GrandMasterK

I was just wondering this. It's hard for me to imagine a point infinitely small that has position in space. can someone please explain to me how that works? And is the accepted notion that the center of a black hole is a hole in the universe? (which in my mind means that the matter is being stored outside of the unvierse). Or is does all of it's matter still exist in space in our universe just condensed down to a ridiculously small area? Or is it one in the same? Thanks.

im confused. adding mass adjusts the orbit's position (wider) thereby allowing the more massive earth to stay in orbit at the same velocity? I would of thought packing on a lot of weight would slow us down and start pulling us towards the sun?

I have two questions for yall today. 1. How did the earth keep an orbit as it was forming billions of years ago as it was pulling clumps of matter together and gaining mass? 2. If you took half the moons weight and added it to the earth, say by spreading moon rock over the surface, would we fall out of orbit and die? (ignoring the fact the moon would collide into us if that happened)

Michio Kaku said this when describing the work of gravity in one of his many shows on the science channel. I was wondering what is meant by this and why it's important to view it this way?

I ask this question in reference to memory. Some things we forget we can remember. Many times in my life there were events that I'm sure I never would of thought of again and something will happen that unlocks the door to that thought. So my question is, does your brain keep everything tucked away somewhere? Is the information on every single thing relevant to you in all the days of your life since the first stored away until you die?

What does it take? To level an upper middle class home with brick walls and a quality foundation? To knock a building down with steel frame? To drag 2-3 ton cars around? To flip an 18-wheeler over? I live in the south suburbs of Chicago. We get tornadoes here frequently enough. Every year at least one tornado (that is spotted) touches down in our county. One of the worst tornadoes ever happened right here not 3 miles east: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plainfield_Tornado#Tornado_touchdown.2C_path.2C_and_damage I live in an upper class housing development. A couple years back when the development was still being finished on the other side we had a storm that managed to knock a completed house down. Two story house with thick big white brick walls, standing alone by itself at the end of a coldesac (spelling?). My friend and I road our bikes down that street the next morning. The house was completely leveled, wood and brick and glass scattered all over the place as far as 200ft in every direction. Luckily no one had moved in yet. We came around when one of the constructionists was standing outside the ruined home, kicking the tires on his truck and swearing as loud as he could. This storm happened in the middle of the night when it was raining so thick and hard you couldn't see the street or tell if it was raining water or hail. Lightning was flashing constantly, sometimes several times a second, in different colors, but it didn't help my field of vision at all. The sirens were going off all night, which meant that they spotted rotation on the radar or that somebody actually spotted a tornado in town or near town. It was blamed on a microburst by the neighbor folk as no one really caught wind of an official analysis (if one was even done). I'd like to know how much wind it takes (and how long) to completely flatten a good house like that? I studied micro bursts a little bit and they are described as producing straight lines winds outward in every direction from the area the burst came down at. Whats weird is the only other houses that were damaged were on that road leading to the coldesac. One or two garage doors were completely torn off, front and back lawn light objects were deformed and displaced. One garage door was curled up most awkwardly. It was curled up like a fruit roll-up, hanging from the top of the frame like window blinds. The bottom had obviously been sucked (why sucked?) out with such force that it broke loose of the frame, then managed to start curling up. How in the hell did wind do that? Seperate incidents from what leveled the house maybe but the houses at the end were only two lots away from the house standing by itself. A microburst can be strong enough to tear a house down in an area as small as a lot and be weak enough not to do anything to houses two lots away? How much can a good building take? Lets take the Sears Tower for instance since I live in Chicago. Part of it's design for handling wind is that it sways. But could it stand a direct hit from an F5 tornado with 300+MPH windows without collapsing?

but I couldn't afford it.

Computer speed and Internet speed? Will a home computer ever be able to render every shot in Shrek 3 in under a second? Will my home internet connection ever be going 1TB/s?

