Popular Science is disappointingly low-brow. Yes, there's clearly a typo in the distance drilled. But beyond that, there is very little information on *how* they're doing this.
There's an interesting Harry Turtledove novel about what might have happened if Alaska stayed Russian.
I've often wondered the same thing about Hawaii. If it hadn't been a US territory and been attacked by the Japanese in 1941, would we have gotten involved in that war? If it hadn't been attacked, would it ever have achieved statehood?
Plenty of life out there already without our help. Not to mention the fact that it's entirely moot. We're hundreds of years away from this question having any practical significance.
"These aren't warp drives and wormholes, but real science."
No, actually half of those *are* warp drives and wormholes. As to the rest, ion engines have been in use on unmanned craft for years now and with great results. Orion and NERVA have been taken off the drawing boards thanks the the public's phobia about anything with the word "nucular" (not that I don't agree with them in this case). Solar sails are in the works, but there has been little interest so far. Mag sails are a bit more speculative, but a lot of theoretical work has been done on them.
Well... maybe. The Russians have been providing commercial spaceflight for ten years now (and orbital spaceflight at that). Rutan is certainly a genius and Branson has the drive and the cash, but I'm not going to be really impressed until I see a private orbital missions.
Once again, the experts on parenting are the ones without kids. Bottom line, if you choose to fly, you're choosing to take your chances with your fellow passengers and whatever annoying behaviors they may have.
The same question was asked after the discovery of the electron. I dare say we've found plenty of uses for that.
I've often wondered the same thing about Hawaii. If it hadn't been a US territory and been attacked by the Japanese in 1941, would we have gotten involved in that war? If it hadn't been attacked, would it ever have achieved statehood?
No, actually half of those *are* warp drives and wormholes. As to the rest, ion engines have been in use on unmanned craft for years now and with great results. Orion and NERVA have been taken off the drawing boards thanks the the public's phobia about anything with the word "nucular" (not that I don't agree with them in this case). Solar sails are in the works, but there has been little interest so far. Mag sails are a bit more speculative, but a lot of theoretical work has been done on them.
http://casa.colorado.edu/~danforth/science/magsail/magsail.html