limpid Posted August 2, 2014 Administrator Share Posted August 2, 2014 You are definitely more Astimov than Cox Si. Because of the hair? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted August 3, 2014 Author VT Supporter Share Posted August 3, 2014 I remember reading an Asimov book when I as younger, that was praised for being user friendly. I remember staring at the first page for the best part of a half hour before giving up. The bloke was a genius but he may as well have been speaking Chinese for all that I understood. Plus if you have the same sideburns as Mr Asimov I am impressed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 The short stories could be a good place to start. They are often based in the universes of his more lengthy tomes and give an insight into his thinking. Themes like the dilemnas and ethics of advancing AI crop up a lot. One of my favourites plots the timeline of mankind's uber computers, which play a big part in his lengthier writings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted August 7, 2014 Administrator Share Posted August 7, 2014 RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) — Three University of California, Riverside engineers are part of team recently awarded a nearly $1.7 million grant from the National Science Foundation to characterize, analyze and synthesize a new class of ultra-thin film materials that could improve the performance of personal electronics, optoelectronic devices and energy conversion systems. http://ucrtoday.ucr.edu/24130 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 How do you explain why planets move around the sun in ellipses to a child? I tried and failed over the weekend; any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArteSuave Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 How do you explain why planets move around the sun in ellipses to a child? I tried and failed over the weekend; any suggestions? It's because circular orbits would require very precise set of circumstances. In general, orbits are conic sections and circular orbits are just one of many possible orbit shapes. I'm not good with kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Jesus did it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Advances in surveillance and control. The power elite know that the more you threaten to deprive people of their basic human needs, set out conveniently by psychologists in Maslow's hierarchy, the better they behave themselves. Any psychologist will tell you the best way to stoke those fears are by turning off the supply of cash, or even just threatening to. That's why they have always seen banking as the key to social engineering, shackling vast populations unconsciously with 'internal coercion' and the crazy dream of armies of placid, socially engineered citizens that go with it. RT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted August 14, 2014 Author VT Supporter Share Posted August 14, 2014 How do you explain why planets move around the sun in ellipses to a child? I tried and failed over the weekend; any suggestions? It's because circular orbits would require very precise set of circumstances. In general, orbits are conic sections and circular orbits are just one of many possible orbit shapes. I'm not good with kids. Dont put yourself down mate, you available for kids parties? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted August 20, 2014 Author VT Supporter Share Posted August 20, 2014 Ecosystem found under Antarctic ice sheet raises hopes for alien life Tiny rock-eating lifeforms have been discovered living half a mile beneath pack ice in Antarctica, raising the prospect that life could exist in similarly hostile environments such as Mars Ecosystems could be living in underground lakes and rivers throughout Antarctica Photo: Sergey Kokinskiy / Rex Features By Sarah Knapton, Science Correspondent 7:04PM BST 20 Aug 2014 Comment An entire ecosystem has been discovered under the Antarctic, raising hopes that life could exist in extreme environments, such as other planets in the solar system. Researchers have discovered that tiny life-forms are thriving in a lake under half a mile of pack ice, even though the habitat has not seen sunlight or fresh air for a million years. The discovery has led to excitement among the scientific community who had previously theorised that microorganisms may be able to survive by evolving novel ways to generate energy. And it raises the possibility that similar life could exist on Mars or other icy planets or moons. “It's the first definitive evidence that there's not only life, but active ecosystems underneath the Antarctic ice sheet, something that we have been guessing about for decades,” said lead researcher Brent Christner, Professor of Biology at Louisiana State University in the US. Related Articles 'Strongest evidence yet of life on Mars' 20 Jan 2013 'Oldest signs of life on Earth found' 13 Nov 2013 “We are looking at a water column that probably has about 4,000 things we call species. It's incredibly diverse. “I think that this does nothing but strengthen the case for life on other icy bodies in solar system and beyond. “The first time we went to Antarctica and the first place we selected to drill a hole we found life. So it’s not much of a stretch that in similar conditions, like on the icy moon of Jupiter, Europa, life could exist there.” One of the microogranisms under the microscope Credit: Trista Vick-Majors The microogranisms were found in Lake Whillans, a subglacial