Hacker News Reader

Comment by kjellsbells | Hacker News Reader

Is it me, or is the UK government launching an unusually large number of boondoggles lately? Nuclear reactors on the moon. Attempts to become a major player in battery technology. It feels to my jaundiced eye like the UK is trying just a little too hard to remind the world that they still matter.

Some Brexit insecurity might explain this, perhaps, but that was over five years ago.

View on HN

USA has secretly gotten ahead of the quantum race.

Part of their disclosure plan is it work with allies on multiple needs.

With fusion on the horizon, we will need batteries.

With electromagnetic craft, moon trips will be easy.

Secretly? QC companies have been shouting every tiny bit of progress from the rooftops, usually before it gets made.

That’s because the military already had it. They are just now getting bits and pieces.

Fusion isn't on the horizon. And batteries are needed for EVs and Solar/Wind.

And electromagnetic craft are a terrible way to get to the moon.

Why is it terrible? Using microwave emitters in a superconductive hull, and with enough energy, can engineer the pulling mechanics of the superforce.

This is all stuff the military has explored

Local elections in May and general election (likely) next year. And we’ve just had the Budget

I think there’s plenty of Brexit insecurity still lol

The Tory party has a trashed reputation currently so they’re trying to reclaim some ground

This is the usual amount - they just dont normally force the journalists to write about every grant that gets handed out.

Their economy is in decline, they need to do something to change the trajectory.

"Something must be done. This is something. Therefore, it must be done." - Yes, Minister.

USSR economy was in decline. So they built Buran (copycat of Space Shuttle), and Tu-144 (copycat of Concorde). Both are extremely costly, and that helped USSR to fall sooner.

They tried launching satellites two months ago in their first ever rocket mission and it failed.

Something pretty routine for Russia, US and China and even heavily sanctioned Iran.

No they didn't. It simply a US company that flew a plane out of the US.

The failure had nothing to do with the UK.

As we all know doing something new requires immediate success or it isn’t worth pursuing.

When you fall off a horse, do you get back on? Personally I head straight home and refuse to even look at a horse ever again.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com