General Discussion 8

[TransWarpDrive]

Just how powerful is an eighteen-core motherboard?
I realize I may be showing my technical ignorance by asking that question, but now you've got me curious.

[jeriddian]

Just how powerful is an eighteen-core motherboard?
I realize I may be showing my technical ignorance by asking that question, but now you've got me curious.

Well, when it comes to pure processing power of the CPU, you have three times the speed of a six core, or 4.5 times the speed of the quad core CPU you probably have, TWD. Now that doesn't purely translate into 4.5 times the speed for the entire computer as that doesn't take into account the MoBo's own speed, amount of memory, and hard drive characteristics, but if you tried to actually do severe number crunching (like the programs that will do things like calculate and create fractal patterns, calculate Pi out to 1 million digits, render final high resolution theatrical size graphics like in my movie, or testing programs that test the heat production of a CPU by making it do calculations that keep the PCU 100% maxed out in its output), you can and usually will see completion of the tasks in less than a quarter of the time your quad core can do it. With other programs, because the of the other factors, you may only see 1.5 to 2.0 times the speed.

[TransWarpDrive]

52 years ago today, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, shocking not only our nation, but the whole world.

[lunchmeat]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2...e-ship-photos/If they pull this off, it would probably be quite a ride:

[jeriddian]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2...e-ship-photos/If they pull this off, it would probably be quite a ride:

So true, so true.............

[TransWarpDrive]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2...e-ship-photos/If they pull this off, it would probably be quite a ride:

So true, so true.............

Yeah, really. They've got their work cut out for them, that's for sure.

[lunchmeat]

Historical note:

APRIL 9, 1959: NASA unveils Astronaut Group 1 — better known as the “Mercury Seven” — the first group of aviators and test pilots chosen to fly in the new space program’s first phase, Project Mercury. The men — all drawn from the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps after a grueling selection process — became instant celebrities in the high-profile “Space Race” with the Soviet Union. Enduring technical hurdles with their rockets as they sough to catch up to the Russian effort the Mercury astronauts completed six successful manned flights, setting the stage for the Gemini and Apollo programs. They were: Alan Shepard (the first American in space), Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Gordon Cooper, Walter Schirra, Donald “Deke” Slayton, John Glenn (the first American to orbit the Earth), and Scott Carpenter. As of 2016 Glenn is the only surviving member.

I got to watch all seven of their launches on television (we had school assemblies for this) and the full flights for the sub orbital and short orbital flights. It's well past time to get back into manned exploration.

[TransWarpDrive]

Historical note:

APRIL 9, 1959: NASA unveils Astronaut Group 1 — better known as the “Mercury Seven” — the first group of aviators and test pilots chosen to fly in the new space program’s first phase, Project Mercury. The men — all drawn from the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps after a grueling selection process — became instant celebrities in the high-profile “Space Race” with the Soviet Union. Enduring technical hurdles with their rockets as they sough to catch up to the Russian effort the Mercury astronauts completed six successful manned flights, setting the stage for the Gemini and Apollo programs. They were: Alan Shepard (the first American in space), Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Gordon Cooper, Walter Schirra, Donald “Deke” Slayton, John Glenn (the first American to orbit the Earth), and Scott Carpenter. As of 2016 Glenn is the only surviving member.

I got to watch all seven of their launches on television (we had school assemblies for this) and the full flights for the sub orbital and short orbital flights. It's well past time to get back into manned exploration.

I agree with you that we need to get back into manned exploration, but how could you have watched all seven launches if only six of the Seven flew? Remember, Slayton was grounded because of an irregular heartbeat - he didn't get to fly until 1975, on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project when we first flew a joint mission with the Russians.

[jeriddian]

Nonetheless, We need to get back out there.

[TransWarpDrive]

Nonetheless, We need to get back out there.

Agreed! And our next step should be an outpost on the moon - NOT Mars, or out in the asteroid belt. The moon is closer, meaning it'll be less expensive to send astronauts there. And they'll be able to communicate in real time with Mission Control should any problems arise (well, almost real time; due to the distance between Earth and the moon it takes 1.5 seconds for a radio transmission to travel between the two bodies, but a 3-second total round-trip delay is negligible compared to the 13 minutes required to send commands out to the Webb Space Telescope, some 75 million miles from Earth at present). And the moon is a harsher environment than Mars, which means if we can design a habitat that can keep humans alive and safe there, then we can certainly build housing that can protect colonists on other worlds. And for those naysayers who say there's nothing more to see on the moon ("Been there - done that!"), I just want to remind them that we'd barely begun to explore that world when Project Apollo ended in the early 70's. The moon has 14.6 million square miles of surface area, which is slightly larger than the continent of Africa which has 11.7 million square miles. Quitting when we did is as if we landed at six different points on the African continent, went only 12 miles inland at each point, then turned back and concluded that there was nothing more to see there.
IMHO, putting bases on the moon is the next logical step in our exploration of space.