In my 8th grade history class, the teacher had a friend come in one day to talk about (as far as I could tell) strange ways history of science, philosophy and religion mingle. He was very direct and frank, which to some could be perceived as rude or disrespectful. We entered a part of the discussion that basically insisted that most people's opinions were premeditated through disconnected thoughts that don't find their source from anything rational/logical (bad wording on my part). Nobody really knew what he was talking about and neither did I and probably still don't have a proper concept of his ideas. So this guy asks "Who here is christian? Raise your hand." About 6 or 7 go up in the room. Then he asks "Who here is an atheist? Raise your hand." Everyone else in the room's hand goes up (about 2/3 of the class). After a pensive moment, he asked the christians to raise their hands again. So then he pointed a girl out in the back who's hand was raised. He said "You, recite a verse from the bible". She asked what he meant and he just repeated himself "give us a line from the bible, any line, go!". After 2 minutes of embarassing contemplation she said she didn't know. He pointed out one of the guys who raised his hand this time and he didn't any either. Moved on to the next person and the next person. There were alot of "I've read, I just.....I can't think of any right now". At this time he asked all the atheists in the room to raise their hands. He then proceeded to go through all of them, asking them if they could recite a line from the bible, including myself. I had nothing, I had never read the bible or memorized anything I've heard about it. Only one person could. A goth looking girl of sorts, wore black clothes most of the time, had that rebel behavior, rings and bracelets and piercings, heavy metal band shirts, all that. Acted much older then she was (13) and was probably one of the brightest people at our school in hindsight, though her grades were some of the worst. So she went on and on about her rather well thought out reasoning of why God does not exist. Half way through she seemed to switch gears while elaborating on her ideas and revealed herself to be a satanist. A satanist claiming to be an atheist. So this guy asked her some questions she didn't know how to answer. Where the idea of Satan came from without God and how her ideologies don't tie into each other. They went on for awhile with her getting frustrated and feeling beaten because she had never given thought to something that seems like it should of been obvious. She also revealed in the discussion that her study of the bible was dictated on a feeling of hate. So after making the entire class feel like fools, he asked us to give our reasons of why God doesn't exist. Your typical answers "it's too farfetched", "my sister died in a car accident when she was little", "the world is too evil", "there's no science in any of it", "I need proof of supernatural occurances" and all that. Then he asked us to give reasons why God does exist. A silent room. Then he asked us "What is it about the world that could of led a room full of kids who's completely nurtured thirteen years on this planet to the conclusion of whether or not a God exists? What knowledge have you gained? What experiences have you had?." Those questions seem like they fell into the mind of everyone. I asked myself those questions and after fighting the truth I accepted the fact that what inspired me to reject the idea of a God was doubt. Nothing more, just doubt, aroused by nothing but the sake of the very emotion that is doubt. It's almost a fad isn't it? I wish I could remember it more clearly and word it better. There really is no moral to the story. I just thought it would be an interesting little tale that makes you think about what inspires people to make the decisions they do and what was it based on? Questions you can only really ask yourself as it is very difficult to get to the truth of someone else's processing. After all, nobody likes the idea that they are wrong when it comes to their own philosophies. P.S. That teacher was gone by the time I started going to high school as a freshman, I never heard accurately if he quit or was fired but I can take a guess.....

I know the earth absorbs matter from the universe and I imagine some matter escapes. I'm gonna guess and say the earth is gathering more than it lets go. Would raises a question of mine. A certain number of things have to stay generally the same for something to stay in orbit right? Like size, speed and distance from the object it's orbiting. The sun is pulling the earth in as the earth is trying to get away at just the right amount to keep earth in orbit. My question is how much can the earth gain or lose before the orbit is dangerously interrupted. I read or heard somewhere (maybe it was this forum) that if we ever mined on the moon that we would have to be careful how much we take off it or else it could crash into the earth.

What can be expected if we lived on a heavier planet? The stress on the body would resemble weight lifting on this planet wouldn't it? I'm not sure if muscles would grow stronger or just die on us and even if we did grow stronger if our bodies would get worn out quicker. I'm wondering if we would have any other troubles biologically? After some generations we'd develop an equilibrium like we have here on Earth when we are at rest wouldn't we? How much of a gravity boost can the average person handle before they just can't even get themselves off the ground? Would everyone end up being ripped or would our muscles change so that they don't have to be as big as they do on Earth to be as strong? Would it affect our height and size at all? And of course, the reverse. If we stayed under light gravity for a prolonged time like on the moon, would there be any health risks?

Nice replies! Will this same event occur if a bomb explodes in a vacuum such as outer space? I'm interested in what your talking about as far as sound but I don't know what you mean. Can you give an example?

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/877471/bunker_buster/ why does the blast get sucked back in like that?

whys that?

