The Lounge

Remember that long thread last year? Well the world record longest sniper shot had to be made using correction for the curvature of the Earht. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40372403

Some background information. I live in a country where the school system is very different to most of the world. High school starts at 12 and ends when you are 18 years old. You start in first year of high school and end in 6th year. I'm in the 4th year of high school right now (should be in fifth but i had to do my year twice). I plan on taking chemistry next year. This means i will have everything (maths, geography, languages, sciences,...) but it will focus on chemistry (4H organic, 4H experimental, 6h analytical) I can't choose how much of what i have but this should prepare you for university level chemistry. I want to make my high school easier since its pretty …

Why do you think this job was particularly detestable?

...and He could turn you into any animal which is alive today on this planet earth (but not homo sapien), what animal would you like to be?

Here is a picture of 3 fairly expensive carrying bags . Put them down for a moment , THEY FALL OVER . And to improve things nicely , they are often BLACK inside , so you can't find anything , that is now jumbled up ! Remedy , they should ALL. Be redesigned , orientated through 90 degrees , and have an illuminated inside. Mike

What is your motivation to travel if you take frequent holidays and how much time do you take off from work? If your holiday is short, there is stress and pressure that you won't be able to see and experience everything in the country/region of the world you want to explore. How much time do you devote to the planning process of the holiday? There are many people who lack interest in travelling overseas for frequent holidays. Do you SFN members think that there is something wrong with these people? What is your opinion of people who don't travel or go on holidays or lack interest in the outside world apart from their own country?

Would life be boring? Would you be happy if the human lifespan could be extended to 200 years instead of 100? If you could live until 200 years, what would you do differently and how would you have planned your life if you are still a teenager now?

In many cultures around the world (e.g. Japanese) it is considered rude to stare at people for prolonged periods of time (e.g. longer than a second). In the western world however, many people place higher emphasis on eye contact and through showing their attention to the other person one is speaking to, while over east people are more evasive with their eye contact. My question, is when did this western culture of staring develop? Do we have any ideas and does culture change much in the course of a decade, century, millennia etc.? Will our cultural habits change to a noticeable degree in a few centuries (e.g. adoption of the japanese style of bowing to greet one anoth…

Which is your least favourite OECD country and why???

Nevr reread over one of your old posts. It just makes you cringe how crappy your spellung is.

This is one of the wildest magnetic effects I have seen. Another interesting magnetic effect!

Hey guys, For a few years now I have been employed in a few blue-collar jobs but I am wondering, how do white collar jobs compare in comparison? Is a regular white-collar office job stressful? If you have an office job, what do you do exactly in your work on a daily basis? Would one feel less exhausted at the end of a working week if they have white-collar work in comparison to blue-collar work? My dad died when I was young and I never saw him work and same with my mother (she's only ever worked a few temporary jobs but those didn't last long) and hence my reason for my asking. Both my parents were relatively uneducated so my reasons for seeking the life exper…

I'm curious whether when writing a CV it is ok to come up with your own custom layout or is it expected that you will follow some standard format?

Anyone here have any ideas? I believe the average person consumes 8700kJ each day. But what is the optimum daily kilojoule needed to be consumed to boost life expectancy, taking into consideration that intermittent fasting has been shown to extend life expectancy?

I.e. If all humans are 99.5% similar to one another is there much point for a white european intentionally looking for someone who is ethnically african to increase the genetic diversity of any children they may have (e.g. To increase their genetic fitness)? People say that biracial children are smarter and taller on average. Is there any truth behind this? I have heard that there is more genetic variability within a nation/continent than between nations/continents. If this is true, is it still worthwhile to look for someone you think might be "less you" genetically speaking, to procreate with? If you live in a monoracial country is it worth it to go abroad t…

Anyone know?

This question was raised in my mind after reading a comment from one of the most knowledgeable and experienced member's on this forum which suggested they were so dispirited by the content of some of the speculative threads that they don't want to come here as much, which is a great shame, as i have valued their input in the past. The Speculations forum was spoken about a year or two ago and I thought it was high time there was another conversation about it as I myself feel there is a need to reassess it's purpose and where the forum admin might draw the line. I don't want to say any more at the moment as I'd like to see what the poll says in terms of the distribution o…

You don't have to state your age within the thread. It's my suspicion that there aren't many young active users. My guess is the most will belong in the 40-50 group, followed by the 50-60 group, or the other way round.

I rendered it at 8k and 4k if you have higher resolution screen. Made it in Blender with color and height map from the USGS and NASA. The water is actually based on the height map so it's a realistic layout of land and ocean.

Did you learn much from completing highschool? What do you think are some of the problems of the highschool curriculum in your country of origin? Do you recall anything from highschool at all now? Do you use anything practical/useful from highschool today in your day-to-day life? If you could change any one thing about the highschool curriculum in your country what would you change? What was the most useful thing your learnt or benefited from attending and completing highschool? How can the highschool curriculum be changed (e.g. achievement based model with different aged peers in classrooms perhaps?) to make it more relevant and useful gauge/indic…

I am trying to find my Account page - the page where I filled in my details as asked for. I tried Log in to Your Account but was offered Email Accounts. That is not what I wanted. Would someone please explain? Thank you. hazelm

As a 54 yr-old middle-aged man, I have a number of things which really grind my gears. However, after reading another thread on how to pronounce De Broglie, I have to let off some steam. You Yanks are lovely people and I have an American colleague who is a good friend BUT... What really grinds my gears is the way you guys pronounce the name of the artist Van Gogh. It is not "Van go" - that sounds like an advert for a bloody delivery van. The pronunciation is "Van Hoch" like coughing out a half eaten kebab. Please get that right. IIRC, they don't pronounce the letter "G" so Greggs the bakers are not likely to be found in Holland. Now your turn. What rea…

Hello forum, Can you give me examples of pretty scientifically accurate scy-fy movies? I know Kubrick was a physics enthusiast so he was trying to make his movie science as accurate as possible. Any other examples?

This is an idea I've thought about for some time. I, for one, love theme parks, and I've always wanted there to be one that is fully science-based. It's fun to sit and dream up all the possible ideas one could put into some kind of attraction of this sort. I'm talking about the idea (hypothetical of course) of building a major theme/amusement park that is fully based on true representations of science (not science fiction or pseudoscience). This park would contain a myriad of thrill rides and the like, but would also contain mini museum-esque attractions, shows, activities, etc. All attractions would be centered around factual representations of true science, and would be…