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 Discussion on answer by Pat W.: What …

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a CVn
Sep 30, 2019 01:48
@KevinWells IANAL, but in such a situation, I don't see how the person "blocking your way down a sidewalk" has anything whatsoever to do with it. The person is pointing a gun at you, and you are responding to that. The fact that you both happen to be on a sidewalk, or that the person who points a gun at you happens to be further along your intended direction of movement, would hopefully be irrelevant in the grand scheme of what is going on.
 

 Discussion on answer by George.Palaci…

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a CVn
Aug 30, 2019 13:09
(That's not to say redundant storage does not have benefits; it absolutely does. Just that it's important to be aware of the limitations of whichever approach one takes to ensuring storage uptime.)
a CVn
Aug 30, 2019 13:09
@peterh "Raid5 requires the failure of TWO disks to fail, Raid0 will fail if only one failed." Technically true. However, "failure" does not have to mean all-out, complete failure (such as a failure of, for example, the flash translation layer in SSDs, or the drive motor in rotational drives). A single, inopportunately located, failed sector can also cause failure. In a RAID5 array, if one drive fails, the array cannot tolerate any failure on any of the remaining drives; in principle, even a failure in an unused, never used, sector can fault the entire array in such a situation.
 

 Discussion on answer by Jon Custer: I…

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a CVn
Aug 21, 2019 15:06
121.5 MHz isn't used only by "downed" aircraft. It's the aviation emergency frequency for when a single frequency to communicate on is required or there are no air traffic control services in the area, and is monitored continuously by ATC ground stations. It's also required in large parts of the world to be monitored by capable aircraft.
 

 Discussion on answer by quiet flyer: …

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a CVn
Jul 29, 2019 18:09
@muyustan Those sound like decent separate questions that should be asked as such. I'm pretty sure at least (1) has already been answered on the site, probably a few times in different variations, so make sure you look before you ask; it's certainly basic aerodynamics, which you'd study as part of getting a pilot's license. (2) becomes answerable when you consider that the airplane flies relative to the surrounding air, not relative to the ground.
a CVn
Jul 29, 2019 18:09
@muyustan "can only a roll maneuver result in a turn without also pitching?" The pilot pitches the airplane up during a turn because during the turn, the lift vector is pointing slightly sideways. (It is normally perpendicular to the wings, and that remains true when in a normal rolled attitude.) Trigonometry tells us that this results in less vertical lift, which needs to be compensated for. Not pitching up in a turn will cause the airplane to descend. "because the wind may push the plane" The plane flies relative to the air. What the air is doing relative to the ground is secondary.
a CVn
Jul 29, 2019 18:09
"A car on flat ground can turn without banking fairly efficiently" When you say this, it makes me wonder if you've ever taken a somewhat sharp turn at reasonably high speed with a car, with any loose objects in the car (grocery bags in the trunk?). I can't even begin to guess how many times I've wished for something similar to rudder pedals in my car, to keep the sideways acceleration down.
 

 Discussion on question by Logan R. Ke…

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a CVn
Jul 17, 2019 03:04
Reading the question makes me wonder what you want to happen with non-visible-light photons/EM waves. Radio waves, IR, x-rays, gamma rays, ...
 

 Discussion on answer by Peter: How do…

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a CVn
Jul 5, 2019 18:46
@Caleb Biometrics (fingerprint scans, retina scans, ...) would typically be considered something you are, not something you have.
 

 Discussion on answer by Raffzahn: How…

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a CVn
Jul 5, 2019 14:27
@Raffzahn It would, but I'm sure you're about the last person I'd need to tell that in the SI prefix series, it's kilo that's the odd one out; all the others are upper case for positive powers of ten, and lower case for negative powers of ten. So it would be consistent with an inconsistency. :-)
a CVn
Jul 5, 2019 14:27
Let's be glad that nobody had the bright idea of just flipping the case of the prefix letter, thus giving us something like mB for megabytes (where it really would be millibytes when read with SI prefixes).
 

 Discussion on answer by Graham: Why n…

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a CVn
Jun 14, 2019 13:19
@StianYttervik Yes, there was the 486DX2-66. Then the 486DX4, which if Wikipedia is to be believed was clock-tripled, which sounds about right.
 

 Discussion on question by Allure: Why…

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a CVn
May 16, 2019 14:10
@Buffy I agree that the early versions were quite primitive; it really wasn't before Windows 3.0 that it was particularly useful. I'd put the early sweet spot for workstation use in the NT line at Windows 2000, not really XP, though, but that's a detail and to some extent definitely personal preference. However, Microsoft Windows definitely existed long before any of those.
a CVn
May 16, 2019 14:10
@Buffy "many of us started using macs before windows even existed" At least Wikipedia puts the Macintosh introduction in late January 1984. Windows 1.0 was, also per Wikipedia, released in November 1985. (Yes, yes, I know, that's Wikipedia, but I'm too lazy to dig out more authoritative citations, and they're definitely in the right ballpark.) That leaves 22 months, give or take, between public release of the two. Did you mean became widespread, or maybe Windows 3.0 (mid-1990)?
 

