in a system where self interest reigns supreme.

In a society where a large number of citizens occupy their time with gossip and trivialities I fail to see how you get an informed electorate. Ever watch J-walking with Jay Leno on the Tonight Show? Unfortunately the people he asks questions are not that atypical of the population at large.

Or more likely just skip college altogether. Do we want that number of people skipping education altogether?

What we are discussing in this thread, the control system, is pretty much the only technical obstacle remaining for automating highways and railroads. My contention is that we already have the technology, it just hasn't been used for this particular application. The automated systems being built and existing now (I'm thinking Heathrow Airport and Morgantown, W. Va.) are interesting but IMO will never be practical, as they are, on a large scale. Neither system is likely to ever achieve the speeds I would like to see on a national transit system, the vehicles on both are unnecessarily large for personal transit, and I find it hard to believe that either system would be able to handle the volume required (single tracks), if the vast majority of travellers use it, without major modification. My quest is to figure out the best way to modify those current systems for widespread application.

Personally I think a series of Palin/Obama debates would be very interesting, if not particularly enlightening.

MrSkeptic: What happens when everyone is allowed to go to any school but the school tells you, there isn't room at our school for your little Johnny since the facilities are already maxed out or he doesn't seem to fit in with our academic objective for whatever reason? Cap'nRefsmmat: While I would agree that learning is its own reward, it seems to be a depressingly uncommon sentiment as many people seem to actively avoid trying to learn new things unless forced to.

Spending more will not guarantee getting any value out of the spending. How much value did we get out of the past 10-30 years of government spending? In Iraq alone The Guardian says 12 billion dollars in cash was delivered in early last year to Baghdad for distribution, of that money about 8.8 billion of it is unaccounted for. That's a single instance and IMO not unique. This doesn't even account for overcharging, graft, etc. I don't know about you but that would pay all of my taxes for more generations than I am ever likely to see. Unless we have some government-run enterprise, there will always be taxes if we expect to get anything from having a government.

Well the humans on the space shuttle give up control of their vehicle every time they land it and to my knowledge computer difficulty has never been an issue. At any rate it seems unlikely that free driven cars will ever completely go away, even if the government stopped building and maintaining roads for them (e.g. NASCAR). It has only been the last few years that computers have been able to consistently beat the best human players at chess, thereby surpassing the raw computing power of the human brain. This plus the fact that computers have been shown to be much faster than humans for reaction times, makes me skeptical that any human could outperform a well designed machine in avoiding an accident. When one thinks about accidents, I don't think anyone would argue the vast majority of them are caused by distracted or intoxicated drivers (90% sticks in my mind but am not sure how good that figure is). How often would a computer be distracted or intoxicated? Many of the other things that cause accidents should not occur on an automated system. If someone is sabotaging a car they will be caught on camera doing it, if every car has them for an avoidance system of some kind it is a relatively simple matter to also use it as a surveillance camera as well. Carrying an uncovered or unsecured load of any kind should be impossible if the vehicle encloses them. Furthermore, freight would only use the slowest lanes of travel (still more than fast enough to cause a serious accident) and could require inspection, permit, or whatever if the freight is not completely enclosed. If vehicles self monitor performance and are regularly inspected, mechanical failures should almost never happen to the point of causing an accident. Nobody can guarantee that no accident will ever happen but it should be a much rarer occurrance than are major airplane crashes.

One thing seems for sure to me, is that it will never be used as a form of high-speed transportation. Maybe for touring a city or something similar.....

I wish. But even if there was a cure it would probably be too much trouble for most people to follow since it would likely involve changes in diet, exercise, cleanliness habits, etc. rather than just taking a pill.

Isn't this what Americans complain about happening in Iran and other places?

If homosexuality could be "cured" through genetics, why hasn't it happened in the thousands of years it has been around? Do homosexuals propogate in some manner I am un aware of?

Maybe Mr. Obama will audit the DoD himself now that he has a high enough security clearance to view any relevant documents. This is where the vast majority of all of our money goes. IMO much of the secrecy involved is to cover up what is basically ripping off the government.

I don't feel sorry for Joe. The Dems did let him hang around when they needed him tho.

Eventually, it will be like squeezing blood from a rock if a major shift in the economy does not take place. We cannot continue to have petroleum based vehicle production, war, and shady investing as mainstays of our economy without collapse at some point. The problem in my lifetime has not so much been collecting enough taxes, as seeing that those taxes are put to good use. Also consumerism is all well and good but how long can you consume more than you produce? The point is that taxation doesn't really address the underlying causes of our problems. Back to the thread. I look for Rahm Emanuel to be Obama's attack dog when he wants one.

WOW! and I used to think building and flying kites was pretty cool.

waitforufo: It is not easy to accumulate information on this topic, partly because a lot of it is proprietary. One of the ways that the Darpa vehicles dealt with the misidentification problem was to have an array of (optical?) sensors to give better triangulation. One of the differences in the view I have and what you are talking about is that in my scenario the vehicles are basically drones that dont do anything until a central processor tells them what to do. This will allow traffic to be better coordinated. If the system is enclosed only rudimentary avoidance technology will be necessary anyway. RF tags could be embedded in the roof, along with solar panels and wind mills. It unfortunately seems likely that the federal government is the only entity that could ever finance, complete, and take on the liability possibilities of any such project.

If I cure the cold I am catching just before having any of the effects then catch a cold 10 years later, I didn't "cure" it the first time?

iNow: You are welcome. At that price I can even afford to buy it and donate it to our local library.

I am sure nobody on this board can guess (sarcasm) that I think automating the road/rail system in America is the radical change I would like to see. As for the "cured asphalt" highways, you could do it without shutting down the roads for months through prefabrication.

It's not religion per se but certain kinds of religion. I have Unitarian, Methodist, and other very religous friends who are just as appalled. Can we make the next ballot initiative to outlaw Mormons?

JohnB: At least Mr. Obama has spent significant portions of his life in very differing cultures and situations, I think this is what gives many people hope that he will be able to see things from more than one point of view, and maybe take the effect his actions have on others into the decision-making process.

I don't think the generals will let him start another war, look how thin resources are being stretched now.

Maybe the next ballot initiative ought to be to outlaw Mormons?