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dknguyen said:How does a vacuum tube withstand 22kgs? Even an accelerometer that doesn't use vibrating masses (Memsic) only withstands 50kgs. You'd expect the difference between the two to be huge (or maybe a 100% change is huge?)
Pommie said:They probably suspended it on springs or more likely encased it in a rubber block. I thing the g in the original post was gravity.
Mike.
Sounds fascinating. Can you remember what TV program it was?Gaston said:yes i was speaking of gravity. when they started talkin about it i thought to myself " i wonder how they made that without tubes?" then they interveiwed i guy and he said "we didn't even have transistors " and they proceeded to talk about how they had to develope a tube to withstand the forces
I was thinking about this just yesterday, but if I had my choice, I'd choose to be born in the mid-19th century, right on the frontier of computer programming and electronic exploration. And grossly over-engineered machines in all fields. My dad (not that he was around back then!) says things were overbuilt in the 19th century, because the idea back then was that if you're going to build something, you might as well build it to last forever. Not like the xbox 360s of today, which I'm told can barely outlive a 30-day warranty!We think that we have advanced so much but the reality is that most mechanical things are pretty much the same as 50 years ago.
Ah, good to know the killing machines are becoming more environmentally friendly. Seriously, though, thanks for the reference - I'll check that show out.the show was modern marvels. i dont remember the title but I believe it was something like deadliest wepons. they said the timer fuse took an average of 2,000 shells to take down an aircraft, and with the proximity fuse it went down to 400.
Hank Fletcher said:I was thinking about this just yesterday, but if I had my choice, I'd choose to be born in the mid-19th century, right on the frontier of computer programming and electronic exploration. And grossly over-engineered machines in all fields. My dad (not that he was around back then!) says things were overbuilt in the 19th century, because the idea back then was that if you're going to build something, you might as well build it to last forever. Not like the xbox 360s of today, which I'm told can barely outlive a 30-day warranty!
To be fair, that's comparing apples and oranges. What I really want to know is, why aren't we spending more time thinking up crazy stuff for the future now? Just twenty years ago (pre-cellphones-smaller-than-a-breadbox, pre-gameboy) the ubiquitous nature of cellphones, video games, tvs and DVDs like those in cars, and music players the size of thimbles containing more tunes than anyone's entire record collection in the 1980s, seemed unimaginable.
I know that, because I don't remember imagining any of this! Every now and again you hear pundits make a claim that the cellphone, etc, owe their credits to shows like Star Trek. That just makes me think that we should be going all out on our sci-fi of today, so we can have super cool stuff a few years from now. I think we tend to too cynically downplay the power of our collective consciousness - the more we dream and imagine the things we want, and get more specific about what we want those things to be, has a huge impact on what we can eventually accomplish.
As an informal poll, if you could just imagine one thing that you'd want a few years from now, what would it be? Chances are, you're not alone in your desires, and market forces and governments tend to take heed of those kinds of things. I put it to all forum members: what do you want, presuming the imaginable is possible?
Gaston said:a cure for a lot of wretched disease would be nice
Hank Fletcher said:I was thinking about this just yesterday, but if I had my choice, I'd choose to be born in the mid-19th century, right on the frontier of computer programming and electronic exploration. And grossly over-engineered machines in all fields. My dad (not that he was around back then!) says things were overbuilt in the 19th century, because the idea back then was that if you're going to build something, you might as well build it to last forever. Not like the xbox 360s of today, which I'm told can barely outlive a 30-day warranty!
To be fair, that's comparing apples and oranges. What I really want to know is, why aren't we spending more time thinking up crazy stuff for the future now? Just twenty years ago (pre-cellphones-smaller-than-a-breadbox, pre-gameboy) the ubiquitous nature of cellphones, video games, tvs and DVDs like those in cars, and music players the size of thimbles containing more tunes than anyone's entire record collection in the 1980s, seemed unimaginable.
I know that, because I don't remember imagining any of this! Every now and again you hear pundits make a claim that the cellphone, etc, owe their credits to shows like Star Trek. That just makes me think that we should be going all out on our sci-fi of today, so we can have super cool stuff a few years from now. I think we tend to too cynically downplay the power of our collective consciousness - the more we dream and imagine the things we want, and get more specific about what we want those things to be, has a huge impact on what we can eventually accomplish.
As an informal poll, if you could just imagine one thing that you'd want a few years from now, what would it be? Chances are, you're not alone in your desires, and market forces and governments tend to take heed of those kinds of things. I put it to all forum members: what do you want, presuming the imaginable is possible?
Hank Fletcher said:I put it to all forum members: what do you want, presuming the imaginable is possible?
Better take a closer look at modern day automobiles. Between advanced materials, and refined prinicples, they are far different than the old rumble seat clunkers our grandparents drove. And that doesn't include the heavy interface of electronics in them.Pommie said:IWe think that we have advanced so much but the reality is that most mechanical things are pretty much the same as 50 years ago.
Mike.