Science!

[Colonel Flagg]

Taking Tadao's implicit advice ...

I understand inertial propulsion, i'm slightly insulted that you assumed I had never previously learned of it. It's not all that fascinating to me either, but that's just because i'm more interested in the universe than physics itself.

With all due respect, you say you are not interested in physics, only in the universe, but to really understand and study the universe, you first will need to master basic and advanced physics. Classical Mechanics, Electromagnetism, Quantum Mechanics all are precursor courses to Astrophysics. I know that you want what you want, but in order to study effectively you need the foundation first.

also, i do still believe that every action has a reaction and every cause has an effect - so i'd be more than happy to debate that last bit with you.:)

My expertise is in Chemical Physics (spectroscopy, lasers and quantum phenomena), and classical mechanics was a basic weakness of mine in college. However, I'm game, if you are willing to keep an open mind. :)

i think getting space elevators to work and making ion propulsion more efficient are more practical goals to work for :(

I concur. :posh

yeah a space elevator is a elevator to space, its cheaper than launching shuttles all the time (or should be!) + if we get efficient space travel we can like mine the asteroids or soem sh*t plus then people can vacation on mars or something idk

More than this, we could begin to construct substantive solar arrays in space, then beam the total collected energy back to earth in the form of microwaves. It would take a great deal of additional infrastructure, but the returns are obvious – NO MORE FOSSIL FUELS EVER!

inertial drive, why not invent a perpetual motion device while you're at it D:

For all its established existence and ancient aphorisms (objects at rest tend to remain at rest blah blah blah) inertia is not well-understood at the quantum level. Some feel that the subatomic soup that everything moves through (a.k.a. virtual particles, made popular by R.P. Feynmann) gives rise to inertia. If true, then it may also be true that this soup can be somehow rearranged to make motion not only less difficult, but preferred. This is, I believe, the inherent basis for the idea of “inertial propulsion” (and it's not perpetual motion!)

Any other ideas?

[Dixie]

I got a weird bump on my knee, it's kind of shaped like florida.
what is it?
do i need to see a doctor?

[elx]

Taking Tadao's implicit advice ...
With all due respect, you say you are not interested in physics, only in the universe, but to really understand and study the universe, you first will need to master basic and advanced physics. Classical Mechanics, Electromagnetism, Quantum Mechanics all are precursor courses to Astrophysics. I know that you want what you want, but in order to study effectively you need the foundation first.

well sir, I did not say or intend to imply that I was not interested in physics, because I am very much so. I am going to become an astronomer, not an astrophysicist, but I'm used to saying 'astrophysicist' instead of 'astronomer' because people tend to confuse astronomy with astrology. much like if I said I wanted to become a 'cosmologist' people would automatically assume I meant a 'cosmetologist'. (although in most situations they are interchangeable so I guess I didn't really need to clarify!)

what I did say was that I was not interested in physics itself, in other words, physics alone does not fascinate me. I'm not looking forward to having to study exclusively in a physics undergraduate program. I like it when it's being applied to the universe, when it's helping me to learn and (somewhat) understand it. I like spending my nights outside with a telescope, or creating sky charts, not inside reading the general theory of relativity. what I love is astronomy, which is in essence, the science of everything - not just physics.

[Dixie]

DON'T IGNORE ME
I'M TRYING TO FUCK UP YOUR THREAD

[elx]

I believe this means you have breast cancer, if you'd like i'd be more than happy to help you with your self-examination.

[Dixie]

THIS ISN'T OVER

ps-you're too young for me, no talk of your hands and my tits you little pervert

[Tadao]

:wank

[Dixie]

i should have known

[Esuohlim]

I am going to become an astronomer, not an astrophysicist, but I'm used to saying 'astrophysicist' instead of 'astronomer' because people tend to confuse astronomy with astrology.

This sentence is awful.

HELLO NERD THREAD HERE'S A GREAT SPACE JOKE ABOUT SPACE :rolleyes

WHAT DID THE SARCASTIC ARCTURUS SAY WHEN THREATENED BY SPICA?

"OH MAN, I'M SHAKING IN MY BOÖTES" :rolleyes

[Evil Robot]

This thread sucks, lets make fun of it.

[Dimnos]

http://rookery2.viary.com/storagev12/745000/745172_fb1d_625x1000.jpg

[Esuohlim]

DID ANYONE KNOW THAT PULTO IS NOT A PLANET ANYMORE? :eeek

[kahljorn]

i read an article a while ago about how they were building a space elevator using a cable made out of buckys ;\

i also think that its great and would definitely save on the time, energy and convenience of getting into outerspace. It's probably one of the most important things in order for us to become space-faring.

[Misdemonar]

MAN

[Misdemonar]

WHAT THREAD IS THIS

[DevilWearsPrada]

serious homo magazines?

[Colonel Flagg]

Hey, I started this thread! >: OF COURSE IT SUCKS!!

elx - I'm trying to take you seriously, but you're making it quite difficult. Do you really think I would confuse Astronomy with Astrology? :rolleyes

I'm pointing out to you that you will need to learn and understand basic physics if you want to make any headway into Astrophysics. If you are just interested in observational astronomy, then all you really need is a telescope and a healthy imagination.

[Colonel Flagg]

I got a weird bump on my knee, it's kind of shaped like florida.
what is it?

A blood blister - next time before you knee someone where it counts, make sure they're not wearing a cup. :x

do i need to see a doctor?

Dr. Pepper, maybe. :)

[Colonel Flagg]

i read an article a while ago about how they were building a space elevator using a cable made out of buckys ;\

Yes, currently this is the only material that MIGHT work. I believe this is still in the research phase, and that development is decades away. :(

[DevilWearsPrada]

Semisrspost, but isn't a structure that high doomed to collapse due to varying pressure of each layer of the atmosphere, plus the added rotation of the earth and obvious factors such as cosmic debris and small meteors?

[Colonel Flagg]

The elevator would be in a geostationary orbit - no movement with respect to the earth's rotation. The other points you make are valid, which is why redundency needs to be designed into the construction.

The elevator at the bottom would be in effect a smallish cable in appearance, while at the top (the part in orbit) it would be roughly the size of a small building. Not only does it need to support the mass of whatever it's bringing up into orbit, but also the mass of the cable itself, which is monstrous.

Spider silk would probably work, if we could find a spider that BIG :arachnophobia

[executioneer]

they just need to use those goats that have been genetically modified to produce high quantities of spider-silk protein in their milk :heebie-jeebies

[Dixie]

where are these goats and where can i get one or seven?

[elx]

elx - I'm trying to take you seriously, but you're making it quite difficult. Do you really think I would confuse Astronomy with Astrology? :rolleyes

why would you assume that I thought that? I didn't tell you what I wanted to be, I told someone else and you commented on it. Even if you had asked, I didn't know you had any background in physics until you created this thread. All I said was just used to telling people that - as in, it's a habit.


