EdEarl

Check out khanacademy.org.

Good luck. I expect you will need quite a bit of math. Check out https://www.khanacademy.org/.

I am not pushing people to eat meat especially if they have health issues that demand a low fat diet. What I am saying is that Human Health and Development is best served by consuming Lean Meats such as Lean Cuts of Beef, Pork, Lamb...Chicken, Turkey...Rabbit ...Venison and Fish and as much vegetables a person would want to eat along with a few fruits a day and a limited amount of whole grain bread and pasta. Beans, Nuts and Berries added in now and then are also very good for the diet.

 

Those that profess to be true Vegans...that is eating a strict diet that excludes any Animal Flesh, Milk, Cheese or Eggs...and attempt to substitute certain dietary needs that come primarily from Animal flesh or products with plant based substitutes...can do so and live...but they will cause certain health issues.

 

For a CHILD to be forcibly placed on a Vegan diet IS CRIMINAL and such a diet if followed for any multiple month and in some case week time...may cause damage to a young developing body and mind that may not be recoverable from.

 

Some Vegans will fight to the end in the debate that such a diet is healthy...as far as for children...ABSOLUTELY NOT. As far as for adults...depending upon age and health issues...such a diet could be both detrimental or beneficial to a persons health...but over long periods of time...certain breakdowns in mental abilities as well as immune system issues and studies have also shown such true vegans to be to a great deal less physically strong as well as having higher risk levels specific to contracting certain diseases and immune based problems.

 

Split Infinity

You are welcome to practice your beliefs. And, there are many medical professionals who agree with you. I believe the information in the references I gave is newer and more accurate than the FDA diet that most physicians and nutritionists teach. And, I believe the FDA diet will be recognized as not particularly good for people. In the mean time, you have the preponderance of medical professionals on your side.

I recommend you watch Forks over Knives and evaluate the evidence. I think you will find it compelling, but doubt you will change your eating habits, because a habit is very difficult to change.

My reply was specific to your post.

I suppose you mean I am not vegan because I eat a little meat about once a month. Very well, I am not a true vegan. I do not have ethical reasons for being vegan, only health reasons, but I am loosing my taste for meat, and find fatty meat tastes awful. Although years ago, I relished pork chops and cheeseburgers.

A person will not only survive but THRIVE by just drinking MILK.

Yes, but countries with the highest consumption of milk also have the highest incidence of osteoporosis. Refer to the links I provided before.

I have not heard of that particular effect being produced by meditation or self hypnosis, but it may be possible. I meditate to control pain, a technique taught by several eastern religions. Moreover, a few western physicians teach meditation and/or self hypnosis to control pain.

You have some good ideas, and should pursue them. I would recommend you start with simple experiments and compare all alternatives. For example, compare superconducting and non-superconducting solutions. It is important to consider both scientific and economic factors. Economic factors are influenced by the time they are introduced into the market, so you need to estimate when a product will be ready for market and what the market will be at that time. Technical solutions may be influenced by future advancements, too. Some future factors are impossible to predict, others are not.

Your first task is to become an expert on the scientific issues. How much time that will take depends on you, but it is easy to underestimate.

Well...where do I begin here? Well...I guess talking about the obvious.

 

Human Beings are NOT designed by evolution to be strictly vegan in their nature. This is a FACT. Besides the large number of links I could provide to back this up all one has to do is look at our Canine Teeth designed for puncturing, tearing and ripping flesh as well as understand that...if a Human Being was not living in our Modern Era...where a person could buy just about...but not all...of the supplements necessary to replace the nutrients received from eating animals...that HUMAN WOULD QUICKLY DIE!

 

Does anyone really think that a person living in say...1802...would live for any long period of time if all they ate was Plant Matter?

 

Such a person would die in a matter of months. Humans are EVOLVED to eat both plants and animals. This cannot be argued.

 

Now my family owns a now large company specific to the field of medicine and the most healthy diet a Human Being can eat is one where the menu consists of straight animal proteins...lean cuts...a wide variety of fruits and vegetables...whole grain breads and if one must...whole grain pasta...nuts, berries and legumes...and Olive Oil...as apposed to other oils or butters.

 

It is also important to take a Multivitamin every day as to cover any nutrient issues arising from winter or lack of sun light as well as to be certain to have plenty of the B vitamins specific to energy utilization.

 

Now although this next bit should be checked out with a persons doctor...having two glasses of wine or two beers or even better...two shots of low sugar alcohol such as Vodka, Whisky or Bourbon...has been shown to be good for a persons heart and circulation as it tends to remove plaque from the inside of arteries.

