Wikipedia:Reference desk/Science
| |||||||||
How to ask a question
| |||||||||
|
| ||||||||
After reading the above, you may
. Your question will be added at the bottom of the page. | |||||||||
How to answer a question
|
| ||||||||
June 28
Identifying an insect species
Today I saw a flying insect of some kind, bright yellow all over its body (not a single dark spot that I could recall), with bright red eyes. It was about the size of a fly, and this would be in, er, North America. I didn't get a better look than that, though, and I mainly saw it from the anterior end. Anyone know what it could be? –Unint 01:09, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- I thought maybe it could be a whitefly, but only the larvae have white eyes. So I am probably wrong. --Proficient 02:42, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- Yellow Cabs : can they fly ? --DLL 17:56, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development
What are your views on Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Devopment?
- I believe they are wrapped up nicely in the article theory of cognitive development. --Kainaw (talk) 01:52, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- The question didn't ask for neutral, verifiable facts; it asked for your views. Personally, I think it's a load of crap, but at least it's a lot better than that nutcase Freud's crazy theories. —Keenan Pepper 02:01, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- Maybe, but when the time comes, I'm totally performing that kind of experiments on my own kids. Melchoir 02:03, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- Why can't my views be a collection of nothing more than neutral, verifiable facts? Can't there be some topic that I'm not obnoxiously opinionated about? --Kainaw (talk) 02:26, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- What are your views on whether the Melbourne Demons should arrange to take Jason Akermanis in a trade? How about whether José Ramos Horta or his ex-wife Anna Passoa (no, I'm not making this up, they're both distinct possibilities) should become the interim Prime Minister of Timor Leste? Nothing useful to say about these issues? Well, maybe we have the same problem with your question.
- Sorry for the sarcasm, but the personal views of the Wikipedia reference desk dwellers are of little relvance. If you want a relevant survey of expert opinion, go find a group of developmental psychologists and ask them. Otherwise, read our article; it's the best distillation of expert opinion we currently have. --Robert Merkel 02:45, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- But those are easy questions. "Akermanis" looks cool on a jersey, so they should definately take him in a trade. As for Jose and Anna, never trust a politician named Jose. Now, if Anna can sing from her balcony, even better! --Kainaw (talk) 02:49, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- Australian Football League jumpers (they're not "jerseys") do not have names on the back. Any other suggestions? --Robert Merkel 02:56, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- East Timor is East Timor in English. Are you starting a campaign to change it, Robert? JackofOz 04:39, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- Australian Football League jumpers (they're not "jerseys") do not have names on the back. Any other suggestions? --Robert Merkel 02:56, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- No names on the "jumpers"? That changes everything. They should dump the yellow-headed freak then. --Kainaw (talk) 13:27, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
which school of thought am i closest to?
my philosophy is:
In the beginning there was nothing, over infinite time an impossibility became possible and a certainty. Something was created from nothing. This is the inevitable event. Throughout infinite time and infinite space, endless cycles of the universe our sun was created as was our Earth. The Earth was created by chance, just like the solar system, galaxy and universe. These are all random by products of the aforementioned inevitable event. By coincidence the earth created perfect conditions for our simple organism, which then evolved and here we are.
Nothing matters, because of infinite time and infinite space, we will definitely exist again on the same planet and the same surrounding solar system. We therefore live endless times. No decisions matter because there will always be another opportunity to make them again.
can someone please trundle through this and tell me what i am? I have looked through the wikipedia pages and none of the philosophies seem to fit how i think. Any answers will be much appreciated, and i'm sorry for the long post.--Calcfc 02:37, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- Maybe you are a mixture of several beliefs. It seems so to me, but I may indeed be wrong. --Proficient 02:40, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- thanks for the very quick reply also as a bonus question would anyone agree with my thinking? --Calcfc 02:42, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- Some of that reminds me of existentialism. —Keenan Pepper 03:10, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
Keenan Pepper you make so many posts on this and most of them are helpful. You are a nice person and thank you for your reply.--Calcfc 03:53, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- The Anthropic principle may provide a similar, but slightly alternate, explanation of this coincidence you describe - we are existing now, so it must have happened... Nimur 03:44, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- thanks Nimur, it is similar but my philosophy is slightly different because it is more nihilistic, but the basic idea is there so thank u for ur reply, it was helpful to me. --Calcfc 03:53, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- Partial answer, about cyclicity. See Friedrich Nietzsche, ideas of eternal recurrence, likewise cyclic universe of Hindus, 4 ages, of which we're in the 4th, the Kali Yuga, after which it will start again. They sometimes seem lackidaisical about things mattering. (Note, Hindus have an assortment of docttrines, there is no requirement for uniformity, except acceptance of the Vedas.) --GangofOne 06:04, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- Your philosophy sounds like plain ol' nihilism to me, but you have already identified that. However, I sense some internal contradictions in you position. A true nihilist wouldn't say "sorry" or "thanks" - your actions, like our responses, are entirely random, pointless and without meaning. And a true nihilist wouldn't care whether or not anyone agreed with them. In fact, it is not clear why a true nihilist would even get out of bed in the morning ... Gandalf61 10:44, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- Calcfc, you've posted two quite separate thoughts. This first: The universe arose from nothing, the Earth and life are products of chance, and this occurs cyclically. The second: Nothing matters, no decisions matter, etc. The first is not a philosophy or a school of thought, it is a scientific belief, which is quite different. In this case, most of it is idenitical to the widely-accepted theories of the Big Bang and Evolution, and you've basically made it into the not-widely-accepted Cyclic Universe Theory by saying it repeats itself. The second is a philosophical stance, and is probably closest to nihilism, as others have said. You've made it slightly different because you've said that "nothing mattters because we'll get a chance to do it again." I don't know whether or not this is a named school of thought distinct from nihilism. — Asbestos | Talk (RFC) 17:33, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- Calcfc, your philosophy sounds more like apathy-ism. It cannot be existentialism, as suggested above, since you do not hint of phenomenons. That is, as you describe it, your world follows one course, infinite in duration maybe, but only one course nonetheless. Husserl demonstrated that this is not so: no being, be a table or the whole universe, can be exhausted by experience, not even with infinite ways of experiencing that being. More fundamentally, your world is total, complete, full, and all-encompassing. There is no room for what is missing, that is, the negations (see Being and Nothingness). The ultimate conscequence of your world is that conscious beings cannot exist in it: "Consciousness is a Being that, within itself, is consciousness of the Nothingness of its being." (Sartre).--JLdesAlpins 17:44, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
Image Processing
We want to show a running 3D animation over live video. Pl help me out to find out right solution. I do not want to use ready made packages available with video capture cards. My application is: 1. I want to connect camcoder or colour CCD camera to a personal computer. 2. Frame grabber card or any other external device can be connected to caputer/show live image on computer screen. 3. When the live picture is on the screen, I want to load/call a 3D animation which will run from right to left or left to right on the computer screen. 4. On a single click from mouse or keyboard should store frame of live image and 3D animation(together) on to hard disk of computer. 5. Example: camera is showing live image of Forest, same time I should able to load a 3D animation of a animal from computer hard disk. Now on compter screen one will get a feel that animal is rooming arond in the forest. After clicking frame from live image and animation should get stored on to hard disk. 6. We can do programing in C or VB or any other language suggested. 7. Can you please guide which Frame grabber card and SDK will support for this appication. Thanks Sunil Anaokar; INDIA.
- You need to use the program you produced the 3D animation in to output the animation as a video overlay. Then you need to apply the animation to the live video using video editing software. Something like Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects, Ulead Media Studio Pro on the PC or Final Cut Pro on the Mac. If you cannot afford or find this software, you could try using the free Windows XP Movie Maker or iMovie but I'm not sure if they can overlay. You will need a IEEE 1394 card in your computer to capture the DV from the camcorder. If your camcorder is not a DV format (such as 8mm, Hi–8, VHS, or S-VHS) you can use any analog video capture card. --Canley 07:34, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- I can tell you that one problem you will run into is the way live video works on many video cards. With your eyes, you see live video on the screen. You do a screen capture and the area of live video shows up as a block box. It is because the operating system only knows that there is a black box there - so that is what it captures. The video card knows that it is supposed to draw live video in the black box. But, to save on time, it doesn't send any info back to the operating system. Put those together and you may end up with your final product being a 3D model superimposed on a black box in your screen capture. If that is the case, you now know why that happened. --Kainaw (talk) 14:44, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- What you are trying to do seems extremely complicated and technically difficult. I would personally be wary of actually trying to pull it off, given that you have to ask on the internet how it would work. If it were something within your current project resources, you would probably already have a good idea of how to accomplish it. I don't mean this to be negative, but in my experience if one has absolutely no idea how to accomplish something technically difficult, or even where else to really look for information on the subject, then it is probably not worth trying to do unless you are willing to hire someone who is an expert in the subject. You will end up spending a lot of time and resources just trying to learn the technology you need for the project, probably two to three times as much time and resources as the actually project would need by itself. Just my two cents (from someone who has been involved with a few over-ambitious projects which did not pan out). --Fastfission 17:52, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
Calculating rate of osmosis
How do I calculate the rate of diffusion of distilled water through a semi-pearmeable membrane (potato cylinders)?
- Make up your mind. Your title and question state two different things. Osmosis and diffusion are not the same. Seeing as you're talking about a membrane, take a look at the equations in Osmosis. -- Mgm|(talk) 12:33, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- Isn't osmosis diffusion of water through a semipermiable membrane? Theresa Knott | Taste the Korn 14:23, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
Yes Mgm, even though my title doesn't match my question, you know they are equivalent. The diffusion of water IS osmosis!
- Yes but: Osmosis is the diffusion of a liquid (most often assumed to be water, but it can be any liquid solvent) through a partially-permeable membrane from a region of low solvent potential to a region of high solvent potential. Diffussion normally goes from a high to a low concentration to even them out. - Mgm|(talk) 08:07, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Osmosis is the diffusion of solvent across a semi-permeable barrier from a region of low solute concentration to a region of high solute concentration. Lower concentration of solute molecules means higher concentration of solvent molecules, and vice versa. Solvent molecules do in fact diffuse from a region of high concentration to a region of low concentration in osmosis.--72.78.101.61 03:28, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
Looking for the Right Material
What are the materials that can resist Ammonium Fluoborate solution?
- Glass --mboverload@ 12:41, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
Cooking query
Hello; last night I cooked myself some broad beans (shelled). While I was cooking them I noticed the water turning a pale green colour, which became a murky grey once they were cooked. I didn't throw the water out immediately and noticed that over a couple of hours it turned bright red in colour. Why did this happen if there is no red pigment in the beans? What is the chemical process that occured here? Many thanks. --russ 14:56, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- I'm not sure if this answers your question, but try this link [1]. --hello, i'm a member | talk to me! 17:38, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- My guess (and I may be way off here) is oxidation. Like when you leave an apple wedge out for a couple of hours, it will turn from that "white" inner color to a dark brown.
I answered this question 23 days ago... Possibly an Fe(II) Fe(III), porphyrin ligand substitution from green (Mg(II)) (i.e. the porphyrin part of chlorophyll) to red (Fe) (i.e. the Haem part of haemoglobin) and subsequent oxidation... The question is, are the beans rich in Iron?
The answer is yes. The green Fe (II) is oxidised in air, coordinated with the porphyrin, making a bright red solution. --Eh-Steve 21:17, 29 June 2006 (UT)
Oops, sorry - am new to this so didn't check for a previous query. Thanks for the help though. I am tempted to retake my A-level chemistry --russ 20:34, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
SLAX problem
i'm running slax in paralles workstation for win
after i type in the root password i get the text in the root@slax:~#
what do i type (do) --hello, i'm a member | talk to me! 17:06, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- You would type 'startx' to start up a GUI similar to what you are used to with Windows. The SLAX distribution starts the X Window system with the KDE interface. More information is available on the Slax website including a FAQ and user forums.
consuming about 5 to 10 liters of water a day
I have developed a habit of consuming about 5 to 10 liters (or more) of water a day. Can't I just add a lite salt substitute, saccharin and aspartame (the combo removes the metallic taste of saccharin and ends up being a lot sweeter) and make up a homemade drink of my own instead of spending $20 a day on Gatorade?
Here are the serving sizes I have to work with…
Saccharin 1 gram
Aspartame 1 gram
Lite salt 1.2 grams (290 mg sodium & 340 mg potassium)
How many grams of each do I need per liter of water (plus a packet of kool aid – got to have a little flavor plus it has vitamin C)
What is the maximum amount of each per liter? ...IMHO (Talk) 17:43, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- This doesn't answer your question, but it's possible to buy powdered gatorade mix in big cans. It's probably not as cheap as mixing your own ingredients, but it'll be easier, and still cheaper than buying the drink. Melchoir 17:58, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- I'll have to do a new total price comparison for Gatorade powedered Gatorade but if my recollection is correct then it came out to $0.60 to $0.90 per liter whereas a certain store brand of powdered kool type aid with Vitamin C is only $0.10 per 1.9 liters plus $0.02 or less for the electrolytes. ...IMHO (Talk) 09:09, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- See above for a detailed discussion about this. I'm not sure how you are going about this, but I do know that you can pick up electrolyte tablets from your drug store. They are meant to better hydrate people suffering from dehydration. This article might be of use. As for the aspartamte, I don't recommend it. Though it is used in sport drinks like Gatorade and Powerade is small amounts, if you plan on consuming a lot of it, you might want to consider sucralose instead, which is "better" for you, but this has neither been substantially proven nor disproven as of yet. Pure sucrose would be the best to use. --Russoc4 18:01, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- Although I would prefer to use Splenda it still has a heafty price penalty and is cut down to be equal in sweetness to cane sugar. Food grade sucralose can not be purchased from the manufacture except in pallets. Want to form a corporation to manufacture an even lower cost and sweetened kool aid substitute than is available on the market now? You know my email address. ...IMHO (Talk) 09:09, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- What's wrong with plain old water? I drink about as much of the stuff (well, maybe not that much, but at least 5 litres) and I feel no need for extra ingredients. Anyway, in case I didn't convert you, this might also help: Oral_rehydration_therapy#Recipe. :) DirkvdM 19:20, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- Plain Old Water (POW) is like (POT) Plain Old Telephone. Move up to fancy dancy vidio image projection cell phone or forever be unable to find a date. ...IMHO (Talk) 09:09, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Isn't there a serious ilnness you can get from drinking to much. I knew someone who followed the government campaign on 8 pints a day or more or whatever it was, he always had a bottle with him, and beside the fact he couldn't spend more than half an hour without going to the toilet, he is now in a home and seriously ill. The disease name has hydro in it, but I cant remeber what it was called. The closest I could find on wikipedia was Polydipsia. Philc TECI 19:44, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- There's hyperhydration and hyponatremia, but those have pretty immediate symptoms, and clear themselves up once you solve the electrolyte deficit. (Of course, if you don't solve the deficit, you keel over dead.) Drinking a great deal of water may also be a symptom of any of a number of problems, ranging from type 1 or type 2 diabetes to kidney disorders, but drinking water doesn't cause the problems, it's the body's reaction to an existing problem. --Serie 22:40, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- But with both of those, if I am not mistaken (which I might be) once they become noticable, they can rapidly deteriorate to death, within hours. Also, is there an electrolyte deficit, of has it just been diluted to an unsafe low level. And just adding to my original point, drinking 1.8 litres in an hour can lead to water intoxication and possibly death, which you may be at risk of if you are drinking over 10 litres in a waking day, assuming you do not drink evenly of course, but naturally you take a predominant amount of your liquid intake around meals and excercise. Philc TECI 23:56, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
I suspect you are thinking that the water must have the proper balance of electrolytes. This would only be true if you didn't eat anything. Anyone with a typical Western diet will get far more salt and sugar in their diet than they need, anyway. If you just want to make the water more palatable, try just adding a few drops of lemon juice. It masks the taste of hard water and chlorine, some of which can also be removed by filtering the water and letting it sit until the chlorine outgasses away. StuRat 01:47, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Before I go to bed, I drink over 1 litre and sometimes over 1,5 litre in just a few minutes. It hasn't killed me yet. :) DirkvdM 07:27, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- What's going to kill you is tripping over your slippers on the way to the head. I've solved both the daytime sitting-at-the-computer-all-day and the nightime oh-do-I-have-to-get-up-and-go-again problems with pee cups and am seriously considering hooking up my wet & dry vac so I won't have to dump anything more than once a day. ...IMHO (Talk) 09:15, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- When you develop something that works, you might sell it to some spave agency for astronaut suits. Alternatively, you could buy a used suit. Walk around in that. Cool. Might become a trend. :) DirkvdM 10:43, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
Naw I think I'll pass. Someone just told me that if I hit the wrong button or unzipped the wrong fly I could be accidently sucked into outer space. ...IMHO (Talk) 13:04, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
Timeline from death to skeletal
I have searched everywhere, maybe I am using the wrong search terms?
I volunteer for a website that tries to match unidentified Does with the missing.....I can't find anywhere something like a timeline to explain what happens to the body after it is deceased...leading up to skeletal...this would help greatly in my research and matching up does with unidentifieds.
I also believe that a lot things could alter this timeline, that info would be helpful too, like weather, climate, etc...
Thank you in advance and kindest regards, Christine
- I don't know of a timeline, but Decomposition has some background info. Perhaps the books listed at the end of the article will be more helpful? Melchoir 18:31, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
Thank you Melchoir, that is exactly what I was looking for! The info in that article is great and there are many links, references, books, etc that will take me along on my research. Thanks again! And thank you everyone who works on the website...it is truly AMAZING!
- The investigators at the Body Farm at the University of Tennessee may be able to provide you with further resources. - Mgm|(talk) 08:02, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
would putting a powerful magnet on your head alter your thoughts?
If you put a magnet on your head do electrons rush over to that area of the brain and stimulate it? Could you set up a current? Would it alter thoughts?
- I degaussed my head. Does that count? --Kainaw (talk) 19:29, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- Since MRIs - some of the most ******-******** insanely powerful magnets on earth - are used to see how the brain responds to different stimuli, no. --mboverload@ 19:40, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- Actually, magnetic stimulation may affect the firing of synapses and things like that, but not in the way you are talking about. A number of studies have used transcranial magnetic stimulation as a way of trying to see if quick little electric bursts get people do make different decisions (i.e. blasting certain regions of the motor cortext to see if you end up, in an ambiguous situation, preferring your right hand over your left). I have no idea what the results of the research are, though, but I know such tests have taken place (I volunteered for one years ago—it was awful. Your brain doesn't feel anything from TMS but all of the skin in between the top of your head and your brain certainly does, and it feels like getting a heavy tap to the head). --Fastfission 19:55, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- Somewhere on the web (I can't find it now) there is a "How" to build your own TMS device. Its basically some supermagnets on the a pole that spins around so the magnets come close to your head. I've forgotten results but heard then it was only a few seconds and most of the time where but okay when memory comes back to me. If I where was not will come back to me. ...IMHO (Talk) 20:48, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- Everytime I walk into the NMR room, I get the uncontrolable urge to sing "The Michigan Rag", it could very well be the magnets doing it--152.163.100.74 21:25, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- Electrons are not drawn to magnets. Instead, moving electrons in a magnetic field experience a lateral (sideways) force that causes their paths to curve—this is how CRTs work. The Hall effect is another example of this. And, mboverload is right that the magnet you press against your head is magnitudes less powerful than the magnetic field generated by the super-conducting magnets in an MRI and as no effect is seen there, there will be effect by pressing a rare-earth magnet to your head. —Bradley 21:47, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- If you scroll waaaaaay down in this article, you'll find a quick summary of the effects of intense static and changing magnetic fields. Briefly, any static field that you're likely to be able to create with a portable device isn't going to do anything. With rapidly changing fields, you can do some rather funky things. At a minimum rate of change of two to five telsa per second (T/s) you can generate magnetic phosphenes by directly stimulating the optic nerve. Peripheral nerve stimulation can occur at 60 T/s, stimulation of the respiratory system at 900 T/s, and cardiac stimulation at 3600 T/s. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 21:56, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- You can make your own TMS unit, or perhaps use a simpler brute force method using a twist drill and a large neodymium magnet. I haven't dared to try either of these myself. --Wjbeaty 01:43, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- I wonder if any terrorists have experimented with such a device as the SHAKTI to render Brain fingerprinting usless or invalid through very thin conductors surgically implanted under their scalps? ...IMHO (Talk) 09:40, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
Of course putting a powerful magnet on your head would alter your thoughts. You would be continually aware of its presence and others would be constantly asking you why you have a magnet on your head. Simple question, simple answer. alteripse 09:47, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
(edit conflict) Darn, alteripse beat me to it. I was going to say: I suspect a powerful magnet could definitely alter your thoughts. Just prior to putting it on your head, you would likely be thinking, "I am about to put a powerful magnet on my head." Just after doing so, you'll likely be thinking, "Why in the world do I have a powerful magnet on my head?" This transition from stating the obvious to rhetorical questions and talking to yourself is obviously a side effect of the magnetic field. EWS23 (Leave me a message!) 09:51, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- I've heard that (according to the Red Green Show) you can go down to the electical supply store and buy one of those hundred foot coils of house wiring and a male and female socket for each end a one of those light bulb to socket adapters plus a light bulb and some electical tape and then come home and take the wire out of the box (oh by the way don't do this if you have been drinking or snorting crack) and then secure the coil so it doesn't uncoil and then fix up the ends of the house wiring with the male and female sockets and then plug in the socket adapter and screw in the light bulb and then test it to make sure it won't shock anything and then put your head in the coil to melt the snow off of your head after a shobbgan ride in the Wintertime or to dry your hair in the summer after a swim. Oh yes did I mention you have to plug in the thing?
I've never triedI don't remeber ever tryin' this unless it was that time when the house burn't down. Anyway you are still on your own. ...IMHO (Talk) 12:29, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- At least one researcher believes that magnetic fields can affect your thoughts. See the article on Michael Persinger for more information. Matt Deres 21:18, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
My Physics teacher did once mention that when he was a student he and a few others had access to a very large and powerful ring magnet. By putting your head inside this magnet, and then rotating your head, hallucinogenic effects can apparantly experienced. This was apparantly due to inducing a current in your brain, which played havok with it for some time...the teacher described it as "typical of the wacky things you get up to when you're a student". Not to be recommended though, I don't want to think about the long term effects of such an act. ('Don't try this at home folks!'). Chrisd87 21:59, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
Snapping neck
Having just watched The Descent (and jibbering somewhat), I was wondering: is it actually possible for a human with their bare hands to twist someone else's head hard enough to break their neck and kill them? It was done several times in the film, and I have seen it done on fantasy TV series (well, specifically, Buffy the Vampire Slayer), but was wondering if it was actually possible. Note: I'm not looking for original research here! — QuantumEleven 20:42, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- so, does that mean you don't want us to go out and try it for ourselves? darn--152.163.100.74 21:21, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
Probably is, it would just be a question of getting the twist right. It wouldn't be easy though, a more convinient method is to break the collarbone (takes around 4-8 lbs of pressure), then stamp down on the neck while the victime is writhing in pain. (This was not original research, just memories of theatrical fighting techniques). Emmett5 21:40, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- This is relying on fiction, but I remember seeing a film about Nancy Wake where Special Operations Executive training on how to break people's necks by hand was depicted. Wake did indeed kill a German sentry with her bare hands on one occasion, but I don't know whether she actually used the technique depicted. --Robert Merkel 01:17, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Based on the total lack of murders done this way, I would say it must be extremely difficult or impossible. StuRat 01:36, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- The problem is that the method shown on TV will not work. If you put one hand on top of a person's head, grab their chin, and whip their head around, they will just turn. The strength of the spine is far more than the sitting inertia of the shoulders. The proper way to do it is to keep the shoulders from spinning. So, you need to get the person chest down on the ground, sit on their back, turn their head so they are facing to your right (make all 'rights' into 'lefts' if you are left handed), place your left hand on the side of the head just above the right ear, grab the mouth and left cheekbone firmly, and finally pull with all your strength. From there it is just physics. If you don't have enough weight on their back, they will roll over. If you don't push down above the ear, the head will just lift up. If you do it all correctly, the twisting motion will sever the spine due to the fact that it is stronger against bending motions than twisting ones. --Kainaw (talk) 02:14, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Probably a good thing that there's an ineffective yet dramatic looking method, since you know there will be someone out there who just has to try something he sees on TV.... Peter Grey 17:37, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Wouldn't just a choke hold be better? I mean you have to be strong enough to get the person on the ground, etc. with the neck snapping technique whereas with the choke hold you can probably do it even if you are a child. ...IMHO (Talk) 13:31, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Yes. Neck snapping is a difficult and useless technique. In the Marines we weren't trained on choke holds either. The standard training was to hyperflex the elbow, pull the arm out of socket, and then force the guy to the ground. If that doesn't work, grab his balls and pull upward with all your strength. That usually gets a guy to the ground. Yes - it is dirty fighting, but the rule was that if a fight takes longer than 3 seconds then you don't know what you are doing. --Kainaw (talk) 14:44, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- I don't know much about specific techniques, but my dad's a martial arts teacher (Wing Chun), and has occasionally mentioned things that, given the force a strong man can put into something, are guaranteed to at least damage the spine or, failing that, hurt like hell. What I'm thinking of right now of one that involves holding his arm and jamming your hand up under his chin. Black Carrot 15:45, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Correct. The method taught in the marines is to grab the wrist, twist the person down to their knees, and then stomp into the armpit while pulling on the wrist to separate the shoulder socket. --Kainaw (talk) 16:57, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Or better yet, just take a knife and slit the poor bastard's throat or stab him in the lungs through the ribs, instead of foolishly trying to break his neck with your bare hands or get him in some Judo armlock/armbar. 69.138.62.148 05:48, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Better yet?? Why can't we all just get along?? --Username132 (talk) 23:10, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
Why can a black hole not explode
If a Black hole is held together by the infinate mass it contains wich is why its escape velocity is faster than the speed of light so no light escapses. Surely if eventually one sucked in enough matter would the pressure it exerts outwards not be greater than the gravitational force therefore making it expand so exploding. I think i have seen an example of this in stars and am wondering why the same does not happen with black holes.
- if eventually one sucked in enough matter would the pressure it exerts outwards not be greater than the gravitational force - once a star passes the chandrasekhar limit, the outward pressure (a combination of the neutron degeneracy pressure and the electron degeneracy pressure) of the matter can no longer overcome gravity and it collapes into a black hole. Raul654 22:12, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- Also, black holes do not have infinite mass. Melchoir 22:48, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- True, but they may have an infinite density at the singularity. StuRat 01:30, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Due to the curvature of spacetime, even infinite pressure/force can't hold things from falling to the center of a black hole. Interestingly, though, black holes are believed to slowly radiate, and the process gets much faster as they become very small—so in a sense little black holes do explode. See Hawking radiation. -- SCZenz 22:51, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
- Like Beakman once said: an explosion is something that get really big, really fast, so black holes do NOT explode. They may, let's say, "waste away" over a very long period of time. --Quase 03:25, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Let me clarify what I wrote. The rate of Hawking radiation "gets much faster as they become very small," more specifically the rate of radiation goes as some inverse power of the surface area. Thus when the black hole is "little" its rate of radiation has become enormous and it does effectively explode. You can see, for example, the introduction to Black Holes and Time Warps by Kip Thorne. -- SCZenz 09:10, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
StuRat+Melchior= A black hole may have infinite density, so only an infinite mass could cause it any trouble (I always have difficulty weighing infinities against each other, but luckily that doesn't come in here because.... ). But they have no infinite mass. So no problem, they can hold it all without any urge to throw up. Right? DirkvdM 07:41, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Well, it's true that there aren't any infinite masses, but even if there were, I don't see why a black hole couldn't contain them. That is, unless you consider that an infinite mass outside a black hole would also have an infinite volume and thus take an infinite time to be consumed by the hole. StuRat 18:27, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
chemistry
How could you separate barium sulfate from ammonium schloride? (filtration, decantation, extraction, sublimation?)
- Barium sulfate is a solid precipitate in solution. Ammonium chloride in solution breaks up. Decant the solution of ammonium chloride, or filter out the barium sulfate. do....your....own....homework..? ~Peter
- I suspect we send a mixed message when we tell him to do his own homework—then go ahead and do it for him anyway.... TenOfAllTrades(talk) 01:06, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- these kids've gotta learn the hard way like I did that BaSO4 just ain't gonna dissociate! ~Peter
- I don't think I ever learned that. Should I go back to being a kid then? DirkvdM 07:42, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Rediscovering your inner child can be fun, Dirk. JackofOz 03:12, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
June 29
Looking for the Right Material #2
What kind of materials are able to resist Hydrofluoric Acid (HF)?
- Hydrofluoric acid has the answer in the first paragraph.... TenOfAllTrades(talk) 01:14, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- I had a glass beaker full of HF I was going to test on various materials, but now the beaker seems to be empty with a hole in the bottom, oh well. :-) StuRat 01:26, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- StuRat also needs a new workbench, since that's where the beaker was sitting ;) Grutness...wha? 10:14, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- And some new under-floor pipes.... Skittle 16:49, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- StuRat also needs a new workbench, since that's where the beaker was sitting ;) Grutness...wha? 10:14, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- I had a glass beaker full of HF I was going to test on various materials, but now the beaker seems to be empty with a hole in the bottom, oh well. :-) StuRat 01:26, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
physics problem
an elastic cord vibrates with a frequency of 3.0hz, when a mass of .60kg is hang from it. what is its frequency if only .38kg hangs from it.
- The same frequency that we seem to have to post "do your own homework" around here . . . --LarryMac 02:19, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Read the article about Hooke's Law. To save you a mouse click, look for this equation . You might want to use different values in this equation and compare...hint hint... and don't forget to differentiate between angular frequency and frequency. I've said too much already. Now do your homework :) --18.239.6.57 02:22, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
Isomers of Pentanol
How many isomers of 1-Pentanol (pentan-1-ol, C5H11OH) are there including 1-Pentanol? I'm not asking you to list them, that would take too long, I just need to know how many there are. --Tobes 02:10, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
9? and people'll get mad at me if I don't throw in a "do your own dang HW!"
- That's not correct. Look at number 9. It isn't a propanol. There's a four carbon chain in it.-gadfium 02:36, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- so what it's still an isomer. ~Pete
- Yes, but it isn't unique. It duplicates one of the others shown.-gadfium 03:20, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- so what it's still an isomer. ~Pete
- That's not correct. Look at number 9. It isn't a propanol. There's a four carbon chain in it.-gadfium 02:36, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Our article on isomer may help if you are having trouble understanding the concept. You need to draw out the various possible backbones using five carbon atoms - the five-carbon chain, a four carbon chain with a methyl group (how many different places can you put a methyl group on a four carbon chain without making it a five carbon chain?), and so on. Then for each backbone, work out how many different compounds you can create by putting a single alcohol group in different places. Don't forget to allow for symmetry. For example, with the five-carbon chain, you can put the alcohol at the end (pentan-1-ol), or one away from the end (pentan-2-ol), or two away from the end (in the middle, or pentan-3-ol). If you try to put it three from the end, it's actually closer to the other end, so it is again pentan-2-ol. If you post your answer here with an explanation, we'll check it for you.-gadfium 02:27, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Strictly speaking, there's just one—the name 1-pentanol (or pentan-1-ol) is specific to a single compound. If you're interested in the number of primary alcohols you can make with the formula C5H11OH, that's a different question. Finally, if you're wondering how many isopentyl alcohols you can make, that's yet another (larger) group of answers. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 03:10, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- I think the question as originally asked was fine. The isomers of 1-pentanol are not themselves 1-pentanol, they just have the same chemical formula.-gadfium 03:20, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Do they have to be alcohols? What about ethers like CH3CH2OCH2CH2CH3? (I agree with Gadfium; the original question was worded correctly, as far as I can see). — Knowledge Seeker দ 05:28, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Just as well you pointed that out. I had overlooked it. Yes, ethers should certainly be included, as our article on isomers points out. To the original questioner: that will add a few possibilities. Again, please ask if you have trouble understanding the concepts.-gadfium 06:26, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for all the replies. It's not actually for my homework. It was a question in a Chem exam I did yesterday, for people who finished early there was an extra "bonus" question at the end which was to name and draw all the isomers of 1-pentanol. And for clarification, by isomer I mean anything with the same number and type of atoms. I had a look at that website and it seems that 9 is identical to 6. Unfortunately in the exam I only did the 8 alcohols, but ethers will probably be counted too :( . Oh well, thanks for all your replies. --Tobes 07:11, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Wikipedia actually has an article listing the alcohol isomers of pentanol here, but I didn't want to link to it until I knew whether it was homework.-gadfium 09:20, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- It not only "seems" 9 is identical to 6, that page itself informs you of this. Sorry you didn't get the bonus question. Of course, if you count stereoisomers, you get even more...several of the isomers are chiral. — Knowledge Seeker দ 09:34, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Yeah, I doubt I'll get it, although I'm still hopeful because on the page there was only enough room for eight stuctural diagrams, which may mean they were only looking for alcohol isomers, even though they didnt specify alcohol isomers. And I didn't even consider stereroisomers when doing the question! --Tobes 09:13, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
How about 1 - one isomer - itself? 2-pentanol is not an isomer of 1 pentanol - etc... There is only one compound that fits the description 1 pentanol - trick question perhaps.?HappyVR 15:43, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- No, it isn't a trick question. 2-pentanol is indeed an isomer of 1-pentanol. See above.-gadfium 20:36, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Did they discover polyminos while playing with isotopes ? --DLL 20:48, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
Computer-aborted space shuttle launch
Hello guys (and gals). I remember watching a video some time ago about a shuttle launch that was aborted a few seconds before lift-off (something like, 2 or 3 seconds) by an automatic system. I remember the video showing the inicial discharge of the main engines, and then the cutoff happened, even before the exaust had time to ignite. I tried searching everywhere and could only find the STS-51F ATO engine failure. From what I remember, it seems that the computer on the shuttle executed the abort due to increasing POGO effects, but I'm not sure if this recollection is acurate. Thanks everyone! --Quase 03:38, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- is it just me or did Quase miss the point of the reference desk?--195.93.21.8 06:06, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Im very sorry, I'll refrase that: What mission was this one I just spoke about? Hehehe got so worked up about the question that I forgot to ASK it! :-) --Quase 06:17, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Space Shuttle abort modes lists five pad aborts, googling for "STS-41-D" abort etc should find details. Weregerbil 09:17, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Excelent. Thanks!--Quase 11:33, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Googling is unnecessary. The article on STS-51-F says "Launch countdown 12 July halted at T-3 seconds after main engine ignition when a malfunction of number two Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) coolant valve caused shutdown of all three main engines." -- Plutor 14:20, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Space Shuttle abort modes lists five pad aborts, googling for "STS-41-D" abort etc should find details. Weregerbil 09:17, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Im very sorry, I'll refrase that: What mission was this one I just spoke about? Hehehe got so worked up about the question that I forgot to ASK it! :-) --Quase 06:17, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
Ancient creatures of the deep
What are some of the ugliest or most bizarre or alien-looking ancient and now long-long-long extinct forms of life? It can be animal-like and obscure or mysterious. I seem to recall something that loks like a flat bug that is called cenabite or something? But I'm sure there are more creatures that meet the criteria i'm looking for. Thanks!!--Sonjaaa 04:49, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Trilobite? Proto///type 10:00, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- A lot of the more bewilderingly shaped animals are far older than that. have a look at Burgess Shale, and follow any links (or google on the term "Burgess shale") - you should find some startlingly alien-looking life forms. Grutness...wha? 10:13, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Some of the weirdest looking animals are still around! Check out the Texas Blind Salamander. The picture there isn't that flattering, but if you watch David Attenborough's BBC Planet Earth: Caves you will be astonished. -Halidecyphon 14:46, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Come on, David Attenborough isn't all that weird-looking.-gadfium 21:54, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Some of the weirdest looking animals are still around! Check out the Texas Blind Salamander. The picture there isn't that flattering, but if you watch David Attenborough's BBC Planet Earth: Caves you will be astonished. -Halidecyphon 14:46, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Although not extinct the Loch Ness Monster is pretty freaky looking, though it's also good at hiding. AllanHainey 13:41, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
Your cenabite search produced tons of flotsam :
- cenobite
- Obi-Wan Kenobi
- Da Vinci's The Last Supper (Ultima Cena or Cenacolo)
- Mosquito bites ... --DLL 20:45, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
BSD licensed X Server in Java
Hi, all!
Not here to start another one of those stupid flame wars about if Java is good/bad/ugly... but could anyone point me in the direction of a BSD-license X Server (X11R6 or greater) that is written in pure Java? I found JCraft's WeirdX and WiredX, but neither are suitable for inclusion in to my three-clause-BSD-license Java application.
Mosquitos
I'm looking for a way to get rid, or at least diminish the numbers, of the mosquitoes and other biting flying insects near my house. Is there some sort of bird that I could try to lure to nest near my house that would be good for this? I've thought of putting up bat houses but I don't know if we have bats anywhere around here. I live in Northern Vermont. Dismas|(talk) 06:53, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- A quick Google search on "Bats of Vermont" turns up Bats of Vermont. Removing the quotes generates thousands of hits. Johntex\talk 07:09, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
DDT. Works everytime.
- Due to the bio-accumulative effects of DDT, you will kill thoe birds you were trying to nest that eat mosquitos. Philc TECI 22:11, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
Generally speaking, biological control methods (e.g., introducing bats, birds, dragonflies) is not very effective as a control method, since such animals can easily switch to other types of prey - besides the fact that they don't eat much to begin with. Probably the most you can do, at a household level, is to drain or dispose of anything where mosquitoes can breed (i.e., anything that holds water). You can also use a bug zapper, although this kills insects fairly indiscriminately. If the problem is particularly bad, you may be able to try treating your outdoor walls with insecticide so that mosquitoes die when they land on them. Also try complaining to your local council, as they may act if they receive enough complaints, and they can take more effective control measures on a larger scale. This site has more information. 220.253.90.98 12:06, 29 June 2006 (UTC)BenC
- With regards to the bug zapper - a better bet would be something like this which attracts and kills mosquitos preferentially. It does this by burning propane fuel - the resultant heat and carbon dioxide are the same things the mosquito is trying to use to find its food (animals like us emit heat and carbon dioxide also). There are other brands available, including models that attach to a permenant natural gas line instead of needing refillable propane tanks to be switched out. Johntex\talk 15:30, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
The Eastern Phoebe for example is an phenomenal flycatcher. I don't have the figures, but I'm pretty sure a family or two of them in your backyard will do some damage to the insect population. I mean, all they do all day is fly from one stick to another eating insects (and they're fun to watch). I don't know how to attract them, but Vermont is well inside their natural range. And if you can actually attract a bat colony, your problems are over - A colony can consume billions of insects every night. I know you can buy bat houses and such, but I don't know much about it. I do know that merely putting up a bird feeder or two in your backyard can massively increase bird activity in your area, and I'm almost certain that you will see an decrease in mosquito population. Birds are surprisingly effective. Good luck - and please don't cover your house with insecticide - it's poisonous to everybody :(. --18.239.6.57 13:01, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Yeah, I'm up in Canada, and know your pain! There is little you can do if you are surrounded by bogs and swamps, and if your place is closed in by trees. Screened gazebos are great! My cottage is good because it is fairly open, faces south, which attracts hundreds of dragonflys. You can see tons of them buzzing overhead, so that there are virtually no mosquitos during the day, and they totally decimate the blackflys! --Zeizmic 14:11, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Well, any pesticides are out since they would harm our chickens (only eight of them, so they are little help) plus if it got into the water then that would harm myself, the dogs, the cats, etc. So that wasn't even an option really.
- I have some time this weekend and my girlfriend and I have been meaning to go to the audobon center near us, so maybe we'll go ask them about how to get the Eastern Phoebe to nest around us.
- I'll also check into the bat situation. That first link that was provided is from the University of Vermont which is near me. So they may be of help in telling me how to get a bat colony to move into the neighborhood.
- I'm not crazy about the propane skeeter eater things since I don't really want to dump a bunch of money into propane every year. I'd rather just have the local wildlife do the job for free. :-)
- Thanks for all the responses! Dismas|(talk) 04:44, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Mosquitoes are attracted to water because female mosquitoes lay eggs on water after they suck blood out of something. So if you have water near your home I suggest you get rid of it IMEDDIATELY! Also research has proven that mosquitoes prefer children to adults and blondes to brunettes. Skin factor and the level of CO2 of a person is also a factor in their choice. But to get rid of the mosquitoes I suggest putting citronella in the mosquito populated places around your house. Mosquitoes avoid citronella because it irritates their feet.
User: Himanyo
Why two different carrier systems... E1/T1???
Though the functions and the purposes are same, why North Americans do things one way and rest of the world does a differnt way. For example, E1/T1, ISDN, SS7 etc. Why there is always two differet kind of standards seperately in the technologies for North America and the rest of the world???
- The rest are copies. =D --mboverload@ 09:23, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- This happens a lot, and it's not just North America versus the rest of the world. Electricity supplies vary wildly from country to country (the voltage, the amperage, and even the shape of the plugs). This often does have an affect on what the technology can output. But often it's because designing, marketing and selling your own product that does the same thing to an existing product that has market saturation elsewhere (but is different enough not to infringe on patents) allows you to keep all the profit. Like with PAL + NTSC, and so on. Proto///type 09:58, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
chemistry
How would you change an Alkaloid to a Hydrochloride?
- Most (all?) alkaloids are amines. You can change the free base form to the ammonium salt form simply by adding hydrochloric acid.
- R3N + HCl → R3NH+ + Cl− —Keenan Pepper 19:27, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
Faulty MPG
I've an MPG file that only plays to 4 mins 19 secs and then the program playing it (eg. winamp, WMP) crashes - every time; why does this happen?
- I'm not 100% sure, but I suspect that Winamp, and the other players you've tried, all use the Windows Media Player engine to do the grunt work of actually playing the video. As to why that engine crashes, it's impossible to say exactly. But you could try a player that doesn't use the WMP engine, like VLC media player, and see if that works. --Robert Merkel 12:42, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Funny you should mention that - I had almost the exact same problem yesterday, except I was playing a movie with VLC player, and it crashed every time it got to one part. I assume it's just that the file was corrupted though; not blaming VLC. --18.239.6.57 13:05, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- You know, you should blame VLC, as well as the file. Software should be able to handle bad input gracefully, without crashing. —Bkell (talk) 20:55, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Yes. If you can, submit a bug report to the VLC people, and provide them access to the video if at all possible (yes, yes, I know that there are any number of reasons why you might not want to share precisely what you were playing with the VLC developers...). --03:13, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- You know, you should blame VLC, as well as the file. Software should be able to handle bad input gracefully, without crashing. —Bkell (talk) 20:55, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Funny you should mention that - I had almost the exact same problem yesterday, except I was playing a movie with VLC player, and it crashed every time it got to one part. I assume it's just that the file was corrupted though; not blaming VLC. --18.239.6.57 13:05, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Install new codecs perhaps. --Proficient 13:17, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
Electronics - Wah pedal adapter
I just purchased a Dunlop Cry Baby wah pedal, which recommends I use a "9vDC AC adapter with greater than 20 ma current capability". I have an adapter with a "12vDC 700ma" output. If I use it on this piece of equipment, will I fry it? Is this an okay adapter to use? Thanks! NIRVANA2764 13:02, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- It depends on the internals of the pedal. Chances are the pedal contains a few ICs in it. They have a limited voltage range. So, you protect them with limiters. Can the limiter inside the pedal convert 12v to 9v? In the end, it will cost $10-$20 to get a 9vDC/20ma power supply from Radio Shack. So, why risk ruining the pedal? In fact, buy one of the multi-volt/multi-amp power supplies for $30 and never worry about it again. --Kainaw (talk) 13:34, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- What's important is that you match the voltage (so get a 9-volt adapter), and the current capacity of the adapter should be at least as large as the current requirements for the pedal. So a 9V 20mA adapter will do fine, as will a 9V 100mA adapter, or even a 9V 1000mA adapter. But if you get a 12V adapter, you'll be providing the pedal with too high a voltage, which is not good. —Bkell (talk) 20:51, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Most wall-wart transformers are not voltage-regulated, so they only produce the specified output voltage at full load. So you'll want to get a close match between current capacity and current usage: for a 20ma device, I wouldn't go over about 40ma for the transformer. --Serie 21:22, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Also, if you buy an adapter at RadioShack, you'll probably get one of their adapters with a removable plug on the end. This way you can choose the plug that fits your equipment (they come in about 20 sizes). But you should be careful when you put the plug on that you put it on the right direction, to get the polarity right; there are two ways you can do so, but only one of them will match what the pedal is expecting. —Bkell (talk) 20:53, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
Definition of Time
Question: I want to add a controversial view of Space-Time to the Time and Unified Field Theory Sections, site: www.geocities.com/maatsociety/5summary.html and now just give a dimensional analysis of 3-d space and 3-d time.
The Dimensions of Space and Time
"Space" as it relates to physics, math, and thought is defined by Daniel Webster as: a boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. These "3" Dimensions are mathematically portrayed as three orthogonal lines called the x, y, and z-axis. When space is defined this way, it becomes pictured as the the Cube that physically corresponds to the plane mirrors that trap light or time.
Space uses the dimension called "Length" and units of meters (m). The volume is just the length in the three orthogonal directions given the different names of length, width, and depth to stipulate which axis the length is measured in. The volume or 3-Dimensional space is based on the cube and called "Cubic" meters or centimeters and defines the Cartesian coordinate system in algebra. This is not too difficult to grasp, so elaboration is unnecessary.
However, it must be understood that volume in matter is created by the Helix/conical spiral motion of time. As a flat spiral groove creates area in an otherwise linear record album, likewise volume in matter is generated by conical and spherical spirals that commonly became known as the "Wave". And the Wavelength, Wavewidth, and Wavedepth depict the 3 dimensions of time multiplying space by spiraling it to form matter. This shall be explained more thoroughly as the dimensions of time are analyzed.
In physics and math the concept of "Time" varies greatly and since this concept is not as well understood, it must be elaborated upon. Daniel Webster defines "Time" as: a nonspatial continuum that is measured in terms of events which succeed one another from past through present to future. With the 4th dimension of time definitely existing in the thoughts of many, physics measures this "time" in units of change called seconds (s). It must be noted that just as "length" is the basic abstraction of space, "change" is the basic abstraction of time and the Fourth Dimension is NOT actually time, but more precisely "change".
Abstracting space into the concept of "length" derives meters, and abstracting time into the concept of "change" derives seconds. And although this one-dimesional time called "change" is utilized in mathematics as well as physics, seldom does math promulgate multiple dimensions of "change" as does physics (i.e. acceleration has "circled" activity or 2 dimensions of change just as space has a "squared" area representing 2 dimensions of length).
Without going into all the possible concepts of time, a concept that accurately depicts personal experience and is applicable to the laws of science and reason must be settled upon. A perspective of time based on the Sphere appears to be the only reasonable concept that depicts the reality of this universe, assuming that space is based on the cube.
Time is the Concave/Convex lenses that multiply and divide light, called the Polar coordinate system and represents 3-Dimensional spiral/circular instances in time (Trigonometry). These views of space and time can be related by relating the sine function of time to the Cartesian geometry of the circle.
Just as length, width, and depth are all actually length in orthogonal directions to an origin, the 3-dimensions of time are actually "Change" that propagates at right angles along the sphere. The three dimensions of time are called linear (duration), variance, and repetition and are the only three ways in which change is noticed. The cyclical rings of control is called "variance".
As length, width, and depth define an object; the duration, activity, and frequency define an event. And as the 3 dimensions of space unite to form the "volume" of space the 3 dimensions of time unite to form the "volume" of time, which is called the field and has far, far reaching ramifications. As length has left, right, and center, change has past, present and future and it must be understood that the past, present, and future components of change exist in all 3 dimensions of time.
The Conical Spiral, tilted on it's side is the current concept of the "wave" and we just notice amplitude, frequency and wavelength of this spiral cone. Although we don't think of this wave as occupying volume, in reality it does and this cone is not only oriented from left to right forming wavelength, but also from top to bottom and from front to back forming 3 dimensions.
The Sphere is created by the conical spiral of time traveling as a wave occupying volume. The viewpoint can be shifted from the side to the top/bottom perspective of the conical spiral and this will show the helical structure of DNA (or an undampened 3-Dimensional Time Wave - The Cone is just a dampened cylinder.)
Finally, Black-Hole, Tornado-like Vortices of time, creates the spiral motion of nothingness, which forms the conical spirals and spheres that produces volume in matter. These tornado vortices show the sequence of time as volume is created from nothingness and the creation/destruction pattern called frequency.
These 3 dimensions of time can be seen in any event such as going to the store, but they are best pictured using the conical spiral and spheres shown at the above web site and easily explained verbally using the computer programming analogies below.
The Linear time is the time it takes a computer program to run on a single processor. This is the following through of instruction after instruction and called the duration with components of past, present, and future. This "Linear" time is also the "wavelength" and distance from one peak or trough to the next in a conical section. This is simply calculated by taking how long each instruction takes to execute and adding them together.
The variance or activity is what is now called "parallel" processing used by vector processors that simultaneously execute various vectorized instructions. The more activity or variance, the quicker time is perceived. Thus the saying "time fly's when your having fun". The time it takes for each instruction to execute is now distributed over several processors and addition no longer becomes necessary. All instructions are simultaneous executed as if there were only one instruction. The variance is the circular path followed by one revolution of the spiral conical section and the activity is the area of this circular path.
Finally, The repetition/frequency is the loops within programs or the repetition of instructions. This acknowledges the fact that waves propagate and what is pictured as a wave is just one propagation or snapshot of a wave. Although a computer analogy was given because of the precision of computer terminology, these 3 dimensions of time are used to accurately define any event in nature whether micro or macro scopic.
The acceleration is the derivative of the velocity, and the frequency may very well be the derivative of the acceleration or a differential equation related to such phenomena. In a 3-d time based UFT, the velocity is called - change (s), the acceleration change in change (s^2), and the frequency change in change in change (s^3). However, since we base time off of the sphere and not the cube, the seconds raised to the power of 2 will be defined as "circled" and the seconds raised to the power of 3 will be call "sphered".
