The Lounge

With a booming human population, high birth rate and 100% human death rate cemeteries are growing rapidly! Some people have resorted to high rise cemeteries to save more space for other things. http://www.newser.com/story/71525/japanese-dying-to-get-into-highrise-cemeteries.html My question, when will we run out of space on Earth to build further establishments? When will we run out of space to build further cemeteries? When will the whole entire Earth become a cemetery? Is there a solution to this? Does anyone know whether any possible solutions are being proposed? ...because people are going to keep dying and then they have to be buried. This takes up mu…

Greetings students, scientists, researchers, teachers, philosophers, physicists, and everything else. What do you think about our world's current situation? Are you content about it? It's not so bad, is it? After all you're currently navigating the Internet, in your laptop or desktop, or whatever apparatus you might be using to view this message. However, while not trying to cast guilt to you, the reader, I want to remind you of the many problems in our world, because, while we might be living a significantly pleasant life today, if we decide to cross arms and leave everything to those in power, the world will undoubtedly turn into a displeasing place. You …

So here's the question, is there an overall global shortage of scientists? The underlying reason for the question is a bit selfish I guess. I personally highly admire the scientific community and although I have nay a degree or certification in any science related subject I like to think of myself as one anyway. The impression that I get from the scientific community however is that this is in fact not the case. I would love to be what the community considers a real scientist and this is why I have returned to school for a degree in science. But--I really hate the but--it seems that I am still incapable of acting under pressure, something I have struggled with …

I'm trying to write a letter and I need the name of those concrete structures, apparently mostly in cities, that act like canals to channel excessive water caused by storms; otherwise they are dry. In the movies, kids ride their bikes in them or car chases end up in them, both of which are probably illegal in real life. This is embarrassing ... any help out there? I know what will happen. As soon as I read the name that someone supplies, I'll recognize it immediately. Thanks!

Hi, I was wondering how I can add a hit counter to my blog. Also, to SFN staff, is it okay to have advertisements on the blog?

The Dreamer - Ghettochild "The 4th Spatial Dimension: A Rap Theory" I will release next week on youtube will be a remix of this song/video "The Dreamer" Stay tuned... <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PKyuWtVe1X8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Hello, I was wondering if anyone knows or has any links to upcoming lectures in the field of physics around the south of England. I am very interested in advanced science although I am only 14. Also, if anyone knows anything about upcoming public appearances from Professor Stephen Hawking then please let me know! He is my idol and it would be so amazing if I could meet him. That bit applies to anywhere around the country. Thank you.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leslie-kean/the-extraordinary-ufo-sig_b_1342585.html

This makes a lot of sense. [imath]e^{i\tau}=1[/imath] does seem more elegant than [imath]e^{i\pi}+1=0[/imath].

What are the benefits of polygamy? What does everybody think? Also, do the benefits in polygamy outweigh the benefits in monogamy? Which one is better (from an atheist's perspective)?

Intro While most people posting on this forum describe themselves as atheists, determinists or some other form of non-believer, I would be surprised if many don't have some secret superstitions. Personally, I wrote my exams with a lucky pen. I know others think they can influence the outcome of a football game by either watching or not watching. I want to talk about any possible scientific explanation why superstition might work - or why it can be proven to be bogus. Obviously, since this is posted in The Lounge, if you just want to tell us your silly superstition, or a funny anecdote, that's welcome too. The lucky pen I believe that my lucky pen must have boo…

You can now be "married" by a coin slot machine for £1 (less than $2). What do you think of the idea? Could the evidence it supplies be considered a binding contract? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-14003233

Did today's solar flare disturb any human activity?

Is it true that the smarter you are the more susceptible you are to religiosity? Also, do the benefits of being religious (e.g. lower divorce rates, higher marriage rates, sense of purpose) out weigh any negatives from the possibility that there really is no God? Christians do seem happier than non-Christians. Maybe it's time we all converted?