 

All this will increase a persons life span but GENETICS tends to play a very large role in how long a person lives as well as how well a persons immune system works. The Immune system needs to get practice and the use of Antibiotic Soaps and Hand Lotions as well as the MASSIVELY HUGE MISTAKE that Mothers make when they take their children to the doctor every time the kid gets the tinniest sniffle...and asks the doctor for Antibiotics...which such parents almost NEVER have their kids take the entire regiment of pills over time...as soon as the kid starts to feel better the parents tend to stop giving them the antibiotics.

 

Doing this creates SUPERBUGS. A COLD is a VIRUS and Antibiotics DO ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO KILL IT...but they can help with the Bacterial Infections that arise from Cold Symptoms such as a raw nose from blowing it and tissue rub will cause an opportunity for bacterial infection. Taking the antibiotics will help cure the infection but not kill the cold virus.

 

When this happens either a kid not taking the full antibiotic regiment...as to not kill off the bacterial strain completely will allow the smallest amount of still living bacteria to evolve to being Antibiotic Resistant. As well...taking Antibiotics every time a kid has a cold...will make even the most common bacterial strains that we humans deal with daily...evolve into harmful strains.

 

Next time you argue with a person who claims that EVOLUTION is a farce...POINT THIS OUT...as it is possible to watch Bacteria EVOLVE in just a few hours with a microscope as anything that does not kill any form of life...causes such life to evolve and become STRONGER.

 

Now as far as how this connects to this topic...KIDS...those young humans who are rapidly growing in their very early years...NEED ANIMAL PROTEIN AND ANIMAL FATS. The children NEED this to properly develop...and without them things like a child's immune system and even their BONES...will not properly develop and under a Vegan Diet...such children will become sickly and underdeveloped. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO USE ANY NON-ANIMAL FOODS OR NUTRIENTS to prevent this.

 

Split Infinity

Gendun Drup, the 1st Dalai Lama lived from 1391–1474. I doubt there is proof that he did not eat meat, but Buddhists are well know for not killing anything, even insets, and for being vegan. And, there are 13 other Dalai Lamas, some had shorter lives, but some lived very long lives. And, I believe there are millions of Buddhists living today who have not eaten meat; although, I have no proof. And, I will preemptively admit that I have read some Buddhists do eat meat.

The references I provide previously contradict your statements about people needing meat. Since they are MDs and an MD PhD, I will not argue their case.

Being an omnivore is an evolutionary advantage, especially when life spans were short anyway. It takes decades for cholesterol to block arteries and kill.

Okay so hypothetically speaking, if we could make it so animals become poisonous for human consumption via editing its DNA / feeding it specific molecules that make it un-edible but perfectly safe otherwise (I.E some harmful bacteria / virus for humans but totally safe for the animal).

 

For the humans with philosophical idioms such as "what you dont know wont hurt you", is it ethically sound to take choice away from humans that dont have the will power, curiosity or empathy to care for animal cruelty?

 

Based on the ethics that killing animals, caging animals, injecting artificial hormones and pure cruelty from stupid individuals etc etc is ethically bad? is forcing a solution good? is it physically possible?

 

thx.

I find curious that this thread has almost no references; thus, it is almost entirely opinion about the ethics of killing animals.

I would like to cite references that indicate animal products are already harmful to our health, we do not need genetic modification. Moreover, these same references indicate that eating vegan is a healthful life style. While B12 is found in animals, only bacteria and archaea have the enzymes required synthesize B12.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_B12

http://www.youtube.com/movie/forks-over-knives

http://www.drmcdougall.com/

The documentary Forks over Knives is available on Netflix. It is the work of two cardiologists, one researcher and one practitioner.

Dr. McDougall is a cardiologist practitioner.

Both of these practitioners have healed cardiac patients, who were proclaimed "on their death bed" by other cardiologists. Their "magic" was to put these terminally ill patients on a vegan diet.

The researcher explains why our biochemistry is ill suited to process animal products.

My doctor put me on a vegan diet, and within two months of being on the diet, I was able to stop taking blood pressure meds, which I had taken for over 20 years. And, my health has improved in other ways too.

Many Buddhists are vegan, and often live to be quite old. The Dali Lama was born in 1937, and is in better health than I (1944), who ate meat and animal products most of my life (and still do occasionally). Of course an example or two is not good evidence. But, the references I give do cite many more examples.

In addition, growing meat consumes much land the could be used for farming. Estimates I have read say growing animals takes 8 times as much land as growing vegetables to feed the same number of people.

If you also have ethical reasons for not killing animals, as Buddhists do, fine. The above references do not discuss that issue.

