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Reaper

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Everything posted by Reaper

  1. Alright, I will give you a hint: There is either no solution, or infinitely many solutions.
  2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mCD2rw_HV0 Enjoy . And yes, I made that video. ============================ On a more serious note, I've read somewhere that playing tetris actually does improve your spatial abilities and has a noticeable effect on how you use your brain. How many studies have their been on the game and it's effect on cognition? And, how good are you at the game?
  3. Yes, notice how it says CHARGED PARTICLES, not ALL particles. Gamma rays and regular light can penetrate the magnetic field with ease. It supports my position completely.
  4. There is a difference between not being able to observe/know something, and constructing a set of stories/statements in such a way as to be unfalsifiable. That, ultimately, what makes science hugely more reliable for explaining everything around us, rather than religion.
  5. If we are speaking of why they would come to Earth, you have to remember that almost all colonization or exploration efforts are rarely, if ever, done for pure scientific knowledge. Presumably they would send probes first to determine the best landing spots though... If we are assuming that faster than light travel is impossible, any aliens that would come to Earth would most likely be here to stay. How they intend to interact with us would be the real question, not so much what they would do if they came....
  6. No it would not. Magnetism only works on other materials that are magnetized, and the gases of a hot Jupiter probably wouldn't have that much. Second, magnetism only occurs when there is an electric current, and even then it's strength is dependent entirely on it's magnetic current. For all intents and purposes it is weak compared to the 4 fundamental forces (even gravity). To take an example for Jupiter, it's magnetic field is incredibly weak; it's field is only ten times stronger then that of Earth at the top of the clouds. We can make much stronger magnetic fields with a simple hammer and iron, or an electromagnet. Gravity, on the other hand, acts on all matter and particles. Thus it would be the predominant force that would keep the super-Jupiters together.
  7. I don't know, can't you just let it radiate out into the open while on land?
  8. The topic of when domestication of various species began is still well under dispute, but regardless the Middle East seems to have won out in terms of having a large variety of easily domesticated organisms, and being able to store them for long periods of time (which would reduce the effects of a famine should one ever occur...). In the tropics, so far the evidence points out to fact that there wasn't alot of easily domesticable organisms initially... =========================== Now that we are on the topic of why science took so long, I'm surprised that ideological and philosophical considerations haven't been mentioned. Clearly it has been shown that societies that lack the ability to generate large surpluses of food will not get very far in terms of scientific and technological development, but what about ideological, religious, economic and philosophical impacts. Lets take the example of China; China was the most technologically advanced civilization on the planet from the Roman Empire, right up to maybe the Enlightenment Age (I would push it a little further, to the end of the scientific revolution, but whatever). Their mathematics was usually on par with Greek mathematics, though they did not develop Euclidean geometry. And as early as the Tang Dynasty, they could have embarked on a scientific revolution, while as early as the Ming Dynasty they already had the tools necessary to embark on an industrial revolution. And yet, it never happened. In fact, from what I've read, they couldn't even decide on whether the world was flat or round right up until the Qing Dynasty, when the Jesuits came in and introduced Euclidean geometry to the region. And while they had extensive knowledge on chemical properties and reactions, their methods for obtaining such knowledge (e.g. making gun powder to give an example) were far from scientific as we see it. And as far as I know, the study and pursuit of fundamental science (i.e. physics) never seemed to have occured... Anyone care to discuss?
  9. I don't like the fact that apparently 428 members decided this thread should be closed! On the side, how did you do that? Past experience here suggests that no more than at most 30 people vote on any given thread. It's a conspiracy I tell you!!!! I'll get to the bottom of this soon or later
  10. You could look at the wiki for some basic information on the neolithic revolution. But if you want a more authoritative source, Guns Germs and Steel is pretty good for this topic. Also, read this: http://cas.bellarmine.edu/tietjen/images/neolithic_agriculture.htm as that article seems to suggest that domestication could have occurred earlier than previously thought.
  11. See what I mean? And you thought I was crazy...
  12. I'm not disputing that they are "easy" or "hard" to grow, especially with their present genes and characteristics. What I am arguing is that they may have taken a very long time to domesticate. Not all the foods that we take for granted were all domesticated at the same time. For example, while wheat was grown by humans as early as 9000 B.C.E., strawberries were domesticated as recently as the middle ages. It took a full ten thousand years since the agricultural revolution before we could easily grow strawberries for consumption. Now it turns out that in New Guinea there was a crop (Taro?) that was domesticated very early on, but that remained their only staple crop until much later. Yams and other South American crops didn't come into the Pacific islands until much later, during historical times. And whether or not the islands were good for farming determined their primary food supply. Add to the fact that they didn't have many plants that could be domesticated easily, and the fact that there were no large (or any) animals that could be domesticated (New Guinea did have domestic pigs, but they were very small...), and it would be very difficult to reach the conditions necessary for civilization to begin. In the Middle East, on the other hand, they already had a large number of easily domesticable plants very early on, and it was only a matter of time before those crops diffused along the Eurasian continent in similar climates.
  13. To add on to what Klaynos said, all available evidence points to there being much more normal matter then anti-matter. Anti-matter usually results from radioactive decay, or from very high energy fields (think particle accelerators) where there is a very good chance of matter-antimatter pairs coming into existence
  14. I don't know. Maybe you are the one who lost it? For all I know, you could be one of them.....
  15. Prove me wrong people, prove me wrong.....
  16. @SkepticLance, The current breeds that they have are very easy to plant and harvest, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they were easy to domesticate. Crops such as wheat were very easy to domesticate initially because they were very adaptable and required little effort to plant. As a result they were domesticated very early on and could be used to support a very large population later on... Along with the fact that they had a very convenient season pattern and had a higher nutrient yield per acre too, unlike some of the crops native in Java to give an example. The time it takes for civilizations to emerge does largely depend on the available domestic food sources. The Middle East not only had very easy crops and livestock, but they had more of them than any other continent. As such they were able to build civilizations very early on.
  17. No it's not. I didn't really start learning about science until I was about 15 or 16 yrs of age (well, actually I didn't start really get serious about school in general up until that time...), and I made it to a top notch science/tech school and have plenty of companies looking my way for hire and internship... ============================ If you really want any good and useful advice, the best way is just simply to cultivate his interest as much as you can, such as letting him go to the Space Academy (or if that is too expensive, then take him to a planetarium or something...) As well, try and push him to do very well in school especially in math and science. If he is seriously considering becoming an astronaut the two things they look for the most are good grades (especially in science) and military training (especially if you were part of the Air Force). Of course, it has been stated above that the chances of becoming an astronaut are very small, but even if he doesn't get to go, he will still have the option of pursuing a career in space science. (or just science in general)
  18. Reaper

