The Lounge

Hi folks, I have been getting the feeling that either I'm getting dumber, or that wikipedia articles in general are getting more dense and impenetrable to the average reader. This appears to be happening at an increasing rate over the last year. I've had the experience several times of having to cross refer to a dozen other pages to even determine if the page I'm looking at is actually relevant to what I wanted to know. I realize that technical subjects often require specialized terminologies. I've returned to entries that were perfectly clear 12 months ago, to find out that the essential facts are buried in the voluminous recantings of a derivation from first princi…

Hosted by Damon Talley of NASA's Digital Learning Network, the webcast takes you behind the scenes at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and includes an interview with Flow Director Ken Tenbusch, who oversees the critical work to prepare shuttle Endeavour for flight. Enjoy!

Hi, I recently completed and submitted my thesis and I have been thinking about seeing about getting it published. I have never even attempted anything like this and I was wondering how to go about it and what I could do to increase my chances? Thanks, Erin

Author Michael Crichton died Tuesday due to cancer. http://edition.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/11/05/obit.crichton/index.html?iref=mpstoryview Crichton was a mixed bag for science fans. Clearly he motivated and moved many people toward a greater appreciation for science and scientific principles. I'm sure there are many scientists today who were inspired by such novels as The Andromeda Strain or Jurassic Park, which have attained a certain degree of "classic" status. But he also drew criticism from many in science, in particular for his recent criticisms of global warming science, but also for his use of dramatization in his works. I always felt that his l…

Not entirely sure how well a thread like this is to be received on a science site, but here goes nothing... It's winter time again and I absolutely love burning wood in my fireplace. Starting it, tending it, everything, I don't know why but I really enjoy a warm fire like that, and I don't mind the cleanup at all. But fireplaces are horribly inefficient, like 10% of the heat generated is utilized, while the rest goes up in smoke. I've read about airtight fireplaces, inserts, increasing the efficiency to 40%. But nothing touches the efficiency of an airtight wood stove achieving up to 55% efficiency - again, from what I've read. Anyway, I'd like to get som…

Comcast just stopped providing access to a newsgroup server. Does anyone know of a newsgroups server that can be used by the general public? Thanks.

Damn, I hate people. Or, maybe I’m just getting old and cranky. I’ve always been a proud capitalist and strong advocate for profiteering and blah blah blah, but I just cannot stand our materialist, selfish youthful culture. Went to the mall the other day with my family so my youngest could shop and overpay for stuff he could find in Wal-mart. It’s been a while since I’ve been to the mall, and for precisely this reason: I want to shoot them all. Every one of them under the age of, well, 30. Any female in her teens couldn’t say anything without enunciating it like a question and prefixed with “like” or “oh-my-god”. They cover up perfectly youthful, sm…

I have been out of work on a medical. I tore my rotator cuff at work. Workmans comp has been denied, I am trying to fight them. I had to move in with my mother who is on a fixed income of $1296 SSI. While recoving from my rotator cuff I tore the other one on my left arm and now needs surgery. I am a licensed vet tech. Can I apply for adult public assistance, food stamps, etc. while living with my mom. The application asks for all people living in the household. I do not want to mess up what she barely gets already. Please if anyone could let me know how to get help I would really appreciate it. God bless.

"The battalion had come back from Blanc-Mont ridge. No, the battalion was still up there. But anyway, oh hell, let me get this straight. A hundred and thirty-four of us had come back from Blanc-Mont ridge. We had gone up a full-strength battalion, a thousand strong." Sgt. Elton E. Mackin, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines. The attack was Nov. 1, 1918

actually, my questions more specific then that - im currently exploring around what other options are available i dont really have a set i-want-THIS-exact-career/job kind of mentality right now. i just feel like trying to go towards something i find interesting, and fits the kind of person i am, but in a very broad and general fashion. i really hate the corporate life - love nature, love playing around in the mud, looking at weird creatures; basically, i was wondering if the bio field had many opportunities for the following kind of work/jobs (just random examples i made up) : working outside in for example, a national park. research while in the outdoors, going o…

hi guys im new here, currently a sophomore in uni, confused as to what to do - im in a very confusing and frustrating situation right now, and was hoping if anyone could relate - i love art. ive loved art since i could walk - i had my first "for sale" drawing in a downtown art store in elementary school, entered contests, drew a 300 page graphic novel for fun in 5th grade, and since then i have always made it a tradition to start drawing a new comic book every summer break for fun. i draw to relieve stress, for fun, and well... basically i draw a lot. just recently, ive been accepted into the best design school i could ever hope to get into, and i have a couple weeks…

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-368778706819747349&hl=en whats that? I shoot this video today at work, basically i saw this weird white light "dancing" and flying very rapidly all over the screen for a few minutes, i videotaped it for a few seconds then run over to the location to see whatever was going on there, needless to say that i haven't saw anything bizarre at the location, when i was back the light was gone.

