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| 11/22 |
| 2013/2/5-3/4 [Science/Space] UID:54597 Activity:nil |
2/5 "Asteroid 2012 DA14 to sweep close on February 15, 2013"
http://www.csua.org/u/z5p (earthsky.org)
"It'll pass within the moon's distance from Earth - closer than the
orbits of geosynchronous satellites." What a close call!
\_ (2/15) The meteor in Russia beated it.
\_ (2/15) The meteor in Russia trumps it. |
| 2013/1/5-2/13 [Recreation/Travel/LasVegas, Science/Space] UID:54574 Activity:nil |
1/5 Apollo Robbins, Master Pickpocket:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/bbgggol [New Yorker] |
| 2012/10/15-12/4 [Transportation/Car, Science/Space] UID:54499 Activity:nil |
10/15 A stock, unmodified, Toyota Tundra towing the Endeavour to its final
home: http://www.csua.org/u/xyw (http://www.space.com |
| 2012/9/18-11/7 [Science/Space] UID:54478 Activity:nil |
9/18 The Space Shuttle Endeavour is doing a fly over of Nasa Ames on Friday:
http://tinyurl.com/8ffrx5j [nasa.gov]
\_ They have reached their cap on car passes! Ahh! I wish I heard
about this earlier! :-(
\_ I saw it above HW 101 in San Mateo this morning. I wonder how many
people in the Bay Area watched it (the real thing, not a broadcast.)
\_ Watched it fly over Piedmont; looked like I could pluck it out
out of the sky, it was that close. Absolutely astounding. Five
other people were there waiting for it to fly over; we were all
whooping like kids. Too quick to take a picture, but the image is
burned in my memory.
\_ GO USA!!!
\_ It flew right over my house in San Francisco. |
| 2012/9/3-11/7 [Science/Space, Politics/Domestic/Crime] UID:54471 Activity:nil |
9/3 While most of America is committing more and more resources to fight
obesity by promoting healthy diets, NASA was spending tax dollars
looking for sugar in space ......
http://www.csua.org/u/xjv
:-) |
| 2012/5/4-6/4 [Science/Space, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:54381 Activity:nil |
5/4 "9-Month-Olds Show Racial Bias When Looking at Faces"
http://www.csua.org/u/wac (news.yahoo.com)
\_ RACIST!!!
\_ 9-month-old racists, yeah.
\_ I tell you, my daughters hated white ladies at that age. (White
Dad, asian Mom.) |
| 2012/3/9-26 [Science/Space] UID:54337 Activity:nil |
3/9 "First amateur video of Challenger shuttle explosion revealed"
http://www.csua.org/u/vqh (news.yahoo.com)
Given that the explosion occured so far up in the sky, why was the
"boom" sound heard at the same time as the visual explosion? Shouldn't
there have been a couple seconds of delay?
\_ Wake up, sheeple! |
| 2012/3/8-26 [Science/Space, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:54334 Activity:nil |
3/8 "Invisible Mercedes brings James Bond technology to life"
http://www.csua.org/u/vpc (autos.yahoo.com)
How many years and dollars have our military spent on trying to achieve
the same thing and yet still haven't gotten any result!? Now a
civilian company has done it, and they did it even merely for
publicity. |
| 2012/2/13-3/26 [Science/Space, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:54307 Activity:nil |
2/13 "Peak Everything -- Why Everything Costs More"
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/in-demand.html
\_ I am kind of disappointed that no conservative/libertarian types
took the bait here. |
| 2011/12/18-2012/1/10 [Science/Space] UID:54263 Activity:nil |
12/17 Mission Accomplished!
\_ The Honorable President of the United States George W. Bush has
already told me this ...... years ago! |
| 2011/8/20-27 [Science/Space] UID:54170 Activity:nil |
8/20 How the heck do you work at JPL (e.g. the land of "there could be
life on another planet" and "primordial soup is reproducible" and
"most abundant elements in the universe make up life") ... and
doubt everyone around you who believe in science?
http://www.evolutionnews.org/2011/02/nasas_jpl_could_face_wrongful_043601.html |
| 2011/7/29-8/10 [Science/Space] UID:54147 Activity:nil |
7/29 Amy Mainzer
\_ What about her?
\_ What about her? +1
\_ From googling, I think she's supposed to be the hottest
astronomer. --- !OP
\_ and apropos of quel?
\- I vaugely remember she did some work on the Spitzer (nee SIRTF)
telescope. I co-designed a polarimetry sub-system for SIRTF ...
although I kinda lost touch with the team, so I dunno if our design
actually flew. |
| 2011/5/19-7/30 [Science/Space] UID:54112 Activity:nil |
5/18 'Exciting' find: Possible planets without orbits
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110518/ap_on_sc/us_sci_wandering_planets |
| 2011/3/6-4/20 [Science/Space, Science/Physics] UID:54055 Activity:nil |
3/5 "NASA scientist finds evidence of alien life"
http://www.csua.org/u/sov (news.yahoo.com)
WOW!
\_ This was published in the Journal of Cosmology. Here's a
description of the very first paper they published, in 2009:
http://csua.org/u/sp1 |
| 2010/12/2-2011/1/13 [Science/Space] UID:53986 Activity:nil |
12/2 'Starry, starry, starry night: Star count may triple'
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101202/ap_on_sc/us_sci_starry_night
'So the number of stars in the universe "is equal to all the cells in
the humans on Earth, a kind of funny coincidence," Conroy said'
Another coincidence is that 1 mole = 6.02 * 10^23. So the number of
stars = # of molecules in 1 gram of H2 gas.
\_ More importantly... what does this mean for advocates of dark
matter/energy? Do they even matter any more?
\_ The supposition is that this larger number of stars will
account for at least some of the dark matter. |
| 2010/11/15-2011/1/13 [Science/Space] UID:53993 Activity:nil |
11/15 "Scientists propose one-way trips to Mars"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_one_way_to_mars
\_ CSUA/OCF guy gwh has been a big proponent of the one-way trip to
Mars for years. -tom
\_ I think it is suiciadal. One glitch and you life is down to the
tens of minutes of reserve oxygen with any kinds of physical supply
six months away.
\_ Everybody dies. Not everybody lives. |
| 11/22 |
| 2010/2/11-3/9 [Science/Space, Science] UID:53702 Activity:nil |
2/11 Is anyone watching Caprica. Is it worth it? Do you like it?
I recently started watching SG:U and it's not bad, oddly.
\_ Not watching either; oddly trepidatious about Caprica, and
SG:U lost me at SG:A. However: reviews of Caprica sound good,
and at least one excellent hard SF writer (John Scalzi) is
writing for SG:U, so... maybe worth checking out?
consulting for SG:U, so... maybe worth checking out?
\_ You should know that it was in the contract stipulation
for working as a writer for SG:U that you could have never
written for SG:A. Atlantis was that bad. and they know it.
SG:U is pretty good, if you like moral ambiguity, will to power
and examinations of people striving for power. Plus it has
Begbie.
\_ So you directly contradict this? http://tinyurl.com/yzka2hh
> The complete writing staff from Stargate Atlantis is
> back to kick off the new series,
\_ Yeah, I work in the industry. |
| 2010/1/18-25 [Science/Space] UID:53637 Activity:kinda low |
1/18 Look out for some serious rain the next few weeks:
http://twitpic.com/y290d/full
\_ so... how do I read this? I didn't take meterology.
\_ Prop 8 trial continuing into next week, rainbow weather
expected?
\_ CA desperately needs the water.
\_ And yet we allow most of the water we need every year to
run into the sea. That's probably true of these storms, too.
If I hear one more person mention drought conditions and not
admit that it actually rains more than enough here to supply
us with plenty of water if we cared to collect it I am going
to scream.
\_ If you'd like to prove that fresh water running into the
sea has no beneficial effects, go ahead and scream.
\_ Plenty of water makes its way to the sea regardless.
\_ College of San Mateo says power is out at the campus, but both the
http://collegeofsanmateo.edu and http://kcsm.org web sties are
running. Both sites and their whole network paths are covered by
UPS? Strange.
\_ surprised kcsm is up, it's on dreamhost. college site appears
to be a fairly simple network, 1 hop from cenic gw |
| 2009/12/6-26 [Science/Space] UID:53572 Activity:nil |
12/4 "This time system adjusts for shifts in relative time which occur
due to the vessel's speed and space warp capability. It has little
relationship to Earth's time as we know it. One hour aboard the USS
Enterprise at different times may equal as little as three Earth
hours. The stardates specified in the log entry must be computed
against the speed of the vessel, the space warp, and its position
within our galaxy, in order to give a meaningful reading."
So, physicists, is Roddenberry talking out of his ass?
\_ Of course he is.
\_ do you know what science FICTION means?
\_ I thought trek prided itself on bringing the SCIENCE to
fiction.
\_ no that's space 1999 |
| 2009/10/6-21 [Science/Space, Politics/Domestic] UID:53430 Activity:nil |
10/5 Make sure to watch The Crumbling of America on History today! America's
infrastructure is collapsing. Tens of thousands of bridges are
structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. A third of the
nation's highways are in poor or mediocre shape. Massively leaking
water and sewage systems are creating health hazards and
contaminating rivers and streams.
Weakened and under-maintained levees and dams tower over communities
and schools. And the power grid is increasingly maxed out, disrupting
millions of lives and putting entire cities in the dark
\_ Oh noes! Did they also mention the sorry crumbling shape of the
support columns that hold up the sky?
\_ don't worry, Republicans and libertarians will help us out!
\_ More proof that the government can't do anything right.
\_ more proof that we need to take care of ourselves.
self reliance via power generator, butane tanks,
fuel, food, and guns+ammos -libertarian
\_ you are such a poser. Do you own a well? Solar panels?
how about your car? bio-diesel? |
| 2009/9/15-24 [Consumer/Camera, Science/Space] UID:53370 Activity:kinda low |
9/15 "The $150 Space Camera: MIT Students Beat NASA On Beer-Money Budget"
http://www.csua.org/u/p2i (http://www.wired.com
I just hope that copycats won't pop up everywhere and cause airline
crashes.
\_ How did they beat NASA? This is cool, but comparing it to
NASA is just stupid.
\_ Perhaps you'd like to calculate the odds of releasing a
balloon and having it hit an airliner at 35,000 feet. -tom
\_ Bird strikes don't occur at 35,000 feet.
\_ Yes, and?
\_ The balloon needs to travel through all the low altitudes
before it can reach a high altitude.
\_ Yes, and?
\_ The odds are probably astronomically small if you don't release
it in like... LA. Its the same deal with the f-load of
satelites in orbit that almost never hit eachother. I can
accept 1 plane down for every 100,000 weather balloons or
something like that. Probably much less likely than that anyway.
-mrauser
\_ In VFR condition, you'll see the balloon clearly before crashing
into it. In IFR condition which is above 12,000 feet, the
tower will see it waaaaay before anyone else does and
will usually compensatae for rerouting. I agree that
there is a risk, and that by law, any vehicle operating
in IFR must carry at least a transponder mode C. Read
your FAR 2009.
\_ Planes crash into each other at takeoff and landing
because that's where they are all clumped together.
Much rarer are planes crashing into each other midflight
but even then it's only because they are restricted to
fairly narrow flight lanes.
\_ A weather balloon would almost certainly not take down
a plane, anyway, but 1 in 100K is way too low, even in LA.
"His pattern shows...two dimensional thinking." -tom
\_ It's a weather balloon plus a camera and a beer cooler. |
| 2009/9/8-15 [Science/Space, Science/Electric] UID:53341 Activity:nil |
9/8 Dear religious freaks on Soda, here's a good CD for your kids:
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/09/08/they-might-be-giants-1.html |
| 2009/8/10-19 [Science/Space] UID:53260 Activity:nil |
8/10 Man invents windmills that turn air into clean water
link:www.yahoo.com/s/1111578
It can produce 800 litres of water per day. But it sounds to me that
it's only a windmill generator combined with a dehumidifier, not some
breakthrough idea. |
| 2009/7/17-24 [Science/Space] UID:53151 Activity:nil |
7/17 NASA lost original video footage of the first manned moon landing!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090716/ap_on_sc/us_sci_moon_video
"How did NASA end up looking like a bumbling husband taping over his
wedding video with the Super Bowl?"
Unbelievable.
\_ For what it's worth, all known TV broadcast footage of Super Bowl I
was also taped over. -tom
\_ Proof of a government cover-up. |
| 2009/7/4-16 [Science/Space, Reference/Military] UID:53112 Activity:nil |
7/4 Oxygen is presently showing "The Professional". Next is "Top Gun"
I wonder what is on Spike right now, maybe "beaches"?
