Keith Thompson

4,371 reputation

1025

bio	website	keith-s-thompson.github.com
	location	San Diego, CA
	age	53
visits	member for	1 year, 7 months
	seen	May 9 at 14:35
stats	profile views	191

I'm a programmer and all-around nerd living in San Diego, California and working at JetHead Development Inc.

E-mail: Keith.S.Thompson@gmail.com

	4,371 reputation	bio	website	keith-s-thompson.github.com	visits	member for	1 year, 7 months
1025 badges		location	San Diego, CA		seen	May 9 at 14:35

summary answers questions tags badges favorites bounties reputation activity

293 Actions

suggestions reviews revisions comments badges posts accepts all

Aug 4	awarded	Self-Learner
Aug 3	comment	Is it possible to lift yourself off from the ground? @Argus: Well, not for me. 8-)}
Aug 2	comment	Is it possible to lift yourself off from the ground? @Bernhard: Yes, and if you put your hands under your bottom and push down, you can lift yourself. The question, IMHO, is poorly phrased.
Aug 2	comment	Is it possible to lift yourself off from the ground? The question is ambiguous. If you push down against the ground, it's possible. If you try to pull up against your own body, it's not.
Aug 2	comment	Is it possible to lift yourself off from the ground? My father used to tell me about our mythical ancestor Bootstrap Thompson, the only man in the world who could pick himself up by his bootstraps and hold himself out at arm's length.
Aug 1	comment	What is the shortest run needed for a “dropped skateboard” rider to reach 160 mph? If he's skating in a vacuum, will he reach 160 mph before he asphyxiates? Feel free to assume a spherical skateboarder.
Aug 1	comment	The theory of moon creation when a Mars size planet hit Earth @zadane: Only if they're low enough to experience significant atmospheric drag. Manned satellites (the shuttle, ISS, Skylab, Mir, etc.) tend to be launched into as low an orbit as practical, because it's cheaper, and because you need minimal fuel to re-enter and go home; that's worth the expense of an occasional re-boost. GPS satellites orbit at about 20,000 kilometers, and geosynchronous communications satellites are about about 36,000 kilometers; they experience no significant drag, and their orbits are much more stable.
Jul 31	comment	The theory of moon creation when a Mars size planet hit Earth @JohnRennie: Sure, but in the views we've seen of the Enterprise in orbit it's clearly high enough for drag not to be an issue. The ISS is in low orbit so it's easy to get to from the surface; the Enterprise comes into orbit from deep space, so there's no reason for it to be in such a low orbit.
Jul 31	comment	The theory of moon creation when a Mars size planet hit Earth It's possible, but unlikely, that Earth's orbit was eccentric before the collision and nearly circular after.
Jul 30	comment	The theory of moon creation when a Mars size planet hit Earth @ThePopMachine: In the original Star Trek, the ship's orbit around a planet was often portrayed as unstable, requiring power to maintain it. That may actually be part of the reason for the misconception.
Jul 30	comment	The theory of moon creation when a Mars size planet hit Earth Do gravitational interactions with other planets tend to circularize orbits over time?
Jul 30	answered	The theory of moon creation when a Mars size planet hit Earth
Jul 28	comment	Why are there photographs of nuclear tests? Yes, the atmosphere absorbs X-rays fairly well; that's why we put X-ray telescopes in orbit.
Jul 25	comment	Could cell-phone radiation cause cancer? And are studies that show a (small) negative correlation less likely to be published, introducing a positive bias?
Jul 20	awarded	Enthusiast
Jul 16	comment	Why do we still not have an exact definition for a kilogram? But you didn't mention that in your answer. You merely stated that "One kilogram is a mass of a randomly chosen prototype." without saying why (which was the question). And again, I don't understand what you mean by "mass is not directly related to kilograms".
Jul 16	comment	Why do we still not have an exact definition for a kilogram? This doesn't answer the question. And perhaps you could explain what you mean by "mass is not directly related to kilograms".
Jul 10	comment	What do spacecraft have in common with atmospheric aeroplanes? @DmitryBrant: Sure, but the premise of the question was a craft that can operate both in an atmosphere and in deep space. Clearly a deep-space-only craft would likely be much different.
Jul 10	revised	What do spacecraft have in common with atmospheric aeroplanes? added 2384 characters in body
Jul 8	comment	What do spacecraft have in common with atmospheric aeroplanes? @DmitryBrant: True, but a craft that really is capable of operating in deep space and in the atmosphere would likely have a similar look.