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OldChemE

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Everything posted by OldChemE

  1. Yes-- both parties in America are getting down to that level. Whether or not it will continue will depend on voters (which includes my wife and myself). The really disgusting part is that all my life I have registered to vote as a Republican, because I prefer lower taxes, less centralized government, and a closer adherence to the US Constitution (which of course means all should be able to vote). Nothing that is going on now seems to align with my political preferences.
  2. Math is a generic word for many different uses for numbers; arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus and others. Having spent years as an engineer using different types of math, and also some years teaching math, I think the best way to look at math is that it is a set of tools. Just as a carpenter has tools (hammers, saws, etc) and a mechanic has tools, and a person who makes quilts has tools, so also there are many jobs and hobbies where you need tools using numbers to be successful. Which number tools you need depends on the job or hobby. In some jobs, counting (one, two..) is about all you need, in some others, the tool is extremely difficult math. So-- don't think of math as one thing just for irrational people (or some other set), but rather as a set of tools. Whether or not you need those tools, and which of the math tools it might be, depends on what you want to do.
  3. Geometric isomers are situations where the order of the atom bonds are the same, but where there are more ways than one from a geometry standpoint. Try this on a piece of paper: Draw a picture of 1,2,dichloroethane. 1. start in the middle with two carbon atoms in a double bond: C=C 2. Add chlorine and hydrogen to both sides: they have to connect either above the C=C or below Cl\C=C/Cl or Cl\C=C/H Notice that I can put either both chlorine atoms above the C=C pair or one chlorine and one hydrogen (the bottom would then be either two hydrogen atoms or a hydrogen and a chlorine). Thus, we can build the molecule two geometrically different ways. Does it matter? Well, for example, natural unsaturated fats are mostly one type of geometric isomer (cis). When manufacturers hydrogenate fats like vegetable oil to make things like margarine, the process tends to create trans isomers instead of cis isomers-- and there are health risks associated with trans fatty acids.
  4. Difficult subject, so lets start with the easiest part: There should be an "Unlimited" class for every sport, in which superior ability is the only thing that matters. For example, in the US, the National Football League should be open to all genders. Same for Baseball, Golf, etc. BUT in the unlimited class there should be no adjustments. For example, the NFL limits the number of players on each team (49 if I recall correctly?) so, regardless of gender a player would have to make the cut by being better than the 50th best. Below the unlimited class I have trouble imagining anything that will seem fair to all involved. A skill/ability division, with its faults, is still probably the best.
  5. To the specific point of the OP, if we consider the God of the Bible, I think it could be argued that the books of the Bible, from Old testament through the new testament, could be viewed as the progression of the creation of that god. That is, over time, the definition of that particular god developed as more people wrote about it. Admittedly, it is difficult, if not impossible to define exactly how that progressed, particularly since the Bible is an anthology, not a single book, but it appears to me there is a trend from a God of Wrath and War toward a God of kindness.
  6. While lighter people might like it, there is no sense in an airline doing it unless it benefits the airline. Statistically, when you consider the entire planeload of people, the added income from the heavier people will be offset by the reduced income for the lightest-- so it is not clear there is a financial benefit for the airline. Add in the large number of online ticket sales, and the difficulty of weighing the people and it becomes a burden for the airline with no financial benefit.
  7. It can be a bad thing due to disruption of other lives. I had a boy in Junior High math class that was very hyperactive--we had to remove him from class because his constant talk and action was preventing the other students from concentrating on learning. The interesting side to this instance was that the boy had a good mind for math. We took him out of the classroom and let him spend his math time doing an equivalent online course-- and he mastered a semesters worth of math in three weeks. In the meantime, with him out of the classroom, the other student's math scores went up.
  8. Thorium can also be used in a breeder reactor context-- as was done at the Shippingport power plant in the eastern US years ago. The breeding ratio wasn't terribly good as I recall-- but it worked. However, while some people talk about fear of nuclear, and while some think nuclear power is either dead or close to dead, the reality is that ever since about 1975 roughly 20% of US power generation has been Nuclear-- and still is today. I spent 40 years in the nuclear industry and certainly a good way to generate electricity safely when done right (as it has been in the US). However, I do believe it makes sense to pursue newer technology as well (fusion, wind and solar, for example). Wind and solar, in particular seem to have a faster response time from identifying a need to producing power than can be done in nuclear. The differences in response time from need to delivery make a mix desirable.
  9. Somewhat off topic-- but I find it interesting how the concentration of population (cities and such) by necessity makes topics like this important. We are very rural, high desert, and do rainwater conservation and recycling without even giving it thought, Our land is flat, unpaved, porous, and the soil is dry on the surface. When it rains there is no stream for the water to flow into. Instead, the water soaks into the ground fairly quickly (with some evaporation loss, of course). This feeds our groundwater, and we pump it out with a well. After we use it it goes into the septic system, from which it percolates back to the groundwater system.
  10. Not only does social media allow reality to be distorted, it also removes some of the historical limitations. Historically, it took effort to get anything published. This tended to limit the influence of nut cases. That is no longer the case.
  11. Having worked on Nuclear plant design in the past I agree the steam idea would be neat. Diesel generators are used because regulatory agencies require protection against multiple failures. Typically this means two or three separate systems separated so that no single accident can prevent all from working (unless, of course the designers totally underestimate the potential of a tsunami). I think steam would be great for one of the systems-- provide the steam is not radioactive. I do not know if the Ukraine plant has radioactive steam. Typically, Pressurized water reactors have clean steam-- at the expense of the complex pressurization system that has its own drawbacks. Boiling water reactors, being simpler, derive their steam directly from the reactor-- at the expense of having radioactive steam.