\_ the professional is all about female empowerment by some guy
who doesn't want to put his dick into her, top gun is all for
aging chixx who haven't gotten over their blonde surfer fixation.
Go see Sunshine, it's better than anything Spike has shown recently
or Moon. Although of the two Sunshine is the better comedy. Then
again Moon has Fulcher.
\_ I liked Moon; I found Sunshine boring.
\_ isnt natalie portman 11 years old in The Professional? u r gross
\_ "who doesN'T want to put his dick into her."
reading comprehenshun is fun! |
| 2009/4/14-20 [Science/Space, Recreation/Humor] UID:52849 Activity:nil |
4/14 http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/2706/spaceb.jpg Funny, I don't see yermom on this diagram. -mrauser \_ She's behind Uranus. \_ The scientists were unable to measure her bulk as yo'mama so fat, no light escapes her graviational pull. \_ Oh come on. This is such a lame, geeky yo'mama joke that it'd get you beaten up immediately anywhere but here. \_ Yo' mama so fat, her son revolves around her. \_ Mainly because we can't reach you. \_ Her black hole's attraction is too strong. \_ Carl Sagan did that better in Cosmos. \_ Video version of similar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tfs1t-2rrOM |
| 2009/4/6-13 [Science/Space] UID:52811 Activity:nil |
4/6 God's hand caught on photograph, really!
http://www.csua.org/u/nxa (Yahoo science news) |
| 2009/1/26-29 [Science/Space] UID:52469 Activity:nil |
1/26 JPL, LLNL, Lockheed, etc. Are these considered "government jobs"?
Do you get your check from the US government? Or are they
separate entities?
\_ Lockheed is private (defense contractor). JPL and LLNL are gov.
Cal is gov - you get your paycheck from the UC Regents.
\_ JPL is run by Caltech so it is not a government job. Paycheck
says Caltech and employees are not civil servants. |
| 2009/1/21-26 [Science/Space] UID:52433 Activity:nil |
1/21 I'm looking for a decent telescope in the $200-$300 price range.
Any recommendations (or brands to avoid)? tia.
\_ Don't buy at Costco, the optics in the objective are worthless
\_ Thanks for the tip. Are there any south bay retailers (or
online) that are good?
\_ you have a such bizzare requirement. what are you trying to do?
bird watching? star gazing? or peeping neighboring young girl
taking shower? your only requirement is PRICE?
\_ Star gazing. My gf is into astronomy and I want to get her
a telescope. Something we can take to a park and look at
some stars, planets, a few moons of jupiter, &c. I looked
at a few telescopes in the $80-$100 range and they all had
pretty flimsy tripods, so I wanted to get some recommendations
in a slightly higher price range. |
| 2008/12/18-2009/1/2 [Science/Space, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:52272 Activity:nil |
12/18 Using graphics chips to do generic data-crunching:
"NVIDIA CUDA Technology Dramatically Advances The Pace of Scientific
Research"
http://www.imim.es/news/view.php?ID=37
\_ Why are you posting marketing press releases here?
There's nothing new here... they've done the folding @home thing
on GPUs for a long time and on Playstations.
Also, YMWTGF: OpenCL
\_ What is interesting is the layer of abstraction involved.
Folding @home had to write some seriously special case code.
\_ The original one did, but they also use Nvidia's CUDA now,
but that is Nvidia-specific so it is still special case.
In any case the "using graphics chips to do generic data-
crunching" aspect is like 8+ years old.
It is definitely an interesting research area though.
(CSUA should invest in high-end gaming PCs for research...)
\_ No need. We already have some. For *cough* research...
--t |
| 2008/12/1-6 [Science/Space] UID:52139 Activity:nil |
12/1 "Highest tide in 20 years floods historic Venice - Yahoo! News"
http://www.csua.org/u/n0v
Flooding in Venice? Isn't Venice the "City of Water" which is always
flooded anyway?
\_ Venice is frequently, but not always, flooded. There was a good
Nova eps. about flooding in Venice and possible solutions a few
years ago:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/venice |
| 2008/10/15-17 [Science/Space] UID:51532 Activity:nil |
10/14 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081015/ap_on_sc/impure_bottled_water |
| 2008/10/4-8 [Science/Space] UID:51384 Activity:moderate |
10/4 Let's put to rest this popular "bottled water is just expensive
tap water" lie being perpetuated by greenies and picked up on by
the government to promote their water systems. Bottled water is
tap water *THAT HAS BEEN FILTERED*. That last bit is important.
\_ Who are you arguing with?
\_ Sierra Club, WWF, Natural Resources Defense Council, FDA, etc.
\_ The water machines at Lucky's sell filtered UV'ed reverse-osmisis'ed
water for $0.20/gal with no plastic to throw away.
p.s. The stages are: 1) Activated Carbon Filter, 2) Micron Filter,
3) First UV Light, 4) Reverse Osmosis, 5) Post Carbon Filter, 6)
Second UV Light.
\_ Or he could even buy his own water filter.
\_ bay area water quality is pretty good. you're just wasting your
money
\_ You drink it, but let's not pretend it's as good as RO/DI water.
\_ You cannot begin to imagine how little I care about this.
\_ And yet you spent time writing this so you care more
than you think you do.
\_ This is true in at least some areas. My brother-in-law lives in
Union City. He used to get white deposits in cooking pots when
he heats the pots to dry up the water, and he always blamed the
water supply. After replacing the old pipe in the whole house
house with copper pipes, however, he no longer sees deposits.
\_ White deposits are just salt. That's what makes water
"hard". Filtered water is softer, but a home water filter
is pretty damn cheap.
\_ My point was that the low quality of the water sometimes
is not caused by the water supply, but by one's own pipes
in the house. -- PP |
| 2008/9/15-19 [Science/Space] UID:51179 Activity:nil |
9/15 Hubble finds a mystery object in space:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/63f5tn [Sky & Telescope] |
| 2008/8/11-13 [Science/Space] UID:50840 Activity:nil |
8/10 Harvest of cash: Kern County agency buys public water low, sells high
http://csua.org/u/m1y |
| 2008/8/1-5 [Science/Space] UID:50758 Activity:nil |
7/31 Confirmed: Water on Mars
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix-20080731.html
"Laboratory tests aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander have identified
water in a soil sample."
\_ Further proof that God is hinting to us that we can and we should
repopulate Mars and discourage gayness and provide freedom,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness by giving guns to
every single Martian Earthlings so that they can protect
themselves from other Martians and that they are all
entitled to live freely and lavishly in the Martian
suburb of their choice and that free market should
trump their lives e.g. by shopping at Martianmart.
\_ They've been confirming or at least hinting at this for so long
that I don't give a shit anymore.
\_ You have been classified as: petty.
\- you must pay me 5cents
\_ Fair use: parody. ok tnx |
| 2008/7/30-8/5 [Science/Space] UID:50734 Activity:nil |
7/30 The Antikythera "clock" may have been designed by Archimedes:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5df2da [new scientist] |
| 2008/7/29-8/5 [Politics/Foreign/Canada, Science/Space] UID:50721 Activity:nil |
7/29 More ice breaking off:
"Giant chunks break off Canadian ice shelf"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080729/wl_canada_nm/canada_arctic_col
"Temperatures in large parts of the Arctic have risen far faster than
the global average in recent decades, a development that experts say
is linked to global warming."
\_ It's summer.
http://icecap.us/images/uploads/NSIDC071708.JPG
\_ It didn't break off in 3000 other summers:
'"Whatever has kept this ice shelf in balance for 3,000 years is
no longer keeping it in balance," he told Reuters, saying he too
would not be surprised to see more ice breaking away from the
Ward Hunt shelf this year.'
\_ So since it's been warmer in the past 3000 years, global
temperature must not be the triggering factor. What about the
rise of volcanism in the arctic?
\_ Water keeps heat over time, and it probably took longer
than a couple of months to go from stable for 3000 years
to where it is now. But don't stop wearing those
blinders, they look good on you.
\_ Sigh. I know water has a heat capacity. There have been
warmer trends for longer in the last 3000 years.
ty. There have been
warmer trends for longer in the last 3000 years.
\_ See billy, elves did it. And I prove that by
making up data!
\_ Hell, elves are more consistent than AGW, which
seems to make no falsifiable claims.
\_ So where is your 3000 year old temperature
data?
\_ GTFW "medieval warm period"
\_ "the idea of a global or
hemispheric "Medieval Warm
Period" that was warmer than
today however, has turned out to
be incorrect" and that what
those "records that do exist
show is that there was no
multi-century periods when
global or hemispheric
temperatures were the same or
warmer than in the 20th century" (NOAA)
\_ Damn you and your facts! Don't
ruin a perfectly good rehashed
flamewar.
\_ "The summers 9,500 years ago were
warmer than today"
http://tinyurl.com/5nc58b
\_ 3000 < 9500
\_ Damn, you're right. It's out of
the time range, so we must be
causing this warming.
\_ Nice blinders. Wanna fuck?
\_ Guys! Note that I already inserted the flamewar
placeholder for you. No need to actually have
the same old flamewar again.
\_ Insert usual AGW flamewar here. |
| 2008/7/9-13 [Science/Space, Finance/Investment] UID:50514 Activity:nil |
7/8 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25517085 Economy today is very very healthy compared to say, the 70s and 80s. However the problem today is very different. Over-leveraging. Thanks to deregulation, commercial and investment banks used ridiculous degrees of leverage on investments that turned out to have much less value than they thought. Yay to deregulation!!! Let's deregulate EVERYTHING in the name of PROFIT! Deregulate electricity, healthcare, education, transportation, water, air, etc etc \_ Please list all of the successful planned economies of the last 100 years. \_ Straw man. Regulation != "planned economy". For that matter, list all of the successful free markets of the last 100 years. (I know, all market failures are due to government regulation). \_ Sweden, Norway, Luxemborg... need I go on? \_ Norway is a mixed economy. So probably is Sweden, although I'm not sure. You're already down to Luxembourg? What's next Monaco? Please do go on. |
| 2008/6/25-7/14 [Science/Space, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:50368 Activity:nil |
6/25 "NASA warming scientist: 'This is the last chance'"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080624/ap_on_sc/sci_warming_scientist
\_ Same thing he said 20 years ago.
\_ Not according to the article. |
| 2008/6/24-30 [Science/Space] UID:50364 Activity:nil |
6/25 Fractal Distribution of Matter in the Universe:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5hxzlv [new scientist]
\_ Is this new? I think I've read something like this in some old
issue of Scientic American.
\_ Actually there is something like this in the current issue
of Scientific American. I think the research isn't completely
new, but they have made some progress on it recently. |
| 2008/6/12-13 [Science/Battery, Science/Space] UID:50236 Activity:nil |
6/11 I got this as a google ad, I'm flabbergasted
http://www.runsyourcarwithwater.com
\_ So... we use electricity from the battery to electrolyze
water, burn that gas, and use that power to charge the
battery. And carry around this water as extra weight.
Sounds great.
\_ You wouldn't actually think this is for real, right? |
| 2008/5/15-16 [Science/Space] UID:49951 Activity:kinda low |
5/15 East Bay faces water rationing
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/15/BA0710ME05.DTL
Here is my favorite quote from article:
"I've got half an acre of lawn, a swimming pool and three teenagers,"
said Alex Theriault, a contractor from Danville whose bi-monthly water
bills top $1,400. "I can't afford not to cut back. But I'm not losing
the lawn. My kids like it too much. And I'm not losing the pool. I
like the pool."
\_ So, no more showers kids!
\_ That's what the pool is for.
\_ Dang, at $700 a month, how can she afford not to cut back?
\_ Gee, the bi-monthly bill for my single-family home in Fremont with
four adults, two kids and a lawn is ~$30.
\_ No way. You're claiming only $5/month for each of 6 people?
So no one showers, the lawn is a sand dune, and no one cooks?
Ridiculous.
\_ I live in Fremont. Maybe ACWD rates are lower than other
water districts. Besides, I re-use bath water to flush the
toilets, I have a front-load washing macine, and I don't
water the lawn every day.
\_ All the suburbs in LA would die
\_ Good! - angry motd urban guy
\_ This is what suburban life is all about: overcomsumption of the
world resources and a strong feeling of entitlement about it.
I wonder if this guy still drives his SUV 50 miles each way to
work.
\_ what consumes more water, useless suburban half acre lawns
or agriculture in former desert land in CA? admittedly,
at least the farmers grow something.
\_ Last time I checked residential water use was a few % compared
to farmers growing wet water crops in arid regions using over
90% of consumed water. |
| 2008/5/13-16 [Science/Space] UID:49938 Activity:low |
5/13 Why do nuclear power plants require so much fresh water? Can't you
just recycle the cooling water? Certainly you could use salt water,
right? (For example, nuke subs)
\_ Swedish hot bath. Free hot water. Free tea. Sauna. Etc.
