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Technology / How can we mine asteroids?

« on: 30/06/2022 12:45:08 »

Asteroids are now a target in the latest money making super ventures, mining them for their precious metals could be very lucrative, but how are they going to be mined in sufficient quantities to make it economically viable. It costs 2 millionish dollars pounds or euros to put a kg on the moon. Discount the devaluation occouring from supplying a product who's very price is due to its scarcity.

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Geology, Palaeontology & Archaeology / What animal made this footprint?

« on: 28/06/2022 22:33:18 »

IMG_20220628_223204.jpg (603.07 kB . 1782x1447 - viewed 292 times)

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New Theories / Are the arms of the T Rex small to help it run?

« on: 22/06/2022 23:56:44 »

Now I am not a dinosaur scientist (NON AVIAN BEFORE A HELPFUL SOLE FEELS THE NECESSITY TO HIGHLIGHT THE FACT THAT DINOSAUR ILK DID SURVIVE THE YUKATAN PENINSULA IMPACTOR EVENT AND SUBSEQUENT EXTINCTION PROCESS AS AVIAN DINOSAURS OR "BIRDS" AS THEY ARE CALLED IN COMMON SPEAK)  but the tyrannosaurus Rex has long been mocked for having diddy arms and many theories to why have abounded as to why, such as the theory it is to prevent injury.

It is my theory that the T Rex and his peers developed small arms due to smaller arms facilitating higher speeds when in locomotion, thus natural selection breeding a small limbed machine the retained clawed upper  limbs for grasping prey.

The spinosaurus was known for having large arms, but being an aquatic creature it is known to have had diddy legs and a paddle like tail, having a similar appearance to a duck crocodile, but with arms. It would not have needed to run fast as it was an aquatic creature. The T Rex and friends would have needed to hunt on land, other  creatures, probably quick creatures.

4

Physiology & Medicine / Why where the native Americans so vulnerable to disease?

« on: 21/06/2022 22:56:33 »

When columbus landed in the Americas he and his peers brought with them the diseases of afro Eurasia with them. The native Americans where extremely vulnerable to these diseases, with population reductions of 99 percent within a few decades in probably the fastest and largest plague in history. Afro Eurasia faired far better, with only the contested claim of the great pox of Syphilis alleged to have come the other way. Why did the Afro eurasian not suffer cataclysmic annihilation from American diseases?

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Technology / Where is the energy from global warming stored?

« on: 07/06/2022 12:40:50 »

Global warming is an undeniable fact. But where is the extra energy being held? It cannot be in infra red reflections, being light without being absorbed they do not register. It cannot be the air as air has a very low heat capacity and does a fantastic job in cooling at night. The land likewise has a similarly good cooling emissivity.

Sorry for the category, I meant to put it in environmental.

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Why is leg room on transport so limited ?

« on: 08/05/2022 23:39:59 »

Why cannot providers of transport vehicles provide users with leg room? Planes and trains seem to wish to encourage knees around earholes. What is the necessity for this?

7

Just Chat! / How many people have studied history?

« on: 24/04/2022 14:28:28 »

This is a question I have been thinking about for a while. I see a lot of sources quoted and searching myself for sources I see many that I think must be biased or have limited credibility. I did gcse history, learning about ww1 and 2 mainly, but the most important thing I was taught in my history gcse was evaluating sources for things such as vested interests, spectacle or other effects.

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Just Chat! / Is there a new paradigm shift in warfare?

« on: 23/04/2022 01:36:01 »

The Ukraine military seems to be reducing to ruins the modern army of Russia with little more than cheap drones and rockets. It seems that a new type of warfare is becoming dominant with new technology cheaply laying waste to conventional hardwear. Is this the end of the military as we know it, such as was the advent of gunpowder, the dreadnought battleship and aircraft?

9

Technology / Are solar panels worthwhile?

« on: 18/04/2022 07:22:50 »

The average embodied carbon in those references for monocrystalline PV was 2,560 kg CO2e per kWp. The embodied carbon of all products vary notably, so that should be appreciated with any embodied carbon values.

From https://circularecology.com/solar-pv-embodied-carbon.html

Gas generation of electricity has a co2 output of 0.429kg of carbon per kwh. That means the solar panel has to generate well over 5000kwh of electricity before it is recouping the carbon invested in it. Is solar reducing co2 emmissions or is it a white elephant?

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / How does ice actually freeze?

« on: 02/04/2022 02:22:23 »

It's a bit nippy at present, ice is forming at night on the water. I cannot believe however that ice only forms once the entire 300l of water in my water butt has achieved 0C, I do not believe it would cool that quickly, even though at present it is quite dry accelerating evaporation. But the ice must be 0C maximum, so how does ice form?