The STS-126 astronauts flew into NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida on October 26 for their scheduled countdown rehearsal. The seven-member crew spent three days in exercises officially known as the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test. :-)Enjoy

The Space Shuttle Minute is NASA's wrap-up of activities surrounding Space Shuttle processing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. :-)Enjoy

ok I have an essay due in a few days and it is supposed to be on important 20th or 21st century ideas in science that changed the way that you think/act. So my question is, what do you think was the most important 20/21 century idea in any area of science. Thanks a lot

Hi 2 All, I am looking information about UK immigration. Please guide me where from I can collect proper information about UK immigration and UK higher studies. I have found one website i.e. UK Visa and immigration Guide this website have detail for all about UK immigration process but I am looking best source for UK immigration. Please share your experience

i made few videos of my school function in my mobile and then trasfered them to my computer.I wish to edit them.i also wanted to join few videos. can anyone tell me about any sofware which can do this and how to use that software.

Dave made an interesting comment about considering emigrating from Britain. It got me thinking, if SFNers had to leave their home country where would they go and why? I can't quite make up my mind between Australia and New Zealand. Both have great people and both are beautiful but in utterly different ways. On the whole i think i might go for New Zealand because i love the hot springs and the culture seems more British and less American influenced than Australia (just personal preference, no insult meant to Americans;) ) Anyone else got any interesting ideas?

To wish to locate the writers of Malware, tie them to a table and express your displeasure by inscribing "I will not code malware" 100 times into their flesh with a soldering iron? It feels like there should be something wrong with the idea, but I can't work out what. Bastards.

So the direct effects of the economic crisis hit yesterday, as I was told I was being made redundant. Although I get quite a tidy sum on leaving, my current job is very flexible which is ideal for my degree, plus I'll miss the people I work with. At first I was surprisingly happy, at the prospect of trying something new (providing I can find something else...the economy being what it is) and getting a nice lump sum. However, now it's sunk in, I'm feeling a bit glum, and I'm stuck here for another six months...which is a long time with absolutely no motivation to do anything...bar posting on here. In any case, has anyone else had any direct or non direct problems…

We don't normally talk about fictional movies here, of course, but I thought this one was worth mentioning. The main reason I bring it up is because the DVD features a running "director's commentary" track by Brian Cox, a physicist on the Large Hadron Collider's ATLAS project. Cox served as a scientific consultant on the film, and he gives an entertaining talk about science and space exploration and (not surprisingly) the sun. The film itself includes the usual sort of mishmash of scientific ideas mostly casually tossed aside for dramatic purposes and occasionally embraced for seriousness. But it does stop short of insulting the scientifically-minded viewer with …

I've started a thread over on the Politics board to discuss people's horror stories from this (US) election -- weird/crazy behaviors of friends, family members, coworkers, etc. I keep hearing funny stories from friends and coworkers so I know they're out there. Tell us about it! http://www.scienceforums.net/forum/showthread.php?t=36073 If you can't post there, reply here and I'll move it over (everyone can read the thread).

Would somebody please explain what should be done to post images from my files. I want to put up graphs and diagrams. Thanks everyone, hope you can help.

I like that movie and it's message. the venus project part: 1. Realizing the declaration of the world's resources as being the common heritage of all Earth's people. 2. Transcending the need for the artificial boundaries that separate people. 3. Outgrowing monetary-based, nationalistic economies with a resource-based world economy. 4. Assisting in stabilizing the world's population through education and voluntary birth control. 5. Reclaiming and restoring the natural environment to the best of our ability. 6. Redesigning our cities, transportation systems, agricultural industries and industrial plants so that they are energy efficient, clean, a…

My Dell printer told me it was low on black ink a while back. It gave me a little gauge showing that this was true. Then it told me my color cartridge was low as well (along with an identical gauge). I didn't really believe it, so I decided to test it out. I've printed just over 100 pages since then, and neither the black nor the color has dropped a single pixel. I like the printer and the extra pages since it started urging me to replace the cartridges have been just as consistently well-printed as any others. I will continue to print until I see signs of missing ink. But how many people just trust the manufacturer’s recommendations? How many people would have…