Royston

I agree with Pangloss, but that aside, you're overlooking the fact that Virgina isn't in a state of huge social and political unrest...where violence is happening on a daily basis, also tragic events (like the one in Virginia) are more newsworthy when closer to home. I wonder how much media coverage the Dunblane massacre received in Indonesia (for example) compared to the UK ?

Personally, I'm yet to study chaotic behaviour, so I don't really have anything to add concerning the functions validity, I think you need the advice of an expert.

Bog standard XP, with an artists impression of a star forming, set as my background...from the NASA website.

I did realize that the 'buddy list' wasn't SFN specific...my bad, I should of made that clearer.

Right...so it's utterly pointless.

Smoking lowers blood sugar levels...hence the munchies, so you get similar effects as to somebody who suffers from diabetes.

This may seems like a very belated question, and I've searched everywhere (perhaps not hard enough) but I wanted to start adding people to my buddy list, though I have no idea what the point of the buddy list is, so I guess that sounds kinda daft, but anyway...does it inform me when a 'buddy' has made a post, or is it just for novelty value ?

Thought I'd bring this thread back from the dead...I urge anyone to listen to 'Tipper' if you can find the Sirenes remixes, especially 'deep end' it certainly classes as beautiful music. In fact, I can't seem to find a dud track out of all his albums, very good indeed. Oh, and this guy called 'Oi Mush' (on myspace) he's absolutely amazing, probably the best music I've heard in my entire life, seriously this guy is just ridiculous, I have to hurt myself after listening to his tracks, because my ears are not worthy of such genius. Please check out the pics as well. Are you allowed to plug your own music on here ? Oh, I've also been listening to a lot of 'Kaya Project' recently, which also fits the bill. Amalgamation of world and electronic music, very good as well.

I've been studying matrices recently, surely they must have some good applications for chemistry ?

And I agree with those points...I was merely stating that drugs are not a black and white issue. Yes, but it can be improved...this is what I'm getting at, you have certain areas where you can hand glide (if you don't adhere to these areas you become a liability), you have insurance policies that restrict certain vehicle use. There are no constraints on the use of drugs, I'm not saying having fun should be controlled, but when it becomes a clear danger to somebody else, then it should be controlled.

Which was my point earlier, surely it's better that the availability of drugs (which won't change due to legalization) has controls on each substance. Personal freedom within reason, why should somebody have the freedom to be a liability to others. Which reinforces my point. No it's not, there's drug advice, and that's as far as it goes. I would hope it would be government controlled, you get your monthly ecstasy tablet from the local pharmacy, if you're silly enough to want to indulge in heroin, you have a limit to that dose. Hurrah ! Believe it or not, during a hernia operation I slapped the surgeons hand and turned over...very vague recollection, but the surgeon found it very amusing.

Insurance policies for vehicles is actually a nice analogy to why drugs isn't a black and white area. You have a fast car, you need fast car insurance, if you're a certain age, or you have a certain history with your vehicle, be it a careful driver et.c these all effect the cost of your insurance. Now take drugs...start with LSD, active at 25 micrograms, a hallucinogenic, so environment and mental health are paramount. Compare that with amphetamine sulphate, active at 10 milligrams (do the maths to see which is more potent) keeps you awake, can increase confidence. Heroin, active at 60 milligrams, physical dependency after prolonged use, strong depressant. How can you possibly lump these chemicals into one basket. Each one requires a certain personality type to use them responsibly, any history of mental illness has to be accounted for et.c et.c This is why I was stressing controls earlier...while these substances are illegal, there are no controls on who takes them, the dose taken, and any contaminates. Each chemical has to have separate legal barriers for legalization to work...it's all very well having the freedom to experiment with any of the above, but if you're obviously going to be a liability, and possibly a danger you simply should not be allowed access to these chemicals. Now, obviously you get under aged drinking et.c, so there's nothing stopping anyone passing on their purchase to somebody else, but regulations on how much you're allowed, no contamination et.c would surely help.

Neither can I, sorry about that...sometimes, especially with new members, it's hard to gauge what they know, when they're joking et.c You do get some questions on here that defy belief, that really require just a little thought for the answer, obviously there's nothing wrong with asking questions, and everyone here is happy to help, but it does happen on occasion, so it's easy to get crossed wires. It's interesting though, that a question such as 'why don't Australians fall off the Earth' actually requires a lot of explanation. Just saying 'it's gravity' is obviously not suffice, and to answer the question properly does involve explaining some rather counter intuitive concepts. Apologies for veering of topic.

Right, I see where JohnF is coming from now...JohnF, sorry, when in doubt listen to the expert not the newbie Thanks for the correction Swansont.

I realize you've buried the idea now, but a few pointers, just incase you're not aware. I'm not sure if you're joking about Australians falling off, but remember there's no such thing as preferred frame of reference, so there's no 'top' of the earth, we have north, south et.c for convenience, and it works from the earths frame of reference, but as soon as you leave the earth, north and south become obsolete. The universe is homogenous i.e one co-ordinate cannot be considered more important than another, so space is very dynamic in that sense. So gravity is space curving towards earth from all directions, hence nothing is falling off. Where there's mass, there's curvature...imagine the pinch effect in photoshop, but in 3 dimensions. The only thing I can think off with regards to accelerating bodies and increasing gravity is Unruhs Law. This law hasn't been tested experimentally AFAIK, but it states that an accelerating body increases in heat, that means an increase in energy...more photons, more mass, so a stronger gravitational field. So I presume this has to be tested in a vacuum, as obviously there has to be no friction for the law to hold. Sorry if you know most of this, I'm not sure what background you have in physics. EDIT: If I got the last bit wrong, could somebody correct me on Unruhs law.

