5 ms·
Yeah, certainly a reason to have failsafe timers and dead-man switches when testing new things. While I did read The Expanse, when I think of that class of dan
by Terr_ 6d ago
Yeah, certainly a reason to have failsafe timers and dead-man switches when testing new things.
While I did read The Expanse, when I think of that class of dangers, what pops to my mind is an old short story Neutron Star (1966) [0]. A financially desperate pilot is hired to discover what killed some researchers while leaving the indestructible starship hull intact... and the thrusters off.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_Star_(short_story) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_Star_(short_story)
- zem 6d agothere was an interesting retcon of that story in one of niven's later works, where it was pointed out that any spacefaring race would know instantly what killed him. it was just better PR to pretend that it was a huge mystery, and that their hull wasn't vulnerable to some stupidly obvious danger but rather to something no one could have foreseen.
- dotancohen 5d ago> failsafe timers and dead-man switches when testing new things. Aircraft and spacecraft are more than anything, mass constrained. Such failsafes are welcome in software, but neither the bleeding-edge engineers not even the test pilots would support adding failsafe mass if it would affect the tests.
- xelxebar 5d agoThanks for the Niven reference. Neutron Star was a fun read. I'm currently working through a collection of 80s SF shorts[0]. It's an entertaining lens into the narratives mores of the time, and or own in contrast. [0]:https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BB07948947 https://ci.nii.ac.jp/ncid/BB07948947