• To Improve Astronomic Measurements, Scientists Want To Launch A Light Bulb Into Space
    42 replies, posted
[QUOTE=Edthefirst;27786773]Well in reality bulbs only burn out because the materials they use are purposely made to fail or else no one would need to buy new bulbs. There are bulb filaments that can essentially last forever, and of course a space light bulb would kick complete ass.[/QUOTE]Really? Do they not sell those just to make artificial scarcity, or is it because the longer lasting ones are far more expensive to make?
[QUOTE=PariahKing;27795165]Really? Do they not sell those just to make artificial scarcity, or is it because the longer lasting ones are far more expensive to make?[/QUOTE] they dont make them cuz they last forever... thus they dont get profit [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centennial_Light[/url] has been on for 109 years
The economy is a bitch. There are things that last tens of years, even longer, like lightbulbs. But just for the economy, we make them burn out.
I had to re-read the title 3 times to make sure i wasn't hallucinating...
[QUOTE=MIPS;27786633]How many astronauts does it take to screw in a lightbulb?[/QUOTE] One. It will just take a loooooong time because he has to do all the careful calculations to make sure that the orbiting bulb won't be hit by a meteor, that it won't get caught in Venus', Moon's or Pluto's gravitational field, that it won't get sucked into a black hole, that it won't send any insignificantly harmful radiation to Earth, that it won't be hit by a satellite orbiting Earth, that it won't disrupt the great cosmic balance of the universe, that it won't violate Newton's or Einstein's laws and that it won't piss off Sarah Palin, Fox News, KKK, Tea Party or WBBC. If I missed something, please notify.
[QUOTE=ineedateam1;27796114]they dont make them cuz they last forever... thus they dont get profit [URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centennial_Light[/URL] has been on for 109 years[/QUOTE] That's a 4 watt lightbulb that barely puts out any light. There's a tradeoff between light emitted and longevity. It has nothing to do with profit. People don't want to buy extremely dim lightbulbs even if they last forever.
[QUOTE=Joazzz;27815579]One. It will just take a loooooong time because he has to do all the careful calculations to make sure that the orbiting bulb won't be hit by a meteor, that it won't get caught in Venus', Moon's or Pluto's gravitational field, that it won't get sucked into a black hole, that it won't send any insignificantly harmful radiation to Earth, that it won't be hit by a satellite orbiting Earth, that it won't disrupt the great cosmic balance of the universe, that it won't violate Newton's or Einstein's laws and that it won't piss off Sarah Palin, Fox News, KKK, Tea Party or WBBC. If I missed something, please notify.[/QUOTE] You don't really need to check if you're trying to violate the laws of physics, you usually find out pretty quick.
[QUOTE=Nerts;27815658]You don't really need to check if you're trying to violate the laws of physics, you usually find out pretty quick.[/QUOTE] Yea, at the cost of billions of dollars. I would rather just double check beforehand.
[QUOTE=Joazzz;27815579]One. It will just take a loooooong time because he has to do all the careful calculations to make sure that the orbiting bulb won't be hit by a meteor, that it won't get caught in Venus', Moon's or Pluto's gravitational field, that it won't get sucked into a black hole, that it won't send any insignificantly harmful radiation to Earth, that it won't be hit by a satellite orbiting Earth, that it won't disrupt the great cosmic balance of the universe, that it won't violate Newton's or Einstein's laws and that it won't piss off Sarah Palin, Fox News, KKK, Tea Party or WBBC. If I missed something, please notify.[/QUOTE] Nope, it's eleven: One to hold the bulb in place and ten to turn the spaceship
How about we launch a bunch of them so that it can be sunny all the time!
[QUOTE=Miskatonic;27787445]The communists have already done it [img_thumb]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ax5ZIdFoW1U/SeKmlWdLAFI/AAAAAAAAOQo/4GsUvWyD4Uc/s400/Soviet-lightbulb-02.jpg[/img_thumb][/QUOTE] Then we need to stop Stalin and get that light bulb into space!
[QUOTE=aVoN;27789562]What speaks against the already used method with Supernovae of type 1A, which are always the same bright and have been used for measuring distanced for decades now?[/QUOTE] Don't most standard candles still have a relatively large uncertainty?
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.