1

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Inner and outer space?

« on: Today at 14:18:58 »

Yes. Nothing is nothing, anywhere and everywhere. There is a higher probability of finding a nucleus or an electron close to the center of an atom than outside it, but what isn't there, isn't there. At least that is the "orbiting particle" model of an atom.

The alternative and more useful model is to consider the orbital probability function of an electron rather than the particle itself as being "real", so at any point within the classical radius of an atom you will find the "smell" of an electron, with no truly empty space.
 

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Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Re: Why shouldn't we engage in eugenics?

« on: Yesterday at 17:10:30 »

If this pandemic was allowed to run its natural course, what would happen? 

Most of the deaths occur among people who have passed their reproductive years, so there would be no effect on future generations..

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Just Chat! / Re: Is there a universal moral standard?

« on: 05/03/2021 00:57:53 »

Debatable what a "completely new" aircraft might look like. The industry generally proceeds by evolution, which is why the pitch stabiliser is usually at the back where it can stall the plane instead of the front, where it can't.

All large passenger jets trace their ancestry to the B29. The only significant departures were the Comet (based on fighter designs with the engines buried close to the fuselage, so very difficult to maintain or upgrade)  and Concorde (uneconomic). What would you suggest?

Most of the cockpit of the BA146  was copied from a Boeing 707 because it had four jet engines and worked fairly well - why reinvent the wheel? Increasing the capacity or range of the 737 is entirely logical because it's a fundamentally well-sorted design. 

Fitting a bigger engine is entirely normal on all successful designs from the Piper Cub (originally 40 HP, modern "Super Cubs" up to 180 HP) to the Spitfire (1030 HP to 2300 HP) but always involves a change in flight characteristics and in practically every case some formal type conversion training. That's the only bit that Boeing and the FAA missed out, assuming that the MCAS computer would cover it, and not mentioning it in the handbook. Funny, that. If you modify the oven or the toilet, the ground and cabin crews  get introductory training, but if you add a wholly unnecessary flight control that overrides the pilot, you don't have to tell him.

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General Science / Re: How are rainbows made?

« on: 04/03/2021 12:29:20 »

Rainbows are made by good fairies painting the sky. But the pot of gold is controlled by mischievous goblins who keep moving it.

5

Just Chat! / Re: Is there a universal moral standard?

« on: 03/03/2021 11:02:27 »

Not sure how you could program that into anything except three humans, never mind getting Birmingham Control to reorganise all their traffic.

Perhaps the plane engine shouldn't be able to start with incorrect fuel amount or type for the planned journey. It would be easier to fix.

Yes, one more thing to go wrong. Suppose we have planned Belfast- Heathrow but a passenger gets sick so we divert to Birmingham. Will the machine say "fuel overload - switch off engine"? Or Heathrow is fogged so we make a late divert to Southend. Is that another 30 miles (insufficient fuel - switch off engine) or had we planned to approach Heathrow from the east anyway, plus a go-around plus a divert plus extra taxi time?

Fueller overloads the plane, or you have a late change of destination. Offloading fuel is a hell of a faff, but flying another 30 minutes to get below landing weight is no big deal.

And will the machine talk to Heathrow/Birmingham/Southend/Airways Control and request priority? What will it do if Birmingham says "negative, go to Manchester"?

The great thing about flying is that you have dozens of options until the fuel runs out, so why not leave it to a human to negotiate with other humans and decide what to do next? I have been rightly criticised by an examiner for rushing towards a preplanned diversion instead of reviewing the situation with some arithmetic and a radio chat. He said "Yes, Southend is nearest but there's no direct train to Cambridge - can we reach Norwich?"   

The Trident story just illustrates the importance of checking that third parties have indeed done what they should have, and recognising when things have changed. Humans are generally good at that. One neat gadget that deserves to be resurrected is the electromechanical final checklist. This is a row of switches labelled "fuel" "flaps" etc which you have to flip upwards before takeoff and downwards before landing, and when they are all in the same orientation you get a green light. It just reminds you to do all the stuff in the handbook, but it doesn't interrupt the fuel flow to the engines, or attempt to take control of the flight surfaces.

