The Lounge

A while back I sent an email to Kenneth Miller just letting him know I enjoyed Finding Darwin's God and how it really helped my relationship with my conservative christian family. He responded the next day with short appreciative message. I knew he's a busy guy and I'm just some bio student at FSU so It was pretty much what I had expected. I smiled and went on with my day. This morning I checked my email and a NY Times reporter who's working on a story about science students and their faith (or lake thereof) had emailed me. She told me Kenneth Miller had given her my contact info during an interview. I'm nerding out like crazy right now Edit: Oh yeah. She…

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/magazine/03trolls-t.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=trolls&st=cse&oref=slogin&oref=slogin Take a special note for their definition of trolls as a "Subculture with fluid morality" ... not sure if that makes me want to laugh really hard, or sob my eyes out...

I am an individual with mental illness. I am diagonsed with schizophrenia. I currently live with my parents and receive SSI benefits for my disability. I've been doing ok, until today, and i have a very debilitating mental condition, and i realized that it would be wise for me to make sure that i'll always have the grace to take time out from life. like i said i receive SSI, and i live with my parents. My mom forbids me to question how my life will be after my parents pass. i dont understand why she forbids me to think about the future, but my parents are old, and i feel its a valid concern to be worried, even if they don't care how i will survive. My par…

http://www.newscientist.com/blog/shortsharpscience/2008/07/rappin-physics.html And people say particle physicists arn't in touch with todays youth....

Alright, there doesn't seem to be a better place to post this sort of question. If there are any other grad students I'd especially appreciate your feedback. I am a grad student at a research university, I'm also the only student in my PI's research group currently. We mostly do theoretical/computer stuff, no wetlab. The problem is I've come in from a more wetlab background and am somewhat inexperienced in the heavier math orientation of this research. This would be all fine and dandy except that the PI is travelling often, and when he is around doesn't seem too interested in giving me one on one instruction or anything but the most general and vague directions ab…

I'm such a coward. On my way home, there was a car on I-64E traveling west. I could have done the right thing. I could have, but I didn't. I could have leaned back into my seat, close my eyes, grit my teeth, and hit the gas. Instead, I was a coward and I swerved out of the way. Instead of eliminating a danger to others I decided to preserve my own well being. I got out of the way just in time and the wrong-way driver got away. What happened after that? I don't know. Did EVERYONE get out of the way? Based on my experience with VA drivers, I'd say no. Two cars at highway speed(and possibly one or both speeding) could have collided and I could have stopped it. …

I've been pondering, are projects like CERN/LHC wastes of money that would be better spent, IMO, on developing new/alternative energy sources? I'm thinking mainly of fusion. If we funneled all the money we now spend on particle accelerators like LHC and whatnot and focused those funds like a laser beam on developing fusion, couldn't we achieve progress faster? I'm not saying those experiments should never be done, and I as well as anyone am waiting for LHC to be turned on (hoping it doesn't blow us up lol ), but given the current energy crisis (and don't get me started, that would be a whole other thread and probably be in that new political forum), wouldn't t…

Very odd, off the wall question: Is kvas (Russian drink made from fermented dark bread) considered alcoholic in the United States, such that an underaged person couldn't consume it? Does anyone know? Apparently it's served in schools in Russia.

Being the bonehead that I am, last week I forgot to bring my glasses case with me, so just threw them in my pocket. Of course the snapped on the bridge. I tried scotch tape (worked for a bit, but wobbly and silly looking) and krazy glue (glue not strong enough to hold the weight at the bridge) and in combination (slightly better but still fragile). Anybody know anything I can do that works, but doesn't make me look like an idiot?

Back when I was at Georgia Tech in the early 1980s, this was the big social game that everyone played. Almost as popular (maybe more so) than chess. Engineers seemed to really take to it. But as video games took off I think this game has become somewhat relegated to the backwaters of retirement homes. None of my video game design students have ever played it; some had never even heard of it. So, just out of curiosity, does anyone here play it?

Are any readers knowledgeable about effect of ethanol in gas on small carburetted engines -- even after non use for a few weeks ? I have a small motor scooter ( 249 cc ) & if such gas is present have great trouble starting it due to EtOH hygroscopicity & gum formation . Small engine dealers ( scooters , boat outboards , generators ,etc ) dont seem to want to admit this problem until it is too late . Is it not a pending disaster for sales of such engines ?

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…