Notice how these definitions are in agreement with both thought and physics. The velocity or duration is simply the change or change in position called motion. Yet the acceleration "circles" this change and raises it to the second power. With acceleration, we are not just noticing change or change in position called motion, but we are noticing that the motion itself is changing or a "change in change" of the position. This "variance" is simply a second dimension of change as width is simply a second dimension of length.
"Squaring" the length is multipling the length by the width, birthing a concept called area. Likewise, "Circling" the change is multipling the change by the variance birthing a concept called "activity". Thus, Area is related to Width as Activity is related to Variance. The more things vary, the more activity is perceived in it.
Although frequency is physically measured as 1/s or hertz, the same concept of change is applied to frequency . Frequency is pictured as the "sameness" in change, but what is actually happening in frequency is that the "change" is the same and not the lack of change. Thus frequency becomes "sphered" change and when the change is "sphered" it forms the "Field". Thus Volume is related to Depth as The Field is related to Frequency.
One must take note of the divisions and multiplications in the dimensions of space and time. "Depth" is viewed as the third dimension of space, and "frequency" is viewed as the third dimension of time. When the 3 dimensions of space are multiplied, "Volume" and the "Cube" is created and when the 3 dimensions of time are multiplied, "The Volume of Time" called the "Field" and the "Sphere" is created.
However, just as the "volume" of space is not the same as the "depth" of space, the "field" of time is not the same as the "frequency" of time. As space goes from length to length and width forming area, time goes from change to change and variance forming activity. Then as space adds depth to the area to form volume, time adds frequency to the activity forming the field. Any rotating body has components of a tangential velocity (m/s), a tangential acceleration (m/s^2), and a frequency (m/s^3).
The following table shows the dimensions of space and time:
Dimension Concept Description
0 – Nothing The MIND Stillness, Absolute ZERO 1- Length Roll = x-axis rotation Spin, Wavelength 2 – Width (Area) Yaw=y-axis Spin left or right, Wavewidth 3 – Depth (Volume) Pitch=z-axis Spin Forward or Backward, wavedepth 4 – Change linear, duration Motion itself, velocity 5 – Variance (Activity)motion change Wave Peak/trough, Acceleration 6 – Frequency (Field) recurrence Wave Frequency/repetition Infinity - ALL Infinity The Speed of Light (c)
Daryl E. Waite
- It is apparent that you didn't notice on the Wikipedia homepage the message that this is a free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. You are included in anyone. So, edit the article. Just accept that others may remove it if they deem it to be some crackpot theory. --Kainaw (talk) 13:37, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
In my early days at the Wiki, I had a spurt of crackpotism, and put in a very nice theory of a 'water laser', which actually happened at a nuclear plant. However, it provoked a very nasty response, as well as rational ones. In the end, it could be rejected because it was 'original research' with no references, and we don't do that (thank god!). I don't know where there could be a good home for these things. --Zeizmic 14:02, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
Hi,
I read that, and I was wondering, does all that make sense to you? Could you could explain a few quotes that were particularly confusing to me:
- "it must be understood that volume in matter is created by the Helix/conical spiral motion of time. "
- "Time is the Concave/Convex lenses that multiply and divide light, called the Polar coordinate system and represents 3-Dimensional spiral/circular instances in time (Trigonometry)."
- "The Conical Spiral, tilted on it's side is the current concept of the "wave" and we just notice amplitude, frequency and wavelength of this spiral cone."
I encourage you without reservation to post anything you want to an article in Wikipedia, but I don't expect it to stay up very long. I am trying to keep an open mind about it. To be very honest, to me it reads like spark notes for a high-school physics course written on LSD. But then most great ideas were at first considered idiotic, so who am i to talk - go forth and wiki --198.125.178.207 15:39, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
We have a concept of the derivative of acceleration. It's called jerk—why do you call it frequency? The concept of jerk is used in roller coasters and motion control systems. Also why would you try to redefine words that are already in common use in science under this new "theory" when all it does is lead people who know the words to not be able to understand the your mumbo jumbo? I'd be very interested to see if any logical responses could be given to the quoted text of the previous poster. —Bradley 21:57, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Posting controversial theories on Wikipedia is explicitly forbidden by WP:NOT policy. If you want to post this at geocities, contact the site's webmaster. - Mgm|(talk) 07:42, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
Icelanders
Did the most recent common ancestor of the Icelanders live before or after the settlement of the island? The article mentions genetic studies but unfortunately cites no references. dab (ᛏ) 14:45, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Which article has what claim? Rmhermen 17:18, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- the Demographics of Iceland mentions the ethnic composition at original settlement. It doesn't cite sources, so Wikipedia was no help in answering my question. I am now asking RD if anyone can be bothered to look into it. 85.0.167.82 20:35, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- I see it is in the second line. I missed it. Those numbers seem to be correct with my memories of some articles - I'll try to run down the sources. Rmhermen 22:15, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- The references would be two papers by Agnar Helgason:
mtDNA and the Origin of the Icelanders: Deciphering Signals of Recent Population History and mtDNA and the Islands of the North Atlantic: Estimating the Proportions of Norse and Gaelic Ancestry, both published in Am. J. Hum. Genet.. I will add it to the article. Rmhermen 22:26, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
Arbidol question
I didn't know where else to post this but here. I am not a native English speaker, and would like if someone can just reread the article Arbidol and correct/change mistakes that I am unable to catch as a non native speaker (worder order and such). I'd really appreciate it!
Thank you.
I just realized I didn't log in - Svetlana Miljkovic
130.111.226.25 15:02, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- I made a few minor edits, but it looked as good or better than most articles when they are first started even by native English speakers. --Ed (Edgar181) 15:13, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- I never heard of Arbidol, but I knew it was a drug. Maybe the "ol" suffix. I was very surprised to find that it was Russian. But the author's name might have been a hint. Any links with Arbat or what ? --DLL 20:35, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
?
when an atom has lost one or more electrons it is said to be?
- Looking under the couch cushions for them ? StuRat 15:10, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- I wonder if this homework question is easily answered by reading the articles atom or electron? I just checked and yes it is! --Kainaw (talk) 19:15, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- It would be more quickly answered by going to ion (leaving you more time to play computer games) --Username132 (talk) 23:43, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- I, on occasion, give hints to homework questions, ever ones with pathetically poor titles. StuRat
- Ctrl + F, and typing in "ion" comes up part of the word in "registration." ;-) Iolakana|T 21:18, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
Atom1: I just lost an electron.
Atom2: Are you sure?
Atom1: Yes, I'm positive.
82.131.187.36 09:33, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- LOL, I got a charge out of that radical joke. StuRat 21:39, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Mercury shape in water
On the right in the mercury article I see that mercury has a very distinctive shape in air. But in a discussion we had on IRC we were wondering how this shape would be in water or another liquid. Would it be more spherical, less, or perhaps something totally different? (I've posted the question on the mercury talk page a few days back but it doesn't seem to get visited a lot) - Dammit 19:36, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Mercury is much denser than water and insoluble in it, so I think it would sit at the bottom in a lump, about the same shape as in air. —Keenan Pepper 19:41, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- (edit conflict)
- Mercury is heavier than water. When old mercury compasses (I believe that is what they were used for) are found in sunken ships, they appear to be a mirror - flat and shiny on top. Perhaps you are asking about mercury in water without gravity? --Kainaw (talk) 19:42, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- It depends how much mercury you have. Small volumes will form droplets like the picture in our article. Larger amounts of mercury will form flat sheets that curl down and around at the edges. The flatness comes from mercury's density; the curling around at the edges from mercury's substantial surface tension. (The contact angle that mercury forms with many materials – in air or water – is greater than ninety degrees, giving a 'tucked-in' edge. Mercury in glass forms a convex meniscus for a similar reason.)
Assuming there are no significant chemical interactions - not sure about that - I think mercury would look pretty much the same. The density of mercury is so much greater than air or water, that it would make little difference (mercury ==> 13.534 g/cm³, air ==> 0.0012 g/cm³, water ==> 1 g/cm³, percentage difference between water and air ==> 7%). I think the molecular effects are pretty much the same too, so I don't think surface tension would be very different. --Bmk 20:34, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- So the answer is that it would be slightly more spherical, but not by much. Note that if you found a liquid with the same density as mercury, but the two still did not mix or react, the mercury would be expected to form a perfect sphere, disturbed occasionally by currents, or possibly broken into smaller spheres by a strong current. StuRat 15:02, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
Question about days and nights
I know intuitively, and partly from experience (what with living in the northernmost country in mainland Europe) that near the poles, in winter it's almost continuously dark, and in summer it's almost continuously bright, whereas at near the equator, days are bright and night are dark all year round. But what is causing this? Can someone explain in layman's terms? JIP | Talk 20:12, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- See effect of sun angle on climate. It has a pretty picture that shows how the equator is always about the same angle to the sun, but the poles are not. --Kainaw (talk) 20:25, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- And I'd recommend downloading and playing with the excellent free program Celestia. — Knowledge Seeker দ 02:14, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Ooh, good call! seconded. Celestia "kicks ass", as I believe the kids say these days --Noodhoog 01:07, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- And I'd recommend downloading and playing with the excellent free program Celestia. — Knowledge Seeker দ 02:14, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
The Sun, on average, goes straight overhead at the equator, while it's on the horizon at the poles. The tilt of the Earth causes the Sun to go over at a different angle in the summer and winter, because either mainly the Earth's Northern or Southern Hemisphere is pointed toward the Sun as the Earth revolves around the Sun. This angle change isn't very significant near the equator, but at the poles it literally makes the difference between day and night, since the Sun moves above or below the horizon, depending on the angle. StuRat 14:51, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
What's the name of this chemical?
What is the name of the chemical with SMILES string N1=NC12N=N2? Its diagram is the following:
N===N \ / C / \ N===N
Seahen 20:13, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- 1,2,4,5-Tetraazaspiro[2.2]penta-1,4-diene
- CAS number [138853-45-9]
- It has never been made - it is only theoretical. --Ed (Edgar181) 20:20, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- One carbon, four nitrogens, and eight bonds, and nobody's managed to synthesize it?! Seahen 20:43, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Considering the ring strain inherent in a three-membered ring containing a double bond (and this one has two joined in a spiro arrangement adding more strain), it's very likely that this compound would not be stable except at extraordinarily low temperatures. It's decomposition to nitrogen gas and carbon (graphite, soot, or something like that) would be very exothermic: CN4 → 2 N2 (g) + carbon soot (+ BOOM!)
- --Ed (Edgar181) 20:57, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Yeh, the bond angle is so tight it seems like it would be to difficult to be worth making. If possible. Philc TECI 21:58, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Interestingly, diazirines (with only one of the three membered rings, shown below) are possible to make - and worth making, too. They are useful intermediates in certain types of reactions (such as making carbenes). But they are generally used about as quickly as they are made because they are not terribly stable. --Ed (Edgar181) 22:40, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- Yeh, the bond angle is so tight it seems like it would be to difficult to be worth making. If possible. Philc TECI 21:58, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- One carbon, four nitrogens, and eight bonds, and nobody's managed to synthesize it?! Seahen 20:43, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
R R \ / C / \ N===N
- What are the R's, radicals? Philc TECI 01:33, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Presumably they're R groups. --David Iberri (talk) 01:53, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
This was recently explained by the woman having a birth defect - very short legs. But how about this, where he "cuts" himself in half? zafiroblue05 | Talk 22:09, 29 June 2006 (UTC)
- We should not be in the general habit of discussing the solution to magic tricks. Those guys have to make a living, too! --Zeizmic 00:57, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- I don't understand this. This seems like some weird superstition. Knowing every line of your favorite movie doesn't ruin it for you. Knowing about biology or physics doesn't ruin the experience of nature. Why are magic tricks so closely guarded? Where is a web site that really explains these things? —Bradley 15:25, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- I don't know how it's done, but there are a number of irregularities that give hints:
- That saw blade cannot possibly cut anything thicker than cardboard or cloth -- it's entirely the wrong size, and has entirely the wrong tooth pattern.
- The saw blade does not cut through the table. It doesn't descend far enough.
- The sparks you see are from pyrotechnics, not from metal being cut.
- It's a video, not a live performance. The audience is in on it.
- There are so many camera cuts, they could hide almost anything.
- Criss Angel doesn't move after being cut in half.
- The camera angles never show the cut surfaces.
- The camera never gives a view of the underside of the table.
- Hope this gives you some ideas. --Carnildo 05:32, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- The moment the two parts of his body separate give a pretty good look under that table. - Mgm|(talk) 07:35, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- The film manages never to show a recognizable shot of the magician's face after he has been cut, only moving blurry shots from a distance; mostly he just looks away from the camera. Could even be the exact same trick... Weregerbil 13:41, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Knowing every line of the movie in fact does ruin it for some people. I've heard people even say they can't stand to watch the same movie twice, ever. I know for myself that I can't read the same book twice within a short period; I have to wait months or years before I've forgotten enough that I don't feel bored with it. Magic tricks are like that, but add in the delicacy of a riddle: once the information is in your head, it's never coming out, no matter how long you wait between times. Who in their right mind likes hearing the same clever riddle more than once? And the fun of magic tricks is not having any idea how it could possibly have happened. Most of them actually aren't inherently beautiful, the way a waterfall or a bonfire is. The only fun is that it's inexplicable. Black Carrot 16:13, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Yeah, that's true. People are different; some want to know the trick, even so much that they come to the Wikipedia reference desk and ask about it. I'm an engineer by nature; when I see a magic trick or any mechanical gadget my first thought is "where is my screwdriver, I'm gonna take that apart and see what makes it tick..." Weregerbil 16:54, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Knowing every line of the movie in fact does ruin it for some people. I've heard people even say they can't stand to watch the same movie twice, ever. I know for myself that I can't read the same book twice within a short period; I have to wait months or years before I've forgotten enough that I don't feel bored with it. Magic tricks are like that, but add in the delicacy of a riddle: once the information is in your head, it's never coming out, no matter how long you wait between times. Who in their right mind likes hearing the same clever riddle more than once? And the fun of magic tricks is not having any idea how it could possibly have happened. Most of them actually aren't inherently beautiful, the way a waterfall or a bonfire is. The only fun is that it's inexplicable. Black Carrot 16:13, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Yes, traditionally when discussing spoilers one disguises them in some trivial manner, so that people can choose to skip them - perhaps redirect this discussion to a sub-page or something? Trollderella 19:20, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
June 30
Energy
If a piece of matter had its particles vibrated or oscillated to the speed of light would it turn into energy?
- Such an action is not possible within the framework of current physics; the laws of physics will not be able to predict the outcome. — Knowledge Seeker দ 05:07, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Energy isn't any particular thing. It's just a quantity you get by adding up all these different terms which happens to remain the same no matter what happens (it's "conserved"). If someone points at something and asks "What's that?", the reply "It's energy." would be nonsense. It could be a mass in a gravitational field or a charge in an electric field or something spinning or stretched or many other things, all of which have energy, but it can't just be energy. Am I making any sense? —Keenan Pepper 06:11, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- I suppose the questioner could be using 'energy' as a shorthand for 'photons'..? As Knowledge Seeker says, you can't force matter to move at the speed of light. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 15:05, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
Thank You Keenan also yes I meant energy as photons. Tahnk You
- However, if you're looking at anything at all, you are most directly perceiving energy, not mass; our entire visual perception is based on transfer of electromagnetic energy (which is moderated by the particle known as the photon). And besides, mass is energy, energy is mass, as far as is now known. details are pending (see next nobel prize in physics)
Waveguide modes
Hi, Are the EM modes (eigenfunctions) of a simple conductive isotropic waveguide orthogonal? I know they form a complete basis, but I'm not sure about their orthonormality. I'd appreciate an explanation of how to determine this property too, if you have time. Thanks --Bmk 06:17, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Hmmm, you haven't received a reply yet, so I suspect that this question may be too specialised for the Wikipedia reference desk. However, the people on the mathematics reference desk might be a better bet; they may not be familiar with the specifics of waveguide antennas but they are pretty damned hot on math; if you can show them the eigenfunctions they might be able to determine how to show whether they're orthogonal or not. Straining at the very back of my memory I do remember the concept of eigenfunctions and normal bases for matrices, but I'm afraid computation of such dropped out of memory roughly a decade ago. All the math I do these days is about integers :) --Robert Merkel 02:36, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Posting on the math forum is a good idea, but I think people will yell at me about double posting. --Bmk
- I only object to people intentionally posting to multiple boards. If you post to one and are told to repost elsewhere, I have no problem with that. StuRat 01:47, 12 July 2006 (UTC)
History of locks
In the course of my editing work, I recently removed mention of a keyhole in a story set in India in the time of the Buddha, on the assumption that they wouldn't have had such things then. However, I haven't been able to ascertain when the first locks (with keyholes) would have been invented. One of the various Wikipedia articles on locks suggests they might have been around in "ancient Rome" but that doesn't help much. So I guess my question is when, roughly, was the lock invented?--Shantavira 07:36, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- It's certainly possible there were locks in India in Gautama Buddha's time (5th century BCE), but it doesn't seem especially likely. The oldest known lock is about 4000 years old [2]. They were known in the Persia, Egypt, and China by about that time [3], but it's not clear how common they were. That second page, though, does include some descriptions and photos of the locks and keys that would have been common in that time, if you would like to include it. -- Plutor 12:04, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- I need to research, but my memory is that China introduced push-key locks. There's no hole that goes all the way through. The Romans introduced turn-locks. They were one-sided. Again, there's no hole that goes all the way through. A very recent (1700's if memory serves) invention was the two-sided lock - which has a hole that goes all the way through. I'm assuming that the story requires a two-sided lock. So, I'm going to see if I can figure out when the first two-sided lock was invented and then when it became popular. --Kainaw (talk) 12:57, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
Peeing into bleach-filled toilet...
I just urinated into my toilet, having forgotten that I'd poured ordinary household bleach into it earlier this morning. As soon as my pee hit the water, a white precipitate was immediately formed, along with a nasty-smelling gas (not ammonia - I know what that smells like).
Anyone have any ideas as to the nature of the chemical reaction that just took place? I seem to remember covering this at school but it was a long time ago now. Thanks.
EDIT: The bleach contains sodium hypochlorite. --Kurt Shaped Box 13:25, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- It's probably a mixture of many nasty things, chloramine and chloroform possibly among them. —Keenan Pepper 13:42, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Here's a report on an industrial accident involving mixing of urea (a major component of urine) and sodium hypochlorite [4]. Hypochlorite can react with urea to form (among other things) the reactive compound nitrogen trichloride. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 15:03, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
toxic exposure
could someone please advise how toxic a printer is if it sits directly on your desk and the vents are facing you? the printer is a hp lazerjet 4250dtn. the printer is directly level to my face and the fans/vents are 1 1/2' away from my face. many thanks.
- You may find this study interesting. Also, when searching, you'll get a lot more hits using "laserjet" instead of "lazerjet". --Kainaw (talk) 14:23, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- I suggest reading the warning label on an ink cartridge and/or the packaging for the cartridge, since that will be the source of most of the toxins. StuRat 14:25, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- A LaserJet uses toner, not ink. I've just looked that a toner cartridge and the box containing it and there are not warning labels of any kind. --LarryMac 14:38, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- "Would not ink, by any other name, stain as badly ?" StuRat 15:15, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
Go to the HP MSDS site and get a copy of the MSDS (Materials Safety Data Sheet) for your toner cartridge. many thanks for eveyones help. it was very much appreciated.
- Some laser printers produce noticeable amounts of ozone. The claim is that the HP 4250DTN "generates virtually no ozone emissions". The toner probably isn't a big deal unless it is sprayed into the air. Notinasnaid 17:44, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- There is allegedly no ill effect from exposure to high amounts of toner material. I used to work in a printshop where the dust from toner and paper would be so thick in the air you could see it and collect it up off of flat surfaces. The only warning they gave us was to not stare at the paper and try to read it as it goes by, it will drive you mad by clouding your head with fragments of information. Whether that is true remains to be seen, I wasn't exactly normal to begin with.
- I'd be a little worried about fine dust, even if it is not toxic in itself - you probably don't want to sit in the exhaust vent. What about a piece of card shaped to to angle the flow elsewhere? Trollderella 20:31, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
Wait, you're worried that the exhaust fan is going to kill you with toxic fumes? Are you serious? --mboverload@ 02:36, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
Well, why not. A lot of stuff will kill you or give you cancer if you breathe it in on a regular basis for a few years.--Bmk 07:02, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- This is an office. An office printer. It's a printer. Printers don't kill people. If they did, they would have a warning label I assure you =D --mboverload@ 09:31, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
Counseling vs. Therapy
In the context of mental health, what is the difference between seeing a counselor and seeing a therapist, or being "in counseling" vs. being "in therapy"? Thanks, TacoDeposit 15:24, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Well, counseling redirects to psychotherapy, and, reading the article, counselling seems to be a subset of therapies for psychological ailments. I think that the lay uses of the terms are confusing, and not always applied in the same way that professionals would use them. Note also that there are many different professional bodies that govern practitioners, and that they overlap in their areas of practice. Trollderella 19:12, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
Blood Donation
Are all blood donors screened for hepatitis c virus?
According to the CDC (HCV fact sheet), as of July 1992, all blood donations in the US are required to be screened for Hepatitis C.
Since that time, the CDC reports that incidence of HCV transmission due to blood transfusions is less than one in 2,000,000 units of blood (which to me still seems kind a high, but ok). --Bmk 15:56, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Well, risk is subjective, but that's really not high when you consider other hazards you face every day. Trollderella 18:58, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- I suppose. It's probably more dangerous to walk around in your bathroom. Or to drive a car --Bmk 19:11, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- I hope this doesn't sound like a nit-pick, but I don't think I agree that risk is subjective. To the contrary, risk is a mathematical thing that can be calculated if the inputs are known. Sometimes the inputs are off, so the calculation is off, but that is still an objective thing with associated error, it is not subjective. What IS subjective is people's perception of risk and whether they think taking the risk is worth it for the expected gain. There was more than one discussion here just this week about whether someone found the risk of HIV infection from vaginal sexual intercourse with an infected woman was too high or not. There were people saying that a 1 in a 1,0000 chance of dying was OK to them, which I personally find amazing, but that is where subjectivity comes in.
- On the objective side, I think a blood transfusion is more deadly than dying walking across your bathroom or riding in a car. Here is my math:
- There are almost 300 million people in the US. I will assume they make an average of 1.8 trips per day (can't find a soure so this is a guess) - that means 538 million car trips a day in the US. According to this there are 118 automobile deaths each day in the US. That means your odds of dying in a car are 1 out of every 4.6 million trips.
- On the other hand, in a transfusion, you typically receive 3-5 units of blood - source (Pdf). I'll use 4. That means your odds of getting hepatitis from a blood transfusion are 4 in 2 million or 1 in 500,000. Therefore, a blood transfusion is riskier by at least 9x (probably more since that is only the risk of dying from HPC and does not include HIV or other nasties). In short, drive carefully so you don't need a blood transfusion - they are dangerous!
- According to this motor vehicle accidents kill more people each year than bath-tub drownings and falls combined. Since I will assume that everyone who has a motor vehicle definitely has a bath-room, that means that motor vehicles must be more dangerous than bathrooms, so there is no reason to do any math on the bathroom scenario.
- There are almost 300 million people in the US. I will assume they make an average of 1.8 trips per day (can't find a soure so this is a guess) - that means 538 million car trips a day in the US. According to this there are 118 automobile deaths each day in the US. That means your odds of dying in a car are 1 out of every 4.6 million trips.
- Johntex\talk 02:57, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- On the third hand, if you have any hands left, you can stay out of your car anytime you want, but when you're you're lying on the table with your life ebbing away by the second, you don't say, wait! Doctor! I might get hepatitis C! You say stick the damn needle in and start pumping! Blood transfusion is by its very nature a risky process; you're pumping a foreign substance directly into your circulatory system.
- On the gripping hand, blood transfusions are typically only given if there is something seriously wrong with you for which the chances of dying are typically well over 1 in 500,000. The risks of most medical procedures are far higher, for instance; a simple tonsillectomy apparently gives you somewhere between a 1 in 16,000 and 1 in 35,000 risk of dying in the process. --Robert Merkel 06:22, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- On the third hand, if you have any hands left, you can stay out of your car anytime you want, but when you're you're lying on the table with your life ebbing away by the second, you don't say, wait! Doctor! I might get hepatitis C! You say stick the damn needle in and start pumping! Blood transfusion is by its very nature a risky process; you're pumping a foreign substance directly into your circulatory system.
- I suppose. It's probably more dangerous to walk around in your bathroom. Or to drive a car --Bmk 19:11, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
destroying the reference desk?
can someone give a list of pros and cons for demolishing the entire reference desk with this new system already in effect on this page? and why pick on WP:RD/s? If you're going to maim a reference desk, why not miscellaneous or languages? why pick the most popular?--71.247.107.238 16:05, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Please stop trying to cause a problem where there is none. Nothing is demolished. Everything is still working. And transcluding fixes a backup problem as discussed on the talk page just above where you commented. -- Plutor 17:17, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
I'm sorry, can you please explain what it is you're complaining about? User:Zoe|(talk) 01:58, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- The proposition that all entries are removed after a day, instead of the current week. Philc TECI 02:01, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
To clarify, items aren't "removed from the desk" after a day. The science reference desk is now transcluded - that is, each day's questions are now on a separate sub-page, with a week's worth of subpages listed on the main Science Reference Desk page where they may all still be read. The reason it's only on the science desk is that this was only proposed a week or so ago (by me) and is being implemented as a trial on the science desk. if it's successful it will eventually be used on other desks. The science desk tends t be the one used for such trial runs (such as the "featured question" trial which is still going on, I think). Grutness...wha? 03:11, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Another reason for choosing the Science RD for a trial is that it is the one which has had its archiving fail most often. (There currently aren't archives for a number of days out of the last 4 or 5 months due to failures because of the size of the pages. Transcluding each day's section should avoid the size failures.) -R. S. Shaw 04:33, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- someone really should <includeonly> the reference desk header into each section, otherwise people won;t have any way to get back to the main reference desk after they answer the question--205.188.116.138 01:34, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
enlight me with a light......
in india its called a tube light but elsewhere i suppose its called a gas tube.its in every house,it lights up the house bright with its initial flickers and it contains an inert gas;from what i knw it contains neon or argon.so anyone can please help me in knowing how such a tube light works?i have also heard that it uses a choke and how does that help in its working?????i'll be glad if anyone can help me in finding the answer to the working of an everyday use equipment!
- Tube lamp and tube light are now redirects to fluorescent lamp. I have not heard it called a gas tube anywhere. Good luck — Pekinensis 16:53, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Neon lamp? When you apply a high voltage on the gas, it becomes ionised: that is, some outer electrons of the atoms are moved away from atoms, so instead of many neutral atoms you have charged particles -- free electrons and positive ions. How it happens? Say, one electron was blown away from the atom. Then it, a charged particle, accelerates by the electrical field. Gains energy. Strikes another atom. And blows its electron away. So, number of electrons increases as far as possible. A flow of charged particles is an electric current. Ok. The light comes from -- when electron falls on the ion, forming an atom again, the excessive energy is emitted as light. -- but it's pretty not accurate. ellol 10:55, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
Yin & Yang + 5 Elements Theory
Is there a basis on which Chinese doctors depend when catogorizing body organs and symptoms as well as foods into Yin or Yang or one of the 5 elements in TCM ? Also is this catogorization - genarally - accurate ? Hhnnrr 18:06, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Western and Chinese traditions start from different philosophical assumptions, and use different methodologies. They agree on some points (for example, the beneficial effects of acupuncture in some cases) and not in others. The question of 'accuracy' depends on your perspective. Trollderella 19:03, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- A side question about acupuncture - haven't there been studies that seem to indicate that placebo acupuncture is just as effective as the real thing? Not that it isn't effective - it was still effective, but I seem to remember that the study indicated that it may be a psychological effect, rather than a physiological one. --Bmk 19:23, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Start with Yin and yang, Five elements (Chinese philosophy), and Chinese traditional medicine. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs 20:05, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Western and Chinese traditions didn't necessarily start from different philosophical assumptions: see Four humours for the European medical tradition predominant for over a thousand years. That theorised a balance between four basic elements, was well-regarded in its day, and successfully categorised diagnoses and treatments in its own terms. I have a strong feeling that any "n universal principles" theory of medicine can be "accurate", as is an [[Ad hoc] explanation that can be made to fit all observations perfectly Malcolm Farmer 11:01, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
Corn cob
Why is the number of rows of seeds in corn cob is always even in number and never otherwise.
- I don't know - did you try to corn article? Trollderella 18:57, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- "Why ears of corn always have an even number of kernel rows is basic biology, says Dale Farnham, agronomy. Cell division always occurs in multiples of two. So most ears of hybrid corn will have 16 to 20 rows of kernels. If stress occurs early in development, there may be only 12." says this [5]. 128.197.81.181 19:10, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Hmmm...doesn't that also require that "kernel-generating cells" also all divide the same number of times? I mean, if you start with one cell, which divides into two, then only one of the two resulting cells divides, which leaves you with three kernels; unless the kernel-cells all divide the same number of times, it doesn't seem like an even number of kernels is guaranteed. I'm going on almost zero information here, but I'm not sure I understand the full explanation above. --Bmk 19:19, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Assuming cell divisions take place at a regular rate, or that changes in the rate affect all cells equally, then all cells would divide at about the same time. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs 20:00, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Fair enough --Bmk 20:19, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Assuming cell divisions take place at a regular rate, or that changes in the rate affect all cells equally, then all cells would divide at about the same time. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs 20:00, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Hmmm...doesn't that also require that "kernel-generating cells" also all divide the same number of times? I mean, if you start with one cell, which divides into two, then only one of the two resulting cells divides, which leaves you with three kernels; unless the kernel-cells all divide the same number of times, it doesn't seem like an even number of kernels is guaranteed. I'm going on almost zero information here, but I'm not sure I understand the full explanation above. --Bmk 19:19, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Citing "basic biology" explains nothing. Cell division can yield absolutely any number, depending of any parameter. The strong parameters are linked with those questions : if the growth is regular, what is the regulatory agent ; when does the growth (in number of rows) end and why. Take note that we have five fingers because bones get divided by two, which looks very basic ... but four of them merged in the thumb (a long time ago it seems). --DLL 20:22, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Alright, I'll try again. "A corn ear is actually an inflorescence that produces nearly 1,000 female flowers. These flowers, or potential kernels, are arranged in an even number of rows (usually from 8 to about 22 rows). Row number is always an even number because corn spikelets are borne in pairs, and each spikelet produces two florets: one fertile and one sterile. Stress at a particular stage in development could theoretically produce an ear with an odd number of rows - but I believe if you looked under a microscope, you would find an unseen row that failed to develop fully. Most things in nature have an even number of rows or lines. Watermelon has an even number of stripes, cantaloupe, etc. Think of it this way. One cell divides into 2 - as cell division continues, there is always an even number." from [6]. 128.197.81.181 20:51, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Hmmm...then why are four leaf clovers so rare? Johntex\talk 02:25, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- I would guess three leaves is better design for the clover. Archetictually, it seems stronger. I don't know how to spell archetect. — The Mac Davis] ⌇☢ ญƛ. 15:15, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
Medication Methods
Would it be possible to specify the scientifically proven methods through which one can benefit from medication ? My guess would be : through the mouth ( eaten or drunk ) , through the vein , through the anus / vagina , inhaling , anointment . ( Sorry , I dont know the right names ) I would like a correct list and a reference if possible .. Thanks Hhnnrr 18:24, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Just about anything you can think of has been tried, and all of them are used for one drug or another.
- You can stick a needle anywhere (into muscle, the abdomen, subcutaneous fat, a vein, an artery, the eyeball, the cerebrospinal fluid, etc.). You can apply stuff topically anywhere you can put a bandage, swab, or eyedropper (skin, eyes, nose, ears, hands, feet, scalp, etc.). Plus, anywhere you can stick an endoscope or other probe is a route to deliver medication and treatment (esophagus, anus, vagina, etc.)
- Different medications will be delivered in different ways for different reasons. Some drugs will pass through the skin, some won't. Some can cross the blood-brain barrier. Some aren't stable in acidic environments, so don't work if ingested. Some drugs you want to deliver quickly, some you want to deliver over an extended period of time. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 18:31, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
Thanks , But would it be possible to sumerize these methods ? My goal is to exclude any method that has not been proven useful . So can the list look something like this ? : 1- ingestion 2- inhalation 3- skin penetration 4- probing ( ? ) 5- anointment Any help from a specialist ?? Hhnnrr 18:55, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Well they're all useful for different things. The utility of the method varies depending on the purpse of the medication. Trollderella 19:09, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
Yes I understand they are all useful methods and that they are used in different cases , but my question is : are there other useful methods ( regardless of their uses ) ? Hhnnrr 19:16, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- Well, it depends on how much detail you want to describe them in. You might want to get hold of a basic medical textbook that should discuss this kind of thing, but it would seem that there are really not other ways to take medicine than injection, inhaling, rubbing / contact with skin, ingesting, or putting in body cavities. I sense that we're not really getting to the root of your question though, do you want to try to ask it in a different way? Trollderella 19:24, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
Thanks , what I'm trying to get to is that wearing a stone - for example - would not be catogorized under any legitiment means of medication ? Since none of the methods above apply to it . Correct me if I'm wrong Hhnnrr 19:41, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
I believe what Hhnnrr is looking for is a single comprehensive, official list of all drug delivery systems currently in use by the western medical establishment. We could try to formulate such a thing by consensus, but I think Hhnnrr wants something from an official link, like from the FDA or something. --Bmk 19:43, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- I see - comes down to a matter of opinion - some people would think that wearing a stone has beneficial effect, but the mainstream medical establishment and the FDA would not certify it - you probably do want a list of FDA approved devices, I guess. Trollderella 19:46, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
route of administration may be helpful. If you follow the two external links there, you'll see a (non-exhaustive) list of over 111 different routes of delivery that will at least cover the basics and gives some idea of the breadth of the subject. - Nunh-huh 21:14, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
"Through the mouth (eaten or drunk)" ignores one important one - dissolved under the tongue. Several drugs that need to reach the brain are administered this way, since it gets them into the bloodstream (via the large veins that run beneath the tongue) without them having to be injected. this is particularly useful for ones which wouldn't get into the bloodstream if they were digested, due to them being metabolised thoroughly by the digestive system. Grutness...wha? 13:23, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
Females taking Viagra
What would happen if a woman were to take Viagra? Would her clitoris be... stimulated etc or would there be no effect etc?
Moffo
- Type Viagra in the search box and click on Go. The Viagra article mentions the effects of Viagra in women. Wow! Wikipedia is also an encyclopedia!? I thought it was just a reference desk. --Kainaw (talk) 19:41, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
I do apologise. I had a look at that page but I never saw that section until I did a page search! My apologies once again.
Moffo
- considering that most people here scrable to answer absolutely every question, Kainaw's answer was a little bit withering :) dab (ᛏ) 00:05, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- I only answer that way once a day. The rest of the time I respond with utter nonsense. It is sort of a lottery - who gets the sarcastic answer of the day! --Kainaw (talk) 00:46, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Please try to be a bit more tolerant. I don't think that I'm the only person who finds such treatment of anybody to be uncivil. – ClockworkSoul 02:38, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Thank you. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs 21:08, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Please try to be a bit more tolerant. I don't think that I'm the only person who finds such treatment of anybody to be uncivil. – ClockworkSoul 02:38, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- I only answer that way once a day. The rest of the time I respond with utter nonsense. It is sort of a lottery - who gets the sarcastic answer of the day! --Kainaw (talk) 00:46, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
Ship's bridge - round windows?
I've noticed that on many ship's bridges, some of the forward-facing windows have a round insert of sorts. The article on ship's bridges doesn't mention it. What is this, and what is it's purpose? this picture shows two of them. This one, on the other hand, only has one, on the left side of the image. Thanks! --192.41.148.220 21:37, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- It spins to keep the window clear of water and such. It serves a similar function to windshield wipers, as explained here. kmccoy (talk) 21:56, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- The relevant article is clear view screen. --cesarb 23:59, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
Thanks a lot, you guys rock.
Regex help
I have a regex problem not covered in any of my CSCI books or any online site I can find. I have a program that converts english to regex to pick out lines from extremely long CSV files. The function it does not do is != (not equal to). I am trying to add this in, but I have to represent "not equal to a phrase" in regex. For example, if I want all lines except the phrase "dog", I've tried "[^d][^o][^g].*" and "([^d]|.)([^o]|.)([^g]|.).*" - but nothing works. I know that [^dog] actually means "not the letter d, the letter o, or the letter g". So, what means "not the phrase dog"? --Kainaw (talk) 21:50, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
(:?!dog)or some derivative of that? --Sam Pointon 21:58, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
- See also
perldoc perlre. An alternative is to negate the match (eg,$str !~ /dog/). --David Iberri (talk) 03:33, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Well, Perl is an abomination... but in this case PCREs are necessary. (See [7] for documentation that doesn't require having Perl installed, and [8] for the corresponding Python documentation.) Clearly, "not the phrase dog" cannot be expressed in a regular language (there's no generating grammar for it) so you'll need a Perl-style extension:
^(?!.*dog.*)will work. However, it's hideously inefficient; a "match is negative" flag on your generated regexps would make more sense. EdC 05:19, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Thanks. I don't think this is going to work. When I try anything that has a ? inside of ( and ), all I get is something like "bash: !dog event not found". So, for the != clause, I'm going to have to write a separate program that parses the lines that the existing program spits out. --Kainaw (talk) 00:51, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- If you get a "event not found", it means you are underquoting. Enclose the argument in single quotes. --cesarb 05:18, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Actually, "not the phrase dog" is a regular language; the complement of a regular language is regular, and the language "the phrase dog" is certainly regular. It is just that standard regex implementations do not give a concise syntax for it. It is possible to generate:
([^d]..|.[^o].|..[^g])will match any three characters that aren't "dog", and you can add more alternatives with anchors (if appropriate) to get other numbers of characters:([^d]..|.[^o].|..[^g]|^..?$)or even([^d]..|.[^o].|..[^g]|^..?$|....+). But the other responders have a point: what possible use is there to actually match "not 'dog'"? Surely you want to react differently in some way to "dog" than to everything else, so just use an if-test (in whatever language) on matching "dog", dealing with a false result however you like. (Evengrephas-v.) I might also point out that my first regex will match starting at the 'o' in "dog days". --Tardis 17:46, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Actually, "not the phrase dog" is a regular language; the complement of a regular language is regular, and the language "the phrase dog" is certainly regular. It is just that standard regex implementations do not give a concise syntax for it. It is possible to generate:
- The point to matching "not 'dog'" was that I inherited a program from previous programmers here that accepts sql-like queries (eg: select 1,3,6 from users.csv left join accesses.csv on users.1=accesses.1 where accesses.0>'2006-01-01' and accesses.3='backup') and converts them into a single grep regex statement, runs the statement, and prints the resulting csv lines to the screen (which are usually redirected to a file). There are 12 servers here. If wanted to see the accesses of every user except myself, I would have to add "users.0='jordan' or users.0='cook' or users.0='egan' or..." for every single user. It would much easier to simply say "users.0!='kainaw'". --Kainaw (talk) 19:19, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
JustSnipe.com Looks Dodgy...
One of the letters in ComputerActive magazine, suggested www.justsnipe.com as a free way to do automatic sniping - surely registering your eBay login details with some seedy-looking site is a bad idea? Why did ComputerActive publish it?
- You'd be better off asking the editors of ComputerActive magazine rather than us. However, just because a magazine publishes a letter doesn't necessarily mean they endorse the contents. --Robert Merkel 02:29, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
July 1
Japanese Giant Flying Squirrels
I'm not sure this is the right place to go, but if you look at the article on Japanese Giant Flying Squirrels, it says that during reproduction, the male produces a "coitus plug" after ejaculation which apparently is a sticky protein substance that blocks the female's vagina. I haven't been able to find this on google, so I'm wondering if this is an instance of vandalism, or if it is indeed true. (And if it is true, I suppose my next question would be whether other species of capable of this.) --Jinnentonik 23:19, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- The article Japanese Giant Flying Squirrel appears to be based on ja:ムササビ, which doesn't cite sources either. I'll hit it with a cleanup tag and see what shakes out. Melchoir 00:22, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
It's not vandalism. Squirrels and many other rodents employ them; some non-rodents as well. More often called vaginal plug, sometimes copulation plug. [9] There seem also to be human sex toys and such with similar names. -R. S. Shaw 21:59, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
Smokescreen - how can I make one?
I recently got into the sport of airsoft, which is a game with guns that shoot plastic bullets and with scenarios similar to real combat, and I decided to become a sniper. Being a sniper, a smokescreen would make getting in and out of buildings or around enemy airsofters much easier. Now, I'd like to know if there is any substance, no matter what state of matter, that will form smoke when put under flame or mixed with another substance. I would prefer powder or liquid, because they would be a lot easier to control, as gas would have to be bottled and kept under pressure and such, but I'll take any answer. Also, this substance, when turned to smoke, must be completely safe to humans. I can understand that breathing anything other than oxygen isn't good, but I'm talking about things like puking or bleeding or long-term side-effects like Alzheimer's Disease and cancer and the like, because I will be running through this smoke almost every time I deploy it, and I definately wouldn't want to hurt anyone else who breathes it.
-Jacob
- I'm not sure I understand, are you going on some sort of snipe hunt? also pure O2 is corrosive, there's plenty of inert elements in the atmosphere to buffer it--71.249.29.10 01:07, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Where did you get that O2 is corrosive? O2 is toxic at very high concentrations, but that's why most oxygen for human consumption is mixed with nitrogen or helium (in different amounts). --ColourBurst 07:34, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Try reading the article smoke bomb. It states very clearly what is mixed to make smoke in real smoke bombs (which smell like burnt marshmellows, but are not, to my knowledge, toxic). --Kainaw (talk) 01:20, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- I don't want to put up a Smoke-screen, but I guess Jacob does - Johntex\talk 02:04, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Dry Ice makes a fair amount of smoke when mixed with water. Neither of the two is harmful aswell. Philc TECI 02:05, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Byut dry ice has to be kept cold. I wouldn't have thought it would be very easy to transport. Theresa Knott | Taste the Korn 07:42, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Fire work suppliers will sell 'smoke grenades'. Trollderella 15:20, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
annulation of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner?
How long can you listen to the same piece of music loop non-stop before you become insane, ...clinically?--71.249.29.10 02:49, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- PS, this is a serious question--71.249.29.10 02:49, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- I don't believe there is any single point at which every person will suddenly snap from sane to insane. However, you can read a lot about the effects of using music as torture. Just google for "music torture". I escpecially loved an article read that stated Marines used Barney's "I Love You" song as torture in Desert Storm. --Kainaw (talk) 03:01, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- If the song's by Whitney Houston, the time's about 25 seconds. For Crazy Frog, it's only 20. Grutness...wha? 13:38, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
Boric acid level of toxicity
I've heard that Boric acid is no more toxic than table salt. Is this true? Can I consume as much Boric acid as I do table salt without ill effects? ...IMHO (Talk) 02:50, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- I'm thinking NO investigated as a mutagen, tumorigen, reproductive effector. May impair fertility. May cause harm to the unborn child, at least not if you're planning on having children with the correct number of chromosomes, hey, but at least it's not a carcinogen--71.249.29.10 02:56, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- WOW! The above link says that only 5 grams is fatal. What is the lethal dose of table salt? if it is greater then I need to find the article I saw this in and delete the heck out of it. ...IMHO (Talk) 04:01, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- I'd answer that, but table salt doesn't seem to have a lethal dose (: --71.249.29.10 04:22, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Yes it does - it says "Toxicological Information Oral rat LD50: 3000 mg/kg". So, for rats, 0.3% of their body weight in salt was the LD50 Also, on the corresponding Granular Boric Acid MSDS, it says "Oral rat LD50: 2660 mg/kg", which as you can see is indeed slightly less. So, at least for rats, granular Boric Acid is in fact slightly more poisonous. Although, for all we know, that's within experimental error, so it's safe to say they are of similar toxicity. For the record, i'd like to say that the rat LD50 is a abhorrent disgusting violation of animal rights and basic human decency, and should be banned. Now that i'm done citing it. -- 18.239.6.57 04:50, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Oh well practically everything is fatal if you consume enough of it per body weight, techincally it still doesn't have a lethal dose, and for the record I don't think I've ever heard anyone object to the idea of an LD50 before, would you prefer they test human subjects? or simply deregulate all potentially hazardous compounds?--71.249.29.10 05:07, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Haha. You're confusing the issue with drug testing, a very different issue which I will not write about right now. Basically, for dubious benefit to mankind, god knows how many thousands of rats and other mammals are subjected to long, painful deaths to find out the LD50 of each chemical via inhalation, injection, ingestion, etc. I mean how many rats needed to be tortured to death to tell us the LD50 of table salt??!! It's a sick, sick way to do research.
- And what does it tell us? How much of that chemical it takes to kill rats 50% of the time. Note, rats, not humans - in fact studies like this one seem to indicate that animal assays are in many cases less reliable than other methods like in vitro assays using human cell lines. Don't assume it's necessary just because everybody does it. For a long time not so long ago 'leeching' was the gold standard in western medicine for most ailments, so let's not get too cocky about our traditions, mmm? --Bmk 06:55, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- LD50 is controversial, and not just with a fringe. LD50 indicates that some major international bodies (like the OECD) have taken steps to reduce its use. The article could use more discussion of this (e.g. coverage of their reasoning and any scientific background to their announcement). Notinasnaid 07:41, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Animal assays are always somewhat controversial, but objecting to them on the basis of a misguided sense of animal rights is a bad reason to oppose them. It is far better for everyone—including animals—that humans have a good knowledge of how toxic things are. In the end it leads to a lot less suffering all around, such as when humans spend huge amounts of money to clean out toxic leaks into animal habitats. If you want to cry about mistreated animals, consider focusing on bigger targets like factory farming and cosmetics testing and things which appeal to human gluttony and vanity. Medical research on rats is probably one of the last things a responsible animal rights movement should target, when they honestly have nothing left to do. --Fastfission 22:00, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Oh well practically everything is fatal if you consume enough of it per body weight, techincally it still doesn't have a lethal dose, and for the record I don't think I've ever heard anyone object to the idea of an LD50 before, would you prefer they test human subjects? or simply deregulate all potentially hazardous compounds?--71.249.29.10 05:07, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Yes it does - it says "Toxicological Information Oral rat LD50: 3000 mg/kg". So, for rats, 0.3% of their body weight in salt was the LD50 Also, on the corresponding Granular Boric Acid MSDS, it says "Oral rat LD50: 2660 mg/kg", which as you can see is indeed slightly less. So, at least for rats, granular Boric Acid is in fact slightly more poisonous. Although, for all we know, that's within experimental error, so it's safe to say they are of similar toxicity. For the record, i'd like to say that the rat LD50 is a abhorrent disgusting violation of animal rights and basic human decency, and should be banned. Now that i'm done citing it. -- 18.239.6.57 04:50, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- I'd answer that, but table salt doesn't seem to have a lethal dose (: --71.249.29.10 04:22, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- WOW! The above link says that only 5 grams is fatal. What is the lethal dose of table salt? if it is greater then I need to find the article I saw this in and delete the heck out of it. ...IMHO (Talk) 04:01, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- The way government contracts work is probably the reason behind this method of research. It starts with a lab that tests pesticides on rats to determine the effectiveness of each one. Then somebody says well how about table salt? If I used enough of it could I use it to kill rats? (This is not a fictitious question since I know a fast food restaurant where rats set up camp in every possible piece of dirt they could find and it is alleged that some of the employees succeeded in killing them by using salt in various ways.) Then the government put up for bid a contract to test table salt for toxicity and lethality and guess who is the lowest bidder? You got it. The company that already test pesticides on rats. Why do you think there is such a great demand for illegal immigrants and why the government seems to be looking the other way? We have lots of situations where being the lowest bidder only works one way. That's no White upper class banker in that photo giving the guinea pig the dose. Its probably some guy from Cuba who found his way here through Mexico. Cubans use to be cannibals. Maybe such research has provided them with an alternate source of food. ...IMHO (Talk) 07:44, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
hydrogen sulfide, sulfur and ammonia in pond
Hi, I have a chemistry question. I have a whole pile of leaves in my small pond. I read somewhere that bacteria create hydrogen sulfide when they eat the leaves. But I remember reading about sulfur and ammonia can also be in the pond. Where does sulfur and ammonia come from? The bacteria eating the leaves? Or the leaves themselves?
The leaves are all black. And when I tried to remove the leaves, I saw some brown stuff swirling in the pond. It looked like dirt. I think the brown stuff came from the leaves. Any idea what it might be? Bacteria or little pieces of leaves? If anyone has any ideas, let me know. Thanks Sorry for all the questions, but I can't find a good answer. -Starionwolf 05:38, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- The amino acids cysteine and methionine contain sulfur, as do all polypeptides, proteins, and enzymes which contain these amino acids. This makes sulfur a necessary component of all living cells.
- Some forms of bacteria use hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in the place of water as the electron donor in a primitive photosynthesis-like process.
- So there is sulfur in the leaves and bacteria, as well as in the water to begin with. The sulfur for that hydrogen sulfide probably comes largely from the breakdown of the leaves. Ammonia is a molecule composed of hydrogen and nitrogen, and is made by bacteria that live on plant roots, so that probably comes from the leaves, and is just released by the breakdown of the leaves. Crazywolf 06:56, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Thanks for the informative answer. I didn't know that the plants have sulfur and bacteria. I don't remember reading or studying anything about sulfur in plants. Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. I couldn't find a good answer online. I'll go read about ammonia and amino acids now. Bye --Starionwolf 03:19, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
Learning Java.