\_ They do use salt water if the plant is near the coast.
\_ They create power via steam generators. The vast majority of
water in a nuke plant isn't cooling water.
\_ "The plant, as they conceived it, would produce something like one
to three gigawatts of power, which is enough to serve a medium-sized
city. The reactor core would be no more than several metres wide and
about ten metres long. It would be enclosed in a sealed, armored box.
The box would work for thirty years, without need for refuelling.
Wood's idea was that the box would run on thorium, which is a very
common, mildly radioactive metal. (The world has roughly a
hundred-thousand-year supply, he figures.) Myhrvol's idea was that
it should run on spent fuel from existing power plants. 'Waste has
negative cost,' Myhrvold said. 'This is how we make this idea
politically and regulatorily attractive. Lowell and I had a monthlong
no-holds-barred nuclear-physics battle. He didn't believe waste
would work. It turns out it does.' Myhrvold grinned. 'He
concedes it now.'"
to three gigawatts of power, which is enough to serve a medium-
sized city. The reactor core would be no more than several metres
wide and about ten metres long. It would be enclosed in a sealed,
armored box. The box would work for thirty years, without need for
refuelling. Wood's idea was that the box would run on thorium,
which is a very common, mildly radioactive metal. (The world has
roughly a hundred-thousand-year supply, he figures.) Myhrvol's
idea was that it should run on spent fuel from existing power
plants. 'Waste has negative cost,' Myhrvold said. 'This is how we
make this idea politically and regulatorily attractive. Lowell and
I had a month-long no-holds-barred nuclear-physics battle. He
didn't believe waste would work. It turns out it does.' Myhrvold
grinned. 'He concedes it now.'"
\_ What I don't understand is that, why don't they use the waste heat
to do something useful, e.g. desalinate the sea water? -- !OP
to do something useful, e.g. cook poridge or miso soup? -- !OP
\_ oh yeah, what're you going to do with nuclear-desalinated water?
I'm sure that'd be a real popular addition to the drinking or
agricultural water supply.
\_ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power#Water says the
water remains uncontaminated by radioactivity. No? (Yeah I
know Wikipedia might not be reliable and so on, and I
wouldn't bet my health on one line in Wikipedia.)
\_ I'm pretty sure it would be a huge scandal if the water
became contaminated, so I think Wikipedia is right on
this one. -!pp
\_ I'm sure they can spare the waste heat to distill the
water to purity levels only used in clean rooms. People
would still be afraid to drink it, or consume produce
where it was used for irrigation.
\_ You have no idea how a nuke plant works do you?
Let me give you a hint. The steam is vented
INTO THE AIR.
\_ I know how it works. they usually have several
cycles of cooling water, the last of which usually
involves evaporating water into the air. Its the
most efficient way to get rid of a ton of waste
heat. If they were to condense that somehow (
and would need another way to dump the waste heat
that releases), they still wouldn't get people to
drink it or eat crops grown with it. Somehow its
easier to get the public to accept just breathing
the air said water dissipates into.
\_ I don't know, i think a good ad campaign might
fix the problem. Drink Atomic Water (TM)!
\_ A lot of the waste heat from the plant goes to evaporating water,
which goes up the cooling tower and out into the environment.
Can't exactly 'reuse' that. Sure, they could do more intelligent
things with all that waste heat, but they're all more expensive
and/or unpopular.
\_ How about using that waste heat to run a Stirling engine? |
| 2008/5/8-9 [Science/Space] UID:49902 Activity:nil 80%like:49909 |
5/8 Wow, early NASA footage in HD
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24472246#24472246 |
| 2008/4/21-5/2 [Health/Women, Science/Space] UID:49790 Activity:nil |
4/21 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080419/ap_on_re_eu/russia_space_6 Russian Federal Space Agency chief Perminov: '"You know in Russia, there are certain bad omens about this sort of thing, but thank God that everything worked out successfully," he said. "Of course in the future, we will work somehow to ensure that the number of women will not surpass" the number of men. Challenged by a reporter, Perminov responded: "This isn't discrimination. I'm just saying that when a majority (of the crew) is female, sometimes certain kinds of unsanctioned behavior or something else occurs, that's what I'm talking about." He did not elaborate.' |
| 2008/4/12-19 [Science/Space] UID:49739 Activity:nil |
4/12 End of 150-year-old West Coast Salmon fishery looms:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/12/MNAB104836.DTL
\_ FUD. The fishery was doing fine just recently. Whatever has
happened, this is nothing to indicate this is the start
of a long-term trend. The sardines disappeared from Monterey
also and overfishing was blamed - until they came back. It's
good that a ban was enacted. It shows the fishery is well-managed.
\- end of 240 yr nepalese monarchy looms --jcarter@peanut.org
\_ Overfishing has never been the problem with the salmon industry
on the West Coast - it is one of the most heavily regulated in
the world. The reasons for the decline of the salmon are a lot
more complicated than that - check out the book "Cadillac Desert"
if you're really interested. My dad worked in salmon restoration
for 35 years, so this is a topic I'm wearily familiar with.
--lye
\_ My point is that the fishery didn't suddenly collapse over the
last 6 years because of anything people did or did not do.
It has to be climate-related. The fish will bounce back
when conditions return to more normal as long as they
are not fished out during the recovery.
\_ http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=overfishing-could-take-se
Many world fisheries are close to collapse, or have
already passed that point.
\_"The rivers that drain the Sierra used to flow through the
valleys and into the ocean; millions and millions of gallons
poured through the Golden Gate. First Shasta Dam diverted
water from the Sacramento; then the Friant Dam was built to
take water from the San Joaquin River. All these rivers and
their tributaries were prime salmon runs."
--> FUCK LA.
\_ San Francisco and San Jose get their water from the Sierra
too.
\_ How about the fustercluck that is Hetch Hetchy,
dammed for the benefit of San Francisco:
"Dam Hetch Hetchy! As well dam for water-tanks the
people's cathedrals and churches, for no holier
temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of
man." -- John Muir
It feels a lot better to blame it all on LA, though.
\_ Your lack of knowledge on the subject of water
diversion and the history of water projects in the
West is showing. Please give "Cadillac Desert" a
\_ It is? Please enlighten me, because I know
a lot about the subject and Mr. Mulholland.
try. You won't regret it, it's a great book.
Needless to say, Hetch hetchy doesn't have much to
do with the salmons decline, but it is part of the
\_ It doesn't and I never said it did. However,
let's be real about who is grabbing water
from where. Hetch Hetchy was completely
ruined for the benefit of SF, not LA. If SF
had remained the largest city in CA then
the water would be flowing there instead.
It wasn't going to remain in the rivers as
long as the population grew.
same mentality the led to the destruction of
California rivers. The real water grab by
Los Angeles was in an entirely different place -
Owens Valley. This was fictionalized in the movie
"Chinatown." The municipalities aren't the real
villians, though - the real problem is the
subsidized federal and state projects which give
farmers massive incentives to waste enormous
amounts of water.
--lye
\_ Maybe when people stop growing rice in the
desert for pennies per gallon I'll stop
watering my lawn, but what does this
have to do with salmon decline over the
last 6 years? Nothing. If you feel
something changed (e.g. water flows)
then say so, but I have seen no one
mention anything like that. What I see
are comments about pumps, dams, and so
on: none of which have changed recently
AFAIK. What did change was the amount of
food in the ocean. Occam's Razor is at
work here. We can have a healthy salmon
fishery even with things as messed up as
they are, but sometimes things happen
outside of our control. The ban will
allow the salmon to recover as long as
ocean conditions remain close to normal,
as they are now.
\_ None of this has changed in the last 6 years.
\_ I really wish you were right, but it is sadly much more
stark than that. The resource has been in serious decline
for many long decades, primarly due to habitat destruction
and water diversion. You are correct that there is a
cyclic nature to the population, mosly due to the life
cycle of the fishes. There will be something of an uptick
at some point - but it's just noise in a population graph
that essentially represents a remnant. |
| 2008/3/13-17 [Science/Space] UID:49454 Activity:nil |
3/13 New bacteria looks like it can grow in lunar soil:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/2kqlqo [new scientist]
\_ Oh god. We are proliferating life in the universe.
\_ There might be one problem. On the moon, one gets half a month of
continuous sunlight and then half a month of continuous darkness.
\_ Sure, as long as it gets water, air, and light. |
| 2008/3/6-7 [Science/Space] UID:49357 Activity:nil |
3/6 Rings found around Saturn's moon Rhea:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3b5q37 (newscientist.com)
\_ You know, is it possible for a moon to have a moon?
\_ I wondered the same thing when I read that article. Its a
big universe out there, anything is possible. |
| 2008/3/6-7 [Science/Space, Science/Electric] UID:49355 Activity:nil |
3/6 Electric cars could threaten water resources:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3y66at (newscientist.com)
\_ Quote from the article:
"...... agrees that water scarcity will become an increasing
problem for utilities, but he doesn't think electric vehicle usage
will have much of an impact."
\_ The authors of the study referenced in the first part of the
article think there will be an impact unless there are some
changes to car design and/or the sources of power (wind, solar).
\_ We're going to be getting more and more of our oil from the Alberta
tar sands (production of which consumes a large amount of water)
and like the article says its the design of electric power plants
that's the problem, not electric cars themselves. |
| 2008/3/4-7 [Science/Space] UID:49327 Activity:nil |
3/4 MRO photographs a martian avalanche:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/multimedia/mro20080303a.html |
| 2008/2/20-22 [Science/Space, Computer/SW/Editors/IDE] UID:49199 Activity:moderate |
2/20 Lunar eclipse poll:
Totally magnificent:
Worth seeing: ...
Don't care, irrelevant to my life: .
Lunar Eclipse? What Lunar Eclipse?: .
Cloudy, pretty much missed it: ...
Was busy at home whining about latest herpes outbreak: .
\_ hahahaha this is pretty hilarious
\_ ha ha! I kill me. fuck.
\_ The problem is that in the grocery store, the person who
is moving the aisles around is a grocer who knows his
customers. On the Web, redesigns are often controlled
by people who have no clue what web customers need.
Particularly when the web site has a print publication
side; print design and web design are two completely
different things. It's like having the grocery aisles
laid out by someone whose only experience is in
warehousing. -tom
\_ What the hell are you talking about?
There is no dark side of the moon, it's all dark: .
There is no dark side of the moon. As a matter of fact, it's all dark:.
There is no dark side of the moon. Matter of fact, it's all dark: .
\_ that's for living in the city, you smartass city slicker
Do care, but forgot about it: . |
| 2008/1/22-31 [Science/Space] UID:48986 Activity:nil |
1/22 Behold! The world's largest swimming pool: http://csua.org/u/kjc Visible from space! http://csua.org/u/kjb \_ It contains salt water and it's right next to the sea. What's the point of the swimming pool again? \_ I had precisely the same question. Maybe they're controlling the temperature, or just the fact that you can't get swept out to sea is a selling point? -op \_ SHARK! (also, maybe jellyfish and other nasties) \_ How much does it cost to heat a pool of that size? \_ theoretically theyre cleaning it up a bit, not letting ni all the random sea life. \_ The ocean in Chile is COLD. |
| 2008/1/10-12 [Science/Space, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:48923 Activity:nil |
1/10 Biggest Black Hole in the Universe Found:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/293esb (space.newscientist.com)
\_ obyermom
\_ Racist!!!
\_ This one?
http://www.post-gazette.com/images4/20060630ho_onyxPJ_450.jpg |
| 2007/12/12-20 [Science/Space, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:48793 Activity:moderate |
12/12 "Ominous Arctic melt worries experts"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071212/ap_on_sc/arctic_melt
\_ Global warming is a liberal lie.
\_ Isn't the antarctic ice growing?
\_ You mean like how the area of the antarctic ice shelf
has radically shrunk and huge icebergs have broken off?
\_ Yes, the edges have shrunk (hint, it's summer in Antarctica
now), but the center has grown colder and thicker, hence a net
increase in ice.
\_ Sorry, are you suggesting that icebergs of similar size
break off Antarctica every summer?
\_ Yep, every spring, big icebergs break off of A. And the
central ice /is/ thickiening--total ice in A. is
increasing.
\_ Just another effect of global warming. Some
places get colder and other places get warmer,
but the net result is a warmer planet.
\_ Antarctic net ice mass is decreasing. Please check
your facts before pulling things out of your ass.
http://tinyurl.com/kewgu (washingtpost.com, Mar 2006)
\_ Or not
http://tinyurl.com/2xgdyd (icecap, Sep 2007)
\_ It's hard to take Joe D'Aleo seriously when
he's drawing a check from Exxon via the
Fraser Institute.