I'm pointing out to you that you will need to learn and understand basic physics if you want to make any headway into Astrophysics. If you are just interested in observational astronomy, then all you really need is a telescope and a healthy imagination.I'm not looking forward to having to study exclusively in a physics undergraduate program. I like it when it's being applied to the universe, when it's helping me to learn and (somewhat) understand it.I have plans to major in a physics undergraduate program, as I said already..

Flagg- I believe that our communication skills are just not meshing well, this isn't going to work for me anymore. :(

[Dixie]

elx, if my birthday is August 7th and my sun sign is leo what is my rising sign?
i get confused easy with the lunar/star sign things.
Also depending on the outcome of my signs, what signs should i avoid in my life. I already figured out virgos are bad for me, any others?

[elx]

elx, if my birthday is August 7th and my sun sign is leo what is my rising sign?
i get confused easy with the lunar/star sign things.
Also depending on the outcome of my signs, what signs should i avoid in my life. I already figured out virgos are bad for me, any others?

I didn't mean it like that, I know everyone here is intelligent, it was just a habit.

I suppose I'm just not very eloquent lately, should resort back to drawings or lurking. :(

[Womti]

this thread deserves a magnifying glass held over it.

[Dixie]

HA!
TRICK QUESTION!
MY BIRTHDAY IS ACTUALLY THE 6TH!
BWBAAAHAHAHAH

[Womti]

WJCv-zb19G0

[Colonel Flagg]

short version? i'm going to be an astrophysicist extraordinaire.

I have plans to major in a physics undergraduate program, as I said already...

[Inertial Propulsion is] not all that fascinating to me either, but that's just because i'm more interested in the universe than physics itself.

I find the above statements contradictory taken together. Sort of like "jumbo shrimp".

i do still believe that every action has a reaction and every cause has an effect - so i'd be more than happy to debate that last bit with you. :)

I believe that our communication skills are just not meshing well, this isn't going to work for me anymore. :(

Which 'elx' do I believe? :(

I didn't tell you what I wanted to be, I told someone else and you commented on it. Even if you had asked, I didn't know you had any background in physics until you created this thread.

Hate to break it to you, but this statement was originally in the "chat" thread, and if you said it to one, you've by default said it to all.

Someone make Flagg acknowledge me.

I did, and look what it got me. :\

:ignore

[Dixie]

ohsnap
it's on

[Colonel Flagg]

this thread deserves a magnifying glass held over it.

I guess that's my fault. If there's a way to fix it, let me know and I'll try. :confused

[Womti]

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[elx]

stuff
I already addressed everything you just said in my previous posts. :(

[Esuohlim]

I CONSIDERED MAJORING IN ASTROPHYSICS BUT THEN I DIDN'T AND IN RETROSPECT I SHOULD HAVE :( (IT'S MORE INTENRETSTING THAN EINGIENREERING >: >:)

SPACE

[Esuohlim]

IS THIS THREAD STILL ABOUT SCIENCE

[Esuohlim]

http://www.montevideo.com.uy/queesdelavida/img/personajes/contenido_beakman2.jpghttp://cwablogs.org/blogs/wrightblog/files/2007/12/bill-nye.jpg

[Esuohlim]

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/7143/sadscience.jpg

[Colonel Flagg]

IS THIS THREAD STILL ABOUT SCIENCE

IF YOU WANT IT TO BE, MILHOUSE!

What kind of engineering? There are so many flavors from which to choose!

[Tadao]

It's healthy to talk about science.

[Colonel Flagg]

It is scientific to talk about health.

[Evil Robot]

ELX

[Evil Robot]

I am going to become an astronomer, not an astrophysicist
Oh that sounds lucrative, I'm sure you will have a fun hobby while you work in grocery stores for the rest of your life.

[Colonel Flagg]

Anyone contract any infectious diseases that we can talk about?

[Colonel Flagg]

I've had a headache nearly all day - probably an inoperable brain tumor.

[Tadao]

I'm detoxing. :(

[kahljorn]

a pretentious thread about a man verbally berating a 16 year old girl? How deliciously absurd!

[elx]

hardly, we weren't even arguing:(

[kahljorn]

Maybe.

[MattJack]

This thread is some Nerdy Harry shi*

+5 to Nerdy Harry shi*

[MattJack]

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/7143/sadscience.jpg

<object width="445" height="364"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/E1WrUXSPa8I&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/E1WrUXSPa8I&hl=en&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object>

[Dimnos]

a pretentious thread about a man verbally berating a 16 year old girl? How deliciously absurd!

I said it first :rolleyes

A pretentious thread about a man verbally berating a woman? How deliciously absurd!

[Dixie]

i threw up a little today
IT'S NOT A FUCKING TUMOR AND I'M NOT FUCKING PREGNANT

[Zomboid]

Some of you really need to learn what a comma splice is and why it's a good idea to avoid them.

[kahljorn]

I said it first :rolleyes:

YOU WIN!!! Your prize? this post!

[kahljorn]

i had the shits today because i ate at dennys last night. I hate eating out. Stupid 25 dollar shit machine. my girlfriend puked ;\

[Tadao]

Col. Flagg, hows do you and your bretheren feel about Michael Creighton?

[Colonel Flagg]

Do you mean the Jurassic Park guy, Michael Crichton? He died of cancer, is that what you mean? Or are you asking my opinion on whether or not it's possible to clone dinosaurs from fossilized DNA?

Sorry I'm late to this particular party, but I've been on vacation - very healthy, at least for me! :)

EDIT: Is it possible you're talking about the novel "State of Fear" where he tries to debunk global warming as "pseudo science" ? If so, then I'd have to respectfully disagree with his point of view. And I'd be more than happy to debate this point at length when I get back from the beach! Is it hot out here, or is it just me? :)

[Tadao]

:lol, I mean all of him. Where he pretends to know about science and presents it in a way that the average reader blieves it as truth.

[Tadao]

Both Science and Health!

Two living things can die at the exact same time, even if you divide the numbers by infinity right? The is not an impossible, just an improbable. I'm just talking about earth, throw in the universe and the odds are actually pretty good.

maybe

[Colonel Flagg]

Two living things can die at the exact same time, even if you divide the numbers by infinity right?

Throw in Billy Mays, and that becomes rather spooky. :hypno

[kahljorn]

Two living things can die at the exact same time, even if you divide the numbers by infinity right? The is not an impossible, just an improbable. I'm just talking about earth, throw in the universe and the odds are actually pretty good.Only if you presume that time exists in the first place :O and is also concrete...

[Supafly345]

What is the quotient of death and infinity btw. Assuming that time is a constant of course.

[Colonel Flagg]

Death/Infinity = Truth

[Fathom Zero]

He (Crichton) has an afterward in some of his books where he states that his point was not to change the reader's point of view, but for them to question it. Like, if your convictions were swayed somehow by what was in this book, then you should probably do more research before believing something wholeheartedly. That you shouldn't just automatically believe the guy with the loudest bullhorn.

That said, State of Fear ain't my favorite. I like his more-social commentaries, like Disclosure, (my favorite book), and Airframe.