Well I just happened to visit Sun Microsystems wesbiste (maybe JAVA.COM, dont remember exactly), and they were offering their "compiler" or whatever it is called, which is used for writing java programs. So I wanted to know is it true that they are giving it for free? And secondly, what should I download if I want to learn Java. I have some ebooks, so I jsut want to try out those codes, like "hello world" programs and other simple things. So where should I write those codes? Thank You.
- You will indeed need a compiler. There are many available ones, and I think most of them are free. The one I would recommend which is widely used is Eclipse, which can be downloaded here. Eclipse is a nice open source project that made a great java compiler.
- Because of the peculiarities of the way the Java programming language works, you will also need the java runtime environment, which can be downloaded here, although you may already have it on your machine. You can download eclipse first, and it will tell you if you have it or not. If not, it can be found via the eclipse site here (pick the one appropriate for your machine).
- As for learning java, there are gazillions of online and book references - not sure what to recommend here. Perhaps someone knows of a nice one? Once you get the hang of the basics, the best reference available is the official Java API from Sun - it's a listing and detailed description of all the routines in the Sun library. Have fun - it's a great language (and to the rest of you, for goodness sake let's be civilized and not start a C vs java war here) --Bmk 06:22, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- For tutorial I'd recommend Sun's own online tutorial, there is a "Tutorials" at java.sun.com. A "getting started" tutorial shows what to download, how to write the "hello world" program. For help there are the Java forums, drop in at "New To Java" with any questions you have. Weregerbil 08:17, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- As said above you will need both a compiler and a runtime. Both are available from several sources, some are free, some cost money. Writing Java codes is mostly a matter of writing a source code file, compiling it, and running it under the Java runtime. A source code file is simply a text file, you can write it in any text editor. Then you need to compile and run it. Example:
- (you type in this Java code in a text file:)
- As said above you will need both a compiler and a runtime. Both are available from several sources, some are free, some cost money. Writing Java codes is mostly a matter of writing a source code file, compiling it, and running it under the Java runtime. A source code file is simply a text file, you can write it in any text editor. Then you need to compile and run it. Example:
public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) {
System.out.println("Hello world!");
}
}
- javac Test.java
- java Test
- Hello world!
JIP | Talk 14:15, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
key steps to do any project
Like, i am given a project to find out the reasons for the "work in process"(WIP) of your department...i work in a packaging industry..we make packagings of paper and board like cartons of milk..etc..now i have to do this project quickly and accuratly...so i need some guidelines..that on wat steps i follow so that i can complete my project in least time and accuratly.
hi, i have given a science project and i need help from u people...i need some data about what are the basic steps to do any project..or simply how to do a project...kindly helpme out!
- That's pretty hard to say generally about any project. If you're talking about an experiment in the sense of the scientific method, there's a decent article there. I'd say a good set of basic steps are, determine the goal of a project, determine the steps you will need to achieve the goal, then follow the steps. Perhaps you want something more specific? --Bmk 07:28, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- A project is a set of planned activities that aims to achieve certain goals or deliver certain products/results (and do so within a certain timeframe). It is not something that you do routinely or on a recurring basis. Formal project management is necessary for large or complex projects that: involve many people and/or resources, extend over a long period of time, have many complex dependencies, and/or involve many uncertainties. Because each project, by definition, has some unique aspects and is non-routine, its successful execution requires more than procedures and workflows that handle routine activites.
- Project management involves analyzing the problem, breaking down the overall project into a set of tasks, identifying dependencies among different tasks and on external factors, estimating the time and resources needed for each task, scheduling each task (taking into account dependencies and resource availability), obtaining and assigning resources to each task, tracking the progress of each task, identifying and assessing any significant risks, contigency planning, and periodically reviewing progress and risks to re-adjust plans/schedules.
- Complex projects often require tool support. Small projects many not require very formal project management, but planning and perodic reviews to stay on top of things are still important. See Project management.--72.78.101.61 14:06, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- If you tell us what in general you are doing your project over, your question would be much easier to answer. Crazywolf
- I always use the Feynman Problem-Solving Algothirm: 1) Identify the problem 2)Think really hard 3)Write down the answer. — The Mac Davis] ⌇☢ ญƛ. 15:23, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
natural plutonium
What is the reason plutonium is not created naturally in the universe? ...IMHO (Talk) 07:53, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- It is created in supernova explosions (where almost everything heavier than iron is created). Some plutonium isotopes have such short half lifes that any deposits in Earth's crust have long since decayed into other substances; that's why we don't have plutonium mines. Check out the lead paragraph of plutonium for one isotope that is just stable enough to exist in tiny quantities. Every 80 million years there is half less of it. Weregerbil 08:02, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- So the answer is because there is no permanently stable form of it like there is for iron or lead? ...IMHO (Talk) 08:17, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Plutonium gets created just like lead, but plutonium is radioactive and goes away given enough time. Atom by atom it splits into other elements. While lead is stable and sticks around. Occasionally a big star explodes in a supernova, creating a fresh batch of plutonium, which then starts decaying. The section "Supernovae as a source of heavy elements" in supernova describes that process, even specifically mentions plutonium. Weregerbil 09:08, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- It's not quite that simple. The various isotopes of uranium aren't stable either, but uranium-235 and particularly uranium-238 have extremely long half-lives. The radioactive decay of uranium (primarily U-235) results in various decay products, notably radium and radon. Any radium deposited in the gas cloud from supernovae disappeared billions of years ago; uranium decay is where all the stuff presently on Earth comes from. However, you're not going to get plutonium that way, as it is heavier than uranium.
- About 2 billion years ago, some plutonium was naturally created on Earth; see natural nuclear fission reactor. --Robert Merkel 09:21, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- WOW! Thanks greatly for sharing this article. Its facinating to think that God had already tested a fission reactor long before he invented man. Wonder what else God has done that we don't know about? ...IMHO (Talk) 13:49, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Well, he created something called religion to glorify himself, fooling people into thinking that he's perfect and all-powerful. He also created something called the Bible, to hide the true origin of Earth, life, and the univserse. --Bowlhover 14:57, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Well at least you belive in Him even though you disagree with His methods. ...IMHO (Talk) 23:35, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Well, no, I don't believe in him. --Bowlhover 18:30, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Well at least you belive in Him even though you disagree with His methods. ...IMHO (Talk) 23:35, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Why would God need to "test" a fission reactor? Surely if you believe in a God which could create the universe and man you can believe that he doesn't need to run "experiments" to find out something as banal (and human-centric) as whether or not nuclear fission could be utilized to generate energy under controlled circumstances. Give your God a little more credit than that! --Fastfission 15:18, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- As I understand it the Bible says that God created the heavens and the Earth and at some point decided that it was good which leads to the question of whether or not he could have concluded that it was bad and hence did not know until after he created whether it might be either one. Maybe His creation of nuclear fission was for the same reason, i.e., to decide whether it was good or bad. ...IMHO (Talk) 23:35, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Are you suggesting that, 2 billion years ago, God changed the laws of physics to make nuclear fission possible? If so, there's no evidence that the laws of physics ever changed. --Bowlhover 18:30, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Surely God is as least as intelligent as Enrico Fermi, and could figure out without actual experimentation that something would or would not work. In any case, God, of the Judeo-Christian-Muslim variety, is all-knowing and presumably does not need to do anything in order to increase his own knowledge. While I understand the temptation to ascribe even the mundane to God, it strikes me as rather silly and inconsistent with the otherwise transcendent attributes usually ascribed to Him. --Fastfission 01:25, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Are you suggesting that, 2 billion years ago, God changed the laws of physics to make nuclear fission possible? If so, there's no evidence that the laws of physics ever changed. --Bowlhover 18:30, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- As I understand it the Bible says that God created the heavens and the Earth and at some point decided that it was good which leads to the question of whether or not he could have concluded that it was bad and hence did not know until after he created whether it might be either one. Maybe His creation of nuclear fission was for the same reason, i.e., to decide whether it was good or bad. ...IMHO (Talk) 23:35, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Well, he created something called religion to glorify himself, fooling people into thinking that he's perfect and all-powerful. He also created something called the Bible, to hide the true origin of Earth, life, and the univserse. --Bowlhover 14:57, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- WOW! Thanks greatly for sharing this article. Its facinating to think that God had already tested a fission reactor long before he invented man. Wonder what else God has done that we don't know about? ...IMHO (Talk) 13:49, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- "Excuse me....excuse me.... what does God need with a starship?" -James T. Kirk --Bmk 17:54, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Could we avoid another round of theist-atheist bickering, please? --Robert Merkel 04:04, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- This question has nothing to do with the existence or non-existence of God—all of those involved are actually advocating a more generously "theistic" reading of the situation—one which recognizes that God doesn't need to run science experiments. --Fastfission 01:25, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
I did not mean for this question to turn into a debate about God since the humanities desk is quite ready to handle debates like that but I will say now that the topic has been pressed that in terms of technology or science that God is the only entity by definition possessing the ability to reduce an infinite number of logical equations having an infinite number of variables and an infinite number of states to minimum form instantaneously. Further comments and discussion about God can be moved to the humanities desk. ...IMHO (Talk) 05:13, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
conservation
hi i require some fairly brief information on the general methods of conservation. not very detailed or specific to an area.
would you please furnish me with the different mothods of land, water , air and forest convervation.
i have tried to locate it on wikipedia but i'v allways found some " conservation ethic" which i havnt found to be quite what i wanted.
i would me very thankfull if you would heed to my requist as soon as your convinience allows.
thankin you, - Tulika
- see sustainable agriculture for a start, though that article has neutrality issues. --Robert Merkel 09:21, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Sorry, this isn't a Do-Your-Homework-For-You.com =D --mboverload@ 09:29, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
OK, here are "general methods of conservation, not detailed or specific":
- To conserve land, don't build on it, plant in it, or dump toxic waste in it.
- To conserve water, don't take it for irrigation and don't dump waste in it.
- To conserve air, reduce smoke, vehicle exhaust and other chemical emissions. And breathe less.
- To conserve forest, don't cut it down. Use corncobs and computers instead of toilet paper, books and newspapers.
Now go save your corner of the planet. alteripse 14:04, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Conservation is disputed in being a good way of "saving the environment" I might add. — The Mac Davis] ⌇☢ ญƛ. 15:29, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Would you care to support that statement? As I understand it, since conservation is shorthand for 'conserving the environment in a livable condition for the maximum variety of life', to say anyone considers it incompatible with 'saving' the environment seems to require some sources or cogent arguments. Skittle 16:08, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- The way I understand it, conservation is different from preservation. Conservation is an active and goal-directed process, while preservation seeks to eliminate all human activity. Personally I think conservation is generally more workable and realistic. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs 21:12, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
Heart -Stoppers
Hello! I'm often amazed by the people who claim to arrest their heart-beat,temporarily,by some extraordinary means.I have seen a few people, on TV,performing this stunt(shown on some really reputed channels); even E.C.G records verified the cardiac-arrest.Now,my question is :
How can a man have CONTROL over his INVOLUNTARY MUSCLE ? Is it 'Mind
Over Matter'? Thanks, Pupunwiki 10:26, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- There could be no absolutely involuntary muscles. Heart-beat is somehow controlled by brain -- some unconscious part of it. May be, arresting heart-beat is possible by some technique, e.g. meditation or what, allowing control over subconsciousness? ellol 10:34, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Not really. Read heart, cardiac pacemaker, autonomic nervous system, and artificial pacemaker. As for stopping the heart, I'm very skeptical. --Kjoonlee 12:58, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- It is quite easy to slow your heart rate by using a combination of meditation and breathing techniques (I used to regularly slow my heart beat to about 45-50 bpm before exams to relax myself), and I'm sure that if you trained yourself enough you could lower the rate to some quite impressively slow rates. But zero? I'm skeptical about that too. Grutness...wha? 13:36, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Technically, the only way for your 'heart rate' to slow to zero or for your heart to 'stop' is for it to never beat again - if it doesn't beat for a while, then starts beating again, it's just slowed down a lot, not stopped. Since with no training at all it's possible for most people to slow their heartrate considerably as Grutness said, I wouldn't be surprised that with a lifetime of training a person could do something more impressive. --Bmk 17:57, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- It is quite easy to slow your heart rate by using a combination of meditation and breathing techniques (I used to regularly slow my heart beat to about 45-50 bpm before exams to relax myself), and I'm sure that if you trained yourself enough you could lower the rate to some quite impressively slow rates. But zero? I'm skeptical about that too. Grutness...wha? 13:36, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Its simple really to stop your heart. Just hire a team of professional henchmen and get them beat the hell outta ya to within an inch of your life. BTW, before you do this have the paramedics stand by. If this is done perfectly your heart will stop for a while until the paramedis rush and revive you with a few high voltage electric shocks. And *wallah!!* you have a new World Record in Heart Stopping!! (Someone had a take a shot at it! ;-) Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 20:43, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- To follow the style of the question: NO, You DO NOT have CONTROL over INVOLUNTARY MUSCLE. (OK, earphones off now...) A few aspects of the activity of involutary muscles may be modified by psychological techniques, but that is not the same as controlling the muscle contraction itself. To take the heart example: A person has no voluntary control of the cardiac muscle as such, only partial and indirect control of the rate of discharge of specialised pacemaker cells, which in turn determines the rate or cardiac activation, and very indirectly and unpredictably of the strength and rate of contraction via autonomic nervous system tone - in the latter case intrinsic Starling mechanisms would override any "voluntary" element. One cannot selectively or voluntarily control which part of the heart muscle contracts, how much of it contracts, in what sequence it contracts, how strongly it contracts, or when and how it relaxes. Once a cardiac cycle has started, the strength and rate of muscle contraction is automatic, dependent on factors not willfully determined. As far as I am able to determine, the cardiac cycle cannot be voluntarily contained to the point of death - unless you happen to suffer a heart attack or stroke due to low blood pressure or low blood flow, which would be unpredictable. I asked two anesthesiologists, they seem to feel that a vagal arrest of more than 6 seconds during surgery should be treated, though this figure from a book on cardiac surgery suggests that less than 4 minutes of circulatory arrest at 37°C usually does not cause brain damage. You cannot equate a learned and partial control of autonomic nervous activity with voluntary control of heart muscle, since it bears not even even a remote resemblance to voluntary skeletal muscle control. --Seejyb 10:41, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Simple answer: It's a magic trick. and doesn't involve any 'real magic.'.
- This is often used as a display of mind over matter' or 'psychic ability' or similar where the 'magician' will be able to change the strength of their pulse in different parts of their body, going so far as to have the pulse going in one hand, and completely stopped in other hand - and all this checked and verified by real doctors or nurses taking the pulse (who are invariably amazed)
- ***SPOILER WARNING***
- ***SPOILER WARNING***
- ***SPOILER WARNING***
- This trick is done very simply by concealing a rubber ball or rolled up sock in the armpit of each arm. By squeezing it harder or softer with the armpit it will press against an artery in your arm, causing the blood flow, and therefore the pulse, to weaken or strengthen. It's incredibly simple, basically self working, and any child could do it, yet it has been used to wow audiences by some top 'psychics'. Just goes to show, often the simplest things are the most effective! --Noodhoog 15:40, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Me again. This is a bit off topic, but I just thought I'd add a quick justification for the reveal above. Normally I wouldn't dream of revealing the method behind a magic trick, but this one is a particular favourite of con-artists, frauds, and charlatans. That is, those who claim to have actual magical/pychic powers and abuse their audiences by pretending to contact dead relatives, hawking their merchandise, and so on. I have absolutely no problem with (and indeed great respect for) the highly skilled magicians who make no fradulent claims to supernatural ability, and openly admit they are entertainers who use lots of clever techniques to produce the effects they do. --Noodhoog 15:50, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Automatic WMA to MP3 Converter?
I have a large mix of .wma files and .mp3 files on my computer, but don't know which are which without going through a huge caffufle. Is there are program that will search a folder or drive that I tell it to, converting wmas to mp3s as it goes? --Username132 (talk) 12:07, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Why is it hard to tell which is which? Can't you tell just by looking in Windows Explorer? Notinasnaid 12:32, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- It's hard because we're talking about 50.8 GB of music and I have a life (albeit not much of one) outside of audio conversion! --Username132 (talk) 16:43, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Sort them By Type in Windows Explorer, or use the Windows Search function to find all WMA files. (For a converter, I'd search for convert wma mp3). –Mysid(t) 12:39, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Or use a search program, like Windows search, and type for your search term "*.wma" to find the wma files or "*.mp3" to find the mp3 files.--Bmk 18:10, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Transcoding of lossy audio is evil. Avoid it at all costs! I'm sure there's a better solution to your problem than transcoding. Why do you want to do it? --Kjoonlee 12:47, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Thanks. I wont bother now... --Username132 (talk) 16:43, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- At least the question wasn't how to convert WMA to Ogg Vorbis. Then I'd be worried that someone would try to upload those crappy files to Wikipedia. —Keenan Pepper 18:43, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- It's suprisingly hard to find free audio converters on Google. You have to have the social equivalent of "knowing someone" to find a good one. Try this on for size: http://winlame.sourceforge.net/ --Russoc4 15:09, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
Muay Thai shin conditioning
On Muay Thai's shin conditioning method (or how to kill your nerves):
- long ago before the availability of pads and bags, Thai boxers kicked banana trees. The texture of a banana tree is rubbery and is softer than a person's shin.
I am not going to train myself to be the next Tony Jaa. My only question is: How long can a banana tree survive if people kick it every day ... -- Toytoy 13:13, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
Two days, eight hours, and seven minutes.
Dreaming in colors
What's with dreaming in colors? A lot of people seem to take for granted, at least as I can see in the media, that the "normal" way of dreaming is dreaming in black and white... I find that quite strange, as I have always dreamt in color. What's your experience? Is it actually that normal dreaming in black and white? GTubio 13:36, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Isn't it portrayed as black and white or with wavy edges in media, to make it obvious that it is a dream scene. Philc TECI 14:02, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- I've always dreamt in colour. Though, the most unusual thing about my dreams is that I can not remember what colours the people and things were in my dream, even if I can remember the entire dream (which is very rare!), how much ever I wack my brain, I cant remember the specific colours of things in my dreams. Most unusual......or is it? Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 20:33, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- I think its normal, I think its almost impossible to recall anything in your dreams that you didnt make specific note of while you were having them, so you can remember the events, storyline, things that effected and people you interacted with, as it was brought to your attention. Or atleast thats what I find, though I think it may be completely different for some people, particlarly people with things like photographic memory. Philc TECI 21:14, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- There was a recent discussion on physicsforums to if blind people can dream in color. [10] — The Mac Davis] ⌇☢ ญƛ. 15:32, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- And how would you know a dream was in colour, unless you specifically dream about a colour detail--as it happeded, I had a dream once where I noticed the colour of something. But we generally don't specifically dream about colour. I have a feeling that even the notion of black & white dreaming was meaningless until the invention of photography filled the world with monochrome images. I have a related question: Has anyone seen any reference, dating from before the invention of photography, discussing whether we dream in black and white?
- My mother said that after we got a colour tv in the sixties, she dreamt in colour for the first time. I suppose it's just that she was aware of the colours in her dreams for the first time.
- Human eyes have separate receptors for colour and light-intensity (ie black and white). So the notion of black and white was not introduced by photography. DirkvdM 09:45, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
methanol added in a tank of gas in car - Ratio
I need a ratio thats safe?
How does methanol work in a car.
- If your car isn't designed for methanol, then don't put methanol in it. You don't say what you're trying to achieve, anyway.
If aluminum is incompatible with methanol what does that mean.
- From Methanol:
- One of the drawbacks of methanol as a fuel is its corrosivity to some metals, including aluminium. Methanol, although only a weak acid, attacks the oxide coating that normally protects the aluminium from corrosion:
- 6CH3OH + 2Al → 2Al3+ + 6CH3O− + 3H2
- The resulting methoxide salts are soluble in methanol, so the corrosion continues until the metal is eaten away.
- In other words, methanol eats away aluminum until there's nothing left.
How does octane levels work
- Maybe you are refering to ethanol? See E85 and flexible-fuel vehicle as well. --Russoc4 15:26, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
What's in this cardboard box?
I found this cardboard box (full size image) near the entrance to a park. I think the person who put it there wanted people to believe it's a bomb. (Of course, if you take a closer look, you'll see that it can't be a bomb--there's no room for the explosives and no batteries.)
Anyone know what it actually is? I think it may be a radio (with the orange, rectangular object at the bottom right of the plastic casing being its antenna). --Bowlhover 14:20, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- My guess is a radio too, or maybe just a speaker (though it has a lot of electronics to be just a speaker). - Dammit 14:39, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Yeah, it looks like a radio built to look like one of those really old tombstone-shaped radios. --Bmk 18:00, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- If they wanted it to look like a bomb, they did a pretty poor job. Why would a bomb have a speaker? And what if nobody bothered to plug in the cord? --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs 20:47, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- I agree. I think they didn't want to fool the police. They just wanted to scare people who freak out upon seeing wires in a cardboard box. --Bowlhover 17:37, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- I think it's just garbage being analyzed by someone with an over-active imagination. —Bradley 07:05, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- How much imagination is needed to identify a radio as a radio, like I did? None. I was just curious. I never said the radio is a bomb, nor that it bears the slightest resemblance to a bomb. I was just curious as to why someone would disassemble a radio, put it in a box, and put the box beside a path that leads to a park. Of course I know it's just garbage, except that it wasn't put in (or anywhere near) a garbage can. --Bowlhover 19:42, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- I think it's just garbage being analyzed by someone with an over-active imagination. —Bradley 07:05, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- I agree. I think they didn't want to fool the police. They just wanted to scare people who freak out upon seeing wires in a cardboard box. --Bowlhover 17:37, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
The antenna of this radio is the ferrite rod - wound round with the various coils that you can see. It is most likely a medium wave receiver.--G N Frykman 20:54, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- The world is going nuts. People now see bombs in harmless piles of rubbish. Well, one could call the abundance of waste an ecological time bomb, but that's something different. :) DirkvdM 09:49, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
Want to know about scientific experiments proving anything related to supernatural.
Any one?
No. In such a case this "supernatural" will just turn out to be natural and real. (It happened many times in the history of science, e.g. "stones falling from the sky" were considered ridiculous by French Academy of Sciences one time.) This raises the question, whether supernatural "phenomena" should at all be investigated by means of science — perfectly shown in "With morning comes Mistfall" story by George R.R. Martin.
ellol 17:57, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- I'd have to say that if a scientific experiment demonstrates the existence of a phenomenon, then it is not supernatural - it is natural. The first sentence of our supernatural article gives a good definition. I guess there are plenty of instances where phenomena which were attributed to supernatural causes have been explained via the scientific method. For instance lightning used to be God's weapon of choice, now it's known to be caused by electric potential differences. St. Elmo's fire is another neat one (which is actually related to lighning) that science has explained. There are lots. --Bmk 18:02, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Some physics experiments appeared to violate the very reliable Newtonian laws. The result was the development of quantum mechanics, not a declaration that the experiments showed something supernatural. The best science can say about the supernatural is there is currently no known scientific explanation. I believe in certain spiritual things including miracles, but science is not designed to investigate them. That said, you could visit this site, which explains the Catholic process of verifying miracles for potential saints, as well as the Dec. 8 entry at this site, which is quite skeptical of miracles altogether. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs 02:47, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- If you had a person who could, with no apparent external apparatus, at will violate various scientific laws which are known to be fairly reliable—conservation of energy and mass, for example—it would be a semi-persuasive argument for the possibility of a supernatural. If under intense and open scrutiny no explanation for these controlled violations could be discovered, then perhaps one could conclude that science couldn't explain it, and that it may lie outside of the realm of "natural" explanation. There have certainly been no phenomena of that sort subjected to such scrutiny, though—almost all claims to the supernatural today are vague, anecdotal, and specifically reject being looked at under controlled circumstances, an almost sure sign of them being snake oil of one sort of another. --Fastfission 19:41, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
Well, as implied above supernatural usually implies soemthing beyond or in contradiction of scienice. Perhaps a more apt word would be "paranormal", which usually describes unexplained phenomena from U.F.O.s to ghosts. --Kronos-X 14:04, 1 July 2006 (PTC)
- As they said above, once science has confirmed and studied it, it isn't considered "supernatural", no matter how weird it is. There have, however, been a number of things that seemed "supernatural", or even nonexistent, at one time that have since been studied extensively, like the examples above. Some things I'm still waiting for: telepathy, telekinesis, lycanthropy, immortality. Nothing I know of has confirmed the possibility of these things, but I'm optimistic. Black Carrot 15:49, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- BTW, you may be interested in the work of James Randi. Black Carrot 15:52, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
For astrology/occult-type things (in the sense of disproving them), see Forer effect and a few of the links on that page.
Being a Christian (myself), I think you might find it difficult to find studies (i.e., in journals) about miracles, mostly because one doesn't know they are going to happen before the fact. There are cases, though, where a certain medical condition is recorded by a doctor over a period of time, the person gets healed, then tested again, and so a healing can be shown retrospectively. But you can't really look for miracles under experimental conditions. BenC7 02:47, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- I think many scientists have a really tough time coming to grips with the concept of the supernatural. Their basic position is that everything that can be observed by humans must, ultimately, have a rational explanation. Even if we can't quite explain it now, one day we will be able to, it's only a question of time. What seems to be outside their thinking is the possibility of some event that is inherently outside the laws of physics - not only the laws as we currently understand them but beyond physics entirely, and for all time. The concept that an observed phenomenon might never be explained by science is anathema. Many other scientists are deeply religious; even many non-religious ones believe the only possible explanation for the universe is a Supreme Being who created it out of absolutely nothing. It's a logical certainty that contains a scientific impossibility. No wonder it's been driving thinkers nuts forever, and will always do so. JackofOz 03:36, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
Wild and crazy idea...
LD50 is an article about toxicology that refers to the amount of a substance that will kill 50% of the population. The idea is that knowing the amount of a substance having a 50/50 change of death is a good guide to the lethality of the substance. How about instead of determining the LD50 dose a lab were to determine the dosage curve from 0 to 100 percent, which would of course include the LD50 amount but also the amounts for minimum and maximum lethality as well as the theoretical and emperical amounts that lie in between? Or am I missing something here? Can these other amounts already be computed from the LD50 amount? ...IMHO (Talk) 23:23, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Yes, you again, missed something. Either you missed to read the whole article that you just quoted, i.e. LD50, or you did not understand it. 130.94.134.166 23:34, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- My point is that even though there are a wide variety of other measurements there appears to be no single method of including all in one presentation or display such as a "curve of death" might provide. Likewise there seems to be no way of also including the various routes a toxin may take to do the job as well as the time and many other relevant factors. Not that the laymen needs to have a comprehensive chart that give a good overall idea of how dangereous a substance is but then some laymen do stuff like make laws and tot stuff for people and would like to have a comprehensive idea whithout being required to first attain a Phd. But then now that I think about it I'd rather have a Phd than a comprehensive chart. ...IMHO (Talk) 23:50, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Why the bloody hell do you feel you have the right delete my posts, its the reference desk, not your user page you ass. Philc TECI 01:42, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- What in the world are you talking about? Nobody's deleted anything here; calm down. Melchoir 01:49, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Why the bloody hell do you feel you have the right delete my posts, its the reference desk, not your user page you ass. Philc TECI 01:42, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- And my answer is, there probably is, but then you have to administer multiple tests to get enough data to plot an entire graph (rather than one data point). And its a graph its simple, theres not going to be an article on it, or any papers for you to look at, because its a graph. Where-as LD50 needs explanation, as it is not self-explanitory. My point is, maybe your curve of death is used, what proof do you have that it is not, what proof do you need that it isn't. Philc TECI 01:47, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- I guess if you have a particularly simple mathematical model for how a substance kills, then it might be possible to calculate the entire curve from one measurement. But in general, it isn't possible, and I'm sure labs take all kinds of data points that aren't described in a Wikipedia article. Melchoir 00:07, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
Also User Philic please consider what happens to the LD50 tests that result in a 27/75 life to death ratio instead of a 50/50 life and death ratio that are simply thrown away becasue they are not 50/50 whereas a LDzero to LD100 percent curve would have a place to put all of that unused data instead of throwing it away (BTW I am afraid to ask what the heck you are talking about in regard to anyone deleting your messages. Maybe if you are going have a little tody before bedtime it would be best to stay off the wiki.) ...IMHO (Talk) 02:17, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Generating the entire toxicity-response curve requires far more data than finding the LD50, which means that many more animals must be killed. Also, for many applications, it is more useful to have a few key statistics rather than the entire set of data. Nevertheless, toxicity-response curves are sometimes used. For an example of what one looks like see page six of this PDF, for instance. — Knowledge Seeker দ 06:44, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- That was the reason for my question above. If there are no deviations in the curvature then say only three measures (LD1, LD50 and LD99) would seem to suffice but since there are other factors besides dose or amount like method of intake, etc. it would seem now that a complete database is needed for each toxin so that one can plug in values like weight and dose and type of intake, etc., i.e., all of the relative factors that effect the toxicity for a particular item instead of several values, curves or charts. ...IMHO (Talk) 15:07, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- An LD50 value is the dosage of a chemical that kills 50% of the test population of animals. The idea is that scientists can use these values to calculate a lethal dose for humans based on body mass without actually killing any people in the process. - Mgm|(talk) 08:18, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
Is rolling tobacco healthier than regular cigarettes?
This seems to be an oft-quoted 'fact'. Anyone know if it's true that smoking rolling tobacco causes less damage to the lungs than pack cigarettes? I've heard it mentioned that it's better for you because it contains less additives. No propaganda please. --84.68.140.72 23:55, 1 July 2006 (UTC)
- Well, it's certainly the case that a rolling tobacco with fewer or no additives (and it's not the case that all rolling tobacco fits that description) won't cause harm from the additives that aren't there. On the other hand, are the additives more or less harmful than the tobacco that the additives are displacing? And what's the degree of difference? Is it, like, pack cigarets have a 40% chance of giving you cancer and rolling tobacco has 39%? Or is it more like .01% and .095%? But this is kinda like asking how much a yacht costs (if you have to ask, you can't afford it). --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 00:02, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- I do know that if I smoke 20 regular cigarettes over the course of an evening, I will wake up with a sore throat, nasty taste in my mouth and a cough the next morning. If I smoke 20 rollups, I feel fine. The only reason I can think of is that there is something in the packet cigarettes that doesn't agree with me. --84.68.140.72 00:08, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Certainly. And some cigs are WAY worse than others in that regard. But that doesn't mean the rollups are healthier -- it could also just mean that the toxic effects don't show as quickly. It could be argued that pack cigs are statistically better for you, as they are more noxious and more likely to make you quit sooner. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 03:06, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- I do know that if I smoke 20 regular cigarettes over the course of an evening, I will wake up with a sore throat, nasty taste in my mouth and a cough the next morning. If I smoke 20 rollups, I feel fine. The only reason I can think of is that there is something in the packet cigarettes that doesn't agree with me. --84.68.140.72 00:08, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Also, one cigarette is not unhealthy. Its the many you smoke that has been known to be bad for your lungs. — The Mac Davis] ⌇☢ ญƛ. 15:39, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- I always thought even one cigarette is unhealthy. Even the tobacco companies tell us "there's no such thing as a safe cigarette." I suppose you're unlikely to suffer any serious or long-term effects from a single cigarette, but that doesn't necessarily make it "not unhealthy." --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs 21:17, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Also, note that hand-rolled cigarettes are unlikely to include any sort of filter to remove some of the nasties (not that a filter stops a lot of nasties, but some of them). Unless you regularly buy filters to add to your cigarettes? And Mac, I'd say one cigarette is bad for you (you're inhaling smoke for one thing, plus the other stuff), it's just unlikely to kill you by itself. Skittle 15:56, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Well, everything is relative. The exhaust fumes of a car passing by won't be very unhealthy. Living next to a busy road is. That's a bit obvious, isn't it? DirkvdM 10:15, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
bah
I just loaded a page with advertising by google, and for the first time ever I get a google video based popup add, what the hell? I think they're getting a little carried away with these things--71.249.29.10 00:05, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Get Firefox and add the extension Adblock. Easily block any and all Google ads. Now, someone say there's some way to trick IE/Opera/Safari/MyWickedCoolWebBrowser into blocking Google ads too. --Kainaw (talk) 00:45, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Hmmm... Donate lots of mone to Google so they don't need any more ads (which brings up: "They're very greedy, all that money and they still advertise.") and then continue to use the same browser only without ads. :-) Iolakana|T 15:19, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Sounds fishy to me. --mboverload@ 22:29, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Hmmm... Donate lots of mone to Google so they don't need any more ads (which brings up: "They're very greedy, all that money and they still advertise.") and then continue to use the same browser only without ads. :-) Iolakana|T 15:19, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Donate to Google? They are not non-profit—they are trying to make money, as much as possible! They'd take your money, thank you, and happily continue business as usual. It isn't greed, it's how you run a business. --Fastfission
- Their revenue is $7.14 Billion. If I gave you that, would you ever work again?! :) Iolakana|T 15:21, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Donate to Google? They are not non-profit—they are trying to make money, as much as possible! They'd take your money, thank you, and happily continue business as usual. It isn't greed, it's how you run a business. --Fastfission
that wasn't from Google! it was from a third party just embedding a google video. Scumbags. Google doesn't do what you state, and they have probably already banned the advertisers who misrepresented their popup as Google's.
July 2
Palm Beetles vs Cock Roaches
I live in the Cochella Valley in California. We have thousands of Palm Trees. We frquently see large, brown bugs that I think are cockroaches but other people say they are Palm Beetles. Can anybody tell me if those two different creatures are so similar that they could be confused. The ones I see are 1-2 inches in length, reddish brown. They seem to be ubiquitous in this area.
- I live in South Carolina. We have cockroaches and palmetto bugs. I assume that your palm beetles are our palmetto bugs. The big difference: palmetto bugs can fly. Other than that, they are both roaches. --Kainaw (talk) 00:43, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- The American cockroach is also known as a palmetto bug and it can fly.
- I tried searching for "palm beetles," but all I can find are palm-boring beetles. --Kjoonlee 08:09, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
If it is a beetle, it will probably have a hard, opaque pair of forewings. See Beetle. BenC7 02:55, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
Rate of fall and heat
Why does a feather fall as teh same rate as a lead orb? I know air resistance kicks in for the feather, but if we exclude that, what is actually happening to the falls?
Also, why does everything radiates heat without necessary moving?
- Your second question might be answered by Thermal radiation. As for the first, could you clarify what you mean by excluding air resistance? Do you mean, perhaps, why they fall at the same rate in a vacuum? Melchoir 02:42, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- (after edit conflict)
- For motion (an object falling), you should read Newton's laws of motion, especially the second law: The rate of change of the momentum of a body is directly proportional to the net force acting on it. Note: it does not include the weight/mass of the body, just the force acting on it. Gravity is gravity. It doesn't matter if the body is a feather or lead orb. Of course, air resistance acts in opposition to gravity on a feather, so that would slow the fall of the feather. However, in a vacuum, the feather and lead orb fall at the same rate.
- For the second question, "everything" doesn't radiate "heat". However, "most things" radiate some form of "electromagnetic radiation". It is a byproduct of the conservation of energy. What you see as heat is just a long chain reaction of chemical processes all acting and reacting to one another. --Kainaw (talk) 02:43, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Your assertion that force does not include the mass of the object being acted upon is incorrect. The acceleration of the object is inversely proportional to its mass—the less an object weighs the greater its acceleration for a given force. Gravity (as we experience it on Earth) works as basically a constant accleration to objects, independent of their mass. Consequently, the force due to gravity, which we call weight, is greater for more massive objects—this is how a spring scale works. The real equation can be found in the gravity article. Note that the mass of the Earth and the distance between the centers of mass is in the equation, but that works out to be a constant in our experience as their Earth is so massive and so spherical. The lead weight and the feather, even though they have different masses, experience the same accelerations independent of their mass. When you bring in air resistance, you have to calculate the sum of the forces acting on the bodies and force due to gravity is greater for the heavier object and it falls faster even if the objects have the same aerodynamics. —Bradley 06:49, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Thanks. Next time I see Newton, I'll tell him his second law of motion is wrong. --Kainaw (talk) 13:16, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- As you quote, Newton's second law refers to the momentum of the object. We understand momentum as being composed of the mass of the object and its velocity or are you making some pedantic argument as to the composition of spacetime? —Bradley 19:59, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Please feel free to change Newton's second law. You'll probably win a Nobel. He was obviously wrong when he stated: "The rate of change of the momentum of a body is directly proportional to the net force acting on it, and the direction of the change in momentum takes place in the direction of the net force." Apparently, he should have said, "The rate of change of the momentum of a body is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversly proportional to the mass of the body." Therefore, a lead orb will fall faster than a feather in a vacuum because a lead orb has more mass. Right? Or - does Newton's second law omit the mass of the body as a cause of change? No, that can't be it. --Kainaw (talk) 00:03, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Newton's second law doesn't mention gravity. Gravity does not apply the same force to the lead as it does to the feather. Gravity applies the same acceleration to each object. Force and acceleration are different, but they are related to each other by a factor, which is... wait for it... MASS. If you apply the same force to each object, their momentums will change exactly as Newton describes in his second law, but the heavier object will be accelerated to a lesser degree and its velocity will then, consequently, change to a lesser degree.
- An example: if a 5 N force is applied to a 10 kg object, it will undergo an acceleration of 0.5 m/s². If a 5 N force is applied to a 1 kg object, it will undergo an acceleration of 5 m/s².
- The mass of an object is why when you push a car it doesn't move as quickly as when you push a bike for the same expenditure of force. You apparently think mass is a useless and antiquated phenomenon—perhaps you were hit in the head with a feather. —Bradley 16:40, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- (after another edit conflict)
- While you are waiting for someone to answer the first question try reading Black body to get an answer to your second question. ...IMHO (Talk) 02:46, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
Regarding your first question, if you drop a lead ball and a feather in a vacuum container (ie with no air or gas in it), both objects would fall at exactly the same rate. - Cybergoth 01:09, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- And this experiment (with a feather and a hammer being dropped) was performed by the astronauts of Apollo 15 on the Moon. You can download the video from NASA, which is highly recommended, since it's trippy as all hell to watch. --ByeByeBaby 11:41, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- It's pretty easy to simulate on Earth as well. Get a piece of tissue paper and two books of equal weight and dimensions.
- Drop the two books at the same time.
- Drop one book and one piece of tissue at the same time.
- Put the tissue on top of one book, and drop the book.
- How fast did the tissue fall in the third case? As fast as the book. --Kjoonlee 15:11, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- It's pretty easy to simulate on Earth as well. Get a piece of tissue paper and two books of equal weight and dimensions.
Root beer float foam
I'm wondering if anyone knows exactly why root bear floats foam so much. On Talk:Root beer float, there are a few statements saying that it is because of the yucca extract added to the root beer. But what I'm wondering is why the foaming is exacerbated in the presence of Ice Cream. I would naturally assume that there is some kind of chemical reaction between the Ice Cream and some specific ingredient in the root beer, possibly the yucca, or something else. Just as an example, I can pour about 10 oz of root beer into a 16 oz (approximately) glass before the foam runs over the top. When I add even a teaspoon of ice cream however, I can only pour in about 2 oz of root beer before I have foam all over the place. Can anyone elaborate?
- First, note that the yucca extract is a foaming agent - added specifically to create foam. Initially, root beer meant "sasparilla root beer". I believe the FDA labeled sasparilla root a carcinogen. So, yucca was used as a replacement. Now, on to ice cream. Cream has a lot of protein in it. Also, it normally has some sort of gumming agent to make it sticky. Both of those lower the surface tension of the root beer. With lower surface tension, the carbination escapes easier. When carbination escapes, the foaming agent foams. So, adding ice cream makes it easier for root beer to foam. --Kainaw (talk) 03:42, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Yucca is present only as a foaming agent. Sasparilla in root beer was replaced by artificial flavoring. Rmhermen 21:31, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- I would also imagine that the protein in the cream acts to stabilise the foam that is produced (you know that when you add icecream the foam/scum stays), so the foam will build up higher as it isn't popping as quickly. I don't know exactly why proteins such as that found in cream act to stabilise foams, but they do. Someone probably has an answer. Skittle 15:49, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Thanks for the info. I was going to ask about that next. I too noticed that the foam tends to stay around longer with the Ice Cream and it's is usually somewhat sticky and gummy after it dries up a bit so I was guessing that this had something to do with the proteins or the gumming agent becoming incorporated into the foam. -- Nebular110 17:14, 2 July 2006 (UTC) (sorry, forgot to sign the original question)
- Also note that microscopic bubbles act as "nucleation sites" for forming visible bubbles ...and ice cream contains zillions of bubbles. If you pour root beer into milk, you only get brown milk. But if you pour rootbeer onto ice cream, you get a gigantic explosion of foam. (Also try pouring rootbeer into whipped cream. Same effect: the microscopic bubbles in the whipped cream create a huge foam blast.) --Wjbeaty 01:50, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- This description is a physical process and should not be confused with a chemical reaction which it is not. Rmhermen 21:31, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
Enlarged stomach lymph nodes
What is the cause of enlarged abdominal, right side, lymph nodes? What can it be?
- Lymphadenopathy has an almost countless number of causes. It's not clear what you mean by abdominal lymph nodes (intra-abdominal nodes would be detected on CT scan or MRI or other imaging: could you mean inguinal nodes?) In any case, no one here can tell you the cause of any particular person's lymphadenopathy; that person needs to find out the likely causes from their physician. There are lots of factors to consider, including the person's age, the size and texture and appearance of the nodes, medical history, etc. - Nunh-huh 03:59, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- As always, you should first speak to a licensed medical professional, and you should NOT use any other source such as this reference desk as a primary source of information about your health. That being said, the article on lymph nodes describes how lymph nodes can become enlarged during the immune response to an infection. But are you sure (i assume you're talking about yourself here) that you're feeling your 'lymph node' on your stomach? I don't think they're very big... perhaps it's something else? --Bmk 04:03, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
Simple carbohydrates
I'm trying to list all the molecules with formula CnH2nOn and figure out what they're like, e.g. what would happen to you if you ate them. The only CH2O is formaldehyde, a well known poison. For C2H4O2, there's acetic acid, well known as vinegar, and another one, which I kept searching for by the names of 2-hydroxyacetaldehyde, 2-hydroxyethanal, 2-oxoethanol, and even 1,2-ethenediol (its tautomer), but after a while I figured out it's called glycolaldehyde. So, we have an article on it, but it's not very good, and doesn't answer my questions. What would happen to you if you drank glycolaldehyde? (I assume it's a liquid because it forms hydrogen bonds like ethanol.) Does it taste sweet? Is it poisonous? —Keenan Pepper 05:18, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
The only other C2H4O2 isomer I can think of is methyl formate, which isn't too good for you. Have I missed any? —Keenan Pepper 05:41, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Formaldehyde doesn't follow the structure CnH2nO2. The last one has an extra oxygen atom. - Mgm|(talk) 08:12, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- I assume he meant CnH2nOn (and have changed it accordingly above). —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 15:18, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Formaldehyde doesn't follow the structure CnH2nO2. The last one has an extra oxygen atom. - Mgm|(talk) 08:12, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Interesting topic. I assume you're not counting tautomers; otherwise you'd be including 1,1-ethenediol as well (and counting both cis and trans forms of 1,2-ethendiol). The only other thing I can think of is to ditch the double bond and use a ring. I have no idea how stable they'd be, but if cyclobutane's stable, maybe these would be too. My organic chemistry's far too rusty to permit guessing at the nomenclature, but something like -CH2-O-CH2-O- (ends joined to make a ring) might be possible. — Knowledge Seeker দ 06:20, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- The IUPAC name would be 1,3-dioxacyclobutane, and apparently it's also called 1,3-dioxetane. —Keenan Pepper 15:41, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- 1,1-ethenediol would be the enol form of acetic acid (and also the hydrate of ketene). I rather doubt it's particularly stable. Google suggests it does occur an an intermediate in some reactions. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 15:18, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Glycoaldehyde is very poisonous. It is the metabolite of ethylene glycol that leads to the latter's toxicity. The treatment of anti-freeze poisoning is to prevent the formation of glycoaldehyde by supplying an alternative substrate for alcohol dehydrogenase, saturating the enzyme using either ethanol or fomepizole. If you drank glycoaldehyde there is no treatment other than dialysis that would stop the toxicity. --Seejyb Oops, that's glycolaldehyde --Seejyb 21:11, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Thanks. So wait... if you accidentally drink antifreeze, you're less likely to get poisoned if you drink a lot of booze afterwards? =P —Keenan Pepper 23:09, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- yep, thats even a medically recognised treatment for ethylene glycol poisioning. although they inject it iv so you don't have a choice of flavour... (http://www.aafp.org/afp/20020901/807.html) Xcomradex 04:08, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- If you're interested, ethanol treatment is also standard for methanol poisoning. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 16:11, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- If we're talking rings (which we should, since that's how most typical carbohydrates often exist), how about 1,2-dioxacyclobutane (dioxetane) for C2H4O2? I'm not sure if that specific compound is known experimentally, but compounds containing a -C-C-O-O- ring are, and are the basis for chemiluminescence. DMacks 05:12, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Nuclear Reaction
When a nuclear bomb is set off how much of its mass is turned into light?
- Depends on the size doesnt it. Philc TECI 12:03, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- No, it doesn't: it's apparently a percentage of the overall energetic output. Philc, effects of nuclear explosions may be a good page for you. Happy reading! – ClockworkSoul 14:09, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- The amount of light depends on what kind of bomb, what materials are in it and how enriched they are, and mass. — The Mac Davis] ⌇☢ ญƛ. 15:43, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
Is there a way to make a nuclear explosion 100 percent effecent. For example no radiation and all the mass being directly converted into energy as light or heat?
- No, there isn't. When a neutron strikes a uranium-235 or plutonium-239 atom, gamma photons will always be released. Energy is also released in the form of kinetic energy--from the fission products, the neutrinos, and the neutrons. (Light, by the way, is radiation.) --Bowlhover 17:32, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- I think the original asker could benefit from reading over the article on nuclear fission. However, the question is valid - how much of the mass of the original uranium is turned into EM energy? In the 'average' fission reaction (there are many possible paths for a U-235 fission), around 21 MeV of energy are released in the form of gamma rays [11] Now we can pull out or handy E=mc2 calculator, and find that the rest mass of U-235 in MeV is about 220 GeV. Therefore just about about 0.01% of the energy in a U235 fission event is converted to light. Of course, the temperatures generated in the shockwave convert a lot more energy into light, but that's way harder to calculate. Also, as someone mentioned above, a nuclear bomb is not 100% efficient, but it's around that figure for the entire mass of the uranium. --Bmk 20:22, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Bmk, why is a nuclear bomb around 100% efficient? The person who asked whether a 100%-efficient bomb is possible, defined efficient as "no [non-light] radiation and all the mass being directly converted into energy as light or heat". Nuclear bombs produce much less light and heat than they do gamma rays, so they're no where near 100% efficient.
- That said, I think that an efficient nuclear bomb should be one does the most destruction per gram of mass. This depends mostly on how much fission/fusion material is in the bomb, and how much of that material actually undergoes fission/fusion before the bomb is destroyed. (In the bombs dropped on Japan in 1945, for example, only 1.4% and 14% of the uranium/plutonium in the bombs actually underwent fission.) --Bowlhover 01:25, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Bowlhover - sorry - this was an error of poor wording. What I meant to say was "a nuclear bomb does not use 100% of the mass of uranium it started with, but probably nearly 100%, so the percent of Uranium mass turned into gamma rays for the entire bomb is still nearly 0.01%. Sorry for the confusion --Bmk 21:02, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Changing the subject, Bmk found out that 0.01% of an uranium-235 atom's mass is converted into gamma rays, but how much of the mass is converted into visible light? We cannot see gamma rays, so they can't be considered as light. --Bowlhover 01:25, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- I think the original asker could benefit from reading over the article on nuclear fission. However, the question is valid - how much of the mass of the original uranium is turned into EM energy? In the 'average' fission reaction (there are many possible paths for a U-235 fission), around 21 MeV of energy are released in the form of gamma rays [11] Now we can pull out or handy E=mc2 calculator, and find that the rest mass of U-235 in MeV is about 220 GeV. Therefore just about about 0.01% of the energy in a U235 fission event is converted to light. Of course, the temperatures generated in the shockwave convert a lot more energy into light, but that's way harder to calculate. Also, as someone mentioned above, a nuclear bomb is not 100% efficient, but it's around that figure for the entire mass of the uranium. --Bmk 20:22, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- It is not the U-235 that is being converted into energy, it is just the binding energy which gets released during the fission. I think people get this pretty confused. When U-235 fissions it turns into a two fission products, a few neutrons, and some gamma rays. If you add up the mass in all of the constituent components, you'll find it is slightly less than it was when they were together; the "missing mass" here is the mass which has been turned into energy. This is explained at our article on E=mc2. Efficiency in bomb design is calculated by how much of it material fissions, not how much of it is converted into energy (they are not unrelated numbers, but the percentages are very different—a bomb in which 20% of the material fissions is not the same thing as saying that 20% of it is converted into energy). --Fastfission 01:16, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- True, but since the mass attributable to binding energy in U-235 IS part of the mass of the U-235, it is still appropriate to calculate the amount of mass which has been transformed into electromagnetic radiation. The original question had nothing to do with bomb efficiency, just the amount of mass changed into light. And for those who disputed the usage of light, I was using it to refer to any EM radiation, but i concede that 'light' technically only refers to that in the visible spectrum. If the original question was meant to refer only to visible light, then I have no idea what the answer is - i think you'd just have to take measurements during an actual explosion. The thermodynamics are probably too difficult to address analytically. --Bmk 21:06, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- It is not the U-235 that is being converted into energy, it is just the binding energy which gets released during the fission. I think people get this pretty confused. When U-235 fissions it turns into a two fission products, a few neutrons, and some gamma rays. If you add up the mass in all of the constituent components, you'll find it is slightly less than it was when they were together; the "missing mass" here is the mass which has been turned into energy. This is explained at our article on E=mc2. Efficiency in bomb design is calculated by how much of it material fissions, not how much of it is converted into energy (they are not unrelated numbers, but the percentages are very different—a bomb in which 20% of the material fissions is not the same thing as saying that 20% of it is converted into energy). --Fastfission 01:16, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
Thank You all for your answers as far as 100 percent efficent nuclear bomb I am actually talking about the reaction I strongly disagree with the use of nuclear technology in wepons.