 Discussion on question by Tobias: Bul…

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a CVn
Apr 3, 2019 12:33
@pipe I would imagine that at least, that would make a very poor legal defense. (I also posted an answer to the same effect. Feel free to bring your comment there.)
a CVn
Apr 3, 2019 12:33
"I don't it is illegal to just tel your friend: "I have a toxic (IMHO) employee. His name is Tobias. He is currently looking for a new job"." You want to read up on what's written in brottsbalken (Swedish criminal law), chapter 5, 1-2 §§.
 

 Discussion on question by Austin: Wha…

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a CVn
Mar 18, 2019 15:32
The title asks how an airship could be repaired midflight. The question body asks for things that can go wrong which are fixable. Most answers appear to ignore the title and go with the body question, but it would be a good thing if you Edit the title to match the body.
 

Charcoal HQ

Where smoke is detected, diamonds are made, and we break thing...
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a CVn
Mar 15, 2019 10:59
@tripleee You're welcome.
a CVn
Mar 15, 2019 10:57
@tripleee Writing mod here. That answer has been deleted. The response comment was a statement that the answer is not plagiarized.
 

 Discussion on question by Spooikypok_…

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a CVn
Mar 12, 2019 14:58
You might want to check out our shapeshifters tag, if you haven't already.
 

 Discussion on question by Mephistophe…

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a CVn
Feb 8, 2019 19:21
@StarHawk That would be the ultimate video game armor: score a hit, see a bright flash!
 

 Discussion on question by Meatball Pr…

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a CVn
Feb 5, 2019 13:37
Just how does the title relate to the question? I must be missing something obvious.
 

 Discussion on question by Magus: How …

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a CVn
Jan 31, 2019 01:21
While it's definitely not a duplicate, some of the discussion in answers and comments to my old question How can humans coexist with an intelligent carnivorous species? may still be of interest.
 

 Discussion on answer by forest: Shoul…

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a CVn
Dec 26, 2018 11:59
(1) A 256 KB block size seems small. I tend to use anywhere between 1 and 100 MB for best throughput. A rotational drive will be able to sustain around 100 MB/s in purely sequential I/O. (2) I prefer ddrescue over dd, but if your goal is to simply overwrite all the data on the drive, the difference between the two is minor. (3) LUKS doesn't keep the master passphrase on the disk; only the (encrypted) master key and a cryptographic hash of each passphrase. (And you can use a detached header if you're really paranoid.)
 

 Discussion on question by Trevortni: …

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a CVn
Nov 29, 2018 08:47
You might want to watch The Astronaut Farmer.
 

 Discussion on question by a CVn: If s…

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a CVn
Nov 13, 2018 02:58
@SJuan76 Added definition of species for the purposes of the question.
a CVn
Nov 13, 2018 02:58
@nzaman "insects outnumber us a few million to one" Did you miss the point that "reincarnation only takes place within the same species (so no cross-species soul migrations)"? Also, I kind of doubt that those religions not limiting reincarnation to humans is to make it more scientifically plausible.
 

 Discussion on question by kingledion:…

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α CVn
Nov 7, 2018 19:25
@kingledion @ plus tab (maybe a few times) should do it. Has worked fine for me with other people with similar display names.
α CVn
Nov 7, 2018 19:25
Did you really mean to write "solar systems" (plural) in your introductory paragraph?
 

 Discussion on question by Sora Tamash…

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α CVn
Oct 28, 2018 10:36
From very early in the site's life, our default stance has been that answers should be based in science and/or logic unless the question explicitly allows for magic. So you should be fine. science is for questions about science within a fictional world; science-based can be used to explicitly say that you want answers based on science, but don't require scientific citations. Generally, I think it's better to simply state your requirements in the question text, rather than relying on tags to express such constraints.
α CVn
Oct 28, 2018 10:36
Hi Sora. The science tag is for science in general, or the perception of science, within a fictional world. (See the tag description.) I don't think it applies to your question, so I have removed it.
 

 Discussion on answer by David Schwart…

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Michael Kjörling
Oct 17, 2018 21:56
@mbrig "if I lived in places with [...] an unstable local currency (Zimbabwe?)" Zimbabwe uses USD as its official government currency, says Wikipedia.
 

 Discussion on question by Muze: What …

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Michael Kjörling
Oct 4, 2018 00:23
I'd say it's worse than @Ghedipunk claims; quite likely, if a moon-sized (let alone Moon-sized) object hit Earth, chances are pretty good that the Earth would cease to exist, and certainly in its current form. Compare Saturn's moon Mimas, and note Herschel.
 

 Discussion on question by Justin Thym…

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Michael Kjörling
Sep 27, 2018 12:59
I don't think the [orbital-mechanics] tag applies to this question (but I might be missing something). While orbital mechanics is involved in your reasoning behind the question, it seems to me that expertise in orbital mechanics does not help (or hinder) in answering this question, therefore the question is not about orbital mechanics.
 

