TonyMcC

I think it is just as well to remember that we were all born ignorant. None of us knew much at all until we were taught. When I was a lecturer I did my best to instil in my students the concept that there is no such thing as a stupid question. Students can be left behind if they are afraid of ridicule resulting from the asking of a question.

Could it be that you are an "it" girl? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_girl

I am wondering why you ask the question. There are reasons why some people have their doubts. For some people there are religious teachings that deny the possibility - and those people are unlikely to respond to argument. There are always people who hold onto a conspiracy theory and they think those that can't see their point of view must be blind! I guess I must be one of the huge majority who will be thought of as "blind" by the small minority.

If there is no friction or other losses the ball will bounce back to its original position. i.e. to a height of 3m. In the absence of friction and other losses I would expect the ball to bounce between these two positions indefinitely. (It is a theoretical/hypothetical situation).

And over horizontal distance B? (assuming no energy loss on the rebound)

I think you may have deliberately not drawn the angles accurately to give a false impression. Would that be right?

Surely if lions hadn't eaten for three years they wouldn't be hungry - they would be dead!

For a simple, graphical illustration of what happens you could try this link. Within electronic circuits you can never get a perfect square wave. To achieve such a thing you would have to produce instantaneous changes of voltage. http://www.mathworks.co.uk/products/matlab/demos.html?file=/products/demos/shipping/matlab/xfourier.html

Perhaps the coroner was a fan of Sherlock Holmes rather than William of Ockham. lol.

I have read that today's children are likely to have a lower lifespan than their parents due mainly to factors such as obesity and lifestyle.

Firstly, I personally am quite sceptical when it comes to spontaneous human combustion. I am just stating the fact that at least one death certificate gives it as the cause of death. The reason for this appears to have been arrived at by a coroner who was able to call on whatever experts he considered necessary. He seems to have enlisted suitable experts (who would quite likely be scientists) to consider whether the fire was the cause of the combustion and they said no it wasn't. Therefore you are not arguing with me - you are arguing with a coroner and his panel of experts. As for me, I am quite willing to declare that I really don't know. Do you?

That appeared to be so obvious that it was considered by experts. To quote from the report :-

I am of Irish Ancestry - I like a drink and sometimes sit by the fire. However you did ask for an officially recorded case and this seems to be one!

There is at least one death officially recorded as spontaneous human combustion. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ireland/8783929/Irish-pensioner-died-of-spontaneous-human-combustion.html

There is one source of food that is neglected - insects:- http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2009/aug/19/insects-food-crisis I have heard it said that some wartime survivors of the Japanese put their survival down to a willingness to eat,among other things, cockroach "soup".

Apparently the USA is one of a large number of countries that doesn't have an official language. This surprises me. http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/officialamerican/

Thank you, glad someone likes my sense of humour lol.

As a visitor from the far reaches of space I've studied English and decided to prove my ability By writing this Limerick But as I don't really understand poetry Perhaps it's not very good.

I would like you to think a bit Dude Is it true Fermat made a big boob When he said "I have found Proof simple and sound That a cube plus a cube's not a cube"?

Swansont of Washington DC Said I get a great urge to pee When a man with a notion Claims perpetual motion Is as easy as A B and C

Yes, in an attempt to be brief I'm afraid I worded this badly. The truth is that I wonder about the whole concept of a cyber-friend. I feel it must be very different to a "proper" friend. Someone you know ,who you like as a known person. Someone you trust and would want to help should they be in difficulties. Someone you would stand back to back with to face danger . As quite an old man I am proud to say I have a handful of true friends. I don't really get the significance and practical benefit of having, say, a couple of hundred "friends" that you don't really know on forums and sites such as Facebook. On a forum such as this is it really no more than a gesture that you like and agree with the views expressed in their posts?

This sounds like the way jurors are found in the UK.The jury system has worked successfully for centuries although Judges are needed to ensure the system is guided by an expert in the law. Our members of parliament are backed up by an army of Civil Servants who (IMO) through advice channels do what they can to prevent individual Members of Parliament making really stupid decisions. They don't always succeed! However, it seems the proposed system could work and with a fairly large number of randomly picked people forming a government perhaps individual characteristics such as intelligence and education would not be of great consequence.

Seems to be quite a common problem. Google - message webpage "Out of memory at line 1"- you will find quite a lot of information. Don't forget to use the inverted commas. Hope this helps.

Thank you both - I'm happy now I know what's happening.

From time to time I receive a message that says ******* has successfully added me to their friends list. The word "successful" has me puzzled because it implies failure was possible. A reasonable assumption is that failure would be because I had declined their offer of friendship. However, since I have never been asked, I have never been able to influence this and so my assumption must be false. So, what is the procedure that should be followed as a matter of courtesy when you receive such a message? Do you have a choice when such a message arrives? I am not implying that I wish to lose any of my "friends" - in fact I feel flattered that anyone would want to list me among their friends.