Stupid question
Can/will anyone recommend (free and win32) tools for backing up CD/DVDs as ISO's, authoring CD/DVDs, and mounting ISOs as virtual drives?--Frenchman113 on wheels! 13:50, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Alcohol 120%? Philc TECI 13:52, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- not free?--Frenchman113 on wheels! 14:28, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
May be I should have made this more clear. They don't have to be one program. I'm looking for a set of utilities that does the above.--Frenchman113 on wheels! 14:30, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Daemon tools I got for free, that mounts all image files (.ISOs .bins etc) Philc TECI 14:52, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Alcohol 120% is free if you use BitTorrent. — The Mac Davis] ⌇☢ ญƛ. 15:42, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Well, two things. The cracks don't seem to work. It's easy to get a virus this way. And I have dial-up, so no BT.--Frenchman113 on wheels! 16:20, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
All this leaves is a good program to generate ISOs. After a lot of googling, I still can't find one that's both free and win32. I've got CDBurnerXP Pro for burning and DAEMON Tools for mounting images. Unfortunately, neither one can create ISO images.--Frenchman113 on wheels! 20:37, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- DeepBurner (Free version now at v1.7?). From the help file: "If you want to create an ISO image, choose "Create data CD/DVD" after you start the program, then click next. In the next window choose "No multisession" and click "next". Now you can drag and drop files from the explorer window (right) to the Data-CD layout (left). After you added all files and folders to the layout that you need, click on "Burn Disk" at the left side. Instead of "Burn" choose "Save ISO" now. The last thing you have to do now, is to choose the ___location and name of your image-file." Combine with Daemon tools as you have. When removing Daemon, you sometimes have to use a few tricks to get all the drivers cleanly removed, but that is not difficult (i.e. ask again). --Seejyb 06:43, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Interesting, but I was actually thinking of something to extract iso images from CDs, CDburnerXP can turn normal files into ISOs too.--Frenchman113 on wheels! 12:53, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- DeepBurner (Free version now at v1.7?). From the help file: "If you want to create an ISO image, choose "Create data CD/DVD" after you start the program, then click next. In the next window choose "No multisession" and click "next". Now you can drag and drop files from the explorer window (right) to the Data-CD layout (left). After you added all files and folders to the layout that you need, click on "Burn Disk" at the left side. Instead of "Burn" choose "Save ISO" now. The last thing you have to do now, is to choose the ___location and name of your image-file." Combine with Daemon tools as you have. When removing Daemon, you sometimes have to use a few tricks to get all the drivers cleanly removed, but that is not difficult (i.e. ask again). --Seejyb 06:43, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
A question about Bubble Sort
Hello, I just read the theory of bubble sort, and tried to implement it. But not too sure if the results are right. I mean, the number of steps taken to reach the final results is right or wrong, thats what i am confused about. So if anyone could run this code, see the results and comment whether its right or not. Its written in C.
At the end of the execution, it displays the the steps used in sorting in an ordered way, and indicates those values which have been sorted from previous step in yellow color.
#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>
void main()
{
int orig[25],orig2[25];
int i,j,n,temp,m,step=0;
int compary[25],var,change=0,change_count=0;
clrscr();
printf("how many elements : ");
scanf("%d",&n);
for(i=0;i<n;i++)
{
printf("enter number %d : ",i+1);
scanf("%d",&orig[i]);
orig2[i]=orig[i];
compary[i]=orig[i];
}
clrscr();
textcolor(WHITE);
cprintf("step 0 : ");
for(m=0;m<n;m++)
cprintf("%3d ",orig[m]);
cprintf(" (original)");
printf("\n---------------------------------\n");
for(i=0;i<n;i++)
{
for(j=0;j<n-1;j++)
{
step++;
printf("step %2d : ",step);
if( orig[j] > orig[j+1] )
{
temp=orig[j];
orig[j]=orig[j+1];
orig[j+1]=temp;
}
for(m=0;m<n;m++)
{
if( orig[m]!=compary[m] )
{
textcolor(YELLOW);
cprintf("%3d ",orig[m]);
}
else
{
textcolor(WHITE);
cprintf("%3d ",orig[m]);
}
}
printf("\n");
for(var=0;var<n;var++)
compary[var]=orig[var];
}
}
getch();
}
- This didn't even compile for me until I removed all the "conio.h" stuff. What is that anyway, some Windows thing? Also, main() should return int, not void. Your algorithm seems correct but inefficient: there's no need to go all the way to the end of the list every time, because after the first pass the last element is definitely the greatest. The number of swaps should keep getting shorter and shorter by one until there are no more swaps to be made. See what I mean? —Keenan Pepper 15:51, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- An interesting aside here is that MS VC++ v6 will not compile without a void main. ...IMHO (Talk) 17:37, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
conio.his a MS-DOS thing (its equivalent in the POSIX world would be curses). --cesarb 03:40, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
well,i reformatted the code. the code is definitely right, nothing wrong in it. And also, the number of times it runs is high bcoz to display the numbers in different colors. But is the end result correct in terms of steps required?
- How do you know it's "definitely right"? void main is wrong. The number of steps is not correct, there are about twice as many as there need to be, as I explained. —Keenan Pepper 16:33, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
Each iteration of the "j" loop is going too far. It should say for(j=0;j<n-1-i;j++). You're doing exactly twice as many iterations of the inner loop as you need to. -jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 16:37, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Depending upon what it is you have to sort and how fast you need it sorted you might want to look at a recently published sort that is up for peer review on the Wikia Acadenic Publishing site (a commercial wiki site owned by Jimbo). Its at Check sort description. Both C++ and Visual Basic code are listed. ...IMHO (Talk) 17:24, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
Ok, I read all of your comments and advice. So then I googled for C programs on bubble sort. I found around 3 on the first page itself. I ran all of those programs. I tested all of those on the following sequence of numbers : 44,33,55,22,11. And for all of those, the number of swaps required was 8. In my above code also, number of steps required is 8. Then I re-wrote the above code, wihout colors and all that. But still I wrote it such a way that, after every increment in variable j, the result is shown. And the number of steps through which the outer loop runs is 20, for my programs, and must be same for those googled programs also bcoz they also have same logic. So the end result is the same in any case : 8 swaps. I just happened to display every single step in the result table, which actually is taking place. So I think the above code is correct. But still, I put my new code below, which follows same principle, but doesnt display swapped numbers in colors. I hope I have got it right this time!
#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>
void main()
{
int orig[20];
int i,j,temp,swap=0,n,m,step=0;
clrscr();
printf("Number of data : ");
scanf("%d",&n);
for(i=0;i<n;i++)
{
printf("enter number %d : ",i+1);
scanf("%d",&orig[i] );
}
clrscr();
printf("step 0 : ");
for(i=0;i<n;i++)
printf("%3d ",orig[i]);
printf(" (original array)\n");
for(i=0;i<n;i++)
{
for(j=0;j<n-1;j++)
{
step++;
if(orig[j]>orig[j+1])
{
temp=orig[j];
orig[j]=orig[j+1];
orig[j+1]=temp;
swap++;
}//end of if()
printf("step %3d: ",step);
for(m=0;m<n;m++)
printf("%3d ",orig[m]);
printf("\n");
}//end of j loop
}//end of outermost i loop
printf("\n\n-------------------------\n");
printf("NUMBER OF SWAPS : %d",swap);
getch();
}//end of main
If there are any further corrections or advice, please tell, I am eager to learn more. Thank You.
- You're still doing twice as many iterations of the inner "j" loop than you need to. The first time through the "i" loop, element [n-1] -- the last element in the array -- is guaranteed to the largest. So you never need to look at it again; the inner loop can be one shorter. After the second iteration, the second to last element is guaranteed to be second largest. And so on. So, as I said before, the inner loop needs to be
for(j=0;j<n-1-i;j++)
- Certainly you will get the correct results -- but that's easy; the trick in sorting is to get the correct results efficiently. The bubble sort is inherently inefficient, but you're making it worse. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 21:52, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- If you need speed and efficiency use the Check or the Rapid sort. ...IMHO (Talk) 01:18, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- If you need speed and efficiency, use the sorting function in your language's built-in library. There's no need to reinvent the wheel. —Keenan Pepper 01:40, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Yeah, but you don't learn anything that way. Bubble sort is a good start because (a) it's easy to implement, and (b) it's way inefficient, hence good to learn from. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 02:47, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- If you need speed and efficiency, use the sorting function in your language's built-in library. There's no need to reinvent the wheel. —Keenan Pepper 01:40, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- If you need speed and efficiency, try introsort (the sorting function in your language's built-in library is probably either quicksort or introsort). --cesarb 03:40, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
Well thank you everyone for your useful tips and suggestions. Just one last question about bubble sort. I think that even if all the entered numbers (say n) for sorting are already sorted, even then bubble sort would traverse through the array (n-1 times). So if I entered 1,2,3,4,5 then also the sort would traverse 5-1=4 times through the array. Am I right?
And yes, I changed the for loops of the algorithm as
for(i=0;i<n-1;i++)
for(j=0;j<n-1-i;j++)
So now I think I have a better algorithm than previous two versions. And yes, some of you had mentioned me to use qsort or other inbuilt functions, but actually I wanted to try these algorithms out because I had never done so previously. Though I have been programmin in C as a student, but still these things were quite new to me, so I thought why not try these out myself. Thank you all of you anyway once again. Bye.
metaboloites
My question is simple : do lidocaine metabolites in any way similar to cocaine metabolites, and couls an urine test for cocaine result positive after massive intake of injected lidocaine at the dentist? Sincerely — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.139.118.130 (talk) 16:25, 2 July 2006
They are both in the chemical class of alkaloids, as are many other commonly and uncommonly used druges, but legally reliable drug tests for cocaine are specific for cocaine and do not react to lidocaine. alteripse 16:59, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
Erowid.org has the following to say about cocaine and the various other -caines. "In spite of the similarity in names, these drugs are not very closely related chemically to cocaine. They aren't even all chemically related to each other."
- Don't forget, however, not to eat a significant amount of poppy seeds before a drug test. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs 21:22, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
Nice Looking Carnivorous Plants
Can anyone recommend some carnivorous plants that are effective at removing flies (i.e. not a bulbous venus fly trap) and the look like you'd actually want them in your garden (i.e. not a bulbous venus fly trap). I've been to the carnivour plants article, but there aren't many pictures... isn't there a plant with a long white flower thing in which the fly enters and dies? --Username132 (talk) 16:48, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- This Carnivorous Plants FAQ might be useful. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 16:57, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Link to the Google image search page and enter carnivorous or the name of the plant you want to see. ...IMHO (Talk) 18:03, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- What you can grow will largely depend on your climate, but Pyrethrum is a natural insecticide. I somehow doubt any number of plants will significantly reduce the number of flies around, as they "eat" very few of them.--Shantavira 19:57, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- My completely non-expert view: exterminating flying insects and cool plants that occasionally eat the odd fly are completely different things. A fly eating plant is a very slow thing; if you have a real fly infestation you'll need an unreasonably large number of venus fly traps to make even the tiniest dent in the problem. Weregerbil 21:05, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
Your average carnivorous plant will only grow in a wetland, so you may need to put it in a special pot, rather than plant it in the soil (unless your soil has a low level of nitrogen. Emmett5 03:03, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
Budgerigar behaviour question
When my budgie goes to sleep at night, instead of sleeping on one of her perches, she climbs up the bars to the very top right corner of the cage, wedges herself in there, tucks her head into her back and dozes off. Anyone know why she might be doing this? She is otherwise a healthy little bird. --Kurt Shaped Box 19:24, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- Because she finds it comfortable, I'd imagine. However, consider than budgies nest in holes and often like enclosed spaces; maybe that is why she feels more comfortable that way. The head-tucking is very common for sleeping birds. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs 21:24, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
- I sometimes do that (except that I don't have any bars in my bed). :) DirkvdM 11:12, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Don't knock it till you've tried it. :) User:Zoe|(talk) 01:53, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
Coloration
So, I've got a pair of Sony Professional MDR-7506s on, and I read on the internet "there is not the smallest bit of coloration." After reading coloration, I have the question to ask: "If I have some ageing speakers, will they produce more coloration? I've got two Bose speakers that are 15 years old, will they produce more coloration than they did than when I bought them? -- User:Mac_Davis
- I've wondered this as well. I have 16-year-old Ohm speakers that I'd like to sell. I went online and found out that I need to buy new cones for them because the old ones would have too much coloration by now. From memory, the Ohm site said that the cardboard cone becomes brittle over time. Eventually, it will crack. I considered buying new speakers for them, but that is too much work, so I still have the huge things taking up room in my closet until I make a trip to Goodwill. --Kainaw (talk) 22:04, 2 July 2006 (UTC)
July 3
Gauge Theory
When editing a page, as I did on gauge theory, how do you save the change? Denis Lieberman (email address removed)
- There should be three grey buttons below the text box labaled "Save Page", "Show Preview", and "Show Changes". Click on "Save Page". --Kainaw (talk) 00:27, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Hmmm how did they manage to save this page? Iolakana|T 12:43, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
Nice Looking Carnivorous Pants
The above question got me thinking, what sort of trousers are carnivorous?--205.188.116.74 01:30, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- To suggest that trousers can be carnivorous leads into the realm of fantasy and science fiction. There is currently no kind of fabric, that we know of, that has the ability to "eat" (in a very broad sense of the word) meat, let alone humans. However, with the addition of a hot liquid, a fabric can become dangerous to the skin, causing deep burns (and, in a sense, "eating" it). A medical professional is a better person to see concerning such a matter. --JB Adder | Talk 06:41, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Hmm, beaten to it. Well, I propose that if one's legs are being simultaneously swallowed by a pair of snakes, the snakes might collectively be referred to as Carnivorous Pants, with the added bonus that the "carnivorous" bit is being demonstrated. Depending on the kind of snake, they might even be Nice Looking! Downside: the wearer is probably already dead, and the snakes aren't going to be happy about the geometric and topological difficulties in their future.
- Speaking of which, how is it that we don't have an article on snakeskin? Melchoir 06:56, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- We don't have one on roof rack either. Wikipedia is crazy like that... --Username132 (talk), UK or Netherlands 19:32, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- We don't have an article on eelskin, either, but we do have one on moleskin. User:Zoe|(talk) 01:56, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- What if they're trouser snakes? EdC 14:53, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- I guess I walked right into that one. Melchoir 18:52, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
RGB conversion to wavelength
Is the a formula or simple computer code for converting an RGB value such as #F0F0F0 to wavelength? ...IMHO (Talk) 02:22, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- yes, since F0 F0 F0 is just a string of numbers, in hex, specifically 240 240 240, which is why colors are designated by 255 possible RGB color values, once you match that against a specific color you can just convert it to a wavelength using an ordinary visible light reference table like you might find in a freshman visible light spectroscopy book--205.188.116.74 02:44, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- I'm looking for a conversion formula or computer code that will do the conversion or generate the table rather than for the conversion table itself. ...IMHO (Talk) 02:48, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- No such thing, using your example, F0F0F0 is 3 different colors, red, green, and blue, the resulting color isn't any one wavelength, just an overlap between the big 3--205.188.116.74 02:53, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- (edit conflict) I wouldn't call the task a "conversion", though, since turning an RGB value into a wavelength loses saturation and brightness information, and for #F0F0F0 (light gray) it fails altogether. Also, it depends on which RGB color space one uses, so there won't be a universally correct formula. Melchoir 02:53, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- I've found several programs that will convert wavelength to RGB I'm just looking for one that does the conversion the other way around. ...IMHO (Talk) 04:56, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- In general, your request is not possible. Many of the colors that humans can percieve are actually the result of combining multiple wavelengths of light, and consequently can't be represented by a single wavelength. Dragons flight 05:00, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- You must have a keyboard to press any keys. ...IMHO (Talk) 05:38, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- In fact, the simplest example of that is white. What's the wavelength of white? --cesarb 05:53, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Even if you press all of the keys at one time you still need the keys. ...IMHO (Talk) 05:58, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- If wavelength is a hangup for you then how about degrees Kelvin. ...IMHO (Talk) 06:07, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Such as may be seen at: [13] ...IMHO (Talk) 06:09, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Most perceptual colors don't correspond to a unique temperature either. Also, colors that occur as combinations of wavelengths don't do so uniquely as the same percieved color can usually be constructed from many different wavelength combinations. If you haven't done so, might I suggest you look at color and color vision. Dragons flight 06:16, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Yes I have done that previously. If you look closely at the image you will see that there is a one to one relationship between RGB values and the combined RGB color vales but that they are out of sync with the visible spectrum above and require a conversion formula to be synchronized with the wavelength spectrum. A synchronization formula if you will. ...IMHO (Talk) 06:43, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Ummm, you do know that when you monitor / TV is given an RGB value (x,y,z) it basically just takes x amount of some red wavelength, y amount of some green and z amount of some blue. The actual wavelengths used depend on the device. However, if you percieve the same color in any medium other than a monitor / tv, you will almost never find that it is composed of the same wavelengths. Dragons flight 07:02, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Perhaps you could start by first converting the color to another color space. I'd suggest HSV, so you could easily discard the saturation (S) and brightness (V) values that can't be described as a wavelength. Then the only problem is to convert hue into wavelength. Actually, the hue wheel looks quite spectrumish to me. –Mysid(t) 06:56, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- As a comment on your spectrum image: The "spectrum" in the image is not exactly the spectrum of wavelengths from low to high, but seems to contain changes in brightness as well. See visible spectrum. –Mysid(t) 07:00, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Perhaps you could start by first converting the color to another color space. I'd suggest HSV, so you could easily discard the saturation (S) and brightness (V) values that can't be described as a wavelength. Then the only problem is to convert hue into wavelength. Actually, the hue wheel looks quite spectrumish to me. –Mysid(t) 06:56, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Actually you are right. I was thinking "spectrum" where I should have been thinking "combined RGB." However, what i am looking for is a formula to convert "combined RGB" to wavelength or Kelvin. ...IMHO (Talk) 07:13, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Perhaps we're beating dead horses at this point, but see also Magenta. Melchoir 07:05, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Not a dead horse. I've seen a comparison color band chart (although the above chart is admittedly not it) that does a similar compare for both Kelvin and wavelength. I know the conversion formula is out there somewhere. ...IMHO (Talk) 07:13, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Have you already googled? I found a PDF called An RGB to Spectrum Conversion for Reflectances, Dan Bruton's Color Science site, and many others. I also found out that the CIE chromaticity diagram could be useful in these conversions. –Mysid(t) 07:38, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Not a dead horse. I've seen a comparison color band chart (although the above chart is admittedly not it) that does a similar compare for both Kelvin and wavelength. I know the conversion formula is out there somewhere. ...IMHO (Talk) 07:13, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Yes I've seen the Fortran program but I sold my Fortran compiler well over a year ago. I've got C++, (and therefore .asm) and Visual Basic capability only. ...IMHO (Talk) 07:46, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- You might want to try gfortran or g95, which are both free. --cesarb 15:35, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- I've used the color diagram in the CIE 1931 color space in a VB picture to get the RGB color values by mousing over but the program is hanging for some reason and stopped working. Perhaps if I can get it working again I can create a table to do use for the conversion. ...IMHO (Talk) 07:50, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Which RGB? RGB is a recipe, not a color; unless you define what you mean by "red", "green" and "blue", it's meaningless. See absolute color space. Notinasnaid 07:56, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- That's the purpose of doing the conversion. Suppose for instance I have an International Color Consortium reference color diagram and a camera hooked up to my computer but with the only option of conversion to RGB by the camera. Once I have an image file I can then get the operating system's designation for each RGB value and then sync the values with those on the chart I have read in. Ideally the chart would have a companion floppy disk with all of the values and a program to do the conversion for me by scanning the image file since it knows what the values on the chart are supposed to be and can convert the ones assigned by the operating system. But I don't have such a chart or program yet and so that is what I am looking for. In the mean time I'm trying to do this the hard way by converting the RGB values my operating system assigns to images for which absolute RGB values have been assigned. ...IMHO (Talk) 08:11, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- I don't think you'll find many decent cameras now that just return "RGB". You are much more likely to find a camera that returns a particular, and documented, color space like Adobe RGB or sRGB (mine has a switch to choose which one of these two). Converting to another color space is then just a matter of using the ICC profile corresponding to the camera. Notinasnaid 08:19, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- That's the purpose of doing the conversion. Suppose for instance I have an International Color Consortium reference color diagram and a camera hooked up to my computer but with the only option of conversion to RGB by the camera. Once I have an image file I can then get the operating system's designation for each RGB value and then sync the values with those on the chart I have read in. Ideally the chart would have a companion floppy disk with all of the values and a program to do the conversion for me by scanning the image file since it knows what the values on the chart are supposed to be and can convert the ones assigned by the operating system. But I don't have such a chart or program yet and so that is what I am looking for. In the mean time I'm trying to do this the hard way by converting the RGB values my operating system assigns to images for which absolute RGB values have been assigned. ...IMHO (Talk) 08:11, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
My Camera only has vividness options of standard, vivid, black & white, Sepia and Cyanotype with no Adobe or sRGB options. Therefore I actually have to use a standard color swath by holding it up to the monitor and trying to read embeded test under a variety of conditions until what I see on the monitor is what I see on the swath. What is actually being calibrated are my own eys rather than the equipment so that when I say I see ICC red you know exactly what color I am seeing so long as you have done the same thing. ...IMHO (Talk) 08:55, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- What is the camera? If it has fixed sRGB or Adobe RGB you won't see options, but that doesn't mean it isn't using a standard color space. Notinasnaid 08:57, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- The camera I am using for macro shots right now is a Nikon Coolpix 4800. However, I have other reasons for wanting to do a conversion from RGB whether in a standard color space or not. ...IMHO (Talk) 09:09, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Ok... I hope it's already clear that while you can usually convert a wavelength to a particular RGB space, the reverse is not true. What might help is a set of RGB profiles, one for each image setting, if the camera isn't a fixed space. Anyway, you might find [14] interesting. Notinasnaid 09:22, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- ummm... Seems like it would be possible to convert each of the primary colors independently of the other primary colors to a wavelength which is all I need to do. ...IMHO (Talk) 10:50, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Certainly, any color could be converted to three separate wavelengths and intensities. But that's really implicit, it's the same as discovering the color space. The color space defines the primaries (R,G,B) and each of these has a fixed wavelength. The color itself is a mixture of primaries with intensities; so every color will have the same three wavelengths. Maybe we're talking at cross purposes; it seems to me you want to match colors, so what you need is the ICC profile for the color space of the camera data. It seems to me that finding wavelengths is a red herring in this process, though I don't know the internals of the analytical process of calibrating a set of samples into a profile. Notinasnaid 11:20, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
Further discussion
Well lets just say that knowing the wavelengths of each primary color that is displayed on my monitor and how far it deviates from the standard wavelength for that primary color will satisfy my curiousity as to how far off my monitor (and system and camera and scanner and the files created by others) is from the actual primary colors that nature provides for me to see. ...IMHO (Talk) 16:17, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Well, you aren't going to be able to use an algorithm to determine what wavelengths your monitor produces. Perhaps you should look at your monitor through a spectroscope. —Bkell (talk) 02:02, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- If you want to mix colors and you know the wavelength of the primary colors then the resulting color will be the result of a mixture of the primary colors dependent upon the intensity of each right? Thus the wavelength of the resulting color can be determined if the wavelength of the primary colors are known and the intensity of each primary color that makes up the resulting color. Or is this just bunk and I need to get a refund from school for the cost of my textbooks? ...IMHO (Talk) 11:17, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- That information is implicit in the ICC profile for your monitor. You seem to be intent on recreating a very, very complicated wheel, whose full details I don't pretend to understand. But there are well established practical tools for people who want to match color between their devices. To start with, look for a profile for your monitor from the manufacturer. Notinasnaid
- I've heard that there a color transparencies you can get through which you can view the output of your monitor which will then tell you the offset in wavelength or whatever. Is this not true? ...IMHO (Talk) 11:17, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- That may be possible. Done one color at a time it sounds plausible. But what would you do with the information? There is no "standard" set of primaries for monitors, so what would you compare against? That's why getting an ICC profile seems to me to be the way to go, since that defines what the primaries are, and color management software can then (given accurately profiled color data) display it accurately. Notinasnaid 20:04, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- By the way, I don't present working with profiles as an easy alternative. You may find plenty of challenges there. I just think you are more likely to end up where you want to be. Notinasnaid 07:17, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- This article and program may be of interest to you. http://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/specrend/ "Colour Rendering of Spectra"
by John Walker --GangofOne 06:19, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
Evolution of intelligent species
I heard somewhere that a major factor in the evolution of intelligent species is the use of tools, which requires dextrous hands or limbs of some kind. This is why humans evolved from tree-dwelling apes (they had dextrous hands, because they needed to grab branches).
Does this mean that, among intelligent alien species (assuming they exist), they would all be descended from animals that had dextrous limbs (for tree-climbing or worm-digging or whatever)? Would it be unlikely, or even impossible, to find a sentient bird-like species or sentient steppe grazers? Battle Ape 06:01, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Despite our own (very limited) experience here on Earth, which suggests that "intelligent" species would be very likely to have evolved some means by which they may manipulate tools, to speculate beyond that would be completely meaningless. We have no idea what may or may not be out there in the universe, and evolution has an uncanny knack for surprising us. – ClockworkSoul 06:14, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Let's face it, the most "intelligent" species we know of on Earth aren't all equipped with dextrous hands. Dolphins certainly aren't, and parrots such as kea use their beaks. Octopodes/octopuses/octopi are also pretty smart - though not up to human standards (he says egotistically) - and their limbs are far more dextrous than ours. Manual dexterity is highly correlated with intelligence, but it isn't an absolute 1:1 correlation. Grutness...wha? 07:38, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- they may have developed from creatures that learned to manipulate objects using only the power of their minds...
- they may have developed from creatures that have no requirement of physicality
- it's all speculation... --Dweller 11:17, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Intelligence needs something to work on. So it needs input. It would also need to experiment (what happens if I do this?) so it'll need actuators as well as sensors. Which ones it has determines how it perceives reality and what kind of intelligence it has. All life has sensors an actuators (else it wouldn't be alive), so all life is intelligent. It's just that we value our type of intelligence the most. So you're really asking what it takes to develop an intelligence like ours. The same type of sensors and actuators, I assume. So the more something is intelligent according to our standards, the more it will be like us, I suppose. DirkvdM 11:37, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- The simple answer is we really don't know how intelligence evolved, or even what intelligence is. But one theory I thought was intriguing was that it was due to the development of the language faculty as a mechanism for modelling reality, allowing humans to think about things independently of stimulus. Peter Grey 01:47, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- An extremely common misconception, that language evolved before intellignece. How can you talk if you have nothing to talk about? DirkvdM 10:47, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Language is thinking - talking came later. Peter Grey 13:32, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- How can you talk if you have nothing to talk about? You clearly don't listen to much talkback radio, do you Dirk? :) Grutness...wha? 14:01, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- I can proudly say I never even heard of the term. Anyway, I don't even have a radio. DirkvdM 15:35, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- "Language is thinking". An interresting concept. Do you mean people talked to themselves before they talked to others? :) DirkvdM 15:38, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- How can you talk if you have nothing to talk about? You clearly don't listen to much talkback radio, do you Dirk? :) Grutness...wha? 14:01, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Language is a mechanism for modelling reality. (According to some; like intelligence, we're not completely sure what exactly it is.) People had to be thinking the same idea before one could communicate it to another. Once language also became used for communication, Homo sapiens could share intelligence, which is really what set us apart from the other animals. Peter Grey 19:41, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Language is thinking - talking came later. Peter Grey 13:32, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- An extremely common misconception, that language evolved before intellignece. How can you talk if you have nothing to talk about? DirkvdM 10:47, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
It's all very interesting, but the questioner asked about an alien species. An alien species may have developed in quite different ways than those on this planet. But then again, it might not. Btw, several species of bird can "talk". Whether they are "intelligent" or not, I have no idea, but DirkvdM, I believe the point Grutness was trying to make is that the average parrot is probably capable of conversation several notches more intelligent than callers to some talk radio shows. --Dweller 19:49, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- An alien species and tools. Again, we're not really sure how intelligence came about, so it's hard to say. Maybe intelligence was a desperate last resort for a species that didn't fit its niche very well. Peter Grey 23:57, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
Antimatter
How do Antimatter and Matter Annihilate in a 100 percent perfect mass to energy conversion?
- You might find something by reading the articles annihilation and antiparticle#Particle-antiparticle annihilation. –Mysid(t) 06:49, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
Time cause of motion?
Hi everyone,
Here is my question: can time be considered as the cause of motion?
- This should probably be kept at Wikipedia:Reference desk/Humanities; please don't double-post. Melchoir 07:56, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- According to the theory of relativity, time is just a component of 4-dimensional vector of spacetime. See also, Metric tensor (general relativity). 62.63.84.118 09:51, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- The answer to your question, or more fundamentally, whether there is an answer to your question at all, depends critically on what you mean by "the cause of motion". Exactly what does it mean for something to be "the cause of motion"?--72.78.101.61 04:17, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
By motion I mean motion of macro and micro-elements, that is, objects, atoms and particles... By cause, I mean the cause of all causes, the cause that allows causality itself... In other words, can time be considered as a fundamental force ?
Am I clear?
- Consider a very simple processor receiving a tiny amount of data, doing a couple of operations on it, and writing it back out. Over the course of these operations it takes on 8 states. The final state includes that it is ready to write out the answer. Now, you could represent the eight states on eight sheets of paper and flip through them. Each state also has a causative effect on the next one: the next one "follows" from it based on the laws of physics and the design of the processor. Now time is "what keeps everything from happening all at once". If you didn't have time, you could still represent all eight states, and the causative effect each has on the next one, in much the same way as I can represent the fibonacci sequence in a single line:
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34...
Now, I could have written a javascript program to flash the successive values over time: instead, I wrote them on a single line. Does the fact that as you're looking at them they're "all there" instead of appearing one after another mean that I'm not following the definition of the series? Of course not. Likewise, time is not necessary for a causative relationship between two things. Indeed, mathematically, there's no reason that anything "caused" by something else must happen later, and not at the same time. So, I do not think that conflating time with causality is useful or productive. 82.131.187.36 09:09, 4 July 2006 (UTC).
Quantify heat effect
At my work because it is so hot (32°C and above) we've got the message that we're allowed to remove our ties (lucky us). Does anyone have any idea how much difference this will make in cooling us down/reducing effects of the heat? I don't think it'll have a great deal of effect but does anyone know if there is are any actual numbers or data on this? AllanHainey 07:47, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Last summer in Japan there was a campaign encouraging people to go to work without a tie, so the airconditioning could be set lower. This apparently resulted in a 0,08% saving on energy. Not a lot, but every bit helps and if it's so simple and comfortable why not do it? It may also need some startup time, letting people get used to the idea of turning the airco down. Also relevant here is how much of the energy consumption in Japan is gobbled up by ariconditioning. This was to be followed up with a campaign encouraging people to go to work in a sweater last winter. Don't know about the result of that.
- I prefer to wear nothing but a Speedo to work myself. :-) StuRat 20:55, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Also, when my father worked in Curaçao, office workers were allowed to not put on a tie if they wore a specific type of shirt with some frills down the front. That was in the fifties, so I don't know if they still have that rule. DirkvdM 11:49, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Frills down the front ? So how long was your dad a bartender in a gay night club, anyway ? :-) StuRat 20:55, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Wouldn't it be a little hard to quantify? There would be personal characteristics to take into consideration, such as the size and weight of the person, thickness of their shirt, chest hair (?) etc. At least you could pull the top of your shirt in and out to get the air circulating; I suppose this would change the results also. BenC7 03:10, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- What about a motorised necktie that does that for you? Personalised airco! DirkvdM 05:36, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- You might want to check with your workplace health and safety representative about that. In many jurisdictions, offices at 32°C is a health issue and a breach of regulations. You may even have a legal right not to go to work under these conditions.--JLdesAlpins 12:45, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- "many jurisdictions"? Since this happens a lot here, I have to ask - are you talking specifically about the US? I can't imagine such a rule existing here in the Netherlands. Would be nice, though because social security is making me do forced labour for no pay and the temperature there might very well be over 32 C. It's just that I would feel like a wimp complaining about that. DirkvdM 18:35, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- High heat is a well known health hazard, especially for individuals with medical conditions such as heart or respiratory issues. Now, how legally "high" is too high is a matter of local regulations. There has to be provisions for workers' protection against heat-related hazards in the Arbowet[15]. If you feel that your workplace is unsafe (I mean "not safe", not "not comfortable"), then you have to have recourse... I hope.--JLdesAlpins 22:36, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- That temp is high enough to be quite miserable, and lower productivity dramatically, but probably not enough to be dangerous (unless the relative humidity is near 100%). I suggest removing that tie (good for a degree or two), wearing a short sleeved shirt, pointing plenty of fans directly at yourself, and drinking lots of ice cold drinks. I would probably go even further and bring dry ice in with me in a cooler, but then I'm a nut. StuRat 20:51, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
bilogy
how does cockcoach survive even in the presence of nuclear rays?
- This has been discussed before, see Cockroaches surviving nuclear explosions? in the archive. This link proved to be useful: Great Moments in Science: Cockroaches & Radiation. –Mysid(t) 12:24, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- We do too. Radioactivity is all around us. It's just that, as with everything, too much of it is unhealthy. And what is too much depends on your fysiology. And for insects that is different. DirkvdM 10:54, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Physiology, Dirk? ;-) — QuantumEleven 13:30, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Oops. Well, at least I didn't ask a question about the science of bile (see header). :) DirkvdM 14:02, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
Physics, Maths and Mathematical Physics
Dumb question from a non-scientist Alert Are "Physics", "Mathematics" and "Mathematical Physics" 1, 2 or 3 different disciplines? Thanks in advance for your tolerance. --Dweller 11:52, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Physics and mathematics are clearly two different disciplines, though physics uses mathematics extensively. Mathematical physics is a subfield of theoretical physics, but a person with affinity to applied physics will probably tell you it has more to do more with mathematics than with physics. Conscious 13:42, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Interesting. At Talk:Polymath#Einstein - not a polymath it's been suggested that discounting any musical skills Einstein had, he does not qualify as a polymath because either Physics and Maths are one subject or, putting the same argument into a different terminology, because he was "only" (!) a genius in the field of "Mathematical physics". So you might go along with the latter argument, that he was outstanding in a single field that was a subfield of theoretical physics, or would you shoot that particular argument down in flames? --Dweller 15:00, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Physics and Math are certainly considered two separate subjects (physicists are generally not mathematicians and vice versa, even if physics use mathematics and mathematicians can use physics). As for whether doing both makes you a polymath or not, it seems like a pretty strange and subjective question to me, more about disiciplinary infighting than any hard criteria. Einstein was not, however, a mathematician by any stretch of the imagination, which would make him solidly a physicist in my book, and so by this strange definition of polymath, he would not be one (assuming you discount the musical skills, which seems a rather arbitrary move to me). --Fastfission 02:35, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Excellent answer. I agree that dismissing musical skills is a nonsense, but I wanted to get a scientist's view on the Physics/Maths issue, without music blurring the argument. --Dweller 19:38, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Physics and Math are certainly considered two separate subjects (physicists are generally not mathematicians and vice versa, even if physics use mathematics and mathematicians can use physics). As for whether doing both makes you a polymath or not, it seems like a pretty strange and subjective question to me, more about disiciplinary infighting than any hard criteria. Einstein was not, however, a mathematician by any stretch of the imagination, which would make him solidly a physicist in my book, and so by this strange definition of polymath, he would not be one (assuming you discount the musical skills, which seems a rather arbitrary move to me). --Fastfission 02:35, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Interesting. At Talk:Polymath#Einstein - not a polymath it's been suggested that discounting any musical skills Einstein had, he does not qualify as a polymath because either Physics and Maths are one subject or, putting the same argument into a different terminology, because he was "only" (!) a genius in the field of "Mathematical physics". So you might go along with the latter argument, that he was outstanding in a single field that was a subfield of theoretical physics, or would you shoot that particular argument down in flames? --Dweller 15:00, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
TEREPHTALYLIDENEDICAMPHOR SULFONIC ACID
Hello dear people I would like to know what this compound is and for what it is used
furthermore I would like to know which companies produce this product
kindest regards
RT
- See Mexoryl. An UV-absorbing chemical in sunscreens, patent held by L'Oréal. Femto 12:15, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
RT,it's a good way to attract one's attention, but, you may not be so lucky next time.PLEASE, be POLITE to your fellow-users(this is a request,not an advice).Thanks,Pupunwiki 15:25, 4 July 2006 (UTC) Being polite, I mean, don't write all in CAPS, unless absolutely necessary.Thanks again,Pupunwiki 15:28, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
human science
what causes discomfort when our buttocks sweat excessively when we sit ? --59.93.0.78 12:20, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- The articles on buttocks and sweat may help you. Of the top of my head I wouldn't know as I have air conditioning.--Frenchman113 on wheels! 13:04, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- I guess you're talking about your buttocks when you sit (rather than include the rest of us in your problem). The discomfort is caused by the sweat not evaporating in order to cool you down, which is what it's for. It then irritates the skin because the skin cannot breathe. On another level, the discomfort is caused by such things as plastic chairs and nylon pants. See sweating.--Shantavira 13:12, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
Open proxy
How do you determine from an IP address (or whatever) if someone is coming from an open proxy? Thanks, Iolakana|T 13:29, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Contact the owners of the proxy and see if they will tell you the address of the person using it. The whole point of the proxy is to keep information like that from passing through. --Kainaw (talk) 13:49, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Proxycheck is a tool that can do it. [16] My guess is that you just try to connect to a proxy. If you succeed, it's open. Conscious 13:58, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- I believe that either I'm confused about the question or this answer. I read the question as: "I want the IP address of a person connecting to my computer|server through a proxy." This answer appears to be "Proxycheck will tell you if an IP address has an open email proxy on it." Perhaps I just need to take more Excedrin. My headache is so bad now that my eye's are twitching and the words are getting all fuzzy. --Kainaw (talk) 14:03, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- I interpret it as: "Given an IP address, how do I determine if it's the address of an open proxy?" The answer, in general, is that you can't; however, there are several ways that can work in some cases:
- Check if it's listed on public lists of open proxies, including DNSBLs, or is listed as part of a proxy network such as Tor.
- Try to use it as a proxy. Note that there are many different kinds of proxy servers, including HTTP, SOCKS and CGI proxies. You will also need to guess the port (or, for CGI proxies, the URL), which may require running a port scan.
- Check for telltale signs in the connection coming from the address. Well-behaved HTTP proxies often add certain headers, such as "Via" and "X-Forwarded-For", to requests. While the contents of such headers may not always be trustworthy, their presence is a good indicator that the IP may be a proxy. Also, some common CGI proxies have a known bug where every apostrophe and backslash in form submissions is prefixed with a backslash.
- —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 14:51, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- I interpret it as: "Given an IP address, how do I determine if it's the address of an open proxy?" The answer, in general, is that you can't; however, there are several ways that can work in some cases:
Chiropractors (title added)
Is there objective evidence that chiropractors work? If so, what is it? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 206.162.181.34 (talk • contribs) .
- I know a chiropractor and he works. I'm not sure how hard though. --Dweller 14:55, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
There are many people who feel better after chiropractors have manipulated their spines. The reasons chiropractic is only rarely integrated into standard care is that (1) their principal theories of disease and health have been inconsistent with scientific medicine and (2) many of them have rejected many aspects of scientific medicine. There are exceptions to both generalizations but they are exceptions. alteripse 15:31, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
The use of the unit 'mole'
The eternal question... What is the use of the mole? One hydrogen atom weighs 1.67x10^(-24) grams, one gram of hydrogen contains 6.022x10^23 atoms, as does x grams of the xth atom. This amount of atoms weighs 1.67x10^(-24) x 6.022x10^23 = 1.005674 grams. Why complicate things by introducing the mole? Isn't the mole the same as Avogadro's number? Jack Daw 14:31, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- A mole is the same as Avogadro's number, but "a mole of hydrogen" is easier to say than "Avogadro's number of hydrogen molecules". —Keenan Pepper 14:32, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Yep - just for convenience.
- Plus it allows you to do all sorts of geeky puns like guaca-mole. --Fastfission 16:39, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Well there you go... Is a mole of hydrogen the same quantity as a mole of carbon, or is a mole of carbon 12x Avogadro? Jack Daw 17:12, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- A mole of anything is Avogardo's number of whatever it happens to be. So a mole of hydrogen contains the same amount of molecules as a mole of carbon. –Mysid(t) 17:14, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- A mole is a certain number of items (6.022 * 10^23). A mole of hydrogen is a certain number of hydrogen atoms (or molecules) and a mole of carbon is a certain number of carbon molecules. It has nothing to do with weight, size, volume, or any other quantities. Just a number. Exactly like the unit "dozen". You could have a dozen hydrogen atoms, or a mole of hydrogen atoms. Just instead of 12, 6 * 10^23.
- A mole of anything is Avogardo's number of whatever it happens to be. So a mole of hydrogen contains the same amount of molecules as a mole of carbon. –Mysid(t) 17:14, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Ugh. Please, number of molecules, not amount of molecules. That really gets on my nerves, especially in cases like this where the difference is crucial. —Keenan Pepper 20:22, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- A mole is a number, Avogadro's number is the name of that number. --Yanwen 17:21, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- So then x moles of any given molcule is simply Avogadro's number * all atoms in the molecule; for example 5 moles of glucose C6H12O6 is 5 * (6+12+6) * Avogadro = 7.2264x10^25 ?
And what does grams/mole mean? That is, when is it a relevant concept, what calculations result in something becoming "grams per mole"? I am so stupid... Jack Daw 19:37, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Not stupid, just new to the idea. The unit "grams per mole" is a measure of how many grams (a unit of mass) are in a single mole of a particular item - it is a property of the item. It's also known as the "molar mass", i.e. the mass of one mole. For instance, one could say, hydrogen atoms are about 1 gram/mol, meaning that a mole of hydrogen atoms (6 * 10^23 of them) weighs 1 gram. Hydrogen molecules (which have two atoms in each molecule), on the other hand, are about 2 gram/mol; since each molecule weighs twice as much as the atom, a mole of molecules weighs twice as much as a mole of atoms. Thus, its "molar mass" is twice as big. It's a similar to the unit "pounds per dozen" - you could say eggs are 1.3 pounds/dozen, meaning 12 eggs weighs 1.3 pounds. Note: mol is the abbreviation for mole, and technically gram is not a unit of weight, but let's not nitpick.
- Jack, it seems you might be thinking a mole is (always) a number of atoms. It's not. A mole is just a number of "things". The things could be atoms, or could be molecules.
- Saying a mole of "any given molcule is simply Avogadro's number * all atoms in the molecule" seems to be an attempt to convert into atoms. There's no conversion to be done. A mole of a given molecule is simply Avogadro's number of those molecules. There is no need to reference the atoms in the given molecule in order to call the number a mole.
- You originally asked: why use it? It's actually for convenience for questions like: "If I have 12 grams of carbon, how many grams of hydrogen will it combine with to form methane?" -R. S. Shaw 05:54, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Right, and what is the answer? Could you show me the "chemical math" for calculating that please? Jack Daw 13:18, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- To expand on that say for example you are electrolysing water. 2H20 --> 2H2 + O2. So 2 moles of water will fall apart into 2 moles of hydrogen gas and 1 mole of oxygen gas. Knowing how many molecules are involved in a reaction makes calculating the resulting masses a lot easier. All you have the know is the substances' molar mass. - Mgm|(talk) 07:42, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- So is the above the same as saying 2 water molecules fall apart to 2 hydrogen atoms and 2 oxygen atoms? Jack Daw 13:18, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- No. One molecule of water decomposes to two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen. To relate that to moles, one mole of water will decompose into two moles of hydrogen (because of the two hydrogens on the molecule) and one mole of oxygen. Scienda 17:44, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- To be more explicit, the formula 2H20 --> 2H2 + O2 says that 2 molecules of water (H20) become 2 molecules of hydrogen (H2) and
2 molecules1 molecule of oxygen (O2). The subscripts say how many atoms are in each molecule, so there are, for example, 2 hydrogen atoms (H) in each hydrogen molecule (H2). - That formula describes what happens at the molecular level. Moles are handy at our more normal scale. The usefulness of the mole is that a formula like the one just given can be directly interpreted in units of moles instead of molecules: 2 moles of water give 2 moles of hydrogen plus
2 moles1 mole of oxygen. Looking up the weight (mass) of a mole of H2 as 2 grams, and of O2 as 32 grams, you find that for every 4 grams of hydrogen you get, you'll get6432 grams of oxygen. Check out the Utility of moles section of Mole. -R. S. Shaw 19:49, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
I realized today that the amu is the inverse of Avogadro's number, so I thought maybe the mole is useful in this fashion. "One u is the weight of one hydrogen atom, which is 1.66x10^(-24) grams. How many hydrogen atoms, then, are contained in one gram of hydrogen atoms? The answer, is (1.66x10^(-24))^(-1) hydrogen atoms." Is it in this correlation it's useful? Anywho, would I be unable to pass college chemistry without understanding the concept of moles? 81.233.224.235 21:14, 4 July 2006 (UTC) <- Jack Daw 21:15, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- You would probably find it very difficult. Don't try. As someone said earlier, it's just a number, like "dozen". BenC7 03:20, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Well I just don't get it, could you give me an example of a chemical calculation where the number mole is crucial? Why can't I just use a few grams of this and a couple grams of that? Where's the starting point? If I'm thinking, What would happen if I put these two elements together and add some heat?, where do moles come into the picture? Jack Daw 16:23, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Take a look at Mole_(unit)#Example_calculation. In a chemical reaction, you normally want to use just the right amount of the reactants, not a large surplus of one or the other, because the reactants may be expensive, or the remaining surplus reactant may be toxic, or you just have to then isolate the product from the surplus reactant. You might also get further reactions taking place between the surplus reactant and the desired product. Say you have a formula of:
- 2X + Y -> X2Y
- You want to mix two moles of X with one mole of Y to get one mole of the product. This is not the same as mixing 2 g of X with 1 g of Y, because the molar mass of X and Y will be different. To put it in different words, 2 g of X will have moles of X, and you want half as many moles of Y, so you need g of Y to match your 2 g of X.-gadfium 23:44, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Take a look at Mole_(unit)#Example_calculation. In a chemical reaction, you normally want to use just the right amount of the reactants, not a large surplus of one or the other, because the reactants may be expensive, or the remaining surplus reactant may be toxic, or you just have to then isolate the product from the surplus reactant. You might also get further reactions taking place between the surplus reactant and the desired product. Say you have a formula of:
Could you give me an example of a chemical calculation where the number mole is crucial? OK. Let's say, hypothetically, that we want lead (Pb) to react with elemental oxygen (O) to form lead oxide (PbO). If we had one gram of lead and one gram of oxygen, does that mean that there is the same number of atoms of lead as the number of atoms of oxygen? No. Why? Lead is heavy (big), oxygen is light (small). One gram of lead might contain (to use round figures) 10 trillion lead atoms. But one gram of oxygen might contain, say, 300 trillion oxygen atoms, because oxygen is small and light. In other words, one gram of oxygen contains more atoms than one gram of lead.
Now, instead of saying '10 trillion atoms' and '300 trillion atoms' of a particular substance, it's more conventient to say, '0.9 moles' of this, or '0.005 moles' of that, where one mole is about 602300000000000000000000 atoms (or molecules).
So - if you say, "I will mix 1g of lead with 1g of oxygen", you will have left over oxygen, because there are more oxygen atoms in 1g of oxygen than there are lead atoms in 1g of lead. You have to mix 602300000000000000000000 (one mole) of atoms of lead with 602300000000000000000000 (one mole) of atoms of oxygen. So you might need, say, 1g of lead, but only 0.1g of oxygen.
Still don't get it? Think of atoms/molecules like polystyrene balls. Large ones would be heavier than smaller ones. If I had 602300000000000000000000 large balls, it is going to weigh a lot more than the same number of small balls.
(Before I get chemistry people picking out errors, note that the figures above are deliberately oversimplified - I have skimmed over some details to try to explain the concept as simply as possible.)
Hope this helps! BenC7 01:25, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Yeah I got it now, finally... THANK YOU ALL FOR THE HELP! Jack Daw 02:10, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Cost of GPS?
Once you've bought and installed TomTom Mobile for a mobile phone, do you then have to pay further data charges to TomTom or the phone network? --Username132 (talk) 15:27, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Using GPS is free, it won't cause any additional costs. –Mysid(t) 16:49, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- I'm not that sure about those additional services that TomTom might offer, though. –Mysid(t) 16:52, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
How is polyethene prepared?
Please tell me how is Poly Ethene prepared and please provide with it the required equations also.
Thank you. S.Nanda
- See polyethylene. The article has list of production methods for different polyethylene types. Conscious 17:37, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
hawkings new theory
can anyone explain what stephen hawking's new theory states?--219.91.153.254 17:19, 3 July 2006 (UTC)kaushal
- Are you talking about Hawking evaporation or something more recent? Conscious 17:35, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- I think recent puts anything worked out in the seventies out! Philc TECI 22:51, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- The anonymous user may be asking about Hawking's recent (2004) reversal on his views about black holes, which is well explained in his article, as well as at Thorne_Hawking_Preskill_bet, and, of course, at Hawking radiation, as Conscious has hinted. freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 04:26, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- I think recent puts anything worked out in the seventies out! Philc TECI 22:51, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
Site archiving software?
