Airbrush

That is misleading because the US population (327 million) is much larger than UK (65 million). Tell us per unit number, like per million. https://www.census.gov/popclock/country_print.php?FIPS=uk

Opening a door leading to the roof should also set off a silent alarm. The technology for sensory devices is getting better and cheaper all the time.

Interesting that Trump called it "pure evil" at first, then it was a "demented" man. Dementia is not evil. He didn't use the word "delusional" because that is what Trump is. Modern high-rise buildings, like Mandalay Bay, have windows that don't open. The only way to shoot out of a window is to BREAK the window. There should now be sensors in every high-rise window to detect it is being broken. This could be a cheap fix. Then security will know exactly WHICH window was broken by an alarm. Security could have stopped him in a FEW minutes, rather than the 10 to 15 minutes he had to shoot in full automatic. A broken window may mean someone is jumping out, or someone or something is being thrown out, or shooter or bomber is getting started, or a fire has started.

Since the universe means "all there is" that is probably infinite. The big bang, however, is not necessarily "all there is". Nothing that I have learned about cosmology leads me to think the big bang is infinite. It could be, but that is a tall order for a big bang. Only the "universe" is probably infinite, by definition.

I always joked that my dog was my trainer. After I took him for his first walk, he always wanted more of that! For the first few years he would remind me that it was time to go for a walk, after I got home from work. That got me into the habit and then all I needed to do was show him his leash and say "Let's go" and he would jump up, barking in excitement. I caught his enthusiasm for going around the neighborhood. After bringing him home from our walk, I would leave him in the yard and I would jog another mile. He passed away in his bed 14 months ago, but I still love to go for a jog early in the morning, almost every day. He may have got me into the habit! I still think about him, and the cats, every day. I doubt we will get new pets, because they were such a good group of kids that I doubt we could do that well again.

A big difference between N. Korea and the USA is the USA has a constant critical examination of the US presidency, and N. Korea has no critical examination of Kim, at all. We do not have any real insights into the Kim regime based on their media. "Visits" to N. Korea by Americans does nothing to reveal it. So when Kim asks his intelligence service to give him the dirt on Trump, all they need to do is turn the TV on to CNN and provide an interpreter.

Good question, since how can we know about a closed society? The best I could find is written about Kim Jong-Il: "...Official records reportedly show that Kim learned to walk at the age of three weeks, and was talking at eight weeks. While at Kim Il Sung University, he apparently wrote 1,500 books over a period of three years, along with six full operas. According to his official biography, all of his operas are "better than any in the history of music." Then there's his sporting prowess. In 1994, Pyongyang media reported that the first time Kim picked up a golf club, he shot a 38-under par round on North Korea's only golf course, including 11 holes-in-one. Reports say each of his 17 bodyguards verified the record-breaking feat. He then decided to retire from the sport forever." https://www.cbsnews.com/media/kim-jong-il-10-weird-facts-propaganda/10/ Who knows what N. Korean media says about the current great leader? Oh, I just found this about the current Kim: "....Kim Jong-un is just as amazing as his father, according to North Korea state media which revealed he was a gifted sailor as a youth — who also learned to drive at the age of three. The younger Kim is also a celebrated musical composer and artist, who is celebrated around the world." http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/the-top-10-kooky-myths-north-koreans-are-told-about-leader-kim-jongun/news-story/80db7a6f05eed86cec7d1a82a8ade25d We know very little about what goes on inside N. Korea. But the internet is only available to a few officials, and shall we assume that Kim has access? Don't you think Kim wants to know what is really going on in the world? Cable news, such as CNN and MSNBC would be interesting to him, through a translator, whenever they are critical of Trump.

I think you mean "agonizing" that our democratic process as being incapable, compared with the ease of dictatorship. That does not mean I prefer a dictatorship. Who in N. Korea knows much about the REAL world outside of government-controlled media? Don't you think Kim, himself, gets to see the REAL news of the world? He does not really believe the myths his media spouts.

