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Hi, I used the search function but it looked as if such a Thread didn't exist until yet This is a test Thread. It is for testing Latex [math]f(t) \circ\!\frac{\qquad}{\qquad}\! \bullet \mathcal L \lbrace F(t)\rbrace[/math] Threads for testing are cool [math]\heartsuit[/math] greetings

As a teacher I am somewhat puzzled by the choice of a person to become either an 'outcast' in a class or a person that becomes the target of bullies. I have tried to find something that is different about the bullied but cannot see it. For example, I taught a girl that was bullied by the rest of the class. The class would make comments about her, for example: 'she smells'. However, she was clean. The members of the class that indulged in the bullying were a cross-section from 'good' to 'naughty' students. In another case, a boy was tortured daily by others in the class verbally. I could not see any difference between him and the others. It was not racist beca…

Ok, so there are many things, e.g. Mayan calendar that point to a significant solar event on December 21st, 2012. Some people have freaked out and jumped to the conclusion that the world is going to end or at least human kind is. I hear that the magnetic poles of the Earth will probably shift then, but does that leave major concern for us? Pssst: sources would be nice.

Anyone catch this? I can't say I was surprised, but I was certainly disappointed. Their overall sentiment wasn't too bad. They did point out what a farce carbon offset schemes are, and found a bunch of people who were clueless and misinformed yet cashing in on others' good intentions. However, rather than interviewing any climate scientists they trotted out some "free market" think tank bozo to make their point, and also the guy who started the weather channel. They usually manage to find scientists of higher caliber to make their point, but at the same time they usually aren't arguing against the scientific consensus. The end of the episode featured Penn h…

i got suckered into coming into work today and i happened to be watching MSNBC when i saw an interesting story. i saw a girl that was fighting to legalize prostitution. i didn't catch her selling points but it got me thinking. what if it was legalized? should it be legalized? what would be the benifits/drawbacks? how could it benifit society? 1. it could serve as a therapeutic function. it could possibly serve as an outlet for child molesters, rapists and otherwise lonely people. imagine the potential for decrease in sexual crimes! 2. prostitution is already a major profession. think of the prostitutes that do it for a living because they can't do anything else. i …

I returned to Finland on Friday, but I still can't get over the sheer awesomeness of Iceland. Most of the not-so-local food reminded me of the U.S. as Iceland apparently has everything from KFC, Taco Bell and Burger King to McDonald's and Pizza Hut. I noticed lots of other "yankee brands" too, including GAP stores and Hershey's and Frito-Lay snacks. Also, one thing worth mentioning is the architecture; AFAIK there are no regulations regarding the exterior look of buildings which is the reason some people have built pyramid and barrel-shaped houses. The capital, Reykjavik, was quite pleasing. The buildings weren't too tall (due to possible earthquakes) and it wasn't t…

An expert is warning that there's a link between cell phones and cancer, even though numerous peer reviewed research papers contradict his opinion: http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/07/23/cancer.cell.phones.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories He's basing his concerns on "unpublished data." I consider this irresponsible, and wonder why the moniker "expert" would ever be applied to individuals of this nature.

Since I'm planning on going back to school fairly soon, I was wondering, what are the basic requirements for gaining an anthropology degree? Like basic general education courses and such.

As a science-related forum, I thought this would be a relevant post. As a Richmond, VA local, I just found out about this new patent-pending material that’s supposed to be the better alternative to silicone. It’s called Ceramber, and basically, it’s sturdier and collapsible and won’t break if you drop it. They used it to make bakeware called a Foldtuk – kinda cool!

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

I found this while looking for other things. Does the idea of Global Warming worry you? Would these ads change your mind? http://www.abc.net.au/tv/gruentransfer/thepitch.htm Previous efforts are here. I like the one about invading New Zealand.

