Just a little humor

sear said:
IBM founder Thomas John Watson (1874-1956) predicted only a few (~5?) computers would ever be needed. *


Semiconductors can't handle it, but astronauts can. That's why they use high amperage astronauts. [/kiddin']

I gather as our micro-electronics gain progressively more circuit density, the voltage needed to operate them drops,
resulting in appliances progressively more vulnerable to voltage transients.

* "There never will be talking pictures." D.W. Griffith


You've got me wondering about quantum computing in space. Lots of questions.
Click to expand...

My BS is in physics, but so long ago I had to look this up:
{...
Cosmic rays attract great interest practically, due to the damage they inflict on microelectronics and life outside the protection of an atmosphere and magnetic field, and scientifically, because the energies of the most energetic ultra-high-energy cosmic rays have been observed to approach 3 × 10 eV
(This is slightly greater than 10 million times the design energy of particles accelerated by the Large Hadron Collider, 7 teraelectronvolts [TeV] (7.0×1012 eV.) One can show that such enormous energies might be achieved by means of the centrifugal mechanism of acceleration in active galactic nuclei. At 50 joules [J] (3.1×1011 GeV), the highest-energy ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (such as the OMG particle recorded in 1991) have energies comparable to the kinetic energy of a 90-kilometre-per-hour [km/h] (56 mph) baseball. As a result of these discoveries, there has been interest in investigating cosmic rays of even greater energies. Most cosmic rays, however, do not have such extreme energies; the energy distribution of cosmic rays peaks at 300 megaelectronvolts [MeV] (4.8×10−11 J).
...}
en.wikipedia.org

Cosmic ray - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
I understand there are 3 separate laws of physics:
- Newtonian, including his 3 laws of motion
- Relativity, general & special, &
- Quantum
and each of these not precisely like any of the others.
Rigby5 said:
" ... the highest-energy ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (such as the OMG particle recorded in 1991) have energies comparable to the kinetic energy of a 90-kilometre-per-hour [km/h] (56 mph) baseball." R5 #1,261
Click to expand...
O M G indeed

I don't understand how a quantum particle could convey that much energy.
By Newtonian standards, it would have to be heavy / massive, and or high velocity. BUT !
Anyone trying to figure out how fast such particle would have to travel to impart that much energy is S.O.L.
if you know what I mean.

The obvious question this raises:
how are the electronics aboard the orbiting space stations (there's the ISS, and separate reports indicate China has one also), protected?
 
sear said:
I understand there are 3 separate laws of physics:
- Newtonian, including his 3 laws of motion
- Relativity, general & special, &
- Quantum
and each of these not precisely like any of the others.

O M G indeed

I don't understand how a quantum particle could convey that much energy.
By Newtonian standards, it would have to be heavy / massive, and or high velocity. BUT !
Anyone trying to figure out how fast such particle would have to travel to impart that much energy is S.O.L.
if you know what I mean.

The obvious question this raises:
how are the electronics aboard the orbiting space stations (there's the ISS, and separate reports indicate China has one also), protected?
Click to expand...

My degree in physics was just kids stuff since my career went the direction of programming instead of physics.
But I did learn some of this stuff.
One of the things to remember about the energy of a particle like a cosmic ray is not just its linear velocity and mass, but the rotational and vibratory velocities as well.
I think I have also read theories that mass is actually an illusion from the quantum interference between an object and the Higgs field?

This was interesting:
{...
Cosmic rays can reach extremely high energies, far exceeding those achievable in human-made accelerators. Particles with energies of 10^8 TeV have been observed, which is orders of magnitude higher than the Large Hadron Collider’s beam energy. The highest-energy cosmic rays, known as ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs), can carry energies up to 10^20 eV (50 joules), comparable to the kinetic energy of a baseball moving at 90 km/h, concentrated in a single subatomic particle. These rare events occur at a rate of about one particle per square kilometer per year at the highest energies.
...}

I did a little work on how to allow electronics to function while being bombarded.
Of course the first idea is just shielding with aluminum.
The next idea is to make the flip/flop larger so that the incoming cosmic ray energy has a proportionally smaller influence.
But the most successful actually is to make components in triple duplicates, so you can do a majority rule quorum vote.
 
Rigby5 said:
"... not just its linear velocity and mass, but the rotational and vibratory velocities as well." R5 #1,263
Click to expand...
Fine.
I haven't studied it, but in some of the literature I've encountered I've seen terms like "spin" etc.
My flagrantly ignorant opinion is it's been named this by humans anchored in Newtonian physics, attempting to explain quantum phenomena in Newtonian terms.
Maybe they're right.
Maybe not.
Rigby5 said:
"... not just its linear velocity and mass, but the rotational and vibratory velocities as well." R5 #1,263
Click to expand...
... additional attributes we've guessed at.
It may be precisely that. Or, might it not be something different, that happens to be reliably predicted by a false model?