Anyway it's a long way from morality. Apologies.

6

Just Chat! / Re: How possible is my theory on God/supernatural belief?

« on: 02/03/2021 22:42:35 »

Until recently most kids were brought up in an environment where, whatever arguments and accidents took place during the day, a Man with a Beard would appear in the evening and dish out comfort, admonition, punishment and wisdom about things beyond their ken. It would be awfully nice if there was an alpha male you could appeal to in later life, so Man invented God. Problem is, He doesn't seem to turn up quite as regularly or deliver justice quite as consistently as your dad did. 

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: What do we do about the orbiting space junk?

« on: 01/03/2021 18:50:02 »

And also because most of the space junk is in orbit around the earth, unlike the classic meteor showers which orbit the sun.

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COVID-19 / Re: What are the conspiracy theorists saying?

« on: 27/02/2021 12:59:34 »

The one thing all conspiracy theorists have in common is ignorance. If they had evidence, they would prosecute.

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Just Chat! / Re: Is there a universal moral standard?

« on: 25/02/2021 16:50:49 »

A civil servant decided to spend a holiday working on a farm. On the first day the farmer decided to give him a simple indoor job.  They went to a barn containing a hundred tons of apples. The farmer said "We need to sort these. The big ones go to market and we crush the small ones for cider and pig food. We sort them by hand to avoid bruising the market apples. Just make two new heaps, please."

At the end of the day the farmer opened the barn and found the civil servant staring intently at an apple in his hand. He said "I picked up two apples and put the larger one on the left and the smaller one on the right. Now would you call this a big apple or a small apple?" 

It's good to meet a fellow civil servant, but not in a crisis.

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Just Chat! / Re: Is there a universal moral standard?

« on: 25/02/2021 12:55:47 »

Apropos the trolley problem, it is clearly invented by a philosopher with no understanding of reality. If you half-switch the points, or switch it when the front wheels have passed, the trolley will derail without hitting anyone.

11

COVID-19 / Re: How to win support for a new 250,000 doses/day vaccine production facility?

« on: 25/02/2021 12:36:42 »

The biggest hurdles to overcome would be sourcing the equipment and obtaining production quality approval, in a short  enough time and with a sufficient prospective market for investors to recoup their stake. As I see it Astra Zeneca  does not have any plant or indeed any significant presence in Scotland and whilst MHRA might look kindly on the project, experience suggests that the profound incompetence of Scottish government regulators would add delay without value, as usual. 

The decision to increase production to any level does not lie with Boris Johnson unless (a) he becomes president or (b) he takes emergency powers to nationalise factories and mandate output. Since his party would disown him in either case, it would not improve his chances of re-election so it won't happen. The decision rests entirely with the Board of OAZ and must be based on their assessment of the future market.

One of the strengths of the OAZ vaccine is its tolerance of storage and transport conditions. This has allowed distributed manufacture between existing plants in Oxford and Keele with a bottling facility in Wrexham, conveniently near an air freight facility at Hawarden and with good road and rail connections . Moving 250,000 doses/day to Scottish cities from Wrexham would be no more difficult than from Inverness, and Hawarden can cope with large intercontinental freighters for export.   
 
So the question is whether setting up a new production facility in Scotland would have any short term (within 6 months from today) benefit to the local population, in which case the absurd government might be persuaded to do something useful; or whether it would show a long-term profit, in which case AZ would be pleased to consider your proposal.

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Just Chat! / Re: Is there a universal moral standard?

« on: 24/02/2021 23:32:05 »

Emergency responders faced real life situations similar to the thought experiment, like in accidents involving mass transportation. They must optimize limited resources to save people who need them, and avoid wasting resources trying to save victims who have no chance to survive due to the type, location, and magnitude of the injuries, even when they were still alive.

