The Lounge

Yesterday Friday at about 9 pm I return with train from a meeting. Exiting the station, notice a plastic card lying on the wet asphalt outside. It is a Visa debit card, the name of its owner too generic for precise ident. I can at least identify the bank, and I chug the card into the mailbox of the local branch, with a short note telling the story. That's it then, today's good deed accomplished, happiness will ensue. Bonus points for remaining anonymous, just in case some shadier character already managed to clear out the account using the chip function on the debit card, and subsequently discarded it on the ground as useless. Then I might begin to look like one of the po…

What if eclipses of the Sun by the Moon were not complete as we now have them. Because,say it's orbit had increased over time and so appeared small compared to the size of the Sun as seen from Earth. Suppose this was the case and Einstein had just proposed General Relativity (1915 I think it was)....would GR have been taken seriously or did everything depend on the experimental confirmation of his predictions carried out by Eddington. Might GR have just attracted a dwindling cult following or were there other dramatic confirmations available that would have ensured this did not happen? I have read one of Einstein's contem…

A general advice in this forum: Do listen to the experts' (side) notes, regardless of topic. Today's result; a batch of mud cakes with strawberries for dessert tonight: Thanks for the inspiration @Strange /G

Increasing population, decreasing resources

What are some things that the Star Wars society doesn’t have that makes no sense?

Any fans of pro wresting out there? Please explain it to me. What are the basic rules? I can't figure out the appeal. It seems absurd and obviously fake. How can you get excited about watching people pretend to try to hurt each other? I'm no fan of boxing, mixed martial arts, or other contact sports that intend to hurt your opponent, either. But at least they are real. Maybe it is better that hurting others is fake.

Is it right to put this news here?? If not, PL correct me. Thanks. https://www.yerepouni-news.com/2020/02/11/over-350000-sign-petition-calling-for-who-chiefs-resignation/

The other day, my wife and I visited a coffee house near the University of Alabama campus. As we were leaving, I noticed a young coed slowly and very apprehensively turning over the cover page of a textbook. I saw that the title of the book was “Statistical Mechanics”. “Oh”, I exclaimed. “they’re still teaching that!” The young coed immediately looked up at me with an expression bordering on total fear. I have no idea what she was thinking, but I quickly said “That was my favorite subject! Good for you!” Her face exploded in one big smile, ear to ear. So, physics isn’t so hard. It just takes a little encouragement to bite into it.

Kobe Bryant, the star Laker who retired less than 2 years ago, his daughter, and 7 others were killed this morning when Kobe's chopper crashed in Calabasas CA. I go bike trail riding at Malibu State Park, which is about a mile from where his chopper crashed. Kobe was the kind of athlete that is likeable, a real nice guy, besides being poetry in motion. See you later Kobe! He's been immortalized in video.

In honour of our mothers, their mothers, and our brides I present what I learned from my late mother. Appreciation for her simplicity, beauty, determination and love. For all that amounts, make good honest accounts, lest ye could lose more than just, lucky underpants. Chaos is purely nature in action, first find that correct butterfly, and you can make anything happen. Anti chaos is also quite easy to do, first find that correct butterfly, and then say 'boo'. Time goes on both ways forever, despite all mortal human endeavour, infinity will be reached, never ever. The most exquisite 'sea' food my mother ever made for me was…

Can anybody recommend a beginner's book on linear algebra? I read the old "EPR" paper and I want to learn that maths. Hilbert spaces, eigenfunctions, that sort of stuff. I've tried a couple but right at the start there's some leaps of logic I just can't seem to get my heads around lol. Is there a "go-to" textbook that excels at teaching this stuff?

Hi. Pretty sure this the proper section to post my off-topic inquiry. I'm a first year medical school student, I've finished the first semester that concentrated on the very basic things, most of which was so relevant to me from high school so I haven't encountered many troubles. However, what I'm awaiting for in the second semester is mostly something I'm not very familiar with (Anatomy, histology, physiology, embryology , organic chemistry (most one I'm familiar with) ). Got a week left for the second semester and I feel worried for not preparing anything. I don't mean starting to study, rather it's more of a preparation of studying techniques for these …

With Harry and Meghan making a soft exit from the Royal Family i would like to get people's thoughts on aspects of this situation, especially from the Brits here. I like what they are doing, primarily for two reasons: 1. The perceived racism against Meghan 2. I hate the Queen telling someone how they must live their lives Unfortunately I don't know if the racism claim is real or if the Queen really controls them in the way it is described in news stories. I suspect the tabloid press is as bad as it seems. Is racism in England as bad as it is in the US? Is the tabloid press as bad as it seems? Is the Royal Family and the expectations as bad as the…

This is my 1000th post! Time to celebrate, This is a fine moment to open the Islay Single Malt I got for Christmas. Cheers from Ghideon, to all new and old form members!