Due to my age, I have seen about 20 doctors in the past few years, few of them are aware of the ill effects of eating meat and meat products. However, my son-in-law is studying medicine, and at least some medical schools do have such classes. But, most nutrition education is based on FDA guidelines, which is strongly allied to agribusiness, including the meat and milk industry.

http://www.ecornell.com/certificate-programs/other-training/certificate-in-plant-based-nutrition-certificate/crt/TCCC01

Some people dig in and refuse to change their opinion, at least in public, whenever evidence indicates they have made a mistake. Grinding can be counterproductive.

Try this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercapacitor

F=ma

Force = mass * acceleration

It has been a long time since I did this; I will probably make a mistake.

Assume a person of 100kg mass...a big man, but easy math.

800km is about 0.25 m/s

If the bike is stopped in 1 sec, the acceleration is 0.25m/s²

F = 100kg * 0.25m/s²

F = 25kg*m/s² = 25 newtons = about 5.620 pound-force

I do not know how much force a body can withstand. However, less than 0.25m thickness of a body is damaged in a fraction of a second. The 25 N force is greater as the impact duration decreases. Thus, the impact force is greatest at the first instant of impact and decreases until complete. The force is also distributed over an area of impact, and the instantaneous force on one part of the body would differ from another because the area of impact will change during the impact. I do not know how to do that integral.

Eventually, one might be able to estimate the dimensions of an air bag to absorb the force. Needless to say, it would be much greater than those in automobiles going 80k/h, at least 10 times more. The height of the vehicle above ground also affects the design. To be sure it works, one should do crash experiments, or at least simulate them in a computer.

Adios.

But how much did religion contribute to your troubled life experiences when you were young?

Amount of trouble...I know of no yardstick, metric, or device that can help convey my anguish caused by religion. I can only attest that it was profound and prolonged; that is, very bad for many years. Even now as a 68 year old I am affected. I have a younger brother who does not speak to me.

Hoverbikes are fictitious. Just speculate crashes never occur..AI driver. I'd be surprised if a moderator does not chide you for posting in engineering.

No, some life depends only on chemosynthesis. Most life would die though.

I would like to be unbiased at 4, but realistically closer to 7. IMO anything but 4 is a religious belief; but religion frustrates and angers me. I am not the sharpest tack in the box, and cannot be an eloquent spokesman for reason and the scientific method. I will generally stay on the sidelines, and cast a vote occasionally. Thanks for your clarification. I like the Dawkins scale.

Channing's quote is interesting rhetoric or free verse, but some, maybe most, spiritual advocates practice indoctrination and spurn those who think for themselves. My family of religious zealots have not spoken to me for five decades, except for my mother who always hoped I would (my words, forget how to reason and) return to religion.

I realize believers have an almost impossible challenge to overthrow religious addiction because there are no obvious ill effects, as there are with drug addiction. Everything seems OK to them. And, they think these words are illogical. I really wish I could help them, but feel it is an almost impossible challenge to free them enough to reason. I can only offer my story to demonstrate the subtle ways that religion is harmful.

Everyone knows about religious wars and the inquisition as horrible side effects of religion, but that doesn't deter people from being religious. Perhaps my story will be like the whisper of butterfly wings that cause a hurricane...not likely. It is more likely that religious people will consider me a lost soul, instead of considering my story important.

Is Einstein's curved space another explanation for the orbit of a satellite, or is that idea related, if so how?

You can start here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spark_erosion

When one is isolated, their independent thoughts can lead in them in any direction. As Skinner box experiments show, even chickens can develop religion (e.g., standing on one foot and spinning clockwise to "pray" for food during random feeding). Isolation leaves one with a deep hunger for change. In my case, I identified my mother's religious doctrine as being partly responsible for being abused; thus, my change was atheistic, but concluded atheism assumes too much about the concept of God.

I agree that online forums like this can help those who lack social interaction. I am married, disabled, and alone much of the day because my wife works. This forum gives me social interaction. Social interaction via the internet is a relatively new phenomenon that has already had surprising affects, and I expect others.

People seem to need religion to face uncertainty. It doesn't seem to be a genetic trait; rather, a consequence of rational thought being difficult compared to other thought, (David Rock says rational thinking is difficult and uses lots of glucose compared to other thinking).

Yes, this kind of discussion tends to threaten religious folks and be taboo. Thus, much of my life I have been too frightened to speak up. Now, that I am old and at least partly protected by the internet, I am brave enough to share my story. And, I am insignificant compared to Richard Dawkins and others. It is unlikely anyone will fire bomb my house.

If you have time before you must turn in your paper, try the following experiment and consider adding a description of your experiment to the paper.

