I'd push every floor's button just before stepping off it

Take a parachute & jump off the observation deck

Probably crap my pants.

Duh, sex.

Get to the top and start a TFD thread asking for cat pictures.

Seth_The_Wide: Duh, sex.

So what would you do with the other 23 minutes of the 25 minute ride to the top?

I'd ask what floor housewares was on.

bone

no questions were begged...

Take the stairs -- I hate elevators.

I beg of submitter to stop raping "begging the question"

Moon the earth.

Dude! i totally wrote a report on how this would happen when i was in elementary school. i need to dig that up, so i can prove my psychic ability!

I'd activate my car's wings and I'd fly away. Because that's about as possible as a space elevator.

"This is supposed to be an express elevator to hell -- goin' down!!"

Pee in the corner.

1) Meeting at Microsoft
2) Bunch of lawyers
3) Discussing insurance issues

None of this gives me great confidence that this is going to happen in the next 25 years.

Not another god damn "begging the question" thread.

the only serious problem is that it would have to be built out in the middle of the ocean just in case it somehow fell over. otherwise, if we have the technology and the know how, why not build it. it's an old idea, it'd be cool if it were to become a reality.

bungie jump

Listen to relaxing Muzak.

Two chicks at the same time.

itastelikechicken: Not another god damn "begging the question" thread.

Ironic, isn't it?

25 years from now? Well, the world's last smoking area would probably be at the top.

Drop a peppy

Water balloons

Wow. Microsoft. Nice.

Now, what to do when you get a blue error screen about three-quarters of the way up and free-fall back down?

get stoned. in space. then go back down.

Wulfhardt: 25 years from now? Well, the world's last smoking area would probably be at the top.

We can only hope.

Use it as a stripper pole?

Space elevator, like CIV 4 world wonder space elvator?

Sweet, a bonus to space race production and next thing we get is a trip to alpha centari!

I'm begging the question at this very moment, so I'm really getting a kick out of these replies.

But will it have skyhooks?

/better not be too obscure

At the top, I would beg the question.

Lumber Jack Off the only serious problem is that it would have to be built out in the middle of the ocean just in case it somehow fell over.

Wouldn't it be longer than the circumference of the Earth? In which case it doesn't really matter where you put it.

RoyBatty: itastelikechicken: Not another god damn "begging the question" thread.

Ironic, isn't it?

I hate you. *chortle* :P

/*snicker*

Fart and then blame it on the other guy.

Since when does "begging the question" mean "raising the question"?

$50 says that Submitter hangs out in Starbucks cafes and awkwardly hits on women in book stores.

Shop at the duty-free.

CANNNNNNONBALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!

Hang glide down, with an O² tank and pressure suit.

Or read a certain Ray Bradbury short story and get paranoid about meteors.

/not obscure, but I can't remember the name of it. Someone help a Farker out?

It Raises the question, subby. It does NOT beg the question.

Begging the question is a logical fallacy in which the validity of the proposition to be proved is assumed in one of the premises.

Raising the question refers to a situation in which an observation inspires further speculation.

Example:
"The space elevator will be completed in 25 years. What you would do if you could ride it?"
This is "raising the question."

"The space elevator is the most efficient way to get into orbit, because all other methods of getting into orbit are less efficient."
That is "begging the question."

/No you can't have an A in logic 101. Not yours.

not going to happen EVER. the engineering and materials necessary to make this feasible in any way would make more conventional propulsion cheaper, quicker, safer anyways not to mention the complete change to society as 5000 story buildings become popular. Secondly, the danger posed by such a contraption would be immense. A simple platform that we let a shuttle launch from is literally under lock and key 24/7 much less the base of a cable that rises into the stratosphere. What about testing? It's basically untestable. Having worked in software, where simple tasks drag on for 2-500 times as long as originally estimated or things breaking with no understanding why (in a near-finite system no less), you get 0 chance of this every happening.

YoungSwedishBlonde: Fart and then blame it on the other guy.

THIS

Hock one off the top.

Save energy: Take the stairway to heaven instead.

My best Steven Tyler impression.

Masturbate inside and then see if the ejaculate would form floating balls of sexuality.

Lots of Led Zeppelin.