body of water beneath the Antarctic ice sheet on the southeastern edge of the Ross Ice Shelf in the west of the continent. Similar microbes can be found in the deep oceans, but they rely on the remains of surface organisms, raining down from above, as energy sources. In contrast, the environment under the glacier is so hostile that these new organisms are forced to ‘eat rock’, attaching themselves to mineral particles and harvesting tiny amounts of ammonium and nitrogen. The Antarctic Ice Sheet covers an area one and a half times the size of the United States and contains 70 percent of Earth's freshwater. More than 400 subglacial lakes and numerous rivers and streams are thought to exist beneath the Antarctic ice sheet, so such ecosystems may be widespread, researchers believe. They say it proves that glaciers and ice-sheet beds are not sterile, but host diverse microbial communities. “The team has opened a tantalizing window on microbial communities in the bed of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet,” said Prof Martyn Tranter, of the School of Geographical Sciences, at the University of Bristol. “The findings even beg the question of whether microbes could eat rock beneath ice sheets on extraterrestrial bodies such as Mars. This idea has more traction now.” The Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling (WISSARD) project drilled down through half a mile of ice to reach the lake in January 2013 and took samples. They discovered that the microorganisms were alive and growing. DNA tests proved they had not accidentally been brought in on equipment. Professor John Priscu of Montana State University predicted more than a decade ago that life could exist under Antarctic ice. "We were able to prove unequivocally to the world that Antarctica is not a dead continent," said Professor Priscu. Doctoral researcher Trista Vick-Majors said she saw microscopic life moving under the microscope within hours of water being pulled out of the lake. "It was very exciting. It will be hard to top," she said. Researcher Alex Michaud added, "Some of the graduate students joke, 'How do we top this?' We can't." The research was published in the journal Nature. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted August 21, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted August 21, 2014 It's a godawful small affair. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I was under the impression that we've already found traces of bacteria on the moon and Mars, these are aliens, just not the little grey fellas everyone wants to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 (edited) Apologies - brain fart! Edited August 21, 2014 by MakemineVanilla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I was under the impression that we've already found traces of bacteria on the moon and Mars, these are aliens, just not the little grey fellas everyone wants to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted August 21, 2014 Author VT Supporter Share Posted August 21, 2014 I was under the impression that we've already found traces of bacteria on the moon and Mars, these are aliens, just not the little grey fellas everyone wants to see. No, there was a story debunked a few years back, but no evidence has been discovered of alien bacteria on either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 (edited) Reheating certain foods is good for you... ... if you cook and cool pasta down then your body will treat it much more like fibre, creating a smaller glucose peak and helping feed the good bacteria that reside down in your gut. You will also absorb fewer calories, making this a win-win situation. Clicky Edited October 16, 2014 by Xann 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted November 12, 2014 Administrator Share Posted November 12, 2014 Researchers at the University of Maryland have invented a single tiny structure that includes all the components of a battery .that they say could bring about the ultimate miniaturization of energy storage components. http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/billion-tiny-holes-make-battery/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 BBC, Girls who never age Richard Walker has been trying to conquer ageing since he was a 26-year-old free-loving hippie. It was the 1960s, an era marked by youth: Vietnam War protests, psychedelic drugs, sexual revolutions. The young Walker relished the culture of exultation, of joie de vivre, and yet was also acutely aware of its passing. He was haunted by the knowledge that ageing would eventually steal away his vitality – that with each passing day his body was slightly less robust, slightly more decayed. One evening he went for a drive in his convertible and vowed that by his 40th birthday, he would find a cure for ageing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 What, no talk of us landing a probe on a comet some 310 million miles away after a 10 year journey? Let's hope they can get the harpoons to fire and make the thing stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tegis Posted November 12, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted November 12, 2014 What, no talk of us landing a probe on a comet some 310 million miles away after a 10 year journey? Let's hope they can get the harpoons to fire and make the thing stick. It's in the cheer you up thread, and it stuck. Well done to them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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