[rescue] Energy

[Francisco Javier Mesa-Martinez]

On Wed, 8 May 2002, Joshua D Boyd wrote:

> On Tue, May 07, 2002 at 10:59:21PM -0700, Francisco Javier Mesa-Martinez wrote:
> 
> > The easiest way of getting rid of nuclear waste, or any other waste for
> > that matter is to ship it to a random direction into space. As long as it
> > leaves terrestial orbit, the shitpile will hurdle through space for eons,
> > whith a chance of it hitting anything almost negligible.
> 
> If space is infinite, then a negligible chance quickly becomes a certain
> one.  

Not really, it is all about probability.... no matter how "infinite" your
set is (yes, there are lots of infinites) it doesn't mean that the event
will happen. 

>So, just imagine in 200 years, it finally hits a planet that happens
> to be populated by advanced beings with faster than light travel.  It
> probably would look something like an act of war.
> 

Not possible, our nearest star is Proxima Centaury, which is 4 light years
away. So if our shitpile hurdles through space at >10000 miles/hour (very
unlikely since it will not be using rocket assisted propulsion), it will
still take >150 thousand years to get there, so all you have to do is to
aim the shitpile towards anything but our solar plane or proxima
centaury, and we will be just fine. So chances are that the U in the
container has gone through several half lifes before it hits anything. By
that time it will not be reactive anyways.


> But then, we are worrying about the 7th generation, not the 10th, aren't we?
> 
> -- 
> Joshua D. Boyd
> 
> Social Security - I have greater faith that Elvis is alive
> and programming VAX assembler than that I will ever receive
> a dime from it.  --  Patrick Giagnocavo
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