Throw a handful of pennies off the roof

Lumber Jack Off: the only serious problem is that it would have to be built out in the middle of the ocean just in case it somehow fell over. otherwise, if we have the technology and the know how, why not build it. it's an old idea, it'd be cool if it were to become a reality.

Why would it fall over? It would be in orbit like a satellite.

Well, I would go to the new life that awaits us in the Off-World colonies. The chance to begin again in a golden land of opportunity and adventure.

Florida Ed: Lumber Jack Off the only serious problem is that it would have to be built out in the middle of the ocean just in case it somehow fell over.

Wouldn't it be longer than the circumference of the Earth? In which case it doesn't really matter where you put it.

No, it will not be 25000 miles long. It will be much, much, much smaller than the circumference of the earth.

Lament the lack of a Stairway to Heaven.

If it's anchored in Sri Lanka, I'll drink a toast to the shade of Arthur C. Clarke.

If it's anchored in Singapore, I'll do two Singaporean chicks at the same time in space. Lah!

So, how long before some bozo pushes the Stop button and tries to climb out between floors?

vwarb: Dude! i totally wrote a report on how this would happen when i was in elementary school.


Really? I expect most of today's Farkers will have graduated by then.

The idea of these experts talking about insurance is an indication of how close this might be to reality.

No it isn't. Insurance geeks make D&D players look in touch with reality.

FloydA: It Raises the question, subby. It does NOT beg the question.

Begging the question is a logical fallacy in which the validity of the proposition to be proved is assumed in one of the premises.

Raising the question refers to a situation in which an observation inspires further speculation.

Example:
"The space elevator will be completed in 25 years. What you would do if you could ride it?"
This is "raising the question."

"The space elevator is the most efficient way to get into orbit, because all other methods of getting into orbit are less efficient."
That is "begging the question."

/No you can't have an A in logic 101. Not yours.

When are you going to stop being such a jackass?

Brodkowitz deals with the aftermath of aircraft accidents and is involved in the conversations of legal implications of a space elevator at the summit.

"When you ask how can we make this happen, we need to really ask, are we permitted to make this happen?" Brodkowitz said.

Some of the legal topics on tap for the summit include who regulates the elevator and how to insure it.

"How do we create a regime so we know the risks, and therefore allow insurance to be applied to this. In order to create this, we really need to be able to obtain insurance for it," Brodkowitz said.

Bah! We're talking about MAD SCIENCE, you petty fools! Evil geniuses don't let trifles like this stop them!!!

not ride

Seriously, what the heck happens if that elevator gets stuck.

1) take a knife and stab the asshole who pushed the button for the second floor.

2) fart

0Icky0: If it's anchored in Sri Lanka, I'll drink a toast to the shade of Arthur C. Clarke.

Do the typical "celebration" thing and release a bunch of pigeons at the top.

Musicology101: Probably Definitely crap my pants.

FTFYFM

Jack9: not going to happen EVER. the engineering and materials necessary to make this feasible in any way would make more conventional propulsion cheaper, quicker, safer anyways not to mention the complete change to society as 5000 story buildings become popular.

A space elevator is not a tall building but rather it's a really long rope hung down from orbit. The technology to make it would not allow a 5000 story building. There are also severe limits on regular propulsion with the only feasible alternative probably being nuclear rockets.

slideaway: No, it will not be 25000 miles long. It will be much, much, much smaller than the circumference of the earth.

A space elevator would be at least 22000 miles long and likely a good amount longer than that, granted only 22000 of it could ever crash down to earth.

Witty Handle:

When are you going to stop being such a jackass?

Excellent example! You get subby's points for today.

NuttierThanEver: Seth_The_Wide: Duh, sex.

So what would you do with the other 23 minutes of the 25 minute ride to the top?

nomnomnom
the other 24,5 minute u mean

slideaway: No, it will not be 25000 miles long. It will be much, much, much smaller than the circumference of the earth.

Erm, LiftPort's website says it would be 60,000 miles long, which means your first statement was correct, and your second one was wrong.

Hit on the chick next to me.