Some ideas to consider when postulating a response are..... 1. The ratio of atheist to theist charity workers and missionaries and why the path of atheism is so highly correlated with the path of egoism. 2. Many atheists (all the ones I know too) never even read a piece of literature from a religion or can recite a single verse from any of their texts nor have any sense of the practice what so ever. It's very common for individuals to abandon a faith they know absolutely nothing about and move to an ideology simply from a virtual feeling of doubt that is disconnected from any forms of premeditation that should of influenced that decision. A blind decision, yet deals with the thought of a person not needing the existence of a god in their life. What is it about the world today that teaches kids doubt about something they haven't even really considered to begin with? 3. The foundation of many theists faith is inspired by fear, which is why the promise of eternal life is the most popular topic in the major religions. 4. Every choice we make is inspired by a feeling of love or fear. There are positive and negative sides of fear just like there are positive and negative sides of love (example: grief is a negative feeling inspired by love). Anger, Hatred and Jealousy come from a feeling of fear and are widely accepted as useless. However, it is very rare to find a person who has truly discarded the potential of having those feelings. 5. Why is the most common response to a negative outlook on the world to become introverted, conceited, egotistical, aggressive. (Example: A girl who treats another girl like trash because she feels intimidated by the fact that she's better looking and has large breasts and all the qualities the world encourages that she despises because she feels insecure about herself) 6. Feelings. Teenagers are often very emotional and contemplative, trying to figure out who they are and what they agree with. The most common ideology and methodology I see from people around me is that they discovered through thought that the most important thing is to be happy and do whatever it is you want to do and how you feel about yourself is what's important and that how you feel about yourself shouldn't be inspired by how other people feel about you. Teenagers really feel those judging eyes on them, always reminding them in what ways they are disappointing their parents and elder figures. They turn that feeling into a burden and this is why they so often feel they need to inform everyone that they "don't care what people think". Teens really feel like they figured it out all out when they have the epiphany "trust your feelings, you have nothing else to go on and don't let other people make you feel bad about your pursuit of happiness because they don't agree with your lifestyle, your having a lot of fun and that's what matters". Are listening to your feelings all you need? Listen to your heart and you'll know what's true for you? The Jedi believe to "be mindful of your feelings, they can betray you". People often mistake the imperfections of theists as examples of the flaws of a religion. The way humans behave, making mistakes, often contradicting the very morals they layed down, this isn't a religious condition it is a human condition. The greatest act of faith is to have faith. Trusting in your God even when you don't see all ends. Putting aside strong temptations when everything in you tells you to pursue your desires but your faith tells you to cast it aside. Should going on how you feel about something really dictate your actions? There are people in this world who's greatest desire is to molest, rape, torture, murder and violate every part of an innocent being. Should such people be encourage to pursue what they are most passionate about? Does the lesson have to be universal for it to apply? 7. Should your philosophical mind overrule your logical mind? Is whether abortion is right or wrong a scientific question, an economical question, a spiritual question, a philosophical question? We struggle to define things but when you look closer the more you have to segregate until you can't define a species, light, life, space or the universe and truth. There's you, me and everything in between. Always a contradiction when under fire of analysis. In this way can man truly govern itself? Is it the last word of authority? Is whether God exists and the need for a God in humanity a worthy distinction? Does man decide what's right and what's wrong? Our laws change all the time, our idea of god changes through time. Does a person have a better reason for killing a rat in their house than killing a baby fetus because rats are classified as pests and a fetus is human or do you have a better reason for aborting a fetus? 8. "We're all equal but some of us are more equal". That quote is in reference to classes and how we esteem ourselves in the world. With competitive drive fueling us to improve and advance our technology and cultures, with the ability to achieve and step up and earn what you work for as a drive to a healthy and rewarding life, is the idea of everyone truly being equal worth all the cons? 9. Is to love and be loved all a person needs? 10. Is anyone truly satisfied with being alone? 11. Why do the depressed so often attempt to continue down the path of pain and the morbid and push people away and self-destruct instead of making an effort to feel better and let in the things that may enhance your mood and bring you balance once again? Why don't they want to be saved? 12. When should a person feel guilty about their pursuit of material and self gain? Do you measure a man on what he gained or what he gave? These thoughts are just to get clouds moving. Ego ties in with damn near everything so I felt I should try and broaden some of those ideas.

So basically, nobody knows?

thanks guys

They are higher than most things in suburban areas, and they have those giant towers holding them up, and they are all over the place. One would figure that they get struck by lightning often. So, what happens when..... 1. One of the towers gets struck? 2. One of the lines gets struck? Also 3. Why don't those poles on top of sky scrappers ever melt from being struck? 4. How does a man get struck by lightning and not get burned? 5. How much more likely am I to get struck by lightning if I stand directly under a very lightning active thunderstorm in the middle of a flat and wide open field with a 20ft pole in my hand sticking int he air? 6. Will lightning ever drag? Example: It strikes the ground and is connected just long enough for the motion of the storm cloud to drag the bolt along the ground a short distance. 7. Why wasn't the lightning that struck my neighbors house and destroyed their chimney distinguishably loud from most of the other thunder?

