The Lounge

I need some help. My daughter's school has a 5K Fun Run race as a fundraiser every year, and we wanted to put some interesting facts in the school newsletter about how much 5 kilometers really is. I'm looking for things along the line of, "5 kilometers is roughly 50 football fields", or "running 5 kilometers is like running more than half the height of the tallest mountain in the world". If you have anything you think may be intriguing or interesting to elementary school kids about 5 kilometers, please post it here.

Since politics (except in France) do not like "foie gras" (fatty leather) creation, by over-feeding birds (this stores fat in their leather) does anyone know how to transform normal leather (cheaper to buy) into this..?

this is a truly hypothetical situation but just to see the results in putting up the unofficial race for unofficial SFN president. if you want to join i guess just P.M. a moderator

What's the deal with YouTube's new "turn down the lights" feature? There's a lightbulb icon above the videos and if you click it, the screen darkens around the video viewer.

Does anyone on here live in the California/nevada area. I'm coming over from England to work as a stage manager/technician in South Tahoe NV. It's only a five day event, afterwards I plan to hire a car and go on a mini adventure across the wild-wild-west. Money is tight, thus does anyone have a spare couch suitable for a weary traveller to sleep on? Would love to actually speak face to face with people on this site, as opposed to reading/posting. I've been a fan of SFN for years and log on everyday. Thanks in advance Tom

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/02/singularity-uni.html Scientists at NASA and Google have come together to create Singularity University, a nine-week seminar on technological singularity, i.e. a fancy word for when robots take over the world, or something. Personally I'm all for this!

according to North Dakota's House of Representatives: Thoughts?

I'm going to a state university so its $6900 a year. I got a $2500 scholarship. Now with the new stimulus package, they extended the hope scholarship to include people with income of $160,000 or less and they bumped it up to $2500 for two years. So thats $6900-$5000= $1900 plus a $200 tax credit from NY state= $1700 to go to a great university. Just like that, Obama saved my family $10,000 because my sister is in college too. My family is actually making money off of this because with all my sisters scholarships she only pays $500 a year but she still will get the 2.5k which we can use to pay my $1700. So we gain $300 a year for going to college. There is another stat…

it's been stupid-cold here the last few days. yesterday the windchill temperature was -27°C (246K). today it's a balmy -16°C! the snow is so deep that they're picking it up with backhoes, filling up trucks and dumping it outside town to prepare for the next snowfall.

Not sure if any of you have seen this, but for any questions that prompt a 'for goodness sake, Google it', here's the solution for anyone who raises such a question... For example... Hey everyone, so what is dark matter ? http://letmegooglethatforyou.com/?q=what+is+dark+matter+%3F I hope a wiki version will be available soon.

Was watching that story on Michael Phelps and his bong incident and I just about tossed my cookies listening to that formulaic apology to a public that he doesn't even owe won to. Granted, perhaps it was all self motivated for self interest to limit the damage to his commericial appeal - his wallet. Fine, but I get the feeling anymore that we're forcing our role model expectations onto people without their consent. I'm not even concerned with the auto-presumption of guilt associated with using a legally sold product with a legal prescription of use. I would just like to see one of our "Role Models" apologize for an out-of-touch traditionalized public that has…

When the attack comes, what will you do to make sure you don't become one of THEM?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1142564/Pre-historic-Viagra-Siberian-mammoth-DNA-boost-sex-life-let-live-longer.html This sounds like a movie plot: extinct bacteria found in ancient ice has massive life extending and enhancing characteristics to lab mice. Oh, and it improves sexual activity or something but that is hardly mentioned in the article. When they make claims like: ...are they sensationalizing some edge cases or saying the results are really this big? If this ends up impacting medical science, it just goes to show how scientific research in one area can have profound unexpected results.

