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Something that I realized this year is that I like pondering the future -- looking way out and imagining how the world will be different, what things people will be doing, etc. This probably stems from my interest in technology.
The price of gasoline
April 26, 2008
A very interesting question in 2008 is to look into the future and imagine what gasoline prices will be like. Here are some wild guesses:
$1.30/L: 2008
$1.50/L: 2009
$2.00/L: 2011
$2.50/L: 2013
$3.00/L: 2016
$4.00/L: 2021
$10.00/L: 2030
It will be interesting (and scary) to sit back and watch.
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How far could you long jump on the moon? 88 feet?March 3, 2008
  | On earth, people are able to long jump roughly 30 feet = 9 meters |
| How far a person can jump is a combination of how fast they are running when they leave the ground and how long they are in the air. |
| How long they are in the air depends on how high they jump |
| Said differently, the higher a person jumps, the longer they are in the air, and thus the further their forward speed caries them |
| I looked up some footage of the olympics on Google Video and it appears that jumpers are airborn for about 0.8 seconds |
| 9 metres / 0.8 seconds = 11.25 metres / second = 40 km/h. This speed feels a bit high to me, so perhaps they are airborn for longer than 0.8 seconds, but we can make a reasonable estimation using this figure. |
| How high do they jump? |
2*t = 0.8 (The total time airborn)
t = 0.4 (The time taken to fall from maximal height)
t = sqrt( 2 * d / 9.8 )
t^2 = 2*d / 9.8
d = ( 9.8 * t*t ) / 2
= ( 9.8 * 0.4*0.4 ) / 2
= 0.784 metres (2.57 feet) |
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| How fast are they moving upward when they leave the ground? |
v = t * a
= 0.4 * 9.8
= 3.92 metres/second = 14 km/h |
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| The force of gravity on the moon is 1/6th that of Earth's |
| 9.8 / 6 = approx 1.63 m/s/s |
| How long would it take a jumper to reach their apex if they jumped upward at 3.92 m/s on the moon? |
t = v / g
= 3.92 / 1.63
= 2.4 s |
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| How high would they go if they jumped upward at 3.92 m/s on the moon? |
d = ( 1.63 * t*t ) / 2
= ( 1.63 * 2.4*2.4 ) / 2
= 4.7 metres = 15 feet (!) |
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| In conclusion, how far, approximately, could a person jump on the moon given a 40 km/h running speed and 2.4s of air time? |
d = v * t
= 11.25 m/s * 2.4 s
= 27 meters
= 88 feet |
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First person to drive around the moon and other assorted funMarch 3, 2008
Although it's a little unclear whether the Bush administration's plan to return mankind to the moon will come to fruition, I think we all know that at some point it's inevitable. One of the more obvious developments is an extended stay there, perhaps several months at a time. And when you think of people being on a moon/planet, needing to move from one place to another is important just like it is on earth. I wonder when the first road will be laid on the moon. Looking forward a little further, I find it cute to think of the first person or team to strike out driving across the whole circumference of the moon. That would be quite a historic accomplishment -- and I expect it will be done long before there is a road around the moon. 10,000 km. That's a long, dusty drive. Here are some other interesting future events to consider relating to the moon: | First person to be buried on the moon |
| New games invented by people on the moon to take the lessened gravity into account |
| First baby born on the moon (I expect that pregnant women will return to earth to have their babies, but eventually I could see this being done) |
| World records that pertain to things done on the moon. Maybe they'd be called "Moon records" since their not really "World" records. I could see long jump being a good one. (Obviously this would require the development of space suits that are much less restrictive) It would be fun to make a mathematical model to predict what the limits of human long jump would be on the Moon. |
UPDATE: Hey cool, this article isn't too far off what I'm pondering here.
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