MigL

The OP might be an almond, and you a pecan, Baron. But you're both nuts.

Energy gravitates, Andy. If you could concentrate an amount of energy above the Earth, it would warp space-time so that there would be an upward force toward it; And if a large enough concentration, you would actually 'fall' up towards it. Unfortunately this energy concentration would be equivalent to the mass-energy of the Earth ( remember when Strange asked you to calculate it ? ), and the tidal forces would destroy our world. This is equivalent to points between the Earth and Moon, or Earth and Sun, where the net force is zero as one attraction cancels out the other, while technically in both potential wells ( look up Lagrange points ).

Thanks for itemizing the 'vested interests' of various groups/governments. But you left out one very important group. What does the Syrian population want ?

Forget the specialty diets that tell you 'cut out all carbs' or 'cut out all fats'. The human body is an adaptive machine. If you go without fats ( for example ) for any length of time, the body will actually start 'cannibalizing' muscle mass, or protein, in order to store fat deposits for 'lean' times. This is an evolutionary mechanism. Your best bet, is a balanced diet, including ALL food groups ( variety keeps it interesting ), while reducing caloric intake, and exercising regularly. Remember that even exercise is an adaptive mechanism. If you're just interested in burning calories, use the biggest muscles in your body ( buttocks and thighs ) in some repetitive motion like running or cycling. If you want to build muscle, on the other hand, you need to use more weight than your muscles can currently handle; Otherwise they have no need to grow/strengthen.

An EMP ( electro-magnetic pulse ) is strong enough to 'ionize' ( blow away ) electrons out of the conduction band and semi-conduction band of most electronic and electrical equipment. Semiconductors would be more easily affected with today's small design rules. There is no 'after-shocks' unless there are 'after-explosions'. If one quarter of the Moon were blown away, I'd be more concerned with WHERE these chunks of moon were going to land, as at lest some would come crashing down on Earth. Global annihilation would be more of a concern than cell phones not working

Anything that is expanding can be linearly regressed ( run the film backwards ) to an origin. The problem is our physical laws fall apart before we get to that origin. That doesn't negate any conclusions we may draw before getting to that point. That is what the Big Bang does; and better than any other theory. Or do you think continuous creation, going on even now, and which has no observational evidence, is preferable to one instance of ( possible ) creation, at time t=0, when physical laws did not apply ?

What do you mean ? You aren't a gentleman ? You don't hold the door for others ? Say 'bless you' when someone sneezes ? Pick up the check when out with a woman ? ( just kidding )

I'll join the club also. I'm as far removed from an expert as can be. I do know however that my two housecats, who never go outside ( I live on a busy street ) except for the odd visit to the vet, are deathly afraid of things overhead. Turning on a ceiling fan will make them scurry for cover, even if you're carrying them in your arms, yet they have no fear of fans below their level. How did they learn to be afraid of overhead predators if they've never experienced that particular danger ? By what mechanism does an ancestral memory become an instinct ?

So I have an opinion. And you have an opinion. Yet you still jump from an airplane, knowing that your parachute will glide you to safety, overcoming a basic survival instinct not to jump from great heights. You will still face a lion or tiger on safari ( I don't think your that kind of person ), knowing that your rifle will easily take it down, overcoming your primal fear. With training, you would handle a cobra in a zoo, paying no attention to the instinctive ( some say ) fear of snakes. You will still ride a plane, train or automobile at great speed without fear of all the air being sucked out and suffocating, because you know that's not how things work. Heck, you would ( I know I would jump at the chance ) float in orbit, outside your rocket capsule, without any fear of falling because you know how gravity works. Try any of those things with any other animal; My cats scratch me half to death when I try to throw them in a shower once every blue moon. Or maybe you'll wait for a study... PS: I should add that I've never stated that instinct is completely eliminated, but knowledge does modify ( some ) instinctive reactions.

What evidence do I have ? The third paragraph that you quoted listed two examples. C'mon, at least read my posts.

