paulsutton

Thanks for this, I did sort of build one of these up at the STEM group meeting but the people who this was aimed at didn't make it. So hopefully can do this at a future event.

Just a quick question about this, I downloaded the attached from Openclipart. I am a little confused as to why Uracil and Thymine appear identical, other than the numbers. I am not too sure what the numerical values around Uracil represent. Could someone clarity what these are please. If the molecule is wrong then I will just have a look for a better resource for this. As far as I am aware Uracil is not one of the main 4 actual nucleobase. However would be good to have a little more understanding of what I am looking at here, as I am planning an activity to build these molecules from molymods as part of a STEM Group activity. Thanks Paul

Interesting, sounds like it is something that at some point in the future will be a possibility, but it is clear generally that this would also need huge investment long term, and also assurance that people have or will be able to develop the skills needed to work at these power stations at all levels. I can't see the current government planning that far ahead or working with other parties to ensure some sort of continuity of policy to ensure long term stability of projects.

Nuclear fusion plant to be built at West Burton A power station https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-63119465 Interesting article, how viable is this method of generating power? just posting here for comments and perhaps we can collate related articles and papers etc relating to fusion technology. Paul

Cool thanks

Is it possible to add a Atomic Energy category to the Physics section please. Or perhaps advise where best to start a thread on a related topic (Fusion reactors). Thanks Paul

Sounds like a step in the right direction, we are treading on new ground experimentation -> learning and ten revision of what we can do, but also what we can't do. Even if the plants fail to grow as long as we can learn and then find a way to try different things we should eventually get to the point where we can grow things.

I meant in the context that Mark Chapman was holding a copy of the book when he shot John Lennon in 1980.

Cool thanks for this, I can't upvote this as it seems my days quota has been reached. is this still something we should be thinking about when we start building bases on the moon, making sure that we can detect and also deflect incoming objects. ?

Could be yes, I am not an expert but we know ecosystems are complex How much do we really understand about how everything fits together. We are killing off bees and other insects, they are needed to fertilize crops so there could be a combination of many factors, we ave found microplastics all over the world are they having an effect, what about for ever chemicals.?

I think this thread suggests there are problems with soil fertility etc, you would need to do a lot of work to make the desert sand suitable to grow crops, for human consumption. Why not use solar power?

I would guess that growing crops remove nutrients from the soil, but this can't simply be replaced the soil is a living organism in a way full of microbes,bacteria essential compounds, so a very find balance.

Catcher in the Rye has a different significance for Beatles' fans

In some cases the screens stay up to protect staff from abuse.

Is that not right then, i thought Helium was produced from the fusion of Hydrogen in stars. Hence the name is derived from Helios (sun) They have recently grown plants from returned moon soil, which may imply that there could be some nutrients in that soil If I understand things plants need Nitrogen and other elements found in soil to grow properly. I know peas use a lot of Nitrogen and can't generally be planted in the same place each year as time is needed for the level of Nitrogen to recover (I could be wrong here) https://www.universal-sci.com/article/plants-grown-in-moon-soil Important step and opens up more fields of research. Paul

Firstly I am not an expert but can offer this, as others have pointed out money and the costs involved Here in the UK we do have a canal network, that can extend vast distances (well at least for the UK) but I think ultimately it is about proper management of the land, dredge rivers. This of course depends on the land owner giving permission etc (the same for land owners) Unless they can be convinced, which is easier if they can some how benefit too. I think another cause of flooding is blocked sewers, people will put oils /fats down sinks, or put wet wipes down the toilet, all of which cause blockage. Blocked drains caused by leaves and other debris, which if left causes problems, But how often do we get so much rain it causes these issues, so the argument is that unblocking drains to stop the issue becomes an expense. When there is heavy rain the sewers can't cope, of course London sewers have been around since Victorian times, so while still working, the population of London has increased massively since that time. but finding efficient ways to move water around will be essential going forward.

In terms of Origins of Elements I found this posted on Twitter I think the other day which may be helpful Lighter elements were formed in stars, heavier elements seemed to have been formed when stars explode, or undergo changes during their life time / end of life.

Yes discarded masks are causing problems world wide I think given there are probably billions used over the pandemic and some not disposed of properly. More people are working from home, which also means they are heating homes during the winter, so that may have an impact, this could be mitigated by the current fuel costs, going up, which may force people to find other places to work remotely rather than at home, or just return to the office. Also running computers / printers at home, seems that cost of INk is having problems too, I would assume most offices uses laser printers, which are more efficient, and can print more per toner unit too. I guess there are a lot of factors. Seems that since the lockdowns have eased or ended people are going back to their old ways.

I got this impression too, some insects are attracted by certain smells from our bodies, different people have different levels of a particular chemical may attract tics differently. I would guess the correct term could be aromatic compounds, which IIRC ammonia is. Could explain why some people are more prone.

Same here, I had a book called The Universe and Planet earth which gave me my first real intro to the topic of protons, neutron, electrons and the particles that make these up (well the first two of course). Book is still a really excellent guide to the topic as it has info on earth sciences,black holes, physics, chemistry etc. Yes we read Of Mice and men Inspector calls long, short and the tall and a few others which I can't remember.

Looks like the NASA Dart mission test was a success. A couple of questions from this https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/dart/dart-news If an asteroid was heading towards the Earth and we used a similar method to the above to change the trajectory is there a danger that this could cause any asteroid to hit the moon ? (Similar method, as if this can happen anytime, even 100 years from now we will have moved on technically but still need to do this. ) In which case, would we need to consider any impacts on Moon bases Is there a danger that any impact on the moon could cause debris from the Moon to hi the Earth, or any satellites in orbit ? Is there a danger of moon impact, shifting the orbit of the moon or would any such asteroid need to be a certain size / speed for this to happen Thanks for any help, Paul

This was my main motivation, I did an IOU certificate in contemporary science, completed in 2012 so undertaking a few Open Learn courses just added to this, fore example the How the universe works module for the certificate had the Higgs boson as still a theory, so completing a course post confirmation updated that knowledge, that may seem a small thing but the Higgs boson has been important going forward for physics. I agree here, it seems a lot of students are complaining about University level course not knowing that they are meant to do a lot of extra study between lectures.

So from this we can perhaps conclude there are both friendly and unfriendly mutations. We have seen mutations at work with the variants of the Covid 19 virus. So the virus adapts, also with things like anti biotic resistant bacteria. In terms of friendly, yes evolution, unfriendly Cancers etc.

I think quite a few of the courses have material that is contained within the longer Paid for OU courses, or perhaps courses that have been retied but where the content is still relevant. Worth checking out, but check out the course learning outcomes.

Thanks, this makes sense so I would guess that Carbon 13 is also perhaps made with cosmic radiation too, Paul So one example could be perhaps that Bananas contain radioactive isotopes of Potassium.