 Discussion on question by MSalters: W…

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Michael Kjörling
Sep 27, 2018 08:14
@ИвоНедев The referendum (the question being asked) was clear. The outcome of the referendum (51.9% leave, 48.1% remain, out of a 72.2% turnout, as per Wikipedia's figures) was a close call and certainly could be argued to be not as clear.
 

 Discussion on question by E. D. Hucke…

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Michael Kjörling
Sep 20, 2018 08:32
It's not the same thing, so this is not an answer, but consider that any passenger jet will be flying at well in excess of 500 km/h at altitude. That's on the order of 150 m/s. I don't know about the 737-800 specifically, but normal landing speed for that class of airplanes is on the order of 150-200 km/h or 50-60 m/s. Compared to that, 16-18 m/s isn't all that much, and as already pointed out, it's unlikely that those 16-18 m/s is direct crosswind either.
 

 Discussion on question by kingledion:…

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Michael Kjörling
Sep 11, 2018 18:05
This question reminds me of the discussion in What to do about trivial questions? on Worldbuilding Meta. Note that I am specifically not saying that the reasoning in that Meta post applies directly to this question.
 

 Discussion on question by SealBoi: Wh…

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Michael Kjörling
Sep 5, 2018 05:15
@John OP specified that "terrestrial, aquatic or aerial" is allowed, so at least that part of your comment seems covered already.
Michael Kjörling
Sep 5, 2018 05:15
@JavaScriptCoder Clearly much larger than 44 kg. :)
Michael Kjörling
Sep 5, 2018 05:15
By what metric do you intend to measure "efficiency" in killing? I can think of a number of possible strategies employed by Earth predators; everything from that of a crocodile, to a wolf, to the Harpy eagle (which admittedly doesn't meet your criteria for the predator's size). How might we judge the "efficiency" of any of these against any other?
 

 Discussion on question by case: A cur…

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Michael Kjörling
Aug 27, 2018 05:43
@JohnLocke See my comment above.
Michael Kjörling
Aug 27, 2018 05:43
@JustinThyme Science fiction (the genre) is not at odds with hard science (the type of answer). There's even a term for that subgenre: hard sci-fi. Just because it's fiction doesn't necessarily mean it can't conform to the laws of nature as we understand them.
Michael Kjörling
Aug 27, 2018 05:43
@kingledion Out of curiosity, how can a question that requires scientific citations for answers (this one) be a duplicate of one that doesn't? A potential valid answer to the latter won't, unless the answerer goes out of their way to exceed what OP is asking for, be a valid answer to this one, because this one places higher requirements on what constitutes a valid answer.
 

 Discussion on question by amflare: Ho…

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Michael Kjörling
Aug 24, 2018 13:51
Look at black holes. Specifically, you might want to consider the distance between the singularity at the center of a black hole, and the event horizon, and what things would appear like to an observer there. (Ignore for a second that they would be spaghettified pretty quickly.)
 

 Discussion on answer by Drazex: If ev…

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Michael Kjörling
Aug 23, 2018 05:26
@Fattie You can always delete your comment if you realize someone has already made the same point, and uptick their comment instead.
Michael Kjörling
Aug 23, 2018 05:26
Nice analysis, which actually seems to take into account the real-world population distribution at least to an extent. I don't know if it's totally accurate, but this seems like a better approach than to assume a uniform population distribution.
 

 Discussion on answer by Dan: How do c…

Imported from a comment discussion on aviation.stackexchange.c...
Michael Kjörling
Aug 2, 2018 08:26
@Cloud Sure -- it sounds like squarely an aviation question -- but not as a comment. I also very strongly suspect that it's already been asked and answered. Make sure to do your own research first.
 

 Discussion on answer by wetcircuit: T…

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Michael Kjörling
Aug 1, 2018 00:49
Forget Star Trek Voyager's technobabble; that's excusable as some kind of 350-400-years-more-advanced-technology thing. Look at their treatment of evolution. I'm not going to use "Threshold" as an example because pretty much everyone agrees that that episode just reeks, but try "Distant Origin" on for size. "If the hadrosaur had continued to evolve over the last 65 million years, extrapolate the most probable appearance." No need to specify an environment, or any other evolutionary pressure factors -- and they get a near perfect match to how it turned out in one specific instance.
 

 Discussion on question by Ash: Write …

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Michael Kjörling
Jul 30, 2018 15:55
Do you really need tamper-proof, which is very difficult, or would you be willing to settle for tamper-evident and known to be write-only unless tampered with?
Michael Kjörling
Jul 30, 2018 15:55
"what I'm really after is a system where data loses under "normal" conditions or deliberate sabotage are unlikely enough to be unthinkable." Sounds like the typical approach taken by home users, at the very least until very recently (when enabled-by-default copying of everything to someone else's computer became commonplace). I won't even try to guess how many people lost lots of data to the "unthinkable" event of, say, a hard disk crash.