TonyMcC

Actually, I would like a spaceship to land in my back garden and then be escorted by a group of angels to a distant planet where I would be made welcome in Paradise without the inconvenience of actually going through the process of dying. What do you reckon of my chances?

Just after I got married I was invited out for a night with the boys. I told my wife that I would be home by midnight - promise! The evening went well. The jokes were being told and the beer was going down easy. At around 3.a.m. full as a boot I went home. Just as I got in the door the cuckoo clock started and cuckooed 3 times. Quickly I realised that she'd probably wake up so I cuckooed another 9 times. I was really proud of myself, having the quick wittedness even when drunk, to escape a possible conflict. Next morning my wife asked me what time I got in and I told her 12 o'clock. Whew! Got away with that one! She then told me that we needed a new cuckoo clock. When I asked why she said "Well at 3 a.m. this morning it cuckooed 3 times, paused, swore, cuckooed another 4 times, farted, cuckooed another 3 times, paused, cleared its throat and cuckooed twice, then giggled for over three minutes. - I think its had it, don't you?"

We seem to be making a meal of this one! The two pieces of wire will have the same resistance (which is opposition to direct current flow). The coiled wire will have greater impedance (which is opposition to alternating current flow). This is because it also has inductance . If the question concerns resistance then it is fair to assume a d.c. circuit and so the temperature of both wires will be the same. The amount of power taken and given off as heat can be calculated :- Power = (V^2)/R. Thus higher resistance produces less heat. In this I am assuming the power source (eg battery) has negligible internal resistance, otherwise we shall have to consider maximum power transfer. This occurs when the battery's internal resistance equals the load resistance. I don't think the OP wants to go as far as this.

I'm sure there are not. There are always "losses" that have to be provided for that eventually stop the motion. In the stirling engine, for example, you will have friction and also heat given off.

Sorry for the late reply, but I have only just seen your post. Two facts exist, the tank did collapse and the house had been empty for some time in freezing weather. My diagram only shows one tap, but of course there are a few, some being upstairs and some being downstairs. The tank itself is upstairs. I imagine the cold water feed to the tank was frozen and opening a downstairs tap caused the tank to start emptying through syphonic action. I was not at the house at the time, just the receiver of a very distressed phone call. The people called in to do the repair put the damage down to parts of the system being frozen. I believe most systems in the UK are still similar to the system shown. It has been only over relatively recent years that sealed systems have come into favour. In my own home I had a new sealed system with a "combi" boiler fitted about ten years ago. It was considered very modern! later edit:- you got me wondering about just how this happened and whether it is common. I attach an excerpt from the following web page http://www.diybanter.com/uk-diy/8548-re-ch-expansion-pipe-vents-into-cold-cistern.html

The feelings that engender respect seem to change with age. Sadly, some of my younger male aquaitances think that a person to be feared is a person to be respected. I believe this is common belief among the more common criminal classes (who are not my aquaintances). Anyway here is a definition - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Respect

I feel inclined to respond to this post although perhaps I am not qualified. I was in the British Armed forces for 22 years. However, my time was over a quiet and mostly peaceful time and ,as a radar technician, the only time I handled a loaded weapon was on the firing range. Looking back I am grateful for that. The point I wish to make is that although we believed we were doing a worthwhile job protecting Queen and Country I don't remember ever getting into any real discussion about politics as such. It didn't seem that important "who was in charge". It may be different under warfare conditions and I would be interested to know whether people presently fighting in Afghanistan spend much time discussing politics.

Electric fences produce a pulse of electricty at periodic intervals. At the time of the pulse you may see arcing taking lace at the insulators, particularly iif the atmosphere is damp. In between pulses nothing will be seen. When I was about 16 I was walking in the countryside with some friends and we came across an electric fence. I gave the wire a quick brush with my finger and felt nothing. Telling the others that the fence was switched off I grabbed hold of the wire - very bad move as it gave me a really painful jolt. http://www.electricfencing.co.uk/Energisers.asp

This web page is mainly about charging a cell phone using energy contained in the human voice. It also links to a notice that Apple has taken out a patent for a solar cell charging system for cell phones. http://www.mobiledia.com/news/89586.html

If I ask you does a mountain exist? I feel sure you would answer in the affirmative. I spent part of my life in the Maldives which is made up of small very flat islands. None of them has a point more than about 2m above sea level and I was on a one of the largest islands which was about 1 mile across. One day we tried describe a mountain to a maldivian person. It was hopeless - in fact I think he thought we were "pulling his leg". So does a mountain exist? Does it make sense to say that a mountain exists for you but not for him?

This seems pretty close in ideas to:- "If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him". (Voltaire)

I am a bit puzzled because, according to your profile, you are either the boss of a company or a sales manager. In either case I would expect your position of authority to carry weight. Nevertheless I feel inclined to offer the advice I gave a grandson when he thought that where he worked was not run in an efficient way and that any idea the workers (particularly he) proposed that would improve matters was ignored - "Getting a job is difficult but keeping a job is easy. Just do what your boss wants in the way he wants you to do it - at least for the first year or so". Being young, headstrong and easily offended, of course he ignored my advice. He is now unemployed and has been so for quite some time! edit - had another look at your profile and I see you have been in your position for 2 years. Perhaps your ideas are sound, but I suggest try to be tactful and accept people are usually reluctant to accept change or criticism.

