Xaro Xhoan Daxos claiming to be the riches man in Qarth.

"9/11 was an inside job."

"The moon landings were staged."

"Evolution is nothing more than a theory which shouldn't be accepted as a fact."

"God is real." 

"Cheat is bringing back the Print button".

The relationship between a game developer and the journalist reviewing their game can be more than just professional.

Xaro Xhoan Daxos claiming to be the riches man in Qarth.

"9/11 was an inside job."

"The moon landings were staged."

"Evolution is nothing more than a theory which shouldn't be accepted as a fake."

"God is real."

Man, I really hate when people fail to understand what the scientific definition of a theory is.  Just makes my blood boil.

Quote from: Verbatim on May 14, 2016, 12:48:24 PM

Quote from: BaconShelf on May 14, 2016, 12:36:18 PM

"Space travel and research is a waste of time and money."

the delusion is in thinking that this statement is delusional

>practically infinite free water that's already clean
>Basically infinite fuel sources, be it fusion fuel in gas giants or in lunar dirt, or millions of earth's worth of hydrocarbons on titan
>abundance of rare (andnot rare) earth materials in asteroid belts
>the need for lightweight materials necessitating research in materials development, quantum computing, renewable sources of food and energy and air
>microgravity and climate-controlled environments allow for better crop yields than on earth
>lack of atmosphere allows solar energy to be much more efficient than earthbased measures
>the ability to literally dispose of harmful materials by throwing them into a star or a gasgiant and permanently dispose of them

Also one to appeal to you

>meat being a highly inefficient means of nutrition means anyone living in space wouldn't be eating animals all too often

There's a bunch more I've forgot but I'm on the train right now so eh. The long term benefits outweight the short term disadvantages. Also, I haven't mentioned colonisation once, just something to note. Space travel directly or indirectly spurs the development of sustainable energy and other resources, as well as materials science allowing current manufacturing processes to get cheaper, quicker, less resource-intensive overall.

Plus, it enhances our knowledge of the universe we live in and the rules that make everything work. For me, that's prospect enough.

daily reminder that asteroid farming might be a thing in our children's life time.

Quote from: BaconShelf on May 14, 2016, 01:05:52 PM

Quote from: Verbatim on May 14, 2016, 12:48:24 PM

Quote from: BaconShelf on May 14, 2016, 12:36:18 PM

"Space travel and research is a waste of time and money."

the delusion is in thinking that this statement is delusional

>practically infinite free water that's already clean
>Basically infinite fuel sources, be it fusion fuel in gas giants or in lunar dirt, or millions of earth's worth of hydrocarbons on titan
>abundance of rare (andnot rare) earth materials in asteroid belts
>the need for lightweight materials necessitating research in materials development, quantum computing, renewable sources of food and energy and air
>microgravity and climate-controlled environments allow for better crop yields than on earth
>lack of atmosphere allows solar energy to be much more efficient than earthbased measures
>the ability to literally dispose of harmful materials by throwing them into a star or a gasgiant and permanently dispose of them

Also one to appeal to you

>meat being a highly inefficient means of nutrition means anyone living in space wouldn't be eating animals all too often

There's a bunch more I've forgot but I'm on the train right now so eh. The long term benefits outweight the short term disadvantages. Also, I haven't mentioned colonisation once, just something to note. Space travel directly or indirectly spurs the development of sustainable energy and other resources, as well as materials science allowing current manufacturing processes to get cheaper, quicker, less resource-intensive overall.

Plus, it enhances our knowledge of the universe we live in and the rules that make everything work. For me, that's prospect enough.

daily reminder that asteroid farming might be a thing in our children's life time.

it's a bittersweet feel

Quote from: Saint Endies on May 16, 2016, 06:39:42 AM

Quote from: BaconShelf on May 14, 2016, 01:05:52 PM

Quote from: Verbatim on May 14, 2016, 12:48:24 PM

Quote from: BaconShelf on May 14, 2016, 12:36:18 PM

"Space travel and research is a waste of time and money."

the delusion is in thinking that this statement is delusional

>practically infinite free water that's already clean
>Basically infinite fuel sources, be it fusion fuel in gas giants or in lunar dirt, or millions of earth's worth of hydrocarbons on titan
>abundance of rare (andnot rare) earth materials in asteroid belts
>the need for lightweight materials necessitating research in materials development, quantum computing, renewable sources of food and energy and air
>microgravity and climate-controlled environments allow for better crop yields than on earth
>lack of atmosphere allows solar energy to be much more efficient than earthbased measures
>the ability to literally dispose of harmful materials by throwing them into a star or a gasgiant and permanently dispose of them

Also one to appeal to you

>meat being a highly inefficient means of nutrition means anyone living in space wouldn't be eating animals all too often

There's a bunch more I've forgot but I'm on the train right now so eh. The long term benefits outweight the short term disadvantages. Also, I haven't mentioned colonisation once, just something to note. Space travel directly or indirectly spurs the development of sustainable energy and other resources, as well as materials science allowing current manufacturing processes to get cheaper, quicker, less resource-intensive overall.

