paulsutton

Just been reading the above article on Did a supernova trigger the late Devonian extinction? https://physicsworld.com/a/did-a-supernova-trigger-the-late-devonian-extinction/ Asf we think there was life on Mars a long time ago, would the rocks brought back from Mars by the newly launched Perseverance rover be tested for these radioactive isotopes too, to figure out if any radiation also reached the surface of Mars. So namely this seems to be: Samarium-146 Uranium-235 Plutonium-244 So some digging as to what protects us from Solar Flares What Protects the Earth From Harmful Solar Flares? Updated March 10, 2018 By Tammie Painter https://sciencing.com/protects-earth-harmful-solar-flares-2515.html Would this also protect us from other sources of radiation, I am guessing anything from outside the solar system would be called something like Exosolar radiation. (based on he idea we use the term exoplanet to describe planets around other stars) So if this Supernova radiation reached Mars without the same level of protection could any life on Mars have suffered a more catastrophic damage and would evidence of the above isotopes provide evidence of this, providing the probe finds evidence of life either exists or once existed on Mars. Thanks Paul

I have an experiment to work out the angular size of the moon. Clearly with the moon I can take a coin and measure the diameter, then measure the distance from me at which the moon is covered, by looking at the moon. Now given doing this with the sun is going to be a bad idea, As the normal equation gives size in radians as per angular size = (actual x distance) The OU course I did modifies the equation for this with Angular size = 57 x (actual size / distance) which I think converts radians to degrees. I am sure it should be possible to modify to work out the angular size of the sun. According to my book the sun is 400 x bigger than the moon so if I work out the size of the moon then x 400 I should get the angular size of the sun which is what the projector will be looking at. Which sort of makes sense. Does this sound right.? Thanks Paul.

Cool thanks, Paul

Hi all I would like to try and build a solar observer as detailed here https://www.space.com/15614-sun-observing-safety-tips-infographic.html Right now I have 2 pieces of card one is square with a pin hole in the center the other is just a piece of scrap a4 card.l The projector does work. I have got a basic pinhole projector working, is there a way to link distance from hole to the size of the projected image, ? Or the optimum size of hole and distance to where I am projecting to? Thank in advance for any help II can probably use a system lke this in a school or at the South Devon Tech Jam if we decide to actually do more than simply computers and programming. Regards Paul

Do guns ever kill people ? or do people kill others with guns, ? I hardly know anything about fire arms, but there are now safety features so they don't accidentally fire, if you are an adult parent with children, should guns not be locked or in a secure place out of reach.. Have adults been charged when a child picks up a gun and kills a friend with it, (playing) depending on age is it the child's fault if they pickup a gun, to them it may be something to play with. ? All this is very complex

Hi I would like to have a go at growing crystals with Water Glass, or Sodium Silicate, NaSiO_3 IIRC, As I don't have any to hand, I do have small bags of Silica Gel that you get in shoe boxes for example. Is this the same substance, and is this water soluble . In which case is this a case of fill a small container with water and place the gel in to dissolve it.. I am guessing this is yes, but just asking. Thanks Paul

But if a person knows what they want you to hear, do some people adjust their tone accordingly, some people are good at that , gaining trust and just pretend to show that remorse or empathy for the victim. Not sure if anyone follows the UK news https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-berkshire-53445791/pc-andrew-harper-trial-video-shows-defendants-laughing How do you deal with people such as this, not quite sure how they didn't know they were dragging PC harper behind the car like this, and ended up with Manslaughter not murder but that is a matter for the courts and legal system, Paul Is there more to this than admitting your offence and accepting responsibility. , If someone has say alcohol or drug dependency they have to accept they have a problem and want help. This can't apparently be forced on to people. So once in jail, how long should it be for?, or should that period of incarceration also include assessment, retraining etc so people leave able to change their lives around. Rather than what we seem to have which is a revolving door for some people. . What purpose is the incarceration for, so maybe to protect the public, and the public want justice to be seen, however what goes on inside jail should also produce results. or to protect that person from others, so addicts from dealers. or themselves perhaps. Some people just take advantage of others, or see an opportunity to make money, so commit theft or fraud over a short or long period, longer periods they know what they are doing perhaps it is better planned Shawshank redemption is a good film, in that respect but it also illustrates how being inside also makes you so used to jail you struggle on the out side, which in a away also happens to military vets the go from high structure to having to pay rent for example, Very complex issues. Not an expert in this field just expressing some ideas Paul

Hi I made a blog post on creating models using molymods and just wondered if these kits were still widely used in education. I posted a video on peertube and the reply I got suggested people could use Molview.(http://molview.org/) instead. So asking. I have suggested that if people can't get hold of molymod kits (say cost barrier) it is possible to use coloured clay and straws for very basic models. (not ideal but better than nothing) but that is more of a side issue. For me physically building is a good thing, plus there are videos on you tube showing you how to simulate basic reactions and ensuring you maintain equilibrium which is something I don't think mol view can do. So just asking. if they are still used I can try and make some more videos and improve further. Thanks Paul

Ah cool thanks, I will take the rest of these IC holders apart and see how much the whole lot weighs, then see if it is possible to find out how much just the gold is worth. ? It should be possible to use Aqua Regia for this, it needs a proper science lab of course (safety. equipment and expertise), I wonder if the local school could look in to this, would make a neat demo for the students of course.