I'd like to be able to point a program at a website and download all of its content, including graphics and HTML and stylesheets and so forth. Googling "site archiving software" or "download website software" and so forth doesn't work well (it gets confused with the "archive" pages that almost all sites have). So I'm hoping someone will know of one off hand. This is a one-time archival job, not anything that needs to run regularly. Something that worked on either Windows XP or Mac OS X would be great. Linux solutions might work if I can figure out how to implement them from OS X's terminal but I'm less comfortable with this option at this point. Many thanks. --Fastfission 17:30, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- How about HTTrack? --Bowlhover 17:45, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- HTTrack is good, but it needs careful handling - there really aren't many good fire-and-forget archiving programs AIUI. The best way to do it is talk nicely to the website maintainer... Shimgray | talk | 18:54, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Wget is the standard for recursive download. There's GNOME and Windows GUIs, but you can use it from the command line on pretty much any OS. EdC 19:53, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- Awesome, one of these should work for me. Thanks. There are just a few websites that I find useful/interesting with very finalized content that I'd like to have a personal archive of in case they ever go down (and I don't trust the waybackmachine to necessarily get all of the files). --Fastfission 02:29, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
Teleport Pro is a very good software which you might find useful - Nikhilthemacho
- But it isn't free. DirkvdM 11:02, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
internet privacy
Can one's ISP service, such as Comcast, have the ability to see your online activities through the eyes of your monitor without your expressed consent? what I mean, is access your computer and see exactly what you are doing at any given moment and time?
- Seeing exactly what is on your desktop - no, not necessarily. If you are using Windows and have been dumb enough to install tons of spyware on your computer, then they can exploit the spyware to see what is on your desktop, steal your passwords, and use your computer for whatever they want to do. What they can easily see is every packet of information that goes between your computer and the internet, which is why you want to make sure all secret stuff is done with encryption (such as using https for your online banking instead of http). --Kainaw (talk) 18:29, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- The stuff that is not encrypted they can see. They probably can't access it legally, but I am not completely sure. --Proficient 11:11, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- ISPs can passively "see" every unencrypted action and transaction you perform on you PC that involved your internet connection. (Passively means here that they do not need to breach the security of your machine to do so). Anything that is performed locally to your machine can only be "seen" by your ISP via a security vulnerability.--JLdesAlpins 12:38, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- However, any party with TEMPEST capabilities can literally see your desktop from hundreds of yards away without leaving any clue of their surveillance activities.--JLdesAlpins 12:38, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
how to speed up the download speed using router
what are fowarding ports & what are the other things that are benefical while using a router. And want to know how configure advancily a router currently i am using linksys WRT54g router, i am using it, i configured it any how but i want know with each menus in it what i can doin configure process.
- Believe me that your router manual is a better resource than we are. That's the truth. --mboverload@ 19:38, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- To my knowledge forwarding ports are only useful if you are using Torrent programs. If that's what you want to set up, do a Google search for "torrent port forwarding linksys" and it should give you some tips. --Fastfission 02:27, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- You can't arbitrarily increase your connection speed. Your ISP would definitely not like it if that were possible. However, if you're not getting the speed that your ISP advertised, you may want to tweak your TCPIP settings with something like TCP optimizer (google for it). If you're using bittorrent, your ISP may be traffic shaping you, in which case you would want to use encryption. If it's not any of those, then you're pretty much screwed. Forwarding ports is just a method to allow incoming connections on them (if your router has a firewall).--Frenchman113 on wheels! 13:44, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- It depends what you mean by "increase your connection speed". You can optimize the way your router works with certain types of p2p programs (such as with port forwarding), which won't increase your connection speed, but will result in much faster downloads by better using the bandwidth you already have available. --Fastfission 14:14, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Just a note, uncapping is illegal. --Proficient 11:12, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
claims
Are claims? A)Nondebatable B)Factual C)Values D)Religious E)All the above. I can seem to find the answer,please HELP!!!
- Is this question about the meaning of the word claim? In that case it belongs on the language desk, but I'll answer it anyway. Claims are always debatable; if they were nondebatable they'd be definitions or self-evident facts or something. Anyone can claim whatever they want, so claims don't have to be factual. Claims are not always values, in fact I find it hard to think of a claim that's also a value. Maybe moral claims like "murder is never excusable" are values. Clearly some claims are religious and some are not. So I'd say "none of the above". —Keenan Pepper 21:11, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- I feel it is important to note that in logic, factual claims are not facts. A fact is something that is true ("Wikipedia is a website"). A factual claim is something that it may somehow be possible to prove true or false ("There is life on Pluto"). It is not opinion ("Kainaw is stupid"). So, a statement that is blatantly false can be a factual claim - just a false one. --Kainaw (talk) 00:54, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- That's a good point. I was thinking of factual as a synonym for true, but in this case it probably means "of the nature of a fact", so that must the answer. —Keenan Pepper 01:08, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
Ramjets- how do they get to the operating speed?
Hi,
I have read several different and rather educational texts concerning the operation of ramjets in aircraft and missles. What I cannot understand, however, is how a 'plane such as the Lockheed SR 71 Blackbird can initially climb to speeds high enough for the operation of the ramjets to become functional.
I am led to understand that the operation of ramjets requires a speed high enough to render the compression of a turbine redundant. That I can follow without much trouble, but if the Blackbird only carries ramjets then how can it attain such speeds in the first place? I have examined articles on the aircraft and the engines, but nothing seems to fill in these gaps. I can make the leap from ramjets to scramjets, and pulse jets to pulse detonation wave engines, but all I can find on early ramjet design suggests that rockets are needed to propel the Blackbird to ramjet speed (or damn good turbofans) and I can't seem to find this information.
As I'm writing a story concerning the advances in this area, any explanation on this would be most gratefully received.
- for the sr-71, the engines were Pratt & Whitney J58's, which are a hybrid turbojet/ramjet engine. at low speed the necessary thrust comes from the turbojet section, at higher speeds the ramjet begins to contribute more and more thrust. check the engine page for more details. Xcomradex 23:20, 3 July 2006 (UTC) 23:18, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- (edit conflict) Some ramjet craft piggyback off of other aeroplanes and drop into a dive after they're released until they gain enough speed for the ramjets to function correctly. Obviously this doesnt apply to the SR-71 though. Philc TECI 23:21, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
- There's an article about the Bomarc missile system: Although it doesn't go into much technical details, the missile had two stages. The first stage was a solid-rocket booster that propelled the second stage up to a velocity where the second stage ramjet engines were able to operate.
- You are right - ramjet-powered vehicles always need another way of accelerating to the speeds where their ramjet would work. Either they have another set of engines (or a hybrid solution like the SR-71), or they are attached to another vehicle which accelerates them to the appropriate speed and then detaches. — QuantumEleven 13:16, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
July 4
International Time Bureau / Bureau International de l'Heure
I am a little confused by some of the references to the "International Time Bureau"/"Bureau International de l'Heure" in the following articles:
- Paris Observatory—says the Observatory "is home to the International Time Bureau".
- International Astronomical Union—says the IAU was founded in 1919 as a merger of several projects including the International Time Bureau.
- International Atomic Time#History—says the "Bureau International de l'Heure" was superseded by the BIPM and IERS, but doesn't say when.
- International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM)—says nothing about maintaining time standards.
- International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS)—mentions time standards but no explicit reference to "International Time Bureau".
So my question is, Does the International Time Bureau exist today, as a subdivision of the IERS perhaps? If so, that should be mentioned in the IERS article; if not, it should be made clear at BIH that the organization no longer exists. Also the Paris Observatory article should be clarified on that point. I should also note that a handful of other articles have redlinks either to "Bureau International de l'Heure"[17] or "International Time Bureau"[18]. --Mathew5000 04:13, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Interesting question.
- The BIPM website mentions: The realization and dissemination of the international time scales is the responsibility of the Time Section of the BIPM. International Atomic Time (TAI) is the uniform time scale; ... Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is an atomic time scale derived from TAI But that doesn't solve the complete problem yet, at least we know who keeps the time now.
- [19] looks interesting and is probably very creditable. It mentions that the BIH began it's work in 1912 and was dissolved in 1987. In that year it's work was taken over by two organisations: the BIPM and the new IERS.
- As far as I can tell from the BIPM website, the relation between the IAU and the BIPM seems to be that some of the previous definitions of the second as established by the IAU were "copied" by the BIPM.
I still have no idea how the BIH relates to the IAU.The BIH was the executive body for the IAU's International Commission of Time.
- I've created an article on the BIH which (hopefully correctly) adresses all of the above. -- Koffieyahoo 02:16, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Thanks very much, Koffieyahoo; nicely done. The paper by Guinot mentions the Federation of Astronomical and Geophysical Services. That organization seems to have changed its name to the Federation of Astronomical and Geophysical Data Analysis Services [20] but it retained the same acronym. In my view, Wikipedia absolutely needs an article on a scientific organization called FAGS. --Mathew5000 02:58, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
Tugs approach and estimated force (kN) for the contact.
When approaching tug landing area or berths, what is the normal safe speed = force(kN)? Some of the answers might contained in BS 6349 under fender design. Can anybody point out if 0.2 m/s is acceptable? If so can somebody pls re-direct me to relevant documentation as proof.(Azwahid)
Clams
Are Clams A)Biodegradable B)Edible C)Tasty D)Sentient E)All of the above. I would appreciate an answer!
Considering clam shells survive for millions of years, I don't think so. --mboverload@ 07:38, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Clams are certainly edible (not the shell though) and can be very tasty! The organism inside is completely biodegradeable, but the shell can last astronomically long times without being disintegrated. •USER•ADAM THE ATOM•TALK• 08:35, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- And yes, they are sentient creatures. –Mysid(t) 08:56, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- This gets my vote for the Reference Desk question of the day. For anyone not getting it, see also #claims.-gadfium 09:19, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
Confused about Java.
Hello, I installed the J2SDK 1.4 which is the Software Development Kit of JAVA version 1.4. I am new to java, and have some ebooks about it. So I thought why not cut-paste some simple code from these books and try them out. So after installation, I get a "JAVA WEB START" icon on my desktop. After opening it, nowhere could I find "regions" where I could write code or compile them or build them. It doesnt have anything !! So then I installed Netbeans 5.0. After its installation, I copied the code to the window in Netbeans, which opened up after I selected "file" and "new project". But there also, it says "build failed". I cant understand why is this happening. The program I was copying was nothing but the most simple one about "hello world !". But still it didnt work. Some help from you guys out there. Thank You. - Nikhilthemacho
- Check out the Java Tutorial. The "Getting Started" section has step-by-step instructions. The Java Forums is also a good place to ask for help with Java. Weregerbil 11:18, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- If you look up to July 1 on this reference desk (sorry, don't know how to put a link for it), I explained a similar thing to someone else. You won't need netbeans until after you get the basics of java down. I guess J2SDK is Sun's compiler/runtime bundle, but I don't use it, and i don't know how. The good news is, now you already have the java virtual machine installed, which you need. Next, I would recommend that you go download [Eclipse], which is a great, free compiler for java. Download that, and you should be ready to go. When it starts, up, you can allow it to use a default workspace (which is where all the Java program files you create will be stored), skip the "new user" dialogue (or read it if you like), and go to file=>new project, then file=>new class, and you should be ready to start coding "hello world to your heart's desire. Have fun --Bmk 13:57, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
Locking WinXP screen
Is there a way to lock the screen in Windows XP such that someone who tries to unlock it does NOT know who is currently logged in? (By default they can see a message that says "Only User or an administrator can unlock this computer.") •USER•ADAM THE ATOM•TALK• 08:33, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- I use WIndows Key + L to lock. Then it comes up the welcome screen and lists the users accounts. I have two. So, the one that I am already listed in comes up the amount of programs I am running and if I have an unread mail message. It doesn't say who is actually logged in. Iolakana|T 12:35, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- You could log off with the welcome screen disabled. Google is your friend.--Frenchman113 on wheels! 13:46, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
Sex
If a boy and girl have sex and boy pulls out penis before ejaculation will girl be pregnant?--203.124.2.16 08:50, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Possibly. It's unreliable, and not a recommended birth control method. See coitus interruptus. –Mysid(t) 08:54, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Pre-ejaculate can contain semen too, so you could impregnate the girl before actually having an orgasm. - Mgm|(talk) 21:36, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Perhaps you mean sperm? That is the important thing here. -- Rangek 21:56, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Sometimes. --Proficient 11:14, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Mom? Is that you? - Nunh-huh 04:30, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
It's much, much safer than ejaculating inside, but you still have a very small chance of getting her pregnant. Advice: Use a condom and you get to stay inside =D --mboverload@ 07:49, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
Equation versus date of Big Bang
If I have an equation that can be used to measure the age of a physical item beyond the moment of the Big Bang is the equation in error or the date of the Big Bang? ...IMHO (Talk) 10:31, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- It could be either; it would require further investigation. That's how science works. -- SCZenz 10:36, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- What I am asking is if it is reasonable to use an eqation capable of measuring age older than the Big Bang and if so then doesn't that in itself put the time since the Big Bang in doubt? ...IMHO (Talk) 10:57, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- As SCZenz says, it could be either. However, I would put my bet heavily on the side of there being some missing factor in your equation that if accounted for would bring things back into line -- the error bars on the time since the Big Bang are now fairly narrow (13.7 +/- 0.2 bn years according to the WMAP guys). In the past they were rather large -- there was a time at which astronomers and cosmologists faced exactly the situation you describe -- the then-preferred age of the universe (based on the then-preferred value of the Hubble constant) was lower than the observed age of the oldest globular clusters. However, that value of the Hubble constant was considerably off, and there is no longer a contradiction.
- Given that the current figure for the age of the universe is based on a large set of cosmological observations, finding something indisputably older -- particularly if it was by a significant multiple -- would probably cause severe problems for the models used to interpret those observations.
- So, enlighten us: are you talking hypothetically, or do you have an example? --Bth 11:31, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- If P reaches zero then the value of t would be infinite (or at least greater than the time since the Big Bang) which would suggest a lower limit of where such that the value of t in the equation does not exceed the amount of time since the Big Bang or approximately 16(?) billion years. ...IMHO (Talk) 12:16, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Gosh, I don'tk now what P is for, of course. But if you're confident in that equation and in the age of the universe, then that does give you a lower limit on P. No problem. -- SCZenz 12:54, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- P is the number of grains of sand in the top bulb and D the number in the bottom bulb. The range of t is from the Big Bang to the current date whatever it is such that the top bulb (P) is full at the Big Bang and empty on the current date while the bottom bulb (D) is empty at the Big Bang and full on the current date whatever it is. P therefore must be zero on the current date rather than any fraction greater than zero. Devise an equation. ...IMHO (Talk) 18:02, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Anyone can throw together an equation that can do that, just with just about all of them they'd be wrong, so basically you have to look at the equation. If its carbon dating or something, its wrong, because no carbon in the solar system is older than the star that preceeded the sun. Philc TECI 12:07, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Can you suggest an equation that would allow P to equal zero without the caveat of requiring forgiviness of an "infinite ratio" or divide by zero error? ...IMHO (Talk) 12:50, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Half-life or decay calculations are just a model for a physical phenomenon; they aren't the phenomenon itself. As with the application of any mathematical model, the user must be mindful of its limits. It's impossible to build safety or sanity checks into every equation that are proof against every possible misuse or misinterpretation. (Note that redesigning these equations for a Wikipedia article would be a violation of the policy barring original research anyway.) TenOfAllTrades(talk) 12:58, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- In that case there should be a Wikipedia policy requiring each article to post the size of the grain of salt that should accompany the article. ...IMHO (Talk) 13:50, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Already done. See the link to Wikipedia:General disclaimer which appears on every page. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 18:54, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- In this case clarifications, points of dispute and questions of validity should not be excluded from an article especially by referencing the WP:NOR policy and yet failing to cite the WP:NPOV policy by anyone especially by administrators. Such clarifications, points of dispute and questions of validity should in fact be encouraged as a matter of article validation and enhancement. Otherwise this grain of salt should be displayed constantly in non-scrolling red all caps on every page. ...IMHO (Talk) 03:02, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Also allow me to observe that deleting articles instead of editing them is a sign of ignorance or of something far worse. ...IMHO (Talk) 08:17, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
Alternative To Drive Belts?
I just burned my 457th drive belt on our vacuum cleaner (the dog lead got caught around the rotary brush and I couldn't switch it off in time). I'm fed up of changing drive belts all the time. It's a stupid way to transmit motion. Isn't there a more robbust way of transmitting such motion while cutting the motor in the event that the load gets too large? Also the article stall, is all about aeroplanes and doesn't tell me what mechanism is used to stall a car engine when appropriate. --Username132 (talk), UK or Netherlands 10:39, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- I've used several vacuum cleaners in my life and never noticed a drive belt. You also talk of a 'rotatry brush'. Do you have some special kind of vaccum cleaner? DirkvdM 11:10, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Yes, I guess it depends on what kind you've got. Mine is an upright, so it has a sort of brush-cylinder type thing, which rotates around very quickly, beating the carpet so dust and stuff gets sucked up. The drive belt is the connection between the motor and the rotary brush - it's just a big thick peice of rubber. If the rotary brush gets jammed (e.g. by getting tangled up in a dog lead), then the electric motor keeps turning against a peice of rubber which isn't moving and the friction causes a plume of black smoke to eminate from the innards, indicating the demise of another drive belt. --Username132 (talk), UK or Netherlands 11:21, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Having
gearscogs and a clutch might be a better method of transmission; if the brush gets stuck, the clutch just slips harmlessly. It will burn out after a while, but can generally take more punishment that a drive belt. smurrayinchester(User), (Talk) 14:06, 4 July 2006 (UTC)- smurrayinchester, would that be a clutch with manual transmission? I know vacuum cleaners as fairly simple things, but this is turning into quite an elaborate machine. DirkvdM 14:10, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- After edit conflict:
- Ah, so it's the rotatry brush that gets driven by the belt. Couldn't you use the machine without the rotary brush? More to the point of your question, the only alternative I know to a belt drive (in turntables) is direct drive. If that gets stuck the enigne dies and there is no repairing it. So I suppose the manufacturer knew about the problem (which of course they didn't tell you about). DirkvdM 14:10, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Indeed, I could still use the machine via the hose but it's not as effective and it's a lot more effort because I've got to hold the hoover upright (it'll fall over otherwise) in one hand and operate the hose with the other. A right kafuffle... --Username132 (talk), UK or Netherlands 14:50, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Having
- Just a simple friction disc, like that found in a lawnmower if the blade gets stuck. When I say gears, I don't mean adjustable gears like a car, just a simple cog transmission. smurrayinchester(User), (Talk) 14:15, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- A good design would cut the power and illuminate a warning light when it detected that the rotary brush had stopped rotating. --Username132 (talk), UK or Netherlands 14:50, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Couldn't you just you direct drive, or cogs or something, but just use a resistor to limit the power to the motor, so its not strong enough to do any damage? Philc TECI 14:55, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Then you run the risk of burning out the motor, with three possible results; you get it fixed for the cost of a new vacuum cleaner, you get a replacement with the extended warranty that cost the same as a new vacuum cleaner, or you get a new vacuum cleaner for the cost of a new vacuum cleaner. smurrayinchester(User), (Talk) 15:13, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Hmm, I think this might be going somewhere. Maybe you should get a new vacu.. neh, that'll never work. Philc TECI 18:20, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- I would have thought a new dog (or even better, a cat) might be a better solution.-gadfium 20:52, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Then you run the risk of burning out the motor, with three possible results; you get it fixed for the cost of a new vacuum cleaner, you get a replacement with the extended warranty that cost the same as a new vacuum cleaner, or you get a new vacuum cleaner for the cost of a new vacuum cleaner. smurrayinchester(User), (Talk) 15:13, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
dog health
Do dogs have temporary "baby teeth" that naturally fall out? If not, what are the health implications of a chipped tooth in a 6 month old golden retriever?
- Yes-- dogs have a set of 28 deciduous (baby, primary) teeth which eventually exfoliate (fall out) and make way for the 42 "permanent" teeth. The process of primary tooth loss occurs between the ages of 14 and 30 weeks.--Mark Bornfeld DDS 12:28, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- And if you really care about its health, make sure the lead doesn't get stuck in the rotating brush, sucking the dog into the vacuum cleaner. :) DirkvdM 14:13, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- To answer the second part of your question, since a tooth in a six month old dog would be a permanent tooth, a fracture could be a concern. If there is exposure of the pulp, that could lead to infection, and it is painful. An examination by your veterinarian and possibly an X-ray is necessary to determine if there is pulp exposure. If there is and the fracture is recent (within two weeks in a puppy, usually), then a pulpectomy and possibly a capping can be performed. This is usually done only if the tooth is considered to be "important", i.e. one of the canine teeth or carnassial teeth (upper fourth premolar or lower first molar). If the fracture is older or it is a smaller tooth, it is usually just extracted. If there is no pulp exposure, than you really don't have to worry about it. --Joelmills 23:32, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Indeed. As a veterinarian. --Proficient 11:16, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
biotechnology
How many retrovirus gene are scooped out while construting the retroviral vector?
- It depends on the vector and the method. alteripse 13:32, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
Error analysis
I am measuring a shaft with a sensor that sits on the shaft as it is rotated. The sensor has four different ways of moving for the result to be valid each one is ±5°. What would the error be for the value that is effected equally by four different parameters. (If it helps the value being measured is approxiamately 34mm).
- sorry but I'm a bit confused. A picture might help . -Hank
- Hmm. I think you're asking about the Propagation of uncertainty, which is where you try to determine the overall error of a measurement based on errors in each of the individual measurements that you used to get to it. The overall error will depend on whether you are adding or multiplying each of the individual measurements. The propagation of uncertainty page provides the equations to work this out, but it's a bit tricky to understand (especially without simple examples!). If you want it explained in layman's terms you'll need to provide more info. BenC7 03:53, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
Teradata
Give me details regarding teradata ? what it is and where it it used??
- To save yourself time and energy, please search first. See teradata. Notinasnaid 12:24, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
IIS - Internet Information Services
Been playing around with IIS on Windows XP Professional. I've successfully created an FTP server but I can only access it using my intranet IP (192.x.y.z is always an intranet IP right?). When I type in my internet IP address (the IP address found on www.whatismyip.com) nothing comes up. I've got my firewall disabled too. Anyone know what's up here?
Thanks, -Hank
- If you have a intranet IP address (probably better described as a LAN IP address) then you probably have a hardware router. The IP assigned by your ISP, which you can find at www.whatismyip.com, is the address of the port on your router that is connected to your cable modem, telephone line, or the like. Your router does not have any FTP server built in, nor does it know which computer on your LAN to forward the incoming FTP request to, so the request fails. By reading the router documentation, you should be able to overcome this problem. However, many ISPs that serve home users prohibit operating this kind of server. Gerry Ashton 16:16, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- ah thanks. I did an "IP Passthrough" on my modem/router so the internet IP just goes straight on to my PC. Thanks. -Hank
DVD copy prevention
I understand that DVDs are encrypted with CSS, which prevents them from being played on systems that don't have a valid player key, but what is it that prevents me from copying the DVD with the copy prevention still on it? Even if the disc is encrypted, shouldn't it still be possible to make copies of the encrypted data?--Frenchman113 on wheels! 15:34, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- There are two hurdles. There is a "hidden area" on a disk. When a program asks a DVD drive to read the hidden area it asks the program to authenticate itself. The authentication key is secret so you can't get at the hidden data. Unless you license a key, or crack the algorithm, (see DeCSS), or have a drive that can circumvent the authentication (which may be illegal to sell in some countries).
- The second problem is that regular blank disks also have the hidden area burned out so it can't be written. Blanks with writable hidden areas are used by DVD factories but aren't sold to consumers. See [21] and [22]. Weregerbil 18:35, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
As an unrelated question, I've noticed that using VLC to play DVDs results in choppy video. Is this a problem with libdvdcss, my 3GHz Pentium 4, or my 8x DVD drive?--Frenchman113 on wheels! 15:34, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
Possible to network with 56k modems?
Is it possible to connect two computers through their 56k modems? --Username132 (talk), UK or Netherlands 15:59, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Yes. Most windows systems are pre-installed with a program called "Hyperterminal" which allows you to connect two computers by modem. Go to
- Start->All Programs->Accessories->Communications->Hyperterminal
- -Hank
- (edit conflict -- here's some more info on wikipedia:) Yes; you can get terminal emulation programs (such as HyperTerminal), set computer A up to auto-answer any incoming call, then have computer B dial up the phone number that A is on. The terminal emulators use protocols like XMODEM and ZMODEM. All modems and operating systems used to come with basic terminal emulation software, but I don't know if they still do. --Allen 16:23, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Depends what you mean. No, if you mean directly connecting them by putting a phone cable directly between the two modems, then it's not trivial to get the computers to talk as there's no dialtone or proper line signal. It might be possible however. AT command ATX3 will ignore the dialtone. But if you mean dialing one up from the other, then yes. You can even have one computer host a PPP session so they can be connected with TCP/IP. —Pengo 23:48, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
it is trivial, I've done it, you're looking for null modem software. a null modem connection is a direct line between two computers' modems without going through a wall (no dialtone).
- Um, no. A null modem cable is used to connect two computer together through their serial ports—no modems are used in this case—read the article. You might try a Google search on "dry" lines as they are called, which are unpowered copper lines. I believe it's still the case that the modems will not connect at 56k, but 33.6k instead. ISPs used to need special equipment to receive 56k connections—the modems themselves were not capable of it, but I haven't looked into it in a long while with the availability of DSL. —Bradley 15:49, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- There is an option to "Ignore dial tone before dialing" as well; however, we would need to know your exact intent to provide a better solution. Freebytes 16:02, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
power regulators
does the common ceiling fan consume more power when run at full speed than at slower speeds?
- Apparently so. Here's a quote from Chris Calwell and Noah Horowitz, in "Home Energy Magazine Online" (Jan-Feb 2001), which seems to be an Argonne National Laboratory publication of some sort:
- The motors in ceiling fans typically consume about 60 to 100 watts at high speed, 20 to 40 watts at medium speed, and 10 to 15 watts at low speed.
- For some reason I can't actually load the original page right now, but here's a Google cache of it [23]. --Allen 17:36, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
conductivity
can anyone answer why is copper more conductive than aluminium from their structure point of view.also it's chemical characteristics?
- In general, unreactive metals like silver and gold tend to be better conductors than those at the other end of the reactivity series. Aluminum is a very reactive metal (though in normal conditions it doesn't seem reactive because it forms a protective oxide coating), so its resistivity is higher than copper's. I can't give you a more specific explanation without getting into the theory of valence bands and conduction bands (which I'm not even sure how to apply to this case myself =P). —Keenan Pepper 19:38, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- I also can't answer the question properly but here's some background info
- both copper and aluminium's atoms are laid out in a face centred cubic arrangement so there is little difference here other than spacing
- their electronic structures are however different. If you have a VRML plugin you can see some nice models of their fermi surfaces here [24] and here [25]
- It is probably easier to think of the conductivity in terms of the Drude model anyway which has an equation about halfway down relating conductivity to density of electrons, time between collisions (i.e. phonon scattering) and effective mass. All of these are probably different in Cu and Al. Hope this helps. JMiall 20:17, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- I also can't answer the question properly but here's some background info
Stereo speakers
I had stereo speakers, but one of them stopped working and now some sound is impossible to hear due to speaker panning. How can I solve that problem? I've tried setting balance in winamp to just one speaker but didn't work.
- Yeah, changing the balance just changes the levels to the two stereo channels; it doesn't put any signal from one channel into the other. I don't use winamp, but if it has an option to play the sound in "mono", that should work (that way, both the stereo signals would be mixed into one, which would be put through both speakers equally). Or if you don't have a mono option in the software, you could use audio adapters, like the kind that Radio Shack sells. You would probably need at least a miniplug adapter with a stereo male end and a mono female end. You could probably plug right into that. If that didn't work, plugging another adapter, with a mono male end and a stereo female end, into the back of the first adapter, and then plugging the speakers into that, should work. This is all assuming you have typical computer speakers. --Allen 18:02, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
What age bracket rarely leaves a fingerprint?
What age bracket rarely leaves a fingerprint? Why?
- Fingerprints are developed while the person is still in the womb (3 months after conception I think). Therefore it would be reasonable to assume that all age brackets leave fingerprints (unless you count unborn babies and long dead and decayed people) --80.229.152.246 19:39, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- This sounds distinctly like a homework or pub quiz question. If the former, check your textbook and notes. If the latter, you cheat you! Maybe the age bracket that doesn't touch anything with their hands? :-) Skittle 20:26, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- I've seen toe and earprints used to catch criminals so not touching with your hands will still leave prints. But yeah, most people leave fingerprints unless they purposely try to hide them. Perhaps you meant to ask about the age of criminals that don't leave fingerprints? In that case numbers are skewed. Only the ones that get caught through other means can ever be asked their age. - Mgm|(talk) 21:31, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Side note: age brackets don't leave fingerprints, they don't have fingers like people do. - Mgm|(talk) 21:33, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
The 85-90 year old age bracket rarely leaves fingerprints, because they are so dried out (like a prune) that there is no oil to be left behind. However, after 90 decay sets in and usually flakes of skin are left everywhere they touch, and also a smell of fermaldahyde. No, I'm kidding. No idea what the answer might be. Sorry. 82.131.189.247 08:02, 5 July 2006 (UTC).
Recycling CDs
Can CDs be recycled for their plastic? (no-one wants to hear about your arts and crafts ideas) --Username132 (talk), UK or Netherlands 18:59, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Theoretically they could be, but it's not profitable. Plastic recycling in general is disappointing in practice, and only certain polymers (PET, PE, PVC) are worthwhile to recycle. Polycarbonate isn't one of them, as far as I know. —Keenan Pepper 19:25, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- ...On the other hand, some websites claim to be able to do it, so maybe the situation isn't as bleak as I thought. —Keenan Pepper 19:30, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- They can also be recycled as beermats or coasters. AllanHainey 13:21, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- That's a different one of the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. —Keenan Pepper 19:30, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Not to mention that I don't want 50 ugly coasters... --Username132 (talk), UK or Netherlands 22:36, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
Economics -- why are unions necessary?
I've approached economics mostly from a game-theoretic point of view, and I'm having trouble understanding some things that happen "in the real world". It seems like corporations fail without workers, and workers fail without corporations, so I would expect that jobs and workers would both form free markets, and be priced "fairly" or rationally or whatever. But then it seems like workers consistently get screwed over unless they form into trade unions and things. Why do corporations have "more power" in the relationship than workers do? Does the free market price jobs fairly? If so, why do we want a minimum wage or unions or anything? -- Creidieki 19:40, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- You're mixing economics and the real world - what did you expect? The free market, where parties have unequal bargaining power, does not price jobs fairly. Large entities, whether corporations or unions, distort free market relationships. A sufficiently large corporation has more bargaining power than an individual worker; a union, which is simply an artificial monopoly, sometimes has more bargaining power than a corporation. Hence labour relations are typically highly regulated and not left entirely to market forces. Peter Grey 19:51, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- And even without large corporations or unions, a lot of people would disagree over whether free-market wages would be "fair" in the human-rights sense of the word. Just glancing at it for the first time, it looks like we have a fairly decent (though completely unsourced) article on Labour economics. --Allen 19:55, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- If there are more people wanting jobs, that there are jobs, people are forced to accept a low wage, or they may lose there job to someone who has no wage (no job), who doesnt care how low it is, because its better than nothing. So basically the demand for jobs brings down the wage, because workers will still wok for it. Supply and demand really, the more people want it, the more you can screw them out of it. But if there is a union, then it becomes such an inconvenience to the company (it shuts down) to upset the union, that it tries not to. However if the workers become to tyrannical with their power, it may be easier for the company to sack the lot of them. Philc TECI 20:35, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- I think the problem comes down to "friction". It sucks to change jobs for a worker much more than it usually hurts a company to loose a worker. This makes the barrier to "take this jobs and shove it" quite high, leading to depressed wages. Rangek 22:03, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- The labour market should indeed be a two way thing, but it isn't. There's those who seek work and those who want it. If the twain don't meet, it's the potential workers who get blamed. Why? Because you can pinpoint them. You can't pinpoint a company and say "why don't you employ this guy? Shame on you, we'll punish you." Or could you? And how would you determine the punishment then? The free market mechanism doesn't work here.
- Actually, companies do get punished when they create jobs for which there are not enough workers. They'll go out of business. This ensures that there will always be more workers than vacancies, which, through the free market mechanism, makes sure the wages stay low. I suppose the reason for this is that the number of (potential) workers (the number of people) is given. The number of companies isn't. It should adapt to the number of workers, but it doesn't. DirkvdM 06:02, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
"Economics -- why are unions necessary" is the same question as "Politics -- why are electorates necessary". The answer, of course, is that if everyone knows everyone (for example, there are thirty to fifty people only) electorates and unions are not really necessary, and neither are union negotiations or the political run-around associated with elections etc. Certainly career politicians, just as union leaders, aren't really necessary. As you get beyond that problems start to arise. I think a good question for you to ask is "When union organizers are murdered, whose interests are served"?
- The real reason unions are necessary is that without them, the table is not in fact balanced - each single worker needs the company way more than the company needs a single worker. The bargaining table consists of a giant corporation versus a single employee. If you have a large business employing hundreds or thousands of workers, and the workers are unorganized, then the business has no trouble exploiting each individual worker for unfair hours and low wages; the company can simply fire an individual employee if they resist, thus making an example for the rest of them. However, if the workers organize, and form a union, then the table is balanced; the corporation must deal fairly with the workers as a union, or face the consequences of the loss of the entire workforce.
- The table might be balanced, or the union might exploit its bargaining power no different from any other monopoly, so it's a balance only in a very crude sense. But there don't seem to be any better ideas. Peter Grey 23:04, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- The real reason unions are necessary is that without them, the table is not in fact balanced - each single worker needs the company way more than the company needs a single worker. The bargaining table consists of a giant corporation versus a single employee. If you have a large business employing hundreds or thousands of workers, and the workers are unorganized, then the business has no trouble exploiting each individual worker for unfair hours and low wages; the company can simply fire an individual employee if they resist, thus making an example for the rest of them. However, if the workers organize, and form a union, then the table is balanced; the corporation must deal fairly with the workers as a union, or face the consequences of the loss of the entire workforce.
Let me give you an example, which happened only a few years ago to a British company I worked for. It was taken over by an American company, who agreed as part of the takeover conditions not to fire any of the workers. However very shortly after the takeover they did in fact fire many workers, without cause. When the workers complained their reposnse was simply "we can afford lawyers and you can't, so tough". At this point enter the union who said "actually we can afford lawyers and we will fight you". Since the company didn't actually have a legacl case they backed down. Without a union there would simply have been no-one able to afford to call them. DJ Clayworth 16:53, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Difference between Anatomy and Physiology
I am about to begin a degree in University related to Biology and 2 of the subjects I am considering are Physiology and Anatomy and the articles on the university website regarding these subjects arent very detailed. The descriptions pretty much describe them as similar or the same so can anyone explain what the difference is between the 2? Thanks
- See our articles on the relevant topics: Anatomy and Physiology. --George 23:05, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Anatomy is to Physiology as Form is to Function. - Nunh-huh 04:19, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
"Surrology"
Referenced on CSI:, what exactly is "surrology"? Google keeps thinking I mean urology, but this is not the case. I assume I am spelling it wrong. It has something to do with blood. Thanks, Iolakana|T 20:50, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
Leg alignment
How does leg alignment affect snow skiing?--67.134.173.222 21:38, 4 July 2006 (UTC)Kimwal--67.134.173.222 21:38, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- I would assume that if both of your legs are aligned correctly, you will produce more productive results when skiing, as opposed to being misshapen. --Proficient 11:22, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
meteorologists?
How quickly do you think a weatherman would lose his job if he tried to suggest that changes in daily weather cycles were permanent and man made? "In todays weather, it's raining, so you better get the ark because man made global rain is going to kill us all" He'd be laughed off the air, so why do left leaners and other alarmists have to campaign so hard for global warming? Wasn't the going theory in the 70s global COOLing? what happned to that? or killer bats? killer flus? vaccinations? cancer? AIDS? all the bull that the MSM wants you to get all worked up about?---
Am-j4th 22:08, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Suitly emphazi your posts, please. 128.197.81.223 23:06, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Say what?--152.163.100.74 03:13, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Suitly emphazi. It's a wiki ref desk in joke. DirkvdM 06:22, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Say what?--152.163.100.74 03:13, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Your question is a jumble. I'll ignore the last bits because I don't see the relevance (or do you mean 'left wing and all that bullshit'?). If a weatherman would say what you suggest he would deserve to get sacked. But even if he'd say that "today's weather is a result of climate change" he'd be talking bull because that is about the climate, which isn't the same as weather. Climate is about averages. Like saying "the Dutch are on average taller than Belgians, this guy is Dutch, so he must be taller than that guy who is Belgian" is nonsense. Also, you speak of global warming, which is just one possible outcome of climate change. Overall, it's the most likely outcome. But there is also the possibility that the North Atlantic Current will come to a standstill because of the melting polar cap, which would plunge Europe (and then the northern hemispere and then the world?) into an ice-age.
- The thing is we don't know what we're messing with. We've hardly got any insight in how climate works. The only reason that we know that there will be some effect is because what we are doing (such as doubling the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere) is so immense that it would be odd if there were no effect. DirkvdM 06:22, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
Yeah, man - it's a good thing that whole cancer thing didn't pan out. Or HIV - I'll bet sub-Saharan Africa sure is glad that turned out to be a leftist hoax. Haha! And remember that left-leaner who said we could use vaccination to stop the polio epidemic? Oh man, that was a whopper. Next they'll be saying deforestation kills trees. Seriously, though - turn off the TV, stop watching Bill O'Reilly, and read some of the wikipedia links I made above. And to the rest of you, sorry, i really shouldn't feed the trolls. --Bmk 13:22, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
Only on Fox would a weatherman get fired for mentioning Global warming as a fact. Everywhere else it would cause a stir if they said the opposite. DJ Clayworth 16:47, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- In a similar vein, this Idaho weathermanquit his job to pursue researching his theory that the Yakuza used a contraband Russian weather-control device to cause hurricane Katrina. Although all the reports I can now find state he quit, I recall that at the time his dismissal was not so clear-cut and it seemed likely that the station management asked him to leave (and take his looney theories with him).
computers
two questions 1) while troubleshooting my pc to find out why windows live messenger wont use the sharded folder i found my hard was FAT32 but msn needs NTFS, it suggests converting the system and explaisn how, i was wondering what kind of risks are there, what advantges are there and are there any disadvantages? (i'm runnign windows XP) 2) other than consulting manuals is there anywhere on my computer that shows how much power my moniter/tower box is using or does any1 now any software i can get to see the power consumption?--Colsmeghead 22:35, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- This is a useful article. --George 23:03, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- The disadvantage is that NTFS is a proprietary, complex and undocumented format, making it difficult for third-parties to create utilities or operating systems that use it properly, and leading to lock-in (probably MSN's motivation for requiring you to change). This may lead to problems if you have trouble with your drive and need to recovery tools, or if you wish to change to Linux in the future and still use your old data easily. You cannot easily change back to FAT32. The advantage is that NTFS is a modern filesystem, and performance may be improved. —Pengo 23:07, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- I believe that gaim can connect to windows messenger service. Jon513 12:55, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
Giant Ape Removal?
Hey there's this giant ape climbing up the side of a large building carrying Fay Wray in one hand, we don't really want that sort of thing in this neighborhood, can anyone think of a good way to remove a giant ape fromt the side of a building?--64.12.116.74 22:21, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- You're not alone, New York had a similar problem - have you tried Bi-planes mounted with machine guns? -Benbread 22:45, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Ummm, call Bob Newhart? - Cybergoth 22:47, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Telling the dude in the suit to sort his life out? Philc TECI 22:55, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Spraying the ape with a fire hose? On the second thought, let's just wait for God to sort it out. --Bowlhover 23:13, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Telling the dude in the suit to sort his life out? Philc TECI 22:55, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- Hakuna matata, you needn't do anything. As a previous editor pointed out, New York once had the same problem. In that case they deployed airplanes, but it was unnecessary. "[I]t wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast." Since your big ape has Fay Wray, you can expect the same result. --George 23:02, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
That's kind of gross - Fay Wray is dead, you know.
- You could always try bringing in Godzilla but things tend to get messy when giant monsters fight in a city. Just ask any resident of Tokyo! --Noodhoog 15:25, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Bird in Dubbo
Can anyone identify this bird?
Thanks —Pengo 23:09, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- The bird is cute, but I'm sure that doesn't help. :P --Proficient 11:23, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- It is an Apostle_bird--—E! 17:00, 11 July 2006 (AEST)
Windows Media Player security vulnerabilities
A while back there was some big thing about all of the security vulnerabilities of Windows Media player playing video. So I decided that I'd not play video files. So, now I have changed my mind, a few years on. Are there any risks with playing files that have been downloaded? If so, what are they? I've been to the Cert website, but they don't seem to show any long-term vulnerabilities. Thanks. Mjm1964 23:36, 4 July 2006 (UTC)
- If you update your media player, it removes the vulnerabilities. Most major vulnerabilities for any program are remedied in the next update. Crazywolf 08:00, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Don't forget Windows Update. It doesn't help if you update the player and leave a massive gap in Windows itself. Note that Windows Media Player 10 doesn't paly nicely with Windows 98. - Mgm|(talk) 12:54, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
July 5
How did the mammalian ear evolve?
And what did it actually evolve from? Ear doesn't provide that information. Much help appreciated ! Xhin 00:04, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- ISTR that the bones of the ear evolved from the structures in gills - the following google search reveals many possible references for that. Grutness...wha? 01:08, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- The talk.origins archive has an excellent article [26] that happens to mention the development of the mammalian ear from the reptile jaw bones. —Bradley 15:07, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
Camellia Sinensis growth area
Does Camellia Sinensis grow well in the Pacific Northwest of the United States? In particular I'm referring to area that falls in gardening zone 8. Jumbo Snails 00:36, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Probably not - as the article says, it is cultivated "in tropical and subtropical regions". -R. S. Shaw 07:33, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
Being a biology searcher
Hi!
I'd like to know: what's the salary of a biology searcher?
Also, in which specialisation in biology should one go if he wants to do research in complexity/emergence, i.e. the kind of work Stuart Kauffman is doing?
Thanks!
- Salaries for biological researchers in academia tend to be pretty low until one reaches the level of professor. Lets assume you are talking about the USA. The during your PhD training you may receive a salary of around $25,000. This will be for between 4 and 7 years. Then, as a post doctoral researcher you may receive a salary of something like $31,000 to $45,000 depending on experience, field and ___location [27] [28] [29]. 2006 NIH guidlines are slightly higher ($37,000-$51,000 [30]), but not everyone has caught up to them yet. This period may last from 3-7 years.
- After that, if you are talented and lucky enough, you may become an assistant professor. In this stage salaries can vary greatly but you may start on something like $50,000 all the way up to $100,000. After you earn tenure and become a full professor, your salary can rocket. I know a few Prof's who are on well over $250,000 basic salary, not including various industrial and commercial interests which may double that again.
- In terms of Stuart Kauffman's research. Well, the very nature of complex systems means you can tackle it from may different perpectives. Perhaps evolutionary biology, genetics or molecular biology might be a good place start. Rockpocket 01:24, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- (edit conflict)
- Biology researcher? Most work in academic or corporate settings. Salaries tend to vary by level of training and by setting (and enormously by country of course). In the US, you can work in a lab with a BS in many different sciences and typical salaries are maybe $30-80,000. Corporate labs can be higher and independent research institutes somewhere in between. To do original research (rather than carry out someone else's projects) and run a lab, you usually need a PhD in one of many different sciences. As your academic standing increases and your research prospers you earn more, but few full professors have base salaries above the $80-180,000 range. There are rare exceptions where someone invents something and becomes rich or becomes a biotech entrepreneur and becomes rich but most biological researchers don't get rich.
Kauffman is an example of someone who does research that crosses several scientific disciplines so his original degree or training is not so important. If you want to head in that direction, start with a lot of math, chemistry, and biology, take more of the stuff you find most interesting, and when you get to university look for opportunities to work (courses, independent study, or even part-time employment) in the labs of the people doing the research that attracts you. By late university you should be developing the contacts that get you into graduate school and a lab or research group doing what you want. That is the typical roadmap. Good luck. alteripse 01:30, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
a compound
Can someone identify the compound before the reaction and after the reaction?
http://www.umit.maine.edu/~miljkovic/S295E7C69.-1/compound.jpg?WasRead=1
Thank you!
130.111.240.124 02:23, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Repeat after me: "I will do my own homework". -- Koffieyahoo 04:49, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- "I will do my own homework". DirkvdM 06:26, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- "Koffieyahoo will do his own homework". I don't think I did that right... 128.197.81.223 16:18, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
Computer Hardware
1. Why do computers fail less frequently than copy machines and printers? 2. Do large computers such as mainframes and supercomputers have a future?
- Computers fail less frequently than copy machines and printers? News to me. If you're talking about jamming, mechanical parts can jam, purely electronic parts can't, but it's entirely possible for a computer's fans to jam, and the computer itself to overheat. There are safeguards in place to prevent this, however. --ColourBurst 03:03, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Sounds like homework to me. BenC7
- The fewer moving parts something has, the longer it is likely to go without maintenance. (That's hardware maintenance of course. The software is much more fragile.) My PC is seven years old and has only had a fan replaced. But we call the maintenance man to attend to the photocopier every few weeks. --Shantavira 06:24, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Mainframes are the future I think. If everyone has a computer that uses just a tiny fraction of its computing power, then why not use one computer for a whole block? The savings would be so enormous that you could easily hire a professional to run it for you, so you wouldn't need to worry about installing software (just ask the guy and the whole block will be able to use it) or safeguarding against viruses and stuff. Actually, I'm surprised this is not already the standard. The concept is old, it just needs to be applied in a different environment. Of course all the software can be free because the admin knows how to use Linux and stuff.
- Let me do the math. Say an average computer user spends 100 euro per year on new computers and that 100 people decide to band together (both low estimates). That would be a saving of 10.000 euro per year. Given that the admin won't quite have a full time job doing this (yes?), that should cover his wages. In return the users get safety and save time. And money if there's more of them who would normally spend more on computers. DirkvdM 06:46, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- The other way to go with all the unused computing power is to harness it as a commercial commercial resource. Just pay people for the use of their computer's resources when they aren't using them, and redistribute the computing power to those that do need it. Crazywolf 07:34, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- The article that will probably add some specifics to your "mainframe" post is distributed computing. It would be apparently pretty hard to duplicate the computing power of the world's most powerful computer (Blue Gene) with distributed computers (assuming System X (computing) can be used as a rough calculation of TFLOPS per computer, it would probably require over 25,000 Xserver G5s to duplicate it, though I don't know if additional costs/benefits become a problem when you are talking about that many computers at once), but then again most people don't need that much computing power (most people are not using their computers to model H-bombs). --Fastfission 16:34, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
It truely depends on your definition of "failure". Is getting a virus and your email not working right a "failure"? --mboverload@ 02:44, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Frequency scaling was responsbile for the vast majority of processor peformance increases from about 1989 through the last quarter of 2004. However, heat is becoming the dominant factor in processor design. The only real solution to the heat problem is to go to multiple cores.
- Thus, the correct answer is that it depends on your defintion of supercomputer. A supercomputer is traditionally defined as being something along the lines of: a number of processors working on a problem in parallel capable of communication across a bus. A properly configured multi-core/multi-processor system is a supercomputer, and yes, they very much have a future. The real problem, though, is that parallel programming is very hard, and the vast, vast majority of code out there is sequential. Raul654 02:53, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Business Networks and telecommunications
1. How can a home with internet access become a hotspot? Are there any risks in turning a home into a hotspot? 2. What are the implications of telecommunications for group work?
Please see "Do your own homework" at the top of the page. BenC7 04:09, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
If you list your questions in a paragraph with added context people won't think they are homework. But as for your first question, assuming you mean hotspot in the non-commercial sense, you turn your home internet access into a hotspot by publicly listing your SSID publicly so that people can find it, and not encrypting the data that is sent over it. There are two main risks to doing this:
- Other people can intercept and read the information that you send, unless it is encrypted. Most sensitive information that the average person sends(passwords, bank pages, etc.) is encrypted, though.
- Another person could use your network to do something illegal, and it could take a little while to explain to the police that it wasn't you who sent that virus out.
Overpopulation
There are billions of people on Earth. We call this overpopulation. But what is overpopulation? There are probably other species with a higher population. But they're all smaller. One reason for the amount of people is that they're spread all over the Earth, which is fairly unique, I suppose (for a land creature). Or is it? Has there ever been a similarly sized population of animals our size in the history of life on Earth? I've once heard something about a biological rule of thumb concerning the amount of animals of a certain size that an island of a certain size can accommodate. Could this be applied to humans on Earth and what population size would be 'normal' then? DirkvdM 07:03, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Overpopulation gives the standard definition and a good explanation. In general, a species is overpopulated when it's no longer increasing. In that sense, it is neither good nor bad for a species to be overpopulated, the population will simply decrease to the carrying capacity and be at equilibrium again. When we are talking about humans, though, we generally look at overpopulation as a bad thing. If population is decreasing, then more people are dying than being born, and unless there are birth control measures in place, that probably means lots of people are starving to death or killing eachother.
- But, to answer your question, you couldn't make a rule like that. It depends largely on how well adapted to it's habitat the species is, and what it eats. An herbivore or omnivore could support a much higher population density living off of plants than a carnivore could, since it relies on the population density of the herbiovores for food. And you could support a lot more sloths in an acre of rainforest than you could support horses in an acre of grassland. There simply is more food in the rainforest and the sloths use it much more efficiently. As for which animals would have the highest kilogram per sq km, I would go with ants or sloths, but that would be a wild guess.
