The Lounge

Ive got a quick question. I was thinking about buying a green laser pointer. Are they really that much better than classic red ones? If yes, how so?

This question has been lingering in my mind for quite some time now, does creating and deleting computer files disregard Theories of Physics of which state that matter cannot be created or discarded, but can only be transferred from one area to another.

What is the principle that states viewing a subject alters the subject or something like that? I can't remember all the statement and what it states exactly. So if anyone can tell me who said this and what the complete principle is I would appreciate it greatly. Thanks

Anyone know where I can find the notes to play the Hoedown song on a piano?

Commonly Confused Words Fewer - used for discrete units. E.g. "There were fewer explosions while YT was away." Less - used for continuous measures. E.g. "There is less confusion when we say what we mean." Of - belonging to (a thing or collection), or characteristic. E.g. "This is the first of many", "Of course we all knew that." Off - the opposite of "on". E.g. "Get off my land or I'll shoot you with this gun." There - a location, or an event descriptor. E.g. "The quote button is over there", "There were many posts today." Their - belonging to them. E.g. "Their posts are improving steadily." They're - contraction of 'they a…

did some one hack the sfn-corner-logo-thingy? I like it!!!!!1112

Just wanted to say thank you to Blike and the mods and admins for running the forums. It is appreciated!

Anyone want to be in a make-shift chess tournament? We need at least 8 people willing to play over Yahoo chess. No downloads required, other than the chess plugin. It's free, but you need a yahoo login name (free, takes less than a minute to create). Like I said, we'd need 8 people. I would organize the ladder. Opponents will arrange times via PM or the thread. JUST HOPE YOU DONT HAVE TO PLAY ME

BECAUSE THEY ROCK MY SOCKS OFF. WHY DOES THE US GET BRITNEY SPEARS AND THE UK GETS MUSE, ETC? IT'S JUST NOT FAIR!

Heya all, i really need some help........i no this is really boring and probably you all goin to ignore me but im totally stuck, im having so much trouble doing my personal statement PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME!

Merry christmas everyone :D so whats everyone doing for chrissy? from Ice phoenix

I think I am, but how about all of you? What is the most evil thing you've ever done?

First of all, sorry if I posted this in the wrong section. I'm new here. To get to the point, I'm looking for a place online to buy a 12v DC negative ion generator. So far I've had no success. If anyone could tell me where I could find one, I'd appreciate it. Thanks in advance.

In a Canadian mall: Your hardpressed to find the security guard if your life depended on it. In an American mall: ten men in black suits, 4 security guards, and two cops close-off the area in front of a pizza shop because someone ripped the leaf of one of plants.

So what are everyone's chemistry related Christmas plans this year? For me, I plan on performing numerous experiments involving the dehydrogination of ethyl alcohol via alcohol dehydrogenase. When that is not happening, I'm going to try and rephotograph all of my elements. I plan on getting a digital camera for Christmas, so I'll set up a standard photography area so that the camera is always the same distance from the item being photographed and so that the lighting remains the same throghout. The photos I have now are pretty good, but they were taking at various different levels of light so they aren't all 'the same'. (Some were taken during a sunset, so there's …

Would anybody be interested in 'featured articles'? Someone suggested that a featured article be posted monthly or bi-monthly by the members. This would, however, require that members contribute articles. The purpose of the article would be to introduce and give a general overview of a scientific topic. It does not have to be a research paper. The article can be on any topic, as long as it is science-related (no politics/religion/philosophy/etc). One other suggestion was adding a journal feature for members. I could do this, but I doubt anyone would use it. Anyhow, I thought I'd run the ideas by you guys. If anyone is interested or has any other ideas along tho…

Stargate inspired a love of injecting molten gold into my forehead. Or anyones forehead really. Go team G'ould.

Hi – I work for Tiger Aspect Productions, a major UK based TV Production Company. I’m currently developing a new series which examines the personal impact that sci-fi has had on inspired fans. We will aim to examine the science, design and whole philosophy behind 6 shows or movies, as a background to how these have changed the lives of individuals. If you, or somebody you know or have heard of, were inspired to become a scientist because of a particular show or invent a piece of technology inspired by something seen in any movie or show, from Stargate, Thunderbirds and Dr Who right through to James Bond or the Matrix Trilogy, then I’d love to hear from you. You can em…

how is math performed in other countries where english isnt the primary language? math has some tricky stuff and i cant picture calculus in anything other than numbers. obviously numbers but does anyone know what im refering to? also, how does the language and typing aspect of computers work in lets say, china? dont they have like a 2000 character alphabet?

That's right, I made a science/technology blog thingy. Originally I only had it since I hit "subscribe" on someone else's blog, and I ended up having one myself. So I took the advantage. Since I just got a subscription to New Scientist, and I already had subscriptions to Popular Mechanics, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian, Discover, and Air and Space, I'll have plenty of articles. (okay, I admit, some of them are from other people in the family) Here it is: http://capnrefsmmat.blogspot.com/

I always wondered about subliminal messages. Check this out: http://albinoblacksheep.com/flash/subliminal.php See it and then tell me what you thought about it. But don't spoil it for the rest.

My wife asked for an iPod for Christmas. I have heard good things and bad things about iPods. Does anyone here have any first hand experience? What are the pros and cons of ipods compared to different similar MP3 (or whatever) players? Advice please...

i was watching uh, hearing, some commentaries on the movie Back to the Future 2. a part came along where the director mentioned that one of the hover boards in the movie was real. except of course for the rockets, are the hover boards they used in the movie real? has anyone ever heard of these things or has any info?

Nothing is funnier than a stupid criminal, right? There was a case where a burglar fell asleep on the bed, in the house, with the couple whose house he was robbing. It sounds crazy, but it's a true story. The folks at The Smoking Gun are having a funny award for this year's "Stupidest Criminal", so I thought to start a thread here to see if there were any good stories out there that we can submit to their editors (long-shot but hey, you never know!!) In case you want to check it out the show (it's called The Smoking Gun Year End Special), it's going to air next Thursday night, I believe at 10pm. These guys can be pretty hilarious so it's worth taping i…

anyone watch or follow any of the major MMA sports? ive been a longtime fan of the UFC and recently got turned on to Pride FC. both are pretty much the same sport. the main differences are that the UFC uses a cage in the shape of an octogon where as pride uses a traditional ring. the rules are a little different. in ufc, you cant kick a downed opponent. in pride you can. both use a different scoring system. ufc uses the traditional round scoring where pride scores the entire match. other than that, it's pretty much the same. they even use alot of the same fighters. i see many fighters that switch between between their contracts. i think ufc is a little more popular. i…