This is probably quite an odd topic, but I was wondering if any of you have any utterly useless information stored away in your memory banks, where you can't fathom why you remember it, e.g an advert, or song lyrics or anything at all, where you can't pin down why on earth you have that information stashed away...but you can remember that information implicitly. I'll give you an example, and I promise you I havn't looked this up... For some reason, and I didn't even like the advert, or find the jingle particulary catchy, but I know all the lyrics for the Alphabites ad, that was out in the 80's... A is for Alpha, B is for bites, C for yourself, 'cause they taste ju…

This is a question mainly for the physicists here... do you feel that laymen's perceptions of physics are overwhelmingly shaped by personality cults? There's three I'm thinking of in particular: Einstein, the granddaddy of Physics personality cults, but more recently there's Brian Greene and Lee Smolin. Brian Greene evangelizes string theory to interested laymen, and Smolin, well, generally evangelizes the idea that string theory is "not even wrong." (actually that's Woit, but who's counting...) Most of what I know about physics comes directly out of these three individuals and their work towards evangelizing physics to laymen, but at the same time this brings wi…

It's that time of the year again! They're the same basic format as the last two years (just a little later again!), with nominations (this thread) for all the awards and then threads for the final votes. Please read the below carefully, and re-read your post before posting it. In this thread, you are allowed to nominate one member for each of the following six categories: Most Helpful Member: who gives the best answers in the nicest way? Most Knowledgeable Member: who displays the most consistent knowledge in any (or many) fields? Most Interesting Member: who's posts are a must read for their diverse content? Best Debater: the member who you think us…

some (or none) of you may have been wondering where i've been well here's some photos

I just traced my mathematical genealogy. That is I looked up my PhD supervisors' supervisor and so on... This can be done using the Mathematics genealogy Project. It turns out that I am a direct descendant of Carl Gauss (9th generation). Of course it posed the question if just about all mathematicians are "related" to Gauss. Those who are not, are probably "related" to Euler. Anyway, it was something I did not realise.

Many times I have used the flip of a coin to end an argument, and in respect how fair in chance really is such events. Say you wanted to make some random engine that would generate some outcome entirely of chance? With the lottery I do not think its hard to see the pattern, as I think most of its probability is based primarily on population density really of say each ticket. Plus its related to say such a thing staying alive, obviously as if each ticket out of two purchased was worth say 100,000 dollars greenback the system would fail. So probability is controlled really. So back to my coin flip, that is more or less somewhat different physical phenomena related to probab…

Hello. I spent the last year of my life testing the Gran Turismo/Polyphony Digital physics engine. The game in which the testing began was Gran Turismo HD. This was the first online version of Gran Turismo and was used as a test game so they could improve their physics engine using players, input and intellectual property. I was the highest ranked player at this game because I have a lot of practical ability with physics, and the steering wheel, which is used for these games. From the beginning I was creating circumstances their physics engine couldn’t account for and my reactions were too fast for their code to keep up with. They realised this and that’s how this testing…

Assuming we don't blow ourselves up first, how long do you think it will take for our civilization to reach a Type I, Type II, or Type III civilization (on the Kardashev Scale)? What type of technological capabilities would you expect such a civ to have, or have solved? What type of issues/problems do you think these civs will run into (anything ranging from technical to political ones...)? And, how do you think we will get our civilization to those milestones? This is intended to be a very open-ended discussion, so don't worry about details. I just want to hear your honest opinions.

what's the best thing that you like about your country?

Just wondering, which are your favorite sources for science news? I've been reading New Scientist, but they are getting a bit disappointing what with being oversimplified and having subscription-only articles.

When will we have the technology to alter our faces in ways modern day cosmetic surgery cant? The technology in question would likely be (but does not have to be) nanobots that can "break down" the face (flesh and bone) and re-build it atom by atom exactly how the person wants. Although if you can think of other alternatives (that could come sooner) thats fine too.

Hi, I read this sentence but don't understand the meaning of the word "lineup", do you know what is it ? "Olympus stereo zoom microscopes: higher performance in a wider lineup"

iam studying for LSAT exam . iam planning to sit for the exam this year . Does anyone know how good is lsatpass.com study materials for preparing for LSAT . iam leaning towards buying it off . plz let me know asap

Physical pain, not emotional.