[Colonel Flagg]

Sorry for bumping this old chestnut, but I thought this was pretty good.

(I would. :()

j50ZssEojtM

EDIT: 10K beat me to this nearly a year ago. Sorry for the repost and the bump :tear

[Tadao]

Scientific and healthy for the mind.

http://www.moillusions.com/

[Tadao]

http://www.moillusions.com/wp-content/uploads/i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb234/vurdlak8/illusions/ObamaGif.gif

The explanation of the image should go something like this: “Vestibular Correction keeps the image on your visual cortex (http://www.moillusions.com/2008/02/upside-down-optical-illusion-again.html) steady even though your eyes are moving around wildly. But the vestibular correction system has its limits. What you see below is an animated GIF image which flips (http://www.moillusions.com/2006/12/reveresed-face-illusion.html) every five seconds. First look at the upside down image (http://www.moillusions.com/2006/04/abraham-lincoln-optical-illusion.html). Both faces look normal, but when they flip you will see how weird (http://www.moillusions.com/2007/08/upside-down-face-illusion.html) one of the faces really is. We have no trouble recognizing the person, but since we recognize facial features with a whole other part of the brain, the vestibular thing got garbled in part”.

[The Leader]

Well, I've learned something today.

[Tadao]

Ahg6qcgoay4

[Colonel Flagg]

THAT!

WAS!

AWESOME!

:lol

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

Sorry for bumping this old chestnut, but I thought this was pretty good.

(I would. :()

j50ZssEojtM

EDIT: 10K beat me to this nearly a year ago. Sorry for the repost and the bump :tear

Edit: I forgot about that.



and that moonwalking bear is awesome.



Also has anyone tried spinal decompression therapy? I was considering it.

[Colonel Flagg]

Also has anyone tried spinal decompression therapy? I was considering it.

No, but right now it would do me pretty damned well, I'm thinkin' ...

I ran into this on the "Nerd Network" ....

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009AIPC.1103..317S

It's a fascinating idea, if it's not just a bunch of hooey. All I've seen are a few abstracts on the subject, though Dr. Solomon has written a book (don't they all?) that claims to provide details on the theory.

Embarrassingly, all I can think of when reading the technical parts is "Paging Dr. Weir - Dr. Weir to the Gravity Drive" :eek

[Aimless]

I do jack all because I have a tear in my spine that's pushing on the nerve... ahhh sciatica, makes me walk like an old lady and scream like i have turrets.

[Tadao]

Wimp

[Aimless]

it's troo.

[Colonel Flagg]

Wimp

BTW, how's your back doing these days?

[Tadao]

Pretty good, so long as the Enbrel keeps coming in, but the fatigue is always gay. Hate being tired for no reason.

I'm in a study here in LA and I should go in for my 2 year xrays really soon. They send the xrays to me on CD. When that happens I'll post them side by side.

[Colonel Flagg]

Ain't technology grand! Good luck with this (I really mean it, too!)

[Tadao]

Yeah, it's pretty awesome. Have you seen the first set? And thanks for the well wishes.

[The Leader]

I don't want you to be sick anymore, Tadao. :(

[Colonel Flagg]

Yeah, it's pretty awesome. Have you seen the first set? And thanks for the well wishes.

Nope - where did you post it? (I probably can't see 'em from work anyway) :firewallsucks

[Dimnos]

When do they give you the cyborg spine?

[Tadao]

I may not have posted them here yet. They are in one of my photobuckets. I'll dig it up.

If they give me a cyborg spine I'll have to work for a living and I am enjoying my early retirement. I have one of the most secure jobs in the U.S. right now. :(

[Colonel Flagg]

http://www.terminatorendoskeleton.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/terminator-endoskeleton.jpg

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

I would take the cyborg spine myself but I have a long way to go before retirement. Hope the f/u goes well. :)

[Tadao]

Ok, so I am adding xrays with red marking were the bone growth is, cause if you don't know what you're looking for, then you won't know what you are looking at.

http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii285/tadao_mockery/Bones/LumbarSpineAP01.jpghttp://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii285/tadao_mockery/Bones/LumbarSpineAP02-1.jpg
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii285/tadao_mockery/Bones/LumbarSpineLateral01.jpghttp://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii285/tadao_mockery/Bones/LumbarSpineLateral02.jpg

Those two long lines on the hips... there is supposed to be a clear line there, but my bones connected there. So I'm kinda like the cheap action figure that you can't really pose in too many positions. At least it will be harder for my murderer to scatter my bones.

[executioneer]

your bones are real jerks

[Tadao]

It can always be worse. :D

[Dimnos]

At least it doesnt look like this...

http://u3a1ma.blu.livefilestore.com/y1psMVN9TGShVmCqA1JpvZ51odeLZBM4KEIrGlgWFYFRJNOjwT LtRmjxnZLUPOQ6vT2yU47hS0oTimXqU2vSSTR5wrgTtQBKJu9/butthead2.JPG

[Colonel Flagg]

Damn, T. That looks pretty whack. :( I hope the test protocol gives you some good mojo.

@Dimnos - I know some individuals who resemble that x-ray. :lol

[Tadao]

F-X5QAV0Rtk

[MetalMilitia]

You yanks have been pissing me off no end recently with your "Look a Nazi England's NHS!" bullshit. Trying to make out like England is some hell-hole because we all pay a small amount each month to make sure people that need care get it.

Having the audacity to suggest that Stephen Hawking would be dead if he used the NHS - which he did and does and has said he'd be dead if not for the NHS.

Fuck off America you twat. If you want to picket town halls with misspelt signs propagating right-wing propaganda that's fine but leave us out of it.

[Tadao]

Lol, silly Brit, you only pay attention to loud noises.

[MetalMilitia]

Hate to break it to you but the loud noises are the only ones that make it to the rest of the world. That's why we think you're a bunch of insane god-botherers. :p

[Tadao]

It's really sad that the republican tactic of drama and scene making by a very small group of people is so dam effective.

[executioneer]

i blame twitter for this

[Colonel Flagg]

Hate to break it to you but the loud noises are the only ones that make it to the rest of the world. That's why we think you're a bunch of insane god-botherers. :p

Unfortunately, you're right. You and your brethren across the pond just have to have faith that those loud noises you hear are really just a bunch of whiny losers. You can't yell louder than they can, so those of us that understnad the issues and the problems, and have already formulated an opinion of what is needed to fix the situation can only sit around and let the blowhards have their fun.

Go ahead. You try arguing with Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter or Rush Limbaugh.

[Tadao]

http://therealbarackobama.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/beck-glenn1.jpg

It's pretty easy to whip old racist into a frenzy.

[Tadao]

Video explanation of the 10 dimensions. I'm a little confused on the 8th, are the just talking about parallel universes?

http://www.tenthdimension.com/medialinks.php

[Kitsa]

I went to code my glucometer and happened to notice that my test strip canister has an expiration date of September...2005.

Oops.

I had some blood-glucose weirdness going on today but I hesitated to check because I didn't know if I could trust the results.

