The Lounge

(I'm going to regret this) Someone asked in another thread (that I am not going to link to, for obvious reasons): Oooh! I thought, maybe it has an interesting origin. Nope. It just developed over time from a phrase meaning "a plausible postulate of a conspiracy" to the modern meaning of "an intellectual construct ... a template imposed upon the world to give the appearance of order to events." So, I am guessing that there is a conspiracy theory about the origin of the term! (If there is, I really don't want to know. I used to find conspiracy theories mildly amusing but now they are just boring and often dangerous.) Some people will inevitably react…

This is a reaaalllllyyyy long shot, but...I am planning to take six months out next year to attempt a thru-hike of the Continental Divide Trail in the US (~3100 miles - no small feat!), subject to me being able to raise the necessary funds for the gear I need, and getting a visa. Just wondering if by odd coincidence there is anyone on here who has done this trail, either the whole thing, or a section of it?

Hey everybody, I've been setting up my various labs lately and thought I should check in here. I really have no clue what I'm doing but eventually my goal is to figure some of this stuff out. Here's a pic of my electronics lab setup so far. I'm going with a HP theme for the most part as it will go with my server room. It's currently been commandeered to fight the corona with colloidal silver production. I would like to upgrade the lab with a HP-IB card in my vintage HP vectra P-233 but I'm still researching that. Anyway nice place here, looking forward to contributing. Stay safe and healthy.

Wonder if anyone here recognizes it. I "made it up" after 50 years of using an off the peg technique (on and off), and wonder whether I have just stumbled into already charted territory So ,to explain ,I just get comfortable ,close my eyes and bring my attention to my breathing. I don't alter my breathing , I just pay attention to it (as we know breathing is involuntary so there is no need to interfere with it on that count) After a short while my attention will slip and my mind goes down its rabbit holes of choice. When I realize this has happened (unless the rabbit hole is of special interest) I restart/repeat the process .....a…

Most of the Canadians of Italian descent I know, don't seem to like Brits. They consider them snobbish and self-serving; I am always having to defend them. I realize the Covid-19 pandemic has brought a lot of good will out in people. It is now not uncommon for a person to say "hello" from across the street, whereas before, they would have bumped into you, on the same sidewalk, without greeting. But this old British vet, Capt. Tom Moore, has really amazed a lot of people. He started out trying to raise 1000 pounds, for the NHS, by his 100th birthday ( 24 days ), by walking laps of his garden. He's mentioned in a single which topped the UK music charts, rec…

Hello everybody! The sarrusophone is a double-reed woodwind with conical metal body developed very shortly after the saxophone and sharing its fingerings. It lived shortly (enough for museums to have a few pieces) except for the C contrabass which was preferred in France to the contrabassoon for being louder. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarrusophone A few (well over 100) copies still exist, and at least Benedikt Eppelsheim and Orsi produce them on request. Enough for musicians to blow in the horn with varied results. I've just heard one soprano nicely played, prompting me to share it: soprano alto tenor The record begins at 1min10. The sopranino, baritone, bass,…

With my colleague Emperor Sakkeus I, we have named number 3^DD, based on extensive research and careful consideration It's called Miisa. This thread is for publishing names for large numbers so feel free to publish yours here.

Hello everybody! The contrabassoon is the usual contrabass in the woodwind section of a symphonic orchestra. Alas, it's not very loud, and most often a single one shall make the contrabass line for all woodwinds. The contrabass sarrusophone replaced it in the 19th century, mostly in France, but has disappeared. Other attempts were less known. And the excellent contrabass clarinet has a completely different sound. But presently, a loud alternative exists: the contraforte, by Guntram Wolf and Benedikt Eppelsheim guntramwolf.de and eppelsheim.com whose wider bore and wider tone holes give the expected louder sound. Fingerings differ, I ignore by how much. It ca…

What is it with Iran and UFOs? One of the most celebrated UFO reports came from Iran before the islamic revolution but evidently the Glowing lights have both increased in capabilities and aggressiveness? This video, contains some Iranian claims that are just out of this world and point to either aliens or some secrete US drones with some wild capabilities, either real or deceptive. Makes you wonder if the Nimitz sightings so talked about are part of some US drone capabilities we have yet to hear of and maybe just out of this world enough to even fool experienced pilots.

LINK DELETED This song is about the evolution of life in the cosmos. What do you think, will AI stay an expression of human creativity, or will it evolve to the next step in evolution?

