Science!

[Tadao]

Well then, welcome to the pain management club!

http://arteccentrix.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/thebrokencolumn44c.jpg

[MLE]

I didn't wanna be in the club ;_;

[Fathom Zero]

I recommed ibuprofin :doctor

[Tadao]

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii285/tadao_mockery/WebJunk/MeowseMD.jpg

[Dimnos]

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lb7ux4r3Ho1qb25dg.jpg

[Colonel Flagg]

I know it's all probably bulls**t, but I found this (http://www.rdmag.com/News/2010/12/Energy-Physics-A-Step-Toward-Fusion-Power/?et_cid=791343&et_rid=54736423&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.rdmag.com%2fNews%2f2010%2f 12%2fEnergy-Physics-A-Step-Toward-Fusion-Power%2f)quite an interesting read. Apparently, smaller can be better, even in the world of inertial confinement fusion.

I'm no expert, but I believe the gist is in allowing the contaminants to "evaporate" outside of the confinement, thus no longer poisoning the fusion reaction, the plasma will heat more efficiently, thereby having a better chance to achieve a stable "break-even" point. But the article keeps mentioning confining the "heat" while allowing the mass to leak away. Hmmm - are the particles escaping the reaction for all intents and purposes "cold" then?

Keep the heat; lose the mass. Sounds like a diet plan. :\

[executioneer]

god DAMN i love how far technology is coming :(

[Colonel Flagg]

Give it a few more decades. :\

[executioneer]

i'll give it half of one

[Esuohlim]

DID ANYONE MENTION THE ARSENIC LIFE FORMS YET?

SCIENCE!

[Fathom Zero]

The BBC had a story about it two years ago when they knew that it could consume arsenic. But what makes this different is that it's a really-deally component of the organism. Seth mentioned that arsenic has the same number of valence electrons as phosphorus, but I'm all like "Bitch, get out here witchyo sciencenshit."

[Esuohlim]

VALENCE ELECTRONS :rolleyes

The same could be said about silicon compared with carbon but silicon-based life is merely a SCIENCE FICTION STORY until um it gets discovered and someone quotes this post and I wallow in shame and embarrassment :(

[MLE]

The "arsenic life forms" are really just bacteria they found in a lake where there was lots of arsenic, then they weaned it off of phosphorus and onto arsenic. It never even fully let go of phosphorus.

Still a cool thing to discover, and it does change the possibilities of life, but it was created, not discovered.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/science/03arsenic.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss

[executioneer]

WHAT IF THE BACTERIA GET RESISTANT TO ANTIBIOTICS, THATS GOTTA BE WAY WORSE THAN LIKE STAPH

[Fathom Zero]

I found a reason why I'm so skinny. LINK (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41897-2005Jan27.html)

[Fathom Zero]

Oh, and since this was the Science and Health thread (>:), my tic is back. :(

[executioneer]

i'm actually kind of fidgety myself at times, maybe i should try and amp it up

[Evil Robot]

There is selenium in head and shoulders shampoo

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

Being paranoid helps too.

[Wiffles]

I heard tetrahydrozoline can be used as time travel fuel

[Colonel Flagg]

Oh, and since this was the Science and Health thread (>:), my tic is back. :(

I would have kept it here (health) until TPTB decided "Health" belonged with "Philosophy" :\

[Colonel Flagg]

I wouldn't mind discussing your tic. :)

[Colonel Flagg]

I heard tetrahydrozoline can be used as time travel fuel

Gets the "red" out of "red-shift".

[Fathom Zero]

It's a head twist thing. Had it since I was a kid, but I don't remember it bugging me that much this past few months. It's probably just because it's colder and making my muscles tense up anyway.

[Colonel Flagg]

There is selenium in head and shoulders shampoo

It's in an anti-dandruff ingredient - remember "Selsun Blue"?

[Esuohlim]

NO WAY MAN, SELENIUM POISONING IS A REAL THREAT

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=SELLENIUM+POISSON

[The Leader]

you speeled poison wrong

[Fathom Zero]

among other things

[Evil Robot]

Selenium is like arsenic to silicone based life. silicone like breast implants

[Pentegarn]

NO WAY MAN, SELENIUM POISONING IS A REAL THREAT

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=SELLENIUM+POISSON

dawwwww, someone apparently misses The Coolinator :lol

[Zhukov]

There are these things that live on the bottom of the ocean and are made of silicone. They are shaped like starfish and snow flakes, and they are almost immortal. I think they can change their shape. They have some kind of vast importance to the world.

There is a chance that I just dreamed this.

[Fathom Zero]

Well, there are immortal or near-immortal (can't remember) jellyfish. But cnidarians are a little different from cats and dogs, so, like this little animal found in that lake, I don't think it'll be very useful for a long time.

[MLE]

No, it's not useful. It just proved that there is a possibility that life exists outside of the conditions in which WE live.

[Fathom Zero]

You're such a damn killjoy.

[MLE]

http://i551.photobucket.com/albums/ii475/kryxish/FZ.jpg

[Fathom Zero]

There's a reason I have that face.

[MLE]

Oh. Is that the joke

[Fathom Zero]

It's because I'm a burn victim. :(

[Colonel Flagg]

dawwwww, someone apparently misses The Coolinator :lol

Not me. :|

And, Poisson was a fish and a distribution function.

EDIT: I'm almost sure he did not discover, or have anything otherwise to do with Selenium.

Google it.

[Chojin]

it was originally a method for distributing fish, you see

[Esuohlim]

All right, so I'm doing a term paper on geomagnetic storms, and a few of my sources are implying that Global Warming is solely the cause of our sun's highly active solar cycles of the last 50 years or so.

And that the three modern periods of very inactive solar cycles, the Maunder Minimum, the Dalton Minimum, and Sporer Minimum, all correlated with lower than normal global temperatures.

And that the last time we had this much solar activity was around the 1200s, and archivists have reported that the global temperature spike was comparable to what we're going through now.

As someone who was never really convinced of global warming anyway (the "humans are to blame" aspect of it, at least), doesn't this seem absolutely reasonable? Any astronomer could tell you that the sun has been unprecedentedly tumultuous as of late, and that solar activity contributes to our global temperatures (neither of which, of course, is the result of human activity), so why hasn't this been seriously regarded as a perfectly good explanation yet? Is it the whole "correlation doesn't equal causation" thing?

[Fathom Zero]

I've always figured something like that. I buy the George Carlin bit about humanity being so vain as to believe it can have an effect on the planet. Everything is cyclical, but we don't live long enough to get the perspective. There was an ice age a while ago - chances are there will be again. And after it's done, it'll get warmer, no? Our Sun's getting older, too, little by little. I seem to remember it's got just a few hundred-thousand years left, and it's gonna continue to flare up larger and larger until the Earth gets consumed by the heat. The corona's a bitch.

It's easier for people to buy that they can have a handle on things if they want to, but there's a lot of money in fucking green bullshit. It's all marketing and you can't stop it with the logical, Milhouse.

[Colonel Flagg]

Anyone who claims that global warming is "solely caused by" anything is either delusional, horribly misinformed, or pushing an agenda with no other tool but a loud voice and disdain for anyone who disagrees with their worldview. (Sound like anyone we know?)

The climate is insanely complex, and is only now beginning to be accurately modeled by computers, chiefly because of the insane rate of increasing computing power. Mankind's activities no doubt have an effect - the magnitude of that effect is what is disputed. The sun is the prime engine of the Earth's climate, so there's also no doubt that fluctuations in the solar output will have an effect on climate. And then there is volcanic activity, which has also been extremely high of late. Finally, it's not just about the amount of emissions, it's where they end up in the atmosphere.

More to the point, Mr. Van Houten, I think you have a viable premise, as long as you make a more than gratuitous nod toward the other potential causes (to first order). Keep it focused on the facts, and try like hell to keep politics out of it.

[Fathom Zero]

You're my shiny lunch box, Flagg. I put the f-u-n in sfcieunnce.