You're right about that aspect; We've become so intelligent, we can easily destroy ourselves, and most other species. What other species can do that ? But it is our capacity, through language, that allows us to pass on knowledge ( so that we may stand on the shoulders of those who preceded ), and we gained the ability to alter our environment as soon as we made the first tool and were able to start a fire. Knowledge and understanding can alter a person's instinctive reaction. Fear of the unknown is no longer instinctive for most of us, but it is for my cats. Fifty yrs ago I may have been apprehensive if being followed by a person of different color. Now, through gained understanding, I think nothing of it. Knowledge changes people, and their animalistic instincts ( sometimes for the worse, unfortunately ).

Well, until you can ask a fish ( or an Irishman ), you guys are just expressing an opinion. The facts, on the other hand, show that we have become the dominant form of life on this planet, by using our intelligence to alter our environment, as opposed to our ancestors', and every other life form's method, of either adapting to the environment and surviving, or not, and becoming extinct. I'm sure even the dolphins are hard-wired to procreate and survive as a species, and if intelligence, passing on of knowledge, and technology would facilitate this, they might do the same as humans. ( and yes, iNow, that's how fish evolved, by climbing onto land and eventually, trees )

Give yourself some credit, Ten oz... You can be taught how to build a car or a television, or even how strawberries grow. ( If you don't already have this knowledge ) No other animal can accomplish this. And as Cladking says, it is language which facilitates our learning abilities, and 're-wiring' of our thinking. ( which doesn't mean our native 'instincts' are ever totally submerged by our thinking )

Janus' post demonstrates that a propulsion system is most efficient when the 'propellant' is moving at the same ( but negative ) velocity as the vehicle. A simple example would be the efficiency of a turbofan engine over a turbojet at the subsonic speeds of an airliner. Or the efficiency of a propeller ( or helicopter blades ) at even slower speeds. And helicopters can hover in 'ground effect' ( approximate height equal to rotor diameter ) with much improved efficiency ( up to 10% ) because of pressure effects and reduced blade tip recirculation

Just came across this, and maybe its just hindsight, having read the whole thread... It occurred to me early on that the third prisoner is BLIND ( hint, hint ), and so, cannot make a decision based on what he sees. He can only make his decision based on what the other two prisoners see, and his hat is common to what they see. That is how the analysis should proceed, and where previous analysis failed

I'm sorry, I'm gonna have to go with Raider on this one. Any study that doesn't isolate extraneous variables is worthless. And 'religious' fundamentalism, being a subset of fundamentalism ( in general ), all we can really draw from this study is that people with certain types of brain damage are more reluctant ( or unable ) to change their basic or fundamental belief system ( of which religiosity is a subset ). I don't know if I would go as far as Raider, and imply that a LACK of belief is, itself, a belief. As such, I don't see it applying to atheism. My own take on the matter is that anyone who suffers ( any kind of ) trauma, is more likely to become religious. God is there for people who need to believe in him; Those who don't, have no need for him. And, if the concept gives my fellow human beings comfort, I have no problem with that.

You will certainly get a signal. But if you're looking to generate current you'd better investigate other means.

You make some valid points which are certainly worthy of discussion, but you present them in a confrontational manner. Why the rant/attack on Democrats at the end ? Why the need to label ? There is acceptable and unacceptable behavior, no matter whether its Republican or Democrat behavior. All your approach ensures is a constantly rising negative rep, possible banning, and other members totally ignoring what may have been valid points because they perceive a personal attack. Are you getting anywhere with this approach ?

Both 'real' and 'pop' science have their place, and are important. It is only when one tries to pass itself off as the other that we run into trouble.