My neighbor's sound system is giving me terrible headaches and ear pressure. I can't actually hear the music but could hear the bass thumping through the shared wall. Once I complained to the HOA, she did something (not sure if she moved the sub or turned it down) so I no longer hear the bass but the headaches and ear pressure continues. I'd like to know how to best document and prove that her sound system is causing this. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks, Sidney

Just thought I would say Hi and introduce myself. I have always been interested in pretty much all sciences. My main interests are with electronics, computers and photography the style of which I am having to adjust what with the current lockdown. Since I am spending pretty much all my time at home at the moment, I find myself sat at my computer a lot more, which gives me time to edit some of the photos I have taken.

Could you advise some of the best crowdfunding sites which aren't scummers and don't collect mandatory all the personal and banking info? Thank you

I read it when I was a kid. A couple of times. It seems to be different from "The Andromeda Strain" by Michael Crichton, which comes up every time I try to Google search. It is an even more sinister story. About a signal that gets received from the general direction of the Andromeda Galaxy, and which contains the recipe for creating some kind of alien organism. It is when some laboratory follows this recipe and manages to create an exemplar of this organism that things begin to go very wrong. I remember that it was quite well written and scary, not some simple minded pulp story.

Holy crap, Mordred. You were already studying physics in 1921 ?

Guys, I made a short video that some of you might find helpful, especially these times At least it was helpful for me while I was making it. Just some cinema shots with some music; I just put them together. Here it is: video link removed

Armand Duplantis, a US resident but vaulting for Sweden, set a new world record of 20'3" (6.18m) on 2-15-2020. He is just getting started at the age of 20, making it look easy.

A couple of recent threads have been discussing Bob Lazar and element 115, I happen to have tape of his original interviews and unless you guys are ignoring the really juicy stuff his story seems to have been toned down more than a bit. Lazar either broke the biggest story in human history, is the grandest part of the supposed disinformation campaign, or has an imagination Heinlein would be proud of. His details leave no doubt about the choices... Among the claims he made, human were created by the aliens whose space craft he saw, element 115 allowed access to the strong nuclear force which he claimed was just gravity, 115 gave off antimatter as it decay…

Book ''Is there life out there?'', by Sara Seager: https://www.saraseager.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/book-is-there-life-out-there.pdf SPAM DELETED Search for exoplanets online: https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/nora-dot-eisner/planet-hunters-tess/classify AND https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/ianc2/exoplanet-explorers/classify NASA app Eyes on Exoplanets: https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/eyes-on-exoplanets/#/

Hi everyone! Both single and double sided adhesive tape can leave marks that are difficult to remove from the items. One nasty case is on scissors used to cut the tape. Small debris of the adhesive tape on the blades separate them, and the scissors can't cut. Removing these marks is lengthy. An eraser removes these marks like magic, quickly and perfectly. Marc Schaefer, aka Enthalpy

In need to make a jig for manufacturing something, went to a (U.S.) Lowe's store. In the land ruled by medieval inches, cannot buy a ONE INCH wide/thick piece of wood. Told to buy something else and 'rip'/cut to needs. Tried also to buy a HALF inch plywood sheet... No such thing. There is one they CALL half inch, being actual 15/32" or something like that... The 'two by four' studs aren't even 1 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 96" if measured carefully. What is going/gone wrong here ? Why this habit of misleading ? Or is that the system went metric and kept in hiding from the public ? How is wood dimensions sold in Europe ? I know a few years ago, Lowe's lost some mill…

I'm in nuclear engineering and it seems fairly laid back. It feels like everyone is a bit of a party animal and faculty doesn't seem to be in a particular rush to get things done.

Have there been any great scientists since the 20th century who were religious? And I mean religious in the conventional sense of believing in some major religion, not religious in the kind of unorthodox way Einstein was.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-51674057 Yes the council should have fixed this long ago, and yes 45 weeks is an inordinately long time to provide a simple fix (I remember managing a similar one in one week in Somerset). But to drive over a 10 foot cavity ? Perhaps our resident Bridge Engineer from Aberdeen has some thoughts, Peter ?

So who wrote (invented) this ? I said Which is true : 3 items cannot all be 90o apart unless they are on three separate cartesian axes, which the intems listed are not. If, of course, the OP is talking about "like for like", he is still not correct. Yes zero points are 90o apart in angular distance along the angular axis. But what angle are they part form either positive or negative zones? Yes positive zones are 90o apart from negative zones. But positive zones are 180o apart for the next positive zone. So I maintain that only two out of three are possible.