this post was submitted on 23 Nov 2024
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Futurology

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[โ€“] [email protected] 10 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (2 children)

Light? I mean they're light sails, right? ๐Ÿ˜†

(I'll see myself out)

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Is lobster sauce made out of lobsters, or is it made of something else and you put it on lobsters?

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

It's made by lobsters. It doesn't matter what they make it of, or where it goes.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

actual LOL from me

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 4 weeks ago

Oh man youโ€™ve beat me to it

[โ€“] [email protected] 4 points 4 weeks ago

The best material would be something thin and shiny like mylar, no?

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 4 weeks ago (2 children)

What do Space Pirates use? Let's use that.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 4 weeks ago

I would guess that the solution is in the name. Why else would they be light sails if they weren't made of light? Who's running this program?

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 3 weeks ago

Pixels, I think.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

Interesting problem. Kinetic energy is E~k~ = kv^2^, where k = 1/2 for Newtonian physics. To double your speed, you need to apply four times the energy. Momentum is p = mv, so doubling your speed doubles your momentum. When you're in a vehicle collision, it's your momentum that hurts you as you collide with the car frame around you. Small particles don't have much mass, but at relativistic speeds they have a lot of momentum.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 4 weeks ago

Gigantic lenses to burn away bad people.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 4 weeks ago