I've never professed any knowledge of something. I just hear things and read a lot.

[Pentegarn]

The Colonel said a lot of good stuff there, but this was the crown jewel in that circlet of speech:

The sun is the prime engine of the Earth's climate

Those agenda people you mentioned, none of them, not one, seem to get this simple little statement. How people who claim they are educated scientists can conveniently forget that the sun is the primary engine behind a large percentage of our climate. Instead they say it is all mankind. Which strikes me as silly. Ice ages happened before mankind even discovered fire, the Earth was once a molten ball of fire, mankind had nothing to do with these things, so it stands to reason they have little impact now (They have more now than they did then, but compared to natural factors like the sun and cyclical climate transitions that are supposed to happen it is still less than advertised I dare say)

[Wiffles]

too bad the sun is only getting brighter as it burns off its hydrogen. >.<

[Tadao]

Can I go back to pouring my oil down the gutter again?

[Fathom Zero]

There's a possibility we might end up like Venus, Tadao.

[executioneer]

spoiler'd for bad joke
what do we pour down the drain to end up like uranus

[Colonel Flagg]

too bad the sun is only getting brighter as it burns off its hydrogen. >.<

Wiffy is right. In about a billion years or so we'll have a nova on our hands, and then what will we do? :chatter

[Fathom Zero]

We're already in the corona maaaaaaaaaaaaan

And this looking for a propulsion that could move us at near the speed of light isn't going to go anywhere. Not anytime soon, at least. We don't have anything that efficient. Every time I think of it, I always get the thought of Wonkavision stuck in my head.

[Colonel Flagg]

And this looking for a propulsion that could move us at near the speed of light isn't going to go anywhere. Not anytime soon, at least. We don't have anything that efficient.

http://nextbigfuture.com/2007/02/photonic-laser-propulsion.html


February 23, 2007
Photonic Laser Propulsion


Photonic Laser Propulsion has had a proof of concept demo it generated 35 micronewtons of thrust using mirrors that generated 3000 times amplification. The low power version would be great for position control of multiple satellites to nanometer precision.

UPDATE: It has been proposed that extremely small payloads (10 kg) could be delivered to Mars in only 10 days of travel time using laser-based lightsail caft (Meyer, 1984), but in order to do so, would require a 47 GW laser system. With 47,000 reflections then only a 1MW laser system would be needed. (fifty 20KW lasers). Scaling up 100 times would be able to deliver 1 ton payloads to Mars in ten days.

The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer. - Motto of the US Army Corps of Engineers

[Fathom Zero]

I haven't seen that. :O That's not saying much, though. :\ :(

I was talking more in the space travel sense, as in there won't be a manned space mission to Mars tomorrow. But them lightsails are awesome.

[Colonel Flagg]

Yep. Still speculative for now, but in principle it is possible. If you're interested in this subject, check out the book "Rocheworld" by Robert L. Forward. It's sci-fi, but the actual science behind the technology is sound. And much of what he assumes to be possible in the future has begun to already happen (genetic modification, AI, robotics).

Keep reading! :)

[Fathom Zero]

I burnt my back today. :( I'm just a mess.

[Colonel Flagg]

Ouch!

At the risk of getting way too much info, how did it happen?

[Fathom Zero]

Most of my back is scar tissue, so I can't really feel how hot the hot water is in the shower. It just feels itchy. But then, hours later, it's still itchy and a little sore. Still is today, matter of fact.

[The Leader]

Why is most of your back scar tissue? :(

[Tadao]

Science?

[The Leader]

Shut up.

[Esuohlim]

Because he burned himself in the shower!

Vicious circle, yo

[Fathom Zero]

:lol

Grafts were cut from my back as a kid.

[Dimnos]

What did you do that you needed grafts from your back? Did you get your arm caught in a drill press?

[Fathom Zero]

Burns on my feet when I was three.

Vicious cycle.

[Esuohlim]

Wiffy is right. In about a billion years or so we'll have a nova on our hands, and then what will we do? :chatter

UNTRUE. The sun will indeed become a white dwarf, but it's not part of a binary system and it won't become a nova since it won't have any mass to take from a companion star.

NEXT YOU'RE GOING TO TELL ME THAT SODIUM FLUORIDE IS SAFE IN MINUTE AMOUNTS

[Fathom Zero]

BOOM. YOU JUST GOT SCIENCED.

[executioneer]

it's probably going to expand into a red giant and engulf earth before it turns into a white dwarf though >: MAIN SEQUENCE, MOTHERFUCKERS

[Dimnos]

OH MY SCIENCE! :eek

[Fathom Zero]

It's on the bottom half of the main sequence too omg

[Colonel Flagg]

UNTRUE. The sun will indeed become a white dwarf, but it's not part of a binary system and it won't become a nova since it won't have any mass to take from a companion star.

You engineering types are always slaves to the details. >:

In other news, this (http://www.rdmag.com/News/2010/12/General-Science-Space-Astronomers-Discover-Fourth-Giant-Planet/?et_cid=822596&et_rid=54736423&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.rdmag.com%2fNews%2f2010%2f 12%2fGeneral-Science-Space-Astronomers-Discover-Fourth-Giant-Planet%2f)is what a solar system looks like when it's just getting started.

The first planet was imaged by the Keck Interferometer (I believe) over 3 years ago, and there are currently 4 total, with an asteroid belt and a Kuiper belt to boot. All bigger than Jupiter, but still pretty amazing stuff.

Wiffy probably knows all about it. :\

[Fathom Zero]

http://gizmodo.com/5713498/man-officially-cured-of-hiv

Well that's interesting.

[Dimnos]

http://img.listal.com/image/465350/450full.jpg

[Colonel Flagg]

Nearly 6 1/2 years down, only 10 weeks to go. Messenger (http://ptonline.aip.org/journals/doc/PHTOAD-ft/vol_64/iss_1/50_1.shtml?type=PTALERT&bypassSSO=1)approaches ...

I will be extremely disappointed if they forgot to check if the units were consistent.

[Colonel Flagg]

It's not transparent aluminum (http://www.rdmag.com/News/2011/01/Materials-Glass-New-Glass-Tops-Steel-In-Strength-And-Toughness/?et_cid=955218&et_rid=54736423&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.rdmag.com%2fNews%2f2011%2f 01%2fMaterials-Glass-New-Glass-Tops-Steel-In-Strength-And-Toughness%2f)yet, but the technology has to start somewhere.

[Esuohlim]

There is absolutely huge demand for developing reliable metal matrix composites, but I'm pretty sure they're expensive to process :( WHICH THEY NEGLECT TO MENTION >:

At least I think that's the whole hang-up with MMCs. It's like magic wizard material but it ain't cheap.

[executioneer]

they should throw some carbon nanotubes in there, that'll make it work better right

[The One and Only...]

Scientific realism is bullshit, Bas van Fraassen all the way.

[Tadao]

oJq5PQZHU-I

[Colonel Flagg]

It's been awhile, but this (http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news-DS-New-Uranium-Compound-Could-Lead-to-Atomic-Hard-Drives-050911.aspx)article caught my eye.

It's a little misleading - as if Uranium could be made non-radioactive. :lol However, there is a great deal of U238 left over from the enrichment process that is useless for anything other than a curiosity. There are catalytic compounds that use uranium, and of course for science experriments on radioactivity, but this is a real, honest-to-goodness opportunity to radically shrink the physical size - or increase the capacity - of mass storage media. It's not yet ready for commercialization (as if!) but there is potential for some serious speculators in the IT marketplace with some excess capital to make a go at developing the technology.

Know anybody? :D

[Pub Lover]

Wouldn't it be usable in a cloud facility where people don't generally hang out?

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13469924)"]Researchers have set a new record for the rate of data transfer using a single laser: 26 terabits per second.

At those speeds, the entire Library of Congress collections could be sent down an optical fibre in 10 seconds.

The trick is to use what is known as a "fast Fourier transform" to unpick more than 300 separate colours of light in a laser beam, each encoded with its own string of information.