Kim Jong-un is probably among very few North Koreans that knows much about the REAL world outside North Korea. Kim must have access to CNN and MSNBC, and the other cable news programs. He must watch stories critical of Trump with great interest. He must love CNN and MSNBC. Fox News would probably confuse him and he would disapprove of the apologists for Trump, since Trump is Kim's main enemy on Earth. Imagine what Kim is learning about the complicated US political process. Kim knows, as a dictator, he has governing easy. Anything he says has the force of instant law. Easy and the task is done. Then he laughs when he sees the contortions Trump and the US government goes through to accomplish ANYTHING! Maybe it would be a good thing if Kim educates himself about the outside world. He is still young and maybe he can change.

Something can come from nothing because "nothing" is not understood. It's not what it seems. "Absolute nothing" is only an idea and nothing can be known about it. Yes, "nothing wasn't actually nothing"!

Where exactly does Uber have self-driving cars?

That saves the additional effort of hauling it off the boat, up the beach, onto a truck, and into the city. Just park your little, old, fishing boat outside the harbor of a major city, set the timer, and get the hell out of there.

"...But a moderate nuke detonated at some depth offshore of a US coastal city would be a disaster. A radioactive wave would surge inland do damage far outside the scope of a bomb smuggled into a city." I hope the terrorists are not listening to that. Why would they need a submarine? Why not a small, beat-up, old, fishing boat? It could have the bomb in a container thickly shielded by lead and water. At night it gets hauled up the beach to a waiting truck, driven to the middle of a big city. They park the truck and get away safely. Then the terror group announces they are about to destroy a major city. A minute later it blows up. That's how they prove it's them. Then they announce their demands or another city gets destroyed. Poetic justice to them would be a US city, the Great Satan that created nukes, most likely a decapitation operation to destroy Washington DC. This scenario seems unavoidable over the next decades.

Does it make it more difficult to kill and eat a chicken when you know its' personality? I'm from the city and thus not familiar with animal slaughter, so I would not be able to kill a chicken to eat it, unless very dire circumstances. Are your chickens just for eggs? On the subject of indoor or outdoor cats, if you want to ensure your cat lives a long life, you better encourage your cats to be content with INdoors. Have toys, cat games, catnip, scratching pads or posts, and structures to climb and play on, and hide inside. Have water containers several places throughout the house. They like to patrol from one water source to another, and back again. Cats naturally want to explore the great outdoors. Try to supervise their time outdoors. We were lucky our back yard is surrounded by a 5' high block wall. Our cats could jump up on the wall, but it became harder for them when they got older. When we caught them up on the wall we sprayed them in the face with a misting spray bottle and expressed our disapproval. They gradually learned. Also my dog scared away other cats and opossums with his barking, and he dominated the doggie door which usually discouraged our cats from sneaking out the doggie door, which made our cats safer.

My worry is a nuke will slip out of Pakistan, or the former USSR, or now North Korea, into the hands of Al Qaeda, ISIS, or another group, that would not care much about getting caught. They have nothing to lose. They would send a message by abruptly destroying a major city, then issue blackmail to any country that is not cooperating with them, that they will destroy another major city, unless payment of a ransom or other demand. How confident are you that a radiation detector is going to catch every attempt at smuggling a nuke?

Good point. If a nuclear weapon is caught being smuggled into a country, is there a way to determine where it originated? Is there a way to build one so that it's origin is not determinable?

I'm glad to hear about the happy ending.

This is a question that I have not heard answered yet. How likely is it that North Korea, or ANY nation with nukes, could have ALREADY smuggled nuclear bombs into major cities? How difficult would it be for them to put a nuclear bomb on a small fishing boat and sail south? Then at night bring it onto land to a waiting car or truck that can drive the device to the center of Seoul, or Tokyo, or any major city? Then if we totally destroy North Korea, an agent in South Korea, detonates it. All their missile launches could simply be diversions. Or could they sell a nuclear device to a terrorist organization?

Wow, you selected "The Monster" by Steppenwolf!!! In my junior year in high school (in 1971) we had to do a team project. My 3-man team made a 20 minute movie in which we used the song "The Monster". We passed out to the class the words to the song "The Monster". Our movie was called "Progress...the Monster". It was about environmental degradation. We used pictures from our history book for scenes from America's past. What am I listening to now? I discovered this new song by Hollie Cook "Angel Fire" and it brings tears to my eyes. Enjoy!!!