You will need:

A magnet of any size.

Some iron filings.

A sheet of cardboard or stiff plastic.

Place the magnet beneath the sheet.

Sprinkle the iron filings on top of the sheet, and gently tap or shake the sheet to distribute the iron filings.

Note the pattern. Take a picture and include it with your paper.

You can make a substitute for iron filings by using some steel wool (the grey stuff that is really fine, as thin or thinner than hair). Use scissors to cut the steel (iron) wool into very small pieces. Use these tiny, tiny pieces instead of iron filings.

You might find a video of this experiment on youtube.

The pattern of filings you see on the sheet is formed by magnetic flux lines.

These lines are created and tuned off by electricity in an electromagnet.

You can make a transformer, if you can get a big nail and some very thin wire, 25 feet would be enough. Home Depot will have what you need. To demonstrate it works you will also need a D or C cell (battery) and some really cheap head phones that you can ruin (cut off the plug to expose the wires).

I cannot answer your question. But, perhaps an accumulation of personal stories will give you some insight. Toward that end, I shall share mine, as briefly and succinctly as I possibly can.

My mother's family adhere to the Primitive Baptist belief, a fundamentalist organization who believe in a literal interpretation of the bible (whatever that means I am unsure). I can only recall parts, because I have been dissociated for about 55 years, and my memory is no doubt inaccurate by this time.

My grandmother related an event in my life that I am sure affected me profoundly, regardless of my inability to recall it. My mother divorced my father because he was alcoholic and no doubt unkind. By the time I was 3 she had remarried to a man named Bill (another alcoholic), and they lived near my mother's family for a short time. I was told that Bill hit me in the stomach with his fist, and that my Uncle Gary told Bill that he would kill Bill if he ever hit me again. Shortly after that Bill, mother and I moved to Wyoming. I remember little of Wyoming, except that I began to have nightmares of riding in a car at high speed on a mountain road and flying off the edge. These nightmares continued until I was about 15. After my mother divorced Bill, he ran off the side of a mountain road and killed himself (no doubt while driving drunk). My next step father was also abusive, and by the time I was 15, I had reasoned that religion was not all good.

My life before 15 was profoundly unhappy. My mother married a succession of bastards, and I suffered. She fretted over divorcing them, because her religion. Yet, she subjected me to their abuse, mainly verbal, but nonetheless terrifying to a child. We tended to live away from any family and continually move from town to town. Thus, I was mostly isolated, and became a loner, lonely and independent.

I suppose isolation from family and only sporadic church attendance contributed to my being able to escape the insanity of believing without reason. In addition, I recall pondering about the ideas acquired from my mother, family, and church. I found these ideas included bigotry, contradiction, and illogical nonsense. Eventually, I settled on being agnostic and philosophically Buddhist.

In retrospect, I believe I owe my philosophical enlightenment to my abusive stepfathers, who isolated me from friends and family. Otherwise, social pressures would probably have entangled me to continue believing in God, religion, and bigotry.

For my conversion to agnosticism, I am an outcast from the religious part of my family. I suspect an appeal to reason without social support will never garner many converts.

Water jets and lasers are used to cut things, but I don't know what they use for submillimeter work.

I am not an expert, but have studied artificial intelligence (AI) and artificial general intelligence (AGI). I think your concerns are valid, but the state of the art is far from being able to realize a system that would fit your description. Moreover, I believe scientists are also concerned about similar issues.

In my opinion making emotions in a computer will be difficult and not relevant to making AGI help with science. There already exist hundreds or thousands of AI systems that analyze handwriting, read printed documents, translate speech into text, play chess, play Jeopardy, etc. These systems do what they are designed to do, and do not exhibit any spontaneous emotion, and there are good reasons why they cannot.

Our emotions are associated with hormones and neurotransmitters such as dopamine, noradrenaline, serotonin, oxytocin, cortisol and GABA. Computers do not have such chemicals. It might be possible to simulate the effects of those chemicals, but that would take extra computer power, which would reduce the effectiveness of AI programs. Thus, adding emotions to AI programs would be difficult and unwise. It is hard enough to code AI programs already without adding emotions to the coding burden.

I found a paper, see below, that requires an understanding of calculus. It would take me a day or two to read and understand it.

http://arxiv.org/pdf/0805.1079.pdf

A transformer is about as simple an electromagnetic circuit as possible. I'm not going to do your homework, but whatever you write I will review. And, I will answer questions.

How much math do you know?

How much do you know about electromagnetism, any equations? What is magnetic flux?

I am online quite a lot, so you should be able to ask many questions each day.