  12. Yes we have freewill. Our internal brain structure and brain chemistry drive what we do, as well as our environment. But-- ultimately, the things happening inside our brains leads to the decisions we make. We could argue about how inevitable our decisions are, and how much they are influenced by things we are not consciously aware of. and how much we are manipulated by outside forces, but in my opinion anything that ultimately arises from the functions within our brains constitutes free will.
  13. "How can so many numbers of nature, the constants and relationships of physics, be so spot-on perfect for humans to exist? Because they provide the boundary conditions that happened (by chance) to allow humans to exist. If nature were different, likely any life that evolved would also be different-- and some of those living beings would likewise be amazed that nature just happened to be perfect for them to exist.
  14. Mostly-- but I know of a minor overpass (over the railroad) in rural Pennsylvania that was mis-aligned because the two construction companies building the road from two opposite directions both agreed that the left edge of the road should be on the reference line for the overpass.
  15. overly complicated. To make a committee of 3 from 8: You have 8 choices for member #1, then 7 choices for the next member, then 6 for the third member. 8 x 7 x 6
  16. Oh my!! Definitely. I'm glad to find out I am not the only one. When I drive on US highways I am constantly reminded of the question of meaning because of the road sign that says "lane ends merge left." I cannot decide if this means that the lane I am in is ending and I am instructed to merge to the left, or if it simply means that the two lanes are merging in a leftward direction. This bothers me! More significantly, I once had a job of helping my boss prepare for quarterly meetings with a very volatile leader. I would spend days struggling to 'spin' the presentation in a way that would assure that the volatile leader would receive the meaning we wished to convey.
  17. Well, OK-- one attempt: A Model is an artificial construct, often mathematical, which represents a real world phenomenon, and which predicts the real-world outcome that is expected to result from a real-world input.
  18. Not intending to be particularly contrary-- but in the past 15 years or so the math books and science books I used for teaching at the high school level have seen a huge increase in pretty color pictures and large diagrams, etc-- and that is a GOOD thing. Older textbooks with printing only tended to overlook the variations in learning style of different individuals. Not everyone learns well by reading only the printed word. Textbook publishers have gotten very good at creating textbooks that are educational for a wider range of learning styles.
  19. The bells and whistles are a consumer expectation maybe?? I am reminded of 2001 when I bought a b rand new 2001 Camaro for only $16,000. For some reason the factory built a model with no bells and whistles. Nice 5 speed manual transmission, 3.8 liter high output V6 that could go like ____ (0-70 mph and still only in third gear). But, no remote locks (manual only), manual windows, only a cassette tape radio, manual antenna, manual adjusting seats. It was just sitting on the lot because nobody wanted to buy it.
  20. To some extent I would classify religion under the heading of Philosophy as well. It brings to mind when, after retiring from Engineering, I taught Science at a small Christian High School. There were two factions in the school-- one (including me) who wanted the students taught using secular science books, and another wanting to teach "Science" using religious "science" books from Bob Jones University. After much debate the school board of directors decided to use University of California approved secular books. Their reasoning was that Science should teach the students how the world works, and Religion classes (philosophy?) should focus on the moral issues-- including the rights and wrongs of the application of science. Going beyond religion, I believe the role of philosophy includes looking at the implications of science. I would even go so far as to argue that Science Fiction frequently becomes philosophy, as when authors postulate a scientific development and then examine its effects on society via the story.
  21. There is some genetic effect. The following is from my own genetic report on the site "23andme": "Our muscles are made up of two main types of fibers, called slow-twitch and fast-twitch. Fast-twitch fibers allow rapid, forceful muscle contraction — the sort of contraction required for sprinting. Slow-twitch fibers contract more slowly, but they also tire less easily. Endurance athletes tend to have more slow-twitch fibers, while power athletes (including sprinters, throwers, and jumpers) tend to have more fast-twitch fibers — a difference that may reflect both their genetics and their training habits." My genetics favor slow-twitch--and, while I am a horrible sprinter, in my youth I was a competitive long distance runner. Obviously there is more to this than genetics (training etc).
  22. I would say there is no correlation. Conscientous people may appear to like their work because they work diligently and complete all assignments-- but that may simply be a consequence of the drive to do things right. I can recall many occasions in my work life when I tried very hard to do things right just to get them off my plate without damaging my reputation.
  23. Why I do science? Several commented on the satisfaction of curiosity-- but I would go beyond that. First off-- I rarely do pure science, in the sense that I rarely do controlled experiments to confirm or falsify a hypothesis. But-- I would find it very difficult to live my life without doing applied science. Researching and using knowledge developed through science is a daily activity. When measurements of earth movements published in 1988 showed the huge strain in the California faults, I packed up especially fragile items in my home prior to the 1989 earthquake, and had no damage to my home's contents. When observations of the Jet Stream in 2012 showed the increasing amplitude and implications of instability I began to think about how that might affect weather patterns and moisture carryover past the Sierra's into northern Nevada where I live. Somewhat more bizarre (to some, perhaps) I have a hobby of developing target ammunition for old firearms. When I was gifted a small supply of a type of smokeless powder of a type I had no data for, I turned to the national gunpowder forensic database to learn the chemical characteristics in order to identify chemically equivalent gun powders for which I did have the necessary data. Utilizing knowledge developed through science is, for some of us, a way of life as natural as breathing.
  24. Except perhaps for cold fusion and homosexuality, these are not Science-- they are applications of science coupled with engineering, management, and in some cases marketing decisions. It is the applications of science (among other things), sometimes poorly conceived, that lead to disasters. Science not applied generally does not hurt anybody. As for homosexuality, It is merely one facet of the normal range of human behaviors. Not my thing but I don't think it needs a cure.
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