[Colonel Flagg]

I think it's referring to completely different universes. Parallel universes, as I recall, are universes that result from the quantum mechanical observations made on subatomic particles. In the animation, these would be part of the 7th dimension, where all possible pathways collapse to a point. The 8th dimension, I think, could be represented by a surfeit of antimatter rather than of matter at the completion of the Big Bang; or even perhaps a different mode of "universe-initiation" not involving a Big Bang (perhaps a Gnab Gib?). In other words, a universe where the known physical constants and physical laws do not apply.

I know a good speculative fiction novel that explores this concept. The novel s fictional, but the physics applied within it is accurate, which makes it a very interesting read.

But what the hell do I know, I'm a chemist, for Christ's sake!

[Colonel Flagg]

http://therealbarackobama.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/beck-glenn1.jpg

It's pretty easy to whip old racist into a frenzy.

Glenn Beck appeals to my inner conservative nutjob. :)

[Tadao]

I think it's referring to completely different universes. Parallel universes, as I recall, are universes that result from the quantum mechanical observations made on subatomic particles. In the animation, these would be part of the 7th dimension, where all possible pathways collapse to a point. The 8th dimension, I think, could be represented by a surfeit of antimatter rather than of matter at the completion of the Big Bang; or even perhaps a different mode of "universe-initiation" not involving a Big Bang (perhaps a Gnab Gib?). In other words, a universe where the known physical constants and physical laws do not apply.

I know a good speculative fiction novel that explores this concept. The novel s fictional, but the physics applied within it is accurate, which makes it a very interesting read.

But what the hell do I know, I'm a chemist, for Christ's sake!

SHIT'S INSANE!

[Wiffles]

If there are multiple universes, the energy required to open a rift between universes must be pretty immense. I don't know if there will ever be a power source capable of such feats. Also, I love your avatar, Tadao ^^

[Tadao]

Well, like the video shows, that rift is already there and we just can't see it. Just like the 2d only sees the 3d jump and not the road it traveled.

I just can't stay away from bunny avatars. Makes me seem more harmless.

[Colonel Flagg]

Mr. Bun-bun be lickin' hims some Mr. Softee. :p

[Colonel Flagg]

If there are multiple universes, the energy required to open a rift between universes must be pretty immense.

I think part of the "string theory" is that these dimensions are curled up within nucleons, and form the basis for the strong nuclear force. It kind of rationalizes the existence of antiparticles, and the duality between antiparticles, and normal particles that move backward in time. In any event, the energy required to generate some of the short lived nucleons - omegas, kaons and the GOD particle (the Higgs Boson) - is indeed immense. Creating these particles can be thought of as moving normal matter through different dimensions ... maybe.

If in reading this you believe I've had too much to drink tonight, you may have a point. :\

EDIT: Where's Seth when you need him? :( I could use a good dose of theology right about now.

[Dimnos]

Is this now the ask Mr. Wizard Flagg thread?

[elx]

"string theory"

:x

[Colonel Flagg]

Is this now the ask Mr. Wizard Flagg thread?

Not that I'm aware, Mr. Dimnos. :\

:x

Yes. Yes, I know. :(

On the bright side, this is just in from the folks at NASA - after 2 years of work. It's one of the more important discoveries they've made recently.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1738624/first_discovery_of_lifes_building_block_within_com et/index.html

[Tadao]

On that note, today I saw a show on how they are near completion on a planet seeking telescope. I was kinda shocked to find out that there was no actual proof of planets out side our solar system till a few years ago. Right now they can only tell if planets the size of Jupiter are near a sun. They also said that we should know in about 5 years if there are earth like planets in nearby solar systems. With all this space jizz flying around and the probability that there is an earth like planet, well IDK what then but it's pretty cool.

[Colonel Flagg]

Yep. It was science fiction only about 10 years ago, and now there are about 350 confirmed planets around other stars, and about 40 known multiple planet systems. The research groups have also found some of these "plus-size" planets in habitable zones about their stars, which means that any large moons about these planets could have the potential to support life as we know it. SETI doesn't seem so far-fetched anymore.

I agree, pretty cool. :)

[Dimnos]

Not that I'm aware, Mr. Dimnos. :\


Damn. :(

http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1738624/first_discovery_of_lifes_building_block_within_com et/index.html

I was kind of wondering about this same subject the other day. If we are so busy trying to find water on other planets and moons, why arent we trying to get a better look at comets? Are they not giant hunks of ice and dirt hurtling through space?

[Zhukov]

Humanity cannot live on a comet, Dimnos.

[Dimnos]

Microbials man. Microbials!

[DevilWearsPrada]

If there are multiple universes, the energy required to open a rift between universes must be pretty immense. I don't know if there will ever be a power source capable of such feats.

The only thing, in theory, that would be able to bridge two universes would be the sum of all energy in a single universe. Even if that was possible, you'd have to have the energy directed in the right way, which is, if the theory that states that there are an infinite number of universes that allow for every event that could possibly happen to happen is correct, impossible to not have happened/been happening/whatever. Then again, so is every event that could possibly happen :hypno

Anyways, you shouldn't count on it ever happening in THIS universe based on an infinite amount of reasons that could possibly drive someone insane

[Colonel Flagg]

Damn. :(

Not to worry, citizen. If I can provide some insight to a query, I will always try. However, on these boards there's only one individual worthy of being the "Go-To Answer Guy". And he has his own thread already.

I was kind of wondering about this same subject the other day. If we are so busy trying to find water on other planets and moons, why arent we trying to get a better look at comets? Are they not giant hunks of ice and dirt hurtling through space?

Yes, very little has been done in the arena of comet reconnaissance, or asteroid reconnaissance for that matter. In my opinion, this is where the immediate future of space exploration lies - looking for raw materials amongst the smaller denizens of our own solar system.

On a related note, the "Dawn" mission to the asteroid belt using ion propulsion technology will be arriving at Vesta within 2 years.

[Dimnos]

I demand a comet molesting satellite / station.

[Tadao]

http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/

[Colonel Flagg]

Does this individual work for USA Today?

Seriously, there's some fascinating stuff in there.

[Tadao]

I've never been into statistics, but he keeps me browsing with interesting graphs.

[Tadao]

I work with 10 pound weights (OH SO BUFF!) but I'm usually on muscle relaxers at the same time. Do you think the muscle relaxer helps diminish the muscle gain?

[10,000 Volt Ghost]

I would think so.

[Colonel Flagg]

Especially if the muscle relaxer is tequila.

[Tadao]

It's a mild narcotic called Tramadol, I'll be off them real soon, but sports guys do it all the time, don't they?

[Colonel Flagg]

a mild narcotic called Tramadol

You're kidding, right?

[Tadao]

What? That's what he called it.

[Colonel Flagg]

http://www.rxlist.com/tramadol-hydrochloride-drug.htm

Check the user reviews - it's apparently highly addictive. Structurally similar to Oxycodone.