Hi I I have some IC holder pins, I know they are gold due to the colour, however I am not sure if they are solid gold or just gold plated. Does anyone have ideas as to which is more likely. I can try and look at a cross sextion but even then lack the expertise to know what to look for. Thanks Paul

Cool thanks, I will work on this and try and share what I have done. Paul

Hi This is probably a really simple question, but I have written a small python application that adds two numbers together, and I want to expand this so there are more entry boxes so I can make a program that can solve a drake equation for a given set of figures. This is more of a proof of concept and personal challenge, Looking at the equation on WikiPedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation Am I right in thinking that I have to multiply all the values together ? as this just shows dots between the various variables. I think I remember reading somewhere that dots in equations mean multiply but that was years ago. Writing a simple application should not be too much of a problem, Just a line of boxes (input) + labels, output box, button to produce the result and a clear box to clear everything. Just more of a personal project., but happy to share anyway. Thank you for any advice Paul Sutton

But can't other objects warp space - time and therefore would the edge of that warp be an event horizon ? Not sure if supermassive stars have an effect on the surrounding space. I am no where near an expert, so asking this more as a speculative question.

This was posted to the [IOP Science](https://iopscience.iop.org/) website today (18th June 2020). https://ioppublishing.org/news/iop-publishing-joins-forces-with-other-publishers-to-make-research-publishing-more-inclusive-and-diverse/

So lots of things to look forward to in this field, it is complex stuff, but still really interesting, Hopefully I can learn a lot more about all this, the updated standard model image I found will help with this, its kind of like the periodic table, so changes and adapts over time, as we make new discoveries. Paul

Ah cool , I will check that out, In terms of the Standard Model table is there a updated version anywhere, ? Found on, seems to be on Wikipedia but more hidden. found via duck duck go search, does this look pretty upto date, According to the Open Learn course I am doing now, In the night sky: Orion, there are about 36 sub atomic particles.

Physicists Announce Potential Dark Matter Breakthrough https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/physicists-announce-potential-dark-matter-breakthrough/ Just spotted a link to this., so my question is Does this mean that Axions will appear on the Standard Model of particle physics. ? Paul

Great news, Malaria is such a problem in so many countries, lets hope something comes from this and it can lead to an effective treatment that can be rolled out to the areas that need it.

Detecting Exoplanets and Asteroids: First Citizen Science Successes for Backyard Astronomy Found this on Twitter and sharing here as it may be of interest, https://unistellaroptics.com/detecting-exoplanets-and-asteroids-first-citizen-science-successes-for-backyard-astronomy/ Great the citizen science is making a real contribution. Hope this is interesting Paul

Indeed, there are lots of interesting planets and moons even in our solar system, to finding more worlds around other planets is great and it shows the wide variety out there is probably beyond what we would have ever thought even a few years ago. Exciting times., Paul

Just found an interesting article on the BBC science pages about the CHEOPS Telescope being operational. Looks like there are some really interesting planets out there. Exciting times ahead. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-52307087 Great too that CoronaVIrus isn't going to get in the way of science such as this. Paul

Sorry about that. Thanks for this. These are are levels created with the level editor for the game. I have made 12 but the responses on this thread has given me some pointers going forward. Paul Paul

Hi This may sound an odd question for a psychology thread but I am trying to reach out and ask this. I am creating custom levels for a game called rocks and diamonds, which is a sort of maze, diamond collecting game I am writing about this on my blog at link deleted My question is that if I design complex levels does this have a different psychological effect compared to really simple levels. So within my level set if I created say 5 really complex levels, is there any psychobiological benefit to throwing i the odd really simple level, that is quick to complete. I am asking this as perhaps the brain acts in a certain way if you're involved in heavy thinking when completing a complex level, so perhaps is on a heightened state, then if you are then faced with a few much simpler puzzles does this perhaps bring this state down a little. I am not sure if this is right or what terminology to use, so is there a benefit to just including the odd simple level. The game is meant to be fun, so hopefully this will help keep it that way so users are not faced with endless complexity. Thanks Regards Paul Sutton

We were shown an experiment at school on pressure, put water in a metal can (e.g oil can i think(, boil, ( as stem comes out of the can neck (wrong term for it there i think( put lid on can, and see what happens as a result in the air pressure difference inside and outside the can. As for suction, a simple straw does this or to observe a longer tube, you suck the liquid though the tube and then put the tube in the sink so the water passes through (syphon) Try this with water and clean equipment of course. Paul

I have a fully working Debian netbook (atom processor)running nicely in 2gb ram, if you use a really light weight front end you should be fine. In fact it works ok with 1gb ram. Another netbook same spec with 1gb ram, is also running FreeBSD nicely. Paul