Lumber Jack Off: the only serious problem is that it would have to be built out in the middle of the ocean just in case it somehow fell over. otherwise, if we have the technology and the know how, why not build it. it's an old idea, it'd be cool if it were to become a reality.

Fell over? A true space elevator needs to be at least 44 thousand miles "tall". Things like that don't "fall over"

Many things are possible given sufficient amounts of unobtanium and nonexistium.

psychosis_inducing: But will it have skyhooks?

/better not be too obscure

It'll pretty much BE the Skyhook... the only question that remains is whether or not it'll be the Quito skyhook...

/came here for that slightly obscure reference

A carbon fiber ribbon?

And the payload is propelled by...

Dilithium crystals?

NuttierThanEver: So what would you do with the other 23 minutes of the 25 minute ride to the top?

It'd take you somewhere around 2 weeks to reach the top so there is plenty of time for everything.

I'd go up.

sanktp: Well, I would go to the new life that awaits us in the Off-World colonies. The chance to begin again in a golden land of opportunity and adventure.

I'm saving up to see the Tannhauser Gate!

masterbate all the way up and take a crap on the way down...

slideaway:

No, it will not be 25000 miles long. It will be much, much, much smaller than the circumference of the earth.

Circumference of the Earth: 24,900 miles
Geosynch orbit height: 22,400 miles
Length of space elevator (twice geosynch): 44,800 miles

It'd wrap almost twice around the planet if you were to somehow cut loose the anchor masses at geosynch and the far end.

PirateFreedom: Many things are possible given sufficient amounts of unobtanium and nonexistium.

Don't forget phlebotinum.

reillan: not ride

Seriously, what the heck happens if that elevator gets stuck.

Just cross circuit to B...

FloydA: It Raises the question, subby. It does NOT beg the question

Ha ha! Your language only has one meaning per word or phrase. You suck.

Find the mens's dept and buy a Brooks Brothers space suit.

So, how easy is this going to be to fix when it breaks (and it will)? What happens when some terrorist blows it up? Or it gets hit by an earthquake, hurricane, tsunami, flood...ect?

Seriously, I just don't see how this can really be feasible in the long term.

Moon Planet Earth

//Orbital Pressed Ham FTW

0Icky0: If it's anchored in Sri Lanka, I'll drink a toast to the shade of Arthur C. Clarke.

If it's anchored in Quito, we could have a beer with Charles Sheffield.

Smallberries Quote 2008-07-19 04:46:29 PM
Lumber Jack Off: the only serious problem is that it would have to be built out in the middle of the ocean just in case it somehow fell over. otherwise, if we have the technology and the know how, why not build it. it's an old idea, it'd be cool if it were to become a reality.

Fell over? A true space elevator needs to be at least 44 thousand miles "tall". Things like that don't "fall over"


It could lose orbital integrity, 'falling over' would be a euphemism in terms of the potential gravitational and kinetic energies being balanced and that balance lost.

I guess I'd come back down
Another hundred miles of muzak yay

the only serious problem is that it would have to be built out in the middle of the ocean just in case it somehow fell over. otherwise, if we have the technology and the know how, why not build it. it's an old idea, it'd be cool if it were to become a reality.

It would be ~1.5 times the diameter of the Earth. If it fell, the start location is irrelevent, since it is going to wrap itself around the globe one full time and half another (it won't fall straigth down because of angular momentum) - it is going to flatten stuff all the way around the equator. And that assumes it falls in a perfectly Newtonian manner; add in deflection, and it may veer tens or hundreds of miles off the equator - 1 degree of deflection over 40K miles would add up. By the time the end hits the earth, it ought to cause some nasty damage - and heaven forfend no one is near where one of the attached cars hits, cause it will leave a little more than a bruise. Insurence is going to be astromonical (pun intended) - Quito would probably take great exception to Microsoft plowing a new street through the middle of downtown.

Rocking out. In space.

It would be ~1.5 times the diameter of the Earth.

Crap - Circumfrence, not diameter

Draq: So, how easy is this going to be to fix when it breaks (and it will)? What happens when some terrorist blows it up?


They're secretly building a second one on an artificial island in Japan.

But when you finally meet the aliens, it's your dad.

phalamir: By the time the end hits the earth, it ought to cause some nasty damage - and heaven forfend no one is near where one of the attached cars hits, cause it will leave a little more than a bruise.

