The Lounge

So its getting to be that time of year again were many SFN'ers are going back to school. So what are your guy's schedules, or if you are teaching what are you teaching? My schedule is: -ENGLISH 125: College Writing (4 Credit Hours): This is just the standard required freshman writing course. According to what I have heard the focus of this course is on learning and refining the revising process. To do this my section will look at material, both fiction and non-fiction, pertaining to mental illness. -MATH 295: Honors Mathematics I (4 Credit Hours): This is the beginning of the advanced calculus sequence. This course focuses heavily on the theory rather than the a…

So i was walking to midnight snack the other day, and i happend to look up at a brilliant full moon. I wondered to myself, just how much energy the moon is giving off to illuminate the world around me by exciting the individual atoms within each structure to give off the frequencies of light that i precieve. Then my mind traveled to the amount of energy it even takes to excite an atom enough to give off light and the amount of energy within the light to travel distance. So just how much energy is required for that?

I like black sand in my aquariums, it is not only expensive but it has about 1/2 the volume by weight than white sand. the black sand cannot contain metals because it's safe to use with marine invertebrates which are very sensitive to metal poisoning. White sand is primarily SiO2, what is black sand made of? I may have found the answer to this.... Slica sand "SiO2" specific gravity 1.6 Ilmenite Sand "TiO2, Fe2O3, Cr2O3, MnO" specific gravity 4.6 Works for me....

I am in operation of a number predicting competition and need the "time stamp" to prove numbers were not altered several of the competitors have shown an uncanny ability to predict numbers with extraordinary accuracy. I Imagine as science buffs the majority of you would shrug off such as nonsense and coincidence and nothing extraordinary Where as I personally believe there is more about the human mind and body we don't understand than there is that we know. So please allow me to see if these competitors can consistently anticipate a mechanical (or true) RNG thank you. 30 26 14 17 19 24 3 2 4 15 30 18 23 28 34 1 33 25 16 22 28 35 15 25 3 1 31 17 26 33 5 15 15 15 4 3 30 10…

I'm not sure if there is such a thing, I'm looking for internet radio that is all constant science news 24/7. Likely via the internet. I'm not sure how many of you watch NASAtv http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/in… ..or even Chris Pirillo's channel but I'm looking for something like that for ALL of science though, not just space or tech. I don't care if it is video or audio either! I have a few podcasts already, this is not what I am looking for. I want science RADIO!! Anyone know of anything close to this?

Jack Horkheimer, PBS's "The Star Gazer", passed away on Friday at the age of 72. Horkheimer was director of Miami's Space Transit Planetarium, and hosted his unique astronomy program every week for the past 31 years. The show featured current events in the sky for amateur astronomers, and was seen on PBS affiliates around the country. Any South Florida native will tell you that the planetarium is a staple of growing up here, and he no doubt inspired many children to pursue careers in all branches of science. His passing is an opportunity to recognize the tireless work of countless planetariums around the world and their undeniable influence on generation after ge…

Hi, I was thinking, could it be that existence is consciousness or at least conscious.... This would possibly explain how we ourselves as conscious beings are able to view and experience the world. As perhaps consciousness can only see and interact with consciousness itself, whereby we cannot see atoms, for arguments sake, not because they are too small but because they are not conscious. However, their system or the 'matrix of matter' as i've heard it called is conscious, therefore they can be observed. Now you might say, well, when we get down small enough to the microscopic level, atoms and their constituents can be observed. But, perhaps, we are just observin…

This Saturday August 21 is the third annual "Go Topless Day"! Will you participate? http://www.thefrisky.com/post/246-will-you-take-it-all-off-on-topless-saturday/

This may be a weird topic, but I really wanted to start this discussion as I haven't seen many about it. First, I'd like you to see my dog (Rony): He is simply one of the cutest pets I've ever seen, as he acts friendly and shows some respect to his owners, he loves to be cared of and all that fawning we usually deliver to the dogs. In spite of being very friendly, we always observed he's extremely strong. He is VERY jealous. It was worse before he got 3 years old. When he came to us, he used to destroy anything that we had taken care of in front of him. Specially plants. Only those ones we had taken care of when he was looking at us. So, by the time …

Interesting story in the New York Times today looking at the auto industry's renewed shift to 4-cylinder engines. According to JD Power data cited in the article, 47% of all new cars sold in the US thus far in 2010 have 4-cylinder engines. This is up from just 30% in 2005 -- a very dramatic trend. Only 16% of new cars sold this year have had 8-cylinder engines in them. Some of this has to do with the "new normal" of gasoline -- stabilized at 2-3 bucks a gallon instead of the dollar or so many families were looking at when they made their previous car choices. But it matches a downward trend in SUV sizes (focus on "crossover" style rather than full-size) and an inc…

Terrible incident not involving Glen Beck.... http://www.theonion.com/video/victim-in-fatal-car-accident-tragically-not-glenn,14380/

I received a prescription for a drug to help with my lower back pain. The pain has since gone away but I have a lot of the drug left. The drug makes me more alert like an amphetamine, makes me feel good, is non-addicting, and costs me next to nothing. I like it. Is there any good reason I shouldn't keep taking it for recreational purposes? Is it any different than drinking coffee or scotch?