    Autism Test

    Now I definitely know that this test is bullshit. I scored a 31. But the problem here is that I'm officially diagnosed.... I would not take that test too seriously, especially since it's online. The questions that are asked are very vague, refer only to personality traits, and in reality, can apply to just about anybody. What defines a person who has autism is not whether they like to do "geeky" things, but whether they have the capability to display any social and/or emotional competence. If you can do that well (or at least average) then you are not autistic.
  19. Hey look what I found: Basically, a guy who is rapping about astrobiology, and the methods employed in the practice. Enjoy!
  20. Most of these Jupiters that have been found are much, much larger than Jupiter; they are typically dubbed Super-Jupiters. I would not be surprised if such planets would have the gravity necessary to hold on to their material.
  21. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRdpNSqygc4 That's my youtube video Enjoy :-)
  22. Reaper

    Zombie Plan

    If they are attracted to brains, then why are we even formulating these plans in the first place? Surely most of America (and the world) is lacking in such things...
  23. Depends on which sections you read. Galileo's works are very accessible, but Einstein not so much unless you have knowledge of Tensor Calculus... There is almost no commentary or footnotes in that book, other than to translate some ambiguous statement
  24. Reaper

    7 days left

    Exactly one week from now, George Bush will leave the White House and Obama will take his place. After 8 years, the history's stupidest president will finally take his leave. But, do you really have high hopes for Obama? I'm already having my doubts, especially with the announcement made in this thread over here...
  25. I guess another thing we could also do, speaking of subsidy's, is that we could also stop subsidizing the petroleum industry. But I don't see any indication that this is going to happen anytime soon either...
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