Airbrush

Most people don't have the "well-founded" education and self control you have and you assume they have. Obesity is getting worse. Look around you and see how huge people become, because they are alway hungry. Something needs to be done. Maybe invent appetite suppressants and add them to our precious processed foods, so people eat what their body needs and not more. I confess I carry around an extra 20 lbs, just because I cannot lose that weight, because to do so means I will need to cut my food consumption in half, and even eating HEALTHY food is also too much fun for me. You cannot compare vitamin and mineral supplements with food that is engineered to be so appealing that many people cannot resist eating in excess. No doctor will prescribe candy to cure anything. Who pays for the medical expenses when a homeless person is hit by a car? They are taken to the nearest ER, thousands of dollars are spent on them, and they pay nothing. So who is paying for their treatment? We are thru our taxes. Yes, but just like grocery stores, impulse junk-food items are in your face at every check out stand. CVS should remove junk foods from the check stand and replace them with healthy snacks.

Vitamin water only "seems" to be a healthy drink. It actually has a lot of refined sugar. Choose, instead, Vitamin Water ZERO, that is what my doctor told me. Liquid refined sugar is the fastest way to gain weight, according to my wife, who is a nurse.

In the future foods CAN be engineered so it tastes great and yet it is also full of all the nutrients we need. We don't have that capability yet. When humans eventually become too squeamish to slaughter animals, then "meat" that tastes exactly like REAL animal carcass, should be available made from cheep vegetable sources. The Orwellian nightmare is just me exaggerating and trying to be funny. Sorry. I doubt the world's population will ever pass 10 Billion.

"An anti-de Sitter space, in contrast, is a general relativity-like spacetime, where in the absence of matter or energy, the curvature of spacetime is naturally hyperbolic. "In the common analogy of an object causing a dip in a flat cloth, anti-de Sitter space has a curvature analogous to a flat cloth sitting on a saddle, with a very slight curvature because it is so large. This would correspond to a negative cosmological constant (something not observed in the real life cosmos). Anti-de Sitter space can also be thought of as a general relativity like spacetime in which empty space itself has negative energy, which causes this spacetime (i.e. the universe) to collapse in on itself at an ever greater rate. "In an anti-de Sitter space, as in a de Sitter space, the extent of inherent spacetime curvature corresponds to the magnitude of the negative cosmological constant to which it is equivalent." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-de_Sitter_space This is what I found by googling "anti spacetime". Can anyone explain this in English?

The govt installed cameras is over doing it, but in the future, after the world's population is about 20 Billion, then controls and "encouragement" WILL be placed on citizens, that we don't have now, including everyone must participate in some athletics. In high school I was on the soccer team and surfed, and at the age of 59 I still love surfing and kicking around a soccer ball. But I'm not going to play 90 minutes of competition. Trumptor, how can you be a "senior member" with only 33 posts?

Then cheep, govt-subsidized, healthy, PREPARED meals should be available in gas stations, drug stores, liquor stores, almost anywhere in food deserts, financed by a junk food tax. Junk food will also be available, but the higher price will sway people to select the healthy prepared meals instead. The junk food tax will be progressive, based upon how unhealthy it is determined to be by a panel of nutrition experts. Of course, you cannot ban junk foods, but you can price it higher, so healthy alternatives become more appealing.

People are living longer, so there are more years for them to be in need of health care, especially the later years. Common sense tells you that eating a healthy diet makes you healthier, and eating an unhealthy diet makes you less healthy. Most people need guidance. The absence of junk foods and drinks, and cheep, gov't-subsidized healthy food, or prepared meals in gas stations, will send the message that healthy eating habits are ENCOURAGED. There is a dwindling population of young healthy workers to carry the burden of insurance premiums for the growing army of elderly. This is a definite trend towards ever higher insurance premiums.

Not now my tax burden, but the trend is disturbing. Health insurance premiums will continue to rise, as the population ages conditioned to the "comfort" of salt/sugar/fat, until only the very wealthy will be able to afford the current accepted level of health care. In a few generations there will be 2 classes of people, the sickies and the celebrities. 99% of the population will be obese and sickly, and most will be unable to afford minimal health care, but they can watch the healthy-fit 1% of people on TV. The news does not bother me, it is good news. Sorry my intro was not clear about that. I think eliminating tobacco is only the beginning of a potential virtuous cycle. Could someone tell my why I got -2 for my intro? Is it that bad? Or was that a couple of obese smokers? Thank you. The same can be said for junk foods. I rest my case.

