In space, a NTR wouldn’t need much shielding. In space, a tank wouldn’t need much insulation.

A tug would have been a dumb idea. Thrust would have been sufficient for a rocket leaving orbit. A factor of 2 or 3 in ISP makes a big difference if you are going interplanetary.

Repair? No one repairs rocket engine especially back then. And volume of propellant shouldn’t be a big deal since ISP would be two to three times H2 + O2 if you needed a high enough delta V.

Profitability may depends on demand and the price of the competitions.

Solid core nuclear rocket could have taken us to Mars forty years ago. We built and tested them. We are going to need nuclear power to conquer the solar system.

It sounds like a plausible idea. Someone should try it out. But know that there is no such thing as a free lunch. The process will take energy but not creating brine might make it worthwhile.

I wasn’t suggesting that. Far easier to use a mass driver to send a stream of ice meteors from Ceres to Mars.

Mars has ice caps that could be melted by orbital mirrors.

Ice bodies in the asteroid belt would be easier. Ceres looks like it has a lot of ice.

Don't believe the hype. AI isn't that flexible and unlike a human, it must be taught.

If you add suicide by gun then things get much worse for Trump’s country.

Regular dams could be used to back renewable. Keep the output of the dam low when there is enough renewable and ramp it up when there is less renewable. The good thing about dams is that it only take minutes to raise their output.

Seton Falls Park.

We biked when we were young. It was the thing to do.

When you first die the cells in your body aren’t dead they are in suspend animation. The problem we have is that we don’t know how to jumpstart the body. And for some reason there seems to be little interest in this line of research. If we figure how to restart the body a lot of things like surgery gets a lot easier.

Check the percentage, if 50% or greater then set up stings.

We should look into why so many 911 calls. 30K calls a day is about 11 million a year. That’s about a call per person.

BS. A portion of 311 calls should be answered. Assign a few patrol cars to it. No precinct is so busy that all the cops are answering 911 calls 24/7. The Percentage of 311 calls investigated should be on the Mayor’s and Commissioner’s morning reports.

To improve our discussion, you should say why it is a dumb idea.

Don’t they usually appoint a special prosecutor when cops are involved?

There is the PATH line from PENN station that goes further down. Don’t know if the LIRR could make use of it.

Mass transit is about reducing the time and effort for moving people. Reducing people commute by even twenty minutes one way would improve their lives.

Maybe extending Metro North would be the better idea. The subway lines do get pretty dense down there but I think they can fit the extension.

Same way the 2nd Ave subway was built, you cut a tunnel and build a station. It would cost about the same per mile.

I believe in the grand jury system even for cops. Grand Juries members could be more active though and don’t let the ADA lead them around.