Recent content by Jake

For example, most satellites will have CPU processors. On land, they require a heat-sink to transfer the energy to the air quickly so the CPU reaches ambient temperatures. But on a satellite there is no significant mass to absorb the generated heat from processing. So how are satellites kept...

I don't see why it can't be done without suicide though. All the "does the consciousness persist" question answer is whether in one "alternate universe" it is confirmed that the quantum event keeps returning the same result each time, going against the odds. Why couldn't this just be done with a...

I keep hearing that the "many worlds interpretation" is experimentally different than the collapse theories. But I haven't heard of anything other than "quantum suicide". Is there anything else? As far as quantum suicide, I fail to see how this differs from collapse theories. Isn't each...

Is it possible for electric motors to compare to the strength of human muscles, in terms of power-to-weight ratios? That is, with the proper engineering, is it theoretically possible? I don't see why not, simply increasing voltage increases power, if the heat generated is a problem, can't the...

Hey Turbo, So it is the brittelness specificly that prevents carbon fiber from being used in vests as a replacement for Kevlar? I can't visualize this though; carbon fibers still can flex a great deal, much more than a vest actually moves when hit by a bullet. And the whole point of Kevlar...

Hey all, I wonder if anyone can answer this for me: Why hasn't carbon fiber been used to make better bulletproof vests (ignoring cost)? Doesn't carbon fiber have a higher tensile strength than Kevlar? Isn't it lighter? Also, wouldn't a solid version, of carbon fiber reinforced plastic...

Alright, I think that sounds like it will work. However, being a self-taught computer science and non-math guy, I can't conceptually understand everything you said :biggrin: I understand enough to implement it in software (C++) however, except for this one aspect: I hope I can pick your...

Yep Dodo, a sequential list of all points, including knowing what the 'first' and 'last' points are. Each point is both the beginning and end of a 'line' (unless its the first or last point of course)

Uart and Dodo, both your insights are correct, I need to compare which "side" the new line is on relative to the old one. However, the current problem is I have no way of deciding which side is the one which will measure greater than 180 degrees, and which one less, based on what the previous...

This is a tough angle problem (For me), In the diagram below, I have two cases, A and B. In each case, when I sequentially compare the black, blue, and then green lines to the previous line, in each case you end up with the following angles: ~30 and ~30. Yet clearly the spatial relationships...

Hey mathman, thanks, I see where that is going and think I can make something work :D

Hi Phy, Thanks for following up. Let me illustrate my point clearer by using a simple pictured In the Attachment below. As you can see I have a blue and orange area, and two lines, A and B. I want to define the equation such that I will 'pick' an arbitrary 'side' of line A, such that when...

Hi Mathman, I don't want to have to pick one or the other. I want the calculation to automatically return the result in the 1-360 degree format, based on some standard I set in the equation. Picture two lines at a 90 degree angle. That can either be considered a 90 degree angle or 270...

Hi all, This is a weird question, I want to measure angles in terms of 360 degrees and not 180. The two lines will share a common point such that Line A ends at the point where Line B begins. In order to do this don't you need to define some sort of "standard" so that you can know...

None at all. However I don't think I need it. I am simply using gradients as one method of defining an edge within an image. The problem was figuring out where to draw the line of a single gradient and an edge. Since a gradient can be completely arbitrary, it looks like that can't be the only...