Rigby5 said:
"I did a little work on how to allow electronics to function while being bombarded.
Of course the first idea is just shielding with aluminum." R5 #1,263
Click to expand...
Electromagnetic shielding?
My very limited experience with Aluminum, I tried to build a projector, used kitchen style Aluminum foil to block light, but found light came through it. What a surprise.
I gather a heavy metal such as Lead would make a superior shield, but is avoided for spacecraft due to its high density (it's too heavy).

Rigby5 said:
"The next idea is to make the flip/flop larger so that the incoming cosmic ray energy has a proportionally smaller influence." R5
Click to expand...
That causes the electrical circuit to consume more electricity, right?

Rigby5 said:
"But the most successful actually is to make components in triple duplicates, so you can do a majority rule quorum vote." R5
Click to expand...
I did not know that. BUT !
iirc NASA's now retired space shuttle fleet were commanded / operated by a computer parliament, basically four IBM PC.
The shuttle pilot would input control commands. Those commands would be processed, interpreted by the parliament, which would then vote on how to execute.
If the vote was unanimous, the command would be executed.
If there was a dissenter, that dissenter's vote authority was automatically electronically revoked.

Shiftless2 said:
"Remember this one ....." S2 #1,264
Click to expand...
Maybe she was adopted.

Rigby5 said:
"What kids do not remember is that computers are totally arbitrary as to the methodology their creators came up with.
You can get used to these arbitrary creations, but it is wrong to expect people to intuitively know them." R5 #1,265
Click to expand...
Yes but,
we have impressed upon computer operations pre-computer protocols.
Storing a file for obvious example.
There may be more than one way to do it.
But one GUI way is to drag-&-drop the file into a folder, much as we would do if using a metal file cabinet.

So when the term "intuitive" is used, it's often a reference to similarity of parallel non-computer operations. Right?
 
sear said:
Fine.
I haven't studied it, but in some of the literature I've encountered I've seen terms like "spin" etc.
My flagrantly ignorant opinion is it's been named this by humans anchored in Newtonian physics, attempting to explain quantum phenomena in Newtonian terms.
Maybe they're right.
Maybe not.

... additional attributes we've guessed at.
It may be precisely that. Or, might it not be something different, that happens to be reliably predicted by a false model?


Electromagnetic shielding?
My very limited experience with Aluminum, I tried to build a projector, used kitchen style Aluminum foil to block light, but found light came through it. What a surprise.
I gather a heavy metal such as Lead would make a superior shield, but is avoided for spacecraft due to its high density (it's too heavy).


That causes the electrical circuit to consume more electricity, right?


I did not know that. BUT !
iirc NASA's now retired space shuttle fleet were commanded / operated by a computer parliament, basically four IBM PC.
The shuttle pilot would input control commands. Those commands would be processed, interpreted by the parliament, which would then vote on how to execute.
If the vote was unanimous, the command would be executed.
If there was a dissenter, that dissenter's vote authority was automatically electronically revoked.


Maybe she was adopted.


Yes but,
we have impressed upon computer operations pre-computer protocols.
Storing a file for obvious example.
There may be more than one way to do it.
But one GUI way is to drag-&-drop the file into a folder, much as we would do if using a metal file cabinet.

So when the term "intuitive" is used, it's often a reference to similarity of parallel non-computer operations. Right?
Click to expand...


Higher frequencies have more energy than lower frequencies, and that includes the movement of the subatomic particles within something like a cosmic ray.

What was interesting once was a disagreement that happened at one company.
The literature spoke of using a "quorum" of processes in parallel in order to be able to over ride hardware glitches.
The argument was some assumed a "quorum" meant you needed 4 parallel processes.
It took me a long time to explain that actually a "quorum" only meant 3, and that 4 could not work because with 4 you could have an unresolvable tie, with 2 one way and 2 in opposition.

I always tried to make a GUI that was intuitive, like drag-&-drop.
That became harder once the mouse was common, and the convention was right button choice display and left button activation.
 
Rigby5 said:
"Higher frequencies have more energy than lower frequencies, and that includes the movement of the subatomic particles within something like a cosmic ray." R5 #1,267
Click to expand...
Yes, but:
it hadn't occurred to me until I read your #1,267.
In audio reproduction, it's the base notes, the low frequencies that require the most power.
I'm not sure, but I suspect the progression from 1 kHz down, the increase in power is exponential. I'm guessing.

Rigby5 said:
"It took me a long time to explain that actually a "quorum" only meant 3, and that 4 could not work because with 4 you could have an unresolvable tie, with 2 one way and 2 in opposition." R5
Click to expand...
I hope they awarded you the Gold star you earned for this.
There's an expression which I'll attempt to paraphrase from weak & faded memory:

When setting out to sea, take one clock, or three.
 
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