Superlasers firing into a Uranium harddrive? Yes, please.

[Colonel Flagg]

Is Andrea Rossi's E-CAT device real or a hoax?

sounds an awful lot like a hoax to me what with all this "unknown compound" business

It may look a little fishy, but a Greek energy company is sponsoring a 1 megawatt pilot plant as a prelude to commercialization. And as for the "unknown compound" BS - well if they said what it was, they would jeopardize any patent protection. The investors have been given some information, but they have also signed agreements preventing disclosure.

Personally, I wonder what ConEd or Exxon is thinking right now.

[Colonel Flagg]

Wouldn't it be usable in a cloud facility where people don't generally hang out?

Or in a thumb drive with shielding? I'm still a little unclear on how much reduction in spatial size is possible.

And I :love FFT's.

[Supafly345]

Some of you might remember Camacazio who used to post here, but you may not know that he is a fucking sweet physicist. Well he is THE GUY for fastest cold ion transport, so made this artist rendition of the achievement for him to use in his presentation today.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v171/supafly345/ColdIonTransport.png
ITS FUNNY BECAUSE SOMETHING THAT SMALL COULDN'T POSSIBLY BE COVERED IN ICE LET ALONE A ROCKET LOLOLOL

[Colonel Flagg]

Star Trek (http://www.rdmag.com/News/2011/06/General-Science-Physics-CERN-Group-Traps-Antihydrogen-For-More-Than-16-Minutes/?et_cid=1639582&et_rid=54736423&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.rdmag.com%2fNews%2f2011%2f 06%2fGeneral-Science-Physics-CERN-Group-Traps-Antihydrogen-For-More-Than-16-Minutes%2f) physics has taken a small step forward.

I especially like the first phrase "Trapping antihydrogen atoms at [CERN] has become so routine ..."

[Colonel Flagg]

Well [Camacazio] recently broke the world record for fastest cold ion transport AGAIN, [...]

The articles I'm finding on ion transport are mostly involved with ITER and/or PPPL - and they're about 2 years old. Newer articles are jealously guarded by their publishers to the tune of between 25 and 40 bucks per.

Can you provide a little more information so I can figure out what the heck he's doing? Maybe for free? ;)

[Supafly345]

He is getting ramped up to publish an article on it soon. Ion transport isn't what he's working on mainly I don't think, it was just a part of it. And I guess you need government clearance to know whats going on at this stage? He drops little hints about shooting lasers off eachother for a quantum computer they are developing, I don't know you'll have to wait until they go public. The place he works at is called NIST if that helps point you in the right direction at finding info.

[Supafly345]

Also I hope he doesn't read this thread because he'll scold me for my ignorance about things he's probably told me about but I'm getting them wrong right now. Also I don't want to seem like I am bragging on his behalf, I just wanted to show off my shitty graphic I whipped up this morning for him that is going to be witnessed by an entire physics dept as the representation of cold ion transport.

[Zhukov]

I-Mockery isn't for successful people. So I guess that's why he doesn't post anymore.

[Supafly345]

Me (11:37:20 AM): Are there any papers on this cold ion transport I can read
Me (11:37:33 AM): or are you writing one about it
camacazio (11:37:36 AM): only theory, and i haven't read one i like
camacazio (11:37:41 AM): mine will be the first experimental paper
camacazio (11:38:02 AM): but your picture shows the general idea
Me (11:38:29 AM): ah, okay, I know you'll show me it if you ever write one
camacazio (11:38:40 AM): yup!
camacazio (11:38:49 AM): well i'll have one by the summer's end

[Colonel Flagg]

Thanks. NIST is a big clue, and your description is another. I think I know what to look for now. I'll let you know.

If they don't "back trace" my inquiries and the men in black come and get me, that is.

[Colonel Flagg]

I'd guess that he's working in the PML division of NIST, which is heavily involved with developing quantum computing using ultracold materials known as Bose-Einstein Condenstates (BEC's). I may also be completely wrong, and if so, I never said any of this.

Does he know Dr. Carl Weiman?

[executioneer]

is there any way to make a flying pizza slice out of BECs :(

[Supafly345]

Ugh, you guys are going to force me to link him to this page goddamnit.

[executioneer]

KAMIKAZE A YOU

[Colonel Flagg]

is there any way to make a flying pizza slice out of BECs :(

If you could, it wouldn't be very hot.

[camacazio]

is there any way to make a flying pizza slice out of BECs :(

I'M WORKING ON IT

[executioneer]

this technology will revolutionize pizza as we know it :o

[camacazio]

yeah that way when you want a pizza you'll get it fast, and it will be cold

[executioneer]

so cold

[camacazio]

I'd guess that he's working in the PML division of NIST, which is heavily involved with developing quantum computing using ultracold materials known as Bose-Einstein Condenstates (BEC's). I may also be completely wrong, and if so, I never said any of this.

Does he know Dr. Carl Weiman?

Not personally, but I'm pretty familar with his work, and I've worked with people who have worked with him. The university campus has a cute little nobel laureate sign with him, Eric Cornell, and John Hall listed. I trap single ions, our "temperature" is excitations of vibrational quanta in the trap.

[Colonel Flagg]

Not personally, but I'm pretty familar with his work, and I've worked with people who have worked with him.

One of my college friends had him for a thesis advisor. Small world.

I trap single ions, our "temperature" is excitations of vibrational quanta in the trap.

I used to investigate vibrational quanta in ultracold molecules and molecular clusters in the gas phase, back when supersonic jets were all in vogue. Atomic spectroscopy was a tool for calibration for us, nothing more. Now the pendulum seems to be swinging back.

I had a look at the website - there's some neat stuff going on at NIST.

[Fathom Zero]

http://gizmodo.com/5812261/meet-the-gomboc-one-of-the-strangest-shapes-in-the-world

:mathsbonar

[Kitsa]

:love

[Tadao]

I bet there is some person out there that can balance it on an edge so that it can't right itself.

[Zhukov]

http://gizmodo.com/5812261/meet-the-gomboc-one-of-the-strangest-shapes-in-the-world

:mathsbonar
Why they cost so much? $1000?

The only use I see for these things is 'child's toy'.

[Esuohlim]

Because apparently it doesn't work if any of its dimensions are off by MICRONS, and that kind of precision costs ungodly amounts of money to manufacture

[Zhukov]

I bet we see knock-off versions pop up soon enough. Microns my arse.

[executioneer]

what kind of application could that sort of thing even have?

[Zhukov]

Self righting robot tank.

[executioneer]

couldn't they just use a gyroscope :/

[Zhukov]

A gyroscope shaped tank?

[Shyandquietguy]

It's for safety pencils! DUH!!

[Tadao]

Don't forget that in order for it to work, the surface has to be level.

[Colonel Flagg]

Self righting robot tank.

This isn't too far from the truth, methinks. :(

[Tadao]

Yeah, if the tank only fights on a level surface. :rolleyes Gyroscope is already perfect for that, this thing is just a math puzzle and I'm positive that someone can balance it on an edge thus making it useless.

[Zhukov]

Someone is going to have to draw a picture of a gyroscope tank, because I don't see it.

[executioneer]

the gyroscope is inside the tank

looks like this http://www.sarna.net/wiki/images/5/5b/3050_marauder2.jpg

[Zhukov]

That's not self righting though. Push that fucker over and it's going to have to pick itself up again.

[executioneer]

but because of the gyroscope it already knows which direction "up" is and can actually right itself

[Evil Robot II]

use them to feed starving children

[Zhukov]

but because of the gyroscope it already knows which direction "up" is and can actually right itself

That's not as amazing as I imagined.

[Dimnos]

Im pretty sure that thing has some rocket propulsion in its ass or something.

[Tadao]

Wouldn't it be funny if we found out that Helium is needed to cure diseases, cause I guess we are running out of it and it can't be renewed.

[Zhukov]

Really? I confess to being quite ignorant when it comes to helium. Surely they could manufacture more, though.

