The Lounge

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.

I noticed there's been discussion in this area, and I've just read this passage from my text book. I guess it made me chuckle, because I've always attributed the term 'crackpot', as slang, and not a term I'd expect to see in a text book. More to the point, it summarizes the same requirements we're used to reading, time and time again in response to a new 'theory.' It just seemed very apt, with all the recent discussion I didn't post this to provoke crackpot bashing et.c It just seemed a rather freaky (or not) coincidence that I read this passage, just an hour after reading some of the discussion in speculations.

My wife and I were talking the other day about sarcasm and she made a comment about a roommate she once had who spoke Swedish and explained how crucial the lilting cadence was. We realized that sarcasm in English is normally expressed with exaggerated tones using innocuous words ("No, he *NEVER* gets angry..."). It got us to thinking about how it works in other countries. Is sarcasm expressed the same way in other languages? Especially in languages that often use cadence and emphasis to change the meanings of words? How does your language express sarcasm?

... that you can RSS-subscribe to new posts at SFN? >:eek:

I'm putting off writing a scholarship essay, and this one was something that I've long (as in for the last 30 seconds) wondered about. So, poll ho!

Anybody else checkin' this puppy out? I'm pretty impressed with it so far. One of the things I really liked that I haven't seen much discussion about was a really cool installer feature that imported not only the bookmarks from IE but also the browser history, cookies, passwords, and so forth. Very handy. Seems like they've really raised the bar.

One of the many fantastic inventions from http://www.galonja.co.uk/galonja_shop/catalog.asp?g_s_n=crlshop Although according to most of the descriptions the normal laws of physics need to be suspended for them to work...

I ... have one thing to say about this one: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! AAAAAA!!!

Just wondered if there's a scientific term or maybe convention, that has really niggled anybody, and are sometimes unnecessary, but have been used regardless, because it's more hassle to start rewriting the terminolgy in text books, because they're now widely recognised. I guess demoting Pluto from planet status, is an example when this has been (arguably) rectified. Here's a couple of examples, off the top of my head... The direction of current, which is opposite to electron flow. EMF, electromotive force, which isn't a force. Anybody care to add to the list, and perhaps clear up some misnomers on the way ?

Extinction and the Dread of Insignificance Becker compares three great thinkers Otto Rank, Wilhelm Reich, and Carl Jung to conclude that the three provide us nothing with which to connect their conclusions except that they dissented from Freud. However, there is agreement on the answer to the fundamental question, “What causes evil in human affairs?” This agreement is also the agreement in all of the human sciences; “man wants above all to endure and prosper, to achieve immortality in some way”. Wo/man wants, above all, to reject the knowledge of mortality; s/he does so by seeking to assure immortality in some way. Mortality is connected to our animal nature…

Hi. Some supermarket gymnastics... That $16 per pound fancy 'deli' cheese, or the plain $3 per pound simple Monterey jack ? The $9.99 NY steak or the rump something meat at $ 1.25 per pound... The $0.99 catfish or the fancy $ 8.99 yellowtail... The plain 99cent bread against the same size $3.50 weird-named loaf ? Are we selecting nutritional value or pleasures? What is the nutritional difference among similar foods, is it worth the absurd $ ? Miguel

These guys are apparently getting closer to production with a $40,000 variant that does 0-60 in a still-speedy 5-6 second range and seats 4-5 adults. It probably won't look like the picture, but may still be pretty sexy. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/01/tesla_motors_california_governator_grab/ As the article suggests, that may not mean a lot to Europeans, but to Americans it means a great deal. Our typical home environment for a $40,000 car buyer (the most common car buyer) is a house in the 'burbs with a full-blown garage, so overnight recharge is really no problem, and a 165-mile range is quite acceptable for the daily commute. And we sure like …

Interesting article in Slate today analyzing some numbers generated by comparing movie reviews compiled by Rotten Tomatoes with the box office receipts. http://www.slate.com/id/2194532/ Rotten Tomatoes aggregates reviews of hundreds (sometimes thousands) or reviewers, compiling a cumulative score for the movie. Anything 60% or higher is considered "fresh" and anything below that is "rotten" -- the idea being to help viewers decide if they should go see a movie or not (instead of having to decide based on a single review). But does it work? And are movie critics actually valuable, or are they just film snobs with no connection to the average popcorn buyer…

What national anthem(s) do you find the most melodious and inspiring? My ranking, without extensive review: 1. Czech Republic 2. Hungary 3. United Kingdom 4. Israel 5. Germany I'd have to add Chechnya's to that list too if it was actually an independent country. They have a really good anthem. It almost makes me support Chechen separatism. Let's see if anyone else is as bizarre as I am and actually responds to this.

As anyone who has seen an episode of Firefly can tell you. Firefly is undoubtedly one of the most brilliant television series ever created. How else could a television show which only aired for nine episodes, in the wrong order, aired on Friday night, was prempted by baseball, was given little to no marketing, and was pulled from the air so quickly, managed to draw in such a dedicated fan base that the dvds sales numbered among the highest of all time, a major feature film was produced, and the series is still, to this day, the highest rated television series on tv.com three years after the last episode was aired. There's a reason why the feature film based on the franchi…