Vanitas

The Chinese believe that it is unhealthy to drink ice water. I can understand how it could slow things down a bit, such as digestion, however, I was wondering if it really is detrimental to one's health on a long term basis. Personally I'd take an ice-cold beer over lukewarm anyday.

There is research being done into self-healing polymers. When the material cracks, microcapsules rupture and release the healing agent into the damaged region through capillary action.As the healing agent contacts the embedded catalyst, polymerization is initiated which bonds the crack closed. Apparently the scientists have achieved a regeneration strength of 75%. Doesn't occur in nature but still kinda of cool.

Check the news near the bottom of the mainpage. There IS an asteroid possibly heading towards Earth. From the sound of it, NASA seems to think they have it under control.

Lighten up, Tycho.

NASA's 2003 budget was approx. $15 billion. Do you think the space agency is making proper use of its funding? Should NASAs priorities be reconsidered? A survey of Americans showed that the majority think that NASA is a waste of taxpayers money. Speaking of NASA funding...The Voyager mission might get cut from the team too. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23500-2005Apr3.html

Here's a link briefly explaining Inflation vs. Brane Collision. http://superstringtheory.com/cosmo/cosmo5.html Indeed some parts of my previous post were copy/pasted from an article I downloaded to save time and I forgot to put quotes.....Plus I'm lazy Having reread your original post, I became intrigued by the rhetorical (?) question posed on the accuracy to which the speed of light can be measured. Do you have any further information?

Hi everyone, I'm 18, living in Montreal on scholarship going to university in my first year of human biology, although my main passion is the "big" picture. I've spent my entire life reading and learning, but have never spent a single second studying. I only strive to comprehend the world around me and I have no doubt that this site will help me do that. Cheers! p.s. - Don't write me off because I like to smoke a lot of pot and ponder the universe.

Traditionally, as hard as it is to grasp, the Big Bang theory states that the universe expanded from nothing, or rather a single mathamatical point. No space and no time. However I would like to post an alternative theory I've come across for discussion; that the physical universe began not with a primordial Big Bang but with a monumental collision with another universe. The "Big Collision" Theory surmises that time and space existed long before our universe exploded into physical reality. Scientists say that the universe began as a three-dimensional void in a higher-dimensional space. Attracted to another such universe, the two lined up and bumped into each other along their surfaces. Recent observations of background radiation from the "edges" of the cosmos, relics of early moments of the universe, reveal a startling homogeneity in all directions. The theory is supported by String Theory, however, it competes with the Inflation Theory. Although I'm not sure if I support the Big Collision theory, I would like to know others opinions on the matter. Also, as a semi-related sidenote, can anyone explain monopoles? (The super-massive particles that should have been created during the Big Bang.)