- But you couldn't use that logic to decide on a normal human population. The carrying capacity of Earth for humans is obviously higher than our current population, and that carrying capacity goes up quickly as technology advances and spreads to developing nations. The only problem with that is that our actions that damage the environment are reducing the carrying capacity of the planet at the same time. Crazywolf 07:29, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- We could say that there is overpopulation of humans on earth because the population of humans, as a whole, doesn't have sufficient food/clean water/sanitation. You could argue that is a resource allocation issue but the allocation of food/water isn't going to change dramatically to the benefit of those starving/in drought/dying of poor sanitation throughout the world so I'd say its overpopulation. AllanHainey 13:33, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Right, I was sort of asking about the 'natural' maximum, but when it comes to humans, 'natural' is something different. Also in the sense of birth control measures (although they don't have to be measures - people can just not be bothered to have kids, like what is happening in rich countries such as in Europe). I now understand there are two types of overpopulation. The official one being "when there is no more population increase". But long before that, things will start to get unpleasant, and a more 'humane' definition would be based on that. It's just a very ill-defined limit. As it gets more crowded, we'll adapt more.
- Thanks for helping me get this a bit more straight in my head. DirkvdM 18:12, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- It's not at all clear that "the carrying capacity of Earth for humans is obviously higher than our current population". I assume you say that because you're thinking that the population can't exceed the carrying capacity, but that's not true: it can, but it will eventually crash. (Imagine, for example, graphs of cyclic populations rising far above the carrying capacity, like those here.) Estimates of the human carrying capacity of Earth in a long-term, sustainable mode range from well under a billion to many trillions. For an excellent overview, see Cohen, How Many People Can the Earth Support?. bikeable (talk) 19:38, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- I actually based it on the fact that the rate of population growth is still increasing, and that my(limitted) knowledge of agriculture and natural resources tells me that we can support the world population long term once technology spreads a bit. I understand the cyclical nature of population, but assume that it must be controlled by the fact that some of the derivatives of the equation must become negative as we cross the carrying capacity. I only really considered the third derivative(the rate of increase of the rate of population growth) in my original statement. And I was considering the numerical increase, not the percentage increase, which may not be the best way to look at it. Also, the fourth derivative is obviously negative from the data, which implies that we have indeed passed the carrying capacity. However, the UN stated that this increase is driven by a decrease in birth rate, rather than an increase of death rate, so this might be driven by initiatives to increase the use of birth control rather than a decrease in food availability. So that avenue isn't really that fruitful. After thinking about it in more detail, I admit that it's quite possible that we are past the carrying capacity of the Earth. Crazywolf 23:44, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Also, I'm not implying that because I don't think we are past the population capacity, we shouldn't try and limit population growth. Decreasing the total population will leave a larger share of natural resources for each person, even if we could support a higher population with them. Widespread replacement level fertility would benefit everyone, even if there isn't an imminent catastrophe. Crazywolf 23:58, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- For a certain population and a given standard of living, there would be a certain maximum stable population. The concept of overpopulation is important because if the carrying capacity is exceeded, the consequent reduction in population will almost certainly be very unpleasant. Peter Grey 23:10, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- As I meant to say above, being at the stable maximum can be unpleasant too. That just means that enough people survive to keep the population stable. It doesn't mean they're having much fun. DirkvdM 09:05, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
I'm probably rehashing what's been said about, but.. Since industrialization, we no longer seem to have a hard maximum limit to the human population, or at least we haven't noticeably reached it.. as the human population continues to grow. We have, however, possibly reached the limit for a human population to live sustainably. The ecological footprint of humans is ever growing, and we're eating into nature's capital. The Earth cannot sustain the current human population with its current energy needs — We can see this in the loss of species (2 or 3 a day, say some estimates) and with the peak oil production being reached, and the massive increase in carbon dioxide and other green house gases in our atmosphere. That said, humans ultimately do not face a problem with finite resources, only with finite thinking. —Pengo 09:52, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Cramp
Is Cramp A)Unpleasant B)Noisy C)Useful D)A program E)All of the above. I would appreciate an answer!
- The Cramps is b)noisy, http://cramp.wcc.hawaii.edu/Overview/ is useful, cramp is A and C Crazywolf 08:52, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Isn't this too subjective to have a definite answer? --Proficient 11:26, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- The Cramp Twins are both unpleasant and noisy. What is it with these questions? Can't you just simply look up the meaning in a dictionary and pick the answers for yourself? - Mgm|(talk) 12:51, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Not another Clams/Claims post. This should go on RD running jokes. smurrayinchester(User), (Talk) 14:34, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
bacteria
please anybody tell me the answer and explain it... [1]a bacterium doubles every 20 days.two such bacteria are kept in a space ship and sent away for 1000 earth days.the speed of the ship is 0.9950c.the number of bacteria found after completion of 1000 days are.... [1]128 [2]58 [3]28 [4]64
--203.109.89.194 08:55, 5 July 2006 (UTC)hima
- First you have to work out how many days will elapse on the space ship. Since it's travelling close to the speed of light, this will be less than the number of days on Earth. That's the hard part, but presumably you have a formula which will let you calculate it. Once you have this number (call it x days), the number of bacteria can be calculated by working out how many doublings there will be. I think this is . Which part of this confuses you?-gadfium 09:08, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- See Special relativity, but the formulae must be T/Gamma, i.e. T*sqrt(1-(v/c)^2) ellol
- Another HW question?! --Yanwen 19:34, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
thx for ur reply....ive got the answer....there is a formula to calculate..the number of bacteria after certain period of time using logarithms....u can get that in bacterial growth curve...thks a lot for reply--hima 09:47, 11 July 2006 (UTC)hima
neuronal and glial vulnerabilities.
i would like information, that is written in words i can understand, on neuronal and glial vulnerabilities as i am having major back surgery on 26.07.06 and this is one of the things that can go wrong as part of a CSF Leak. So far the Doctors have not been forthcoming.
- I would only get major surgery from a doctor that is forthcoming. --Rajah 02:29, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
RGB value of Tyrian Purple
Tyrian purple was the highly prized, ultra-expensive Phoenician dye associated with royalty. But what exactly DOES it look like? Would I be correct in calling it "Royal Purple" and adding a picture of that color to the Tyrian Purple article? --Alecmconroy 10:45, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Under a new proposal under discussion at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Color Wikipedia would only contain RGB values if they were from a suitable published standard; you will, however, find a lot of articles at the moment that just have someone's made up (unsourced) idea of what a color looks like in RGB. I don't recommend doing this. A real world photo of something that is agreed to be that color might be an alternative. Notinasnaid 10:51, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- A RGB value is hard to find (I'm still looking), but an example of the color is shown on this pdf. It's apparently a very dark purple, and not especially vivid to my eyes. Oh, and it's not royal purple. – ClockworkSoul 12:07, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- The RGB of the purple in the PDF is #330065 --Kainaw (talk) 14:09, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- I found this on, of all places, Wiktionary. There it is listed as #A8516E, and gives an example
Tyrian purple colour:
- Hope this helps! – ClockworkSoul 12:12, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Though of course Wictionary isn't a valid source... I would not recommend putting this into Wikipedia, it's only going to be wiped out in time if it is not an RGB standard... Notinasnaid 12:17, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
With all due respect, I do not believe the above color is quite right for the Phoenician Murex-snail-shell dye (I have seen actual material dyed as such). I believe the correct color is more blue-ish. Of course, computer coloration can be misleading as we all have different monitors, brightness/contrast settings, and ambient lighting! I recommend you avoid mentioning an RGB value unless you have a cited source. Nimur 20:59, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Well, first and foremost, I just want to know the answer. I've been hearing about Tyrian Purple for years, but I realized I don't have the first clue what it actually looks like. Nimur, could you pick a value that seems right to you, if you've actually seen it? As for the RGB thing-- couldn't we show a swatch and say "approximately, more or less, a guess at what the color is"? I mean-- it's going to be different for every viewer- but not THAT different. Definnitely picking one RGB value and saying THIS IS tyrian purple-- that'd be bad. But what's wrong with showing a rough approximating and labeling it as such. --Alecmconroy 03:48, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- You should sort of give up on the idea that Tyrian Purple (or any complex color produced by a biological dye) can be adequately represented as a single RGB value. Tyrian purple ranged from blue to purple, and varied as the result of the particular mollusk species used, how long its hypobranchial glands were dried, and the concentration of the dye, as well as its interaction with the (usually silk) fabric. You might be interested in the article here, which contains spectra of both organic and synthesized Tyrian purple (on the second page of the article). In terms of results (and therefore expense), in increasing order of desirability, one would use woad, indigo, or Tyrian purple. In the middle ages, dyers were limited to particular colors (you would get your blue fabric from one shop, and your red from another). Whole books are written about this sort of thing! - Nunh-huh 04:10, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
This particular dye is based on the Murex trunculus. There are some Jews who believe that this related to the dye used to make a blue string in a ritual garment called Tzitzit. While the exact tradition to how to make the dye was lost over the exile, some have tried to recreate the dye. The dye is purple, but becomes a dark blue after being exposed to sunlit. Here is the full analysis of 6,6-dibromoindigo the chemical the makes the color. Of course an RGB value does not tell you what the color is, but how it would be perceive by a human, see Color vision. Jon513 12:53, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- This web page has some photos of the stuff. According to Paintshop Pro, the average RGB value of the top photo is about #7F467E, which looks like this:
--Heron 21:24, 7 July 2006 (UTC)Tyrian purple colour:
Command to delete files in Windows / DOS
Is there a command or utility on DOS/Windows to delete the files older than a certain number of days? -- Wikicheng 11:23, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- You could do a search on a specific date in Windows and then delete everything with a certain date, but remember to be careful not to include important documents or system files (Windows and important dll files tend to be older than a certain number of days) in such a search. In my opinion it's best to personally check if something is deleteable. If you have determined it is, you can sort items by date and select all files older than a specific amount of time. - Mgm|(talk) 12:48, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
I want to run this as a scheduled batch job, without manual intervention. I remember a (Norton?) utility calls xdel.exe (named after xcopy) which I think offered some flexibility than the dumb del or erase command. I am looking for something like xdel. -- Wikicheng 13:12, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Not exactly answering the question, but there are great utilities (ARJ, JAR, and others) to backup files past a certain date (with option to remove the originals) ; then just delete the resulting archive. (Not the most efficient, no, but easy.) Peter Grey 23:17, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- I'd install Cygwin and use find, run as a cron job. EdC 23:39, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS)
Bold textHELLO EVERONE.
I AM PREPARING A SEMINAR ON GNSS WITH A CASE STUDY ON GPS. PLEASE ANYONE WITH A RELEVANT INFO ON ALL ABOUT GNSS/GPS CAN HELP ME. IT MAY BE A LINK TO A PRESENTATION ON THE TOPIC, OR A BOOK, OR A LIBRARY, OR ANY REFERNCE WHATSOEVER.
I WILL BE VERY GLAD TO HEAR FROM ANYONE. MY THANKS TO ALL.--Akanchawa 11:49, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Maybe s/he is wearing headphones and needs to type louder. BenC7
You should try the wikipedia articles - GPS and GNSS. --Bmk 13:33, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
Mutagenic but not a carcinogen?
Due to lack of knowledge on my part I've come into contact with Sodium Azide and DAPI (both in highly diluted wash solutions). Due to the low quantities involved and the short exposure times my fellow co-workers in the lab don't think much of it. So I'm not stressing out much right now (have become somewhat wiser though).
What I'm wondering however is how both these subtances, both of which have been used for years, can be flagged as a mutagen but not as a carcinogen? I always assumed that being mutagenic and being a carcinogen is the same?
Places like Pubmed and google give very few answers.
- edit I always thought that cancer was caused, among other things, by mutations in the genome. So aren't all mutagens possibly carcinogenic?
- edit 2 Ah yes I understand now. It's like SodiumAzide and seeds? Sodium Azide is proven to be highly mutagenic to plant seeds but I can't find anything about Sodium Azide's mutagenic affect on humans. Same kind of story about DAPI it's quite impossible to find anything related to human studies. I find this very odd because DAPI is a very much used dye in many biological labs. You'd think they do some proper testing on it before letting it be used en mass. Accidents do happen..
- Mutagenic means the substance causes mutations in your genetic material. Carcinogenic means it causes cancers. While mutations can result in illness not all of them cause cancer. - Mgm|(talk) 12:44, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
Yes - a mutation simply means the genetic code of a cell has been altered. In order for a chemical to be a carcinogen, it must cause mutations that cause atypical uncontrolled cell division. Some good articles too look up are oncogene and carcinogenesis. --Bmk 13:36, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
Both answers are sort of, but not quite correct. A substance is mutagenic when it induces mutations in an in vitro test system, not in you. In other words, a substance labeled mutagenic has not necessarily been found to cause mutations in real people. A carcinogenic substance can cause cancer in a laboratory animal model, but only a very few substances are clearly proven human carcinogens. This may sound like nitpicking but in some contexts these distinctions are enormously significant. alteripse 22:03, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
2 Minutes 15 Seconds Until the Next Beat of Heart
Nasa shuttle program manager Wayne Hale says yesterday, about foam particles falling off during take-off, that "Two minutes, 15 seconds is our bingo time. Anytime after that, we're not worried." [31] Why 2m15s?--JLdesAlpins 12:09, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- At that point, the atmosphere is too thin for the foam to cause a serious impact. In detail: Without air, there's no air resistance on the foam. So, there is nothing to push the foam downward and into the shuttle. When the foam comes off, it floats along with whole shuttle for a while and then goes of on a happy course all its own. --Kainaw (talk) 13:18, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- That is what I was thinking at first, but something else in that same CNN article made me wonder about that: "The shuttle reached the lower limits of space a little over five minutes into the flight". Isn't it at the lower limits of space where air density becomes negligeable? If so, then air resistance, especially at the shuttle's high velocity, should still be a factor after 2min15s until 5min. Your thoughts?--JLdesAlpins 15:41, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- I didn't say that there was no atmosphere. I said it was too thin to cause a serious impact. I shouldn't have mentioned "no air resistance". The air resistance is so low that particles falling off don't accellerate much. --Kainaw (talk) 17:34, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
Molecular biology vs Cellular biology vs Biochemistry
Hello!
Could someone tell me what the difference is between these divisions of biology/chemistry, on the point of view of the jobs?
Thanks!
- Did you check molecular biology, cellular biology, and biochemistry? --Kainaw (talk) 14:06, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Their names describe what field is of particular interest: molecular biology studies life on molecular level, cellular biol. deals with overall life cycle of a cell, interaction of many cell in an organism and with external environment, while biochemistry is concered with chemical changes within a system (let say an organism). However, since all three are concerned with an organism in general, though on different levels, they tend to overlap a lot. For example, biochemist will focus heavily on enzymes (biological catalysts), their mechanism of action, kinetics, thermodynamics, etc. Molecular biologist, will focus on the same enzyme, but will be more interested towards its function in the given situation, i.e. how many bases in a DNA strand restriction enzyme (cutter) recognizes, where will it cut, etc. The three overlap a lot, especially with technological advances, and you can not study one without the other two. As far as jobs go, experience you had previosly in a lab setting is very important, since various techniques are used in all three. In biochemistry and mol. biology you may not encounter so frequenty for example cell fractionation as in cell biology, but we'll employ many many times extractions, purifications, AFLPs, RFLPs, PCR, etc. Hope this somewhat helps..
Svetlana Miljkovic 14:24, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
Heart stops when sneezing
Hi,
I heard the heart stops when someone sneezes... Is it true??
Thanks!
- Yes. [32] Iolakana|T 14:12, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- That's not really a very reliable source... - Mgm|(talk) 07:52, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- No. [33] David Sneek 14:14, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Cool. I never knew "bless you" stands for "God bless you" (I've never heard anyone using the latter phrase before). I thought they were just nonsense words people got into the habit of saying. --Bowlhover 17:55, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Do you know why people say "God bless you" after someone sneezes? Because sneezing was a sign of infection with the bubonic plague, and in medieval Europe, if you got the Bubonic plague, you would die. So, if you sneezed, you were probably going to die soon, so people would ask God to bless you so you would go to heaven!
- Please, stop telling these bad "jokes" to me. (If you truly believe what you said, can you provide a citation?) --Bowlhover 23:11, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- According to the links Iolakana and David Sneek gave, as well as [34], nobody really knows why people say "bless you" after someone sneezes. --Bowlhover 23:14, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Do you know why people say "God bless you" after someone sneezes? Because sneezing was a sign of infection with the bubonic plague, and in medieval Europe, if you got the Bubonic plague, you would die. So, if you sneezed, you were probably going to die soon, so people would ask God to bless you so you would go to heaven!
- The only relation I can imagine to be remotely true is a relation between sneezing increasing blood pressure and the heart slowing down to correct for it. That isn't a stopping of the heart though. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kainaw (talk • contribs)
I heard that the reason for the "God bless you" was that people used to think that sneezing was the soul trying to leave the body. Cite: Someone in my family... -Agito
- I've always thought it was interesting that the words "bless you" (english), "à tes souhaits" (french), and "gesundheit" (german) sound like the sound of a person sneezing. I don't think there's any significance, but still it's interesting. --WhiteDragon 14:41, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
The guy that said the thing with the bubonic plague, thats the correct belief from europe. The guy that said "soul coming out when sneezing" thats also a correct belief, from Rome. -PitchBlack
Entropy
I read that entropy is not what we learn at school/uni, i.e. the amount of disorder of a system, but how much one ignores about that system. Could someone explain this to me?
Also about entropy, how is it possible that its total sum in a closed system or the universe always tends to raise? It seems strange in this case that everything is not getting uniform... But it must be a false vision of it that I have!?
Thanks a lot!
- Entropy is not related to "disorder" as much as to "degrees of freedom" and probability. Entropy is the number of microstates that count as the same macrostate. For example, say you flip a bunch of coins and count up the numbers of heads and tails. You don't care which of the coins are heads and which are tails, just the total number. Then the outcome of half heads and half tails could really be many different outcomes, depending on which specific ones are heads and which are tails, but the outcome of all heads could only be one specific outcome. Therefore we say that the entropy of the half heads, half tails outcome is greater. The positions of particles in a gas is analogous. There are many different ways the particles could be distributed evenly, and much fewer ways they could all be gathered in a corner, so we say the even distribution has more entropy. Does that make sense? —Keenan Pepper 16:16, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
Mmh yes it makes sense, but I still don't understand why the global entropy of universe is always going up :) --Max
- What if I only count whether they're all the same? (all heads or all tails) In this case, do ten (or whatever) coins have 1 bit of entropy? (either all the same or not all the same)? Likewise in this case does a single coin flipped have ZERO entropy? 82.131.188.84 20:26, 6 July 2006 (UTC) (not the poster)
- The entropy isn't the information you pay attention to, it's the information you neglect. If you flip ten coins and only pay attention to whether they're all the same, then the entropy of the "same" state is one bit and the entropy of the "different" state is a little less than ten bits. I think... —Keenan Pepper 03:32, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
pruning calamnodin trees
when my small calamondin tree flowers then the small fruits appear, should i take some of them off, leaving only a few to grow? it seems like there are tons of the little fruits! thank you so much, karen
- I am not familiar with this variety of tree, so my answer may be incorrect. But in general, when a plant produces a large number of fruits, you may get better size by culling some of the fruits, so the plant can pump all its energy into the remaining fruits. Google may be able to help you with more specific information on culturing this plant. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs 01:05, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Does stainless steel absorb odors?
Can anyone tell me if stainless steel (used in a dishwasher)absorbs odors? We are having trouble with a foul smell coming from our dishwasher and have had Sears service techs out 3 times, and finally a plumber. The plumber told us the problem "could" be the stainless steel has picked up an odor from the dirty dishes? We are skeptical about this. We feel, if this was the case the odor would remain constant but, the odor increases the more days it sits before being run again.
Thanks for your help,
--142.231.69.102 16:29, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Something caught in the drain, and rotting, seems the most likely to me. Philc TECI 17:20, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Try running the dishwasher empty and see if the smell continues. It could be that it is not draining entirely and dirty water is being left behind where you can't see it. An empty run would flush it clean (hopefully). The solution may be to just run your dishes regularly and if you plan not to, then run an empty load to clean it out. —Bradley 18:35, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Stainless steel removes odour, as demonstrated by Stainless steel soaps. -Obli (Talk)? 18:38, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- It's nature's way of punishing you for using such a filthy polluting machine. :) DirkvdM 18:57, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
I suggest a dead mouse is in the dishwasher, not in the sealed waterproof portion, but rather in the part with the motor. StuRat 00:15, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
Sunburned skin coming off
When I have burned my skin in the sun, after a few days when it has stopped hurting, the outernmost layer of the skin starts coming off so strongly that I can pull it off in large strips, completely painlessly. The skin layer is very thin (thinner than regular paper), white in colour, semi-transparent and extremely soft. I think this is entirely normal, but what is causing this? JIP | Talk 17:05, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Peeling, caused by sunburn. The article explains more. Philc TECI 17:19, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- I had this, and is not painful, as well as quite disgusting. It eventually goes away, so not to worry. Iolakana|T 17:46, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- You can smooth it out with a moisturizing cream if you want to make it less visible, but as Kilo-Lima said, it goes away. -Obli (Talk)? 18:40, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- It may be worth noting that getting sunburned is said to increase the risk of skin cancer. So it isn't just a question of getting sore and getting better, necessarily. Notinasnaid 21:14, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- The article only explained that the UV radiation causes changes in the skin cells' DNA, causing them to die. Does this directly cause peeling, or what causes the cells to disconnect from the healthy cells underneath? And is the layer of skin only one cell thick? A single skin cell would be completely invisible to the naked eye, but I imagine that if there's many thousands of them, they're visible even if they're in the form of a flat layer. JIP | Talk 21:38, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
I am suddenly reminded of Austin Powers: Goldmember, in which the villian, Goldmember, is constantly peeling off pieces of his dried skin and collecting it in a little container. Funny. Disgusting. In fact, here is a quote:
- Goldmember: (while pulling a piece of skin off himself) Oh yes yes yes, this is a keeper!
- R_Lee_E (talk, contribs) 04:26, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Video CDs
I just got The Matrix trilogy off of BitTorrent. Each of the three are 700mb each. How can I burn them onto CDs so that I can watch them using my DVD player rather than having to watch the .avi's exclusivly on my computer? --Russoc4 17:52, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- I've used a combination of mencoder and VCDimager. See: Using MEncoder to create VCD/SVCD/DVD-compliant files and www.vcdimager.com. –Mysid(t) 19:29, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Convert them to mpeg with a program such as Nero. By the way, downloading movies from Bittorent is illegal. --Proficient 09:30, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Transcoding lossily encoded files is evil. Not to mention stupid.--Frenchman113 on wheels! 13:35, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Unless he (/she) paid for them. -- User:Mac_Davis
- It's not illegal if you don't get caught.--Frenchman113 on wheels! 13:37, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Or is in a country where it is legal. Jon513 12:34, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
Clamps
Are clamps A)Metal B)Small C)Liquid D)A tool E)An electronic. I would appreciate an answer!
Are these the English homework questions disguised as valid science ref. desk questions? May be we can expect scale, skill, skull, school etc in the next questions?--Wikicheng 03:56, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
steam catapult
--Kkishappy@btinternet.com 18:38, 5 July 2006 (UTC)please help. who invented the steam catapult?i know they were used on aircraft carriers to launch the 'plane from the ship BUT i am certain they were first used to launch the V1 rockets (doodlebugs)during WW2. --Kkishappy@btinternet.com 18:38, 5 July 2006 (UTC)tina
- Have you checked our article on steam catapults? Our article on the V-1 flying bomb doesn't specifically mention the technology used by the launch ramp, but it appears to predate the development of the modern steam catapult. — Lomn | Talk 19:38, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
Technical Term for Nasally Voice?
Is there a technical and/or medical term for a nasally or congested sounding voice (ie Billy Joe Armstrong's voice)? HamillianActor 18:45, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- I've heard it called Adenoidal.--Anchoress 18:48, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- The sounds in language produced nasally are called Nasal consonants -Obli (Talk)? 18:49, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Vowels can be nasalized and become nasal vowels. Just listen to a French person saying enfant or compare the pronunciation of "tackle" and "mangle" carefully. --Kjoonlee 17:11, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
The technical term is actually "denasalized speech", which you can quickly prove by blocking air and sound flow from your nose with your fingers. Congestion or large adenoids do the same thing. alteripse 01:28, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
Need sources for Battery electric vehicle
Greetings, esteemed reference desk helpers!
Editors on Battery electric vehicle are trying to get it in shape for Featured Article status by June 21st when the Who Killed the Electric Car? movie opens. We have two pesky {{citation needed}}s which I hope you can help resolve:
- (A) Are there any known instances of people replacing batteries in an electric vehicle as an alternative to recharging? Are there any "automatic" (robotic?) systems which do this?
- (B) Is there a source for the statement that the "greater cost of lithium and zinc air batteries has discouraged their use in commercial vehicles"?
Thanks for the extra eyes on this. AnAccount2 19:42, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- It sounds like A is gonna be a doozy. I'll check through some catalogs when I get home tonight to try to get some commercial costs for B - you may find [35] or Newark Electronics as a starting place to look for industrial battery prices (I don't know if they sell electric-car batteries but they sell nearly everything else!) Nimur 21:04, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- I sure wouldn't be swapping the batteries in current mass-produced electric vehicles. I'm sure there's one or two somewhere that have batteries a normal human could lift. The common cars have batteries that would require an industrial robot to remove and replace on a regular basis. For reference, the battery backup for my computer weighs over 100 pounds and would barely get a car rolling, let alone run it at 55mph for at least 3 hours. The better viable option would be a removable trunk. You back into an open slot on a charger and remove the trunk. Then, using some batter that doesn't remove, pull forward and back onto the charged up spare trunk. --Kainaw (talk) 00:16, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Safety of the Space Shuttle
Ever since the Columbia accident, both Space Shuttle missions since (STS-114 and STS-121) have been dogged by problems with the foam insulation. But it seems to me that these problems only show up because they're looking for them: in other words, problems were had with foam insulation before Columbia, they just weren't looked for. Is it a case of problems with foam have been there all along and were only noticed after the Columbia accident, or is it actually a problem that's only recently appeared and happens very rarely, hence the delays experienced in the last two missions (because there is a high probability that these events are fatal, as opposed to a common event which sometimes causes problems)? Thanks, sorry that my question is a bit rambling. Sum0 21:34, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- It's a long-term deal that's only recently become a concern (due to the loss of Columbia). Similarly, tiles from the underside of the shuttle are missing after every re-entry. It's expected behavior and no big deal currently, but you can bet that if a shuttle were lost due to previously-normal tile loss (and if the program weren't then immediately cancelled), the tile issue would move to the forefront much as tank foam has. — Lomn | Talk 21:58, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- The problem was only made prominent by the loss of Columbia. I believe. --Proficient 09:32, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- I heard on the tv (on the FOX news to be precise) that peices of foam will fall off during every lift-off and that there was no way to prevent that from happening. Atleast thats what I think he said. Can anyone confirm that? Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 13:24, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- I don't have a link, but yes, that's correct. What NASA has been spending so much time on is preventing the foam from falling off in pieces large enough to do damage. As I understand it, the pre-launch cracks in foam are a concern because (warning: invented numbers ahead) a 10 cm crack might let a damaging 10 cm chunk of foam fall off when normal non-damaging foam pieces are no bigger than 5 cm. — Lomn | Talk 16:23, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- I heard on the tv (on the FOX news to be precise) that peices of foam will fall off during every lift-off and that there was no way to prevent that from happening. Atleast thats what I think he said. Can anyone confirm that? Jayant,17 Years, India • contribs 13:24, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- If you check out the official report (11M PDF) on page 127, you'll see a chart of all of the "lower surface damage" events during all of the Shuttle flights. It also indicates the flights that had foam come off of the bipod ramp (the source of the fatal foam on the Columbia). Seven times, including STS-107. In fact, all of Chapter 6 is pretty enlightening when it comes to chronic Shuttle launch problems. -- Plutor 17:00, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
I've always wondered why horses have hooves instead of toes and how they evolved? This image is really helpful, it shows me how the foot began with five toes, then the other four toes kind of dissapeared overtime. I was pretty sure that in evolution, things don't just disappear (or do they?). My question is, shouldn't modern horses' feet still have remnants of those other four toes? Maybe they're in the form of small bones in the leg, or maybe cartilage? --Jonathan talk 22:29, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- You are correct. Things rarely just "disappear" in evolution, and some horses will (very rarely) have three toes. One main hoof, and two smaller ones. I think. I'm sure I read that somewhere. Humans, likewise, have hands adapted from fins which have a lot more than 5 "fingers", and polydactyly at birth is quite common in humans (1 in 400 i think?)
- Actually, the number of digits in the tetrapod limb stabilized at five shortly after the first tetrapods evolved. Polydactyly involving more than five digits almost always involves a "repeat" thrown in. That is, one of the five ancestral digits was accidentally repeated. This is different from the case of three toed horses, in which presumably the suppression of two of the ancestral digits failed. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs 01:11, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- It's mentioned at Evolution of the horse#Toes, for one. EdC 23:51, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- They dont dissapear often, my biology textbook (which I've now handed back) had diagrams which showed that just about all vertabrated have the same arm/fore-leg/wing bones, just in different places, and occasionally different structures, things were through evolution elongated, shifted about, shortened, re-shapen, and all manner of things, but ususally the same bones were there. Philc TECI 00:33, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Thanks for all the answers, you answered my question. I took a closer look at this image and appearantly the other four digits have shifted upwards and become these tiny bones at the top of the foot. Thanks for all the answers, though! I thought the polydactyly article was interesing. --Jonathan talk 03:20, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Interestinh how in the skeletal structure it shows the evolution of feet to hooves, yet, in the diagrams, they all clearly have hooves. Philc TECI 21:32, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- That's because they're horses. Horses have hooves. --mboverload@ 22:00, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Maybe you should atleast have a look at the picture before making an ass out of yourself. The picture shows the evolution of horses from having feet to having hooves. Yet all the diagrams, including those of the diagrams of the ancient horses that have feet, have hooves. Philc TECI 20:36, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- Ah, Philc, amiable as ever. Black Carrot 18:11, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- They have hooves, but still have more than one toe. I assume it would be like tapirs "All tapirs have oval, white-tipped ears, rounded, protruding rear ends with stubby tails, and splayed, hoofed toes, with four toes on the front feet and three on the hind feet, which help them walk on muddy and soft ground." Skittle 19:05, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
Colostrum Production
I am wondering if colostrum is ONLY produced during pregnancy? Can your body produce Colostrum when you're not pregnant? If you have previously given birth,(over 18months) can you still have the production of Colostrum?
Deidre--209.172.121.91 23:00, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- I'm pretty sure it is only produced during pregnancy. I suspect you could stimulate colostrum production with the right hormone mixture but I don't know if that has happened or not. I have never read anything which indicated that colostrum was a one-time deal; if you have multiple births, you can probably have multiple instances of colostrum production. --Fastfission 23:14, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
- Hmm. I wonder if some forms of the pill can cause this: it is supposed to simulate pregnancy to fool the menstrual cycle - it's feasible at least that this could be a side-effect of it. Grutness...wha? 03:28, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
Substantial Revision of a Stub
Dear Sci Dept.,
I would like to propose a substnatial revision to the stub: Hedgpethia. As a stub, it only has some taxonomic reference, which was probably given as a group, but there are at least two meaning s of the world.
1: Hedgpethia. A specific genus of pychnogonids with several species listed in the taxonomic literature. The genus Hedgpethia honors the noted marien biologist, Joel Walker Hedgpeth (1911- ), who was the editor of the 4th edition of "Between Pacific Tides" by Edward F. Ricketts and Jack Calvin, published by Stanford University Press.
2: Hedgpethia: Refers to the scientifc and literary heritage of Joel Walker hedgpeth (1911- ), who published many professional paers on the Pychnogonida (sea spiders), several popular works in marine and coastal biology, and several political and poetical works under the pseudonymn, Jerome Tichenor. This body of work, along with his noteworthy editing of "Between Pacific Tides, 4th edition, published by Stanford University Press, is referred to as Hedgpethia. See also Richard Astro. See also Edward F. (Ed) Ricketts.
Ed: Anyway, as a new registrant I had trouble getting this into the record. You can e-mail me directly about revisions if I have not covered things,
Have Patience,
Randy Smith (Randall W. Smith Portland State Universty either: (emails removed to prevent spam) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Smithran (talk • contribs)
- There should be no trouble with editing an article. Click on 'edit', make the changes, and click on save. You don't even have to register to edit existing articles. --Kainaw (talk) 00:10, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- And try to mention your sources as much as possible. Wikipedia is already big. Now it's trying to improve its verifiability. DirkvdM 09:25, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Combustion of the atmosphere
At what temperature/heat/I don't know the precise term would the Earths atmosphere burn off?
How can this heat/temp... be theoretically reached? -Agito
- Earth's atmosphere is mostly made up of nitrogen (78%) and oxygen (21%), neither of which is flammable. So Earth's atmosphere cannot possibly "burn off". --Bowlhover 00:46, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Before the invention of the Haber-Bosch process nitrogen fertilizer was made through the "Birkeland process", pioneered by the company Norsk Hydro. Nitrogen oxides were prepared from air in a light arc. TTBOMK the process is endothermic. To answer your question, it is possible to burn nitrogen, but is will only do so at very high temparatures (2000 °C) and the reaction is not self-sustaining. 00:54, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Scientists briefly had the idea in 1945 that if you heated the atmosphere enough, the nitrogen in the the air would undergo a nuclear reaction in which two nitrogen atoms would form a carbon and an oxygen atom with the release of energy, and that this would cause other nearby nitrogen atoms to do the same. This would lead to a chain reaction that ignited the entire atmosphere of earth. However, it was quickly shown that this was unlikely, and nuclear weapons failed to ignite the atmosphere despite reaching temperatures at the center of tens of millions of degrees. So if it could happen, it would require a nuclear reaction and temperatures above the tens of millions of degrees. Crazywolf 01:06, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Alright, thanks for trying. Not that any of you could change the laws of physics. Or could you... -Agito
- Who knows. Maybe God is a Wikipedian too. :) DirkvdM 09:27, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- If he is, I'm sure he's too busy with vandal patrol to go mucking about with physics :) --Silvaran 17:36, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Ha! I've found him! Turns out he's a bit of a vandal himself: User:God has been blocked! :) DirkvdM 19:14, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- If he is, I'm sure he's too busy with vandal patrol to go mucking about with physics :) --Silvaran 17:36, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Folder protecting
How can I protect my folders in a pc so that nobody can open or see or modify it without knowing the password?
- I assume you mean under windows. In that case, set up an account with a password, and put the folders in that person's documents and settings folder. Crazywolf 01:17, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Or you could put the contents in a compressed (ZIP) folder and password protect that, if you don't want to use multiple XP accounts. —Mets501 (talk) 02:27, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- What if you don't have Windows XP? You couldn't open more XP accounts if you wanted. Perhaps it would be helpful to the questioner if someone gave an alternative for other Windows versions (or Mac systems for that matter). - Mgm|(talk) 07:47, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
YOUR SOLUTION: Truecrypt - bow down before your encryption god. --mboverload@ 07:50, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- There are a lot of freeware utilities on google. If safety is really an issue, you can put them on a DVD/CD then hide it. Because files can still be decrypted with the proper algorithm. --Proficient 09:34, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- And the password, which with any complexity would take hundreds of years to crack. But yes, if they can't find it, they can't crack it (good advice). BTW: Truecrypt is compeltely opensource, and is the only thing I would trust with my security. Closed sourced encryption software? No thanks! --mboverload@ 11:22, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Truecrypt also allows you to create "fake" hidden files, so that you have deniability if you are forced to give up your password if someone guesses it. And there is no known way to tell whether you've done this. Crazywolf 21:20, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- And the password, which with any complexity would take hundreds of years to crack. But yes, if they can't find it, they can't crack it (good advice). BTW: Truecrypt is compeltely opensource, and is the only thing I would trust with my security. Closed sourced encryption software? No thanks! --mboverload@ 11:22, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- If you decide to password protect in a user account in XP, be warned that if Vista was installed pn a separate partition on the hard drive, the vista user would be able to access the "protected" files. I did it myself with my own documents using Vista to get into XP documents without password. It seems that Vista can change the fle security settings without authentication, which seems highly suspect to me. So, I'd reccommend using some freeware utility. Martinp23 13:23, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Ugandan Space Program [36]
According to Time Magazine, the Ugandan Space Program was one of the worst ideas of the 20th century. I have searched for it, but can find no records of the Ugandan Space Program. Did it ever really exist? 71.31.146.217 02:47, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- A fairly extensive database search turns up nothing. The only connection I can find betwen Uganda and space is that a few meteorites fell on a town in Uganda in 1993 or so. It sounds interesting, though, doesn't it? If you want to find out more, your best bet would be to call up Time magazine and stay on the line until you get a real person who can forward you to a person who can forward you to a person who might know. My guess, though, would be that it was more of an in-joke by someon on the Time staff. zafiroblue05 | Talk 06:11, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- As a follow-up, you may be interested in this and this. (The guy in the second article was born in educated in the US; the first article is further proof that a space program is a little bit out of Uganda's reach.) zafiroblue05 | Talk 06:17, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Finally, there's this. Ugandans may be as interested in space as anyone else, but I find it highly unlikely that they ever had anything that anyone could (even unreasonably) call a "space program." zafiroblue05 | Talk 06:20, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Uganda is on Earth. Earth is in space. Uganda is in space. ...
- I think you may call every Ugandan male person a space man. ... -- Toytoy 06:10, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- And they're probably stardust too.
- But seriously, we associate space programs with wads of money, but much of that goes into research, more than the actual building of the spaceship (can anyone quantify this?). A country like Uganda would probably have the money to do the latter (and it's in a good position for a launch - at the equator). All that is needed is someone with a bright idea. The big contest between the US and the USSR was really between two scientists - for the US Werner von Braun, the inventor of the V2 rockets, who went for the single-rocket design and Sergey Korolyov who successfully went for the more complicated multi-rocket design (until he died in 1960, which gave the US the chance to catch up 10 years later). It is not inconceivable that someone would look all this over and say "hold on, .... " (you fill in the dots and get famous). And why shouldn't that have been a Ugandan? Chances will be lower (fewer people with less technical education I imagine), but that doesn't make it impossible. The point is it takes just one brilliant mind. DirkvdM 09:45, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Come on Dirk. A brilliant mind by itself is writing science fiction. A brilliant mind needs a billion doctors and a hundred engineers and technicians to get into space. alteripse 10:47, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- I wasn't being clear. I meant someone could come up with a simple solution that wouldn't need all the expensive research, just off-the-shelf stuff. Could still be possible. I'll startt thinking right now .... :) DirkvdM 19:19, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Was it perhaps Uganda that was demanding other countries pay rent for using their "air space" for geosynchronous satellites? I think they had threatened they would remove unauthorized geosynchronous satellites. —Bradley 17:06, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- "Remove"? How? They're not going to shoot them down! zafiroblue05 | Talk 05:18, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
So who's the parasite?
Anyone know what tree parasite this is? --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 02:55, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Can we have a hint? (Where was the image taken, what season, etc.?) Or is this a contest? :D TenOfAllTrades(talk) 03:04, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Kernville, California, July 4, 7am. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 07:35, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- A Mistletoe? -Obli (Talk)? 08:10, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Could be, but I've not found a mistletoe pic that looks like it. But there are lots of species of mistletoe. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 15:00, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- It looks quite similar to the Juniper Mistletoe that is quite common here in northern Arizona. I don't know if it is also found in southern california or not though. Here is a picture (not very good) of juniper mistletoe:[37] Do you know what kind of tree the parasite is attached to? It's clearly not a juniper but there is a similar species called the Dwarf Mistletoe that feeds on some varieties of spruce and pine trees. --Nebular110 18:36, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- It's an Italian Pine. (For some reason someone out here wasn't satisfied with the vast numbers of Grey and Jeffrey pines around here, and decided to decorate our property with Italians.) --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 02:45, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- I can't find anything about a tree called Italian Pine. Do you perhaps mean Italian stone pine? --Nebular110 04:50, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- I'm not really sure! I just know what people around here call it. Our tree guy will be here next week, and I'll find out more. But the parasite does look like the dwarf mistletoe. Once it's verified, I think I'll stick that pic on the Mistletoe article. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 13:58, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- A-ha! Turns out that it's a local name -- perhaps so local it's just my wife and her friends using it -- for the Aleppo Pine. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 15:28, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- A little research showed that dwarf mistletoe is fairly common on Aleppo pines. So that's a possibility. Being the nerd that I am, I would be interested to know what the tree guy says. Let me know when you find out! --Nebular110 15:38, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- Will do! (And as it happens, the full local name is "Goddamn Italian pines"; our friends up here tend to be quite biased against non-native plants.) --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 20:07, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- I'm not really sure! I just know what people around here call it. Our tree guy will be here next week, and I'll find out more. But the parasite does look like the dwarf mistletoe. Once it's verified, I think I'll stick that pic on the Mistletoe article. --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 13:58, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- I can't find anything about a tree called Italian Pine. Do you perhaps mean Italian stone pine? --Nebular110 04:50, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- It's an Italian Pine. (For some reason someone out here wasn't satisfied with the vast numbers of Grey and Jeffrey pines around here, and decided to decorate our property with Italians.) --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 02:45, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
Genital herpes/warts?
I am 15 years old and have never had any genital sexual contact whatsoever. I have sore-like blisters on the base of my penis (on the under side), they dont have that "cauliflour-cluster" look to them. Could I have genital herpes? I don't know how I could have gotten it. Thank you in advance.
- Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor, and even if I were I wouldn't dispense medical advice online.
- First, if you've had no sexual contact of any sort, it's unlikely to be an STD. Some STDs can be transmitted via oral or anal sex, though, so if you've engaged in those it could be.
- That said, there are several conditions that can cause your symptoms. See, for instance, this Medline article. The only way to find out what's going on is to see your doctor. It may be embarassing for you, but I assure you your doctor has seen far worse. Make an appointment soon. --George 03:51, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Could you? Possibly. You could also have pearly penile papules. You could have Behçet's syndrome. You could have a lot of things that don't involve sexual contact. You doctor would know the difference between them. - Nunh-huh 03:55, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Maybe you just rubbed or scratched it too much. You don't get herpes or warts (HPV) from toilet seats, so I'd not worry about that. Doctors can be good though, they are professionals and life will be easier if you just bite the bullet and get used to talking to them. —Bradley 05:17, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- You may feel embarassed, but doctors see this kind of thing MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY. It's nothing to be ashamed of asking about and they would be more than happy to answer you. They know what it felt like to be a teenager, and they want to help out. --mboverload@ 05:48, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- I agree. There's no reason to be embarrassed whatsoever in front of your doctor. If you're too embarrassed to phone up/ask your parents to book an appointment about this particular problem, just claim it's for something else - stomach aches or something non-serious but which you want to have checked out. When I had a problem in that area a while ago, I didn't want to tell my parents all the details, so I just claimed I was suffering from loss of appetite and stomach aches and explained all the details to my doctor instead. Turned out fine. Sum0 16:12, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- You may feel embarassed, but doctors see this kind of thing MULTIPLE TIMES A DAY. It's nothing to be ashamed of asking about and they would be more than happy to answer you. They know what it felt like to be a teenager, and they want to help out. --mboverload@ 05:48, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- I advise keeping it a complete secret, and hoping it goes away. That will never, ever go wrong. Black Carrot 19:19, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Black Carrot, be careful, sarcasm can often be lost online. Jon513 12:30, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- I advise keeping it a complete secret, and hoping it goes away. That will never, ever go wrong. Black Carrot 19:19, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
you most likely have pearly papules. theyre very common, even i have them. my question is do you feel pain? or is there any other unusual things you see/feel? -PitchBlack
testosterone and interstitial cells
How does a testosterone injection effect the bodies own production of testosterone?--141.151.172.161 07:01, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Check testosterone and you will find out that (a) the effect varies enormously by age and sex of the recipient, and (b) few of the effects involve the interstitial cells. alteripse 10:34, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
CAN I DRAW GRAPHS IN MICROSOFT WORD?
thanx my problem has been solved..by following ur steps!!!. i need help! i have data in word and to transfer it to excel is a hectic job coz data in word is in tabular form but when i copy it and try to paste it in excel it pastes all data either in a single row or single column so can i draw graph in word not in excel?
- You can try this: Copy the table from Word to a text file. Then try to open the text file in excel. It opens up a Text Import Wizard. Choose delimited and choose tab as the delimiter. This should open up the file in excel in a neat format. (You may need to fiddle around with some scattered cells, if the delimiting is not proper). Use this excel sheet to draw your graph.--Wikicheng 11:03, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
your idea is perfect for my problem but kindly explain a little bit more ..i m having problem doing this..thanx (unsigned comment moved to the end; it was at the start where it would be missed).
- I have created a powerpoint presentation with step by step screenshots for this. But I am not sure where I can upload it so that you can download. I looked into the Upload file page but I think it applies to image files. What do I do with my ppt file? Can someone help me?--Wikicheng 12:59, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Wow, that's very helpful. E-mail would probably be the easiest, if the user has e-mail enabled. — Knowledge Seeker দ 15:04, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
It depends on what you mean by tabular form;
- If you mean that the data is already in a table, you don't need to do the above - it just has to do with the way that you highlight your data in Word. You need to highlight the cells only, and not the table as a whole. To do this, click in the top left cell when the arrow turns to a small, diagonally-pointing black arrow, and drag over the whole table to the last cell, being careful not to go outside the table. Hit copy, go into Excel. Don't highlight any cells in excel, just push paste on the cell that you want to be the starting cell.
- If the data is separated by tabs, then yes you would need to do what Wikicheng said.BenC7 02:40, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
Fixpoints On Cars - What Is A Fixpoint?
If I want a Ford Fiesta, I can get a 5 door hatchback with or without a 'fixpoint' - what is a 'fixpoint'? --Username132 (talk), UK or Netherlands 10:35, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- [38] I think it's something to do with a roof rack. – AlbinoMonkey (Talk) 13:04, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Indeed. It's like a bar attached to the car, a fixed point. --Proficient 16:20, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- I don't understand - is it something you attach the roof rack to? You make it sound like a permenant roof rack but there is a website [39] that sells roof racks and lists cars with 'fixpoints'. If it's something you fix the roof rack to, how do you fix a roof rack to a car with nothing to fix the roof rack to?
- My problem is that I have roof rack bars from a Fiesta and I want to affix them to a Corsa (which I wont have access to until I'm 6 hours from home (in Harwich)). The website I checked recommended the SAME roof rack bars for both cars so long as the 'fixpoint' option is selected for each car. From this I can deduce that the bars will fit the Corsa, so long as both cars were of the 'fixpoint' category. Thus, I ask again; 'what is a fixpoint'? --Username132 (talk), UK or Netherlands 19:26, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- According to [40], "A Fixpoint is a recessed, roof mounted, fixture point on a vehicle which normally comprises of a threaded hole or metal profile. Fixpoints are generally concealed by lift up covers, slide back covers or plastic plugs.".
- My problem is that I have roof rack bars from a Fiesta and I want to affix them to a Corsa (which I wont have access to until I'm 6 hours from home (in Harwich)). The website I checked recommended the SAME roof rack bars for both cars so long as the 'fixpoint' option is selected for each car. From this I can deduce that the bars will fit the Corsa, so long as both cars were of the 'fixpoint' category. Thus, I ask again; 'what is a fixpoint'? --Username132 (talk), UK or Netherlands 19:26, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- I gather it is the place where you attach roof rack bars to your car, so you will definitely need a fixpoint if you want the bars. Apparently they come with different threads (ie where you screw a screw into), but since the website lists the same roof rack, I guess the fixpoint on the Fiesta and the Corsa have the same size/thread. I'd suggest you just give Thule or whoever a call to make sure though. – AlbinoMonkey (Talk) 03:15, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
NANO
WHAT YOU MEAN BY NANO?
Tiny, usually. Don't yell. alteripse 10:44, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- If you wish to know what something means, you can write it in the search box. See nano. –Mysid(t) 10:58, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- It means extremely small. But I've also seen it used to mean nanotechnology, which is "the science and technology of building electronic circuits and devices from single atoms and molecules." --Proficient 16:22, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- When used in a technical context it refers to things done in the scale of nanometers (one-billionth of a meter). Which is pretty tiny. --Fastfission 17:39, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Nano is also a text editor. --Kainaw (talk) 18:03, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- According to my dad, when he and his friends used to play spades they called it "nano" when they were betting zero. Black Carrot 19:14, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Come on guys, this is an SI thing, so it's simple. Nano is a prefix that means 10−9 (or one-billionth). These prefixes can be used for any unit of measurement, including the metre, so you get namometre (nm). Which led to the simplified meaning 'very small' (just as mega and giga got to mean 'very big') and all the rest followed from that. Except maybe for the "Na-Nu Na-Nu" in Mork and Mindy. DirkvdM 19:29, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- That's not necessarily the entire cause and effect, since I believe (if University Challenge is to be believed) that 'nano' itself comes from a word meaning 'dwarf' in Greek (?), hence was chosen as a word that meant 'very small'. So a bit of feedback in the evolution of the word (I was going to write 'linguistic evolution', but last time I did that I got a snide reply from an anon). Skittle 18:44, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- It's an iPod. --LarryMac 19:43, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Shipping a hard drive (with data) safely
I'm going to be sending a hard drive full of data from the UK to the US fairly soon. Obviously, I'll package it well to protect against physical damage, but what are the chances of data loss due to being X-rayed, or whatever else they do with parcels sent between countries, and are there any recommendations for protecting against data loss?
Thanks, --Noodhoog 15:20, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- It appears not, [41]. Iolakana|T 16:08, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- I've had computers (laptops), cameras, etc. scanned without the cases and nothing has happened to them in airports. It should be safe. But just to be absolutely sure, make sure that you back-up the information that you are going to send in the hard drive so that in the rare circumstance that the data does get corrupted, you can have the data safely with you to perhaps re-send or something along those lines. --Proficient 16:24, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- X-rays will have no effect on your electronics. I would be much more concerned about the likely physical handling that your drive will receive. If there's anything important on the drive, make sure you have a backup in a safe ___location. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 17:55, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- If it's important enough to be on a hard disk it's important enough to have a backup, whether you send it somewhere or not. Actually, now that you send it, you should make a backup of the backup, although some say you should have that in the first place, so now you should make a backup of the backup of the backup. Unless you already have that, but then it's better to be safe than sorry. Also, you should preferably have your backups on different media and in different locations. But if the hd arrives in the US safely you'll have one in a differnt continent. Lucky you.
