That theme is a fairly common trope in the sci-fi literature, but it’s usually a byline, not the focus of the story.

I watched the announcement yesterday. Add an AI into the Starchip and you have the beginnings of Existence.

Even better, we are in the first stages of Existence. Stage I: Lots of small spacecraft launched from Earth. Stage II: Upgrading our small spacecraft so they can host artificial intelligence to interact with alien civilizations.

Laser-powered lightsailing spaceships. Niven and Pournelle were there before Hawking.

I’ve told this story before, but it is so appropriate.

And we thought tape drives were complicated and slow....

Exactly what i was thinking.

My uncle’s 1970 Challenger SE in Plum Crazy. I used to ride in the back seat while he did his best to scare me. It never worked. The last time it ran, he was street racing a Camaro and threw a rod.

It’s pretty common for manufacturers to set maximum speeds. My old truck (Mazda B-3000, rebadged Ford Ranger) is limited to 90 mph. It’s usually done electronically, so one of the selling points for “chipping” your car is to remove the top speed limiter.

“No. If the structure is strong enough to maintain low (1 atmosphere) pressure inside, there is no need for decompression or specialized gas mixtures.”

Pressure increases by one atmosphere every with every 33 feet of increased depth. Nuclear subs operate around 1,600 ft with an estimated maximum operational depth around 2,400 ft. titanium hulls can go deeper, at a significantly higher cost.

Let us know if they find any beryllium spheres. The natives are making access to our primary supply somewhat challenging.

The biggest challenge to living at depth is breathing. Anything deeper than 30 feet requires strong structures which can maintain a much lower pressure inside than outside; long periods for proper decompression; and/or specialized gas mixtures like heliox which introduce their own set of problems. All of them are…

I made my son listen to this just a couple of days ago. Sure, he’s a teenager. Yeah, he looked at me funny. The next day I heard him singing, Beets, beets, tasty beets...

It was probably one or more of the Fisk plates.

The real question is whether or not it will be able to properly interpret poorly written manuals.

I’ve been in OK this past week and these are some of the strongest and gustiest winds I’ve experienced. The winds have been 20+ mph steady with gusts over 40 mph. They are strong enough to buffet the car around, even on regular surface streets.

I saw this drama play out one day on my way to school. I was riding my bike, so I had a long time to think about why the car ahead was rolling along at a walking pace with the hazards on. I thought it might have a flat. After I caught up, I spotted a kid trudging along in front of the car, tears streaming down his…

Never utter a threat you aren’t willing to carry out.

Mutton Chops.