The Lounge

Microsoft's WorldWide Telescope launched today. It's downloadable, as opposed to Google Sky's effort to do it entirely in Javascript. Both have their pros and cons, I suppose. I'm just glad to see these companies taking an interest in astronomy. Both of them are the best planetarium apps ever made. http://www.worldwidetelescope.org Here's a link to Google's Sky: http://www.google.com/sky/

Hey guys, miss me much? I'm back after over a month! I have to say, I miss scienceforums.net already. Had to take a break from this and keep up with my studies at school and finish the year. Needless to say, my summer vacation has started, so I'll be around more often, and I'll certainly be posting more too. I have to say, not much has changed on this forum (especially all the global warming related threads going around here...). As always, I will be there to clamp down on pseudoscience and other sorts of nonsense . After this year, I now feel so much more knowledgeable and have so much more confidence in life in general .

What is the best ad you’ve seen, and why did you like them??? I like the Honda ad where they made a domino effect from parts of the car!! Apparently it took around 600 takes to get it right! I also like the Adidas ad when 2 Spanish kids pick teams to play a game of footy!! Class!!!

Long long ago, in the days of Kurt Cobain, the intarwebs were invented by Al Gore... err... Tim Berners-Lee at CERN, that science place where they collide particles and stuff. So it's little surprise that one of the first images to end up on tha intarwebs was this early design of LHC's ATLAS detector: http://info.cern.ch/NextBrowser1.html Yes, unfortunately it's covered with crap, but compare with this rendering of the final version: Pretty cool, eh? Also: YAY NeXT!

I'm posting this in General Discussion instead of Pseudoscience because as far as I can tell it's a hilarious parody of the techniques nutters use to make outrageous claims. If it's not facetious, then this guy is one of the most truly deluded people on earth: http://www.revisionism.nl/Moon/The-Mad-Revisionist.htm Here's a taste:

The seven-member STS-124 crew participated Friday in a launch dress rehearsal at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Part of the three-day terminal countdown demonstration test, the rehearsal called for the astronauts to be fully suited for liftoff as they simulated the final hours of the countdown. They concluded the event by practicing an emergency escape from Launch Pad 39A.

This morning I read an article by Dr. Patrick Frank. http://www.skeptic.com/the_magazine/featured_articles/v14n01_climate_of_belief.html He presents a sceptical argument in relation to global warming. He does not deny global warming as such, but throws real doubts on the reliability and accuracy of the computer models used by such organisations as the IPCC. Before I go any further, let me make this clear. I am not trying to deny anthropogenic global warming. This argument is purely about the reliability and accuracy of climate computer models. Dr. Franks suggests, with considerable evidence to support this, that these models are not to be relied upon. …

Anyone play DotA? a mod in War III =D if so, pm me =D

the whole forum reputation thing is a bad idea imo.

I know my result is correct over 99% possibility! http://www.truthmost.com Therefore, I am Galileo in the 21st century. The calculation of the possibility is simple: 1. There is the result proved over 80-years: galaxy disk brightness decreases exponentially in radial direction. 2. What is the curve on the disk so that the directional derivative of light density in the perpendicular direction to the curve is constant along the curve (i.e., the ratio of star density (light density) on one side of the curve to the one on the other side is constant along the curve)?? 3. The answer is the logarithmatic curves!! 4. Normal-spiral-galaxy arms are logarithmatic curves!! …

... in the Ulyanovsk region of Russia. It's a measure to try to curb the population spiral. This just struck me as interesting. It's a novel idea. The euphemisms they use are rather amusing too. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6990802.stm

Guys , I have lost my hope about progressiving of human civilization . I may be pessimistic . Please tell me more some optimistic or more pessimistic ideas . Here is my thought . Well ... This is confusing for a bit or a byte ! Mass of people are playing video games . Mass of people are watching movies . Mass of poor people of destiny by are working for unfair long hours and hard livings . Mass! and ass of rich people are enjoying with fake tranquilizer lives . Mass of ambitious people are fighting , killing , being killed by weapon and oil . Japan makes mass of robots stealing humans' job . New freaky and exotic gods are borning . God Torrent&God Cybe…

whats the hardest AP course? i've heard chemistry was pretty hard. whats the easiest?

