StringJunky

If I remember correctly from a James Lovelock's book "The Revenge of Gaia" the main nucleation material is dimethyl sulphide produced by oceanic algae. Would there be net charges in these droplets that cause them to conglomerate at some point? Merged post follows: Consecutive posts merged There are random natural events like volcanic activity spewing out millions of tons of light blocking (cooling) and nucleating particles (rain forming) which would help to maintain a constant state of disequilibrium in weather patterns. As I mentioned earlier algae-produced dimethyl sulphide which, I think if Lovelock is correct, is a precursor to the formation of rain clouds would also be dynamic in the amount that is produced according to the algae population which are dependent on the abundance of nutrients, which in turn is dependent on the ocean temperature....if it's too warm the nutrients stay locked at the bottom of the ocean (Can't remember the mechanism). The population of all Earth life itself is dynamic and the byproducts they produce combined would effect long term climate patterns as well I would think.

Between you I think you've explained and demonstrated what I need to know to explain to him. My own guess was a combination of a fairly weak molecular attraction, atmospheric pressure surrounding the cloud and viewing them from a long distance which gives the impression of stability when in fact, close up, they are quite turbulent and not so static looking. That video does show that they dissipate eventually like gases aided by the wind...it just needed speeding up. Cheers

What are the contributing factors that keep atmospheric clouds in a compact state as opposed to diffusing out uniformly which is what I expect gases to do normally? This is a question prompted by my nephew that I couldn't adequately explain. I said they were a bit like steam but he said: "Why doesn't it spread out and disappear then?!" If you can put your responses appropriate to a bright six year old I'll let him read them....his name's William. Thanks.

Same for me too, I pulled it out of his Cosmo Basics sticky. I have to hand it to Martin for linking to interesting stuff that is both concise and understandable to those of us who are not fluent in high math and cosmological physics. For a mathematician he does a great job of keeping the mathematics to a minimum!

This should shed some light for you on the current state of ideas on this subject: http://www.einstein-online.info/en/spotlights/big_bangs/index.html

Here's an actual method to remember your dreams that elaborates on what iNow suggests: http://www.lucidity.com/NL11.DreamRecall.html

The fractional difference in the distance between the two positions relative to the Sun would so negligible as to render the difference in light intensity as unmeasurable I would think. If you are talking about a light source some meters away the difference would be measurable between the two positions but when looking on the scale of 10's of millions of miles and the two positions are only meters away from each other it's out of the question. http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/YBA/M31-velocity/1overR2-more.html

Rather than completely deny your sense of perfectionism any form of expression why not allow only one or two forms of activity of your choosing where it is permissible and be content with 99% for the rest of your activities...it's ok for most things to be just ok and not unblemished. The trouble with perfectionism is that it takes an inordinately disproportionate amount of personal effort to get that last one per cent all the time with all things. You might have more continued success this way and have the one or two tangible focal points where the quality really matters without it engulfing all of your activities and constantly lowering your self esteem because you are asking the impossible of yourself...to be without flaw in everything that you do. You need to keep practicing this way of thinking and acting for a while before those neural highways get formed that will allow you to do this automatically.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity

As far as I've looked into spamming it's not actually illegal...it's equivalent to junk mail. Spambots are not illegal either...here's the legal notice from the Xrumer site: The software available for purchase on this website fully complies with the laws of USA, Canada, Australy, Europe and Russian Federation. All parts of the software are protected by international copyright laws. Any attempt to disassemble the software will be prosecuted to the maximum extent possible under the law." Xrumer is the daddy of spambots apparently and costs $540 to start and $10/month thereafter. Botmaster the owner reckons you'll be in profit within a month. When I see it's specs one appreciates why you forum admin have a hard time: XRumer is a software application that automatically posts your messages to forums, guestbooks, bulletin boards and catalogs of the links (as well as into livejournals and wiki). In a word it is an autosubmitter. Currently available version is XRumer 5.0.12 Palladium. More info about updates... Below are listed main specification and features of XRumer Multithreaded submitting: over 50 simultaneously running threads possible! (30 threads are recommended for optimal performance under 128 Kbps bandwidth) Software can perform registration at forums (if necessary for posting messages) and automatically fill in the required fields. Upon successful registration XRumer posts the user-specified message and/or links. The powerful built-in proxy-server checking script locates available proxy-servers worldwide, choosing anonymous addresses among them. Software is able to work with lots of different types of forums and guestbooks: phpBB and PHP-Nuke with any modifications, yaBB, VBulletin, Invision Power Board, IconBoard, UltimateBB, exBB, phorum.org, wiki, different types of bulletin boards and even custom-written code. Attention: unique feature – software works around EVERY possible type of protection from automatic registration, including: - Pictocode protection (tickets, captcha), which look something like: "Enter the number you see in the box". Details... - E-mail activation protection. Details... - Java-script protection. Details... During the process of posting a detailed log is created with precise path-links to posted messages so that you can check every link and every posted message afterwards. A built-in proprietary "Question-answer" system. A variations system, using which you can post up to 10000 messages all looking different but with similar contextual meaning and the user-defined hyperlinks in them. It helps to broaden the key queries (for Search Engine optimization) and protect your posts from being filtered out by Search Engines (that is, your posts will be included in SERPs). If the forum has more than one category, the software chooses the one most suitable for the message, otherwise it sends the message to off-top, flame sections or the like, and in case those do not exist - to the most visited category on the forum. BB-code can be used. The following forum base processing tools are included: repeated links deletion, hit descending sort, service denial according to customizable black list, and various filters. The program informs the users about availability of new versions and possesses many other powerful features. The system is fully user-independent and requires minimum skills to handle: you only need to choose the proper links database, create a message text with one or several hyperlinks and hit the 'Start' button. THAT IS ALL. XRumer software package includes the Hrefer program and databases with links to more than 102.000 forums. Minimum required system specifications: Windows 98 / 2000 / 2003 / XP / Vista, 1GHz or faster processor, 256Mb RAM. Price: $540. Purchase...