11

Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Does nature turn off genes?

« on: 27/03/2022 12:01:57 »

Genetic science has figured aout a way to turn off genes so as to help people with  problematic genes with their condition. Can nature employ similar genetic affectation?

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Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / How does natural selection work?

« on: 15/03/2022 10:17:30 »

Darwin theory of survival of the fittest is along the lines of those best suited to a situation survive, these qualities being carried forward and perhaps further increaced by the breeding animals having like qualities, as in the case of giraffes, long necked horsies breeding to produce even longer necked offspring. But how do these qualities come about in the first place? Long necked horsies had to gain their long neckedness from somewhere in the first place.

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / How did this rocket stage gain the energy to get to the moon?

« on: 04/03/2022 21:19:31 »

A piece of space rubbish is going to impact the moon.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-60596449

I believe it takes a lot of energy to get from near earth orbit to the moon, how did it gain the energy, or if it is part of a moon rocket I thought the idea of rocket stages where that the release of a stage meant you gained  energy to get to the moon, equal and opposite and all.

14

Technology / Are radar detection cross section images dependant on distance?

« on: 01/03/2022 15:13:43 »

Stealth technology is coming apace, the banded buzzword phrase is "radar cross section". Claims of RCS being the size of a mobile phone, 25 cent piece or ball-bearing being very well, but how does this relate to actual detection. If someone throws a phone at you, you are likely to detect it.

How does apparent size at distance affect radar detection, for example if I throw a ball bearing into the sky 5km from a radar station is it going to be detected?

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New Theories / If space is still expanding, could not space itself account for dark matter?

« on: 05/02/2022 14:59:08 »

Could dark matter be compacted space similar to out of balance pressurised gasses, space compression is seen in gravitational waves, you do not notice time dilation in a gravitational well, but observed from outside it is noticible. Space is expanding still for no apparent reason than dark matter/energy.

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Technology / How much energy does it take to produce washing powder?

« on: 01/02/2022 16:49:25 »

A certain manufacturer of biological laundry powder makes a claim about washing at a colder temperature is greener for the environment as it utilises less energy, less energy meaning less co2 emissions. Knowing that chemically potent things such as fertiliser is energy intensive to produce, what sort of energy input is required for laundry detergents?

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Just Chat! / Anarchists cookbook anyone?

« on: 19/01/2022 16:27:46 »

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-60051861

This fellow has been convicted of possessing the "Jolly Roger's anarchists cookbook". It contains various recipes such as the making of nitroglycerin from potassium nitrate sulphiric acid nitric acid and glycerin, the production of plastic explosive from bleach using home brewing equipment and thermite from aluminium filings and rust with a sprig of magnesium as an instigator.

I know this as I had a copy of the "anarchists cookbook" when I was younger on my sadly long departed Amiga 500, did anyone else? It did the rounds. Given the improbability of using enough bleach to make plastic explosive, the dangers of nitro glycerin production and the sheer fact that would anyone really take the chance on the methodology of a badly written scrapbook it is not really a viable manual.

The fact terrorists seem to prefer fertiliser and hydrogen peroxide as it is far more easily procured and processed makes this seem a bit pedantic, plus the fact that this information is easily obtained elsewhere. Is this just the nanny state trying to ban everything? Surely knowledge is only illegal if its 1984?

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The Environment / What caused this sea surface temperature anomoly?

« on: 09/01/2022 06:30:44 »

This is a graph of historical sea surface temperatures. There are others avaliable but they all show the same anomoly around 1940.


1.jpg (84.61 kB . 491x619 - viewed 967 times)

As you can see there has not been such a stand out reading since. What causes such a surface temperature spike ?

19

Technology / Can I get an electric gas boiler?

« on: 27/12/2021 00:02:07 »

Gan I get a hot water boiler that generates electricity? Given that we will be dependant on gas for many many years, either to heat our homes and water or to power our devices and charge our electric cars, it would surely be a good idea to generate the power where the hot water is wanted. After all, hot water and electric are used seasonally  pretty much the same?

20

Physiology & Medicine / Why do finger tip pads heal so well?

« on: 14/12/2021 22:56:06 »

I have a few scars on my hands, left hand mainly, ol' lefty is always suffering at righty's stupidity. I have scars from doing things on the knuckles mainly but in a few other places too. I know for a fact that the pads on my finger tips have had injuries, burns compression blisters and cuts but they miraculously heal without scars. Why is this?