Phi for All

Oh yes. Many people hope what they suspect is true, and when they find out it is, then they can say they knew it was true.

A new electron beam device uses metal feed stock to create parts without molding or cutting. From the article: "The beam melts the wires and applies them carefully on top of a rotating plate to build an object up slowly, layer by layer." This is a huge step for space travel, but it also gives us a great short-term reason to invest in space stations and moon bases for manufacturing satellite and rocket parts. Very exciting!

Ooooh, well said! Yes, and probably feeling insecure due to the size of that snake on the woman's stomach. I think it's weird that Americans want to preserve the chastity of their women but it's the brandishing of the male genitalia that gets harsher ratings in movies. Or do they think that parading the python is going to put prurience in the place of purity in the minds of the ladies?

... plus the shame of having it displayed on each post, which just causes people to leave, essentially banning themselves. Most everything can be handled in-thread, imo, but that takes vigilance on everyone's part, not just the staff.

They already have an infraction system as a disciplinary measure. The reputation system is supposed to be for the community to have an influence on posters.

It was more a commentary on FOX News viewers. FOX has the highest ratings, and I don't think a lot of their viewers watch anything else, and they definitely don't bother to go back and check through the archives. So each new distortion is just fresh gospel to the exclusive FOX viewer. I know several people like this. It's a "mistake" when a FOX reporter contradicts himself or misrepresents a story, but it's a "lie" if anyone else does it.

Ah, the key to FOX News ratings.

I didn't watch the video. I'm assuming bascule is asking whether it's better to use the medical/insurance system resources to rescue someone who was purposely and enthusiastically risking their life. Unfortunately, because of his age, I'd have to say that I'd vote to save him if possible. If an adult did something like that, I'd have to say forget him if there are others you could save with those resources. If the poor kid was in the US, his insurance company would probably see it as a no gainer and dock him for the half mil, based on a pier-existing condition.

I used to sell a radiant barrier for home attic insulation, and it was nothing more than reflective foil sandwiching a mylar center (the plastic kept the two sheets of foil from touching and conducting heat). We were told that (back then) this was how spacesuits were designed (but with several more layers). I wonder how the results of the experiment would be if you simply wrapped a plastic bottle with aluminum foil (try not to wrinkle it too much), then did a layer of clear plastic wrap (Glad wrap), then another of tinfoil, more clear wrap and so on, until you have 7-10 layers? This would probably be the easiest and cheapest method if it worked well. You'd need to pay close attention to the mouth and lid, making sure they had just as much insulation.

"Splashing" from a faucet into a bucket of water implies water pushing water out of the bucket to fall to the ground. Evaporation is air vaporizing water out of the bucket, to travel generally upwards. If a splash doesn't splash *on* something, can it still be called a splash?

If there's no trick with the stream, I'm going to say that the bucket will fill faster if you hold it stationary, simply because you are creating air current by moving the bucket up and down, and that is going to cause a tiny extra amount of evaporation.

By "stream", do you mean the jet of water coming from the faucet or a small river near the faucet?

This is a big part of the problem. The adviser wasn't talking about "drugs", he was talking about cannabis and LSD being being less harmful than alcohol. Just two "drugs", but suddenly people start talking about making "drugs" legal and that, rightly, freaks them out. I would oppose simply legalizing cocaine or heroin, but there is enough evidence that suggests cannabis can be legalized without more adverse affects than keeping it illegal would have.

Never use generalities when talking about experiential evidence. It only seems like it always happens every time. I think this is partly true, but I think it's the motion of someone turning their heads that catches our peripheral vision. When they turn their heads to look somewhere else, we don't register it as deeply as when we detect that movement and then catch them looking at us. It could have to do with an aggression reaction as well. There are dominant animals that consider looking them in the eyes a challenge to their authority, and will display heavy aggression. Maybe that's what we're unconsciously scanning for.

What a horrible suggestion! And you're the only one who made it. I advocate legalizing only cannabis in the US, and I don't use it anymore. Why are you strawmanning the whole position by suggesting that everyone should use *all* drugs?

I have a Cricket TXTM8 my latest contract provided, and it's a pretty good smartphone. Runs about US$160, has everything you listed and then some. I think any phone you get these days is going to satisfy your list, just make sure they don't give you a skimpy battery and you should be OK.

As a science adviser to the government, I applaud Prof. Nutt's willingness to speak the truth rather than peddle the government line. Advisers should not me "yes men". Your list points are either subjective or could be directly related to the illegal nature of cannabis. How much of the paranoia, mood swings and disengaging are because you are doing something that could get you busted? And I know plenty of people who are not lazy when under its effects. I also think cannabis is probably not a drug many people starve their children over, that sounds like the hard stuff, and legal competition would probably bring prices down. As has been said already, the point is not whether cannabis and LSD should be legal, it's that they are not as bad for you physically as alcohol. And that's been tested scientifically.

Is your friend named "homework"?

But you're moving the goalposts from observable deities to observable claims which prove a deity's existence. The former aren't present (though there remains a possibility that they will manifest) and the latter are easily explained by natural means, or refutable as you've pointed out. I'd be open for a sub-forum that allows religious discussion, but it would have to be completely different from how we've done it in the past. Intense moderation failed because it was too stifling for most, and anything less would allow more of the same. A moderation queue might work, but many would cry censorship. I've given up thinking it's even a possibility here. Mostly it doesn't work because the people who shouldn't post there can't leave it alone.

In a scientifically measurable way?

How... convenient. Did his friends tell you this? That's not really peer review, you know.

Yeah? Where are they, again? I don't see them.

Two things really keep religion from being a measurably meaningful topic here, omnipotence and a lack of observable deities. The idea that a deity can work outside the physical mechanisms known to science keeps any scientific relevance from happening. And ultimately someone will explain a religious discrepancy with the phrase, "God is all-powerful". The only response is, "Prove it". Oh snap, nothing more to discuss. The fact that deities choose to remain unobservable means science can't even form any meaningful speculation. Supposed religious phenomena can be explained in natural ways, and where it can't, rational thought tells us not to leap to supernatural conclusions, and once again the discussion grinds to a halt.

"... cited for disorderly conduct" is how I heard it. Probably the same kind of citation they'd get if they were being disruptive inside the restaurant. I don't know, I think it was a mistake on the part of the McD's employee. In the video it says the employee felt threatened, and if the guys did say anything threatening when their rap fell flat, then I can see why the cops were called. On the other hand, if this is a viral thing and it happens every day, I can see store owners not wanting to slow down dinner sales so some kids can be funny. I commiserate because this is just the kind of thing I would have done at that age.

We've even launched sister sites centered around the origins debate and religion in general, using the SFN style of respect, rigor and rationality, but they all failed miserably. As ydoaPs said, one side or the other inevitably lost it and nothing meaningful was accomplished. It's difficult to respond scientifically to matters of faith, and equally difficult for those of faith to have sacred beliefs held up to scientific scrutiny. Natural and supernatural are poor instruments to measure each other by.