Mostly for the Brits on this forum: Has anyone received a letter from an organisation called SPUC? (Society for the protection of unborn children.) I have, and found it utterly abhorrent. I have attached a copy of the letter and my response to it below. If you have received such a letter and are a disgusted as I was, please let me know. I'm writing to the charity itself ad the Information commissioners office to get something done about this. Thanks Dear John Smeaton / SPUC Thank you for you letter Ref: PR46C / P 40773 / SARs3. Firstly I would like to know exactly how you obtained my name and address, without my consent or knowledge, moreover, with…

Just curious if any of you play. Thought maybe we could create teams or something.

I am currently working on a research project looking at perception of science and environmental issues. Could you please help me and take part in a short survey (15 minutes). Participation involves reading through two texts and then giving beliefs, attitudes, opinions or feelings about the issues raised. Here is a link to the survey: http://psy.ex.ac.uk/~pb255/rotate5 There are no trick questions and no right or wrong responses. Participation is voluntary, and anonymous. Results are only for research purposes. There are no anticipated risks or ethical issues. There will be a prize draw of 5 x £20 (US$30) Amazon Vouchers at the end of the questionnai…

there is an on-going project now here in the philippines and it involves the building of the first world class science museum in the phil. its expected to open in 2011 and i have to say that i'm really happy that us filipinos will get the opportunity to well, expand our minds. i've been dreaming of this since i was a kid.oh and the museum will call the mind museum.

a quote from www.skepdic.com, a site I recently starting using Just wanted to get everyones opinion on scientology, is it a religion worth getting into?

At first glance, the pyramids of Giza seem like a spectacular waste of resources. Decades passed, the wealth of a mighty empire, perhaps hundreds of millions of man hours of back breaking labor, and all the ingenuity and education the world then had to offer, all for some tombstones. But then again, they're still there, 5000 years later, still the most massive buildings in the world, attracting throngs of tourists and reminding the entire world of the might of the pharaohs. Everybody knows about the ancient Egyptians. Relatively how many know or care about, say, the Phoenicians? Obviously they weren't worth it within the lifetimes of those who built it. But for th…

Well I am not sure how serious that is to be taken, however it was published in a peer reviewed journal (low impact, but still). Influenza or not influenza: Analysis of a case of high fever that happened 2000 years ago in Biblical time Kam LE Hon email, Pak C Ng email and Ting F Leung email Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China Virology Journal

Who is this fiery red-head? Doctor Who's companion of course! She's Karen Gillan, actress on the BBC sci-fi TV show Doctor Who. For more information about this smart, talented, and gorgeous girl from Scotland, take a peek at her official web site or her interactive facebook page. The next Doctor Who episode will air in the UK on Christmas day. I hope you're all having a wonderful evening! Love, One of those Doctor Who Nuts, Among Many

Once born a child doesn't know death, and once someone by definition "dies", the child wouldn't notice this process as death, but rather 'a part of life' - an event that happens during life. Once given education that child will be told about death, or even taught the definition by his/her parents. Does "death" really exist, or only in language? If so, when one by definition "dies" that person really just "lived" and possibly could "live on"? We're all born knowing life, so the definition of "life" isn't required, as once you're born, you sense it -- and know life. You never know death, until you die. So death is only a figment of 'word' and is not relative to pre-educated…

Hey! I'm generally interested in learning science. Especially chemistry and astrology. Does anyone on this site have any books or places where I can learn the basics of each. I didn't gain much experience from school as I focused more on english & maths -- Thanks in advance.

Hi there! I want to do the 40 hour famine this year (for the first time, shamely). Do you need a credit card to do it? How does fasting help the people in need? Where does this money come from? Is it your money? Anybody else doing it?

The concept may not be controversial, but my question may be. Who do you consider the - BEST - and the - WORST - example of Scientist that you are aware of? The answer may be from personal experience, scientific achievements/history, or today's headlines. That does not matter. Give a bit of background (e.g., personal and circumstance, or scientific achievements/historical) and why this is an example of the best Scientist or the opposite. If you had to follow that individual, would you? Or not? and why? Let us discuss, but everyone has a right to input, so let's make sure we respect that right and be nice.

This summer I participated in the STEM program at Penn State Greater Allegheny. Basically we took 5 college classes (2 were credited) and went on field trips to business that relied on engineers. It was my first real taste of doing any engineering, and it was a blast. In our engineering and design class we had two weeks to design a smart home so the elderly could live in them for as long as possible. Our professor owned a company that actually did this, so we had some good leads. I was on the energy group, our job was to research how to power the house with green energy. This ranged from Geothermal heat pumps to using energy efficient toasters. Just thought I'd post …