\_ Yes, all the people who disagree with you
are in the conspiracy. What about Al Gore
and his carbon credit companies?
\_ If the only people saying that ice is
increasing are all paid by the same
company, doesn't that suggest something
to you?
\_ Ha! Lindzen is an MIT scientist who
has never gotten money from oil
companies. Meanwhile, GE spends more
on lobbying than all oil companies
combined, yet NBC has a "green week"
and no one flinches, even though GE
bought all of the wind farm tech from
Enron. Yah, I've seen the "if you
don't agree you're either stupid or in
on it" argument before. It's a weak
way to ignore evidence.
http://tinyurl.com/2ybkoj (NRO)
reposted here
http://tinyurl.com/2bh5se
\_ Actually it's pretty sensible way
for someone who is not an expert
to evaluate the situation. So you
have ONE MIT scientist who has ONE
study that goes against
overwhelming scientific consensus.
Could he be right? Maybe! That's
the cool thing about the
scientific method, though, yes, it
takes some time to shake out.
But, absent further study (Yes
Virgina, the scientific method
generally likes to repeatedly
check it's result), betting on the
scientific majority is probably
still a good bet. Don't be
disingenuous, it makes you seem
like a dorche. -dans
\_ net ice mass != "ice extent" (exposed surface
ice). Is that the best you can do?
\_ You think a giant area one inch thick is
better than a slightly smaller but still
giant area kilometers thick? No. Net ice
mass is what is important if you want all
that water to not flood the rest of the
inhabited continents. "ice extent" is a
useless metric.
\_ Ice extend, not net ice mass, determines
how much sunlight is reflected back to
space and not absorbed as heat. -- !PP
\_ So what? There was a time when
Antarctica was temperate. The
world didn't come to an end.
\_ Ice mass determines how much water is
free to raise ocean levels by 20 feet.
If ice mass increases, water levels
will not rise. Extent is not a useful
metric.
\_ ^will^does
\_ I prefer to split my hairs the
other way. YMMV. |
| 2007/12/4-7 [Science/Space] UID:48743 Activity:nil |
12/4 Slow cooker questions for motd food experts. We bought a slow
cooker "Crock-Pot" by Rival. My wife tried to cook chicken in
it. Used the "high" setting for 4 hours. Not only did the
water never boil, the chicken wasn't that soft either. My wife
said the slow cooker she used in China is much better. I guess
it slowly brings the water to a boil, and keeps it there. (Or,
maybe it has a light boil phase near the very end of the
cycle). The chicken cooked in it tastes extremely tender. The
American version I have just feels like the Chicken is soaked
in warm water for 4 hours. Am I doing this wrong? Is what she
used in China not a 'slow cooker'? I would think that we
invented the slow cooker, but never bring the content to boil
seems a bit strange. Are some slow cooker better than others?
\_ Chicken: The most overrated meat overloaded with antibiotics
and growth hormones, and the Monsanto company and all the
rest of the non-organic meat industry know it all too well.
\_ Buy the live ones from Chinatown. The meat has a lot more
flavor, although it's tougher to chew.
\_ Get organic instead of bulk grown.
\_ She wants to bring one back from China next time we are
there. I'd rather not get it from there if I can find a
suitable one here, since otherwise I need to convert 110 to
220v which is a hassle.
\_ I haven't used a crock pot in years, but it sounds to me like
you just didn't leave it in long enough. I used to leave my
chicken in at low for eight hours or longer.
\_ use the heat retention slow cookers .. like Tiger Thermal magic
\_ I wouldn't even try to eat the chicken if the water never boils,
because I'm allergic to germs. Does the manual say you're supposed
to put in boiling water?
\_ You're an idiot. Truly.
\_ Care to elaborate?
\_ Because all those people using slow cookers for the last
30 years all died of food poisoning.
\_ Not all those people using slow cookers for the last 30 years
used ones that never boil. See original post. -- PP
\_ Crock-pots don't boil.
\_ I didn't say "no one used ones that never boil." I said
"not all those people used ones that never boil."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_cooker#Design
"Often slow cookers sold in the US in the past several
decades will not slow cook at all: all of the settings
bring the contents to a full boil, with the only
difference in setting being the amount of time to come
to a boil. This may be due to concerns about product
liability from unsafe food holding temperatures." -- PP
\_ Aren't slow cookers higher pressure? That means
they boil at higher temperatures.
\_ No. See the paragraph "Slow cookers contrast
with pressure cookers ..." at the above URL.
\_ Was the chicken frozen? I usually just put all the ingredients in
and let it run all day (8 hrs)...but if you need it to work faster
usually you put hot ingredients in in the beginning. |
| 2007/11/13-21 [Science/Space] UID:48629 Activity:nil |
11/13 How planets cause the sun's activity to change.
http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=bfeddc8e-90d7-4f54-9ca7-1f56fadc7c2b
\_ and he's predicting we are going into a 30 year 'cold' cycle...
\_ And at least he's making a prediction that will be testable in
our lifetime.
\_ Not his, though, since he retired in 1982 and died in 2006.
This is just Lawrence Solomon digging up old research and
presenting it as if it hasn't already been debunked. -tom
\_ URL? |
| 2007/11/5-8 [Science/Space, Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:48534 Activity:nil |
11/5 It's a little hard to sympathize with Georgia over the Atlanta
water troubles. Their population has been growing but they
have invested nothing in new water infrastructure for Atlanta,
for ~50 years. Let's hope other areas learn from the problems.
\_ The private sector will fix the problem, just like during Katrina.
If they have problems it's because things weren't privatized enough.
\_ Katrina was a public corruption problem. There are a lot of
examples you could have used. Katrina wasn't the one you were
looking for.
\_ Time for a tax cut! |
| 2007/10/24-26 [Science/Space, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:48425 Activity:kinda low |
10/23 Whole Foods buys 100% solar power! Buy from Whole Foods and
be a good citizen of the earth!
\_ uhm yeah, you know how toxic all the stuff is that goes into making
those solar cells? solar cells don't grow on trees.
\_ They're called "leaves".
\_ So the farm equipment runs on leaves? The trucks that
haul the stuff to market, too? All the packaging, the
lighting in the store, the asphault in the parking lot.
It's all leaves. I never knew that. Thanks.
\_ pathetic troll attempt
\_ scientific reality. join us out here in the real world.
the view is great! |
| 2007/10/22-25 [Science/Space] UID:48410 Activity:moderate |
10/22 http://www.cnn.com/2007/TRAVEL/10/22/nasa.air.safety.ap/index.html NASA keeps air safety data private to avoid public panic. \_ If we give people real things to worry about, they might stop caring about the War on Terrah. \_ NASA? Shouldn't FAA be doing this? \_ NASA = Nat'l _Aeronautics_ and Space Administration. Part of their mission is research into civil aviation, and part of that is data colletion on air safety. \_ But I'd think studing near collisions caused by human factors like pilots being drunk or staring at stewardess' chests shouldn't be a burden for NASA, which I think should focus on science and technology side of things. \_ Bush has cut funding for science and technology at NASA. Those are bad words. Instead, money is going to use proven technology to develop a Shuttle replacement to send us to LEO and the Moon. \_ So we should fund an entirely different Federal project just to study the human factos. Great. Where's the gravy train line start? \_ No, we should put the burden on FAA. \_ The FAA pushes paper, they don't do science. |
| 2007/10/3-5 [Science/Space] UID:48231 Activity:high |
10/3 "CIBC Economist: $100 Oil by End of '08"
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071002/100_oil_outlook.html
\_ So soon? Hey peak oilers, how high do you think it would go before
the market disintegrates? OIL's already shown its price/demand
curve to be really inelastic.
\_ I suspect fresh water will be a bigger concern over the next few
decades than oil prices.
\_ Why? We can do desalination and purify all the water we want
as long as we have the energy to do so. So it goes back to
oil again, unless we use nukular.
\_ and you would discharge the concentrated brine to... sea water
and destroy the habitate. nice.
\_ Desalination is not as quick or efficient a process as you
seem to believe.
\_ Why does it have to be either to be effective? (same
with filtration) It just has to work.
\_ Because it works so slowly compared to our needs that
it isn't practicle. Israel has the best desalination
tech on the planet and most of the country is still
sand and scrub where they raise low-water plants.
\_ Just build enough plants to make it practical.
\_ That's just it. Wars over water are easier
and quicker than long term, extreme investments
in water infrastructure.
\_ No. Fresh water is already cheap to produce for any coastal
nation. The situation is not remotely compatible to oil.
-- ilyas
\_ See above.
\_ I'm making a killing on oil futures -- peak oiler |
| 2007/9/13-14 [Science/Space, Transportation/PublicTransit] UID:48055 Activity:nil |
9/13 http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/13/MNFIS5MBO.DTL You poor bastards trying to get home from SF... I weep for you. \_ Good news for those that usually don't use the affected on-ramp. \_ My wife and her co-workers take BART, and they live in Fremont and Newark. \_ Time for another tax cut! |
| 2007/9/13-14 [Science/Space] UID:48047 Activity:nil |
9/13 Attn: motd gazillionaires: if you're looking for a worthy cause,
try buying thousands of these and distribute them throughout Africa:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/yt644z (Telegraph article on Life Saver
water bottle, as seen on /.) |
| 2007/8/31-9/2 [Recreation/Activities, Science/Space] UID:47867 Activity:high |
8/31 Why do many people spit in urinals? At work I often see people
do this right before they pee. Today a guy did that and then spat
into his piss before flushing. What the fuck dude.
\_ It's gross, but it's less gross than seeing them spitting into the
sink or the garbage can.
\_ The sink seems more appropriate to me, as long as they're
already running water there. People brush teeth there.
\_ There IS running water in urinals. The spitter is providing
the running water himself!
\_ I think it is a psychological thing to make it easier to pee.
\_ Target practice.
\_ It's a man thing. you wouldn't understand. |
| 2007/8/28 [Science/Space, Computer/SW/Editors/IDE] UID:47782 Activity:high |
8/28 Did anyone watch the lunar eclipse last night? I broke my $20
binoculars while trying to focus to it.
\_ How do you watch an eclipse at night... don't those happen
when you can see the sun?
\_ Ow ow ow.... |
| 2007/8/28 [Science/Space] UID:47777 Activity:high |
8/28 Are we having fun yet, jerk?
and tell me if they're worth watching? thanks.
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9767310-7.html
http://ideas.4brad.com/news-burning-man-burns-monday
http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070828/NEWS18/70828002 |
| 2007/8/28 [Science/Space] UID:47774 Activity:nil |
8/27 some joker set The Man on fire at Burning Man, a few days early:
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9767310-7.html
http://ideas.4brad.com/news-burning-man-burns-monday
http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070828/NEWS18/70828002
http://valleywag.com/tech/breaking/burning-man-statue-burns-++-a-bit-too-early-294053.php
\_ The joy of an event that celebrates anarchy: no icon is safe. |
| 2007/8/13 [Science/Space] UID:47602 Activity:low |
8/13 those miners are so screwed
\_ Gee, ya think? Why, because they've been down there a week without
any additional food or water? Or that it's 50 degrees and wet down
there?
\_ no, they're dead by now. it's been what? a week? buried, with no
water?
\_ can you drink someone else's urine? |
| 2007/8/7-13 [Science/Space, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:47558 Activity:nil |
8/7 The miner incident got me thinking a lot. Do they make those
Juliet Pills where they slow down your heart rate and breathing
rate to reduce metabolism, to conserve energy, oxygen, and such
so that you'll have more time before you're rescued?
\_ Such pills would have been useful on Apollo 13 and during the
Russian submarine disaster a couple years ago.
\_ How? they all died anyway.
\_ Maybe by keeping them from dying? |
| 2007/7/6-10 [Science/Space, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:47194 Activity:nil |
7/6 Science!
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2115569,00.html
\_ I considered myself a science person, and I can't even remember from
high school the answer for "Why does salt dissolve in water?"! :-( |
| 2007/5/31-6/4 [Science/Space] UID:46813 Activity:nil 88%like:46804 |
5/31 This is how REAL communists do things!:
http://urltea.com/o78 (sfgate.com)
\_ Of course, everyone's been drinking the heavily polluted water
before anyway... |
| 2007/5/31 [Science/Space] UID:46804 Activity:nil 66%like:46810 88%like:46813 |
5/31 This is how REAL communists do things!:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2007/05/31/international/i132216D01.DTL
\_ Of course, everyone's been drinking the heavily polluted water
before anyway... |
| 2007/5/1-4 [Science/Space, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:46496 Activity:nil |
5/1 Mission Accomplished!
