1

Just Chat! / Re: Punning is hard(ly) work! Groaning aloud here?

« on: 13/03/2014 01:59:20 »

You're well-come.  I'll take buckets of water over bits of coin any day.

Anything I say will pail in comparison, but I wanted to cash in all the same.

2

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Where is the "comfy" spot in space? (1st of 2)

« on: 31/01/2014 03:17:09 »

My understanding was that the issue would be the temperature difference between direct sunlight and shade. If an astronaut was in free space, there may be a zone where the sun provides "room temperature" warmth on the side that's exposed, but the (almost?) vacuum of space would make the shaded side unbearably cold.
You could probably find an area that gave a good average temperature, but it would be like having one foot in a fire and the other in ice.
I think you'd still need some sort of temperature insulating layer to reduce the temperature difference to something more manageable.

3

Just Chat! / Re: Punning is hard(ly) work! Groaning aloud here?

« on: 19/01/2014 21:21:11 »

Did it happen near puddington?

4

Just Chat! / Re: Punning is hard(ly) work! Groaning aloud here?

« on: 19/01/2014 21:19:43 »

Working in Paris last week at the Musée national de la Marine, I am rué to report that my best pun effort was (looking toward the Eiffel Tower), If that was made of sponge & jelly would it be called the triffel tower?

A jelly truck and a biscuit truck collided yesterday - police are a trifle concerned.

I heard it was a bomb, alas. Ka BOOM!

5

Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Re: Discuss: Ask the Naked Scientists is BACK!

« on: 16/01/2014 00:11:09 »

I listen on the podcast and I always wondered why the ANS podcast changed from Sue Marchant to the South African one.

Also, in regards to the blow dryers, is better to leave your hands wet and allowing them to air dry?

6

Just Chat! / Re: Quantifying Consciousness

« on: 14/01/2014 01:18:35 »

I'd like to try doing the same thing with switching colours round, and inverting some (or all of them) in terms of brightness. The range of colours and shades available should be the same, though fewer can be expressed in the blue, so just switching red and green round would be best, but we can work fairly well with a reduced range without it being obvious, so it may not be too important. If you brought up a baby wearing such a device it would grow up thinking the colours it sees are absolutely normal, and that white is dark while black is light (if you're reversing the brightnesses). Whether someone could adapt to it well later in life is another issue, and would be well worth doing the experiment.

Is this similar to what happens when I wear tinted ski goggles and for a while everything looks orange, but after a while I forget I'm wearing them and colours just look "normal". I can see a spectrum and it doesn't appear to have a tint. Then when I take the goggles off, everything looks extra blue until my "eyes" (or probably more acurately "brain") re-adjusts.

I've only skimmed over this thread I must admit but it seems that if consciousness was something external, it would be able to interact with other consciousnesses, and would provide something to observe as evidence. I personally believe that this is not the case and take the anthropic argument that the neurons and chemicals and what-nots that are all whizzing around doing their job in our heads create the effect of consciousness. The fact that there is a direct effect on our experience when all this grey matter is altered (ie with chemicals - drugs, or with direct electrical stimulation) seems to support the idea that what we call "consciousness" is contained within the structure we call "brain".

Sorry if i'm repeating points from earlier, as I said, I've only skimmed this thread.

7

Just Chat! / Re: Punning is hard(ly) work! Groaning aloud here?

« on: 19/12/2013 22:58:05 »

If you pass out during a blood transfusion, you need rhesusitation. Then people send you a card(io) and flowers in a vase(cular).

8

Science Experiments / Re: Does a covered pot boil faster than an open pot?

« on: 19/12/2013 21:50:53 »

A covered pot will always boil faster than an open pot UNLESS you are watching it, in which case it will never boil.  []

sorry, someone had to say it

9

Question of the Week / Re: QotW - 13.12.17 - Do smaller organisms evolve faster than larger ones?

« on: 16/12/2013 02:07:13 »

My thoughts as a non-scientist...

I would have thought lifespan would have more impact than size. Specifically, the time taken for an organsim to reach sexual maturity. If something could go through fifty generations in the time it takes for us to go through one, it increases the amount of beneficial mutations possible.

Also, if a species has a shorter lifespan and is quicker to die, that species will be faster at weeding out the genetic material that doesn't do so well, and the ones that breed will drive the evolutionary process.

10

Just Chat! / Re: Are you a 'humbug'?

« on: 11/12/2013 23:54:24 »

I think we're all forgetting the real meaning of christmas...

The birth of Santa Claus!

My beef is that on Christmas day, my family feel it's somewhat okay to start drinking beer at 9:30am (AEST). Really? Is it ever okay to start that early?

In terms of presents, think of all the obnoxious spotty teenagers who you're supporting with their retail job that they need to buy itunes cards because they live at home and get everything else for free. In recent times, some stimulation of the economy probably doesn't hurt.

And I like the fact that my son is into lego because he's not quite up to the bigger sets, so poor daddy gets has to build them for him.  []

I think it's transcended it's christian origins to become something more sacred to an Australian...

A PUBLIC HOLIDAY! AND THERE'S TWO OF THEM!

11

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Why are there two high tides a day?

