The Lounge

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Have you ever thought about going to a recently discovered M-class planet? If you were to lead such a mission, what would be your concerns, considerations, objectives and reservations? What protocol would you put in place - - on approach - on establishing orbit - on landing - on first encounter with a local life-form ?

Something that came up in the cryptocurrency thread reminded me of this bit of trivia: In the days of the old west, people used the US dollar and the Spanish 8 Reale coin (they were "pieces of 8") interchangeably because they were basically the same size and made of silver, and that worked because the value was based on the amount of precious metal. They used to chop up the coins when lower denominations weren't readily available. In deference to the Spanish (presumably), it was into 8 bits (1 Reale each) so 25 cents was two bits. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_dollar (This makes clear that the Spanish dollar was used by a lot of folks, much like t…

I recall back in the early 2010s society lost interest in space and sci fi. https://gizmodo.com/why-we-need-more-space-adventures-5837047 https://ricochet.com/226027/archives/the-death-of-the-space-opera/ I was just a young idealistic college student back then and most students seemed more interested in reality shows, materialism, and partying. I look back and find it appalling how vapid it was. Why did we lose interest in space? Why did society felt they had to choose between popularity and intelligence? Why did society stopped being encouraged to push themselves intellectually? Why not be …

Bandits, thieves and criminals run the world. Good people that actually do good are killed off or they're experimented on without their consent or knowledge and the establishment inject fear for noble cause corruption, so why bother with life at all? You are a slave to both money and god and the only people that have true freedom are people in the middle east who can have cake and eat it too and rich white men and women. Men are definitely expendable and the only reason why they are being nice to you because they want your genetic material or your brain. I don't like playing this game of life - i didn't ask to be part of this and I definitely didn't construct this s…

With US having lots of problems with student debt and such, do you think the free model of higher education like in Europe should be implemented/

I struggle to get a thought written into a sentence, before I divert myself with endless tangent's. Is this a recognised disorder? Is there a technique I can employ?

Any history/military enthusiasts out there except me?

Were the slaves from Africa centuries ago bought from their tribes, voluntary emigrated or abducted ? All the above, none, or how did it work ? Conquerors just disembarked as planned business and captured whoever found fit and force taken to Americas/elsewhere ? Were violent conflicts capturing them ?

The first that comes to mind is science generally, and large scientific endeavours specifically, despite political differences:eg: The ISS and of recent times the general distribution of covid 19 vaccines around the world. In recognising that, another aspect imo is sport in general. At present I am completely enthralled and stuck to the TV watching the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. While there has at times been certain "over the top" rivalry, one incident being the water polo stoush between the USA and USSR at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic games...The Southern hemisphere's first Olympic games, [I was 11 years old] I particularly remember it because of Australia's complete domina…

Just found a list.... 1 What is the universe made of? ... 2 How did life begin? ... 3 Are we alone in the universe? ... 4 What makes us human? ... 5 What is consciousness? ... 6 Why do we dream.. 7 Why is there stuff? ... 8 Are there other universes? My attempts to answer them. [1] The elements, [Baryonic matter] Dark matter, dark energy, space and time. [DM and DE are place mats for we don't know and make up around 95% of what is there] [2] There is really only one scientific answer to that....Abiogenesis, although we do lack the detail. [3]Most probably not, although as yet we do not have any validat…

Does anyone have any experience in the failure modes and comparisons with the offered lifetime and real world time to failure of the replacement bulbs ? Since the introduction of LED replacement bayonet and screw fitting bulbs I have seen several fail prematurely. I have also noticed they run hotter than I expected, though not as hot as incandescent. I think I might start to dissamble any more that fail to find out what why they failed. Coupled with the hotter running I have noticed three that have started to flicker before failing, suggesting that it is not the LED that fials, but the driving electronics. Comments and experiences of others…

Dad had a toy on his '59 car dashboard, it was engine-vacuum operated. The nearest found today is called push puppet buy it had some bladder in the base instead of a spring; suction by a tiny hose to engine intake collapsed it, likely made in Germany. Are those still being made that you know of ? Just nostalgic... Similar :

Hello. Has there been any ruling, trend, disposition to swap the order of given name and family name recently ? Like since 1-2 years ago ? Is that for spoken or written, official documents ?

Will we make it to mars by the year 2010, as president Bush has suggested?

You know how something you think, hear, read, notice, smell or taste can conjure up a picture in your mind? it happens all the time and it's nearly always a fleeting, trivial image that you forget right away. But once in a while, something triggers a really powerful response. You get a clear, bright, significant picture that's worth storing in long-term memory. That you either want to look at, again and again, like a photo album, or else that pops up, uninvited, in association with new input. Some of these graphic images are horrific, but you can't turn them off. Some, on the other hand, are pleasant, useful or amusing. Like Doctor Who's wibbly wobbly timey wimey th…

I thought so at the beginning, when so many businesses had to shut down; travel and tourism all but ceased; borders were closed and people stayed at home to work, study and be entertained. And yet, when I did go out once a week to buy necessities, everything looked the same: same goods, including imported ones, on the shelves; same advertising on TV, only with extra emphasis on home delivery. But it seems, something has changed. "Nobody wants to work anymore." Especially in service jobs. But maybe not so much in offices, either. What's going on? Why have people suddenly discovered the exploitation everybody's known about - and lampooned in movies, …

I bought a cable with a preposition 65 notice for lead and lead compounds. This notice isn't found for many other cables but I realize it can be excluded from packaging in areas where not required. Is it that most cords/cables still contain lead but don't have notices, or most today don't have lead?

Got a new terms email from amazon, and I read the terms but came across this: RISK OF LOSS All purchases of physical items from Amazon are made pursuant to a shipment contract. This means that the risk of loss and title for such items pass to you upon our delivery to the carrier. Given that the law, on both sides of the pond it seems, say that the contract and responsibilty lies with Amazon and their delivery partners until delivered, does it look like they are imposing terms that contravene applicable US and UK/EU consumer protection laws?

Physicsts known to the general public are rare. Newton, Einstein and Hawking would be known to everyone and then after that, at a lower level, you got Feynman, who would probably not be known to everyone, but a lot of people with some interest in intellectual topics would know his name. I'm sure there are a lot of physicists with great achievements whom no one in the general public has heard of. You'd probably be hard pressed to find a person who's heard of Ed Witten and I'm sure there are great physicists yet more anonymous. Now, supposing Feynman had never written any popular science, how well known do you think he would be? He appeared in a lot of televi…

You'd think you'd heard the last word on ignorance gone beyond the pale (for beings claiming to be rational primates.) https://www.audubon.org/news/are-birds-actually-government-issued-drones-so-says-new-conspiracy-theory-making No rabbitholes barred! What's next?

I am in need of a gravitational modeling tool, one that allows the entry of position and velocity, also 3 dimensional... I had written one using directx, but no longer have ready access to those tools as I am on the water most of the time, so a phone app is most suitable. Any suggestions?

So my post that is researched and has sources and logical arguments gets downvoted? What's up with that?