\_ The war in Iraq was always about getting rid of Castro! |
| 2007/4/26-29 [Science/Space] UID:46454 Activity:nil |
4/26 "Potentially habitable planet found" (outside our solar system):
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070424/ap_on_sc/habitable_planet |
| 2007/4/23-25 [Science/Space] UID:46425 Activity:moderate 72%like:46417 |
4/23 Sheryl Crow says you should only use 1 square of TP per sitting
http://urltea.com/f50 (washingtonpost.com)
\_ Remind me never to shake her hand.
\_ you'll never be allowed to get that close, so dont worry about
it. just buy her albums and have some bread with it and do
what you're told and all will be fine.
\_ Just don't buy one that she autographed. :-)
\_ In much of the non-Western world it is common to use 0 squares of
TP per sitting. A hand and some water is all that is necessary. W
Washing your hands afterwards clears up any hygine issues.
\_ Yeah, cholera is really no big deal. I'm sure in place that
use their hand and some water that washing their hands with
clean water and anti-bacterial soap is common place. You're
joking, right?
\_ The point is that in Western countries, accesses to clean
water and soap is not a problem -- there is no reason to
toilet paper at all, recycled or otherwise.
\_ Well - we can start using a bidet (like in Europe), or get one of
those smart Japanese toilet that sprays to clean. Did I mention
it also comes with seat-warmer?
\_ Absolute luxury: http://www.washlet.com/default.asp
\_ Oh my. The demo vids are priceles..
\_ That animated guy looks like he had an orgasm with all
that anal action.
\_ How does it keep the nossle clean when it's used by more than
one person?
\_ It deploys after you've defecated. Also, the nozzle is
aimed at an angle so it's not directly under you; the jet
of water acts at a distance so there's no contact.
\_ Two words: diarrhea, explosive
\_ But when the nozzle turns on it will spray that
back onto the guy who had the diarrhea. And then
wash that off with the rest of his ass dirt.
\_ Supposed the guy with diarrhea doesn't use the
spraying function after taking a dump. Then you
take a dump and try to use the function ......
\_ Switch to 100% recycled toilet paper would help as much. One can
buy those in Safeway and Trader Joe and probably other stores. The
brand I buy actually works better than those premium extra-soft
brands. |
| 2007/4/19-21 [Science/Space, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:46371 Activity:nil |
4/19 IAEA confirms Iran is enriching uranium, and has disallowed inspectors
from visiting their heavy-water facility.
http://csua.org/u/iia |
| 2007/3/23-27 [Science/Space] UID:46064 Activity:nil |
3/23 What exactly is heavy water, how do you get it, and how does it
produce the bomb? I keep hearing about Iran and heavy water but
I have no chemistry fu and I don't understand how you can magically
turn water molecules into the bomb.
\_ Heavy water is D2O instead of H2O. What is "D"? It's just
hydrogen with an extra neutron in it. D2O has less neutron
absorbtion cross-section, so reactors which use D2O as a moderator
have more neutrons available for longer. SPECULATION: Because
more neutrons are available for longer, perhaps it's possible
to convert more U238 into plutonium in the reactor, which
is prime bomb-making material. END SPECULATION. Deuterium is
also a component in the more powerful hydrogen bomb.
\- there is nothing special about heavy water. it is just
norweigian propaganda. it was the voss water of the 1940s.
it's kinda like what norweigan VOSS WATER is today.
all this talk about fast and slow neutrons is just
marketing. --radiation lab employee
norweigian propaganda. it was just a 1940s drink that became
popular in germany. it's kinda like what norweigan VOSS WATER
is today to with the paris hilton crowd. all this talk about
fast and slow neutrons is just viral marketing chain reaction.
--radiation lab employee
\_ The PSOs are on their way to your office as you read this. |
| 2007/3/22-24 [Science/Space] UID:46052 Activity:nil |
3/22 Southern Ocean current faces slowdown threat
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070322/sc_nm/climate_ocean_dc |
| 2007/3/19-22 [Science/Space] UID:46012 Activity:nil |
3/19 Caves on Mars:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6461201.stm |
| 2007/3/15-17 [Science/Space] UID:45988 Activity:low |
3/15 Immense ice deposits found at south pole of Mars!!!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070315/ts_nm/mars_water_dc
\_ If only they had oil.
\_ ObGlobalWarmingIsAHoax
\_ Mars is much further away from the Sun than Earth is. Inverse
square law.
\_ Time for some terra-forming. |
| 2007/2/9-12 [Science/Space] UID:45695 Activity:nil |
2/9 A large body of water might exist w/in the mantle:
http://www.physorg.com/news90171847.html |
| 2007/1/30-2/1 [Consumer/Camera, Science/Space] UID:45622 Activity:nil |
1/30 Hubble's main camera might be failing:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/print?id=2832926
\_ I thought we already knew it was completely dead? |
| 2006/11/7-8 [Science/Space] UID:45231 Activity:nil |
11/7 "Water flow in China's Yellow River hits record low"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061107/sc_nm/environment_china_water_dc
\_ what the fuck? that is an old news. Yellow River no longer
goes to the sea for a long long time. |
| 2006/11/6 [Science/Space] UID:45190 Activity:nil |
11/6 Homeowners: Anyone have a swimming pool and know how much it costs
to repair it? My mother's swimming pool needs repairs, and the
estimate is about $4000. The following needs to be repaired: 1.
Waterfall is cracked; leaks, does not hold water; needs to be
repaired. 2. Tiles in jacuzzi are cracked, missing; needs to be
replaced. 3. tiles in pool are missing; needs to be replaced.
4. Crack in bottom of pool; starts in shallow end and runs to
middle of pool; should be repaired. 5. spillway into pool is
cracked needs to be repaired. 6. Pool border needs bonding.
7. Rough edges of pool rocks need to be smoothed. 8. Flagstone
around pool is cracked and needs repairing. 9. After all pool
repairs have been completed, the expansion joint needs to be
repaired. 10. Patio pool area surface needs to be re-painted.
Water will need to be drained for this job. Does $4000 sound
reasonable to you guys? Thanks.
\_ Get several bids and compare.
\_ Agree, get more bids and compare. From the long list you posted
I'd guess $4k is a low offer, and beware of 'extra charges' if you
let the contracter take that job. The cracks & leak are especially
troubling. |
| 2006/10/16-18 [Science/Space, Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:44827 Activity:kinda low |
10/16 AMAZING COINCIDENCES 101:
Saddam verdict to be read on November 5th
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15285264
\_ You're right. What are the odds he'd get his verdict 101 years
to the day after the board game Monopoly was released?
\_ on the 27th anniversary of the day Ayatollah Khomeini declared the
US to be the "Great Satan" Ironic, indeed.
\_ And omgwtfbbq!!! It is also the birthday of ~365.25/th of the
world's population! That's so amazing!!!!!!!!!!! Wow!!! November
5th! Of all days! Golly... that really makes me think.
\_ World population isn't actually evenly divided.
\_ Ya know, I'm not sure if I should have just ignored you or if
I should be as anal as you and point out I used the ~ which
means "approximately" or make fun of you for being so anal.
I've decided. OMGWTFBBQ! UR S0 SM@3T!111
\_ Yeah, that's much like saying "then add ~1.00004738 grams.."
\_ You all get that this is happening 2 days before the Nov. election,
right?
\_ Hadn't noticed. Just like the violence is escalating just before
the election, the Lancet comes out with another death report, the
Mark Foley sleaze (even Gerry Studds has died!)...
\_ OMG! I smell conspiracy! Back in 1997 when PNAC was secretly
pushing to invade Iraq through open letters, yes, even then,
Karl Rove, Agent of Evil(tm), knew that nine years later he would
need an October Surprise for the 2006 mid-terms! Brilliantly,
and equally evilly, he arranged for the invasion and several
near misses with 1000 lb bombs (just to make it look good),
followed by a well timed capture and trial with the verdict to be
read only two days before the election! MISSION ACCOMPLISEHD!
\_ Don't forget--if that doesn't go well, Rove still has OBL in
the basement to announce that we've captured him just before
the election...</tinfoil>
\_ no way, everyone knows obl has always been on the bushco
payroll since back in the days when his daddy ran the cia.
obl is just an actor who thought he was doing a commercial,
even he is a victim of the evil rove. this stuff all goes
so far back not even bush is allowed by rove to know what
is really going on. i read it has something to do with the
lost treasures of the templars being hidden under david's
temple.
\_ Have you noticed how much Afghanistan looks like the
"moon" from the fake NASA videos?
\_ I have but then I found out neither Afghanistan *nor*
the moon really exist! NASA, with the help of the
Boy Sprouts and the Men In Black and 12 mega bucks
attacked to destroy the moon and succeeded. That
was of course the last kill the UFOs needed, they
revealed their secret victory conditions and won.
\_ By far my favorite NASA conspiracy theory is that
they are editing sattelite images of the Earth's
weather patterns so that the masses won't see
the giant *hexagonal* weather patterns which are
being generated by the weather control machines
used by the Yakuza and "rogue elements of the
former KGB", which the Bush administrations knows
former KGB", which the Bush administration knows
about, but can do nothing to stop. I'm not making
this up.
\_ That's awesome. Do these folks have a website?
I need some new material.
\_ I heard about it from a guy in person who
was constantly talking about it. It was
better than any website, since he had
wraparound sunglasses, was completely bald,
and sounded like Boomhauer on King of the
Hill. I'm sure this is on the web somewhere.
If you're going to waste time looking for
shit like this on the web, you might also
want to read about how Denver International
Airport will be the secret underground
headquarters of the NWO. |
| 2006/10/1-3 [Science/Space] UID:44618 Activity:nil |
10/1 Armstrong first words on the moon were:
"That's one small step for A man, one giant leap for mankind."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4225505.html
\_ So what? That doesn't change the meaning of the quote.
\_ "A man" is grammatically correct. grammar nazis have
been giving Armstrong shit for years because they thought
he said "man" instead.
\_ The quote never made sense for me without the "A" since
man and mankind mean the same thing in the context of
the original sentence, that is, just saying "man" can
also mean "mankind"/the human race. |
| 2006/9/27-28 [Science/Space] UID:44558 Activity:nil |
9/27 If you are taking a complementary left-wing socialist airport shuttle
from an airport hotel, how much tip is proper? I feel like if the
driver doesn't do anything to help me (opening the shuttle door for me
isn't helping me, I can do it myself) or make a nice conversation with
me, I don't feel like I need to tip him. But if we have a nice
conversation, or he somehow goes out of his way for me, then I feel
he deserves a buck or 2. What do all you others out there in
motdland think?
\_ Give him what you're comfortable with. -John
\_ So unlike in a restaurant, it's not expected that every single
person will give the guy a tip?
\_ Well, he might be expecting it. I also expect a pony.
See above... -John
\_ NOPONY!
\_ If you're the only one or two folks on the shuttle, I'd say a buck
or two if he did his job. I've found if there's more people on
the shuttle it's a game of "run off the shuttle with the sheeple". |
| 2006/9/25-27 [Science/Space, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:44519 Activity:nil |
9/25 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollow_earth People like Justin P Black believe in hollow earth. \_ Isn't that where trolls like you live? \_ You're just not catching on. Why don't you drop it? |
| 2006/9/8-12 [Science/Space, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:44321 Activity:nil |
9/8 Space mission to probe solar system explosions
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060908/sc_nm/space_flares_dc
"Harra said a better understanding of solar flares could provide
information about how magnetic fields release huge amounts of energy
and whether life can exist somewhere else." Huh? What does this have
to do with life somewhere else?
\_ I believe strong magnetic fields are one of the theoretical catalysts
for abiogenesis --dbushong |
| 2006/9/5-7 [Science/Space, Recreation/Food] UID:44279 Activity:kinda low |
9/5 On average toilets use approx 40% of your water. Conserve!
\_ A vegetarian diet produces more methane. Eat more animals!
\_ The vast bulk of water use in CA is used on cash crops. Stop
eating veggies!
\_ Way way way more water is used to grow food for animals and to
give to animals. It takes up to 5000 gallons of water to
make one pound of beef (more in arid climates).
make one pound of beef (most in arid climates).
\_ And thanks to my "lo flo" toilets I have to flush 3 times when
I take a dump.
\_ Good 1.6 gallon toilets do just fine under "heavy load."
Try Toro. -tom
\_ Sorry, but I use lots of toilet paper. I want to make sure
I'm completedly wiped and clean. Maybe you are different.
\_ My new 1.6 gallon toilet flushes better than any
water-wasting toilet I've ever had. -tom
\_ Sorry, but if you wipe more than 3 times and use
2-ply toilet paper instead of 1-ply, then you will
need more than 1.6 gallons to avoid using the plunger
regularly.