[Wiffles]

I wonder if it relaxes your muscles as good as cinnamon sticks ^.^

[Tadao]

:lol, Unfortunately I fall under the class doesn't get high on it. Even Percacet doesn't give me a kick. I think I am one of the rare opiate resistant. Trramadol barely removes my pain, but thats ok as my Enbrel should be kicking in soon.

Cinnamon tenses my muscles and makes the pain worse.

[Colonel Flagg]

Okee Dokee, you have more experience taking drugs than I, obviously. :lol

[Wiffles]

Weird, normally cinnamon is a relaxant. But we're all different and react to things differently ^^

[Tadao]

I get tense and paranoidish from it, didn't used to be that way :(

[kahljorn]

all the meth must've made you backwards :O doing meth for long periods of time can supposedly change your brain's chemistry.

[Tadao]

I've heard that, but I was like this before I did meth. I think it was all the acid I did as a teenager. Like over 300 times.

[Wiffles]

acid @_@

[Colonel Flagg]

In the course of taking on and adopting foster children born on drugs (and having a family member on chemo), I've searched the web for all things drug-related, and stumbled upon a heinous website that didn't just describe the effects of certain drug combinations, but gave tips on how to take them so you got the best high, did not O.D. (How would they know? Don't you have to die to get this info?), how to make your own, etc. I researched it extensively, keeping my gag reflex in check, since the mothers of two of my foster children were heavy drug users, during their pregnancy up to delivery. I was a little concerned about what someone might find if they checked my web-browsing history (your life is an open book when you're harboring wards of the state) but I felt I had a pretty ironclad reasoning for doing so - the social workers were hesitant to give me the information I needed, and when they did, it was usually incorrect. Not due to negligence or lack of knowledge, but I think they were afraid of giving too much away about the parents.

Maybe I'm woefully naïve, but I was flabbergasted that stuff like that existed on the internet, and was not shut down by some FBI dude.

[kahljorn]

How would they know? Don't you have to die to get this info?Someone might have but more than likely they've just taken a lot of drugs to the point that they felt like shit and realized it was a bit too much.

or maybe there's some unconscious statistical analysis going on there :O :O :O

they could've also read medical literature :(

[Kitsa]

I had a pain management dr. who wrote me a Tramadol script when I was very obviously pregnant. Didn't go back to him again.

[Dimnos]

http://www.geekologie.com/2009/08/26/dino-chickens.jpg


In an effort to meet the challenge posed by the book How To Build A Dinosaur, Hans Larsson, the Canada Research Chair in Macroevolution at Montreal's McGill University, has claimed he will attempt to reverse-engineer a dinosaur from a chicken by altering chicken genes known to have evolved since the Cretaceous.

http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-08/scientist-vows-backwards-engineer-dinosaur-chicken

I love it. :lol

[Colonel Flagg]

Thus answers the question "What did dinosaurs taste like?"

Where's Max?

[Colonel Flagg]

I had a pain management dr. who wrote me a Tramadol script when I was very obviously pregnant. Didn't go back to him again.

It seems like they'll let ANYONE practice medicine these days. >:

[Colonel Flagg]

Great news on the stem cell front:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/04/stem.cells.liposuction.fat/index.html

It's also nice to know the scientists involved have a sense of humor.

"We've been focused -- Dr. Wu's Lab and my lab -- on fat because there's just so much of it," said study co-author Dr. Michael Longaker, a plastic surgeon and stem cell biologist at Stanford. "Unfortunately, it's a great resource in America."

and

Although the average amount of fat removed for liposuction is 2 to 3 quarts, not much is required for stem cell research purposes -- less than half the volume of a can of Diet Coke, Longaker said.

:lol

[Kitsa]

Imagine my surprise when I looked up the antibiotic my bf is on for his tooth abscess and found out it's a carcinogen.

[Colonel Flagg]

Curing the disease, but killing the patient? :eek

[Kitsa]

"Metronidazole has been shown to be carcinogenic in mice and rats. Unnecessary use of the drug should be avoided."

[Dimnos]

What isnt a carcinogenic these days?

[Colonel Flagg]

Nasty. Apparently nothing else touches the infection?

[Kitsa]

Our dentist office's policy is to do simultaneous scripts for m-zole and penicillin for all abscesses. They figure that if one doesn't knock it out the other will.

I've never been prescribed m-zole myself, but then again I've got one hell of a cancer history.

[Fathom Zero]

LIFE IS AN ANTISEPTIC

[Kitsa]

life is about as septic as it gets, and death is even worse.

[Colonel Flagg]

As a chemist, I am effing impressed by this advanced technique in microscopy:

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/87/i35/8735notw1.html (I hope the link works)

Actually imaging the physical shape of a molecule using AFM was unheard-of until this technique was developed. Now, it's truly "how low do we go?"

[Kitsa]

<3

I love microscopes. The first toy I ever asked for was a microscope- still have it (Montgomery Ward's kids' model).

This is on a way bigger scale, but I think sand microscopy is fascinating.

http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjun01/clsand.html

My favorite is the one from Texel Island :)

[Colonel Flagg]

It's amazing what you can see, when you look even at a low power (ca. 50x).

I just recently learned how to use a cryostat microtome, and am having a lot of fun at work again. Imagine! :)

[Tadao]

http://cdn-www.i-am-bored.com/media/84411_graphpapermathproblem.jpg

[Kitsa]

looks similar to my o-chem workbook :(

[Colonel Flagg]

Ah organic. The bane of my existence. And yet I still use it every damned day.

[dollpartz]

truly "how low do we go?"

If my uncle's behavior at parties is any indication, plenty low... And to hear him talk, I believe he's only begun his investigations.

[Colonel Flagg]

If my uncle's behavior at parties is any indication, plenty low... And to hear him talk, I believe he's only begun his investigations.

???

Explain, please why you posted this in the Scihealth thread? Might this be more appropriate in the "favorite booze" or "lies" thread?

Just sayin.

Or, I'm wrong, and your uncle is a research microscopist with an SEM and an AFM at his disposal, and enjoys discussing embedding techniques at cocktail hour.

[Dimnos]

He gets really turned on thinking about microparticles. :\

[Kitsa]

Ah organic. The bane of my existence. And yet I still use it every damned day.

I planned to :(

My professor was a screamer and she made me nervous. I mean, she seriously screamed. And jumped on lab tables. Once in another of her classes she crept up behind me and started screaming, and I dropped the test tube I was holding. As a punishment for that "safety breach", she made me go through the entire lab building and make a chart of emergency exits and fire extinguishers. I slid the chart under her office door and went straight home :(

[Dimnos]

Wtf? I think I might have walked out of that class the second I found that out. How much of a safety breach is it for her to be sneaking up on people in a lab screaming or not. >:

[Colonel Flagg]

Some professors do that for effect (Or so I believe). Otherwise, all their students would be falling into comas. My organic professor in college was a purist; he let the science do the talking. Probably why I needed to pull an all-nighter for a "B".

This prof sounds like she needed a serious sexing. Or maybe just some valium. Or both. :(

[Kitsa]

A lot of people really loved her, but I didn't. I tend to be a little nervous around chemicals anyway, and she wasn't helping a bit.