[Tadao]

From what I understand, it's kind of like oil. You would have to wait a very long time for the right materials to break down to create it.

[Fathom Zero]

That almost sounds like it could make sense a little bit maybe.

[Esuohlim]

We're running out because it floats away really easily!

But, yeah, short of extracting it from the damn sun we have to rely on radioactive decay (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_decay) to get any helium, and the process is slower than the rate at which we use it

And yes Zhukov you can legitimately blame us asshole Americans for this one! Helium's cheap and we use a ton of it all the time for party balloons and shitty parade floats because the law says we have to use it up! Whoops!

"By 1995, a billion cubic metres of the gas had been collected and the reserve was US$1.4 billion in debt, prompting the Congress of the United States in 1996 to phase out the reserve.[1][2] The resulting "Helium Privatization Act of 1996" (Public Law 104–273) directed the United States Department of the Interior to start liquidating the reserve by 2005."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Helium_Reserve

[Zhukov]

I guess we'll have to go back to using hydrogen.

[executioneer]

eh we'll have a surplus of it once we figure out cold fusion :lol :yeahright

[Colonel Flagg]

Plenty of helium on the moon.

Lunar Mining of Helium-3 (http://www.asi.org/adb/02/09/he3-intro.html)

There is no doubt that one of the most difficult problems that a peaceful world will face in the 21st century will be to secure an adequate, safe, clean, and economical source of energy. Existence of lunar helium-3, to be used as fuel for fusion reactors, is well documented; verified from numerous Apollo and Luna mission samples, current analyses indicate that there are at least 1 million tonnes embedded in the lunar surface. The helium-3 would be used as fuel for fusion reactors.

:themoreyouknow

[The Leader]

No no no.

http://images.nymag.com/daily/entertainment/20090611_moon_560x375.jpg

[Evil Robot II]

eh we'll have a surplus of it once we figure out cold fusion :lol :yeahright
Remember when I asked you if this was real and you said it probably wasn't?
http://www.defkalion-energy.com/

[executioneer]

i still think it probably isnt but whatevs

[Colonel Flagg]

This (http://www.rdmag.com/News/2011/08/General-Science-Physics-Magnetics-Physicists-make-new-find-of-magnetic-skyrmions/)is why physicists should never be given too much free time.

I mean, it's cool and all, but really? Maybe some future applications in data storage and memory, but "spintronics"? Can anyone with more knowledge in this field give me any clue as to what use this could have?

Bueller?

[Colonel Flagg]

Coolinator (if he were still around) would post this link (http://www.rdmag.com/News/2011/08/Environment-Climate-Atmospheric-Sciences-Skeptic-s-small-cloud-study-renews-climate-rancor/), and state "wha-BAM!"

Problem is, he would be wrong. The study does not refute global warming, it just indicates that there is still much about climate change that is still not modeled appropriately, or even completely understood.

The author even states that his work is being misrepresented by the "non-scientist blogosphere".

Still, it is interesting, and topical.

[Fathom Zero]

Fascinating stuff.

[Colonel Flagg]

Sorry for the bump, but this (http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news-DS-Supernova-Caught-in-the-Act-090211.aspx?et_cid=2039054&et_rid=41411009&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.scientificcomputing.com%2f news-DS-Supernova-Caught-in-the-Act-090211.aspx)is really cool stuff.

The gist is that this supernova was caught nearly at the point of explosion, which is extremely improbable. This being said, astronomers can now study the "unexploded bits" of the star that get ejected first, before the star really gets big and bright. This has never been done before, nor have we as a society ever had the tools to do it properly, as we do now (Hubble, Keck, etc.). They are expecting the star to be visible with a good pair of binoculars (and a dark sky, naturally) in about a week. An increase in brightness of about 4-5 magnitudes.

[Fathom Zero]

Sweeeeeeeeet

[Pentegarn]

Sorry for the bump, but this (http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news-DS-Supernova-Caught-in-the-Act-090211.aspx?et_cid=2039054&et_rid=41411009&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.scientificcomputing.com%2f news-DS-Supernova-Caught-in-the-Act-090211.aspx)is really cool stuff.

The gist is that this supernova was caught nearly at the point of explosion, which is extremely improbable. This being said, astronomers can now study the "unexploded bits" of the star that get ejected first, before the star really gets big and bright. This has never been done before, nor have we as a society ever had the tools to do it properly, as we do now (Hubble, Keck, etc.). They are expecting the star to be visible with a good pair of binoculars (and a dark sky, naturally) in about a week. An increase in brightness of about 4-5 magnitudes.

That is pretty cool actually, and extremely improbable doesn't cover it. You have to be looking in the exact right place at the exact right time. It would be like if you won the powerball, and then were qualified to enter a second powerball with all the other winners ever, and then won that powerball as well, and then a meteor hit you.

[Colonel Flagg]

More astromomical stuff (http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news-DS-The-Star-That-Should-Not-Exist-090611.aspx?et_cid=2040757&et_rid=41411009&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.scientificcomputing.com%2f news-DS-The-Star-That-Should-Not-Exist-090611.aspx)...

This is cool because it throws some cosmogical doubt on the origin of stars in the Milky Way galaxy. All main sequence stars are mostly Hydrogen and Helium, but this one is nearly all hydrogen (75%) and helium (25%). This means this star is extremely old - on the order of 13 billion years old - which is roughly the age of the universe, give or take a couple of billion years. Stars like this should not exist in this age - yet there it is, in our celestial neighborhood. And, according to the article, it has friends ....

[k0k0]

I friended it on facebook but all it talks about is its gasses and how many meteorites it bangs.

[executioneer]

that's... really fucking weird.

how could something like that just happen?

[Colonel Flagg]

Don't know, Willie, perhaps these events happen more often than we realize, and that with better detection we can see more of them. You're right, though, it is weird that one would get observed JUST as it began the supernova process. Out of hundreds of millions of years, it picks this time to go kablooie.

Spooky.

[executioneer]

i was talking about the no-metal star, but that's weird too

[Esuohlim]

All the first stars were non-metallic since it's the stars themselves that created metal for the newer stars. The fact that, apparently, stars like those still exist is strange

[Colonel Flagg]

Actually, the fact that it has no Lithium in particular is strange - the first stars should have, by all the current models, a small amount of Lithium-6, which this one apparently does not have - the only "heavy metal" even detectable in the spectrum is Calcium-40. The fact it has no Lithium at all is problematic with the current model of star formation. Without Lithium, stellar formation should not be possible - there would not be enough density for any matter to coalesce to form a star in the first place.

The astronomers have some 'splainin' to do.

[Colonel Flagg]

i was talking about the no-metal star, but that's weird too

Sorry about that, chief. :MaxwellSmart

[Esuohlim]

Actually, the fact that it has no Lithium in particular is strange - the first stars should have, by all the current models, a small amount of Lithium-6, which this one apparently does not have - the only "heavy metal" even detectable in the spectrum is Calcium-40. The fact it has no Lithium at all is problematic with the current model of star formation. Without Lithium, stellar formation should not be possible - there would not be enough density for any matter to coalesce to form a star in the first place.

The astronomers have some 'splainin' to do.

THE LITHIUM PROBLEM WAS THE SUBJECT OF MY THESIS

YOU HAVE BROUGHT BACK THE NIGHTMARES :(

[Colonel Flagg]

THE LITHIUM PROBLEM WAS THE SUBJECT OF MY THESIS

YOU HAVE BROUGHT BACK THE NIGHTMARES

So, you're still depressed then? Try Xanax. :D

[Colonel Flagg]

Esu, you don't want to know the subject of MY thesis. That was the meaning of the word PAIN. :tear

[Esuohlim]

Back in the pre-internet days, I wouldn't even want to think about it.