\_ you've done a study? -tom
\_ Gee, noting how my water usage more than doubles during the summer,
I'm betting that the sprinklers are a bigger drain. |
| 2006/8/26-29 [Science/Space, Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:44161 Activity:kinda low |
8/26 In the old days, the government built great infrastructures like
big dams, power generators, interstate highways, etc. What are some
recent examples of big projects today?
\_ The New Orleans project.
\_ err... our annual highway bill. do you have any idea how much it
is?
\_ The Glorious War Reconstruction Program in Iraq
\- you mean the us govt? obviously with things like dams, there is
a lot more of this in developing countries, e.g. three gorges dam
in china. and in many of the cases above the govt paid for but
didnt build them. a lot of transportation infrastructure isnt a
single object like the GGB, but more like THE BIG DIG. and of course
there is NOLA, new airports now and then etc.
\_ You mean the three gorges dam project where literally millions of
people were involuntarily forced out of their homes, and cities
and counties of historic significance are forever submerged in
water?
water? No, the US govt hasn't done something of that scale.
\_ NFL stadiums built with taxpayer money.
\_ In the old days, social spending was trivial to non-existant
compared to today. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
That's why we're always borrowing from the future to have our
toys today.
\_ ISS </sarcasm> |
| 2006/8/24-26 [Science/Space] UID:44124 Activity:kinda low |
8/24 Pluto loses planet status.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5282440.stm -John
\_ Why do you hate cartoon dogs?
\_ That's no moon...
\_ '"and has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit."
Pluto was automatically disqualified because its oblong orbit
overlaps with Neptune's.' Wouldn't that metric disqualify
Neptune as well?
\_ First come first serve.
\_ You can't have the criteria mean "cleared of all material"
because no planet would qualify. The only practical way to
interpret it is "cleared of all objects of comparable size".
\_ First come first serve. Neptune was admitted first.
\_ They fucked up. They should have listened to their committee,
which would have kept pluto and added several more. Much more
fun. --PeterM
\_ Would you really like it if 10 years from now there are dozens
of known 'planets'? It kind of dilutes the meaning of the term.
\_ What's wrong with "dozens" of known planets? We can select
which we think are important, i.e., all the non-pluton
planets, with pluto/charon being notable as the first of
the plutons. --PeterM
\_ Apparently you're supposed to call them ice dwarfs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_dwarf
There are more than dozens. Why should they be planets?
They aren't what we traditionally consider planets,
at least in terms of size.
\_ That's no moon...
\_ This is just plain stupid. Sometimes a planet is just a planet.
\_ That's no moon...
\_ So your criteria would be... "We say so."
\- there was an interesting article about CALTECH PLANET MAN
MICHAEL BROWN in a recent NYKer ... he went to UCB for
grad school and live in the Berkeley Marina.
\_ Basically, yes. It's worked for hundreds of years.
\_ Pluto's protest group:
http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyimages/861.gif |
| 2006/7/7-10 [Finance/Investment, Computer/SW/RevisionControl, Science/Space] UID:43587 Activity:nil |
7/7 If the Space Shuttle has no fuel tank, how does it change course when
it tries to leave orbit and return to earth? Thx.
\_ It has small thrusters on it.
\_ Yep, they jet compressed O2, IIRC. Basically they just nudge
themselves "down" a bit, coast down, nose up to come in w/
the heat tiles facing down, and then once in atmo and not falling
like a rock can use aileron/elevators and rudder.
\_ Those are the attitude adjustment nozzles. It also has a
main deorbiting thruster that uses a small amount of rocket
fuel.
\_ for 'in-space' maneuvering, it has two different sets of rockets.
The RCS thrusters for attitude adjustment and fine maneuvering,
and the OMS engines (two 'medium sized' rockets on the back) for
larger orbital adjustments. -ERic |
| 2006/7/3-6 [Science/Space] UID:43558 Activity:low |
7/3 NASA Administrator Michael Griffin demonstrates Dubya-Style Leadership
by maintaining launch schedule for July 4 weekend, barring 40% chance
of inclement weather. Lessee ... 1% chance of shuttle loss ... 16 more
launches before 2010 ... only a 1/6 chance and yer gonna retire the
orbiters anyway, and you can always put the astronauts on the space
station in case there's a hole!
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/07/03/D8IKT4V00.html
\_ No, this is the same sort of "must launch leadership" NASA had
when the first one blew up. And the second. And now the third.
The problem is NASA, not whoever is in the WH. When you slap
GWB for every little thing, especially falsely like this, you
reduce the value of slapping him for the things he should be.
\_ Actually, the problem is GWB. Why? Because he is the one
pushing NASA to do more manned spaceflight. He is the one pushing
an accelerated schedule of launches and retiring the shuttle
in favor of a new vehicle, while not really giving NASA much
more money than before. Without GWB's Vision for Space
Exploration, NASA would have more time and money. Because of him,
there is neither. The "must launch leadership" starts with GWB.
\_ I agree. Weren't they talking about more unmanned probes
recently, or is this really supposed to contribute to a manned
mission to Mars?
\_ No, NASA is giving up most of its research, science,
and unmanned work in favor of the ISS, Shuttle, and
CEV (replacement for the Shuttle).
\_ Have you ever worked in government? It doesn't work like
that. Also, how do you explain all the other NASA deaths
going back to the very beginning of space flight for both
the US and Soviets? Oh, I know! It's all GWB's fault!
\_ Yes, I have. In fact, I work for NASA. It works exactly
like that. The President sets the agenda, whether the
President is GWB or Kennedy.
\_ Setting the agenda is not the same as "launch no matter
wut soz I kin make mah daddy proud!". So you work for
NASA? Did your pet project get defunded? You sound
bitter.
\_ Every project other than the Shuttle, ISS, and
CEV lost funding. Even portions of the ISS were
cut. We are talking about gutting a large part
of NASA, not about "pet projects". The reasons
(as given by Bush): 1) We have to finish the ISS
by 2010, 2) We have to go back to the Moon. Setting
the agenda means that there isn't time (or money) to
eff around with the foam on the Shuttle to make
it safer. If the fix isn't easy (or possible)
then it does become "launch despite risks",
because of Bush's 2010 deadline.
\_ NASA funding was cut every under Clinton.
\_ Clinton didn't push for pipe dreams at the
same time.
\_ NASA is there to pipe dreams come real. If
you're not doing pipe dream work you're
wasting tax payer dollars.
\_ Pipe dream work requires pipe dream
dollars. Without them, nothing will
get done. Also, without technology
research all we can do is duplicate
Apollo again.
\_ Or just some will and imagination
instead of tons of layers of mgnt
waiting around to pension out. How
many layers are there between you
and the head of NASA?
\_ This sounds like typical
Republican speak. The reason
we can't launch payloads into
orbit for $100/ton is because
of a lack of will and imagination.
\_ Yup, billions of dollars in the
current budget and no one at
NASA can think of anything to
do with it. The reason we
can't launch payloads for free
has to do with physics and the
price of energy but you knew
that.
\_ I think we're just not
determined or inventive
enough!
\_ Yes, the President sets the agenda. It is the
Congress who decides how much money they get.
You work for the government and don't know this?
It is not the President who says "launch even
though it is going to blow up". The ISS is a joke
and should've been completely defunded. The
broken Shuttle should've been replace 10 years
ago. What are there other pet projects you're so
bitter about? The people I know at JPL are bitter
that the "must put people into space, not probes"
plan has left them out in the cold because all
the money went to NASA's manned missions. What
are you so bitter about again? I still don't
see how the President setting a manned-space
mission agenda is the same as him forcing someone
to launch the shuttle yesterday. Did he call
someone and say "launch that thang! mah daddy
wants ta see it goin up durin' da firewerks!"?
\_ When Congress decides not to up the $$$,
then the President needs to adjust his agenda
accordingly. Else, risks will be taken. It's
that simple. You admit that the ISS is a joke
and yet it is sucking NASA dry. A better
President might realize that and not push
to finish it. Griffin is forced to rob
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, and RESEARCH in favor
of Shuttle and ISS. What part of this are
you missing? This is not good for NASA and
not good for the US. GWB's agenda is
screwing everything up. This includes the
safety of the Shuttle. No one is retarded
enough to claim the effect is *directly* on
yesterday's launch. However, without GWB I
don't think the Shuttle would've launched
yesterday. He needs to keep those jobs in
Texas and Florida.
\_ No, if Congress doesn't provide enough
funding then it is up to NASA management
to do the best they can with what they've
got. You have yet to provide an example of
what has been dropped in favor of the 3 big
projects. The rest of your post is just
spew. I'm not going to respond to the
bitter filled emotional spewing.
\_ NASA *is* doing the best they can with
what they got. End result: Shuttle
launching despite major concerns. If you
want a list of what's been dropped
across NASA, look it up. It's easy
enough to find:
http://tinyurl.com/oy7qf
You haven't said anything useful in
this thread so far and I'm not holding
my breath.
\_ Finally you managed to write something
that wasn't a whiney emotional Bush
bash. Ok then so there's *only*
$5.33 *B*illion for science. Another
$724 million for aeronatics research
and a penny under $4 *B*illion for
exploration systems incldungi the
CEV. I'm trying to find out what I
should be crying over here: Delay or
cancelled: the TPF, the SIM, better
Keck telescopes, SOFIA, LISA, CW, and
what's this? Mars research. Except
for the Mars research all of this is
passive, go-nowhere science that only
serves to slightly improve upon what
we already know and can see. There
is no big stuff here that will be
missed by anyone outside the cut
programs. I'm actually quite pleased
to see the light weight stuff set
aside so we can do something more than
masturbate over stars in other
galaxies from Keck.
\_ "Light weight stuff" like
science in favor of the Shuttle
and ISS which do *WHAT* exactly?
2/3 of the budget ($10 BB) is
going to Shuttle/ISS/CEV and almost
nothing (not mentioned in the
article) to technology research.
If you are a researcher or
technologist then forget it
unless you're researching the
foam on the Shuttle. This is
not the way to obtain the
breakthroughs you seem to want.
\_ I think the shuttle and ISS
should have been scrapped 10+
years ago or not even started
in the case of the ISS, that
does not mean these other
projects are worth a damn. I
want to see research into
materials and propulsion
systems, not better telescopes
for getting prettier pictures
to put in Time magazine (which
are all retouched anyway). The
bulk of the cancelled projects
are telescope related which yes
I do think are a waste of money.
\_ You are off topic here,
which is the Shuttle and
the leadership at NASA. If
you think the Shuttle and
ISS are wastes of money
then you need to blame
GWB for putting more
money into those programs
instead of putting it
into research and tech
dev (including propulsion
and materials). Putting it
into the ISS and a lunar
base while killing science
and technology isn't smart no
matter your personal opinions
regarding astronomy - and
if a telescope should be
killed maybe it should be
the $5 billion JWST. In
short, NASA's priorities
are now out of whack
because GWB's priorities
are out of whack. |
| 2006/5/24-28 [Science/Space] UID:43182 Activity:nil |
5/24 If you didn't know too much about this, could you figure out
what this is trying to say?
(Voyager record/plaque):
http://tinyurl.com/elchm
\_ Isn't that the one where they got all the PhDs together and _they_
couldn't figure it out either?
\_ For those who are trying to figure this out, on-board the Voyager
satellite, the aliens will also get (besides the golden disc, the
other side of which is grooved) the little device pictured on the
right-side of the circle in the upper-left quadrant.
For the impatient, the Wikipedia entry explains everything.
\_ back in the day, there were people who were opposed to the
plaque. Maybe intelligent aliens might find out where
we are and eradicate us:
http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/faq.html |
| 2006/5/3-11 [Science/Space, Computer/SW/Editors/IDE] UID:42909 Activity:nil |
5/3 Where on the web can I find the video of the total solar eclipse
of March 29 taken from the International Space Station that was
shown on TV back then? I tried to google for it unsuccessfully.
\_ Does this help:
http://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse
\_ Are you sure there's video? Here's the photos:
\_ Can you confirm this video ever existed? The closest I could
find are two still images:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/multimedia/ISS_eclipse_03292006.html
\_ Found it: -marked
http://www.nasa.gov/eclipse
\_ Wait a sec, from the photos one can deduce from the position of the
station, earth, moon, and sun, that the eclipse wasn't viewable
from the station.