- Anyway, one extra precaution might be to put it in one of those special hd-bags (which it came in probably). I'm not sure what they protect against, though. Probably electric discharge. But they'll be shipped in those for a reason, I suppose. DirkvdM 19:33, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- I would suggest surrounding it tightly with several layers of bubble wrap, and putting that in a somewhat rigid container(the box it came in) filled with packing peanuts or bubblewrap. That always seemed to work for throwing eggs off of buildings. I would then surround that with conductive wire mesh, to protect it from magnetic damage and electro-magnetic pulses, and put it in a large, securely locked combination safe packed tightly with trained attack dogs. Actually, just the first part should work. Crazywolf 20:28, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Thanks for the replies folks.. I fully intend to keep a backup at home, so if anything happens on the way I can just send another copy, but it seems most of the concerns are with physical damage, so I'll just make sure it's well protected and hope for the best :) --Noodhoog 21:22, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
If there is a way for you to "park" the hard drive, I would do that, too. StuRat 00:29, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- I suppose that the modern drives have 'auto park' and hence no need to worry about parking (moving the heads to a safe area, away from the data)--Wikicheng 04:19, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- I ship a lot of drives for work, and we use something similar to this[42] case, with the drive in an anti-static bag first. --WhiteDragon 14:56, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
University and career prospects
I'm at the age where I'm going to have to start thinking about choosing a university for next year and a subject, so I'm looking for some advice. My plans seem a little ambitious, so I'm trying to find out if they're plausible. Basically, my plan is to get a degree in medicine, which at the university I'm looking at gives me two years in another subject of my choice (which I think will be Biological Sciences or Genetics), and spend x years as a doctor in a field connected with genetics or biology. Then I'd like to get a job in biology research, hopefully genetics, and/or get a degree in Biological Sciences or Genetics. Finally, if all goes well, I'd love to join the ESA Astronaut Corps or whatever they have then, although obviously that's a long way off.
So is this over-stretching myself, or plausible? Is it sensible for me to work as a doctor and then suddenly become a scientist? Should I just concentrate on being one or the other? Thanks. Sum0 16:28, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Hello, Sum0. From your user page, i'm assuming you are talking about the British educational system. In some UK universities you can get a combined BSc in a biological science and a Medicinæ Baccalaureus, this may be your best bet if you wish to be a medical doctor who engages in research. Afterwards, you would still probably have to do an Medicinæ Doctor, so you have a research qualification (as, unlike US MDs, most British medical degrees do not have research components and thus are not "proper" doctorates). Medical doctors without a research degree (such as a PhD or MD) rarely do significant research in the UK. However, if you simply wished to work as a research technician then you could do so with a BSc, but you would be very over qualified for such a job if you were already a medical doctor. Elsewhere, particularly the US, you can do a combined postgraduate PhD/MD degree. As for joining the Astronaut Corp - if that is your dream then you should aim for it (though i would advise making sure you fit the physical and health requirements, as it would be very disappointing to structure your entire education towards that only to fail on something that is outwith your control). My only advice would be to be wary of planning out your life too strictly, many people change their career plans after the attend university, when they learn that they do not enjoy their chosen subject as much as they thought they might. I happen to have experience of both medicine and genetics research in the UK (though not of the Astronaut Corps!), so feel free to drop a not on my talk page if you would like a more specific answer to anything. Rockpocket 18:09, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Thank you, that's very helpful. I agree about not planning out my life too strictly: this plan is just something I'm considering, and it's going to take a lot of thought before I settle on anything. You sound like the one to ask if I have any questions, which I'm sure I will! Sum0 18:59, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
PDF page transformations in Linux
I'd like to take a regular 8.5x11in (WxH) PDF document and print it:
- Double-sided/duplex
- 2 document pages per physical page
- Each page individually foldable to make a booklet
Here's the idea...
- Take pages 1, 2, 3 and 4.
- Scale them to 5.5x8.5.
- Arrange 2 and 3 side-by-side, left to right.
- Print this on landscape letter (11x8.5).
- Do the same with 1 and 4, printing on the other side.
Now when we fold the landscape sheet along a vertical fold, we end up with a booklet, that when opened naturally, looks like a 4-page booklet with the pages in the proper order. Page 1 on the front, 4 on the back, and 2-3 on the inside.
Do this 100 more times and stack the booklet, and you have yourself a book.
I thought it might be simpler to transform the original PDF document with a few command-line (Linux--Ubuntu Dapper, specifically) utils first, then manually run it off a few pages at a time to see how things turn out.
Any ideas? --Silvaran 17:30, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- I could imagine a very complicated way of doing this with a combination of ImageMagick (rasterize PDF pages) and PDFLib (position them in a new document), but it would probably require using a scripting medium as well (i.e. PHP, which can work with both of those). Not sure if that is too complicated for your purposes or not. --Fastfission 17:35, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Also, I don't know about Linux, but you could probably make Adobe Reader output pages like that to the printer (or to postscript?) with its options under its print menu. If I were doing this on a Windows machine that's probably what I'd try first — see if I could get it to print to a postscript file and then convert that back to PDF. --Fastfission 17:37, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Convert it to PostScript using
pdf2ps, and usepsnup, which is in psutils, to rearrange the pages. I tried the same on a 220-page book myself, but couldn't get it to work. Instead, I familiarized myself with PostScript and wrote a rearranging script myself. I don't recommend it to anyone... –Mysid(t) 19:51, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- Convert it to PostScript using
Got it:
- Use pdfjam (package name in Ubuntu, anyways): "pdfnup source.pdf --pages 2,3,4,1 --outfile output.pdf"
- Print page 1 of output.pdf
- Re-feed the paper into the printer so it prints on the other side
- Print page 2 of output.pdf
- Fold the page with the fold on the left side, and the lowest-numbered page is on the "front".
I wrote a script to pipe everything to two different PDFs, print the first PDF, re-feed the printed sheets to the printer, and (because of the way the pages come out of and go into the printer), print the second PDF backwards.
Fold each page individually, stack them, then bind :). --Silvaran 20:40, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Bug identification
I found this little bug today, its camouflage led me to believe it was an old leaf until it moved. One of its wings is partly crooked, it sems like an injury, considering the other wing isn't crooked. The pictures are taken in Sweden and the bug is about 15 mm long. Any ideas on which species (of moth?) it is? -Obli (Talk)? 19:33, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- I can't see too well, but the crooked wing looks like one that hasn't yet fully inflated after the insect (or 'bug' as you rudely call it) was 'born' out of a pupa. What it is, I haven't a clue, though. DirkvdM 19:44, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- I've uploaded a better image of the wings, but what you say makes sense. -Obli (Talk)? 19:50, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- I think it looks like a moth, or possibly a moth larva. Iolakana|T 21:03, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
- It's an olethreutid moth with malformed wings. Not uncommon. Peace, Dyanega 03:31, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
Iontophoresis Device
How would one set about building an iontophoresis device?
- Carefully? Iontophoresis isn't really something that you want to be experimenting with at home without medical supervision. (Any time you start mucking about with stuff that makes good electrical contact with the body you need to be very careful.) TenOfAllTrades(talk) 22:56, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
Recover Hard Drive Table Information From Previously "Mounted" Drive
I have three hard drives in my computer, connected to IDE1 Primary and Secondary, and IDE2 Primary.
The bootable drive (Seagate 200GB) is partitioned into 20GB (boot) and 160GB (data).
There are two drives I use for media, a Seagate 400GB and a WD 200GB.
I reinstalled Windows XP onto the 20GB boot partition and then SP1 so that I could accurately manage 137GB+ drives. Unfortunately, things didn't return (obviously) as they were before.
I previously had mounted the the WD 200GB (a drive for media) into a directory on the 400GB, effectively making it a "600 GB hdd". Now, however, the old 'mounted' WD 200GB drive isn't being properly recognized in Windows. It recognizes there is indeed a drive, but it appears as a blank, raw drive with no filesystem. All other drives (and partitions) are accurately displayed.
I used data recovery tools on the drive to see if my data had gone missing--it isn't, it's still intact. This leads me to believe (through my very ignorant knowledge of hard drives) that the tables which control filesystems are incorrect on the drive, possibly/probably due to it being 'mounted' in a hard drive directory previously. I've tried to Google for an answer here, but no luck, so I beg your assistance. I've tried the drive on multiple cables and IDE1/2 and master/slave, but no luck, Windows always fails to properly handle this one drive.
I refuse (unless that become my ONLY option) to let ChkDsk run its course on start up, as I've had it corrupt data on hard drives in the past when in similar situations. I think I need to force Windows to read this drive as the NTFS system it is.. but how? Or how to rebuild that table?
(I'm also aware that I could always buy a new HDD to copy the data to through a recovery program, but financially that isn't a good solution.)
If you need any other information, I will provide it ASAP. Thank you for your time!
--67.82.24.34 02:30, 7 July 2006 (UTC)MCS
- I'd need some more information to be any help. Here are some basic questions to make sure I understand whats what:
- When you say you "mounted the the WD 200GB into a directory on the 400GB", how and what exactly did you do.
- What system were the drives working under, when they worked? XP? XP SP1? NT? 2000? ...?
- Basically, I need more understanding what's gone on. This is what I need, in summary:
- How were they set up when it worked, and what system were you running?
- How did they appear in Windows and under Disk management?
- What filing systems were you using (FAT32/NTFS) for each partition?
- What exactly did you do, or change?
- What works and what doesn't work now, after changing it?
- What have you tried to do, to fix or diagnose it, so far?
- Answer those and I'll try to help you through it. Luck! FT2 (Talk | email) 20:48, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
PHP developing environment
I'm looking for a good (free) PHP developing environment. Any one got a suggestion? Oskar 03:48, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- I use the Eclipse IDE for Java work, but it is also compatible with PHP after a [free] plug-in is downloaded. I've found it nice, so that may be a good starting point. Titoxd(?!?) 03:52, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- I use Notepad++ in windows and Kate in linux. Jon513 12:24, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- I use TextWrangler on Mac OS X. It's awesome. --Fastfission 16:31, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
Excel sheet to powerpoint
how to fit the excel sheet in power point slide?..i m getting lots of problems doing this.
- You have already asked this question on the miscellaneous reference desk. Please do not double post. Your question has been answered over there. Iolakana|T 10:45, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
Anti Gravity
Is it possible to achieve an anti gravitational effect on earth excluding the sensation aquired by allowing a plane to freefall. --74.136.8.13 05:36, 7 July 2006 (UTC)Anton
- I'm not certain what you mean by an "anti-gravitational effect", but we feel gravity when we're in contact with the ground or some solid object in contact with the ground. People in free fall (whether it be onboard an orbiting satellite, in a malfunctioning plane, or on an amusement park ride) will experience weightlessness. — Knowledge Seeker দ 05:56, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- You can achieve the effect of anti-gravity, but not anti-gravity itself. If you don't fancy the Vomit Comet, you could always ride a roller coaster, which is the same sensation but over a much shorter period of time, or sky diving. Scuba diving provides a similar sensation.--Shantavira 06:06, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- You could also sit yourself on some super powerful magnets, and make it appear as if you are defying gravity, but arguably that's no more anti-gravitational than sitting on the seat in your car. freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 06:18, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
there's a company that used to make anti-gravity pads, but they went out of fashion about the same time red/blue 3-D theaters did. 82.131.188.167 06:20, 7 July 2006 (UTC).
- [Edit conflict.. grrr] I suppose you mean weightlessness. As Knowledge Seeker mentioned, you feel the weight when there is gravity acting on you and when there is something obstructing your fall towards the object that is attracting you. When there is nothing to obstruct your fall, you actually move freely (fall) towards the object and also experience weightlessness. So in effect, whenever you fall towards earth, (in a plane, in a freefalling lift, jump from a height etc) you experience weightlessness. An exception to this could be Lagrange_points. I thought that these are the points in space where the gravities of two bodies cancel each other but the article seems to suggest some deeper meaning. I am not qualified enough to explain these Lagrange_points --Wikicheng 06:24, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- You've got the Lagrangian points basically right, though they're really not an exception. As you mention, you feel weight when there is gravity acting on you; at Lagrangian points, the net force of gravity is zero, so naturally an entity there would experience weightlessness. — Knowledge Seeker দ 07:33, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- I expected one Lagrange point for a set of two bodies, somewhere in the middle where the gravitational pulls cancel each other. I was surprised to find 5 LPs and that too, not between the bodies!. I may need to read it properly to understand how --Wikicheng 08:19, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- Now I read it. I am wrong in saying that the gravitational pulls cancel each other at the LPs. But nevertheless, you do experience weightlessness at those points. --Wikicheng 08:53, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- Yes, I simplified it a bit too much; gravity does not necessarily cancel out at the Lagrangain points. I suppose the more accurate statement would be that an object at one of the Lagrangian points or at any other point in space would experience weightlessness, since as you point out there's nothing obstructing its path. It's just that the path at the Lagrangian points (or in orbit around Earth, etc.) is relatively stable an an object there won't soon arrive at a collision. — Knowledge Seeker দ 09:09, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
Oh ye of little faith. Who are we to say we will never achieve a device capable of "anti-gravity"? As per the reader's questions, which seems to pertain to current technology, the answer is yes - the buoyancy force provides an excellent anti-gravitational experience; just jump in the ocean with a scuba tank, and eventually you will descend to a depth at which you are the same density as the water. At that point, gravity will be cancelled out. If you're looking for something which actually "blocks" the gravitational field, the answer is, not yet. --Bmk 16:49, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- In the case of immersion, would there not still be the effect of gravity making a difference in fluid pressures and distribution inside the body? --Seejyb 19:31, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- You're right - it isn't exactly like the absence of gravity, but some of the effect of the gradient of gravity is eliminated because there is also a gradient of water density; i.e. gravitational potential decreases downward, but buoyancy increases. In any case, I agree with Seejyb - it won't be exactly like weightlessness, but similar. I know NASA sends astronauts into big pools in spacesuits to simulate zero-G working conditions. --Bmk 00:08, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
Sounds like what the question is asking is whether gravity is polar like a magnet which to the best of our current knowledge it is not. But who knows what the case might be with anti-matter. Instead of particles attracting maybe anti-matter particles push each other away. ...IMHO (Talk) 20:07, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- Forget about calculating Langrange points. Take up yogic flying, then you can help create world peace at the same time ;-) --Shantavira 09:08, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
i've heard that sleeping straight is good for health means on back...but sleeping opposite with your front facing downward is bad for health...how true is this????
sleeping
my question is "is there any rules exist for sleeping?"...means how to sleep?...wat are the ways to take most relaxing sleep?— Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.247.152.121 (talk)
- I suggest you read our very comprehensive article about sleep, then come back here if you have further questions.--Shantavira 09:44, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- I think it will help to sleep better if one stop thinking about "rules" for sleeping when going to bed.--Vsion 22:49, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Generally, at the time you're trying to sleep, I find there's little you can do if you can't sleep. It's something that your body just does, and it's hard to force. Overall, making sure you go to bed at the same time every night, are relaxed (warm baths and warm uncaffeinated drinks can help, as can relaxing music), the right temperature and in calm surroundings. Block as much light from entering your room as possible. Try to quieten your mind, keep it from racing. Chanting/repeating some calming phrase in your head and concentrating on it can help. (For example, some prayer or pattern of prayer from your religion, some relatively long poem or nursery rhyme that you are very familiar with). If you are having trouble sleeping, and this lasts a long time, you might want to visit a doctor and ask his advice. Skittle 18:35, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- As Skittle said, try making yourself as comfortable as possible. Don't worry if you can't fall asleep--if you worry, it'll be even harder to sleep. Also, strangely enough, I fall asleep quicker if there is an intense light being reflected onto my eyelids (for example, in a sunny afternoon when the Sun is not shining directly into my window). --Bowlhover 04:38, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
Electrolysis
Im sure that there is a simple answer to the question but not to ask is a greater ignorance than to not know. Would it be possible to create a divice that splits water (electrolysis)underwater and guides the bubbles into a tube to be used to breath underwater? Perhaps there is a problem with breathing pure oxygen.
- Actually that's what submarines do - that's why they can stay underwater for years (problem is the food doesn't last that long) --mboverload@ 06:53, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- But it requires a lot of energy so don't count on using it in a diving suit. -Mgm|(talk) 07:31, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- Indeed. Very large amounts --mboverload@
- FROM THE SUBMARINE ARTICLE --mboverload@ 09:43, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- With nuclear power, submarines can remain submerged for months at a time. Diesel submarines must periodically resurface or snorkel to recharge their batteries. Most modern military submarines are able to generate oxygen for their crew by electrolysis of water. Atmosphere control equipment includes a CO2 scrubber, which uses a catalyst to remove the gas from air and diffuse it into waste pumped overboard. A machine that uses a catalyst to convert carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide (removed by the CO2 scrubber) and bonds hydrogen produced from the ship's storage battery with oxygen in the atmosphere to produce water, also found its use. An atmosphere monitoring system samples the air from different areas of the ship for nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, R12 and R114 refrigerant, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and others. Poisonous gases are removed, and oxygen is replenished by use of an oxygen bank located in a main ballast tank. Some heavier submarines have two oxygen bleed stations (forward and aft). The oxygen in the air is sometimes kept a few percent less than atmospheric concentration to reduce fire danger.
- Indeed. Very large amounts --mboverload@
- But it requires a lot of energy so don't count on using it in a diving suit. -Mgm|(talk) 07:31, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- There is a problem with breathing pure oxygen, but seeing as when you breathe you don't use up any of the other compunds, or molecules in the air, you can re-use them. So as long as you start with a bit, its ok. Philc TECI 13:48, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
don't forget rebreather article! 82.131.184.144 15:51, 7 July 2006 (UTC).
Two Wikipedia Pages
There are two pages on wikipedia I have found in the past and can't seem to find anymore.
- List of most edited wikipedia articles
- List of the longest wikipedia articles
Any help? --Russoc4 14:32, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- Try Special:Specialpages.
SLUMGUM yap stalk 14:41, 7 July 2006 (UTC) - See also the offline reports at Wikipedia:Maintenance#Reports. --cesarb 15:37, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- Muchas gracias. --Russoc4 17:08, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- Many such pages can no longer exist due to software upgrades. //Ae:æ 03:21, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Muchas gracias. --Russoc4 17:08, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- As to the original question, the direct links would be Special:Mostrevisions and Special:Longpages. Titoxd(?!?) 03:36, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
energy band
why energy levels are parabolide in shape in E-K diagrams?
Sorry, not sure what you mean. Please be much more specific and clear. Are you perhaps talking about the potential of a quantum harmonic oscillator? That's the only thing that rings a bell, but i'd rather not spend time answering without clarification. --Bmk 19:37, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
windows on ships
hi, in the UK we have this guy called stelios someone. anyway he runs a low cost airline (easy jet) in europe and last year launched a similar concept for cruises (called, easily enough, easy cruise). anyway, the cabins in this ship dont have windows -he claims this way he can reduce his costs. i cant actually believe this but neither can i see any other advantage in not having windows. is having windows (by which i mean the small circular port hole things, not vast great french windows looking out on to the horizon) expensive? if so, why? thanks 201.32.177.211 18:33, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- Offhand guess - his ships are cheap because they're converted freighters, and one of the ways to keep a conversion cheap would be to not add windows. But I really don't know. Shimgray | talk | 18:53, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- According to our article, The cabins offer a simple bed and bathroom: most do not have windows (although that is changing to make all the rooms have windows). I suspect he charges less because he can carry more passengers by having more cabins (since they don't all have to be along the sides of the ship). Perhaps the extra cabins are going to have windows onto the corridor rather than onto the sea? HenryFlower 19:18, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- I don't understand why it is difficult to understand that not adding windows is cheaper than buying windows, cutting holes in the ship, mounting the new windows, and then sealing them. If you don't add windows, there's no cost. If you do add windows, there is the cost of supplies and labor. --Kainaw (talk) 19:34, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- I got three lettors for you: T, C, and O. Total Cost of Ownership. TCO. Just Google. 82.131.184.144 22:36, 7 July 2006 (UTC).
- I know that windows in the hull of a ship are round because square ones tear at the corners. But maybe round ones also weaken the hull, making it necessary to make it heavier or something. But even local reinforcements will add to the cost and if you offer travel at dirt cheap prices you need to cut every corner.
- By the way, imagine ships not having to pay taxes on fuel, like airplanes. Airlines would go out of business in a massive way. But that's a different issue. DirkvdM 19:40, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- This is rather offtopic, but I strongly doubt it. Commuting by ship had largely died by the 1960's; plane travel was much, much more expensive then than it is now. In any case, you can buy a New York-London return plane ticket for 500 USD; even using a 40 knot ship and assuming Plymouth as a departure point rather than London, it still takes 72 hours to do New York-Plymouth. Feeding somebody half-decent food for six days (return) costs at least 150 USD or so. If you assume 20 USD per night for the cabin, that's another 120 USD. So that's 270 USD, conservatively, before we've even moved the ship anywhere. So, at a maximum, we're going to save in the order of 200-250 USD by taking the ship, at the cost of six days on the ship against one day (total) on the plane. Most international travellers earn considerably more than 250 USD per week. --Robert Merkel 03:52, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Two things. One, you're talking about Europe-US. Those are the cheapest airfares around, I believe. In stead, try the Caribbean. Two, after the 60's, a new phenomenon arose, the budget traveller. There's loads of (mostly young) people around these days who have a fair bit of money (compared to the 50's), though not too much (compared to holiday making families) and loads of time. On a half year trip a few days on a boat won't make that much of a difference. And you don't get jet lagged. And it's not cramped. And you get to meet other budget travellers. And ehm, on international waters, so ... tax free alcohol?
- I've been a budget traveller for several years, so I know what I'm talking about. A 300 euro trip to the Caribbean? Yeah man, cool! In Indonesia they've got these island-hopping Pelni ships that are a real cool way to travel and meet people. I suppose the 'meeting people' thing is the most important. Along with the price. DirkvdM 08:49, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Ah, I've checked their website [43] and after starting in Europe, their next destination is ... the Caribbean. I had thought of this myself years ago, but I lack both the money and the entrepreneurial instinct to set something like this up. However, I could try applying for a job with them. Doing this trip and getting paid for it! How cool is that? Of course, I'll have to work too. Bummer! :) DirkvdM 09:02, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
ANCIENT BEER
I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT ANCIENT PEOPLE WHO MADE BEER DIED FROM ITS USE. IT HAS BEEN EXPLAINED TO ME THAT THE PROCESS THEY USED DID NOT FILTER OUT IMPURITIES THAT MAY HAVE MADE THE BEER TOXIC. IS THIS TRUE? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 164.156.127.28 (talk)
- Please stop yelling (using all caps). There is no mention of death by impurities in history of beer, but it is rather silly to think that beer didn't have impurities or go bad long before refridgeration. --Kainaw (talk) 19:31, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- There is some truth behind that. Before the introduction of hops other bitter herbs were used to flavor and preserve beer, some of which were indeed toxic in large quantities. The keyword here is gruit. One must also remember that in former times people would consume large quantities of beer because it had been boiled and thus was safer than water. Dr Zak 20:07, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- On a related point, my understanding is during days of yore, because beer is fermented, weak beer/wine was actually used as the common drinking liquid instead of water, which would often harbor microorganisms that would cause illness. So while deaths may have come from beer impurities (and don't forget ethanol itself is toxic in large amounts, like everything), probably beer saved more lives (or at least delayed deaths) more than it took. 128.197.81.223 21:56, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
- No pathogenic (disease-causing) microorganisms can survive in beer. Therefore, beer (filtered or not) is not toxic, except in the case of alcohol poisoning, unless toxic substances are added (a la Dr Zak's herbs). In fact, homebrewers regularly consume unfiltered beer, and some styles such as hefeweizen are sold commercially without filtration. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs 03:49, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Another point that I should mention -- beer brewers are very careful to keep all equipment and wort (unfermented beer) as sanitary and microorganism-free as possible. However, the consequences of bacterial contamination are not potentially toxic, just potentially ruinous to the flavor of beer. Brewers of lambic beer are an exception; they encourage the growth of wild bacteria and yeasts. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs 03:52, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
Agent Orange
What chemicals does 2,4,5,T break down to? 2,4,5,T is one half of Agent Orange.
- Burkholderia cepacia can break down 2,4,5,T in the chain shown here [44]. This [45] abstract claims that 2,4,5,T was broken down by non-adapted sediment microorganisms first into 2,5-Dichlorohydroquinone (as in the previous link) but then into 3-chlorophenol and phenol (but notably without apparent 2,4,5-trichlorophenol as an intermediate, unlike as in the first link). It is thus likely that the intermediates and end products vary from organism to organism, but it appears some steps are common, at least in the information from the two links above. As to what it breaks down to on its own, I do not know. 128.197.81.223 22:07, 7 July 2006 (UTC)
According to this article about a selectively bred organism, Pseudomonas Cepacia, which readily breaks down 2,4,5-T, 2,4,5-T is very recalcitrant to spontaneous degradation, and are usually slowly broken down by natural soil bacteria. However, I did finally find an article here from "Inchem" that seems to deal significantly with the spontaneous (non-biological) breakdown of 2,4,5-T. To summarize, the article seems to say that when it travels through biological pathways, i.e. bacteria, the intermediates vary widely, but the end products are mostly carbon dioxide, inorganic chlorides, and water. However when 2,4,5-T is broken down through photolysis, i.e. sunlight, the end product is 2,4,5-trichlorophenol. This product will not be detected often because it is more easily metabolized than 2,4,5-T.
It may also be of interest that during the manufacture of 2,4,5-T, some amount of 2,3,7,8 tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is also produced. If the reaction is carefully temperature-controlled, TCDD levels can be minimized. TCDD is (according to our article and this) a serious human and environmental toxin, although it is not a breakdown product of 2,4,5-T, just a byproduct of synthesis. --Bmk 05:50, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
How was metal mined in the middle ages?
I mean, I know they didn't have the technology to mine massive amounts. Where were metal deposits found and how were they mined? Much help appreciated! 162.40.192.43 02:48, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- We have a few articles that may be of interest to you - foremost is smelting, a nice article which is really the answer to your question. Basically, most metals are found in nature as ores (another good article listing the common mineable ore forms of metals). Ores are just bodies of rock containing metals. Usually in ores the metals are trapped as oxides or sulfides, meaning they have been oxidized and are now salts. In order to extract them, they must be reduced, meaning something must remove the oxygen or sulfur or whatever has oxidized it and take away the extra electrons so it is a neutral metal again. This is accomplished with a reducing agent, which in ancient times would have been charcoal.
- A miner would find rocks containing the ore, for instance hematite, the ore from which iron can be extracted, by the characteristics of the rocks, or by the characteristics of the places in which it is often found. He would probably break up the rocks into gravel or powder, then put it under a wood fire, probably in the bottom where there is little atmospheric oxygen. The carbon in the charcoal, when heated in the fire, would reduce the hematite (Fe2O3) into iron metal (in the case of oxides like hematite the carbon would be oxidized and turn into carbon dioxide). He would then probably wash the ashes and little bits of iron metal would be left behind. Once he had enough metal, he could melt them into a bar, make a nice sword, and smite all the poor souls who were still using wooden spears.
- If you were looking for more specifics about the actual mining of the ores, there is some information about this in the articles about the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Hope this helps, and everyone else keep me honest - make sure that was accurate. --Bmk 04:48, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- The Middle Ages (I am assuming you in Europe) just carried on from Roman mining(see Roman Deep-vein Mining by Lynne Cohen Duncan on the University of North Carolina website). "Finding" was by seeing the ore or metal above ground (and remained so until modern geological techniques changed things - when was that?). The technique itself was still opencast (surface excavation) and deep-vein mining (tunnels), as in Roman times, with minor improvements in ways of mechanically managing water and ore. From the University of Nevada site: Copper in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Also Gold in the middle ages, by Rafal Swiecki. This page on Technology in the Middle Ages History of Technology, from the Department of Aviation and Technology at San Jose State University, gives information and good links. Interesting for me was the info that Saxon (German) miners were apparently "in demand all over Europe, leading to German terms being common in mining" (I'd like to know more about that too) and that the status of miners changed from that of serfs to freemen / artisans. The external links given have references to contemporary medieval writings on the subject, but these would be more difficult to come by. --Seejyb 13:26, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
Want to learn more about Ozone Generators
I searched for information both here and on the web without success. I am interested in building an ozone generator. I do not want to build the small units built by pot growers but instead, the larger units used for shock treatments of homes for odor control. Something in the 14,000 mg/hr range.
I know the internal workings but am having difficulty with creating the corona discharge. I would like to build a tube designed corona discharge instead of the plate type. I attempted to buy replacement tubes from ozone generator manufacturers without success.
My questions to you good people are as follows: Does anyone have plans for a high output ozone machine that includes how to build each part (Obviously the corona discharge tube)? Does anyone know where I can obtain such info?
I attempted to search the patent office for them (my favorite search ___location) but have not had any luck finding anything. The commercial ozone generator sales companies guard their secrets and fight with each other but none will tell you anything and it is quite frustrating.
My reason for all of this is I want to start a business with the ozone machines but have a lot more satisfaction making them than buying them (and it is usually cheaper). I would be just as happy finding a source for the corona discharge tubes that I could purchase.
When you are not sure what to do, ask people wiser than yourself. So, I'm asking.
Thanks
--Diabolic 04:21, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- This is very specialized and very dangerous (high voltage). You probably won't get much help here, sorry. --Zeizmic 15:11, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- bigclive looks like the kind of guy who could advise you. This page has his an email address. --Seejyb 20:00, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
Lightning rod
I live in an area where the occurance of lightning is frequent. Although my dwelling is surrounded by electrical poles and large oak trees and other houses about 1 out of 3 rain storms will produce a lightning bolt that hits the main 4 inch cast iron vent pipe coming out of the roof from the bathroom wet wall. The burst must jump to the water lines in the wall because the lines are immediately filled with calcium and rust build up on the inside of the pipe which clog the faucet filters and produce very brown to dark black water which must be flushed from the lines for up to 15 minutes. Would installation of lightning rods near the vent on the roof prevent this from happening or has lightning picked my house and my main vent as its eternal grounding buddy? ...IMHO (Talk) 10:15, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Well that's exactly what lightning rods are for, so as long as it is well grounded and extends well above the top of the pipe, it should do the trick. Incidentally, as flying aircraft are not grounded, why are they sometimes struck by lightning? I would guess because they just happen to get in the way...--Shantavira 12:45, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Alternatively, could you replace the iron pipe with plastic?--Shantavira 12:59, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Only at unreasonable expense although both water and sewer have long since been replaced with plastic between the house and the street. ...IMHO (Talk) 15:00, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- A lightning rod would probably not prevent strikes, but would divert the strikes so most of the current does not flow through the water pipes. Another advantage would be that the ligntning conductors would be designed to make sure no fire starts; with the water and sewage pipes, it's just a matter of luck that nothing more serious than dirty water has happened. The lightning protection system should of course be installed by a licensed contractor. Gerry Ashton 19:43, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
Half life of common medications
Is there a list of in the body half life for various off-the-shelf medications such as aspirin? ...IMHO (Talk) 11:10, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
No easily accessible list, but if you google "generic name pharmacokinetics" (e.g. acetylsalicylic acid pharmacokinetics) and you will get links and refs (e.g. PMID 11837380). I am not sure what you will do with the data, as the primary use for half life data is for interpreting blood levels of a drug (for the drugs we monitor by blood level) drawn at a known time after dosing. alteripse 11:40, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Actually I'm looking for parity data based on time from oral intake that can be adjusted for weight, medical condition etc. since such information might not only help consumers have a better feel for dosage, etc. but also might serve as a diagnostic tool in terms of observable half life deviation from normal, i.e., interval before return of pain or other symptoms, etc. ...IMHO (Talk) 14:57, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- From practical experience with the difficulties doctors and nurses have with using pharmacokinetic data, I have a pessimistic suspicion that you could put random numbers in your tables and outcomes would be indistinguishable. I think that's why there are no consumer tables. For example, are you interested in drug level half-life or biological effect half-life or average duration of effect or FDA-approved dosing interval instructions? After single doses, or steady states? Duration of effect does not bear the same mathematical relationship to either blood level or biological effect half-life for every drug. Finally, you picked one of the worst possible example drugs: duration of analgesic effects are notorious for being dependent on far more variables than drug half-life. You are proposing a thesis project for a Pharm. D. degree-- make sure you get credit for it. alteripse 19:46, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
Effect of radiation on water
Can electromagnetic radiation (photons from lasers), Gamma, Alpha, or Beta radiation separate molecules of water into their constituent parts of hydrogen and oxygen in a manner that does not render water or its constituents radioactive? ...IMHO (Talk) 15:27, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Do we get to use a catalyst? --jpgordon∇∆∇∆ 15:42, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Not if it requires that I take time off from work. ...IMHO (Talk) 15:43, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Sure, ionizing radiation (alpha, beta, and gamma) can ionize water. Not "photons from lasers", though, unless it's a gamma ray laser. It's a terribly inefficient method of separating water into hydrogen and oxygen, though. Most of the ion pairs just recombine immediately. —Keenan Pepper 16:10, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- So then its not like I could somehow use nuclear waste to generate hydrogen for fuel and oxygen to breath? ...IMHO (Talk) 17:27, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- You could possibly use the waste to generate heat (Hydrogen + Oxygen is exothermic), which could produce steam, drive a turbine, and then split some other water by electrolysis, but I doubt all but the highest level waste would produce more than a tiny bit of heat. smurrayinchester(User), (Talk) 17:37, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Note that gamma radiation is a high energy form of EM radiation, not a separate phenomenon. --Bmk 18:15, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Side point: "So then its not like I could somehow use nuclear waste to generate hydrogen for fuel and oxygen to breath?" With the water you split you will not be able to use H as fuel AND breath the O, because the O is needed to burn the H. One or the other. --GangofOne 22:12, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Well, you could, in that excess oxygen exists in the atmosphere, so you can burn the hydrogen in air. That leaves the oxygen available for use in SCUBA tanks running trimix, for example. StuRat 22:55, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- That's not a side point, that was IMHO's point it seems. And Keenan already said it would be way too inefficient. Think about it. The energy could at most be that amount of energy in the radiation and if that were anything substantial it would be way too dangerous. Not that it isn't, but it takes just a little bit of energy do lethal damage to living tissue. DirkvdM 08:57, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
microbiology
how does a cell make a membrane protein, from dna to mature protein?
- Please don't ask entire homework questions (I'm guessing this is a homework question, though i may be wrong). I can't answer the question for you, but you might find some information at membrane protein or by searching google. -Benbread 18:55, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- You probably want to read the article on Protein biosynthesis. - Mgm|(talk) 21:45, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- an incredibly broad question, imo too broad to be homework. you want transcription, translation, translocon, endoplasmic reticulum, golgi apparatus, secretion, cell membrane, integral membrane protein. a lot of work there, enjoy. Xcomradex 22:44, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
July 8
Chest hair
Why do I only have a single spot, about 5 cm by 5 cm, on my the left side of my chest that keeps growing chest hair? It's bugging the hell out of me. I want either a completely hairless chest or a chest that grows hair in a larger, symmetrical area. What can I do about this? JIP | Talk 19:07, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- It just happens that way at times. I suggest shaving it until it comes in more evenly, especially if you are a woman. :-) StuRat 22:50, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- lol, that's so mean Stu =D --mboverload@ 23:32, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- He is lucky Stu answered first. I would have diagnosed him with unilateral pectoral hypotrichosis (or hypertrichosis, depending on which side he wants to consider normal), recommended unilateral depilation (or unilateral minoxidil) and charged him $200. alteripse 04:39, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Gee, no Wikipedian discount? Titoxd(?!?) 05:16, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- That is the discounted fee. alteripse 12:46, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Gee, no Wikipedian discount? Titoxd(?!?) 05:16, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Some people have traces of a third nipple that shows up as a small patch of hair on the side of the chest. TheSPY 17:13, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- No, hair grows around nipples (i.e., periareolar), not on them. Accessory nipples are not the same as hair patches-- they are usually reddish bumps along the milk line. alteripse 17:45, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- He is lucky Stu answered first. I would have diagnosed him with unilateral pectoral hypotrichosis (or hypertrichosis, depending on which side he wants to consider normal), recommended unilateral depilation (or unilateral minoxidil) and charged him $200. alteripse 04:39, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
hyperterminal
Hi, I'm interested in writing a program in Python/C++/VB 6.0 that people can connect to over the internet with Hyperterimal or another similar client. Wondering where to start...
I would like the program to accept commands from Hyperterminal, process them, and send back a result (eventually I hope to make a working, albeit very simple MUD)
Thanks, -Kyle
- There are many ways. But why not start by experimenting with "telnet"? On the server machine, write some shell scripts or other programs that return stuff, then connect to that machine remotely and invoke those scripts. --GangofOne 22:19, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- yes, that might be a good starting point. Thanks,-Kyle
- One thing to keep in mind is that, regarding the server, the simplest solution isn't the best. When supporting only a single client, a simple server can just accept a connection over a socket and wait for input from the client, then execute input when it arrives and send back the results of its processing. When multiple clients come into the picture, however, the server can't wait on a single client: you need to be a bit more clever and have it, e.g., cycle through each connected socket, buffering any input until it finds a newline character, then executing that particular client's command and continuing cycling. Likely you can find example code online to do this sort of thing. 128.197.81.223 23:21, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
Hatred between gulls and magpies
I've seen this happen a few times - gulls and magpies seem to have a mutual dislike of each other. Today I observed a magpie and a lesser black-backed gull stood on opposite sides of the roof, eying each other up aggressively. The magpie was chattering angrily, while the gull was giving it an icy stare and lowering its head to the ground as though to attack (as they do). Neither would back down and it ended up with both birds running headlong at each other and a session of squabbling, biting and flapping. The fight went on for a good minute or so.
This is not the first time I've seen this sort of thing happen. As well as individual fights, I've seen groups of magpies attacking groups of gulls, groups of gulls attacking groups of magpies, groups of magpies hassling lone gull fledgelings, groups of gulls hassling lone magpie fledgelings, both species chasing each other in flight, etc.
Anyone know why this occurs?
For the record (before anyone starts one of those 'who would win in a fight?' threads), the magpie came out on top. It seemed to have slightly faster reflexes and managed to evade most of the gull's pecks, whilst managing to inflict enough of its own to eventually cause the larger bird to lose its nerve. --Kurt Shaped Box 22:32, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Kurt, I see you still have nothing but gulls on that diseased brain of yours...time to administer electroshock therapy...BZZZZZZT. There, is that any better ? StuRat 22:44, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Hey! I mentioned magpies too! C'mon - it was too cool not to mention... ;) --Kurt Shaped Box 22:52, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- I carefully positioned the electrodes to preserve the magpie portion of your brain, at least until that becomes a fetish and requires a second round of electroshock therapy. :-) StuRat 22:59, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Awwwww! Just answer the question willya? The suspense is killin' me... ;) --Kurt Shaped Box 23:24, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
Any warfare, either within a species or between species, is likely to be over competition for a scarce resource (assuming neither preys on the other). Perhaps they are in competition over food, nesting places, etc. ? StuRat 23:33, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Thanks, dude. :) I've just been thinking about it now. Both species are known to eat the eggs of other birds from time to time, though it would take a *very* brave predator to attempt a raid on the nests of either of these species. I suppose that magpies do occasionally steal gull eggs and vice versa - which I suppose could go some way explain it. When both species come into contact, there is nearly always an instant agressive response, so perhaps they do perceive each other as a threat. --Kurt Shaped Box 23:43, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- Also, aren't magpies notorious thieves ? Perhaps they steal nesting material from the gulls. StuRat 23:48, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- On a couple of occasions, I've seen them trying sneak up and steal (i.e. pluck) feathers from sleeping gulls, much in the same way as they have been known to pull fur from cats and dogs to line their nests. This annoys the gulls, as I'm sure you can imgaine (I cannot personally understand why they take such risks with species more than capable of killing them). --Kurt Shaped Box 00:00, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- OK, we have more than enough reasons for gulls to hate magpies, I suggest the gulls attack and this causes the same response from the magpies. StuRat 00:21, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- I suppose magpies are called thieves by humans because they like shiny things, just like humans do (very much so, if you look at silver prices). If they would just 'steal' branches for their nests we wouldn't call them thieves because we don't give a
Sturat's arse about branches. DirkvdM 09:17, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- I suppose magpies are called thieves by humans because they like shiny things, just like humans do (very much so, if you look at silver prices). If they would just 'steal' branches for their nests we wouldn't call them thieves because we don't give a
- I call anything that takes possessions of another animal a thief. I suppose one could argue for theft from a plant, as well, but since dead, fallen branches are typically used for nests, that certainly isn't theft. In the case of magpies, stealing fur and feathers currently attached to cats and birds most definitely counts as theft, and I don't blame those animals at all for being rather upset over it, even ignoring the pain. StuRat 16:55, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Can you be called a thief if you don't know you are one? Something like the difference between murder and manslaughter. The intention also counts. How can a magpie know that a ring belongs to someone? I don't mean that animals don't know the concept of possession (else they'd be perfect commies :) ) but do they even know that the house they find it in is someone's possession? It's just a (fancy) cave that some other bipedal creature also frequents. For inhabitants of a house, we use most parts of it very infrequently, compared to other animals' 'homes' (nests, from a magpie's perspective). DirkvdM 08:48, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- I've got a view of a fair bit of feathered wildlife from my window and noticed that coots are also incredibly aggressive. They attack anything that comes near them (except for swans - they're not that stupid). They even attack their own young. I suppose a lot of birds do that to tell them to go live on their own, but the coots are really aggressive, pecking their heads hard and chasing them for a long time to do so. Once some ducklings came close to a coot, which started an attack but was stopped by a very brave duck mother. I was impressed (and so was the coot). Don't mess with a mother! DirkvdM 09:17, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- There's a really horrific scene in David Attenborough's "Life of Birds" series in which parent coots systematically harass, attack and kill several of their own chicks. This apparently happens once they've decided which ones are the strongest and most likely to survive - the others are thus a drain on resources and expendable. I know that nature is 'red in tooth and claw (and beak)' but I was really distressed by it. --Kurt Shaped Box 11:08, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Hey, I like magpies, so I'll comment on the gull question too. I wouln't anthropomorphize these birds to the point of describing them as harboring hatred or holding grudges. However, territoriality based on competition (both are scavengers, after all) is a probable reason for the behaviors. I see it with songbirds, too -- for example, starlings chasing robins. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs 20:45, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Further to the above, my freezer broke down yesterday and I ended up with a couple of loaves of soggy bread, which I threw out for the birds this afternoon. One of the local black-backed gulls was sat on the roof opposite, keeping an eye on the bread but showing no interest in eating it (as far as I know, gulls don't particularly like bread and will only eat it if they're hungry and there is no other food around). A couple of magpies flew down and started to eat, at which point the gull suddenly became *very* interested and started attacking the magpies. It swooped down, deliberately crashed into one of the birds and tried to bite its throat. The typical struggle, flapping, bickering and aerial chase followed, though this time gull and magpie were grappling with their beaks in mid-air, which was quite interesting to observe. You've gotta love gull logic - "This food is mine. The fact that I don't want or need it does not alter the fact that it is mine. Those that attempt to take what is mine are my enemies. I must attack my enemies". It seems almost human... ;) --Kurt Shaped Box 23:59, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- I have this really interesting image of a little shed on a tiny island completely covered in gull feces owned by a tiny shriveled old Britain that has fed the resident gull population for so long that they have permanently taken up residence in his chimney and are starting to get possesive about who get's to be the "master's pet". freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 05:20, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- Further to the above, my freezer broke down yesterday and I ended up with a couple of loaves of soggy bread, which I threw out for the birds this afternoon. One of the local black-backed gulls was sat on the roof opposite, keeping an eye on the bread but showing no interest in eating it (as far as I know, gulls don't particularly like bread and will only eat it if they're hungry and there is no other food around). A couple of magpies flew down and started to eat, at which point the gull suddenly became *very* interested and started attacking the magpies. It swooped down, deliberately crashed into one of the birds and tried to bite its throat. The typical struggle, flapping, bickering and aerial chase followed, though this time gull and magpie were grappling with their beaks in mid-air, which was quite interesting to observe. You've gotta love gull logic - "This food is mine. The fact that I don't want or need it does not alter the fact that it is mine. Those that attempt to take what is mine are my enemies. I must attack my enemies". It seems almost human... ;) --Kurt Shaped Box 23:59, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
I lived the first two decades of my life in a building that had birch trees on one side and a somewhat lower building on the other. We regularly had crows or magpies nesting in the trees and gulls nesting on the roof of the adjacent building. Over the years, I made a couple of observations that seemed to hold almost always:
- On the side with the trees, we'd have a pair of either crows or magpies, but not both. They'd compete over the same nest, which got rebuilt year after year, and one species or the other would win. Often the losing couple would try to build a nest in a nearby tree, but they rarely succeeded in raising chicks; either they'd be chased away while trying to build a second nest too close to first one, or they'd choose a less suitable place for their nest and have it destroyed by wind, squirrels, humans and/or other birds.
- On top of the adjacent building, there'd be one gull nest, usually of herring gulls. Sometimes the smaller common gulls or black-headed gulls would try to build a nest at the other end of the roof; the herring gulls would drive them off or kill them. I never saw more than one herring gull nest on the same roof, although there usually was another one on top of our building.
- The gulls did harrass the corvids, and vice versa. Usually the gulls seemed to have air superiority, but the crows and magpies had one major advantage; they were safe in the trees, where the gulls couldn't safely follow them. So the gulls and the corvids would coexist, if grudgingly.
All in all, I got the distinct impression that, when nesting sites are not too crowded, both gulls and corvids tend to avoid nesting too close to others of their own species, and will go to considerable efforts to drive away any other species which they percieve as competitors. Of course, this has to be conditional behavior; gulls nesting in crowded island colonies certainly can't affort such luxury, if they want to nest at all. —Ilmari Karonen (talk) 22:08, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
MUD with largest player base
google searches have failed me. I'm looking for a list of the current largest MUD's on the net.
If http://www.topmudsites.com/ is to be believed, then
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aardwolf_MUD
is one of the largest?
Thanks, -Kyle
Wattage
How many watts is 120V 60Hz AC at 0.45 amps? What is the formula to solve such problems? Thanks. - MSTCrow 23:57, 8 July 2006 (UTC)
- see Power (physics) and Electric power --GangofOne 00:15, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- So it appears to be 54 watts, if I'm doing this correctly. - MSTCrow 18:07, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Yes, assuming a purely resistive phase factor (which in fact you have to or else there isn't enough information in the question). Arbitrary username 22:06, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- So it appears to be 54 watts, if I'm doing this correctly. - MSTCrow 18:07, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
memorize WAV (like "hi!") Watts = Amps * Volts. WAV. You have to have to have to memorize that. Hey there! wav.
Hatred between gulls and moonpies
The above question inspired me, how can anyone hate a marshmallow filled dessert? They're just so delicious, it boggles the mind--152.163.100.74 01:04, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- I blame the Jews. --George 01:06, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Well, I am a Jew, and the idea of a marshmallow filled dessert sounds pretty gross to me. - MSTCrow 01:11, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Moonpies? Try a pav instead. BTW, what is it with gulls and maglevs? Grutness...wha? 01:51, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- I think it's the gulls and magnetos that are the real enemies. User:Zoe|(talk) 03:07, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Useful advice: If a gull won't eat it, you probably shouldn't be eating it yourself. --Kurt Shaped Box 10:55, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
What's the best.. ?
Whast's the best place/method on the internet to find lots and lots of free high quality pr0n?--Question1 02:57, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- I'll give you a hint: it has nothing to do with the Wikipedia reference desk. Sorry. —Keenan Pepper 03:14, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- LOL - but you have to give him credit - he tried to ask it in sort of a scientific-sounding way. --Bmk 03:34, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- If you're using Google Image, did you remember to turn SafeSearch off? That step is key. —Keenan Pepper 05:29, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- There's even a pron redirect. I thought it was a taipow (no, no redirect for that). DirkvdM 09:24, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
go to www.discretesex.com or www.jonsvids.com =) many many free videos that lead to sites with even more free videos =))) -PitchBlack
Running MAC apps on a Windows box
Is there any way to run simple, terminal programs written for the MAC on a pc? Is there a virtual machine, or a compability layer or an emulator or anything? Oskar 06:43, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- I'm confused. The title says Mac apps, the question refers to terminal scripts. Which is it? OS 9 or OS X? If OS X, terminal scripts are sh or bash scripts. bash can be run on Windows (somehow I assume you are not using Linux) if you get Cygwin. Or maybe I misunderstand your question, what is it you want to run? There exists an OLD Mac 7 emulator, "Executor"... --GangofOne 07:33, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- The new Macs are 80x86 based, so they're pc's in a sense, but that's probably not what you meant. DirkvdM 09:27, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
Physics
This IS a homework question, but id really appreciate if someone could explain HOW to do it (I've looked in the textbook and can't find the appropriate method) 'A runner, starting from rest, speedsup uniformly to a velocity of 6.0 m/s in 4.0 s. continues at this velocity for another 10s. and then slows down to a stop in 2.0s Draw the velocity time graph for the runner (done that) and determine how far the runner has travelled (This is the part I'm stuck with). Help is appreciated as i do need to study for the exam tomorrow. Thank you in advance.
- Break the calculation into the three parts, each of which has a different acceleration (in one case, the acceleration is zero). Use s = u . t + (1/2) . a . t2 (can't remember what formula this is, but you should have been taught it more recently than I was; it's one of a set of three). In fact, this formula makes more sense if you realise that your task could also be expressed as "give the area under the graph", but I don't remember being taught that. Notinasnaid 07:50, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Ah found it. See Equation of motion#classic version. The first three of the "classic" equations shown are so important you will be expected to remember them and use them during any exam. Notinasnaid 07:57, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
Ok I think I understand now thanks all.