Her strategy was to scream for the first few months until the people she thought couldn't take it dropped the class, then she calmed down a little bit. I saw that as an ego thing and didn't like it, but I needed her classes for my degree.

I never got along with my chemistry teachers. The high school chem was the one that was really spectacular, but college chem was mainly dismal and grim :(

[Dimnos]

Sneaking up behind people and screaming while they are handling chemicals is a VERY bad idea. She should have fucking known that. Maybe Im just being a stick in the mud but I would have taken my safety concerns to a higher authority. That is just reckless and dangerous. What if you had something harmful? What if you spilt it on her or yourself? Or another student?

[Kitsa]

I have a sneaking suspicion she didn't like me.

[Colonel Flagg]

I never got along with my chemistry teachers.

Hey. I taught chemistry. My kids loved me. :(

[Kitsa]

well I'm guessing you're neither a screamer nor a pompous ass, so we probably would have gotten along.

I taught French for a while; did you get along with any of your French teachers?

[Colonel Flagg]

well I'm guessing you're neither a screamer nor a pompous ass, so we probably would have gotten along.

I taught French for a while; did you get along with any of your French teachers?

One in particular was a real shrew. The rest were by and large OK.

The last French teacher I had was in grad school (no joke). Another two Chemistry grad students and I wanted to pass our foreign language exam requirement our first year (anachronistic, it was eliminated the following year) so we all took "French 1". My teacher was a lovely young Française graduate student named Marie. A real sweetie. She was in the US to study, of all things, American Literature.

And no. No, I did not. :(

[Kitsa]

:)

Well, here's the thing. My high school chemistry teacher was the sort of person who was just universally hated. I actually heard this story from another teacher, when I was a student:

One day he bought a case of soda, and one can had a leak. Instead of dealing with it like a normal human being (going without one can of soda, or taking it back to the store and exchanging it), he decided that he was going to write up a big report to send to the company. He actually filled a binder with statistics on how much soda was lost, in fluid volume, how much of the aluminum was compromised, what percentage of the cardboard was soaked, how many sodas he might have lost if the carton gave way, and so on. He included cost projections for different amounts of money they might owe him based on which scenario might have happened. He was so proud of this "report" that he took it around to all the other teachers, bragging about it. Naturally, everyone's reaction was "what a stupid asshole". I don't know what happened with the report, but the teacher told me that everyone hated him after that.

Imagine the Comic Book Store Guy from the Simpsons, only more vicious and a much bigger asshole.


So when I got to his class, I didn't know about any of that, but he gave me plenty of other reasons to hate him. Most of his lectures were about people he'd outsmarted and how brilliant he was. He was beachball-shaped, with fish lips and glassy eyes, and he'd just stare at you creepily. He gave a classmate of mine a gratuitous minus on her grade because of her emergency appendectomy- she didn't "care enough to come to class", then he went on vacation to Antarctica for two weeks. (Those two weeks were glorious.)

So midterm time came, and I can't remember what my grade was...something like a B, all my As were in Bio and Geo. I was doing okay. I finished the test early, and since he had a rule against turning in your paper before the end of class I doodled on the scrap paper, having nothing better to do. He swooped down on me and took my paper away, telling me that I should be re-checking my answers again and not doodling, and that I had just failed the exam. And he kicked me out for the rest of class. I'd never heard this rule about doodling before.

I couldn't just wander the hallways, so I went to the office and asked to speak to the principal. I gave him a little rundown of various events leading up to this and what had just happened on the midterm, including his promise that I'd have an automatic F and kicking me out of class. The principal asked if I'd drawn something obscene...I hadn't, I think it was a monkey hanging from the top of the page or something. The principal said he'd try to sort it out and in the meantime just go back to class on Monday.

So I did, and we got our grade reports, and suddenly I had an F not only for the midterm but for the entire semester. I went back to the principal and showed him my grade report, and an earlier grade report with my B. He just sighed and said, "You know, with him you're not going to win this. He'll just stay on you now. You're better off dropping the class."

I wanted to get into a good science program in college and I was PISSED about this. Administration got me out of Chem and into a stagecraft class, which in our school was filled with people who couldn't be trusted to sit still in study hall. Mostly I swept the stage over and over while the other kids jerked off in the wood-glue and stuff like that. I was seething the entire time, thinking about how I'd essentially been drummed out of Chem for drawing on my scrap paper.

So to get even with this guy, I started drawing pictures of him, and circulating them anonymously. I'm not proud of that, it wasn't very respectful, but the picture thing got bigger and bigger and bigger. They were popular with the other teachers. Mostly they made fun of his smugness and/or rotund physique. I did one of him rampaging Tokyo, one of him doing a flamenco with the ruffly dress and flies buzzing under his armpits, and one called "in repose", which was his tubby silhouette against a sunset.

Everyone knew it was me, and the other teachers should have been stopping me, but they encouraged me instead. I mean, everyone hated this guy. Teachers were actually requesting scenarios to hang up in their department lounges, and I was so pissed that I was happy to oblige. Someone even tried to photocopy one to slip into the commencement brochures that June.

I burned my bridges good, I'm sure, but by that point I was out and didn't care. No one gives a shit in college and my science performance there was just fine.

Every once in a while when I'm going through old papers, a picture of the guy as the Sta-Puff Marshmallow Man or something like that pops up.

[Dimnos]

Not really on topic but I thought it was an interesting viewing.

http://www.wimp.com/hallucinationsreveal/

[Colonel Flagg]

The principal asked if I'd drawn something obscene...I hadn't, I think it was a monkey hanging from the top of the page or something. The principal said he'd try to sort it out and in the meantime just go back to class on Monday.

So I did, and we got our grade reports, and suddenly I had an F not only for the midterm but for the entire semester. I went back to the principal and showed him my grade report, and an earlier grade report with my B. He just sighed and said, "You know, with him you're not going to win this. He'll just stay on you now. You're better off dropping the class."

I'm guessing your principal had long ago been castrated. What a ball-less weenie. The teacher should have been fired outright. I'm guessing he had pictures of the principal with farm animals.

Every once in a while when I'm going through old papers, a picture of the guy as the Sta-Puff Marshmallow Man or something like that pops up.

Now this I would like to see, knowing the back-story. :lol

[kahljorn]

A manned Moon base could become a reality within 20 years after scientists revealed today there are large quantities of water on the surface of the Earth's satellite.
The discovery increases the chances that humans may one day live permanently on the Moon inside protective domes, mining the rocks and dust for water to drink and power spacecrafts.

The scientific discovery made by the Indian lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 was announced by Nasa today.
'Widespread water has been detected on the surface of the Moon. None of us had expected this 10 years ago,' Nasa's Carle Pieters said.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1215721/Water-moon--Indias-lunar-mission-detects-it.html#ixzz0S3N6utQw

[Chojin]

god damn india outsourcing our astronauts, i tell you what

[kahljorn]

:lol
in that sense its interesting that the americans are the ones scientificating about it :O at least, according to what I've read.