Its best to imagine the Universe as only the surface of an expanding balloon with currants stuck on it...as it expands the distance between the currants increases...space is created between them. It's important to realise that there is *nothing inside or outside above or below this balloon... the surface is all there is...it doesn't expand into anything...there is no volume of space around the balloon. the surface of the balloon is all there is. This is only an analogy but it shows how the distance increases between objects without having an edge...spherical surfaces lack an edge. The Universe was much smaller than it is today but current models suggest that it was still infinite in dimension...get your head round that! *Total absence of anything..not even space. http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/bigbang.html

I was repeatedly referred to as a string junky because I was constantly in state of reviewing different strings for my guitar and not being able to make my mind which was best for me and I also liked the sound of new strings.

I suspect alot of budding astronomers are initially very disappointed as well with their first naked eye views through their shiny new expensive telescopes....nothing like in the astro mags at all. You need three factors present for something to burn: fuel. oxygen (or similar), ignition...one or more of those factors is obviously missing in the necessary amounts....apart from the fact it's also rather cold out there! (-270 Deg C approx.) and hydrogen's boiling point is -252 Deg C. and oxygen's boiling point is -182 Deg C. I'm sure there is other factors as well that somebody else might chime in.

The vast majority of astronomical images that show colour are as a result of the type of image detector/filter used which are sensitive to particular frequency bands and post-capture processing. Colour images of the large megallanic cloud, for example, are most likely composites of several different types of image overlaid on each other. Scientists use colour techniques as an aid to differentiate and observe the distribution of electromagnetic emissions, elements and compounds in astronomical phenomena. Here's an example of how they can be put together: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/10/black-hole-collision/ In a nutsell, no we most likely wouldn't, in most cases, see images like that with our own eyes.

Thanks for that. I was, obviously naively, thinking that perhaps the necessary natural phenomena that are likely to cause modulation are too far away and we might try to simulate it artificially and much closer to home to try and get a discernible measurement. Do you think modulations will be detected eventually? What's your hunch?

Is it the sudden change in the mass of a supernova that causes the ripple....a hydrogen bomb is obviously too small?

Why does a supernova cause them then...if it does?

"The Revenge of Gaia" James Lovelock. Whoever I've lent my copy to has said everybody should read it. Very difficult to argue against anthropocentric climate change when one has done so. Great intro for lay readers to the concept of the Earth as a self regulating System.

Probably a daft idea but could we detonate a hydrogen bomb of sufficient magnitude at a suitable distance in space... could that create a detectable wave? I thought of this because supernovae might be a source that scientists are looking at. How big would it have to be to work and how far away to have a measurable effect if spacetime can ripple?

4 UK 2P's = 8 UK 1P's = 16 UK 1/2p's = 1 ounce. A 2P is also 1inch in diameter. Seeing as this was decimal coinage I find it highly amusing that the physical dimensions and weight are Imperial even though we were supposed to be harmonising with the European system of weights and measures. These measurements are dead on and not approx by my measurements. Next year the UK will have been decimalised for forty years and ,still, the Imperial system lingers.

It isn't that this behaviour is abnormal...it's socially unacceptable inside a community setting like schools, but it still happens. I was admonished at 6 years old by my headmistress for putting my hand down a a female contemporary's knickers. This behaviour is actively repressed in a public setting...quite rightly so! What we did as little boys and girls out of the gaze of adults was a different matter. Genital exploration and autoerotism is where sexuality starts and these activities start as soon as one discovers ones genitals IMO. It's the concept of pleasuring ANOTHER person that is beyond the notion of a child...this starts generally, I think, with physical maturation (puberty)

Kudos for conceding in the face of the evidence. One often finds in matters like these that it's social pressure during ones formative years that colours ones perception and dictates how we are socially supposed to perceive it. An open mind and a search of the evidence can reveal a contrary result...as in this case. I think these qualities are paramount to be a good scientist. I was as prejudiced as anyone 25 years ago but the evidence and much personal rumination over the years with a clinical eye has changed that. I have reached the point now where if I wanted to express myself that way I would...but I don't..it's not me. I would go as far as to say homosexual behaviour is socially cohesive rather than destructive as evidenced by Bonobos as an example...a well chilled bunch of primates as far as I've read. What better way to neutralise an aggressive situation between potentially lethal opponents than to arouse each others pleasure centres? Homosexuality a mental illness? A behaviour/thought pattern detrimental to an individual or group...an open mind reveals that is not the case.

There's loads of species that have individuals on the pink side of sexual behavior, including bonobo monkeys...primates if I'm not mistaken. Surprised me actually its prevalence....is there anything Wikipedia hasn't documented? "No species has been found in which homosexual behaviour has not been shown to exist, with the exception of species that never have sex at all, such as sea urchins and aphis" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_sexual_behaviour#Homosexual_behaviour

How do you explain the fact that 90-95% of the population is hetero', if it's just sex that's selected for and not bias? If it was just sex that was selected for wouldn't it be reasonable to see a more even distribution of the two biases in a population....bias in the sense of hetero' or homo' behaviour? I think some people are genetically hardwired to be gay and I don't think it's a pathalogical behaviour or mental illness...for the record.

You think that's bad... I had the bright idea of liberally sprinkling dried blood AND fishmeal in the soil of one of my houseplants. I didn't figure it out the source straight away because it was a trailing plant in a hanging basket above my head....memorable...conjure up visions of the air filled with the stench of dead fish, maggots and corpses!