Plus, it enhances our knowledge of the universe we live in and the rules that make everything work. For me, that's prospect enough.

daily reminder that asteroid farming might be a thing in our children's life time.

it's a bittersweet feel

tfw if it's true your kids will be a lot richer than you

Quote from: Dan on May 14, 2016, 12:43:07 PM

Quote from: JUSTFLUXMYSHITUP on May 14, 2016, 09:51:18 AM

>"Bernie is going to win the nomination."

Bernie has done quite well considering he has had to take on the entire democratic establishment which has favored Clinton to win since day one. Besides, it's a long-shot that he'll win enough delegates for the nomination, but it's likely that he'll stop Clinton from getting enough pledged delegates and will lead to a contested convention. If the DNC wants to beat Trump in November, they would be smart to give it to Bernie and not Hillary because he leads Trump in national polls by a larger margin than does Hillary. In some polls Hillary has dropped and is tied, and some show she is losing to Trump.

Hillary only needs 143 delegates to wins the nomination.  I'm pretty sure there are enough delegates remaining for her to secure the nomination without a contested convention.

That's if you're counting the super delegates. You need enough pledged delegates. In 2008 the super delegates switched from Clinton to Obama when he was seen as the stronger candidate. The point of super delegates is that it's supposed to prevent a candidate from getting the nomination who isn't strong enough to defeat the Republican nominee in November. Bernie has been shown to be the stronger candidate against Trump in nearly every national poll. If they choose Hillary despite this, they'd be making a huge gamble on Trump being the next president.

Each and every one of those broad concepts is an entire endeavor in and of itself that will cost billions of dollars in funding. And we really can't afford that right now; we're literally coming a few decades close to an energy crisis. We need to be sinking every spare technological dollar on efficient renewable energy at this point. Once we have that mastered, we'll have the stability to put energy and money into space shit.

I don't disagree, but to argue that research and exploration of things outside of Earth is entirely pointless is very misleading. The prospects associated with space exploration are obviously very favorable, and there should be investment in any sort of space-faring operations that can benefit people back on Earth significantly- But this doesn't have to mean it's as tangible as I'm sure you'd like. I certainly agree that some things, like asteroid mining, are quite a ways off, and there are things down here that we should fix first before we throw our money in that direction.

That being said, there certainly are technologies developed in aerospace that have provided applicable gadgets for doctors, engineers, physicists, etc. There was a very large surge in STEM interest during the space race, and I would argue if humans decided to make landing on Mars a priority in the coming decades, we would experience a similar spike, and get more and more people interested in technology, engineering, and science. All things that can help humanity to live contently.

Helping people to understand at least the basics of how the universe functions and its history widens the scope of their view of reality and generally provides them with a sense of wonder and intrigue that can foster interest in other fields of STEM subjects- Which I'm sure you would agree is a good thing for everyone. Curiosity is never something we should discourage in people. Of course, space isn't the only thing that can provide this sort of inspiration, but it is one source, and that in itself makes it at least somewhat appreciable. I don't feel comfortable with a big portion of humanity not really thinking about anything beyond Earth- I've found that the general public has basically no idea about anything that goes on in space. Everyone should, in my opinion, at least be given some sort of idea of where we are in the universe and our history. Helps with the whole "Think big," concept, y'know?

Muslims can integrate into western civilizations

>"

why are you doing this
has your usage of > really been this corrupted

Quote from: SecondClass on May 14, 2016, 02:19:15 PM

Each and every one of those broad concepts is an entire endeavor in and of itself that will cost billions of dollars in funding. And we really can't afford that right now; we're literally coming a few decades close to an energy crisis. We need to be sinking every spare technological dollar on efficient renewable energy at this point. Once we have that mastered, we'll have the stability to put energy and money into space shit.

I don't disagree, but to argue that research and exploration of things outside of Earth is entirely pointless is very misleading. The prospects associated with space exploration are obviously very favorable, and there should be investment in any sort of space-faring operations that can benefit people back on Earth significantly- But this doesn't have to mean it's as tangible as I'm sure you'd like. I certainly agree that some things, like asteroid mining, are quite a ways off, and there are things down here that we should fix first before we throw our money in that direction.

That being said, there certainly are technologies developed in aerospace that have provided applicable gadgets for doctors, engineers, physicists, etc. There was a very large surge in STEM interest during the space race, and I would argue if humans decided to make landing on Mars a priority in the coming decades, we would experience a similar spike, and get more and more people interested in technology, engineering, and science. All things that can help humanity to live contently.

Helping people to understand at least the basics of how the universe functions and its history widens the scope of their view of reality and generally provides them with a sense of wonder and intrigue that can foster interest in other fields of STEM subjects- Which I'm sure you would agree is a good thing for everyone. Curiosity is never something we should discourage in people. Of course, space isn't the only thing that can provide this sort of inspiration, but it is one source, and that in itself makes it at least somewhat appreciable. I don't feel comfortable with a big portion of humanity not really thinking about anything beyond Earth- I've found that the general public has basically no idea about anything that goes on in space. Everyone should, in my opinion, at least be given some sort of idea of where we are in the universe and our history. Helps with the whole "Think big," concept, y'know?

You're making it sound so fanciful and deep, but the truth is that space funding at this point in time will bankrupt us. We need to cut extraneous things like defense and space if we want to be economically viable as a country again.

"Free helicopter rides for life."

Pinochet wasn't lying when he told people that.