[Kitsa]

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/41567/title/Blood_type_could_matter_in_pancreatic_cancer

I'm O+, which makes this the first time I was ever less likely to get some sort of cancer, seems like. Not that it means much but I'll take it.

[Colonel Flagg]

Now here's a new market for webcasting.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/innovation/funeral-webcasting-is-alive-and-well

Just in time for Halloween.

[Dimnos]

Im not sure what blood type I am. I think AB something. Whatever I am the damn Carter blood care people wont stop calling me. They will call my house then when I dont pick up they call my cell. When I dont answer that they call my house again. Back and forth for 30 min. every night. This goes on for about a month before I get tired of it and just go donate. Then about a month later it starts up again. Fucking vampires. >:

[Colonel Flagg]

Serves you right for having a rare blood type. :p And I thought you were only allowed to donate every 6 or 8 weeks due to the body's ability to replenish hemoglobin and/or plasma.

I'm lucky - I've got the relatively common A+ blood type - they don't need me as much.

[Dimnos]

6 weeks or about a month or whatever it is. Feels like all the damn time.

[Kitsa]

No one wants my shitty rotten cancer-blood.

[Dimnos]

What kind of cancer do you have Kitsa?

[Kitsa]

spinal cord cancer, thyroid cancer, and a radiation history. They want nothing to do with me.

[Dimnos]

:hypno

[Dimnos]

Radiation history?

[Tadao]

She was bitten by a radioactive rice beetle.

[stevetothepast]

she turned into a man as well:
http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/Blue%20Beetle%203.jpg

[Kitsa]

That would be awesome.

I had radiation therapy as a kid to stop the spinal cord cancer from growing. It fucked me up good. My only superpower was making radios and tvs go staticky when I was near them.

[MLE]

Dude, my mom does that. If the tv channel goes out, both my dad and I yell "Hey mom, move two feet in any direction."

[Colonel Flagg]

Cool news from the periodic table!

http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news-HPC-Superheavy-Element-114-Confirmed-Stepping-Stone-to-Island-of-Stability-092909.aspx

[Kitsa]

heavy.

[MLE]

“People have been dreaming of superheavy elements since the 1960s,” says Gregorich.

Boy, I know I have.

[kahljorn]

what does this really matter? Couldn't they have invested this time and money into like i dont know cancer research or something? i remember when I was like 10 and I picked something up and it was super heavy. If they wanted to find something super heavy they could've just filled a gigantic sack full of fucking rocks.

Wasteful fucking scientists :rolleyes

[Chojin]

I've been lifting weights and biking on alternating days

Feels good man

[Colonel Flagg]

what does this really matter? Couldn't they have invested this time and money into like i dont know cancer research or something? i remember when I was like 10 and I picked something up and it was super heavy. If they wanted to find something super heavy they could've just filled a gigantic sack full of fucking rocks.

Wasteful fucking scientists :rolleyes

:rolleyes

[kahljorn]

:posh

[Fathom Zero]

So it's fifty degrees outside and I'm wearing a button-up shirt with shorts. I'm sweating buckets, my forehead and arms are covered in it. I feel freezing and can feel my blood coursing around. It's making me feel dizzy; I can't balance properly.

I think it has to do with stress and my blood pressure, but is there any medical condition that could explain it?

[Kitsa]

Is a checkup feasible for you? There's lots of stuff that could cause all that, thyroid or blood pressure, etc, in various levels of badness.

[Fathom Zero]

Checkups are... not covered. And I have no moneys at the moment.

Moreover, my healthcare provider is some miles away and I am without transport. I think I might need something to eat.

[Kitsa]

That might fix the dizzy part.

[Fathom Zero]

Here's to hoping. I've felt like shit most of my life for one reason or another. I started working out recently to get rid of the aches and pains that I have, but problems like the above still remain.

[Kitsa]

I hope you get the means to go to the doctor soon.

[Colonel Flagg]

So it's fifty degrees outside and I'm wearing a button-up shirt with shorts. I'm sweating buckets, my forehead and arms are covered in it. I feel freezing and can feel my blood coursing around. It's making me feel dizzy; I can't balance properly.

Checkups are... not covered. And I have no moneys at the moment.

I'm taking for granted you're not the whiny complaining hypchondriac type. This being said, this sounds like it could be ... something. I'd suggest it could be worth an ER visit, which would be provided courtesy of your local 911 service.

See if Kit's advice (eat something) works first, then consider the drastic measures. You really should see someone about this. :( "F" managed care. >:

[Fathom Zero]

I'm taking for granted you're not the whiny complaining hypchondriac type.

I am, which is why I usually chalk this shit up to nerves.

Still, I haven't had a legitimate medical check up in... over a decade at this point, I believe. I've just gotten looked at parts pertinent to whatever illness I've had at the time.

[Colonel Flagg]

Couldn't they have invested this time and money into like i dont know cancer research or something? [...] Wasteful fucking scientists :rolleyes

Well, there is no hard and fast reason for doing research except to broaden the depth and scope of knowledge. You never know where the next breakthrough will come from. Case in point:

http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news-DA-Math-Tool-Tackles-Toughest-Wounds-100109.aspx

Who would have thought that a mathematical model based loosely on chaos theory would have applications in treating traditionally "untreatable" wounds. I know several diabetics who would directly benefit from this research, yet 10 years ago, people with less foresight might have called such research "a wasteful expenditure of our resources".

Just sayin'.

[Colonel Flagg]

Just in time for Halloween, some timely advice, based on sound combinatorics, of course:

http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news-DA-Best-Approach-for-Avoiding-Zombies-If_trapped-by-staggering-undead-physics-could-help-100509.aspx

I love "ScientificComputing". :love

[Esuohlim]

I'm going to work for NASA one day, y'all wait and see :picklehat

[Dimnos]

Sweeping floors? Running the ticket line at the museum in Houston? Personally I want to sell the $5 bottled water at the food court.

[Tadao]

Keeping secrets?

[Esuohlim]

Shooting motherfuckers into the sun >:

[Dimnos]

You should get a job in the film storage department so you can erase important moments of history. :lol

[Tadao]

hahahaha

[Esuohlim]

THE FLAG WAS WAVING BUT THERE'S NO WIND ON THE MOON :eek

[MLE]

UH OH YOU BETTER CALL GEGGY

[Colonel Flagg]

:lol

[Fathom Zero]

I taste blood.

[comicracy]

dildo

[Tadao]

I consider you a spammer.

[Dimnos]

Yeah your one fancy bot.