I think it is true to say that there was a time when the earth was in a very good state for the formation of life. Once life was underway it developed and evolved to make the best of what was available. As long as conditions on earth were good enough to support life then (IMO) life continued to adapt to the conditions. This makes the conditions seem perfect for life - but perhaps it is life that has evolved to perfectly fit the conditions? I think different conditions would have had a great effect on the development of life forms.

Many people over centuries have dreamed of using an overweighted wheel to obtain perpetual motion. Perhaps you would like to see this web page. http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/museum/overbal.htm

As csmyth3025 says - build one and demonstrate its properties. I am very sceptical. I guess I am one of the "few others!"

Famous last words!

It seems to me that the CD case must be tilted so that the object sitting on it doesn't fly off. Perhaps this is done subconsciously. Perhaps one of you mathematicians would like to come up with an angle appropriate to arms length and practical speed of rotation. I wonder if this is some kind of joke where the OP is trying to get as many people feeling giddy as he/she can!?

I don't know if this is very scientific, but in the place on this planet where gravity has little effect on life can be found the largest animals (whales). However you can also find very small animals - plankton.

In my childhood a favourite with kids was mustard and cress which can be quickly grown on a tray containing blotting paper. It can then be eaten. http://www.bigeyedowl.co.uk/activities-growing.htm

OK, technically this not a cure for a hangover but when I was going out with "the gang" for a boozy night out we would all call in the NAAFI (I was in the Forces) and we would all have a pint of milk before venturing forth. We generally felt quite well the next morning - but that might have been because most of us "threw up" on the way home! By the way have you noticed that whatever you have been eating it comes up as diced carrots?

Surely the USA, like GB, has such a long history of immigration from many nations and ethnic groups that the DNA would prove nothing. In the case of the UK only a few people living in places such as the far South West and Wales would have DNA that proved a family history of "Britishness". In the USA I suppose only a few Native Americans could have DNA that proved an American family history.

Firstly it seems that quantifying the risk that the unborn child has of being pleased to be born seems to be important to you. This is something I must admit I have never given much thought to (except feeling relieved when each of my chidren, grandchildren and great grandchildren were born without handicap). In an attempt to put numbers to the situation I have discovered this web site - http://www.disabledinaction.org/census_stats.html It seems 12% of the American population have a severe disabilty. This seems to cover a wide range of conditions such as deafness, blindness, loss of limbs and mental problems. Many of these people (IMO) will be able to make a life that will be so satifactory that they would not entertain thoughts of suicide. Perhaps more relevant to your post is "Number of people age 6 and older who need personal assistance with one or more activities of daily living (such as taking a bath or shower) or instrumental activities of daily living (such as using the telephone). This group amounts to 4 percent of people in this age category." Again many of this 4% (IMO) will have useful, worthwhile lives which they would not wish to give up willingly. I think these numbers are smaller than you thought and so perhaps you will think the risks involved are acceptable. Secondly, when a partner has been found and other couples are having children the desire to build a family of one's own kicks in. This desire is instinctive and very strong. At such a time you just go ahead with hope in your heart.

Marat: Firstly let me say that if your post reflects thoughts,or a situation, concerning your personal circumstances then the last thing I would want to be is unsympathetic. However the fact is (IMO) that the vast majority of people in the developed world do manage to live purposeful lives, even those with disabilities. Obviously life may be a burden for some from birth but there are not many people to whom this applies (as a percentage of all births). It is a fact that as we age we slowly become infirm but, speaking as a senior citizen,I haven't really been aware that I have been decaying before my own eyes! That expression paints a picture that I don't really recognise. I really do hope that I look better than a young corpse who has been lying in the sun for three days! So - to have a child or not,that is the question. There is a chance, albeit quite small, that the child will be born handicapped in some way. There is a chance that the child will wish it had never been born. The best that the child can hope for is a purposeful life followed by death and this is what most children can expect. I am saying that what most children can expect is worth having. All life is a gamble and some times you just have to go with the odds. Every time I drive my car I may be killed or injured. Every time I go down a flight of stairs I may slip and break my neck. I used to like gliding and on one occasion collided with power cables getting into a field - but I carried on gliding. I have had two children who may have wished they had never been born. In each of these cases the odds were in my favour and I don't think so much that I have been lucky, more that I have not been extraordinarily unlucky. Life goes on! I feel having and raising a child requires quite a lot of self-development. It developes the individual's maturity in many ways. Perhaps the biggest step in maturity is the acceptance that there is another life more important than your own. Perhaps only a parent would understand that.

Marat - In my opinion you are over concerned with inevitable death and the trials and tribulations of leading a typical life. You seem blind to the pleasures and joys that are "the other side of the coin". I am in my 70's and not in good health so I'm probably in my last decade of life. I'm not looking forward to the day I die but I do not live in fear of that day. I am glad that I was born and have been fortunate enough to live a normal life (whatever that is!). I have experienced the joys associated with marriage, children, freindship, travel, work where I feel I have been useful and have the satifaction of knowing that I shall be missed when I've gone. I've experienced loss of family and friends over the years, been ill and in pain sometimes and my life is pretty limited right now - but I have never doubted that life has been a gift and would not have missed it for anything! I hope and expect that as life develops for them my children, grandchildren, great granchildren and also you will find life is a great adventure and well worth a bit of suffering now and then.

Harnessing the tides has already been done. http://www.reuk.co.uk/La-Rance-Tidal-Power-Plant.htm There has been a proposal to construct a similar, but much larger, barrier across the River Severn in the UK. I understand that this project has recently been "put on the back burner".