It's called triage. Group A will survive if we do nothing, group B will not recover whatever we do, group C will survive if we treat them . So we treat group C. You can refine it in practice by offering cups of tea to A and B, some of whom may then slip into C.

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Just Chat! / Re: Is Bilĺ Gates the problem more then the solution?

« on: 24/02/2021 19:44:33 »

Corbett: Not a good idea to open with a lie. It kind of stimulates the listener to question the motives and qualifications of the speakers, which are not stated. Everything from there on seems to be biased speculation. Self-reference does not add credibility to an argument, as I said in my paper of 1986, which I quoted in my address of 1997.

Charles: I was going to suggest you get that tattooed on your neck, just in case anyone is tempted to save your life with an injection of anything, ever. Is a tattoo needle sufficiently traditional for you?

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Question of the Week / Re: QotW: 21.02.08 - Would a foetus develop differently in zero gravity?

« on: 22/02/2021 23:22:33 »

Quote from: Wikipedia
In large cities, (Earth's gravity) ranges from 9.7806 in Kuala Lumpur, Mexico City, and Singapore to 9.825 in Oslo and Helsinki.

I didn't notice any differences that could be attributed to changes in gravity.

There was concern that any records set at the Mexico Olympics (1968) for anerobic events would be difficult to break elsewhere, but performance in endurance events would be poorer.
The heaviest rain I have ever known was in Kuala Lumpur but I don't think it had anything to do with g.

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Just Chat! / Re: Jokes!

« on: 22/02/2021 11:11:42 »

I set a trap and caught six crows, four magpies, four jays, three jackdaws and a raven.
Why should I stop?

Because the next thing I catch will be CORVID19

16

Just Chat! / Re: Member type

« on: 22/02/2021 00:10:55 »

No, he has better things to do with his time.

17

The Environment / Re: What would happen if all of humanity vanishes in one second?

« on: 18/02/2021 23:13:20 »

no other primate shares anything like our genetic makeup.

Humans and chimps are about 98% similar genetically, so I find this to be an odd statement.

The remaining 2% took something like 5,000,000 years to evolve and produced at least 6 other hominid branches that have since disappeared.  Whatever causes us to disappear is unlikely to be particularly hospitable to anything like us.

The genetic DNA similarity between pigs and human beings is 98%. Interspecies organ transplant activities between humans and pigs have even taken place, called xenotransplants.

Now there's an intelligent and robust species that is already doing well around Chernobyl, formed the US presidential cabinet from 2017 to 2021, and said he would return.

18

Physiology & Medicine / Re: CT Scanner Operation

« on: 15/02/2021 18:17:23 »

The difference between the head scan and the abdominal scans is like chalk & cheese.

Yes. We spend several years teaching radiographers the difference between an arse and an elbow - but they still get it wrong sometimes.

The abdominal scout scan is more often needed than for a head because the bits inside (to use the technical term) tend to float around between different patients, but the brain is nearly always located in the skull (apart from teenagers, where it is located in the pelvic region). It takes time for the contrast agent to reach wherever it is going and if you are looking for differential flow as a diagnostic, you may need a few scans  to measure it, whereas a brain hemorrhage will be fairly static so you either see it in a single shot or you don't.  I'm pleased they didn't.

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The Environment / Re: What would happen if all of humanity vanishes in one second?

« on: 14/02/2021 13:05:19 »

Worth a look at the exclusion zone around Chernobyl. It had pretty well reverted to primeval forest within 20 years after human evacuation. Deer arrived early, quickly followed by wolves and bears. Przewalski horses are thriving and I suspect feral pigs are having a great time if they haven't been displaced by wild boar. There are now enough mature trees to support an entire avian ecology from sparrows to owls.

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The Environment / Re: What would happen if all of humanity vanishes in one second?

« on: 14/02/2021 00:47:09 »

Not a problem. No other species needs fossil fuels. Indeed half of humanity seems to exist with little or no oil consumption.