\_ The station didn't experience the eclipse, in the sense that
they were not in the moon's shadow. But they could see the
moon's shadow on the earth from their vantage point in
space. A friend told me he saw a video taken of this from
the ISS on the news, but maybe he was confused. Maybe it
was just an animation or something. -op |
| 2006/5/2-5 [Science/Space, Computer/SW/Editors/IDE] UID:42897 Activity:nil |
5/2 any eclipse users on soda? anyone know where I can find something
like an icon legend? i'm learning eclipse. it seems great, but
there are 50,000 icons sprinkled everywhere that are hard to get
accustomed to. thanks. |
| 2006/4/6-7 [Science/Space] UID:42698 Activity:nil |
4/5 Transitional form of water to land animal found:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1748005,00.html |
| 2006/4/3-4 [Science/Space] UID:42622 Activity:nil |
4/3 Dear home-depot shower filter guy, I think the reason I am not
noticing a big difference is because I just replaced my water
heater. I remember seeing thousands of small cotton-ball like
hard water deposits when I drained my old water filter, and
swear I noticed a difference in water quality after replacing
it. So if you have an old water heater, the shower filter
difference will probably be more noticible. -ray
\_ How do you drain your old water filter?
\_ There is normally a drain plug on the bottom.
\_ http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/infwaterheater/infdrainwh.shtm |
| 2006/3/31 [Science/Space] UID:42575 Activity:very high |
3/31 Great tip on the Home Depot hard water removal shower head. My skin
doesn't itch anymore after a shower plus it's got the ginsu-beam
orifice cleaner setting (great!)
\_ Using the water filter my penis is a lot cleaner and softer
than before. Ditto with my partner's pussy. It's amazing how
sex is so much better with less chlorine, assuming the condom
is not in the way. Thank you Home Depot guy!
\_ what the hell are you talking about
\_ Which one did you get? I got the Sprite slime-line, which claims to
remove chlorine. I can't say I noticed dramatic differences...
\_ I have the same thing and I notice a big difference. However,
my sister says she notices NO difference. One thing I need to
add though is I live in an old run down apartment where water
comes out brown for the first 30 seconds you run the
water, whereas she lives in a brand new housing development
and water comes out clean instantly. So maybe that's why
she notices no difference, I don't know.
\_ Yes that's the one. I do notice a difference, my skin no longer
itches after a long hot shower - pp
\_ These are actually sold by Ari Zilka's compnay.
Somebody is shilling for him!
\_ http://terra-cotta.com sells database persistence
and showerheads?
\_ Next time you're giving your database a shower, be sure to
use a filter. Chlorine can make your database itchy.
\_ ??? Who's Ari Zilka?
\_ Who is John Galt?
\_ I never found out. I could only bear getting halfway
through the book. |
| 2006/3/31-4/1 [Science/Space] UID:42571 Activity:nil |
3/31 Mars Sun Clock:
http://www.giss.nasa.gov/tools/mars24 |
| 2006/3/29-31 [Science/Space] UID:42514 Activity:kinda low |
3/29 And now for something completely different:
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/moon.htm
"Hoagland, West, Hancock and Bauval are on to something. What they
collectively have implied is nothing less than a PERFECT set up for
the advent of the Antichrist. With the idea that Isis was the Egyptian
god of "returning" and resurrection, it is uncanny that NASA has been
engaged in a type of worship of this god from the beginning of the
space program. Even the name Apollo is the Greek derivative of Isis.
The landing sites, the dates for landing and the incredible connection
with Giza concerning the moon missions all fit together. There is even
evidence that the US astronauts were closely watched by the aliens
while on luna firma."
\_ And, the opposite page (equal time) http://www.clavius.org
\_ See? Now you just go and spoil it. My link was much more
amusing.
\_ Isis was a goddess. She was married to Osiris, whose brother, Set,
murdered and dismembered him. Isis sewed Osiris back together and
brought him back to life. If you're going to set out crazy
conspiracy theories, at least get the base parts right.
\_ Isis was a goddess? She isn't now? And just who officiates
when two godlings marry?
\_ fnord.
\_ Bast, Egyptian Goddess of marriage.
\_ I thought Hathor was the Egyptian Goddess of Marriage.
And it is unlikely that Bast would have officiated the
marriage of Isis and Osiris as Bast is considered to
be the daughter of Isis and Osiris born after Horus.
\_ Good point. Here, read Plutarch: http://csua.org/u/fdl
\_ Well, if you recall SG1 Season 4 Eps 13, 'The Curse',
Isis died b/c the canopic jar that held her was damaged
(and boy was Osiris pissed).
In general "gods" die when people stop believing in them.
I thought this was clear from 'Who Mourns For Adonis?'
(TOS Eps. 32). -stmg
\_ You're a strange duck, man.
\_ You left out the best parts: Isis was Osiris's sister, and
he was was so virile that he managed to knock her up AFTER
he had been dead for years.
\_ Man had a lot of living to make up for. |
| 2006/3/28-29 [Science/Space] UID:42496 Activity:nil |
3/28 What are some of the silly things you do to save money?
I'll start. I don't water my lawn, it's all dirt. It cuts down
water bills, saves gardener bills, and conserves water. I also
don't flush my toilet unless I poo, or when I have guests over.
What do you do to save money?
\_ I SHOP AT WALMART and support my Conservative kind. I RULE!!!
\_ I use yermom as my ho of choice. Much cheaper.
\_ Don't you have to spend money on gas or electricity to weed-whack
the dirt all spring?
\_ You sound like a moron.
\_ Utilities: All CFL bulbs where reasonable, CF torch instead of
halogen, programmable thermostat set sensibly, shower less than
once-a-day when not needed, double-paned windows, set blinds
appropriate to season.
\_ Instead of wasting excess resources, I made one trip to the hardware
store where I got a crowbar and a fair sized axe and went to work
on my neighbor's place so I always have material for my fireplace.
\_ This sounds like Chateau.
\_ I set a tech toys budget and stick to it. Less chance of
of 'accidentally' buying an expensive new gadget.
\_ "If it's yellow, leave it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down."
but that's vestigal from growing up during a drought.
\_ No car, no cable tv. Maybe that is not silly enough.
\_ I piped my neighbor's heating duct into my house. He is in the
other half of my duplex so it was easy. I also use his wife, which
saves maintenance costs.
\_ You need to do a budget analysis. Where are you spending
most of your money? Then cut it down accordingly by going
where you will get the "most bang for your buck". Unless
your water bill is high, not flushing the toilet probably
won't make as big of a difference than say eat out less.
The $10 I save not eating out today equals to a lot of your
silly flushes! |
| 2006/3/20-22 [Science/Space] UID:42343 Activity:low |
3/20 Home Depot product recommendation of the month: Sprite Slim-Line
Showerhead filter. This shower filter filters out 80% of Chroline,
dirt, odors, & other chemicals that stay on your skin and make you
dry and itchy. After using this product, my skin is a lot softer and
more moist. I've even stopped using body lotion and conditioner
because the shower water is softer than before. The other
good thing about this product is that it creates fewer water spots and
less soap scum so that I don't have to clean my tub, tile, and glass
as often. Granted it's not as good as installing a real professional
water softener, but it isn't bad for only $19.85 (plus $10 for
a new filter every 6 months).
\_ does a water softener remove Chlorine from water or just Calcium
and Magnesium? also, is there a good, cheap way to test the water
in your home?
\_ Doesn't answer your question directly but useful...
http://www.consumersearch.com/www/kitchen/water-filters/index.html |
| 2006/3/17-20 [Science/Space] UID:42293 Activity:high |
3/17 SETI is offering ug's internships for the summer:
http://www.seti.org/site/pp.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=1453253
\_ Is SETI still paying *way* too much for transit because campus
policies prevent them from negotiating their own peering
agreements? -dans
\_ are you confusing SETI with setiathome.ssl?
\_ Yes. I thought they were referring to SETI@Home.
mea culpa -dans
\_ last time i checked the seti@home folks hit up cogent to
give them cheap transit. seti@home's transit is separate
from commodity transit for the rest of campus - erikk
\_ It doesn't look like they want programmers.
\_ Where's the Search for Domestic Intelligence program?
\_ Buried out in the desert. Possibly in Syria.
\_ Do you get to have sex with Matthew Mcconaughey and later lose your
job because he questions your faith in God?
\_ I think the movie would have been better without that sex plot.
It didn't fit in with the rest of the movie.
\_ Huh? What movie?
\_ Contact, I assume.
\_ Oh. I only read the book and I don't remember a sex plot.
\_ that's because it wasn't there in the book. |
| 2006/3/10-13 [Science/Space] UID:42180 Activity:low |
3/10 All these world are yours except Enceladus. Attempt no landings there.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/media/cassini-20060309.html
\_ Yet in 2061 they crash land there anyway.
\_ According to Clarke, each 20xx novel takes place in it's own
parallel universe. In other words, he couldn't reconcile the
blatant plot contradictions between the four novels, so
he just took the Marvel comics cop-out route.
\_ iirc, this is excused b/c it was an "accident" rather than a
intentional landing. At least it wasn't as bad as having Jeff
Goldblum upload a virus to the monolith from his powerbook.
\_ Photo based on Cassini date:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060310.html |
| 2006/3/10-13 [Science/Space, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:42175 Activity:nil |
3/10 New way to make Hyrdogen from water:
http://www.fuelcellsworks.com/Supppage4553.html
\_ Still in the very early stages of development, but very cool.
I wonder how cost effective it will be.
\_ Wow! It looks like a combo of the working parts of a temperature
wheel with proven hydrogen/oxygen splitting tech. That's pretty
cool. |
| 2006/3/2-4 [Science/Space] UID:42070 Activity:low |
3/1 The glass door in my shower has a lot of time hardened soap scum &
hard water spots. I've tried using Tilex Soap Scum, 409, alcohol,
and Windex but the damn stubborn spots wouldn't come off. What's
the best way to get rid of them?
\_ Stop using bar soap and use the liquid stuff. Trust me, this
works. But I agree with CLR advice below for getting rid of it.
\_ I DO use liquid soap and I still get a lot of hard water spots
\_ a heavy brick
\_ Search for something called C.L.R. (I think it stands for
Calcium, Lime, & Rust).
\_ This works, but you can also try white vinegar.
\_ It's probably Lime. Try Lime-a-way
\_ Try mixing bleach with ammonia. Just kidding! :P |
| 2006/2/28-3/2 [Science/Space, Science] UID:42032 Activity:nil |
2/28 Pics of an elaborate underground weed growing facility in TN.
http://www.phishhook.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=550448
\- wow, DIY hydraulic door.
\_ I can't wait to read the details on all of this.
\_ Doesn't look like it helped.
\_ The cops worked on it for 5 years before the warrant was
served. Which means they were probably running if for
10. If they had kept their heads down and quit when
they were ahead. They could've gotten away clean.
\- i met a fellow at a dinner party recently who was in
the marijuana business on a moderate scale [he isnt
retired but it paid the bills] in NYC and Boston and
his view was you pretty much have to get out soon because
no matter how careful you are some of the flakey people
who have to deal with will either be turned or will
slip up. i would think you could find people by applying
FREAKONOMICS type techniques but we probably dont care
enough to do that [e.g. by looking at electricity
consumption etc].
\_ Or they could spend gvt. dollars on something more
worthwhile than arresting people who grow a plant.
\_ Don't try to apply logic to the War on Drugs.
\_ Yeah, like catching all those music pirates!
\- i am not necessarily advocating more stringent
crackdowns on dope fiends and more than i think
crackdowns on dope fiends any more than i think
we should necessaily be more aggressive about
speeding or illegal immigration when i dis-
passionately comment on things like photo-
speeding tickets, speed traps, cracking
down on employers of illegal aliens etc.
if anything it is interesting to see the
data mining potential for things like
SAFETYWAY CLUB cards. years again some
"acquaintances" bought a mirror and some
razor blades at the college ave safeway
razor blades at the college ave 7/11
at something like 3am. i'm not saying that
should be probably cause for a search warrant
should be probable cause for a search warrant
but, it would be interesting to see the
empirical numbers. studies often show that
"intuition" is often a lot less accurate than
statistical decision making [e.g. from examples
of medical diagnosis to jury selection ... say
people over estimate what "body language"
people overestimate what "body language"
conveys vs say the zip code somebody lives in
as a predictor of prosecution/defense bias],
so some of this type of analysis may be much
better than informal/naive "profiling". like
the spped trap law seems to say "if i try to
the speed trap law seems to say "if i try to
measure the speed more scientifically that is
illegal" as opposed to letting "trained" cops
eyeball you. this anti-technology rules are
probably to preserve discretion in teh system
eyeball you. these anti-technology rules are
probably to preserve discretion in the system
so police/judges can get rid of tickets
for friends/insiders. i agree the deference
to the media industry and capturing of
public policy to private ends in this area
is an abomination. we have good evidence they
were sending theatening letters based only on
the "prima facie" evidence of having some
common p2p [ephemeral] ports open. ok tnx.
\_ Encore! Encore!
\_ psb, do you have a blog?
