StringJunky

But it may have been nicked from this: "Oscar Wilde claimed that "the Americans and the British are identical in all respects except, of course, their language"

Condense.....until you can condense no more. Love that quote Ophiolite, it's new one to me.

How about getting an aquarium air pump with an airball attached and putting that in a suitable sized container containing vinegar (or salt and water). The object surfaces will then have an active and constant supply of all rusting factors: air, water and electrolyte which should accelerate the process The airpumps and airstones can be quite cheap: http://www.virtualvillage.co.uk/dual-speed-control-fresh-salt-water-aquarium-air-pump-001492-089.html?utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=shcomp

I'm sorry Michel If my response appeared terse in anyway and thank you for liking that post. Like you, I endeavour to vet my posts for context and general writing accuracy but invariably miss a mistake somewhere...it irks me to notice afterwards. My use of the the word 'poise' was one those things lost on you (which Ophiolite's post has enlightened you hopefully) but that's probably just one of the subtleties between native English speakers as I'm sure there are between native speakers in your language which goes over our English/American heads! In future, I shall be more mindful of potential misunderstandings by non-native speakers and be prepared to explain myself more fully.

Nothing. I was relating that quality to Churchill that Ophiolite mentioned.

Thanks I agree, I rate Churchill's wit as sharp as Oscar Wild's. They both have made me smile broadly in the past with their witty observations and uniquely cutting literary style. Their words epitomise my favourite definition of poise: the art of raising the eyebrows and not the roof.

I know... old habits die hard but the more effort you put into your presentation the more informed your readers will be as to your true intent. It helps to reduce ambiguity and can also impart your desired tone if you are thoughtful in the use of the literary palette at your disposal. Scientific communication needs every bit of agreed convention it can lay its hands to keep misunderstandings to the absolute minimum....it seems difficult enough to put some vague or difficult idea across when all parties toe the line and conform anyway without being idiosyncratic..

The reality is....ones capture rate of readers/responders will fall exponentially without capitals and paragraphs. Why should we readers wade through another poster's laziness? If the presentation is neglected the content probably is also. Insane Alien's the only notable exception I can think of and even he is endeavouring to break the habit of not using upper case.

It's easier on the eye and facilitates the reader in their search for relevant sentences in a large body of text with capitals by acting as convenient markers and aiding segmentation....Apart from that, it looks better IMO.

Definitely a good idea.

I thought the general idea of going higher up the educational chain was that you learn to become pedagogically autonomous...it seems you still have some adapting to do. One of the hardest things in life to accept is the way the world is and not the way one thinks it should be. If you really want to change the system though....be the system. Aside: I like to read a good rant like this one occasionally.

If the potential extinction of a species is the consequence of human activity then I think we should endeavour to reintroduce it because there's a good probability we can correct the problem but if it's a consequence of some long term natural environmental /climatic change then it's probably pointless because, obviously, essential sustaining factors have diminished too much. A case in point: The English Burbot has been extinct for about 40 years (this was the last confirmed sighting) and is a candidate for reintroduction using European stock. I can't find the article I'm referring to here but the Keeper of Fish at the Natural History Museum (retired consultant expert on fish) more or less poo pooed the idea arguing that the British climate was getting to warm and therefore they couldn't breed to self-sustaining levels...they need colder water than is available today here. Since I read that article The Dept For Environment Food and Rural Affairs scientists now agree with him apparently and do not support the idea but there are still some quarters that wish it to proceed. My thinking here is against reintroduction to UK for the reasons already mentioned (makes sense to me) and also that particular species exists plentifully elsewhere in Europe. I don't see the point of artificially maintaining a species in a given locality, which would be the case with Burbot here in the long term due to ongoing climatic adversity, unless that particular species faces extinction on a global scale and its genome disappear forever....

Marvellous!

It's funny isn't it how rules can actually encourage freedom (of expression) rather than inhibit it as SFN demonstrates? Freedom is not Anarchy as RatSkep clearly shows.