[executioneer]

maybe it's an artificial star, guys

[Fathom Zero]

:eek :eek :eek

[kahljorn]

So, you're still depressed then? Try Xanax. :Dtry lithium

:/

TREAT POISON WITH A POISON? GENIUS

[kahljorn]

MY SPECULATION IS THAT THE STAR IS SO SMALL THAT IT BURNS FOREVER

[Colonel Flagg]

THE RETURN OF THE HMO (http://www.rdmag.com/News/2011/09/Information-Technology-Computer-Technology-IBM-Putting-Watson-To-Work-In-Health-Insurance/?et_cid=2082025&et_rid=54736423&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.rdmag.com%2fNews%2f2011%2f 09%2fInformation-Technology-Computer-Technology-IBM-Putting-Watson-To-Work-In-Health-Insurance%2f)- COMPUTERS TAKE OVER THE INSURANCE WORLD!

This illness, which should have been covered under your previous insurance, is as a prexisting condition not coverable according to our actuaries.

What is "whatever you have"?

Lori Beer, an executive vice president at Indianapolis-based WellPoint, agrees. "It's really a game-changer in health care," she says.

:lol2

[Colonel Flagg]

This (http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news-DS-Astronauts-Tracks-and-Trash-Seen-in-New-Moon-Photos-090911.aspx?et_cid=2071426&et_rid=41411009&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.scientificcomputing.com%2f news-DS-Astronauts-Tracks-and-Trash-Seen-in-New-Moon-Photos-090911.aspx).

http://comps.fotosearch.com/comp/IDX/IDX040/sign-indicating-fine_~361874.jpg

This could be a budget buster. :eek

[Fathom Zero]

Those pictures were awesome.

[Colonel Flagg]

They should take hi-res pics of the Blair Cuspids and the 'Shard' - if they truly are weird alien artifacts, then at this resolution, it should be obvious.

Of course, I disavow any knowledge if it turns out to be true. :conspiracy

[Colonel Flagg]

In particle physics news, I read that they're closing in on the Higgs Boson, and the group (more like a cluster of groups) at the LHC are expecting to announce either proof of existence, or a convincing negative result by year's end.

[Zhukov]

I read that too! I feel so smart right now.

I'm pinning my money on the no existence.

[Colonel Flagg]

S-M-R-T!

[Colonel Flagg]

Somewhere in Marin County, George Lucas is smiling, and probably talking to his legal team.

http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/15/tatooine-gives-first-direct-proof-of-2-sun-planet/?hpt=hp_c2

[kahljorn]

TWO SUNS BY A PLANET USED TO BE SCIENCE FICTION

god people are retarded

[Pentegarn]

Now they can find a planet with 3 suns and name it after that planet full of liquid people from Futurama

[Colonel Flagg]

TWO SUNS BY A PLANET USED TO BE SCIENCE FICTION.

The same group hints that they have several more candidate planets that require confirmation - the number of binary star planetary systems is likely to grow very quickly.

god people are retarded

Sad, but quite true.

[Esuohlim]

Holy shit, speed-of-light possibly just got bitch-slapped

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15017484

[Colonel Flagg]

In a related comment:

Several years ago, Stephen Hawking was doing a cameo on Star Trek - TNG; when he was being shown around te set they paused by the warp core. He smiled and said "I'm working on that!"

With this result, there may be a way after all. Stay tuned ...

[Fathom Zero]

I love neutrinos.

[Pentegarn]

me too

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q1/Pentegarn/images-33.jpg

[Fathom Zero]

>:

[Pentegarn]

:lol

[Colonel Flagg]

Screw neutrinos. I want a tachyon emitter.

[k0k0]

I thought the neutrinos were annoying as fuck. I liked Leatherhead though.

[Pentegarn]

I was all about the Rat King

[Colonel Flagg]

after reading a ton of stupid articles claiming that we have just sent a particle back in time through another dimension, I finally read opera's release and I don't get it

if they have the level of accuracy/uncertainty that they are claiming - isn't that higher than the one we achieved when measuring the speed of light half a century ago? assuming that this is actually the case, then wouldn't that imply that the implication here isn't that a neutrino is actually faster than the speed of light, but simply that our accepted model for the speed of light has been off this entire time? why has no one proposed this skepticism? why are they more quick to accept the back-in-time theory? :(

is it just that if that is in fact the case then it's far too scary to mention or think about because it means that everything we have ever measured in modern history has been wrong and we've set ourselves back two hundred years with our newer, preciser technology? is preciser a word?

I generally don't pay attention to old levels of accuracy unless it's for historical purposes. Lightspeed is known to 4ppb, and this specifie measurement of neutrino speed is greater than that by 20 ppm, with an accuracy of 270 ppb. That's a big enough difference (a factor of 75 over the error) for most physicists to stand up and take notice.

Believe it or not, this is the more plausible reasoning, for now. Unless someone wants to write an entirely new model of physics, then this is the path most mainstream physicists will take.

Of course, you are right; for example, the neutrino could have negative mass ... ;)

Putting this where it belongs.

elx, you really need to post in the science forum. The nerds post here. :)

[Colonel Flagg]

More on this (http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news-IN-Shaking-Einsteins-Foundation-092311.aspx?et_cid=2141035&et_rid=41411009&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.scientificcomputing.com%2f news-IN-Shaking-Einsteins-Foundation-092311.aspx):

Fermilab will be attempting to reproduce the CERN results, but can't immediately, due to less preceise measurement systems. Upgrades are in the works, but will take time. However, this result is making formerly competitive particle physicists work together, which is a remarkable occurrence.

And as one Fermilab scientist puts it, it is dangerous to bet against Albert - even after all these years, he still wins most hands.

This thing is so important many of the normal scientific rivalries fall by the wayside. Everybody is going to be looking at every piece of information. [While we're all going to be looking closely as to whether Einstein's laws need an update,] [i]t's dangerous to lay odds against Einstein. Einstein has been tested [and passes] repeatedly over and over again.

[Pentegarn]

Elx did have a good point, the complete overhaul to the laws of physics is a startling concept.

I know you will keep us posted on this one Colonel, as it is pretty important.

[Evil Robot II]

What I think is happening is that other nutrinos are "piling up" in front of the beam and getting pushed along like shoveling snow.

[Colonel Flagg]

A sad day for US Physical Science (http://www.rdmag.com/News/2011/09/Energy-Physics-Fermilab-Shutdown-looms-at-pioneering-American-atom-smasher/). :(

On Friday, physicists will shut down [Fremilab's] accelerator called the Tevatron, a once-unrivaled atom smasher that has been eclipsed by the Large Hadron Collider buried beneath the border of France and Switzerland.

For some in Batavia, it will be a somber moment, akin to losing a family member. Others wonder whether it signals a lack of commitment to high-level particle science on U.S. soil.

The decline of particle physics in the U.S. is really a symptom of the erratic and sometimes anti-scientific attitudes in Washington and the incompetence of Congress in managing science.

US Representative Foster said a mouthful right there. Incompetence in Congress? But I repeat myself. :(

They will continue operations to confirm or refute (I despise the word "debunk") the FTL results seen at CERN, hopefully by mid-2012. There is also a plan to build a new test system for particle physicists using not the highest energy beams, but the most numerous collisions. Dubbed Project X, it is projected to cost $2B, but as yet has no funding. Not a good sign.

And for the idiots that say that particle physics gives no benefit for the common folk, there is this fact:

But there also have been more immediate benefits from the Tevatron: Its powerful magnets led to MRIs and are used in superconducting. Neutron therapy helps treat cancer patients. And the collider has changed the way science analyzes data.

And a final note, by early next year, they should put the finishing touches on the research on whether the Higgs Boson exists, or is a figment of imagination, research that will be corroborated by CERN.

[Fathom Zero]

Col, you've lived longer than I have and know far more than I do, so maybe you can answer this - what's with the anti-science attitude there seems to be in America? I know we used to kick ass in that arena some time ago, but is it just recently, (or seemingly recently), that the interest and funding for AMAZING THINGS has fallen by the wayside, or is it something that you've seen coming for a while? Because in the short time I've been alive, people seemed to be impressed less and less by AMAZING SCIENCE THINGS. Either that, or I've just become more excited as I got older - I can't imagine a life without being amazed at EVERYTHING IN OUR UNIVERSE.