Being addressed forcefully by authority figures, thunderstorms, brooding over past experiences that time hasn't put far enough away, negative tones and ideas of the world around you inflicting morbid mental health. Is there any material on methodologies for working through things like this? Instead of having experiences and becoming stronger from them, I instead feel like I'm just piling more and more weight on me and I'm sinking and that as time goes on I'm just getting chipped away at until when I'm an old man there will be hardly anything left but a ruin of a man, broken and defeated by the world around me instead of being able to successfully create and protect my own world, a sanctuary to keep me safe. I am not hard enough to dismiss or marginalize the views and opinions and actions of those around me that tear me apart. I always supposed it's depression mixed with me just being an oversensitive ***** who can't handle the world around him. My parents won't get me a psychologist because they think it's stupid and I'm just being a baby and I need to suck it up etc. Their neglect for my mental state is also of course a main contributor but despite my sincerest efforts that concept is beyond them and they just get angry at me. For the longest time I believed that when it was really time I could handle it and figure it out myself but that was the biggest mistake I ever made. Nothing happened today, I sat around, listened to music, watched some videos, surfed the net, played with my dogs, had a good lunch, and yet the general mood was just feeling down. I can't pin it on any sources. All I know is now I've been stuck here and I can't make a leap to get back on healthy track and it just gets worse over time.

Since Tuesday or Wednesday I've had this white spot on the inside of my cheek that looks like a flat blister. It feels like a sore taste bud, just on my cheek. At first I thought it was maybe because I accidentally bit my cheek or chewed on it in my sleep. Friday I decided to actually look at the area and noticed the white mark. Since then it's gotten a little bit bigger. It'll hurt if something rubs up against it look my tooth or my tongue or food but other then that I at all times feel a light sensation on my cheek just like you would with a sore taste bud on your cheek. I figure if it didn't get better by Tuesday that I'd go to emergency care but I just wanted to know if anybody had an idea of what this could be? I have a sneaking suspicion I might of got an infection when I was gnawing on the pad of one end of my nunchucks.

I thought Einstein was the one working on his "theory of everything". This is the very thing he was doing while in bed during his final days, no? "All my life I have been trying to catch God at his work" he said. http://www.firstscience.com/SITE/articles/kaku.asp

Great thoughts pioneer! Anybody else? How do you get seasons working? How do you fake a sun that illuminates 10,000 square miles of surface? How do we handle pollutants emitted into the air so that we don't have to end up leaving after awhile?

Is it supposed to be in empty space or is it in clumps everywhere including my room? Can anything be said about this stuff other then it generates gravity? For instance, how much could be clumped together into how small a space and would a light matter object be able to pass through it? When I caught a few minutes of a show on TV they were talking about how dark matter is just kinda stitched into the universe. If that's so, then it should only move as the universe expands. Dark matter is supposed to be the reason the galaxies are being held together in the first place so shouldn't a galaxy's location be dictated on on the concentration of dark matter? If galaxies collide and get sucked into each other how do they escape the clumps of dark matter if dark matter isn't moving around in the universe (except for expansion..if even). Also, about black holes, does their presence disrupt the presence of dark matter in space?

I often wonder what it would take to design a small dimension capable of supporting human life removing the factors of gravity and the ability to make a physical plane not residing in the universe. I always imagined this dimension to be nothing but 4 dimension, 3 spacial and one time, in an empty cube several hundred miles in height, width and depth. I ponder questions like these.... -How to create weather cycles -Designing an artificial sun -Supporting plant life without the use of a sun -How to manage air quality with pollutation related substances let off into the air. as well as a few others. I always imagined this world filled at least a mile high with earth, with the center being the highest point so that an island would be created when we filled the surrounding area with millions of gallons of water. I made a half ass attempt to "illustrate" the vision in two little crappy pictures here. See how the island is in the middle there and everything surrounding it is water until they reach the boarders, like filling a giant tub. I realize now it would be preferable (if not required) to have it dome shaped instead of a giant square, so let's pretend it's a sphere. The question I ask myself the most is, would clouds be able to be produced in this little world, so that rain was possible? That's the question I wanted to hear most about as I don't know the extra factors required in having a stable weather system. We'd want the world to be self-sufficient with oxygen at least so we wouldn't have to keep pumping it into the world. Which takes plant life righto? And plant life requires what? sun water and carbon dioxide? So we need to give them that for them to be able to grow on our island, could we fake it? Starting out, the whole world would be dark and all sources of light would have to be artificial (starting out with flashlights so we can see where the hell we're going). Most resources would have to come from earth, being fed into the portal/tear/welcome to box world door (lispy accent). Anyways, this is something I like to think about. I find it fun and I thought I might bring the idea to brighter minds to see what they make of such a redickuless idea.

I'd say all arounder. Brains with deadly effective close quarter combat training and a sharp shooter with a myriad knowledgebase of weapons and gadgets. A survivor who might be able to tactically get himself out of something like a military base if he's captured. I'm not really asking who could do that, more of, who's more likely to be able to do those things and have those skills (based on the kinds of training they get and skill requirements). Jason Bourne seems to be good at everything. Do people even remotely as talented as that exist?