- you have a graph of velocity vs. time, so just take the area under the graph. Just look at the units, m/s * s = m. That's visually what the mathematics/calculus is doing. -Kyle
Hallucination
What is the specific name of hallucinatory effect of seeing animal or other creatures heads on a person (drug influenced or otherwise)— Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.69.221.200 (talk)
- The closest I can find in the OED is zo'oscopy: a species of hallucination in which imaginary animal forms are seen.--Shantavira 14:45, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- What a wonderful word. That's why I love the OED. Perhaps you could use this as the basis for a more fantastical neologism, like monstroscopy; or a more specific neologism, like zoocephaloscopy: a hallucination in which animal heads are seen; more specific yet, circumcorporeal zoocephaloscopy: hallucination in which animal heads appear around a body—pretty close, eh? Bhumiya (said/done) 23:07, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Or even chimeroscopy, that of seeing hybrid creatures, perhaps. Confusing Manifestation 01:17, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
Does twisting add strength?
Is a twisted structure stronger than a non-twisted structure of the same basic shape? If built from the same materials, on the same scale, would this be stronger than this? I have a special fondness for spiral architecture and I was wondering if there's any actual advantage in it. Intuitively, I would think so, but I'm no architect. Thanks! Bhumiya (said/done) 15:05, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- You seem to be talking about compression strength, so I would say no. There might be an advantage in making wind load more consistent, by not presenting a single flat surface which can act as a sail, but I suspect the cost savings of making a rectangular box would allow for enough overdesign to compensate for this. Spiral shapes do help in ropes under tension, to secure the strands together and ensure that the force is distributed evenly to the strands. In architecture, however, I suspect it's purely for aesthetics. StuRat 17:05, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
.
- Not sure it's stronger for it, but you might like to see this famous example of twisting. The folk stories of "how" this happened are charming (Chesterfield). --Dweller 10:25, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
Laptops needing harddrives
Why do laptops still use harddrives? Would miniSD's allow for a more compact design and eliminate the point of failure that is inherent in spinning drives?
- For some applications – some portable music players come to mind – the durability and lower power requirements of solid-state storage do make that option more attractive. However, the price per gigabyte of storage is still much higher for solid state memory compared to spinning hard disks. A hundred gigabyte solid-state drive would cost thousands of dollars. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 16:21, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
I think you're right, and shortly we may start to see laptops without hard drives. We may eventually see the same thing in desktop computers, but the weight and size of hard drives is less of an issue there, and cost is more of an issue, so it may take a while. The heat and noise of hard drives is also a negative which will be fixed by going to SD cards. StuRat 17:10, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Most hard drives have a data transfer rate much higher than even the fastest SD cards, if I'm not mistaken. Sum0 17:31, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
The reason is a limitation on miniSD and related technologies: they all use flash memory, which has a limited number of write cycles. Unless you are using an operating system designed to be used on flash memory, the repeated use (for instance, virtual memory, temporary files, and atime updates) will wear it down too quickly. A hard disk drive can be written to many more times than flash memory (and, in fact, the main factor on wearing it down would be either the bearings failing or stiction). Some modern systems are being designed with flash memory in mind; for instance, the OLPC project laptops (see $100 laptop). --cesarb 18:01, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Write cycle limits are a problem but they are improving all the time. They are also getting better at fault tolerance so they will continue to work without interruption as cells go bad. Price per GB is also improving constantly. Samsung is working on viable solid state disks for small laptops and tablet PCs, as seen in this somewhat dated article Arstechnica. The key benefits to solid state disks are high g-force tolerance (translated: drop-proof) and low energy consumption (around 5% of platter type disks). In short, they aren't out yet but be on the lookout for this technology, it has the potential to dramatically improve portable computing.
Bumblebee stings
I'm puzzled by the evolution of this. Since the use of the sting kills the bee, surely the first bees to develop this mutation should by definition have not survived to pass on the advantage? --Dweller 19:14, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Worker bees, the ones most likely to sting, never reproduce anyway. See: honeybee life cycle and bee sting. Dragons flight 19:21, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Then how have they evolved at all? --Dweller 19:48, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- There is only one breeding female per hive, the queen. Most of her children are infertile worker bees that do the grunt work and protect the hive. So basically, the queen evolved the ability to create an army of sterile slaves to protect her own genetic heritage. Dragons flight 19:57, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- I think you misunderstood my (second) question. Since the workers cannot breed, how do they evolve? --Dweller 20:07, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- 'They' don't, they're all the same species, but the Queen that produces more effective worker bees, is more likely to live long enough to reproduce, where as a queen that produces ineffective worker bees, isn't as likely to live long enough to reproduce--71.249.9.254 20:13, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- I think you misunderstood my (second) question. Since the workers cannot breed, how do they evolve? --Dweller 20:07, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- From what I remember from the article, the use of the sting only kills when used against mammals, not other bees, wasps, etc. Emmett5 20:15, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- (bringing it back here) Not sure I buy that... a tiny freaky mutation in an individual might help its survival and therefore "protect" the mutation. But this individual is hardly going to make much of an impact on the survival chances of the queen. --Dweller 20:21, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Because queens make the workers, mutations in her can allow her to create more effective workers. Hence workers evolve through evolution in the queen. Dragons flight 20:25, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Evolutionarily speaking, you can think of a hive as a single organism. The worker bees are like legs or organs of the queen, except they are physically distinct. It's sort of like asking why a macrophage (white blood cell) engulfs foreign bacteria, when doing so is fatal to the macrophage. It's not autonomous; it's part of its organism (i.e. you). Likewise, a worker bee is part of the hive organism because it does not reproduce. This idea taken to its extreme is called the gene-centered view of evolution. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs 20:54, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- The fact that queen bees have smooth stingers and can sting mammals more than once without dying supports this view. The queen has evolved to survive, while the workers have evolved to be useful to the queen. Crazywolf 21:06, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
1. I'm not even sure bumblebee bees have hives. 2. Honey bees' stingers can repeatedly sting another insect, so I would imagine that most threats to bees come from other predatory and/or thieving (of their honey) insects, so it didn't make much sense to bother if the occassional bee happens to come across a mammal with much tougher and elastic skin and ends up kiling itself. - MSTCrow 21:34, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- 1. Bumblebees do have hives, but they are small and do not resemble the honeycomb hives of honey bees.
- 2. Bumblebees' stingers are the smooth ones. Honeybees do have barbed stingers. And while honeybees are able to sting other instects in certain circumstances withuot dying, they have many predators which are not insects, see the predator section of honeybee.
- It seems that the bumblebees evolved in a more individualistic fashion, what with their non-self-lethal attacks and ability to mate with non-queen females, and the honeybees evolved more as an organism, as described above.Tuckerekcut 01:37, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- If i remember correctly, Dawkins' The Selfish Gene makes a very elegant explanation for how hive communities evolve and why it makes evolutionary sense (from a gene-centered perspective) for drones and workers to sacrifice themselves for the good of the Queen. Rockpocket 04:54, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
Spinach
How come eating raw spinach makes my teeth feel funny? Does it have some kind of astringent? —Keenan Pepper 20:39, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Not sure if this is the reason, but spinach does contain oxalic acid. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs 20:59, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Yes, the blame is usually put either directly on oxalic acid which supposedly slightly etches the surface of the teeth, or the gritty texture is attributed to oxalate crystals leaching out of the damaged plant cells. Femto 21:10, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Cool, I know what that is. Thanks! —Keenan Pepper 21:47, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- So, in a way, it's bad to eat spinach because it etches your teeth? Dismas|(talk) 01:44, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- Just swallow it without chewing. Or get someone else to chew it for you. freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 05:02, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- So, in a way, it's bad to eat spinach because it etches your teeth? Dismas|(talk) 01:44, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- Cool, I know what that is. Thanks! —Keenan Pepper 21:47, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
- Such as a cooking pot. Note he was talking about raw spinach. I'm not sure if that is healthy to eat anyway. DirkvdM 09:01, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- Is this anything like the funny feeling I get on my teeth when I eat a pear? (which is why I don't) DirkvdM 09:01, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- I get that feeling whenever I eat barbed wire. --Dweller 10:17, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
sun-oriented structures
i am currently building a labyrinth based on thee design of the labyrinth at chartre cathedral. one aspect of the design is the suggestion by one author, richard "feather" anderson i believe, that the entrance should be oriented to face the rising sun at the summer solstice. i would appreciate help in determining the significance and meaning of the eastern orientation and whether there are other examples.
thank you for your consideration and attention.
bruce haggerstone
- As stated in the instructions, please don't put your e-mail address on this page. That's begging for spam. --George 22:45, 9 July 2006 (UTC)
Leaders in thinking
I'm building the List of thinking-related topics, and I'm working on the "Leaders in thinking" section. I'm trying to find major scholars, researchers, and experts on thinking to add to the list. The emphasis is on thinking skills. So far I've found the following:
The list
|
|
Who else belongs on this list?
I'd appreciate any additions to this list. Thanks.
--Transhumanist 00:46, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- Alan Turing? Or is this just living people? —Keenan Pepper 01:00, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- Ayn Rand and Objectivism? Or am I not really seeing what you're getting at? Dismas|(talk) 01:40, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
Isn't "Experts on thinking" a little ambiguous? Perhaps you need to define the type of people that you want a little more tightly, eg. "Experts in human intelligence" or "Experts in cognitive psychology" etc. BenC7 04:03, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- I'd be tempted to add Richard Feynman, though this does seem to be a living-only list (otherwise there are a LOT of big names missing). Grutness...wha? 07:04, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
This seems a very neat idea for an article, although I'm not sure how you'd objectively qualify who belongs and who doesnt other than opinion. Maybe "List of leaders in thinking" and categorize it by field, since for each field one can probably identify respected "leaders". Look up the article or categories on genius which links to some well known thinkers, or look up category:philosophers? What'd heklp is if you define better what you are considering. FT2 (Talk | email) 13:13, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
Dodgy dreams...
Hi,
Sometimes when I am sleeping, I would be startled by the thought that I am tripping up in the stairs and my legs will involuntarily kick in respond to the thought. Then I would wake up.
Strangely this "dream" generates no image, i.e. I can not actually see stairs as I am having the thought of tripping up.
Can anyone explain why this happens and how can I stop having it?
--inky 03:50, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- I think this is called clonus, though the description in the WP article seems a bit different. My experience is not quite the same as yours; I usually have a dream that I remember at least a little bit of, and there's the sensation of falling and then of impact (I feel the impact in my whole body, not just my legs). As to how to stop it I have no idea; maybe just knowing that it's a common experience, and harmless (as far as I know), might put you at ease about it. --Trovatore 04:29, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- There seems to be a more specific article at hypnic jerk. --Trovatore 04:35, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- Who you calling a jerk? ;) Rockpocket 04:48, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- There seems to be a more specific article at hypnic jerk. --Trovatore 04:35, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- Thanks for that Trovatore! --inky 06:44, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
Difference between solstice and the coldest/warmest average daily temperatures
Why is there a lag time between the winter/summer solstice and the coldest/warmest average daily temperatures? For example, the winter solstice is on June 21 for the southern hemisphere, but the coldest part of the year in my city (Melbourne, Australia) is in July. Similarly, the summer solstice is in December, but the warmest part of the year is in Jan/Feb. See here for average Melbourne temperatures. -- User:E! 04:31, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- I think it's a matter of the thermal mass of the earth and water of the locality absorbing (or giving up) the heat over weeks which causes the time lag. Although the most heat may arrive from the sun at the summer solstice, it is the combination of that and the heat that is already stored in the locality which will determine the temperature experienced. (Of course there's atmospheric and oceanic mixing and many other factors involved.) I see a parallel with the general experience that a day's high temperature is typically closer to 3pm than to noon. -R. S. Shaw 04:56, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- The date of maximum/minimum sunlight corresponds to the highest/lowest average equilibrium temperature. However, it takes time to reach this equilibrium, as has been said in Shaw's post. See the seasonal lag page - User: Nightvid
- Thanks to you both. The seasonal lag page is exactly what I was after. -- E! 21:00, 11 July 2006 (AEST)
Gosh Numbers
Wikiscientists, if you are interested, please help determine this afd discussion about Gosh Numbers. Thanks! Bwithh 04:38, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
Theoretical basis of miniaturization
Miniaturizing or enlarging object (or people) is a common theme in science fiction. Is anyone aware any theoretical framework which could accomplish this (not the actual machinery, but the physical processes involved)? The individual atoms and molecules would probably all have to be miniaturized, but I am not sure how this could be accomplished. I searched Wikipedia a bit and found Resizing (fiction), which doesn't really help. My quantum mechanics is quite rusty; I am not sure if electrons or quarks have radii in any sense that would need to be reduced. One problem one might run into would be violations of Heisnberg's uncertainty principle, though perhaps it would not apply or would be modified under different physics. In Isaac Asimov's Fantastic Voyage II, I believe the explanation behind the miniaturization was that Planck's constant was reduced as well, which would solve that problem. I really can't recall the format of electron wavefunctions, but I don't believe that reducing Planck's constant would size of the wavefunction (that is, the distance from the nucleus). Is there a term that one could vary to change the wavefunction in this matter? How about the electron mass? Presumably the quark and electron masses would all have to be decreased as well, otherwise you'd end up with a very dense object. Actually, maybe that would allow escape from the uncertainly principle. I lack any quantum-mechanical knowledge of the structure of nuclei, so I have no idea what would be involved in shrinking inter-quark distances to decrease the size of the protons and neutrons or what would be involved in decreasing the nucleus itself. Presumably, too, charge would be decreased too, right? Actually maybe that could provide the suitable modification to the electron wavefunctions? If anyone has any thoughts, please share. If this doesn't make sense, just ask me, and I'll be glad to clarify. — Knowledge Seeker দ 07:45, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- There really is no theoretical basis for this; it makes no more sense than the idea that, exposed to radiation, an entire organism would mutate, or that if you're bitten by a radioactive spider you get mysterious spider powers. It just makes for good storytelling. Notinasnaid 07:49, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- Ah, you're correct, but you might be misunderstanding my point. While of course one would not expect that a bite from a radioactive spider could rewrite genes in a concerted fashion throughout an organism, it is certainly plausible that someone with an altered genome, perhaps as part of in vitro fertilization, could have abilities normal humans don't have. I'm not interested in the mechanics behind any of the stories involving miniaturization, but rather if it is possible from a theoretical standpoint. Or are you saying that you don't think it's possible under any circumstances? — Knowledge Seeker দ 08:12, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- In a Farscape episode, someone who had been miniaturised observed that this was impossible. Either everything was reduced down to the molecular scale, meaning she shouldn't be able to breathe normal air (the molecules wouldn't be able to interact) or the molecules remained the same size, in which there would be just a fraction of them, which would have meant that she had just a tiny brain, insufficient to think this through the way she did. DirkvdM 09:14, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- It may have been impossible in the episode, though I'm not talking about a specific science fiction work's portrayal of miniaturization. Interactions with the rest of the universe are problematic, and probably would depend on the putative physics involved. But the air problem isn't a barrier to miniaturizing a bookshelf, for instance, or a human in a space suit. right? In Fantastic Voyage II it was a submarine-type vehicle with an onboard life-support system. — Knowledge Seeker দ 09:25, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- The problem with miniturization is that although people and objects look "big" on a macro scale, they are in fact comprized of billions of molecular level processes, and molecular physics is based upon universal forces and laws which are dependent upon scale. Thus, to shrink a person to 1/10 of their size, you have to remove 90% of their "contents". Since it's not obvious how individual processes like protein folding and synapse gaps could be "shrunk", and the balance between forces such as electromagnetic force, weak force and strong force and quantum interactions, vary according to scale, it's not clear if these molecules could be shrunk by any process. So you'd have to remove 90% of them instead. Remove 90% of the molecules in the brain? Would people's cognition not vary? So... see the problem? FT2 (Talk | email) 13:21, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- Of course I see the problem; it looks to me like you're just re-expressing my question.I am trying to explore ways in which the electromagnetic force and such could be modified. Of course it's not clear if molecules could be shrunk, but I'm wondering if anyone can think of a consistent quantum-mechanical framework for this; that's the whole point. Why are you suggesting removing molecules? That has nothing to do with miniaturization. If I chop a block of wood in half, I haven't shrunk the wood, just cut out part of it. — Knowledge Seeker দ 16:17, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- He not only re-expressed your question but also part of my answer (you cheat, you! :) ), the point of which was that if you don't do this by miniaturising the molecules (and quarks and what have you), you're left with less space, so fewer molecules for the brain. But you do mean to miniaturise the molecules. You solved the lung-interaction by limiting it to objects or putting any person in some container. But then there would still be a contact layer somewhere (unless you miniaturise the entire universe) and that should have some strange effects. Can't think of which, though. DirkvdM 19:03, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- The size of an object is not based on the size of it's particles, but rather the strength of the forces they exert on eachother. You could just place a coefficient next to every distance or displacement variable in every physics equations. If you made that coefficient 2, then the person would shrink to half their height. There is plenty of room between the atomic particles for them to get closer together if the repulsive electromagnetic forces got weaker and the attractive ones stronger. I don't know anything about the strong and weak nuclear forces, but it's simple algebra that any equation can be scaled in this manner. Crazywolf 21:44, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- Obligatory Futurama quote: "Oh my no, that would require extremely tiny atoms. Have priced those lately? I'm not made of money, leave me alone!" —Keenan Pepper 22:42, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- Thanks for all the answers, and I hope I didn't come across snippy earlier. Yeah, DirkvdM and others, I think that science fiction traditionally ignores the problematic interaction between miniaturized and normal-sized matter, though without a theoretical framework, it's difficult to predict how such interactions might occur. Of course, the way the miniaturized people were able to breath air in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (or the dog eat an enlarged snack) is quite implausible. In Fantastic Voyage II', I believe there was a miniaturization field around the ship; it was transparent to light certainly, and not impermeable--occasionally an RBC would contact it too forcefull and become miniaturized. I wonder, too, how gravity would affect such matter. Or energy, too. Would the gaps in electron energy levels be less? Perhaps visible light would appear blue-shifted to miniaturized people. In any case, this speculation is getting too extreme even for me, so I'll stop. Thanks again. — Knowledge Seeker দ 06:55, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
There is one other means for shrinking.. though its highly theoretical and unsure if it "counts"...
Space-time itself is flexible. A procedure that flexed space-time itself, might solve the problem. Theres some big speculation on this in cosmology and the Big Bang. basically, the question is, is the universe expanding, or is space-time expanding. The former would be matter and energy moving into places it wasnt, the latter would be the fabric of space-time changing to create the illusion of space and time, in a limited bubble. Don't know if that helps. FT2 (Talk | email) 13:15, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
ionic equation
Homework question-again im interested in HOW to do it.
HCl+ KOH -------> H2O+KCl
Now i am supposed to write an ionic equation for this. The problem is that KCl is soluble in water, and water is obviously a liquid. Im at a bit of a loss as to how to write an ionic equation without having any precipates.
- Believe it or not, without precipitates, you actually get more ionic substances. If it's soluble in water, it falls apart into ions. Take a look at ionic equation and see which form you need to use. - 131.211.210.10 08:17, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
So i take that the (unbalanced) ionic equation would be H+ + Cl- + K+ + Cl- -------> 2H+ O- + K+ + Cl- ?
What happened to the hydroxyl ion on the reactant side? You've got double chloride ions. And you should write water on the right as a molecule - H2O. It's a neutralization reaction. Even if you did want to write water as three dissociated ions, the oxygen would have a charge of -2, not -1. But it's best to write it as H2O. The K+ + Cl- on the right side is correct, though. --Bmk 13:21, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
Do the instructions say to write a full ionic equation or a net ionic equation? A net ionic equation does not include spectator ions. —Keenan Pepper 22:44, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
Split up the left hand side into its component parts. You end up with two ionic equations: K+ + Cl- --> KCl and H+ + OH- --> H2O. It is not useful to write them all completely dissociated as you have done above, as it doesn't actually tell the reader what happened. BenC7 01:07, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
Is there an infinite nature to the universe?
As we all know scientists have dated the "universe" to approximately 13.7 billion years old. But is it possible that nothingness is a phase of universal creation, and state that it has existed infinitely rather then arbitrary 13.7 billion years? If not, is there a acceptable name by which the inexistance of the universe should be called?--John Brown 09:54, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
soooo...what was BEFORE the creation of the universe? how were the gases and rocks (creation of bigbang?) there in the first place? what about before the gases and rocks. if there was absolutely nothing at one time in the universe, how did it get created at all? sorry about not answering the question :) -PitchBlack
- There are currently no falsifiable hypotheses about what existed before the "big bang". So if you want to pick a name for whatever, if anything, came before, it's up to you :). --Bmk 13:24, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- I like to call it "Bernard". --Dweller 15:09, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- The common counter is that, with the Big Bang, time was also created. Thus, the question "What happened before the Big Bang?" is meaningless, as there was no before. --GTubio 00:04, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- I think that more proper than saying "time was created" at the big bang, it would be to say that the directionality of time (it passes, rather than just extending like 'normal' dimensions) is a direct consequence of the traumatic past event it points away from. This would mean that time would lose its timelike quality again at some point in the "future". The more you think about it, the more it appears that the universe is a vacuum fluctuation; meaning we just borrowed some energy to imagine we exist before we have to hand it back :) dab (ᛏ) 01:01, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
So, how clever are magpies in comparison to gulls?
While I'm sure that both species are near the top of the tree when it comes to avian intelligence, which one is the most intelligent? Has there ever been any studies on this sort of thing? Magpies certainly look smarter on the surface to me. Their look and mannerisms seem to suggest quick-wittedness and curiosity, though I know this might not nescessarily be the case. Likewise, a gull's 'thuggish' look and mannerisms make it look less smart than it probably is. I mean, they have humans pretty much sussed out, don't they? Anyone have more info? The thread above has got me thinking. --84.66.226.181 11:20, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- Magpies are members of the crow family, which are widely acknowledged to be exceptionally intelligent. See this link, for example. When there is food on my lawn, magpies have the sense to come down and eat it while the gulls merely circle noisily overhead.--Shantavira 17:29, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- I've noticed that gulls are very wary of large piles of food dropped by humans. They tend to fly around or perch nearby for a while to see what happens - they like to wait for one bird to take the plunge and go first. If nothing bad happens to him/her, the rest of the gulls pile in to feed. A sign of intelligence (c'mon - would you trust a human to give you something for nothing?) or an example of herd-mentality stupidity? You decide. :) --Kurt Shaped Box 19:31, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- WRT the intelligence of gulls, I was once told an anecdote by a friend who works at the local landfill site. Apparently, every six months or so, the local council decides to 'do something about the gulls' at the tip, so the men with guns are dispatched to 'thin the herd'. According to him, the gulls understand the concept of 'gun' very well indeed and will flee as soon as the hunters appear. What was really interesting about this story was that the gulls apparently know the difference between rifles and shotguns (presumably after seeing several of their fellows being shot down over the years). If they see a shotgun, they take off en-masse into the air and fly as high as possible, out of the range of the pellets. If the men have rifles, the gulls panic and get out of the area as quickly as possible, keeping low to the ground, flying at high speed and zig-zagging, as though they know how to throw off their aim. I've never seen this at first hand but it's certainly an interesting observation, if accurate... --Kurt Shaped Box 20:01, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
We seriously need to start a separate "Gull" reference desk :) --Bmk 21:25, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
I was watching a baseball game the other day which started at 2 PM local time, although the games usually start at 1 PM. When the games are over, the gulls swoop down to pick through all of the garbage left behind. They showed up an hour before the end of the game, apparently totally confused by the late start time. Apparently, they carry wristwatches. :) User:Zoe|(talk) 02:35, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
Whats my groggy feeling after stretching?
sometimes, when i get a really good stretch (standing up, arms high up) i get a really groggy and tired feeling over my body for maybe 15 seconds. i dont really know why this happens. probably the best guess i can come up with, is that while stretching all those muscles, chemicals are released to relax you? or probably relax the muscle? somebody please clear this up for me. -PitchBlack
- This is my guess, but I always assumed it is because it takes a while for the heart to start pumping fast enough to accomadate the active state you have just entered suddenly, and time for the pressure to psread arround the body. Philc TECI 17:09, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
Disabled Task Manager
Someone (or more likely, something) has disabled the task manager in my Windows system. How can I restore it? Thanks. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 85.50.38.173 (talk • contribs) 14:27, July 10, 2006 (UTC).
- Your box has been rooted. Run a spyware and a virus scan. If that does not work, reformat and install Ubuntu. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 207.75.179.101 (talk • contribs) 14:43, July 10, 2006 (UTC).
- Could you be a little more precise? What happens when you right-click on the taskbar and select "Task Manager"? On a shared/office machine, the administrator can disable task manager for users of this machine - could that be the case? If you are using a standalone machine, as the above user said, first check for spyware/viruses, some of them disable task manager to make it harder to get rid of them. If that's not the problem, try the procedure on this page: [46] (for Windows XP). Googling your problem also yields some results: [47]. Good luck! — QuantumEleven 13:21, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- A lot of networked computers have the task manager disabled to disallow tampering. --Proficient 16:40, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
can the fruit conduct electricity?
If it is so, why is that so?
Fruit conducts electricity because it is basically a fleshy bag of electrolyte solution; that is, water with salts dissolved in it (and a bunch of other stuff). It conducts because the charged ions are free to move and carry current. If you connect fruit to an electrical circuit, instead of free electrons, free ions take over in the fruit as the moving charges. See electrolyte for more info. Also, I think in some cases the non-liquid parts of fruit are responsible for conduction; I imagine orange peel for example is not a great insulator - it probably has significant conductivity. --Bmk 13:28, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- You can make a single-cell Voltaic pile from an orange, by just attaching copper and zinc electrodes. The voltage will be enough to light a small lightbulb if you wire it up. Also works with sweet potato. Works best with cooked and unpeeled sweet potato. --Kjoonlee 17:49, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- Just a note - the "orange battery" is a result of another phenomenon - redox reactions. --Bmk 18:27, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- Acidic fruits such as oranges are much better conductors than non-acidic ones such as melons. --Ginkgo100 talk · contribs 22:42, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- The reason cooked sweet potato is better than raw sweet potato is because the cell walls get ruptured after cooking, leading to more electrolyte and more current. I wonder if anyone's tried with cooked orange. --Kjoonlee 06:12, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- Barbara Zalat and Jonathan Frutt did a thesis on this. They found that the best demonstration of this so-called Frutt-Zalat effect is obtained by mixing up some apples, bananas, oranges and melon, sprinkling with 0.1 molar cinnamon and clove mix, and attaching a car battery to it. Stand well back and ensure someone else takes the blame, as if you do this without due skill and preparation it will cause a minature black hole to be created as a byproduct :) FT2 (Talk | email) 14:41, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
Deflating tyres
At a gas/petrol station, there is a machine to inflate/deflate car tyres, and ensure they are at the correct pressure. While using such a machine the other day, I noticed among the many instructions one which I couldn't immediately explain: "do not deflate hot tyres". This had me somewhat puzzled - why not? — QuantumEleven 13:15, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- See the combined gas law for a quantitative explanation. Basically, when tyres get hot, the pressure inside the tyre increases despite there being the same mass of air in there. The pressure on the placard is intended to indicate the correct pressure when the tyres are cold. --Robert Merkel 13:41, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- Right - so if you deflate tires while they are hot, then when they cool down - if it rains or something, then they will deflate further to below a safe pressure, and you could lose control of the car. --198.125.178.207 14:10, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
Rename files using VB .NET 2003
I need to write a program in VB .NET 2003 to search through a folder (and all its subfolders) and rename all the files ending in .mov to .txt. How do I go about doing that? Thanks, 86.41.166.192 15:21, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- First maybe take a look at some of the file system functions here [48] that you can use to play with and select paths. You can find some sample code to get lists of subdirectories or files here [49]. Then you'll want to use the rename function [50]. That should be a good start. 128.197.81.223 17:14, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
Observable Ray of Light
I often find that while observing an isolated source of light I can see what appear to be rays or concentrated beams which are not directly incident on the eye. i.e I appear to see straight lines of light emerging from the source in divergent directions but only ones which point in directions at an angle from my frame of reference . Could someone explain this phenomenon.
- Lens flare basically? 128.197.81.223 17:16, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
I think what you are seeing are indeed rays of light, or rather the photons in the rays that are scattered. Basically, when a light source emits light in all directions, the emitted photons propagate along radial rays. However, when the source emits into a molecular medium like air, some photons are scattered. Therefore, if there is some isolated ray, such as one from the sun through a hole in the clouds or from a flashlight, you are seeing photons that were originally traveling along the ray, but then hit an air molecule or particle in the air and were scattered into your direction. --Bmk 18:10, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- You seem to be referring to Rayleigh scattering, which does indeed occur, but is very likely not to be what is going on here. Part of what you're seeing may come from diffraction caused by your eyelashes. While you didn't specify, I imagine this most often occurs with a bright light source in otherwise darkness. I maintain that my analogy to lens flares is probably also somewhat correct: There are multiple surfaces in your eye off which the incoming light may be reflected, which could cause the effect that you are describing (or perhaps would only cause a hazy sphere around the light, but I expect you see that too). Here [51] is a bit o' text on a related phenomenon. 128.197.81.223 21:56, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- You may be right about other optical effects - I'm not entirely sure what the effect is that the question refers too. I thought it meant the phenomenon of seeing a flashlight beam which is not directed at the observer's eye. Just to clarify what I was saying, the only way for photons from a light ray which is not directed at the observer's eye to reach the observer's eye (and therefore be seen) is for them to be scattered from the medium through which the ray is travelling. If a ray is travelling near an observer but not on an intersecting path, and it is not scattered from its medium (for instance if the medium is vacuum), the observer will not observe it at all. That is essentially why space looks black when you're in space. --Bmk 22:05, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
unknown pain
Dear sir/madam, My husband is a diabetes patient and he is not under medication. For nearly a year he is suffering from pain on the right side of his body below the chest region. We couldn't guess the cause for the pain. I doubt whether his kidney is getting affected. Kindly help me with some possible suggestions.
Thanking you. Anu
- It is possible that someone on this reference desk can give you useful information, but it should be noted beforehand that any information here is not a substitute for a licensed medical professional's care; you should see a doctor if you can. I hope you find a solution that can help your husband --Bmk 21:11, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- I'm an RN, and I second the opinion that your husband should see a physician and that my comment here is not a substitute for that advice. However, upper right quadrant abdominal pain is likely a sign of either cholecystitis, which is inflammation of the gallbladder, or cholelithiasis, which is gallstones. Does the pain get worse after he eats, especially when the meal is fatty? If so, the gallbladder is probably the origin of the pain. A kidney infection would likely produce right flank pain, in his back, not in the front.
- It won't get better on its own, and complications are possible if left untreated. Please take your husband to see a physician as soon as possible, because he may need surgery. Good luck. Baseball,Baby! balls•strikes 03:16, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
How many time it takes for a dog carcass to decompose
How many time it takes for a dog carcass to decompose? My problem is the following: I have buried my deceased boxer in a field about one year ago, however, the field needs to be ploughed. Is there any change of disintering the dog's carcass? Mário 20:49, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- Unfortunately, there are many variables that can affect the decay time for your dog. You can look at decomposition if you'd like. It says there that decay time underground is about 8 times slower than decay time on the surface. In my opinion, your dog's skeleton will certainly still be there, but i would guess that most of the soft tissue is gone by now, especially if you live in a warm climate. If you live somewhere colder, there's a chance decomposition is still taking place. --Bmk 21:07, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- Yes, I live in Portugal, it's warm here. In 2005 a severe drought affected the country, but 2006 has been a rainy year, if that matters. Mário 21:55, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- I don't know much about it, except from seeing deer carcasses in the forest, but my guess is there isn't much left except bones. And I think rain would speed the process. Someone else might have a better/more educated guess, though. --Bmk 22:00, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- Yes, I live in Portugal, it's warm here. In 2005 a severe drought affected the country, but 2006 has been a rainy year, if that matters. Mário 21:55, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- Corpses in a bog can mummify to a Bog body. It hardly decomposes there partly because there isn't enough oxygen for it. If the field has been ploughed before, not too long ago, that would have loosened the ground and let air in, which would help the decomposition. DirkvdM 06:17, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
Quicktime DAT/IDX files
I have an old CD-ROM with a lot of Quicktime media stored in a pair of files called VAULT.DAT and VAULT.IDX. Is there any way to extract individual video files from these files? I've tried Googling around but not found much which was helpful. --Fastfission 21:42, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- It might be that the quicktime files are stored in a database which comprises .dat (the data) and .idx (database index) files. You may be able to find some software to access them, but I can't recommend one offhand. If the database is a B-Tree of the proper format, this [52] might help you. 128.197.81.223 22:03, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
water supply for trees in urban environments
The rainfall in urban areas is generally diverted to the storm-water system, and never reaches the soil. The trees in the cities are usually growing from relatively small openings in the concrete - much smaller than the footprint of the tree's root system. How do urban trees get the necessary water? Is their root system/physiology different than their "natural" counterparts'? -- Nikola 69.5.153.125 23:47, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- A quick search didn't yeild an answer to your question, but Urban Forestry lists lack of water as one of the possible challenges of urban forrestry, so your question seems a valid one. A solution probably has to be found on a ___location by ___location basis. Some possible solutions would be to pick a species of tree that can survive with little water, position the tree so that it recieves runnoff water from buildings or the storm water systems, or to simply water the trees regularly. Crazywolf 00:56, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
Electrochemistry
Would it be possible/useful to stick a strip of magnesium to an unpainted part of a regular car body to protect it from rusting (i.e., as a sacrificial anode)? BenC7 01:13, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- According to the rust article, this would only work if you put the magnesium in an area where it was in contact with both the steel that was being corroded and the water that was doing to corroding. The cathodic protection article implies that this would be a bit complicated, though, as you would have to make sure that the electrochemical potential of the sacrificial anodes is sufficient to eleminate the electrochemical potential of the steel body of the car when they interact with water. Galvanizing the steel or covering it with paint is probably easier. Crazywolf 02:19, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- Right - any spots where water is touching the car, but is not connected by water to the magnesium is not affected by the presence of the magnesium. --Bmk 02:57, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- I understand what Crazywolf is saying about the potential differences. But Bmk, the water is obviously the water in the atmosphere. This would mean that you can only use a sacrificial anode where it is partially immersed in water and not, say, on a steel beam sitting in your backyard. Are you sure about this? I have a feeling it is just due to the potential difference, as you can purchase electronic devices for your car that provide it with an overall negative electric charge, which is what the sacrificial anode does. And the device is not in contact with the atmosphere. (I hope I am saying that clearly enough.) BenC7 10:17, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- Good point. However, the metal gets "protection" because a potential-diff is placed across a molecular thin film between the layer of water and the metal. This e-field is so high that it halts the electrochemical reactions in that layer. The e-field in that has a staggeringly huge value, like volts per picometer. To create a similarly high surface-field in humid air with no complete circuit, the car would have to be charged to unattainably high voltage with respect to ground (WAY higher than teravolts.)--Wjbeaty 16:10, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- I understand what Crazywolf is saying about the potential differences. But Bmk, the water is obviously the water in the atmosphere. This would mean that you can only use a sacrificial anode where it is partially immersed in water and not, say, on a steel beam sitting in your backyard. Are you sure about this? I have a feeling it is just due to the potential difference, as you can purchase electronic devices for your car that provide it with an overall negative electric charge, which is what the sacrificial anode does. And the device is not in contact with the atmosphere. (I hope I am saying that clearly enough.) BenC7 10:17, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- Right - any spots where water is touching the car, but is not connected by water to the magnesium is not affected by the presence of the magnesium. --Bmk 02:57, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- Didn't they use zink on ships. Off the top of my head, that's a lot cheaper than magnesium. - Mgm|(talk) 08:15, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- Yeah, there are a few metals that you can use for a sacrificial anode. I had no particular reason for picking magnesium. I just saw this thing on telly where a guy (chemist) used a pencil sharpener, which he said was mostly made of magnesium, to protect a long, thin wire that was suspended on floats out at sea. I wondered what the difference was between that wire and a car -- otherwise I'm sure we would all have sacrificial anodes on our car that we would replace every now and then. So I was basically looking for the reason why we don't do that. BenC7 10:17, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
Diet problem
Does anyone here know the real solution of the diet problem, how to meet all your nutritional needs and spend as little as possible? Since supplements such as Ensure use added vitamins and minerals as sources rather than whole foods, it appears that the micronutrients must be very cheap. We need water (essentially free), calories, ess. amino acids, ess. fatty acids, and micronutrients. The cheapest source of calories is probably something like unprocessed soybean oil, which also meets fatty acid needs, at around 30¢ per 2000 kcal. Protein probably costs a minimum of around 20¢ for daily requirement (if from soybeans bought in bulk - my calculation). So 50¢ per day of macronutrients, what for micronutrients? -User: Nightvid
- not that simple. for one, soy protein (along with most plant protein) doesn't have the right amino acid composition to be a complete dietary protein source, to do the same thing you'd need to substitute something derived from animals (BSA or whey protein?) or maybe fungi (somesort of mushroom?). fungi would also help with the micronutrients too. Xcomradex 03:33, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- I'm thinking plankton. —Keenan Pepper 03:41, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- Mmmm...no need to resort to animals for protein or anything else. There are millions of vegetarians to attest to that; they're all healthier than everyone else, anyways. I'd say the cheapest and healthiest way to solve "the diet problem" is to eat real food. Where do you think the supplement industry people get most of their vitamins and whatnot? Mostly extracts from plants or animals - just with more processing. Much better to go straight to the source and skip the inevitable denaturing and factory-grade chemicals.
- Eat whole grains, lots of vegetables, especially nice dark green ones, and you'll be fine. Maybe a B-12 pill once in a while (or just don't wash your vegetables; B-12 is produced in soil bacteria. The reason meat eaters don't need extra B-12 is because they eat animals who spend their time licking each others' crap). If you have to, have some meat on holidays. Some periodic fish intake isn't unhealthy, but watch out for that nasty mercury and lead that tends to build up - yum!
- Being vegetarian is very cheap; just take a look at the menu at a restaurant once in a while. The meat options are often a good 150% more expensive than the vegetarian ones. Meat eaters are paying for 10 or 20 times more vegetables than vegetarians, in the form of animal feed. It's not a new, or radical idea. Just people don't like to give up their greasy burgers and slabs of steak - heart disease apparently is yummy, after all.
- As a side note, there have been studies (i'm too lazy to look up links) about how long people can survive on potatoes, olive oil, and water - a long time. Potatoes are a very complete food - lots of stuff packed in there, especially if you eat the skin (the olive oil was for extra calories). --Bmk 04:15, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- I felt bad saying all that without any backup, so here's a link to the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine. And here are their very illuminating FAQs about vegetarianism. Just to quote from the FAQ "How can I get enough protein?", entitled "The protein myth". "A variety of grains, legumes, and vegetables can also provide all of the essential amino acids our bodies require." Also, "With the traditional Western diet, the average American consumes about double the protein her or his body needs." Keep reading downward - a lot of good oldfashioned scientific myth debunking on that page. --Bmk 04:32, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- key word: variety of legumes, grains etc. a single vegetable source isn't enough, where as meat is a one-stop shop. not that i'm knocking vegeterianism, i'm just pointing out if you want a single source it has to be meat, or meat-like (fungi, or plankton... good call keenan). no doubt it will still be cheaper to buy multiple vegetables than one meat. Xcomradex 04:52, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- Bmk, vegetarians healthier than everyone else? I once attended a rainbow gathering (for about a month), where all food was vegetarian. And I saw some people there who didn't look too healthy, one even with a malnutrition-potbelly. The effect it had on me was that I got a bladder infection because of all the sugar in the fruit. It took me over a year to get rid of it. Maybe you can live a healthy vegetarian life if you're very careful about your diet (as a vegetarian you have to be), but your statement is definitely not true. DirkvdM 06:32, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- Yeah, those supplement manufacturers make pretty good profits. Go to the source and you're already off much cheaper. Supplements and vitamins are not a good replacement for real food (vegetarian or not). - Mgm|(talk) 08:12, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
I think you all are missing the point. The question asked how to spend as little as possible, not how to eat healthy foods and lose weight. It's a much more interesting question than the ubiquitous question that you are all answering. Right. To throw in my answer, I would add that there are a number of AA supplements out there that you could easlily use. The ones that bodybuilders use are pretty expensive, but I have also fun into a soy-sauce-looking bottle in a chinese food store simply called "AMINO ACID SAUCE" (no joke!) that was pretty cheap and contained all of the essential AAs. The full entourage of vitamins and minerals do appear to be available in knock-off brand supplements.
- I have looked up the AA composition, and soy protein does have ALL the essential AA's in it-it's 60% bioavailable based on the limiting AA, so it is still a very cheap way of getting all your AA's. What I'm really trying to figure out is the micronutrients, since the macronutrients are relatively simple. -User: Nightvid
- A few people mentioned that plankton and fungi are "meat-like". How are they related to meat? I'd also like to say without any ill will that DirkvdM's anecdote about his personal bladder problems do not strike me as a convincing argument about the benefits of a vegetarian diet. More convincing would be a study, like the Oxford Vegetarian Study. Apologies for sidetracking the question --Bmk 15:42, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
Mooon craters.
Is the moon still being hit by meteorites or has this activity now ceased? If these 'strikes" still take place have astronomers ever witnessed such an event and how frequently do they happen?
Sabaco 04:25, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon#Meteor_impact_on_the_Moon
- fyi, thirty seconds searching wikipedia would have saved you thirty minutes waiting for an answer
- Xcomradex 04:57, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
leitz edinger projection apparatus.
Does anyone have information on a leitz edinger projection apparatus.
- Bold and CAPS text make you look stupid, and I'm sure you don't want that so I fixed your question for you. I felt lucky with Google and I found quite a bit of information. Unless, of course, you are Bruce Allen. freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ 05:21, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
Direction of current in the coil
Imagine a bar magnet moving towards a coil, with north pole nearer to the coil. Now there will be a current induced in the coil (anticlockwise, looking at the coil from the magnet's point of view). When the magnet is moved, even the south pole moves towards the coil and hence the south pole too induces some current in the coil (albeit of a lesser magnitude, due to the larger distance from the coil). Now the question is, in which direction does the SP induce the current? In other words, will the currents induced by the NP and SP aid or oppose each other?
One of the arguments is that the SP moving towards the coil induces current in a different direction than the NP moving towards the coil (like the case where a bar magnet moving towards the coil with the SP nearer to the coil would induce the current in the clockwise direction). But the other argument is that the direction of current will be the same because the direction of the line of magnetic flux is the same.
Which argument is right? --Wikicheng 05:54, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- You should describe more or provide a diagram of the positions of the coil and magnet, because the answer depends on the arrangement. Faraday's law of induction says that the induced current along a closed path is determined solely by the time rate of change of the magnetic flux through it. So what you must ask yourself is, what effect does the movement of each pole have on the flux through the loop? -User: Nightvid
- First of all, I think you should read a little bit about permanent magnets at magnet (not all of it - it's rather in depth). You can't treat the "north pole" and "south pole" of the magnet as "sources" of the magnetic field - they aren't. If you cut the magnet in half, you would have two north poles and two south poles. The key is the permanent dipole magnetic field that the magnet generates. You should also read dipole, and look at the illustration to help you visualize. Now, the key here is Maxwell's equations, specifically Faraday's law of induction (this is also a very useful article to read).
- Faraday's law states that the closed line integral of the electric field (essentially the induced voltage around the coil) is equal to the negative change in magnetic flux. The magnetic flux is the magnetic field integrated over a surface bounded by the coil. So, if you imagine the magnetic field lines emerging from the magnet from the north end, you can see from the illustration in the dipole article that the field is stronger as you approach the magnet. So, the magnetic flux through the coil increases as the magnet approaches, meaning the voltage is induced in the negative direction, which, if you consider the north pole to be pointing "up", is counterclockwise. Hope that helps! --Bmk 13:30, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- Now that I think about the issue again, any infinite plane has magnetic flux of zero (Gauss's Law-Absence of magnetic monopoles), so what's actually happening is the magnetic field inside the magnet must be going backwards! Because the field is created by the angular momentum of the electrons, it is essentially equivalent to a giant number of atomic "solenoids", and remember that the field inside a solenoid is "backwards". Since this reverse field must balance the entire external field out to infinity, the plane integral through the loop of wire, being finite, must be "backwards" itself. -User: Nightvid
- The n-pole induces a current, and the s-pole induces an OPPOSITE current. Why? Well, suppose we bring the n and s poles very close together (shorter magnet) and then thrust this through the coil. If the induced currents were in fact opposites, then the induction effect would be weaker. And the induction effect would go to zero if the n and s poles were superposed (in a zero-length magnet.) However, if the n and s poles induced the same polarity of current, then a zero-length magnet would create DOUBLE current, not zero current.--Wjbeaty 16:00, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
please help me answer the following
good day. i'm doing a research on bacteria. i can not find or have a hard time finding out the following: 1. how to identify the methods in examining unstained living bacteria and its advantages. 2. discuss the methods of examining stained bacteria in a fixed preparation; in simple, differential and in special staining. 3. how to collect specimen on: blood, feces, CSF, upper respiratory tract, lower respiratory tract, in urine and in the genital tract.
thank you.±--Larry jr 07:38, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- Erm, Larry. I removed some signatures. One of them is enough. About the question:
- I don't remember investigating living bacteria myself, but the advantages should be clear. There's things you can't investigate in death organisms.
- I'm not going to do your work for you. Every text book about microbiology will explain the methods these stainings use and how to examine them (usually with a microscope. We have a nice little article about differential staining.
- Again this is something a book you're learning from should probably tell you. Try googling for "protocol collect specimens bacteria <whatever source you need to know about>". - Mgm|(talk) 08:07, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
sepsis
breif backround about sepsis?
- Please write any future questions in full sentences and try searching before you ask a question. See sepsis. - Mgm|(talk) 08:08, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
Equivalent term for BSS in UMTS world
What is the equivalent term for BSS (Base Station Subsystem) in the UMTS (3G) world?
Laparoscopic excision of moderate endometriosis
What is a laparoscopic excision of moderate endometriosis? A friend of mine recently got that, and has generally been feeling more down than usual ever since. So I'm curious as to what this is exactly, and what it means to the person who has it done to them? Mathmo 09:04, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- Endometriosis#Treatments and Laparoscopic surgery are good starting points. If you want more specific information, then try [53] and [54]. If you have access to a university library, you can probably get the full articles.-gadfium 09:36, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- AFTER EDIT CONFLICT:::Laparoscopic surgery is surgery with tiny incisions. Endometriosis is the propagation of uterine tissue in the abdominal cavity. So they performed a kind of D&C in her abdomen, scraping uterine tissue away from organs, and/or muscles, and/or whatever, without cutting her open, but rather by making tiny incisions and guiding the instruments with the use of cameras. If she is under the care of a physician and s/he knows of your friend feeling down I wouldn't worry about something serious like a slow bleed, but even laparoscopic surgery is still surgery, so she might just be recovering. Or she might be adjusting to the changes in hormone levels due to less uterine tissue? (I don't know if this is an issue, but it might be).--Anchoress 09:46, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
holy shit
Is this real, or someone's conspiracy theory? 87.97.8.96 13:17, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- Based on the amount of references, I would say it's real, but you'd have to check if those sources are reliable and not written by someone with an agenda. - Mgm|(talk) 12:39, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- I believe the general gist of it - that Imperial Japan conducted all manner of horrible experiments on Chinese prisoners - is pretty well established. Whether all of the specifics in that article are true I'm not sure. The Japanese of that period were not exactly the nicest people in the world. Try List of Japanese war atrocities. --Robert Merkel 12:54, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
I'm especially interested in whether these parts are just someone's conspiracy theory:
| “ | [...]Many experiments were performed without the use of anesthetics because it was believed that it might affect the results.
[...]
[...]
[...] |
” |
The above are just some statements especially suspect to me (I added the emphasis). What is the article for allegations (or convictions) at Nurenburg of Nazi criminal experimentation on Jews? 87.97.8.96 13:17, 11 July 2006 (UTC).
- See Unit_731#Politicization_of_history. A Japanese court acknowledging the truth of the allegations is good enough for me. --Dweller 13:23, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
- The Nazi experimentation article is Nazi human experimentation. --Fastfission 14:49, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
you know, nothing here Nazi human experimentation strikes me the same as "Stomachs were surgically removed and the oesophagus was reattached to the intestines" or "Arms were cut off and reattached to opposite sides." Am I missing something? (btw, thank you Dweller, Fastfission and also Robert Merkel and Mgm for your answers.)15:14, 11 July 2006 (UTC).
302 windsor ford V8 torque specifications
hello im an apprentice motor mechanic and i need help rebuilding a 302 windsor but do not have the torque specs or much other info for that matter if u can help it would be greatly appretiated gibbo_22@hotmail.com.rob.
- Turns out we have a pretty nice article about windsor engines - it looks like there is a section on the 302. Look here: Ford Windsor engine. Good luck --Bmk 13:43, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
Little unknown dead critter
Some mis-directed little mammal found its way into my backyard somehow, and my dog saw this as a wonderful opportunity for practicing her hunter-killer skills (ignoring my commands to just leave it alone). Once she really got ahold of it, she killed him pretty quick.
It's not a mammal that I'm familiar with, so I thought if I posted a few pictures of it here maybe someone could identify it. It looks like a burrowing animal, like some sort of gopher, but none of the ground squirrels I was able to find pictures of via Google Images really looked like it—it is a beefy little guy, not lithe like a squirrel. I'm in the greater Boston area if that is of any help.
So, if you can stomach a dead (but pretty cleanly killed) critter, here are the pictures: laid out on its back, detail of face.
Thanks. --Fastfission 16:11, 11 July 2006 (UTC)