Nothing is impossible!

[Adam Y.]

Originally Posted by martin417

(this thread is a result of a post in this thread: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=66450)
"When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong."--Arthur C. Clarke

I don't think Arthur C. Clarke said this because it's flat out wrong. As much as we can hope and wish there are things that are impossible.

[martin417]

Originally Posted by Adam Y.

I don't think Arthur C. Clarke said this because it's flat out wrong. As much as we can hope and wish there are things that are impossible.

Actually, Arthur C. Clarke DID say this, and it's not wrong. http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Arthur_C._Clarke/
Everyone realizes that there ARE some things that simply are not possible. But if you read the quote carefully, you will see the caveat "very probably". Not "certainly". We do not know everything about our own planet, much less the entire universe. At this point, we cannot say what is impossible with any certainty.

But this argument is not what this thread is about. This thread is a caution against discouraging teams from thinking outside the box.

[Gboehm]

Originally Posted by martin417

Actually, Arthur C. Clarke DID say this, and it's not wrong. http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Arthur_C._Clarke/
Everyone realizes that there ARE some things that simply are not possible. But if you read the quote carefully, you will see the caveat "very probably". Not "certainly". We do not know everything about our own planet, much less the entire universe. At this point, we cannot say what is impossible with any certainty.

But this argument is not what this thread is about. This thread is a caution against discouraging teams from thinking outside the box.

I can't believe he passed away just a few weeks ago...

[Racer26]

Originally Posted by martin417

[color="Magenta"]...as well as comments about the impossibility of shooting the ball using pneumatic cylinders...

Yep, I was thinking almost exactly what this post was talking about when 1075 got our ENTIRELY PNEUMATIC launcher working. Of course, picking up the ball proved to be more difficult than we thought, and we only got to launch a couple of times in competition, but it DID work.