Although I found Sheffield's book to be much more interesting from a sci-fi and plot point of view, Clarke's book was probably more true-to-life. In Clarke's book, there was much written about how a space elevator was *not* dangerous in the way you mentioned, and how the ends of a cut cable would simply drift away slowly from each other, not slicing the Earth like a bolo around a ballerina's neck.

Dunno about the math, but I assumed Clarke knew what he was talking about.

Cut the cable, then twirl my mustaches and cackle maniacally as it fell to Earth, crushing all those caught in its path.



/Not really.
//But you know some asshole would try.

What a ripoff... I was too young for free love, and I'll be too old or dead for space elevator.

Oh well, at least I'm around for internet porn.

cockfight or maybe just cast judgement on the entire planet. But only if Willy Wonka hasn't reserved it for pedo antics.

/the first elevator didn't work out so hot...

Also, LiftPort has this to say about the cable breaking:

Depending on where the break is, the ribbon will either fly away into deep space, or fall. Any portion of the ribbon sufficiently high enough to fall with any energy, will burn up in the atmosphere. The small amount that may fall to the surface will fall with all the energy of a piece of tissue, fluttering in the air as it falls.

Drink.

/afraid of heights

FloydA: Draq: So, how easy is this going to be to fix when it breaks (and it will)? What happens when some terrorist blows it up?


They're secretly building a second one on an artificial island in Japan.

But when you finally meet the aliens, it's your dad.

OK TO GO¹⁰

i would collect some space rocks and then sell them on ebay and retire in Malibu

phalamir: It would be ~1.5 times the diameter of the Earth. If it fell, the start location is irrelevent, since it is going to wrap itself around the globe one full time and half another (it won't fall straigth down because of angular momentum) - it is going to flatten stuff all the way around the equator. And that assumes it falls in a perfectly Newtonian manner; add in deflection, and it may veer tens or hundreds of miles off the equator - 1 degree of deflection over 40K miles would add up. By the time the end hits the earth, it ought to cause some nasty damage - and heaven forfend no one is near where one of the attached cars hits, cause it will leave a little more than a bruise. Insurence is going to be astromonical (pun intended) - Quito would probably take great exception to Microsoft plowing a new street through the middle of downtown.

High velocity reentry is a biatch, you're better off worrying about the increased cancer rate from whatever microscopic lengths of nanotubing manage to float down to earth.

phalamir: the only serious problem is that it would have to be built out in the middle of the ocean just in case it somehow fell over. otherwise, if we have the technology and the know how, why not build it. it's an old idea, it'd be cool if it were to become a reality.

It would be ~1.5 times the diameter of the Earth. If it fell, the start location is irrelevent, since it is going to wrap itself around the globe one full time and half another (it won't fall straigth down because of angular momentum) - it is going to flatten stuff all the way around the equator. And that assumes it falls in a perfectly Newtonian manner; add in deflection, and it may veer tens or hundreds of miles off the equator - 1 degree of deflection over 40K miles would add up. By the time the end hits the earth, it ought to cause some nasty damage - and heaven forfend no one is near where one of the attached cars hits, cause it will leave a little more than a bruise. Insurence is going to be astromonical (pun intended) - Quito would probably take great exception to Microsoft plowing a new street through the middle of downtown.

Actually there is a good description of the consequences of a "bean pole" crashing on the surface of Mars in one of the many SF books about colonizing Mars. Can't remember which book however. Basically the crash was triggered by the cable being severed just under the counter weight. The counter weight takes off at huge velocities, while the cable wraps itself around Mar's equator.

Tall and tan and young and lovely
the girl from Ipanema goes walking
And when she passes hmmm hmmm mmmm hmmm hmmmm

farkING HELL!!! 25,000 more feet of this crap to go. I'll never get this farking song out of my head now.

Read the article, haven't read the thread:

Insurance?

/off to read the thread

What great harm would be done if there was an accident? It couldn't "fall over" as it's just a monofilment cable reaching from a base station up to a satellite station. Even if a plane was flown into the cable it would probably just slice the plane in two. Or if the cable was cut we'd just feed another one down from orbit.