Hi all. Comparing the nutritional value of a meal with protein, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins and all the rest together, that was cooked with a microwave oven and one equal cooked with a convection, conduction method for cooking; should differ ? Is there a study about such, away from speculations ? Can different heat energy sources from radiant fire, microwaves, immersion in boiling, even concentrated solar radiation cookers or any other, alter nutrition or create more or less toxins ?

Some year’s back, I had occasion to be hospitalized for 10 weeks or so while a bunch of doctors tried to figure out what ailed me. Finally, I was admitted to the Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut. The morning after my admission, a group of medical students on their rounds stopped by my room. Having been trained as a physicist and having not much else to say as they stared at me, I asked them if they had heard about Schrodinger’s cat. The reaction was “What?”. So I began to tell them about the cat, the box, the acid bath, the cyanide pill, and whether the cat was alive or dead while the box remained closed. I then explained that the probabilit…

I just watched "New Zealand Skeletons in the Cupboard" on youtube. It suggests that people arrived on New Zealand before the officially recognized date, and that scientists are ignoring evidence pursuant to the facts. I'm a dumb American who doesn't know anything about New Zealand. Should I ignore this video?

Apropos of absolutely nothing at all (I am definitely not accusing another member of being a troll), this came to mind recently: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sea-lioning

This reminds me of a sequence in the remake of Disney's Fantasia https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-51036608 Hope spring eternal.

This article suggests the end of the 12th dynasty of Egypt as the time of the exodus. Egyptologists consider the 12th dynasty to be the apex of the Middle Kingdom. This dynasty was based at (or nearby) the city of Memphis (Noph or No-Ptah), which agrees with details of the scriptural account and Hebrew tradition. Pharaoh Amenemhet I may have been the ruler of Lower Egypt (near Memphis) when Joseph was appointed as the second ruler of the land (Genesis 41:40-46) and when Jacob and his family moved into Egypt (Genesis 45:16-20) to buy food during a great famine. Contemporary records of the 11th dynasty based in Thebes refer to "seven empty years" following the death …

Hello everybody! The concert or pedal harp is too rare. But what about the chromatic harp then? The concert harp is diatonic, with pedals to change the key. Pretty much inadequate for romantic and posterior music, and many scores are clumsy or impossible. While smaller chromatic harps were known, in 1894 Gustave Lyon invented a large concert chromatic harp at Pleyel. Alas, the new instrument couldn't play the existing scores with diatonic glissandi, it demanded new skills too, and didn't succeed. The big instruments are survivors built by Pleyel up to 1930. One is in Brussel's fabulous Musée des Intruments de Musique, a handful are played. We can say: rare. en…

Hello, I've always been tired of a question. Suppose a person learns medicine, but is also interested in many other topics. Reads texts related to physics, astrology and geology. And my question is this. Can the brain be tired from the information overload? Can a large amount of information provided to the brain cause that we will start to forget things previously remembered? Will the brain make free space for new information in such cases? Thank you very much for any answer.

Receiving a Galileo Thermometer for Christmas this year I was unimpressed by the range of which the internal vials reacted to the ambient temperature. Some research on the matter led me to to understand that the density of the liquid in the vials is uniform, only the tags with the temperature inscription vary and so it should be trivial to adjust the temperatures they react to. I say trivial, but that would involve emptying the surrounding solution and that would be beyond my ability. However, I would care to know if there is an outlet in the UK/EU of whom sell vials, or the tags themselves, that react to the a temperature range from zero to eighteen degree celsius? …

I am helping look for a tutor for my brother (A level chem) as hes really struggling. Hes doing fine in his other subjects but got a C in his mock. Hes got a good knowledge of the principles but it seems like hes losing marks due to missing key things they award marks to in your answer if that makes sense. More exam technique issues than actual understanding. We did post an ad on gumtree but kept getting scam calls after I posted it so had to remove, we didn't get one genuine call which is pretty ridiculous. I've posted in my local Facebook group but not had much response. Looked on some official tutoring sites and the prices just seem unreasonably high. Alternatively i…

Hope everyone is sharing the Christmas holydays with family and loved ones. May the season bring all the best to you and yours.