Mr Skeptic

Do you mean [math]V_f^2 = V_0^2 + 2ax[/math] Looks like a kinematics equation for calculating the final velocity given initial velocity, acceleration, and distance traveled.

Intelligence is the ability to figure out solutions to problems.

What about a particle's intrinsic spin (angular momentum)? Wouldn't that be "spinning momentum"?

Religion attracts a certain type of people, and generally gives them something positive to do (helping the poor, etc). If superstitious/easily manipulated people were left to themselves, they would form something like religion regardless, potentially under the leadership of someone with a dubious agenda. You might end up with some cults or other dangerous groups, instead of some people trying to help the poor.

A large asteroid can blast earth rocks into space as well. That's a rather small effect, though, unless the asteroid were large enough to shatter earth. The lightest atoms (eg hydrogen) can be blown out of the atmosphere by the solar wind, which is why light planets don't have much hydrogen compounds such as water.

Under heavy gravity, we would have more air pressure and more oxygen. This is generally a good thing. The thicker atmosphere would block more radiation, so cancer should go down. If the gravity is too strong, going aquatic may be a solution.

We have not yet reached the limit of land usage, and we could always irrigate the desert, or expand to the oceans, or expand to space (yes, the first two will be horrible for the environment, but easier than space). Our biggest limit will be energy; if we do not solve that our civilization might collapse. If colonize space, it is very unlikely that we could go extinct.

Torque is [math]\vec{\tau}={\vec{F}}X{\vec{r}}[/math] This vector is perpendicular to both the force and the radial vector; you would say that it is in the direction of the axis of rotation. The sign of the vector shows whether the torque is clockwise or counterclockwise.

A little easier actually. You just need a little mixing, like with a spoon rather than a blender.

A bit dumb, but the insurance company would rather give you the money to have a doctor visit than potentially let a condition worsen to the point that it will be very expensive to treat. That is as it should be. The other aspect is that people feel as if they are getting something out of their insurance that way, and will be happier sheeple.

Exactly. Which is different from a circular proof. Now go learn the difference. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impredicative http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question

Again, calling it fancy names like begging the question or petitio principii won't make what you say any more true. Self-referring statements are a different beast than circular proofs.

How can you say that the problem is religion then, if what they are doing is different then what their religion says they should be doing? The things many people do in the name of religion are the very things their religion says they should not do! Science has many teachings too, and there are atrocities committed in the name of science all the time. For example, there are a huge number of whales hunted in Japan for "scientific" purposes. The teachings of evolution were used to justify racism countless times, including the Holocaust. Science, unlike religion, has actually created new weapons as opposed to just ideologies. The same things learned about some things can be used for good or evil, eg nuclear power vs nuclear weapons, medicine/biochemistry versus drugs/chemical weapons, etc. --- In summary, just because something bad was done in the name of religion (or science) does not mean that religion (or science) is to blame for it. The problem is not religion (or science), but rather people who are easily manipulated. Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers, regardless of their ideology.

Yes, God is in charge of punishing the evil/sinful/non-believers. Are you as a non-believer afraid of what God himself will do to you? Um, no. Not the Bible, anyhow. Where did you get that from? Stuff that says for people, not God, to slay or enslave non-believers? (The clearing of the promised land is a different story)

OK, first, we see if he is lying. Since he gives (apparently) his name and address, it might be possible that he is not lying, in which case he would be a nice person. However, his request concerning personal information especially related to bank accounts and that he will trust a random stranger to take care of his son and his money, suggests this is a 419 scam, albeit one more clever than the usual Nigerian official. I suppose you will agree with me that it is likely that he is lying. Now, lying to get money is fraud and effectively the same as stealing. Stealing is forbidden all over the Bible. By stricter interpretations, lying is also forbidden (at the commandment level), and is generally considered immoral.

What's the negative impact of religion, though? I assume you are talking about Christianity. Christianity (ie, following Christ) should be a positive influence. Christ was very clear on several topics such as "Love your neighbor as yourself," "Love your enemies," "Forgive," and other such teachings. Did anything that Christ taught have negative impact? Contrast this to the "teachings" of violent video games, such as "Screw hookers then kill them to get your money back," "Running over pedestrians gives you points," and "Why have safe sex when you can't get STD's in the game?"

The idea of neural networks is to simulate what happens in neurons. They are a type of generic solution that can be trained to do stuff (eg distinguish between things in different categories). So far, they are mostly simplistic things with three layers of "neurons" and require hundreds of repetitions to learn things. If they made a more complex arrangement and improved on the learning functionality, it is possible that they could form a humanlike intelligence. However, I understand that they currently have about the same intelligence potential as a cockroach.

How do you know that an email from Nigeria wasn't really sent by a high ranking Nigerian official?

Yes, this shows how dangerous people pretending to be religious can be.

Snail, ParanoiA: are you two disagreeing about different things? Is the problem the location of eg alcoholics on the waiting list, or whether they should get a replacement liver at all if there is an extra one available? Regardless, is not one of the bigger issues one of compatibility of tissues? There's thousands of different tissue compatibility problems, which could be minimized by choosing the most compatible person to receive an organ. Otherwise, it's major immunosuppressant time. Disclaimer: I'm not very familiar with how organ donations work.

If the cyclical models of the universe are correct, then the second law of thermodynamics doesn't always hold.

We may throw the dice, but the Lord determines how they fall. --Proverbs 16:33 (New Living Translation) Look, look! God does play dice!

So can you sense magnetic fields with your fingers now?

It is impossible to remove selection pressures. If you're born with no head, you are gonna die, no getting around that. At most the selection pressures will be reduced. Whether that is a bad thing is not as clear cut as you may think. During mass extinction events, the selection pressures were much harsher, was that a good thing? It just means more variability, which is often a good thing. It may allow changes that would have been impossible before. However, it could also make us temporarily weaker. That weakness would be eliminated very quickly in a few harsh generations though. --- Regardless, the point is moot since there is no way we are going to wait around for evolution to do its thing. Genetic engineering > evolution.

If you make a bootable floppy with a copy of fdisk, and boot from the floppy. Windows might have some protection to prevent users from powning themselves, and if that is your problem, booting from a floppy will solve it.