John Cuthber

What is the difference between something that has no cause and something which has a cause that cannot be known?

My Geiger counter, which is next to a small blob of uranium, just went click. At atom of Uranium has just decayed. Why did it do it then, rather than last week or next Christmas? There is certainly no known cause and, it seems, there is no "cause"- it just happens.

"This "miracle mineral" is sodium chlorite that he says to add lemon juice so that it turns to chlorine dioxide. " Since lemon juice is noted for being full of vitamin C which is a strong reducing agent, the outcome of mixing chlorite and lemon juice will be a small amount of very expensive salt. Malaria is known for being a relapsing disease. It comes and goes with or without snake oil.

Then you need to prepare solutions of ammonium sulphate and copper sulphate, mix them and let the water evaporate.

First off, you need to find out exactly what you are being asked to make. Is it the double salt CuSO4 (NH4)2SO4. 6H2O or is it tetrammine copper (II) sulphate Cu(NH3) 4SO4 .H2O ( I think it's the monohydrate.) I think it's probably the second, but the question actually asks for the first.

If you look here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment you can find a list of countries that still use the death penalty. It's mainly the "axis of evil" a few "failed states" and the US. Most countries have dropped the death penalty because it's simply wrong. The IQ doesn't (or shouldn't) matter. (I'm a bit shocked to see Japan on the list)

Hallucinations don't have to be visual. If the word used was "delusion" or "dream" or whatever the man's reaction would probably have been much the same. I think it's the right word but the OP's question was is it cruel? I don't think it's cruel any more than it is cruel to explain to children that bad things happen. Sometimes you just have to give bad news. Whether or not Prof Dawkins could have found a "gentler" way of putting it I don't know , but I can't see how he could have told the truth (as he sees it) and kept the man happy. Shattering (d)illusions isn't cruel; it's kind.

What would your second guess be? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Diffraction1.png

If you dry clothes outside then you don't need to care where the 2.26MJ/Kg comes from. It's possible (if a bit slow) to dry clothes outside even when the temperature is below freezing.

There's more about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speckle_pattern

Well, clearly, the real answer is that the toxin would be massively diluted and have no effect. Also "Injection of crude toxin apparently produces a general paralysis. It appears to affect the nervous system, especially respiratory centers, before the muscular system." from this rather old report http://www.biolbull.org/cgi/reprint/115/2/219.pdf indicates that the respiratory muscles are paralysed.

Shouldn't the excessive immigrant problem in Texas be discussed in Navajo or Apache or some such?

Giving God the authority to let others off misbehaving on my behalf barely makes sense if He exists. You seem to have forgotten that, since He doesn't exist, He can't offer forgiveness. The idea that He holds me responsible for His son's death many years before I was born is preposterous.

OK, so you plan to use chlorine under pressure in a tube about 80 degrees above it's melting point then magically stop it all disappearing onto a cold trap. And you think you know about the hazards. Would you understand if I were to say that I think that you don't know about the hazards and, until you do, you shouldn't try this.

Acording to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundances_of_the_elements_(data_page) manganese is roughly 100,000 times commoner than gold. Permanganate is pinkish purple.

Lemur, for the third time of asking. Are you sure that "according to Christianity everyone is supposed to see themselves as contributors to Christ's death"? Because it seems rather silly to me. Christ died a long way away, and many years before I was born. I really didn't contribute to his death. I could't have if I had wanted to. Also, if someone offends me in some way; then they say "It's OK I went to confession about it" then they offend me a second time. A non existent God does not have the authority to dispense forgiveness on my behalf. If they want to be forgiven, why shouldn't they ask me to let them off?

Lemur, the answer to my question was either "yes" or "no". Forgiveness has nothing to do with Christianity.

Lemur, Are you sure that "according to Christianity everyone is supposed to see themselves as contributors to Christ's death"? Because it seems rather silly to me. Christ died a long way away, and many years before I was born. I really didn't contribute to his death. I could't have if I had wanted to. Also, I believe that the state of "feeling bad because you know you did something wrong" i.e. remorse is a powerful force to prevent people doing things that are wrong. I'm fairly sure that a lack of remorse is part of a psychopathic disorder. If "confession" short-circuits that feeling then it's a bad thing.

Wiki also says it will soften at about 820C. In principle, you could use fused quartz but is it really worth it? I'm pretty sure it would be easier to prepare it from Ti metal scrap and Cl2. Even then you are still going to be playing with hot chlorine and TiCl4 - both are bad for you.

If the answer given here http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_people_died_in_the_Crusades is even remotely close to accurate then a lot more than 1024 people died in the name of Christianity than on 9/11 in the name of Islam. However the point isn't a number; both religions (and others too) have been responsible for plenty of deaths. What the daft pastor was planning to do was set fire to some paper. Only religion could make that into a reason for violence. Left or Right doesn't really seem to be the issue to me.

"many religions have a code of rules and they may be perceived to help society" So do most atheists. Religion is, therefore, unnecessary. Also, only religion pretends that you can confess your wrongdoings to God and then it's all OK again.

Is what you are looking for a septum seal? Most of the ones I use are silicone rubber with an inert PTFE layer.

It pops up somewhere else. The bright bits between interference fringes are twice as bright as you would expect if the interference didn't happen.

"What constitutes a "sham" marriage" David Cameron and Nick Clegg.

The details are, of course, kept closely guarded, but I understand* that DHMO formed part of the culture media used in the preparation of both the Soviet and US biological weapons. * I heard this from a "bloke down the pub" but I have talked in rather general terms with some microbiologists and I believe this is true.