Hi all. I come in peace, to learn your opinion. AMERICAN PARTICIPANTS ONLY PLEASE (as of now) Your opinion matters and your participation is greatly appreciated for some research I am conducting for a Pittsburgh College. You are invited to participate in a survey on modern opinions of historical events. It will take approximately 3 minutes to complete the following questionnaire. http://questionpro.com/t/AIP3vZM7Qk This is not a spam-bot but a serious inquiry. Thanks for your consideration/participation.

There's a song I have been trying to find what language the lyrics are in. The song is called Saints and Sinners by Dj Distance. I've tried Google translate with phonetic typing and I can't pull up anything. It's driving me nuts. I've had Hindi and Punjabi speaking persons listen to it and they say the same thing as I do it is so much like a mix of languages but no one can place it exactly and it is making it impossible to translate the damn thing. Does anyone have the ultimate answer to solving this dilemma? I have spent some serious hours trying to figure it out and it's driving me bonkers. It's a very sensual song so most of my focus has been on finding words th…

Hi I'm a college dropout but I like science. I woke this morning with one thing on my mind. Patternistic Multiple Photonic Quantum Entanglement I see one major flaw in how we are doing it. The Earth and every point on it is moving through the universe, absolutely at a speed which varys by the rotation point, revolution point, solar movement, galactic movement and universal expansion. I tried to develop an equation to solve what our absolute speed is at any given time but it was fail. The method I used simplified matters to the lowest reachable degree kelvin's relationship to the fact that it is that high from our universal movements. I believe in order to do any real …

Either as a job, or hired to pursue their now famous work. For example: Socrates, Plato, or Aristotle for their contributions to philosophy. And Isaac Newton or Albert Einstein for their contributions to science. Benjamin Franklin for his inventions.

How come we don't have walls anymore like those in medieval ages cities had? Imagine with all the technology today and knowledge, we probably could build the strongest one than ever before made...

Junior at UT Austin, majoring in Computer Science, I plan to continue on for my PhD I sit around day dreaming a LOT. I have a decent social life, but all I can think about is science, economics, business, etc. I want to turn my ideas into reality, develop neural interface devices, artificial intelligence, turn them into a prospering business, design smart houses, build myself a multi-million dollar waterside mansion, rub elbows with powerful politicians, attempt to prevent the degradation of scientific advancement in the US, get grants to build Utopian science communities. All the ambition you could imagine with no vent. I'm learning the basics at a painfully slow…

I've heard many times that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, unfortunately no one ever says why. There is the occassional correlation between slim people and breakfast eating, but no one ever states there is a causation. I cannot think of a reason why any meal is important, much less why one meal is the most important. Some cultures do not have any meals at all, and people just eat as they get hungry. On a related topic, I frequently hear people stressing the importance of families eating dinner together, as if doing so will result in a happy, well adjusted family. What is so special about dinner? If breakfast is the most important meal of the day anywa…

Just one of those slightly interesting, but not very meaningful things that you notice from time to time. Average human cell is a few microns. [math](10^{-6}m)^3\times 1000kg\times 10^{27}[/math] Gives somewhere on the order of 10^12 atoms about 10^13 cells in a human body. about 10^10 humans on earth about 10^11 to 10^12 stars in the galaxy about 10^12 galaxies in the observable universe about 10^10 transistors in a modern cpu. Up to 10^12 if you count storage as part of the computer. So somewhere between 10 billion and 10 trillion things make a thing that acts in a completely new way.

Good example of natural behaviour caused by the lack of presentation of Mods & experts. @ Jiggerj. I am Michel, I am not an expert, I am not from the staff. You can check my presentation page here. You shouldn't get angry so quickly, it is a misunderstanding. We (almost) all got through this. I insist: Jiggerj is right. He is new here, he knows nothing about the people he is talking to. Respectable Swansont should have presented himself ("Hello, welcome, I am blahblahblah, PhD in physics, Nobel Prize 2010, have a look at the wiki article about me, etcaetera, that's an interesting question of yours, as an expert in this field I'll try to answer, then go bla…