Enjoy the muzak.

corneliusfiddlebone: maybe just cast judgement on the entire planet.

I bid three hundred quatloos on the newcomers!

Perfect. Hopefully the Freedom Tower is finished by then.

theorellior: Dunno about the math, but I assumed Clarke knew what he was talking about.

Well since he invented geostationary satellites, which the space elevator is based on, yes he knew what he was talking about.

- Fart and blame the douchebag next to me.

- Point and laugh.

Witty Handle: FloydA: It Raises the question, subby. It does NOT beg the question.

Begging the question is a logical fallacy in which the validity of the proposition to be proved is assumed in one of the premises.

Raising the question refers to a situation in which an observation inspires further speculation.

Example:
"The space elevator will be completed in 25 years. What you would do if you could ride it?"
This is "raising the question."

"The space elevator is the most efficient way to get into orbit, because all other methods of getting into orbit are less efficient."
That is "begging the question."

/No you can't have an A in logic 101. Not yours.

Begging the question, when are you going to stop being such a jackass?

FTFY

/I crack myself up.

Here's how you handle the insurance. Pass a law that says no one can sue. If you run into it, it's your fault. If it fails while you're on it then by riding it you've automatically waived any right to sue. End of insurance issues and dirt bag lawyers making money off of it.

psychosis_inducing: But will it have skyhooks?

/better not be too obscure

Without them, how will humanity fight off the vermicious knids?

On-topic though, I remember mentioning this idea to a former coworker back in 2000 and he started shrieking about how it would never be possible and I was clearly insane and/or retarded for even thinking about such idiotic ideas. He eventually "quit" because he had to check into rehab for an extended stay.

But since the earth is spinning, wouldn't it keep going UP?

... if it broke loose I mean.

This is exciting. If we achieve the space elevator, can the space escalator be far behind?

/sliding down 'tween the up and down!

Hosebeatings: On-topic though, I remember mentioning this idea to a former coworker back in 2000 and he started shrieking about how it would never be possible and I was clearly insane and/or retarded for even thinking about such idiotic ideas. He eventually "quit" because he had to check into rehab for an extended stay.

I guess the take-away moral for this story is that space elevators can drive you to do recreational substances?

OscarTamerz: Here's how you handle the insurance. Pass a law that says no one can sue. If you run into it, it's your fault. If it fails while you're on it then by riding it you've automatically waived any right to sue. End of insurance issues and dirt bag lawyers making money off of it.

You're right. The fact that no one has ever tried to sue his or her way out of a pre-nup is proof that when people "promise" on a legal document, they really do stick to it.

/oh, wait...

jesus, that phrase again?

Get out my vintage 80's ghettoblaster and play my CD of Pump with Love in an Elevator on repeat. All the way to the top!

Film Speed 3: Going Down.

/Gotta keep this elevator going at 55 mph or it's going to blow up!

Hock a loogie off the edge, of course!

ebay it.

phalamir: tBy the time the end hits the earth, it ought to cause some nasty damage - and heaven forfend no one is near where one of the attached cars hits, cause it will leave a little more than a bruise. Insurence is going to be astromonical (pun intended) - Quito would probably take great exception to Microsoft plowing a new street through the middle of downtown.

It's made of carbon. It will burn up long before it ever has a chance to "wrap around" the earth. At best, we get a wicked awesome (and expensive) light show.

Naticus: /Gotta keep this elevator going at 55 mph or it's going to blow up!

Dennis Hopper better have some smokes stockpiled because that's gonna take 45 days before anything happens.

Do we really need another target for angry Muslims?

Benjimin_Dover: Do we really need another target for angry Muslims?

Anchor it in Mecca. Problem solved.

I also came in to say, "Fart."

Glad to see you Farkers had it covered.

Do upside down chugs all the way to the top and sober up on the ride back.

Spirit Hammer: But since the earth is spinning, wouldn't it keep going UP?

