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Missile Defense

Technology has always found its greatest consumer in a nation's war and defense efforts. Since the last attempts at a "Star Wars" defense system, has technology changed considerably enough to make the latest Missile Defense initiatives more successful? Can such an application of science be successful? Is a militarized space inevitable, necessary or impossible?

Read Debates, a new Web-only feature culled from Readers' Opinions, published every Thursday.

rshow55 - 11:03am Jul 17, 2003 EST (# 13042 of 17697)
Can we do a better job of finding truth? YES. Click "rshow55" for some things Lchic and I have done and worked for on this thread.

Postings on large scale solar energy in recent weeks on this thread:

12220 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/13858

12222 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/13860

12223 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/13861

12357 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14007

12717-18 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14385

12737 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14405

I've been talking about large scale solutions to problems - problems that might be thought of as "Eisenhower scale" - for a long time.

gisterme - 03:06am Jun 30, 2003 EST (# 12749 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14420

12735 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14405

lchic - 08:40am Jun 30, 2003 EST (# 12755 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14426

12759 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14430

12762 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14433

12763 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14434

12764 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14435

12765-66 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14436

12767 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14438

12768 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14439

12770 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14441

Optimization is "doing the best you can." It takes some work to find out what "the best you can" is: 12759 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14430

gisterme - 11:36pm Jun 30, 2003 EST (# 12773 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14444

12774 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14445

12775 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14446

Movie people have a lot of influence - and a lot of sophistication. Last year, I wrote this: 1228 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/1572

gisterme - 12:58am Jul 1, 2003 EST (# 12776 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14447

lchic - 03:06am Jul 1, 2003 EST (# 12778 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14449

Global warming:

12804 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14475

12806 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14477

12808 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14479

12855 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14526

12874 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14550

12875 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14551

12937 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14613

12939 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14615

12940 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14616

12966 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14642

Stages have different costs. If a permanent solution to the world energy problem was pretty certain after a few hundred thousand bucks, nearly certain after a million or two - and very certain at all technical levels after a billion dollars was spent - but then required a very large investment (fully amortized in a few years) would it be worth doing? And actually doable?

We're spending a billion dollars a week in Iraq.

I've also been worrying about organizational issues involved with this sort of proposal, including some things where I feel I need some permissions. 12855 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RErUbPHeYTe.1147799@.f28e622/14526

If I'm moving slowly on getting those permissions - it is partly because I'm afraid - for the same reasons other vulnerable people are afraid. (And we're all vulnerable.)

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