Recent content by Ryan_m_b

I thought of that but it if the matter is falling to a narrow point presumably it doesn’t all fall at the same rate. Some particles will be pushed ahead and others behind as the area shrinks.

Thought the members here might like this explanation on how contact tracing apps can be made that collect no personal data. The design is quite clever at preventing situations where centralised databases collect information like who you are, where you’ve been, who you’ve met etc.

If a black hole was placed at the centre of an object (like a planet) how long will it takes for the mass of that planet to be consumed? I’ve tried having a look around the internet for an answer for this (kind of silly) question but can’t find one. I thought maybe of working out the flow of...

Impact factor is one metric of journal health, it’s not some sort of all encompassing score of quality. Comparing two different journals in two different fields with completely different readership and practices takes the measure beyond what it’s good for.

I don’t know the answer but just to throw it out there: if the hypothetical advanced civilisation is going to the effort of assembling its exotic matter waste into planetoids why not put some sort of roof on the world to keep the atmosphere in? I’ve seen this idea pop up in some SciFi but not a...

You should definitely read Quarantine by Greg Egan. You may find the book you want to write already exists.

It’s a fun idea but it doesn’t hold out. It has an unspoken assumption that different sentient species are cultural monoliths who all perfectly agree and can be trusted to always agree. The logic of: 1) Not a threat now 2) Could be a threat 3) Therefore should kill now Could apply to any...

At 25m in diameter it could easily fit a gimballed 10m diameter scope on the front, which would begin resolving features as small as 5m wide at 100,000km. But if the vessel is 80m long it could have an interferometer running along its length. With some axial sensor booms it would effectively be...

How common is induced birth in the US? In some countries it is quite common to schedule induced births within 2 weeks of being overdue. In those countries you’d expect the percentage of post term births to be much lower than the global average.

Having read your pre-deleted comment I’ll reiterate that what you’re calling “far fetched premises” are the mysteries that drive the plot. In-universe people have trouble understanding and figuring out what’s going on. That’s why the story is good, it doesn’t really matter what the premise is...

1) A tonne of stuff happens in the first half of that book. If you think not much has happened then I’m not sure what you’re looking for. 2) I read up until the fourth book but it was such a screeching halt and reversion to plots that had been done before that I’ve yet to get past it. 3) Again...

Machines made out of stone, wood and simple forged metals (like waterwheels) still require a lot of maintenance and skilled labour. Not to mention supply chains for the various materials. Granted the complexity and size of an economy to maintain a watermill is much lower than something like a...

Hamilton's Confederation Universe (starting with Reality Dysfunction) has a more serious tone and less super-tech than the void trilogy so you might like that. The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons makes use of portals similar to Hamilton's Salvation, it even had mansions spread across worlds in...

Sorry I don’t know the answer so wasn’t attempting to answer it, instead offering why I think QCs could be an incredibly revolutionary technology in the coming decades.

Affordable and reliable quantum computers would be revolutionary in chemistry, materials, biotech and medicine (at least). Simulating molecules and their interactions is very hard and relies on a lot of approximations, consequently even the best computational chemistry work is paired with rounds...