NASA's funding being cut is really disheartening, and it's even more so when I think about all the other projects that I'll never hear about for the same reasons. :(

[Esuohlim]

I never really thought America had an interest in science in the first place, more of an interest in "doing shit before some other country does it first".

[Colonel Flagg]

Milhouse and FZ are both right. Even in the 60's and 70's there was less emphasis on science for the sake of learning and more about "let's keep ahead of the Red Menace" (sorry Zhuk, but that's how it was). [Aside: Irony - now we are competing with the last bastion of communism (China) in the scientific arena, and no one seems to care. Maybe that's not surprising, since they're also kicking our ass economically as well.]

Science for the sake of science - that's all people see. That's all the politicians see. Case in point - Fermilab's Tevatron paved the way for practical superconducting technology, and fueled research into HT superconductors, which are still years away from true commercialization, but it used to be decades. Another case in point - the James Webb Space Telescope. It's in danger of being cut from the NASA Budget. The reason - it's over budget. Well duh so is everything these days. The trouble is, even though it's still in development, work on the heat shield has spawned new technology in the area of foldable ultrathin aluminum shields - the kind that can eventually be used as light sails. Other optical advances have been applied already in medical imaging, as an indirect result of the work done on multiple space telescopes - Hubble, Spitzer, Kepler and Webb.

Another reason is the politicization of science. It has been done before (see "Red Menace" above) but in that case, it was America against the world. Now, it's more of a civil war of American Science against American Pseudo-science. And the Pseudo Science Dorks are using the mainstream media to further their cause, getting Creationism rebranded as "scientific" sounding Intelligent Design, bashing global warming as a liberal conspiracy as well as other less visible effects.

I could go on, but it would be more of the same stuff. If I only thought about this from that perspective, it would be really depressing. But I encourage and suggest, one discussion at a time, and persevere. The JWT is still on life support, but there's a grass roots movement to keep it alive. And NASA still provides excitement with the discovery of new exoplanetary systems courtesy of Kepler, confirmed with radial velocity measurements from the VLT and Keck. Fermilab will continue on, not with the Tevatron, but with alternative methods of experimentation and data collection that have been hitherto unexplored. And all these "big ticket items" will continue to spawn new technologies and products that will keep us in the fore, if not at the lead, of technology development for the next hundred years.

[Fathom Zero]

You actually brought up something interesting and I dunno if I want to make a thread about it, but I'll comment on it anyway.
[Aside: Irony - now we are competing with the last bastion of communism (China) in the scientific arena, and no one seems to care. Maybe that's not surprising, since they're also kicking our ass economically as well.]
The thing, though, is that their economy is all fake. I mean they have a large supply of resources, but most of their money comes from other countries owing them money because they take over the debt. Add in the fact that their population is out of control and has been for years and it doesn't look good.

I'm not claiming to have researched this academically or anything, so I could very well be completely wrong, but they build seven of these 'real' Potemkin villages a year to supplement their economy. It's an absolute disaster.

mjR8WkB7LWA

rPILhiTJv7E

Dozens of skyscrapers that will never be occupied.

I guess the moral of the story is to say that no one is doing alright anywhere, economically, and it's all posturing. And this is the part when someone says, "When has it been any other way?" :rolleyes

:philosophy&politicksforum

[Colonel Flagg]

I thought about that, but then realized that pretty much all economy is an illusion. If people believe a bank is financially shaky, pretty soon it does become financially shaky. Someone said that in the movie "Sneakers" - I think it was either Ben Kingsley or Robert Redford. :moviesandtelevision

[Colonel Flagg]

But what do I know, I'm not an economist, and will never pretend to be one.

[Colonel Flagg]

Update! Lunakhod 1 location discovered (http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news-DS-Long-Lost-Soviet-Reflector-on-Moon-100411.aspx?et_cid=2187834&et_rid=41411009&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.scientificcomputing.com%2f news-DS-Long-Lost-Soviet-Reflector-on-Moon-100411.aspx).

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/434292main_soviet_rovers_luna17_HI.jpg

Lost on the moon 40 years ago, the LRO team discovered the robotic rover - with the retroreflector - several miles from where they thought it was originally.

Now if they could get a good image of the Blair Cuspids or the Shard, I would be happy.

EDIT - sorry for the size of the image, but smaller images only showed the rover as a speck. Some might think the larger image does too. :(

[dextire]

Hmm, kinda looks like it was going in circles. :confused

[Sethomas]

Re American culture and science:

The purported American character is based on cleverness and industry. Science is embraced as a tool to use those things. Science for science's sake is too close to the detested image of men wearing tweed in ivory towers.

America's technological role models aren't typically scientists. Thomas Edison had a brilliantly scientific mind driving his horrible personality, but really he was just putting to use scientific ideas that had been finalized decades prior, namely Maxwell's Laws. Inventors are patriots, scientists are untrustworthy. Even during the Space Race, Americans would point to foreigners as the paragon scientists. You could forgive Einstein and Von Braun for pie-in-the-sky interests because of their adorable European accents, and it was Oppenheimer and NASA that glorified their achievements anyways. That is, science is something that you outsource so that inventors can do the important stuff.

Consider the fact that Richard Feynman tops the list of the most important physicists from 1950-2000 by many reckonings, while Stephen Hawking doesn't fall in the top ten. Both of them wrote books for a general audience. How many more Americans have heard of Hawking than Feynman, though? It's like we find the idea of a home-grown physics genius something to be ashamed of.

And of course, it's sad that we shifted the economy from invention to usury, so the silver lining of the American character has fallen from the sky. Since we don't invent things any more, science is a rather silly thing to bring up in polite conversation.

[Colonel Flagg]

Welcome back, Sethomas!

Spot on, as usual. :( It's even worse in Chemistry, where the inventions and/or discoveries get all the attention. Everyone has heard of Teflon, Plutonium and perhaps even Buckyballs, but who has heard of Roy Plunkett, Glenn Seaborg or Rick Smalley?

It's too bad ignorance isn't painful.

[Fathom Zero]

There's a definite drop the interest to 'know things' in my lifetime - I know it through my school curriculum. Of course, it may be because they're frontloading the knowledge to get people interested as early as possible. But it seems they try less and less.

UkrkaH_V7fE

I live in a world that delights in not knowing things - it's scary, I can't change it, and I don't think there's any hope.

I wish I knew more about Feynman earlier in my life. It's only been the past couple years that I've been reading his books and watching what lectures he did that were filmed, as well as whatever television special he'd do. He was an astounding thinker and reminds me of just how related each of the sciences and the humanities are with one another.

Also, I'm sorry I was never ever never able to understand chemistry. All of the study groups and extra labs I took never amounted to anything. :(

[Zhukov]

I live in a world that delights in not knowing things - it's scary, I can't change it, and I don't think there's any hope.


Nothing is forever.

[Colonel Flagg]

"The Feynman Lectures on Physics" saved my life in college.

I was adrift in the physical sciences, not begin able to get my mind wrapped around simple problems in mechanics when a friend wrote down an equation for me (the Lagrangian Equality) and suggested I read Feynman's 3 volume series. I pretty much instantly understood everything that had previously been mysterious in the world of physics. Looking back, I realize that I was learning the right stuff, but didn't have the right vocabulary. Like reading a bad translation of Homer or Virgil. Globally I knew what was going on, but I couldn't do the work myself.

The reason this is relevant is that in the preface to the Feynman Lectures, he talks about the future of science education (remember he wrote this in 1963):

I think, however, that there isn't any solution to this problem of [basic physics] education other than to realize that the best teaching can be done only when there is a direct individual relationship betweek a student and a good teacher - a situation in which the student discusses the ideas, thinks about the things, and talks about the things. It's impossible to learn very much by simply sitting in a lecture, or even by simply doing problems that are assigned. But in our modern times, we have so many students to teach that we have to try to find some substitute for the ideal. Perhaps my lectures can make some contribution. Perhaps in some small place where there are individual teachers and students, they may get some inspiration or some ideas from the lectures. Perhaps they will have fun thinking them through - or going on to develop some of the ideas further.