I always wonder with this debate if pot was the social norm, and alcohol was illegal...I can imagine the reaction against somebody who was pro-alcohol. Imagine the hysteria at spring break, the amount of policing needed when alcohol abusers leave their 'alcohol dens' at night et.c Some stats...8.4% of people in England and Wales have taken illicit drugs, a population of roughly 52 million (albeit it's an estimate) 130,000 people are addicts. Drugs are incredibly easy to get hold of, it's clear most people take it and leave it, it's also clear there are a huge percentage that drink alcohol responsibly. The problem I have with illegal drugs is that it simply hasn't worked, money laundering, no quality control, turning to crime to fund habits et.c et.c The right to take drugs is irrelevant, the right to have pleasure is...and the fact of the matter is that drugs are here to stay, and there's nothing anybody can do about it, so if an individual chooses to take a drug at a weekend for pleasure, that's their choice of pleasure. It sounds contradictory, but there's a subtle difference to having the right to have fun, and the right to take a drug, when the means to have fun i.e a drug, is something that is impossible to eradicate. I hope that makes sense. Paranoia, I have to disagree with drug taking is victimless, that's far too black and white, and doesn't account for the toxicity and dependency of different drugs. http://www.drugscope.org.uk/uploads/goodpractice/documents/bcs2006.pdf

I don't understand why an extra dimension is needed, you can describe this behaviour with something as simple as a vector...net force = 0.

I agree, I'll reiterate...I meant agenda within the context of what gypsy cake said i.e through science and specifically the scientific method, we shouldn't assume it will lead to some ultimate truth. There was something else I was going to add, but I was up until 2 doing maths last night, and I'm really not functioning to well

Which I discovered yesterday...and I urge anyone to join in, don't be scared...be afraid, be very afraid.

That would be implying that science has an agenda, which would tarnish the scientific method. I would of thought that a man-made system such as maths, could possibly describe an absolute truth, it's just a tool to quantify observation (yes you could write books on what maths 'is', but let's keep it simple) but I'm not sure an absolute truth could be found 'through' maths, maths is just one of the tools used in science. Apart from that, what would it mean to us to attain absolute truth (theory of everything), I personally find the prospect quite scary, but I'm very dubious that it can be reached.

I see his point (not that I'd particularly approve of the situation), but it would be interesting to see how a civilization pans out from anarchy. It seems logical that capitalism would thrive, but it's probably impossible to predict, especially in the long term. That Pepsi ad brought up earlier...that's just sad, not sure if anyone's been to the Amazon, just when you think you're off the beaten track, you see a Pepsi sign jutting out amongst the trees...be gone consumerism, be gone.

I've certainly warmed to the new look SFN now, and although the position of avatars and user info bugged me at first, it does look more elegant than the old style. I must admit when I first saw the colour scheme...light blue on white (clouds and sky sprung to mind), is this to enduce a calming effect, a ploy to reduce flaming ?

This is really my reasons as well as a few others for legalization... A. safer non-contaminated drugs, B. reduction in overcrowded prisons C. profit going to the right areas i.e support programmes, rehabilitation programmes, drug advice et.c not into the hands of dealers. D. it's a basic human right to have pleasure. Millions go to work at jobs they don't particularly enjoy, and have no choice in the matter...why deny them that right...if they want to abuse that right, that's their problem, it's up to the individual. E. Irradicate the resonance of 'reefer madness' propoganda that still sways public opinion on drugs...Daily Mail headline two days ago 'another cannabis murder.' completely overlooking the fact the guy was a lunatic anyway. F. Open avenues for research on psychoactive drugs. I could go on, drugs being illegal has clearly failed with regards to drug abuse, so it just needs to be safer and have the support it requires. It's going to be a problem if it's legal or illegal, but simply brushing it under the carpet as 'it's bad' is clearly not the right attitude. Having 'dabbled' as I grew up, I know first hand the kind of problems that arise, but it's always been the individual not acting responsibly. It's impossible to eliminate, so best to make it safer for the individual.

Yes, the UK didn't cower, but it's probably more complicated than you think. Labour are at a critical position at the moment, they're nearing the end of an era, and it's clear, public faith is not vested in the Labour government. 'Not backing down' is just a phrase they throw at the media. A week ago they were considering 'prisoner exchange', so 'not backing down' is not the phrase I'd use...'weasling their way out of it', would be more apt. The problem is exposing who's at fault, and it's been blanketed with media spin, IMO. Besides, they've just been released.

abskebabs, I'm currently using Mathcad, and have some handy worksheets for plotting functions as part of my course. If you could provide exactly what your plugging in to Mathcad, I might be able to see where you're going wrong. It would be interesting to see the long term behaviour, where the pattern tends to, and perhaps, unless you have already, evaluate a closed form.