If electronic components survive the first few days, they'll last forever... As long as they have well regulated supply voltages, and are kept in the allowed temperature range. Mechanical systems, however, tend to deteriorate over time. I noticed Sensei uses a CoolerMaster power supply: It is a 'name brand' which provides good voltage regulation/transient protection. If he also keeps his system clean and well ventilated, the electronics in his computer will last long after his hard drives have crashed, his connectors have deteriorated, and its been slowed/bloated by malware/adware/Trojans/viruses. If you consider a second generation Intel i5-2xxx, you will find that it is not much slower than a seventh generation i5-7xxx.This is because Intel hasn't had any 'real' competition since the AMD Athlon, and have concentrated on reducing process size/power consumption. A 'decent' system from 6 yrs ago will keep up with most new systems except in power consumption ( laptops hold charge longer ) and gameplay ( as new graphics cards are massively more parallel ). With the introduction of the AMD Ryzen architecture, we have real competition again, and our systems may become obsolete much quicker as competition leads to quicker advances.

I didn't turn this into partisan political football, rangerx, you did. You do remember that the Liberals under J Chretien and P Martin were in power for about 4 yrs after O Khadr was taken to Guantanomo, don't you ? What exactly did they do ? Or are you conveniently forgetting that just to dump on 'evil' S Harper and Conservatives again ? Have you read the charter ? It guarantees freedom of movement to any Canadian. That means every jail sentence is in violation of a basic Canadian right ( there is also a limitations clause which allows for suspension of rights for up to 5 yrs ). Do you advocate letting all criminals/murderers out of jail or apologizing to them after release and giving them millions in compensation ? O Khadr was extradited to the US for crimes committed against an American. At that point American law takes over and he is subject to the American Justice System. Not ours or our rights, as our Charter has no standing in American courts. If they chose to put him in Guantanamo Bay according to their laws ( and no, I don't care to discuss whether those laws were just, that is for Americans to decide ), who are we to complain. Do we apologize and give restitution to other Canadians convicted in foreign countries, like Turkey or Mexico, and sent to inhumane jails for drug possession ? Or do you think people should realize that the rights granted by one society may be different from those granted by a different society ? Do you think Americans should give an apology and a huge settlement to the student who was stupid enough to go to North Korea, commit a crime, and subsequently suffer brain damage due to torture, because his rights were violated ?

OK, so he has all the rights of a Canadian as granted by the Charter. If considered a soldier/combatant, what is he doing fighting in a war against a coalition that Canada is a part of ? That used to be called treason, and was at one time ( not too long ago ), punishable by death. If a civilian, and Canadian, with all associated rights, did he not kill an American ? He can certainly be extradited and charged with murder. So what exactly is he? Sure his parents treated him badly, but they weren't there when he lobbed the grenade. That was his decision. You feel bad his rights were violated ? What about the rights of Sgt. Speer and his family ? I don't hear anyone clamoring their rights were violated. Or doesn't that fit your false narrative, ranger ?

For those who don't know, Omar Khadr is the Canadian born son of Afghan parents, who took him back to Afghanistan at a young age to train as a terrorist. There are pictures of him as a youth making IEDs. At age 15 he was involved in a firefight with American soldiers, was wounded and tossed a grenade which killed a medic, Sgt. Speer. He was taken to Guantanamo Bay, where he was interrogated by the American Government as well as the previous Canadian Liberal Government. He was held for about 15 yrs, during which time we elected a Conservative Government, and now, again a Liberal Government. He has been re-patriated for a few yrs, and now our Government has decided to issue a public apology to him, plus $10mil in compensation, for violating his charter rights. I wonder if PM Trudeau will issue an apology and compensation to the family of the victim, SGT. Speer, since the murderous act was conducted by someone PM Trudeau ( now ) embraces as a Canadian ? When did the rights of a perpetrator become MORE important than the rights of a Victim ? Or is this another case of bending over backwards to be seen to be politically correct ? Your thoughts and opinions, as always, are valued and appreciated.

You hear voices Raider ? You should get that checked out or take your meds. Seriously, different people learn in different ways. The way information is presented is also very important to the assimilation. That's why there are good teachers and some really bad ones.

Coefficient of lift is empirically derived through wind tunnel testing, originally by NACA, now NASA, but most manufacturers have their own modifications to standard profiles, which are optimized for specific circumstances/missions. One profile whose Cl is probably in the public domain is the standard 'Clark Y' profile. ( at one time I could have given you the NACA number, I think it was something like be 6xx45 ??? but I don't recall )