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Other 196's:
Turns out it'd be a dissapointingly small sphere:
US annual defence budget = $800 billion
2% = $16 billion
Obsidian cost per kg = $5
Total kg in budget = 3.2 billion kg
Density of obsidian = 2.6 g/cm3 = 2600 kg/m3
Total volume of sphere = 3.2b/2600 = 1230769 m3
Volume of sphere = 4/3 π r^3
Radius = (3V/4π)^(1/3) = 66.48 m
The sphere would only stand at 133m tall, I propose we instead utilise the entire defence budget for a much more skyscraper like 490m tall orb
Nobody said it had to be a solid sphere, how else would you get it to emit the ominous hum without attuning its natural frequency by carefully designing the thickness of the obsidian layer?
ignores engineering and construction cost. but we can assume that all people involved would work for free, because its a massive honour
Obsidian Orb is really Roko's Basilisk. Allowing you to live is your payment for building it.
Well that's assuming it's completely solid and not hollow. Hollow would probably be pretty huge, although the structural rigidity might not be great. Maybe we make a giant obsidian 3D printer and print it at like 10-15% infill.
An obsidian 3d print is less crazy than you might think. It's essentially rapidly cooled lava.
Need something to hold the lava, then pressurize it to squeeze it through a nozzle that that has attached cooling units.
You're assuming one year of budget. I take it as 2% per year and something of that size would likely take 10+ years to build out.
This guy orbs!
It would also crack instantly. Obsidian's not durable.
yeah right. it takes a long time to mine, even with a diamond pickaxe
Why should it crack?
Because Obsidian is really fragile. Maybe a bird hits it by accident, shatters the whole thing.
What if it were egg shaped
Then the bird would probably sit on it I think
Would it be a pretty bird?
Found the shill for Big Limestone.
My only question is why we didn't build the orb back in the Eisenhower administration when it was most needed.
Congress had a huge Anti-Ǒ̴̰̘̲̭̿͑̒̒͐̀̋̕͜r̷̡͍̼̹̥̻͖̤̅͑͌̋͌͗b̶̡̛͈̺̬͙̰̙͖̘͔̳̲̦̦͖̄͆̃͂͆͠ caucas after WWII. It's a miracle we got the Ǒ̴̰̘̲̭̿͑̒̒͐̀̋̕͜r̷̡͍̼̹̥̻͖̤̅͑͌̋͌͗b̶̡̛͈̺̬͙̰̙͖̘͔̳̲̦̦͖̄͆̃͂͆͠s we did.
Would be a far better use of the 'defense' budget than what they're currently spending it on.
Thats funny because more than 2%, more like 40%, of our defense budget is going into a black orb never to be seen again and is completely unaccounted for.
I have the feeling that if we shook execs at Raytheon and Lockheed upside down for long enough a fair amount of that would fall out.
2b2t players:
I support this project.
It should go on top of Devil Mountain, it has one of the largest viewsheds in the western US.
If we’re ok with relocating it outside of California, let’s put it on top of Devil's Tower and call it the world’s largest Gazing Ball garden ornament.
No, we should put the quartz one on Devil's Tower and it will be the world's largest crystal ball. Fortunes could be told for miles.
Just imagine the size we could build if we used all of the defense budget. It's resonant frequency would blow the eardrums of everyone on the West Coast and kill all marine life. One day when I'm presadent...
Why would it hum and am I taking this too seriously?
That's the best part - nobody would know!
Large homogenous objects make noise. Most theories i've heard think it's a result of vibration/internal stresses.
Well because it comes out of the defence budget it would be a military installation and therefore the hum is classified
I think you're not taking it seriously enough. The number of benefits from this would be immense.
Why wouldn't it hum?
Why does the government keep this from us?
Why are they so afraid of giving the public what they deserve and want, an ominously humming obsidian sphere?
What if China builds a mysteriously vibrating marble sphere first?
Were all the plans for this project taken to Mar-a-Lago? Or saved on Hunter Biden's laptop? Or hidden in some pizza restaurant?
Just asking questions...
Something one might propose to build in Night Vale.
Please do not disregard the obsidian sphere in the Night Vale public swimming pool. Make sure to give it all due attention. But not too much attention, so as to make things weird. Too little attention, unfortunately, will also bring about its ire, and we all remember what happened last time. Simply apply the recommended amount of regard to its ominous, strangely comforting hum, as it gently lulls you to sleep.
And now: the weather.
In 2022, the defense dept spent 590billion dollars, 2% of that would be 11.8 billion dollars. While it is impossible to calculate the cost of constructing this sphere, it cost 25 billion dollars to develop the Airbus A380, and 150 Billion to complete the International space station.
The US defense budget isn't an infinite pool of money. It's 15% of the federal budget. It's dwarfed by healthcare spending (27%), and Social Security (24%). I'm not a war hawk, I try to bring this up in lefty spaces because skimming off the defense budget to solve social problems is a common, and silly belief.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_budget#Major_expenditure_categories
YOU'RE RUINING IT FOR ME!
What percentage needs to be cut for it to float in the air and shoot death rays at heretics?
Hell yeah, ominous hum!