« on: 09/12/2013 00:40:55 »

• The point on Earth's surface farthest to the Moon is further away than the center of the Earth, and feels a weaker pull than the center of the Earth, so water piles up higher there (a high tide). Alternatively, it could be viewed as if centrifugal force "throws" the water outwards on the far side of the Earth.

I was lead to believe that "centrifugal" was a dirty word in physics?

12

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Why are there two high tides a day?

« on: 09/12/2013 00:38:36 »

I've always understood it as this:

On the near side of the Earth, the Moon's gravity is pulling the water away from the Earth so the bulge on the near side is the water that is being pulled towards the Moon more than the rest of the Earth.

On the far side, the Moon's gravity is pulling the Earth away from the water, so the bulge on the far side of the Earth is the water that isn't attracted to the moon as much as the rest of the Earth.

Then there's the sun...

And probably quantum somewhere...  []

13

Just Chat! / Re: Punning is hard(ly) work! Groaning aloud here?

« on: 08/12/2013 23:25:25 »

Ah! Good old Fred Astair, they don't make 'em like that any more, it seems to be escalat or be damned.

Thanks Don, that pun gave me a real lift.

Did you know if you give a duck soda, they become forever pheasant?

14

New Theories / Re: This Is Not Theory - The Moon Hitting the Earth Is Real - Very Real!

« on: 14/11/2013 05:51:36 »

Ahhh, I missed this fruity thread. So entertaining!

I think the problem is that when dealing with the mass of the Earth, the total mass of water is such a small percentage of it that it really wouldn't do anything, even if it was all bunched up on one side of the Earth.

But lets entertain this idea that somehow water is cushioning the blow, the "stamping" effect of Mare Orientale that was proposed by MOON TRUTH seems to rely on the fact that the blow is not cushioned.

Even if the two masses act "muddy", they're not going to bounce off eachother.

15

Just Chat! / Re: I hate seasonal references

« on: 11/11/2013 02:14:56 »

I don't have issues with seasonal links between Christmas and winter, as well as Easter and the coming of spring, or any other holiday that started in the northern hemisphere but is still celebrated down south. But if I see "coming this summer" I want to know if it's here in June or December. Why can't they just say "coming this December"?

It's like saying a time but without the time zone.

And 10% of the population is still 700 000 000 people (according to wiki).

16

Just Chat! / I hate seasonal references

« on: 11/11/2013 00:00:35 »

Since this is the only forum I'm a member of, I'll use it for my rant. As a southern hemispherer, I HATE when release dates or schedules are tied to a season. "Autumn release", "Due Spring 20XX" for example.

In the age of the internet where pretty much everything is international WHY THE FROG DO PEOPLE STILL DO THIS?!? Drives me mad. Don't people realise that seasons change depending on which hemisphere one is?

Anyway, that's my rant.

17

Physiology & Medicine / Re: Quitting smoking

« on: 08/11/2013 00:50:43 »

I'll throw in my two cents. It took me a lot of practice to finally quit. I had tried a few times (longest stint was almost 12 months) but then I fell into the trap of "I've quit now, so an occasionally ciggie won't worry me..."

I suffer mild asthma as well so at the worst stage I found myself with a cigarette in one hand and an asthma puffer in the other.

When I finally managed to quit for good, I'd led up to it by smoking the lowest milligram cigarettes available (I realise there's a debate in itself about whether these are actually less toxic) and I was lucky enough to have the support of my then girlfriend (now wife).

It was cold turkey for me, I just couldn't go another day of smoking. I don't remember any withdrawals but the hardest thing I found was not having something to do. When I used to go for smoke breaks at work, I couldn't do that now. I also quit coffee because a smoke and a coffee always went hand in hand for me.

Above all, I tried to maintain in my mind the horrible rough feeling in my throat that cigarettes gave me and the stink that would hang around after. I made sure that I never took up smoking again and that I never felt safe as a non-smoker to just "try it" again. (although apparently I had one on my bucks night, but I don't think it counts if you don't remember it!).

I don't know what it's like in UK but in Australia, it is SO EXPENSIVE to smoke! So I'm with Alan on the expensive hobby. everytime you think about buying a packet, put the money you would have spent in a jar and buy yourself something nice!

18

General Science / Re: Why does coffee make me sleepy?

« on: 04/11/2013 23:24:59 »

I'm sure I heard Chris (or maybe it was Dr Karl) say once that in some people, coffee can stimulate the part of them that wants to sleep, thus making them sleepier. I'm sure when the doctor described it it was much more scientific and lucid than that, but that's the message I took from it.

I sometimes wonder whether one can develop a dependence on caffeine which means they are intrinsically more tired all the time, and drinking coffee just brings them back to a "normal" level of background tiredness.

Also, if I drink coffee at night, I get tired because it's night and I want to go to bed. I don't think the coffee has a major effect on this (not as much as my kids anyway  [])

19

Just Chat! / Re: bullet-proof smartphone app ...

« on: 31/10/2013 02:27:46 »

I wonder if he'd been viewing a bible app at the time?  []

20

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: How can birds sit safely on a power line?

« on: 30/10/2013 22:33:13 »

I have seen many an unfortunate bat, barbecued between two wires. Perhaps because their wings are extensions of arms and claws, bats and flying foxes are put at greater risk of closing the circuit with their wingspan.