Just because an omniscient entity knows your next move doesn't mean he's actually interfered with your choice, therefore, you acted with a large degree of Freewill. The deterministic element comes from the usually limited range of choices presented (and therefore possible outcomes) but within that deterministic range we have Freewill to choose from the available options. Yes, I think our lives are significantly determined by past events but the outcomes are still fuzzy...this fuzzy part is determined by Freewill. Freewill and Determinism is not a dichotomy but a bit of both like the Nature/Nurture debate IMO. I hope this is not is considered off-topic but why would a Creator assemble a Universe with a known destiny.... what's the point? Remove Freewill and you have a predestined Universe which seems, to me, rather pointless from a deity's point of view I think...much more fun to sprinkle some Chance/Uncertainty (from the deity's POV) into the mix.

http://rheumatic.org/sugar.htm

Severian's arguments on gay marriage are irrelevant here ...it's the manner of delivery by some of the posters on the other site that is in question . It clearly has some unfettered prominently puerile membership...would you care to grace them with your presence seeing as they agree with you on gay marriage...must we be fascist and contemptuous in our attitude with those that disagree with us because we think we are right? We won't gain any converts to gay marriage by fighting and disrespect will we?

Severian, I had a look through the thread...that site is a toilet. The Science threads are pathetic and junior school with interjections of juvenile humour that would get people banned here as you know. Trust your instinct...24 carat pseudo intellectual morons. .You can't argue intelligently in the face of the mindless stupid. If that is this site's partner it needs cutting adrift. Jimmydasaint put a quote on a thread that seems pertinent here that they definitely don't embrace there which is an a essential component in any civil discussion: "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle

I think it might be the positive image mould for bas relief where the image appears raised from the surface...I don't think it's heated because it is all metal and doesn't look to me that there was an insulator material attached to it...the twisted bar handle makes me think that it's the finished article. My guess for its operation would be that it was pressed into some soft impressionable substrate then some molten material was poured into the resulting impression to make the 'raised' plaque or picture which is what a bas relief image is. Here's an image of a mould (in heated clay) and the finished product in bronze...it was sandcasted:

I thought that too but I created a link on my Chrome bookmarks bar for quick access...I'm sure in time Cap'n will have it all sussed..it's still early days with the new software isn't it?

Never noticed that...cheers.

This is not ideal, but if you click the View New Content without being signed in it will list all the posts in the last 24 hours....if you want to answer a post hit Reply and a warning about not being signed in comes up and you should hit the 'Click here to sign in' button. The login screen comes up and then should put you in Reply mode for that topic (once the relevant fields are filled in the boxes).

I'm glad the old system of Rep Power has gone....it created and encouraged a situation that I remember Severian called 'one big circle jerk'. Now people's rep is more inclined to represent merit rather than influence. Wise move CR.

I thought I'd add this email that you probably got as well AJB from one of the organisers: Dear Supporters, The Chancellor revealed the results of the government's Spending Review yesterday. The science research budget has been frozen. This means that we will be spending 10% less on research in 2014/15 than we are today. It could have been far, far worse. We’re encouraged that the government has listened to the economic arguments showing that science is vital. It is a difficult time for this country, but protecting science will result in a better future for the UK. There is no controlled experiment, a world in which the Science Is Vital campaign did not exist, a world where nobody raised their voices to defend UK science. And we know that some people in high places believed in the economic importance of science independently of us. But I think that we can all take at least some credit for this result. Our central message was powerful, and it seems to have been heard and heeded: 33,000 names on a signature delivered to Downing Street, gathered in only 3 weeks 2000+ (police estimate) scientists and their supporters demonstrating outside the Treasury 100s of articles, radio interviews and TV films in national and international media a 45-minute meeting with Science Minister David Willetts to discuss the issues a question raised in Prime Minister’s Questions a packed lobby in Parliament, including Prof. Adrian Smith, sent by Vince Cable to report back 110 MPs from all main parties signing our Early Day Motion All of you had a part to play in these achievements. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks, especially those who put in a little extra: the marshals and first-aiders at the rally, those of you who volunteered their time to design posters and artwork, to make placards, to nominate slogans, who donated the videos, photos and comments to enhance our website, or sent us links to important pieces of evidence for the economic case; who travelled from far away to attend the rally or the lobby; who donated money to the cause; who helped spread the word by emailing their departments or deans or student unions, or took the time to explain the issues to friends and neighbours who then went on to sign the petition or write to their MPs – the list goes on. It just goes to show how powerful people can be when many act as one. UK science is still not entirely safe. While we have made cuts to science, our competitors in the US and Germany are increasing their investment – there is still a risk of a brain drain. Reforms to university funding, severe pressure on capital projects and the detail of the allocation of the budget are all still to come. The UK science community must weather this. Science is Vital. As a campaign we’re going to keep on fighting for the interests of science through these tough times of cuts and change. With your permission we’ll occasionally email you with updates and requests for help. But for now on behalf of the entire Science Is Vital team: thank you once again for your support, and for helping to make a difference. With best wishes, Jenny Rohn

Where no additional energy is added to keep the system going...it powers itself.