\- i do not know how to blog but i blog
about cheese and antibiotics. |
| 2006/2/23 [Science/Space] UID:41966 Activity:high |
2/22 http://www.sfweekly.com/Issues/2006-02-22/news/feature.html Something similar might be said of the ACLC's perhaps most controversial theological initiative: its attempt to persuade ministers to remove the cross from their churches and replace it with the crown. Despite the cross' symbolic importance for many Christians, who consider it to be the instrument upon which Jesus was crucified, Moon teaches that it is illogical to venerate a murder weapon. Some clergy, such as Dr. Bennet Hayes, the pastor of a large church in Houston that is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention -- and who teaches Moon's Divine Principle from his pulpit -- have no problem with the edict. "Not only do I no longer have a cross in the sanctuary, I've told my parishioners who wear crosses to turn them in to me," he says. "I've got a whole drawer full of them." \_ Please explain why anyone gives a shit about this long, context- free excerpt or I'm nuking it. You have till 23:59 2/23 -dans \_ I'm glad I have provided a tiny forum for you to exercise your ultimate ninja power! \_ No, if I had ultimate ninja power, I could kill anyone I wanted! I could cut off the op's head and not even think twice about it. Though that is a tempting option, I've already thought about it three times. Clearly, I lack ultimate ninja power. -dans \_ You mean REAL ULTIMATE POWER! \_ AWESOME POWER! NO CONTROL! \_ Wow it would be cool to be a leader of a cult and wake up one morning and decide something like "hey red is good" and tell your underlings everyone should wear red and pretty soon millions of sheeple are wearing red every day. \_ Take off that red shirt! |
| 2006/2/8-10 [Science/Space, Politics/Domestic/President/Bush] UID:41759 Activity:nil |
2/8 This is INSANELY funny. Or, it would be if it weren't so prevalent
a pattern in Bushco
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/007628.php |
| 2006/2/7-9 [Science, Science/Space] UID:41757 Activity:nil |
2/7 http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20060206/tc_zd/170810 Want to buy several vacation penthouses in Santiago Chile? Be an SAP Functional Consultant. \_ SAP, Functional? That's funny. \_ I lived in Santiago for nearly 2 years, and while I really liked the people, you'd be hard pressed to pay me enough to move there. For one thing, the smog makes LA look like a small town. -emarkp \_ It's not that bad right now, but whenever you ask people what's good to do in winter, they say "leave"...ugh. -John |
| 2006/2/6-7 [Science/Space, Science/GlobalWarming] UID:41714 Activity:nil |
2/6 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/04/science/04climate.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin "In October, for example, George Deutsch, a presidential appointee in NASA headquarters, told a Web designer working for the agency to add the word "theory" after every mention of the Big Bang..." \_ You're saying the big bang thing isn't a theory? A lot of *very* smart people in the field would disagree with you. \_ You're ignoring the context of the order. It's very clear that he meant it not as scientists define "theory" but in the "it's just a theory" ID-crazed-uninformed-nutjob manner \_ Perhaps. But Deutsch is a Dubya appointee, so obviously the edit is motivated by politics and not science. |
| 2006/1/17-18 [Science/Space] UID:41405 Activity:nil |
1/17 Has anyone tried adding water heater blankets to the water heater?
Does it really save on gas prices and pay off in 1-2 years?
\_ Feel the exterior of the water heater. Is it warm to the touch?
Then get a blanket. Most modern water heaters have plenty of
insulation.
\_ Agreed. Feel the exterior of the water heater and the washing
machine at the same time (when the washing machine hasn't been
used for at least a few hours.) This is a good comparison
because the exterior of the two are made of the same material.
If the water heater feels warmer, it's leaking heat and a blanket
will help.
\_ I turned my water heater down to 'vacation' while I was away for
xmas holidays. I was gone for a week, came back and had forgotten
to turn the heater back on, took a shower and the water was still
very hot. Course the next day the water was quite cold..
\_ Was the pilot light still on in "vacation" mode? The pilot
light was keeping the water hot. Back in 1997, one pilot
light in a wall heater plus four pilot lights on a stove
costed me $10/mo. So it probably means that your water heater
cost me $10/mo. So it probably means that your water heater
is leaking $2/mo worth of heat.
\_ Another way to reduce heat loss is to adjust the thermostat
downward. For example, if you usually use 50% water from the hot
tap and 50% from the cold tap when you take a shower, you can adjust
the thermostat downward such that you'll be using 100% water from
the hot tap.
\_ True, but bad idea in a busy household, as you're reducing your
available supply of mixed water at temperature X. |
| 2006/1/10-12 [Science/Space] UID:41325 Activity:nil |
1/10 Polaris is a 3 star cluster:
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/releases/2006/02/full |
| 2006/1/2-4 [Science/Space] UID:41203 Activity:nil |
1/2 http://csua.org/u/egv (businessweek.com) The birth of the Fremen! \_ "Cadillac Desert" is a terrific book (and a little closer to home). \_ The scholarship is a bit iffy here. Some of the key concepts turned out to be incorrect, although it is still a fun read. \_ Elaborate? I'm interested. Links? -pp \_ geography major. |
| 2005/11/30 [Science/Space] UID:40789 Activity:nil |
11/30 Why can't we concentrate the suns rays and boil water to
produce steam which eventually creates electricity? |
| 2005/10/24-25 [Science/Space] UID:40244 Activity:nil |
10/24 Ebert review of "Doom" is hilarious. http://csua.org/u/dt8 \_ not as good as his review of the recent deuce bigelow movie imo |
| 2005/9/22-25 [Science/Space] UID:39833 Activity:kinda low |
9/22 Why the hell are the Texans fleeing? It's not like they have a levee
or anything that'll be as disasterous as New Orleans.
\_ Worst US natural disaster was in Galveston, TX. 6000 dead.
\_ Galveston is an island on the Texas coast that was nearly
wiped out 100 years ago. The question is why are Houstonians
fleeing Houston when the water will not wash away the city.
It'll get damped and innundated with water, yes, but it's
a mainland, and it's above sea level.
\_ Flying rooftops can kill too.
\_ cuz they'll shoot at FEMA and the CHP ..
cowboys like freedom.. true freedom
\_ Flooding and wind. Hurricanes tend to throw down a lot of water
and toss about a lot of crap. Plus basic services will not be
readily available. Being hurt, dying, homeless or sans food when
there may not be enough people to help you is a bad thing. The
more people around in the same circumstances, the worse it is.
\_ Cause 165 mph winds can do a lot of damage and kill people.
Course now that everyone is bailing Rita has dropped down to
135mph winds but it is going over another warm water area soon
so will probably pick back up.
\_ Cause when their internet access goes down, all hell will break
loose.
\_ Do you need a reason to flee Texas?
\_ "I didn't want to be in the way." -Dubya |
| 2005/9/14-15 [Science/Space] UID:39678 Activity:high |
9/14 I've been thinking about earthquake preparedness in the wake of
Katrina. Many (probably 50%) of my neighbors have swimming pools.
Assuming that at least some of the pools do not leak or have all
of the water sloshed out of them, is there an easy way to make
chlorinated pool water safe to drink? Tablets?
\_ go to costco, hoard water since you'll use it anyway
in bottled form
\_ Buy Brita and Pur. Sell it for $1000/each during the disaster.
Profit.
\_ I think if you just let it sit in the sun for a while it would
be fine. You have to constantly add chlorine to pool water.
\- chlorine is an alernative to iodine for cleaning water
when you are in the "backcountry" ... i've comsumed lots
of chlorinated water. in fact in emergencies you can use
chlorine bleach to disinfect water. i dont know anything
about what goes into swimming pools, but if there is a
problem with potability, it isnt the chlorine. i am guessing
if you are reduced to contemplating drinking pool water,
it will be ok to do. or you can wait by the pool and HUNT
people to come there to drink. --psb
\_ Yes, I know. I have also done this. The chlorine
content in your average pool is fairly high though.
(Well, this is less true for private pools.) I have no
idea what level in dangerous though. -pp
\- see comment about "if you are reduced to contemplating this"
chlorine tolerance should be pretty high for a while. i've
had to drink chlorine water for ~1month. with iodine there
are issue of long term use.
\_ I would be concerned about the pH and the accumulating salt
content of the water. The constant struggle to maintain pH
involves lots of acids and bases which results in a salty
brew.
\_ Out of curiosity, would boiling the water help? How
about collecting the resulting steam (pure water?). Any
little gadgety thing we could buy at a retail store
to do this (short of something that looks like a chem
lab)?
\_ Boiling and gathering the steam will work, but I am
assuming there is limited ability to cook. Tablets
or a Brita-type solution would be best. Would a Brita
be enough to make the water safe enough to drink
in a pinch? I'd like to include whatever solution in
my earthquake kit. I know for boaters there is a
contraption that collects seawater and uses the sun's
energy to evaporate (and collect) enough to drink. No
idea how much that costs.
\_ Depending on the weather, that contraption can be
as easy as a hole in the ground and some saran-wrap.
\_ Just get a MSR Miox Water purifier. Unbelievable little device
cleans up 200 L with just two watch batteries and salt!
\- killing microorganisms != chemical decontamination.
these distillation approaches are not reasonable.
you need to define what your problem is before looking for
the right tehnology and process to solve it. if it is
"what do i do about drinking water for 1 wk in SF after a 9.0
earthquake for 2 people" the right answer is probably store
water bottles.
\_ The above purifier claims to do both. Distillation
*might* work depending on the chemical to be distilled.
Anyway, I am looking for something better than storing
water bottles, which can themselves be destroyed. I mean,
I've got 40 gallons in my water heater that might make
it. I'm already storing water in my garage, but I like
the idea of not worrying about replacing it every so
often. I figure there's thousands of gallons in the
swimming pools so why not use that?
\- doyou know what distillation means? ok that is my
last comment on this.
\_ I do. It appears you may not. |
| 2005/9/12-13 [Science/Space] UID:39629 Activity:moderate |
9/11 Hi John, I was the one who asked for recommendation for an entry-
level telescope below. I liked your suggestion of getting one
that has a motor with usb controller port. It will probably go
way above my budget, but what the heck--can you email me the
make and model of the one you have? I'd also like to see what
your Russian friend recommends. Thx. -tien
\_ Sent.
\_ just be warned. Even with the biggest telescope you can afford,
you really can't see much. At best, you can barely make out
Saturn's ring on a good day, or barely make out the ice caps on
mars. Everything else is just a dot in the sky. Unless you are
really into it, you are not going to find telescope very
helpful - semi-astro geek too
\- are the cheep russian/chinese models worth it unless you are
buying pretty large ones? an associate of mine got a couple
of "communist telescopes" but they are like 6ft long and
i am sure are thousands of dollars. also can you really see
much from the sf bay area?
\_ My colleague just wrote a reply to tien--apparently it was
my mistake, the TAL scopes aren't entry-level, but rather
more affordable if you're up for higher-end optics. The full
text is in ~john/scope
\_ There is a major research telescope in the sf bay area, so
yes. But you need to get up in the hills and away from
lights. -tom
\- well i mean from your homebase. i mean there is a
major research telescope in LA too ...
\_ Do you mean the Lick Observatory? I went there on a
company outing. The only reason they can see anything is
because SJ has had a policy of sodium lamps (so that line
is lost, but the rest of the spectrum was clean).
Unfortunately, the city isn't paying as much attention to
that anymore.
\- there is also a small telescope south of gilroy
on freemont pk.
\_ Saturn's rings are reasonably visible in my 90mm scope, even
from light-polluted Berkeley. I even once managed to spot
the Eskimo Nebula (but it was a tiny faint gray blob that
only showed up in averted vision). But yeah, ice caps on
Mars are hard to see. Don't expect to see vividly colored
nebula as pictured in ads; they're all gray. Until you
buy a CCD and do RGB exposures. -geordan
\_ Have you tried viewing from Anthony Chabot Park?
\_ Not yet, although I did notice that the sky was pretty
bright when observing the Leonids some months back.
-geordan
\_ ObDobson: http://members.aol.com/sfsidewalk/intro.htm
\_ Dobsonian
\_ The person's name was Dobson. Cf. beam in your own eye
\_ The person's name is Dobson. Cf. beam in your own eye
before pointing out mote in another's. |
| 2005/9/10-12 [Politics/Domestic/President/Bush, Science/Space] UID:39621 Activity:kinda low |
9/10 Military pilots reprimanded for saving lives:
http://csua.org/u/dc8 (New York Times)
\_ This story is fishy on two parts. Their motto
belongs to Air Force Pararescue Jumpers, not Navy
unit. And for those that have never served, their
CO is technically correct. Orders above all else. For you
"compassionate" civilians who dont understand black and white.
\_ Err, the pilots weren't reprimanded. They were mildly scolded by
by their CO for not fulfilling their primary mission. Only very
late in the day did they seek out permission (which was granted)
to abandon their primary mission.
\_ "Kennel duty". Sure. -John |
| 11/22 |