Yes, and no, depends on where it broke, relative to the midpoint. If it broke, say a few miles up, the upper part would still just hang there, while the lower part would "fall" over, in a nearly strait line east to west, probably burning up as it entered the atmosphere, unless it entered fast enough to make it all the way down before burning up. If it broke high enough up the counter weight would be thrown out of orbit, with the velocity determined by the distance up the cable. The case in Red Mars would be the worst case (for those caught on the counter weight)Thanks heypete:

_ I repeat _ !!!?!?!??!

Way awesome login...where the hell have you been?

Anyway...I have always said that tripping on acid in outer space would be the most fantastical thing that your brain could ever endure. The only problem is what would happen if you lost it and needed somebody to keep it real for you and you're in outer-space?

Maybe a pure Ketamine trip would be better, since it subsides within an hour or two.

It's worth a try...I'd do it.

Stand in the back, look at the floor and mutter to myself.

"What's that? No God, these are nice people. I don't want to kill them like the others."

Pray for some REALLY good elevator music.

jaylectricity: _ I repeat _ !!!?!?!??!

It doesn't look like it, so let me repost... the login name was "_" "Shift minus"/"underscore"

I even checked out the profile.

/it's not like there's anything else to do there

I'm just kind of wondering where the 60,000 miles figure is coming from. The space shuttle orbits less than 500 miles above the surface. Why do they need the elevator to go so far?

theorellior: Benjimin_Dover: Do we really need another target for angry Muslims?

Anchor it in nuke Mecca. Problem solved.

FTFY

From everything ive read on the subject, the cable breaking and causing a swath of destruction around the world is not a problem. The cable will most likely be manufactured out of carbon nanotubes, which are incredibly light. If the cable did come down, it would easily burn up in the atmosphere. If the cable were dislodged at the base by natural disaster, our a couple thousand feet up, by an airliner piloted by terrorists of course, the rest of it would drift off into space.

I dont think people are grasping how long this thing would be and how much of it would be out in space. Atmosphere is only about 60 miles thick, geostationary orbit is 22k miles, and as others have pointed out, the end of this would have to be twice as far out, outside the van allen belt! So a little more than .1% of this thing would be within the atmosphere.

theorellior: Hosebeatings: On-topic though, I remember mentioning this idea to a former coworker back in 2000 and he started shrieking about how it would never be possible and I was clearly insane and/or retarded for even thinking about such idiotic ideas. He eventually "quit" because he had to check into rehab for an extended stay.

I guess the take-away moral for this story is that space elevators can drive you to do recreational substances?

Or that heroin addicts probably don't make the best people to discuss anything even remotely outside the mind-numbingly mundane with.

Hookers & blow, man..... the answer is always hookers & blow....

heypete. ZOMG. i came in to post that i thought it was pretty obscure. plus they blew up the elevator on purpose.

PirateFreedom: Many things are possible given sufficient amounts of unobtanium and nonexistium.

And of course fictionite and bogonite.

I'd push every floor's button just before stepping off it


THIS

with this song playing Link (new window)

I don't understand how a space elevator would be powered. MIT students can barely get one 20 stories high, how do they expect to get one 60,000 miles high?

Elephantman: with this song playing Link (new window)

You win. Seriously. Everyone always makes fun of me when I bring up Liv..

tzankoff, you bastard!

/going to hell
//who is with me?
///i'm driving

OscarTamerz

Who is going to pass the law? Such a device is almost certainly going to be on the equator, not in New Mexico. And the people on the thing are going to be the least of the problems - that's paying for maybe a couple hundred deaths. The problems will be the people on the ground where it falls. Quito (because its a fair large city really, really close to the equator) has a better than average chance of getting at least one and possbily two (depending on where the thing is anchored and how much falls) trenches dug through it, if this thing fails and falls. No court in any country is going to buy the line that Quito's founding in 1543 knowingly put it at risk because the Imperial Spanish should have known a space elevator would be built 500 years later and might fall on it.

While such a device has many possible benefits wrt space exploration/travel, the results of a catostrophic failure are quite considerable - and insuring against those results may be quite a bit more than the gains. And giving a company blanket immunity just begs for it to cut corners, increasing the chance something will go wrong. Add to this Microsoft's legendary record for flawless planning and execution of its products, and I'm gonna go live in Iceland, since eveything south of Paris will be a valid target for the inevitable crash after the installation of Service Pack 2