The title speaks for itself. So please share your favourite stand-up comedian / comedienne, and a few words (if you like) why they're your particular favourite. If available (which is an almost guarantee with youtube), share some clips. My all time favourite, is possibly the late Bill Hicks, mainly for his tenacity and opinions which define his act. I'm also a massive fan of Bill Bailey (being a musician myself) I love the amalgamation of music and comedy, as well as his style. However, my current favourite (probably more suitable to a British audience) is Michael McIntyre, who's delivery is amazing IMO, and for me, has rebranded observational comedy, and d…

"Wait 'till I have finished my problem!" -- Archimedes of Syracuse (298-212 B.C.) The ladies have to go first. . . . Get in the lifeboat, to please me. . . . Good-bye, dearie. I'll see you later." -- John Jacob Astor, IV (1864-1912) You s.ns of bitches. Give my love to Mother." -- Francis "Two Gun" Crowley (1900-1931 "Shakespeare, I come." -- Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945) "Tomorrow, I shall no longer be here." -- Nostradamus (Michel de Notre Dame) (1503-1566) http://www.ingilizce-ders.com/ingilizce-ders/quotations-ozdeyisler/last-words.htm

meet one special couple and their bundle of joy: http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/02/14/boy.baby.dad.england/index.html?eref=edition What do you think? Plausible?

also , 2009 K1 grand prix yokohama The participating fighters Remy Bonjasky Badr Hari Semmy Schilt Peter Aerts Ewerton Teixeira Ruslan Karaev Gokhan Saki Melvin Manhoef Date : Saturday 28 March 2009 what do you think?

I wonder (star and planet names ) The Sun The Moon but Mercury(not the Mercury) Venus (not the Venus) but why?I didn`t understand

Hi folks! I've been perusing your forum and see that I'm out of my league. I watch documentaries (which I'm sure you guys could dissect in 2 seconds) and like to think of myself as scientifically informed, but I feel a little small reading some things here...You guys are DEEP... So I was wondering if some person(s) here could put stuff in layman's terms over at my political forum...Obviously, we're political with a dab of science, and you guys are science with a dab of politics... I was thinking you could throw some interesting ideas on our forum (We have a science thread) and include your forum here in your signature, and that should get some of my members ba…

As I understand although I may well be wrong. About +2% flation is good. Inflation (>0%) Things you buy become more expensive over time. Your income becomes greater over time. The rich they don't stay rich for long unless they earn money. Deflation (<0%) Things you buy become cheaper over time. Your income also decreases over time. For money you emediatly spend this is the same as when in inflation but any money you save buys you more stuff. People irrationally become anoyed that they are getting payed less over time and jobs are lost when this is maneged badly. Problem The problem with deflation is that if other countries are inflating while…

I'm curious about what people involved in science believe regarding God. Do you believe in God? Use any common definition you like.

I'm curious about what people involved in science believe regarding Thor. Do you believe in Thor? Use any common defintion you like. No, I'm not talking about, "Yes, as a literary character," nor as "Sure, as a mythological figure in Norse culture." No, I'm asking "do you believe in Thor?" Why do we completely short-circuit our normal reasoning abilities and logic when the word "god" comes up? I'd be willing to wager my right testicle that the vast majority of you right now find this thread silly, yet it's SO very similar to the thread "do you believe in god?" What the hell is supposed to be the difference? I'm genuinely curious.

PBS is re-running the Nova episode on Intelligent Design next week, so I just thought I'd mention it here. Exact timing for American viewers depends on local listings. The entire two-hour episode is available for viewing online anyway, but if you'd like me and prefer watching on TV, you can check it out. We talked about it here at SFN before, if memory serves, and I think the general consensus was that it was one of the best programs on the ID debate and the Dover trial specifically. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/id/program.html

Ok, another ventilation post to make myself feel better about not fitting in the human race. There's really no reason to read this post. As much as I argue for free market capitalism, it has always been a bittersweet dilemma as capitalists have ruined the arts in America. Watching the grammys last night, I've never seen a room full of more pretentious children in my life. From what I could tell there were but a handfull of adults there to look after them. The funniest are always the rappers. Oversized hats and glasses, chunks of gold dangling from a chain, preference for gold teeth over natural ones, and incessant rambling on and on about how bad ass the…

which language do you think is the hardest to learn?