That's why I thought it was just random debris that made the holes. *That* I could buy — the railgun projectile hit somewhere else and it was just a by-product (which actually adds to the scary factor, because it wasn't even like you need to get a direct hit).

But even an expert can't alter that your legs can push you pretty fast and possibly faster than is safe (remember the bone density issue). Think of when you punch a wall; you've exceeded specifications for the hand using only the strength of your arm.

I was thinking of the change in angular momentum. That's conserved too (and changed)… but you're right I should have made that distinction.

I think the source of the slow-mo trope is that on the ISS you see everyone moving really slowly — but that's because in zero g you have to be careful not to knock yourself flying. So while objects don't move slower, YOU have to or you are going to bounce all over. Remember momentum is p=mv and v can be pretty fast if…

That makes more sense. So you try to see how many gravity assists you can do and go the farthest — but even that is a not-so-hard calculation. The differences would be marginal at best. And the trip time between worlds would be really long at speeds that make any sense for such maneuvers.

The thing is (and I am not sure what username this is showing up under) the only place with a substantial atmosphere in the neighborhood is Jupiter. Saturn has one, and Titan. So no other place could burn you up like that.

It does in Boston.

for us it was "when I die/ bury me/ hang my balls on a cherry tree/ when they're ripe/ take a bite/ don't blame me if you die that night."

He's WAY Cool. He could turn water in to wine and sugar in to cocaine.

Does anyone else remember a parody version that kids would sing that went

Actually the friction between feet and ground is interesting. If you were suddenly walking in 1/6 g, (which is about 8x what Ceres has on the surface) you'd have a tough time walking around without smacking your head into the ceiling constantly and flying into walls. You'd have to spend a few days probably re-learning…

To include @avclub-dfcd4240f8be465dba347ff138fe7713:disqus here: the gravity on Ceres is (if I read the series right, I haven't read the books) maintained at some fraction of Earth, close to that of the Moon. (I am assuming everyone is on the inside surface with "down" being towards space). That means a guy weighing…

The actor is Paul Greco. Died in 2008.

Am I the only person here who actually kind of digs the Eagles? Maybe because I came to it late. (Ca. 1983 or thereabouts as a young teen). And the use of "In the City" actually worked for me in this particular context.

That's sort of the point though. The Germans weren't willing to commit the money, but it wasn't like the technology was a secret - or rather, the principles were not. Since several non-Manhattan project people were able to come up with implosive trigger mechanisms, and as a physics guy I can tell you that once you…

I don't discount the effect that spies historically have had (though in the case of China and stealth technology I am not sure I classify that as espionage, quite; more a businessman who was trying to drum up clients and happened to do it with something sensitive — which was dumb and egotistical, besides being…

They might, but the Chinese already have their own version of a stealth bomber, it just took them a little longer.

Culkin seems to get into this. After all he did Party Monster and was disturbingly good in that.

Late to this. But here again with some of my science nerdiness.

all of that makes perfect sense (except Ceres). Why the bit on Ceres? Because you'd have differential gravity depending on how close you were to the pole. So you'd be losing out on a lot of living space. But you'd still have a lot of room and if the spin was just slow enough people wouldn't get vertigo. Fun fact: if…