In a bit of irony, this is method by which I learned chemistry.

[Colonel Flagg]

Sorry, this (http://www.rdmag.com/News/2011/10/General-Science-Imaging-Astronomers-find-elusive-planets-in-decade-old-Hubble-data/)is older news, but it is way cool:

http://www.rdmag.com/uploadedImages/RD/News/2011/10/HubblePlanet.jpg
The left image shows the star HR 8799 as seen by Hubble's Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) in 1998. The center image shows recent processing of the NICMOS data with newer, sophisticated software. The processing removes most of the scattered starlight to reveal three planets orbiting HR 8799. Based on the reanalysis of NICMOS data and ground-based observations, the illustration on the right shows the positions of the star and the orbits of its four known planets. Credit: NASA; ESA; STScI, R. Soummer

Now they've proven the technique, scientists can process other data from Hubble from years past to look for additional visual evidence of exoplanets. It's also important since the 3 outer exoplanets in question have 100, 200 and 400 year orbits, which require many years of data to determine accurately. As the article states, this was like getting 10 years of data for free.

[Colonel Flagg]

If you feel the need, click here (http://www.change.org/petitions/do-not-cancel-funding-for-the-james-webb-space-telescope) to sign a petition to support funding for the James Webb Space Telescope.

[Colonel Flagg]

Remember the controversial commercial where Christopher Reeve got up from his wheelchair - through the magic of special effects? Remember the Six Million Dollar Man?

Life is imitating art (http://www.rdmag.com/News/2011/10/Life-Science-Engineering-Paralyzed-man-uses-mind-powered-robot-arm-to-touch/).

[executioneer]

yay DARPA! yay robotic exoskeletons!

[Colonel Flagg]

The BORG ..... Have come back ...... TO PENNSYLVANIA!!!!!!!!!!!!

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

Remember the controversial commercial where Christopher Reeve got up from his wheelchair - through the magic of special effects? Remember the Six Million Dollar Man?

Life is imitating art (http://www.rdmag.com/News/2011/10/Life-Science-Engineering-Paralyzed-man-uses-mind-powered-robot-arm-to-touch/).

That's amazing.

(kinda related)I read a story a few years ago about doing similar research with a blind patient where they were able to use robot eyes linked directly into their brain. They were able to "see" computer generated images clear enough to sort out boundaries and other objects. So it kind of looked like TRON.

[Colonel Flagg]

Lots of stuff today:

It's a CONSPIRACY by all those LITHIUM-HATERS! The MAN keeping a good element down (http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Fluoride-Makes-Better-Batteries-102411.aspx?et_cid=2277289&et_rid=210273484&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.laboratoryequipment.com%2f news-Fluoride-Makes-Better-Batteries-102411.aspx). Wha-BAM!

NASA has some competition (http://www.rdmag.com/News/2011/10/Policy-And-Industry-Aerospace-SpaceX-Completes-Key-Milestone-To-Fly-Astronauts-To-International-Space-Station/?et_cid=2276728&et_rid=54736423&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.rdmag.com%2fNews%2f2011%2f 10%2fPolicy-And-Industry-Aerospace-SpaceX-Completes-Key-Milestone-To-Fly-Astronauts-To-International-Space-Station%2f), from the private sector. Finally.

Magnetism and Superconductivity are interconnected both in a positive and a negative way, and this relationship is being investigated (http://www.pddnet.com/news-scientists-uncover-a-delicate-magnetic-balance-for-superconductivity-102111/?et_cid=2267464&et_rid=45600941&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.pddnet.com%2fnews-scientists-uncover-a-delicate-magnetic-balance-for-superconductivity-102111%2f)using supercooled STM - the implications could be revolutionary.

And finally, for the astronomy enthusiasts, a giant cloud of water (http://www.rdmag.com/News/2011/10/General-Science-Spac-Nearby-Planet-Forming-Disk-Holds-Water-For-Thousands-Of-Oceans/?et_cid=2267144&et_rid=54736423&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.rdmag.com%2fNews%2f2011%2f 10%2fGeneral-Science-Spac-Nearby-Planet-Forming-Disk-Holds-Water-For-Thousands-Of-Oceans%2f)has been detected surrounding a protoplanetary disk about the star TW Hydrae - although it is described as "nearby" at 176 light years it is not exactly in our backyard. However, it could be an exceptional laboratory for investigating the origins of our own, water rich solar system.

[Pentegarn]

:lol

Sometimes Colonel I think you google 'fluoride' on a daily basis just for moments like these

[Evil Robot II]

Andrea Rossi's cold fusion "e-cat" device is about to be tested for a second time on Oct 28th. He is testing it for a confidential (until it passes the test) customer that wants to manufacture it for industrial and home heating use. The ecat is a small water heater about 18" across that works by fusing hydrogen with nickel to produce isotopes of copper and about 1Kw/h heat. The big 5 megawatt industrial one is a cargo container with 52 small 1 kilowatt mosules.

http://energycatalyzer3.com/ (http://energycatalyzer3.com/)

http://www.e-catworld.com/ (http://www.e-catworld.com/)

[Fathom Zero]

spambot

[executioneer]

look if it was not a hoax i think he'd be able to pay someone other than the guy who did the timecube website as the webmaster of his site

[Colonel Flagg]

Well, this (http://www.rdmag.com/News/2011/11/General-Science-Spacecraft-Russian-scientists-struggle-to-save-Mars-moon-probe/)sucks.

I believe the article has a misprint - the two chemicals are Hydrazine and Nitrogen Tetroxide. Very nasty indeed. Let's hope they regain control. :\

[Colonel Flagg]

Didn't happen (http://www.universetoday.com/91502/astrophotographers-capture-phobos-grunt-esa-ends-tracking-the-russian-probe/) - :\

There was a brief sign of hope, but no longer. Look out below!

[Colonel Flagg]

This (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44788406/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/vindicated-ridiculed-israeli-chemist-wins-nobel/) is a truly inspirational story about sticking to your guns, even in the face of public ridicule. He had the last laugh - and won the Nobel Prize.

And here (http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Scientists-Make-Light-from-Vacuum-112111.aspx?et_cid=2333514&et_rid=210273484&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.laboratoryequipment.com%2f news-Scientists-Make-Light-from-Vacuum-112111.aspx)an experiment is described that actually observed the unobservable - virtual photons that quantum physics predicts should be flitting in and out of existence are observed for the first time.

[Colonel Flagg]

Kepler finds a "super-earth" in star's habitable zone. (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/news/kepscicon-briefing.html)

Only 600 light-years away, too.

[executioneer]

i prefer the term "Goldilocks zone" to "Habitable zone", myself

[Esuohlim]

TIME TO ROUND UP SOME ALIENS

[Colonel Flagg]

What's great about that is they're 600 years behind us! We can TOTALLY kick their asses.

[Colonel Flagg]

Remember a few pages back someone mentioned the Higgs Boson, and the fact that Fermilab narrowed the search significantly for the LHC, and that there were only "a few" places left that it could possibly exist?

This article (http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/12/god-particle-coming-into-focus/?hpt=hp_c2)claims that the "rumor" in the particle physics community is that the LHC has detected traces of what could be the Higgs particle. The article is a disappointment, however. The author does not give any other information, except to rehash what everyone has been saying for the past 6 months.

Godamned tease. >:

[Colonel Flagg]

Stargate! (http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news-IN-Experts-Stumped-by-Ancient-Jerusalem-Markings-121211.aspx?et_cid=2373678&et_rid=41411009&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.scientificcomputing.com%2f news-IN-Experts-Stumped-by-Ancient-Jerusalem-Markings-121211.aspx)

[Colonel Flagg]

This (http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news-DS-Voyager-Hits-New-Region-at-Solar-System-Edge-121311.aspx?et_cid=2375603&et_rid=41411009&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.scientificcomputing.com%2f news-DS-Voyager-Hits-New-Region-at-Solar-System-Edge-121311.aspx)is the story of the little spacecraft that could.