How large was the universe by the time the force of gravity originated? As said above, the expansion was too fast for gravity to get to work.

That's right, and with an aging population, conditioned to impulse eating with over-opportunities for eating-for-entertainment, to morbid obesity, health care costs will rise, and insurance premiums will rise for all of us, healthy or not. Or we can short circuit that trend by not having impulse items in gas stations, for starters.

Sorry, your estimate is way over what we make a year. Are you saying that in the future, when health care becomes 75% of a nation's economy, from an aging population, and certainly everybody needs to be taken care of whether they can afford it or not, only people that make over $200k will contribute anything towards paying for a nation's health care costs? I have the suspicion that SOME of my taxes currently are applied to health care. Am I wrong? I congratulate CVS for this move. Healthy alternatives should be easily accessible, and unhealthy alternatives should not be so easily accessible. They might consider replacing their junk food department with government-subsidized cheep healthy food and drinks, that is paid for by a junk food tax.

A very long time, certainly after all the red dwarfs have burned out. For a 10 stellar mass black hole to evaporate to nothing will take googols of years, or more. Will that happen before or after matter itself decays to nothing?

so how long does it take a stellar mass black hole (of say about 10 solar masses) to evaporate?

Smart move, why don't the other "drug stores" do this? How about remove alcoholic drinks, junk foods and sugar drinks? Because that is mostly what drug stores have to offer people to eat and drink, in the food deserts, and everywhere else. Then folks can also buy the medicines they need to take AFTER and WHILE they screw up their health by a life-time of poor eating habits. For most of human history, food has been a scarcity, until now. It is still scare in many poor nations, but here in the good old USA we have plenty of processed foods with a long shelf life, junk food and drinks available for most people. So eat a lot and enjoy your FREEDOM to frequent culinary orgasm from salt, sugar, and trans-fats. People eat for entertainment now, not for sustenance. That is why they need to go to the convenient drug stores to get their fix of processed foods, salt, sugar, fats, alcohol, but no longer tobacco at CVS. The cost of health care will certainly go sky high in the future, thanks to human willingness to eat too much junk food, just for FUN, because when it comes to eating, all that matters is it is a lot of FUN. Then they can buy their pharmaceuticals and see their doctors frequently. But don't worry, they can afford it because their health care will be paid for by our taxes.

Thanks for your input Abe. More space should be set aside for community gardens. Unemployed people could be put to work on these gardens either cultivating crops or preparing free meals for local needy. Gardens can spring up anywhere, on tops of buildings in the city, in abandoned buildings converted to greenhouses, and in every residential community, within a 15 minute walk for all citizens. Everyone should be able to get free healthy meals, within a 15 minute brisk walk, because that will save on medical and pharmaceutical expenses in the future, which we all have to pay for through our taxes.

No, the Moon will be with us FOR LONG, for many Billions of years to come.

Most of the matter falling into a black hole never enters the event horizon, but rather gets blasted away in polar jets. Black holes are very messy eaters.

We are currently between ice ages. Global warming will probably dominate the next few thousand years. I've heard estimates of 1,500 years to 80,000 years until the next ice age begins. Global warming is a horrible disaster, but how much worse would the next ice age be? How would humans of thousands of years in the future survive another snowball Earth? Tough but doable with a smaller population, but how would food be produced? "The Earth has been in an interglacial period known as the Holocene for more than 11,000 years. It was conventional wisdom that the typical interglacial period lasts about 12,000 years, but this has been called into question recently. For example, an article in Nature[36] argues that the current interglacial might be most analogous to a previous interglacial that lasted 28,000 years. Predicted changes in orbital forcing suggest that the next glacial period would begin at least 50,000 years from now, even in absence of human-made global warming[37] (see Milankovitch cycles). Moreover, anthropogenic forcing from increased greenhouse gases might outweigh orbital forcing for as long as intensive use of fossil fuels continues." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_ages

I believe we live in a "Moneyocracy". Money is king. Money decides, until the public outrage is too great for the govt to control. Then laws are passed to put restrictions on extreme bottom line thinking. And now in China, the outrage is over pollution.