I watched a program that other day that explained how the GPS network operates. and the sat array that we have up there (20+ birds) each has an onboard atomic clock. now since Weight is an issue and Very costly, I`m curious as to how big these clocks are? I have in my head that atomic clocks are like huge fridge/freezers in size, I expect that I`m probably wrong though. also, how much would a "small" atomic clock cost to buy?

Seems to me there’s been a sudden surgency of pro-atheist 'science' books. My question is why? At this time? It's very unusual. I have a theory, but what’s yours?

Horoscopes we'd actually bother to read if they made them science-friendly. I'll start, don't worry about repeating any of the signs. TAURUS - Uncertainty occurs during your morning commute as your stubborn nature forces you to check how fast you're going. You spend the next two days with absolutely no idea where you are. GEMINI - There's travel in your future when you discover that your "potassium-on-a-rope" invention fails in the shower. The chemistry looks good between you and an attractive skin donor. CANCER - You get a little culture today when your colleagues surprise you at lunch with a Bacillus anthracis sandwich. Wrap up any loose en…

The symbiotic relationship between the psychological and physical Written by: Giorgio Martoni On behalf of: The SoloMon One wonders why is there consistencies, and predictability in the perceptual field, with only gradual deviation and slight modification? Why is light in the presence of the sun? Why can’t It be darkness or some other phenomena? One can divide and compare the totality superficially, to come up With a scientific explanation, but when one looks deeper There really is no cause. consciousness could have accepted anything, it is impartial to differences. That is to say fundamentally everything is equal, in the Eyes of consci…

Albert Hofmann, one of the most famous chemists in the world, has died at the age of 102. Hofmann is famous for synthesizing LSD and discovering its entheogenic properties.

Hello All, I am trying to identify a most unusual microscopic object. The object was found in a human skin lesion and seems to be composed of different components, possibly nano. Here is a link to a webpage that displays pictures and videos of the thing: http://www.nanotechdisease.com/DarkShuriken.htm Thanks, Karen from Michigan

I've made 100 films about science... and counting! Here they are presented in the best (and geekiest) way I could think of! http://www.test-tube.org.uk/morestuff/periodic/page.htm By the way, I'm curious to know which element you feel most inclined to click on?

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gf8KKKMVtpIsCKAvX5WDzUm7ALbQD907LSJ05 In fairness, the article is suffused with cautionary reminders that this is just a statistical hint, but you KNOW people are going to go right out and start severely modifying their diets over this. Not to mention the ones who will misread the article and severely modify their diets during pregnancy. Is this data useful to researchers? Maybe. But there's no science in hiring a publicist to light up the fourth estate's fax machines. That's about tenure and notoriety. This actually came from the ROYAL SOCIETY, of all places! Poor Isaac Newton must be rolling in his grave. …

Skeptics are supposed to pay attention to the facts, but just look at how exaggerated this cover art for the new issue of Skeptic Magazine is. "Evangelist" would be a better name for this magazine nowadays. And look at the article list -- four articles about global warming. Apparently there is scarcely else to talk about in the entire world of science but global warming, and about that there can be no... skepticism. So, uh, what's the point of having a magazine about skepticism, then? /boggle http://www.skeptic.com/the_magazine/index.html

I'm trying to flesh out this idea a bit. The situation: I often have to travel back to my home province. Usually this entails taking two dogs, a wife, and a bunch of carpentry tools, so I need to take the truck. I also need transport when I get there, since most of my relatives live in rural areas and there is no public transit available. I know a lot of people who make this kind of trip, either for family or business. My idea: My idea is for a rail ferry. You drive to the rail station in Winnipeg, put the truck on a rail car and sit either in the truck or in a passenger lounge until the train gets to Regina. You can take all your stuff with…

Hello everyone. I was wondering if someone could explain to me why things burn with bright lights? I understand about electrons absorbing photons and jumping to higher states, then emitting them on returning to ground state. So why don't things release the MOST light as they cool? Surely while still in the flame they should mainly be absorbing??

I’m no scientist but I thought this would be a good topic. The only immeasurable thing I can think of would be “now.” Is it an instant? How long is that? Please, try to keep this within the realm of science, faith is off topic.