StringJunky

This one's striking and quite a species jump:

What characteristics should a pathogen have to maximise global infection and ultimately the most fatalities? I ask so I can compare those parameters with that of the Ebola virus. I think the incubation period is 2 to 21 days ...this is too short isn't it?

They are simulations based on available data.

The scale of your example far too small to show the homogenous nature of the large-scale universe or lack of it in the way it is being explained to you ...you need an expanse of a few hundred million light years to start to see the uniform filamentous - cobwebby - nature of the universe. When I look at that picture I linked to it tells me that the physics is very likely the same everywhere. Here's the universe across 1 billion light years and we are in the centre in Virgo: http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/superc.html At 14 billion: http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/universe.html

It's the only horse in the race methinks.

The point of the picture was to illustrate visually for you what 'homogenous' means. It's structure - at a sufficient sample size - is basically uniform. Nature is indeed unexpected - scientists continually find anomalies that put spanners in their theories - but in the end they get do closer to modelling reality and this is what is happening ...they are happy with that.

There won't be fossils available for every stage of evolution in all organisms for the simple fact that their structures weren't amenable to the fossilization process, or some other method of natural preservation, for reasons such as having no hard structures to concentrate minerals on/in to create an impression of their -past form. The prevailing and future geological make up of the terrain where they lived and ultimately perished also determined if they were preserved or not. Lots of factors were against preserving specimens.

To add to what's been said: If you could zoom out and look at the universe on a big enough scale it would look like this: http://www.universetoday.com/81813/astronomy-without-a-telescope-the-edge-of-greatness/

If you interpret it correctly, he was telling people how not to become a moderator.

It could only, possibly, be done for your offspring and not you personally by manipulating the genetic information in your sperm/eggs.

I got them from here: http://www.cna.org/ewc http://www.cna.org/research/2014/water-conservation-carbon-dioxide http://www.cna.org/research/2014/clash-competing-necessities

Might it not be possible though that scientists, in the search for unification, are trying to 'trisect' gravity with the the other three forces and GR is not wrong? I very much liked that article Strange linked to, any of the cases mentioned could be an allegory for ultimately fruitless research in any field. I think it is incorrect to treat 'wrong' and 'incomplete' as synonyms. I think GR epitomises this distinction because it seems so beautifully accurate within its domain.

Yes, engineers understand quantitatively the limits of the properties of the materials available to them.

No because you would be reduced to communicating with pictures and there are abstractions - which are legion in physics - that can't be communicated that way.

To say I was pissed off when I found this out going into A level chemistry (16-18yrs) would be an understatement. I felt the previous two years was completely wasted on learning inaccurate information. The tutor actually said: "Everything you've learnt so far is wrong"!

I think this too. It was a profound act of arrogance and ignorance imo by the allies to annex part of Palestine from it's indigenous inhabitants.because it was some group of (in practice) foreigners spiritual home.

It is more flexible than PF - it has a speculations forum. It's important for the novices - including myself - to keep established science distinct from users personal ideas so that they may not become confused.

The thing is to look over the long term when someone has quite a few posts and you can see more of a pattern of the kind of poster they are. and how they are generally regarded. Some negatives/positives are deserved/undeserved/mistakes but these become insignificant in the long term trend.

Assuming the cosmological principle holds throughout the universe and what we know about the time-scales involved in elemental-through-to-molecular synthesis, how many years could an alien race be ahead of us technologically/scientifically/societally as an upper limit?

Yes, I think because it is too often associated with conventional religion. Emergence is a back-of-the-mind thing that my brain has been chewing on for years trying to get my head around it, simultaneously viewing the paths from micro to macro levels, but so far always fall short. I think properly understanding it is crucial to understanding the nature of biological concepts like 'life' and consciousness as processes. I look forward to a thread from you on the topics you mention should it ever gel well enough for you to post something about it.

TBH I don't notice the Americanisms much now.

It was definitely zero when I repped it. It was an insightful thought, I thought. By extension I sometimes wonder, via us, if the universe's evolution is becoming teleological.

Two nations divided by a common language. I find the notion of proper American-English highly amusing . I suppose proper English is now sufficiently bastardised beyond recognition as to be another official language in other places now.

I remember giving you a positive rep ...or intended to! My apologies if it was a red one.

He used that word because in my post I described gravity as 'smooth' and he understood what I meant. replying in the same analogous way.