[executioneer]

comicracist would you please either change your avatar or your signature so it doesn't have your website url in it, your blatant advertising is making me nauseous

[Colonel Flagg]

This caught me by surprise.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/09/cheating.death.suspended.animation/index.html

Ted Williams may have died too soon. :\

[Dimnos]

This caught me by surprise.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/09/cheating.death.suspended.animation/index.html

Ted Williams may have died too soon. :\

Nifty. :hypno

[Colonel Flagg]

I woke up this morning with an inability to hear out of my right ear. It felt full of fluid, but it didn't hurt i.e. no infection. So I hit it with Chlorpromizole (I think) which is a generic ear-wax-softening compound. After squirting it about 4-5 times with warm water (and a commensurate amount of pain) the largest chunk of ear wax appeared as if by magic. Seriously, I don't know how I ever got it out without forceps, the sucker was huge. My only regret is not getting a photo so I could post it here, and up the gross-out factor. :(

On the bright side, I can hear again. :)

[Kitsa]

Here's a good one for the science and health thread.

I just made boiling water for tea, filled a mug, plopped the teabag in and promptly ran into a doorframe, which caused the mug's contents to slosh all over my chest.

The pain was enough to make me scream, although apparently I had to be told to drop the mug.

I am fucking tired of running in to the hospital all the time, so I am getting by with an ice pack.

It's huge and red and awesome.

[Colonel Flagg]

That reminds me of the time I set myself on fire .... ah, the memories. :eek

[Kitsa]

yipes, how'd you manage that? Lab accident?

[Tadao]

Ah, hot water is hot. SCIENCE!

[Colonel Flagg]

yipes, how'd you manage that? Lab accident?

Yep, plus a healthy dose of stupidity. 1st and 2nd degree burns, generally very minor. I'm a firm believer of the adage "that which does not kill me makes me stronger". I just wish sometimes I wouldn't try so damned hard. :\

I have plenty more stories where that came from, too. I'll save them for a rainy day. ;)

[kgp4death]

Back off man, I am a Scientist.

[captain516]

Another quality kgpenis post!

[Colonel Flagg]

:ignore

[kgp4death]

what it is the best quote ever.

yOzTaGAUFEw

[george]

my sig is the best qoute ever. ever.

[Colonel Flagg]

what it is the best quote ever.

[ahem] It WAS the best quote ever. Now it sucks.

I :love George's sig.

[Kitsa]

http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2004/08/04/things_i_wont_work_with_a_nasty_condensed_gas.php

[elx]

harvest moon :)

[Colonel Flagg]

The most interesting experiment I ever did was observing the critical point of CO2. Preparation was a nightmare, but the actual experiment was pretty cool. The liquid/gas meniscus kind of "fizzles out" at just above 31°C, then as you reduce the temperature it "fizzles back in".

The most dangerous chemical I've worked with was "aqua regia". Nasty.

[Kitsa]

I'm pretty sure I got a whiff of pure hydrogen in one of my college chem classes and that was pretty nasty.

[Fathom Zero]

SHE HAS CYSTS ON THE WALLS OF HER LUNGS. VERY RARE.

85PcMJ9D8X0

[Colonel Flagg]

I'm pretty sure I got a whiff of pure hydrogen in one of my college chem classes and that was pretty nasty.

I seriously doubt that. Pure hydrogen is odor-free. Impurities in the gas can result in a foul odor, and there are lots of possiblities here.

In grad school I got a whiff of perhaps less than a tenth of a cc of 5% Fluorine in Helium. I had the dry heaves for about a week. :x

[Chojin]

I've been having some hip pain on the right side for the past few weeks. Here's the advice /fit/ gave me, in case anyone else is curious about the proper way to rehab an injured muscle:


Here is the tried-and-true injury rehab method for muscle-belly injuries we got from Starr and that has worked for years better than any other method I've ever used. It also works well on orthopeadic injuries in general, and should be tried before anything more elaborate is used. Wait 3-4 days until the pain starts to "blur",which indicates that the immediate process of healing has stopped the bleeding and has started to repair the tissue. Then use an exercise that directly works the injury, i.e. that makes it hurt, in this case the squat. Use the empty bar and do 3 sets of 25 with perfect form, allowing yourself NO favoring the injured side. If it's ready to rehab you will know by the pain: if the pain increases during the set, it's not ready, if it stays the same or feels a little better toward the end of the set, it is ready to work.

The NEXT DAY do it again, and add a small amount of weight, like 45 x 25 x 2 , 55 x 25. Next day, 45 x 25, 55 x 25, 65 x 25. Continue adding weight every day, increasing as much as you can tolerate each workout. It will hurt, and it's supposed to hurt, but you should be able to tell the difference between rehab pain and re-injury. If you can't, you will figure it out soon enough. This method works by flushing blood through the injury while forcing the tissue to reorganize in its normal pattern of contractile architecture.

After 10 days of 25s, go up in weight and down in reps to 15s, then to 10s, and finally to fives. During this time do NO OTHER HEAVY WORK, so that your resources can focus on the injury. You should be fixed in about 2 weeks, squatting more than you hurt yourself with.

This method has the advantage of preventing scar formation in the muscle belly, since the muscle is forced to heal in the context of work and normal contraction, using the movement pattern it normally uses. The important points are 1.) perfect form with 2.) light weights that can be handled for high reps, 3.) every day for two weeks, and 4.) no other heavy work that will interfere with the system-wide processes of healing the tear.

It is also very important through the whole process of healing the injury that ice be used, during the initial phase after the injury and after the workouts. Use it 20 on/20 off, many times a day at first and then tapering off to morning, after the workout, and before bed. Ice is your best friend in a muscle belly injury, holding down inflammation and fluid accumulation ("swelling") while at the same time increasing beneficial blood flow through the injury. But DO NOT USE ICE MORE THAN 20 MINUTES AT A TIME. More than that can cause more damage than it repairs.

[Kitsa]

Col Flagg- I'm probably remembering it wrong. I don't remember a scent, I remember being too close and having sudden severe sinus pain like I'd just plummeted into a pool from a great height and snorted the water. Or like someone had jammed two steel hooks up my nostrils and dug in, perhaps.

Chojin- hope the hip does better. Hope it's not bursitis or something :(

[Dimnos]

Found it interesting. Thought I would share.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/photomicrography/

[Colonel Flagg]

Col Flagg- I'm probably remembering it wrong. I don't remember a scent, I remember being too close and having sudden severe sinus pain like I'd just plummeted into a pool from a great height and snorted the water. Or like someone had jammed two steel hooks up my nostrils and dug in, perhaps.

Could be - It's possible that some reduction was taking place somewhere within your nasal cavity. Hydrogen will do this.

Not a subject I'd like to dwell upon, if it's all the same to you. :(

[Shrubfest]

Sorry I'm late to jump on the bandwagon, but I have swine flu! Yay!

[Dimnos]

Get some Tamaflu and some rest. You will be OK.

[Tadao]

Or some aspirin and orange juice.

[Colonel Flagg]

This was just posted in the online version of R&D Magazine - the space elevator idea was recently demonstrated in principle:

http://www.rdmag.com/News/2009/11/General-Science-Robot-goes-all-the-way-in-space-elevator-competition/?wnnvz=cIpb87iV1KLzfmuk

Pretty cool. :)

[Shrubfest]

Got tamiflu, grapes, lucozade and alcohol gel. Fun times.