That's going to make it more difficult for me to eat chicken. I would have never thought chickens have personalities. When her sister died, my other cat became friendly with our dog for the first time. After my dog died, 7 months later, my cat became interested in the vacuum cleaner! All her life she was terrified by the vacuum cleaner. After her sister and brother were gone, she lost fear of the vacuum cleaner, as if considering it a living being. Several times when I vacuumed the floor, she would follow me and the vacuum cleaner around.

Very interesting thank you! Also that is a nice solar system subway map. The value of an asteroid is worth the entire world! That is if we don't figure out how to divert a humanity extinguishing impact, we lose the entire world! For this reason, the same technology that will be used to save the world will also be used to mine the asteroids. We will use asteroids as stepping stones, gas stations, to the outer planets and moons, and other stars.

When my dog Spunky was 10 we noticed cataracts beginning to form in his eyes. Within a month his vision had declined so much that he could barely see. We researched cataract surgery and decided on it. It would cost $5000 US. My wife took 2 weeks off work to keep him company all day, every day after the surgery. I prepared Spunky for his surgery by introducing him to the cone collar he would have to wear constantly for 2 weeks after surgery. Before taking him for his favorite daily activity, going for a walk, I put the cone around his neck so he would get used to wearing it while he was having fun. For a couple of weeks I had him wear the cone every day walking him around the neighborhood. For a couple of days after the surgery he acted so helpless, we thought he could still not see. But then in a couple of days he showed us he could indeed see again! Success! It transformed him back to his normal spunky self! That gave us another 4 years of going for walks!

Good to keep them indoors as much as possible for their safety. What is the age of your cat sisters? Is one of them more talkative? One of ours was the leader, more adventurous. She was the first one to climb to the top of a ladder I left inside the house, and the first to climb up the security screen door to get on top of the door. They had to be rescued on several occasions. One time the adventurous one jumped off the door and landed on her belly in her sand box, and bounced out just fine!

Thanks for posting those pet experiences! Our dog was a cocker spaniel-maltese, who weighed 15 to 20 lbs. He looked like a cute polar bear cub, with big black button eyes and button nose. He was one year old when he was rejected by a family that could not handle him. He was destined to be returned to the animal shelter when we interceded. We had a chance to get to know him and decided to try keeping him and see if the cats, who were already 7 years old, would accept him. He quickly learned to leave the cats alone because they would hiss at him if he got too close, or even LOOKED at them the wrong way. After his first walk around the neighborhood, he was hooked! Every day he reminded me that he really, REALLY wanted to go for a walk, by barking and dancing around excitedly. He got me into the habit of taking him for a half-mile walk about 3 or 4 times a week for years, up until age 12, when I retired, then our walks increased to almost every day. We covered about (3x52x12=1,872) + (2x350=700) = 2,572 walks of a half mile each walk = about 1200 miles. I walked my dog a total of over 1200 miles in 14 years! Here's what happened one time when I took my dog for a walk. It was a very cold winter evening, so I put on his heavy wool sweater with a turtle neck. I made the grave mistake not attaching his leash BEFORE I opened the gate. I never did that again! He saw a dog across the street, and before I could attach his leash to his harness, he ran to the other dog, twice his size, attacking it. He didn't know he was a small dog. The person walking the other dog just stood there and allowed her bigger dog to grab my dog by the neck. She could have separated them with a foot, but didn't. I ran over there, and within a few seconds was able to pry the other dog's jaws off my dog's neck. He survived!! My dog may have been killed, IF he was not wearing that heavy, woolen, turtle neck sweater!

From the posts above, it seems like the best use of a suitable asteroid would be to build spaceships or space stations, either in Earth orbit, or near a useful asteroid, or in the asteroid belt. The most valuable materials would be water-ice, to make water, air, and fuel, and metals to use in building spaceships and space stations. Therefore, the most valuable asteroids would be those that are BOTH rich in water-ice and useful metals!