34+ years post launch and still collecting data, and transmitting it back to Earth. 119 AU from the sun, on the brink of interstellar space.

[dextire]

MIT has a camera that captures a Trillion frames per second (http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/12/trillion-fps-camera-captures-advancing-light-waves/) and used it to stitch together a video of a simulated single light wave.

The actual MIT site (http://web.media.mit.edu/%7Eraskar/trillionfps/) has a much more accurate and detailed explanation of what they did, and more cool videos.

[Colonel Flagg]

It's rather amusing that to take the "high-speed video" of the light beam entering a bottle and reflecting off the inside of the cap, they need to take hundreds of thousands of exposures. Even at the speed of light, this takes hours to assemble into a respecable-quality video.

I'm sure that the MITers are trying new techniques to try to improve upon this limitation.

[dextire]

Well, still-photography is always the first step before video.
We'll just have to wait a while longer before we get true multi-hour long "bullet time" videos. :)

[Pentegarn]

What's great about that is they're 600 years behind us! We can TOTALLY kick their asses.

Heck for all we know that planet is gone, a lot can happen in 600 years

[Kitsa]

WOOOOO

Cornell Scientists invent Time Cloak (http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/01/04/now-see-it-now-dont-time-cloak-created/)


GO EXPENSIVE ALMA MATER

[Zhukov]

Here are some interesting photos; look at them before they get taken down.

http://gizmodo.com/5873441/this-girl-sneaked-into-this-russian-military-rocket-factory

[dextire]

WOOOOO

Cornell Scientists invent Time Cloak (http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/01/04/now-see-it-now-dont-time-cloak-created/)


GO EXPENSIVE ALMA MATER
"You kind of create a hole in time where an event takes place."

I think I've seen this movie. Human race gets wiped out.

[Colonel Flagg]

Here are some interesting photos; look at them before they get taken down.

That is a massive understatement. I especially like the "Death Star" interior. It makes me want to go sneak into the facility myself.

[MarioRPG]

Here are some interesting photos; look at them before they get taken down.

http://gizmodo.com/5873441/this-girl-sneaked-into-this-russian-military-rocket-factory
Wow, some of that doesn't even look real. Not even like, Star Warsy, just something out of a dystopian industrial nightmare.

[Colonel Flagg]

Analysis, Spock! (http://pddnet.com/news-imperial-college-london-t_rays-technology-could-help-develop-star-trek_style-hand_held-medical-scanners-012312/?et_cid=2439239&et_rid=45600941&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fpddnet.com%2fnews-imperial-college-london-t_rays-technology-could-help-develop-star-trek_style-hand_held-medical-scanners-012312%2f)

[Colonel Flagg]

More from the world of poli - excuse me, science:

Creationists Beware! (http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news-IN-Key-Evolutionary-Step-in-Life-on-Earth-Replicated-012412.aspx?et_cid=2442152&et_rid=41411009&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.scientificcomputing.com%2f news-IN-Key-Evolutionary-Step-in-Life-on-Earth-Replicated-012412.aspx)

Those "Global Warming Alarmists" are at it again! (http://www.rdmag.com/News/2012/01/Environment-Oceanography-Chemistry-Ocean-acidification-study-reveals-effects-of-carbon-dioxide?et_cid=2445230&et_rid=54736423&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.rdmag.com%2fNews%2f2012%2f 01%2fEnvironment-Oceanography-Chemistry-Ocean-acidification-study-reveals-effects-of-carbon-dioxide)

And this one is for 10K - Researchers at the University of Buffalo have made a breakthrough in dramatically increasing solar cell efficiency (http://www.pddnet.com/news-tweaking-the-tiniest-of-parts-yields-big-jump-in-efficiency-012312/). Beware Big Energy!

[Colonel Flagg]

I kind of miss Coolie. :(

[Colonel Flagg]

And just like that (http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Potentially-Habitable-Plant-Found-Nearby-020312.aspx?et_cid=2460768&et_rid=54640864&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.laboratoryequipment.com%2f news-Potentially-Habitable-Plant-Found-Nearby-020312.aspx), we have another hypothesis on planet-formation biting the dust. And in our own backyard (astronomically speaking, of course).

Planetary scientists have always felt that M-class dwarf stars would not be able to support a system of rocky worlds, mainly due to the dearth of heavier metals in the protostellar disks from which they formed. However, this system has, not one, but two super-Earths, and potentially one more, with a gas giant buried in the data somewhere. And, the neat thing is the star system is a trinary, which would make for some bitchin' sunsets.

[Esuohlim]

Holy shit, speed-of-light possibly just got bitch-slapped

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15017484

False alarm!

http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/02/22/einstein-was-right-all-along-faster-than-light-neutrino-was-product-of-error/

[elx]

I CALLED IT, JUST MAKING SURE WE'RE ALL CLEAR ON THAT.

[Colonel Flagg]

Warp drive will have to wait for another day.

[Big McLargehuge]

Way to early to come to a conclusion on what CERN found, news sources tend to draw early conclusions and over inflate the information they have. Like when they hyped the FTL neutrinos as damning to Eisenstein's relativity.

[Sethomas]

I've only seen one of Eisenstein's films ( Ivan the Terrible), so I have no idea what his relativity is. That must be in Battleship Potemkin :(

[Colonel Flagg]

:lol

[Big McLargehuge]

Hey Seth, I see you haven't yet killed yourself. Still trying to reconcile our shared reality with your ludicrous belief system?

[Sethomas]

I don't share ANYTHING with you.

[Big McLargehuge]

Oh come on Seth, you know I find your intellectual contortions fascinating.

[Kitsa]

Cornell has an awesome-ass corpse plant (Amorphophallus titanum, "giant misshapen phallus") that's about to bloom. There have been very few recorded blooms of this plant, so they have a webcam on it. It's vaguely entertaining to watch people walk around it and make gestures, although I'm not sure why.

Item of botanical importance! (http://128.253.181.41/view/view.shtml?id=28&imagePath=%2Fmjpg%2Fvideo.mjpg&size=1)

[kahljorn]

is that the one that smells like rotten cabbage and shit

yea thats the one people probably make gestures because it smells like shit

[Kitsa]

It's significant, dammit.

So is this:

http://www.hydrogencarsnow.com/blog2/index.php/fuel-cells/cornell-university-scientists-create-tunable-nanostructures-for-fuel-cells/

[Colonel Flagg]

IT'S ABOUT GODDAMNED TIME, TOO!

http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/24/companies-plan-to-mine-precious-metals-in-space/?hpt=hp_t2

[kahljorn]

im all over that

im gonna be the first space miner and im gonna own the first space cannary. we can only pray it doesn't get tragically imploded :(

[Esuohlim]

That fucking moon has been hogging all the precious moon metal for far too long anyway

[Tadao]

Yes! Changing the moons orbit is the first step in my evil plan!

[Esuohlim]

What else is the moon hiding?

can't trust that moon

[Esuohlim]

Wait, James Cameron is backing it? This better not be some viral marketing campaign for Avatar 2 >:

[kahljorn]

it has an entire dark side that it never lets us see

thats nto right

hes not being honest with us

[Colonel Flagg]

Thar's Unobtainium in them thar 'Roids!

[Colonel Flagg]

Just when I'd thought I'd seen it all, this (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/camilla-flight.html) pops up.

It's actually a cool experiment though. I hope those sunflowers start shooting high-power laser beams at everyone :knownspace

[Pentegarn]

At least it was a rubber chicken and not a cut up sex doll (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_and_Steve#The_Vag_Project)

[Colonel Flagg]

That doll was probably shot down as it drifted over restricted airspace in Southern New Jersey.

Should have gotten clearance. :(