Since Rajnish is interested in "hypothetical types of biochemisty" he should take a look at Wiki: "Hypothetical types of biochemistry are forms of biochemistry speculated to be scientifically viable but not proven to exist at this time. While the kinds of living beings currently known on Earth commonly use carbon for basic structural and metabolic functions, water as a solvent and DNA or RNA to define and control their form, it may be possible that undiscovered life-forms could exist that differ radically in their basic structures and biochemistry from that known to science. "The possibility of extraterrestrial life being based on these "alternative" biochemistries is a common subject in science fiction, but is also discussed in a non-fiction scientific context......." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_biochemistry The bottom line is alternative biochemistries may be possible but seems unlikely. Follow the water. Can liquid water exist anywhere on Pluto? Maybe deep beneath the surface it is warm enough for water to exist in a liquid state. They are probably going to find life deep beneath the surface of Mars.

Lightmeow, you have a number of interesting comments above. Evolution takes a long time, which we don't have. We need to change by getting smarter. Maybe technology is the only thing that can speed up getting smarter. Getting smarter includes making people more productive. The way to do that is to match people with the right kind of education, and later match them again with the right kind of job. If more people loved their work, the world would be a better place. A good way to put unemployed people to work, in the short term, is in food production and preparation. Can we really "do away with money"? Money is a powerful incentive for talented people to make an effort.

I heard the number 1,500 years from now the next ice age should begin on a Science Channel program about planet Earth. I searched "ice age" and found this: ".....Other scientists, while agreeing with this thesis for the short term, say that eventually the buffering properties of the atmosphere, ocean and Earth will restore balance, returning most of the liberated carbon to long-term storage and allowing the orbital rhythm once again to dominate. "Orbital changes are in a slow dance leading to a peak 80,000 years from now,'' said Dr. Eric J. Barron, the dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State. ''I can hardly imagine that human influences won't have run their course by that time.'' "It may seem that human-driven global warming, although perhaps a disaster on the scale of centuries, may be a good thing in the long run if it fends off the next ice age awhile. "But many climatologists note that the complex interplay of greenhouse gases, orbital shifts and other influences on climate remain poorly understood. In fact, some experts say, there is a chance that human-induced warming could shut down heat-toting ocean currents that keep northern latitudes warmer than they otherwise would be. The result could be a faster descent into glacial times instead of a delay." http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/11/science/when-will-the-next-ice-age-begin.html

From my limited research I find that although England does not have "food stamps" they have public assistance to unemployed and poor people. Here is what I found by googling: "...You cannot compare the social systems in Europe (often named as socialist countries by U.S. Republicans) to the capitalistic democracy as applied in the United States. "A working person in England (and in most of Europe) is required by law to pay contributions to mandatory governmental insurance systems. They do not have a choice whether to partitipate or not but they all are entitled to governmental assistance once they are getting sick (heath insurance or free health care), or unemployed (unemployment insurance), or old (old age pension insurance). "A person being unemployed in England would be entitled to a jobseeker-allowance which will be transferred to the bank account on weekly basis. S/he would not need to get any food stamps or nowadays special ATM cards which would show that s/he is poor and does not have work. The "Socialist Countries" in Europe prefer to respect the dignity of human beings instead of pointing that "they have not made it" like the U.S. government obviously does."

If there was no global warming, we would enter an ice age in about 1500 years. So isn't global warming saving us from the impending ice age? Maybe I should start a new discussion on this subject, unless I get some good responses.

Good question. Now I propose (many and local) food dispensaries in the "food deserts" (like marijuana dispensaries) where you can get filtered water, all kinds of dried beans, rice, wheat, barley, bread, cereals, legumes, milk powder, and at least canned veges and a few animal proteins. Food stamps can only be used at those dispensaries, OR the produce section of any market (where you can get a reasonable supply of free fruit and veges.) That way you cannot go to the market and fill up your cart with Twinkies, Potato Chips, and Coca Cola, once every month. But like the poster above pointed out, centralized food prep will reduce some problems. Endy0816: "Food preparation can be an issue. Energy needed, time, water for dish sanitation, and a location to do all this at."