CaptainPanic

People can put enormous efforts into completely pointless things. It's called 'art', or just 'entertainment'. For example, I am currently writing a scenario for a little-known game called Wesnoth. I am spending many evenings working on it, and it probably won't be played by more than a handful of people. I expect nothing from it. But I still put in all that time. I can understand that people enjoy creating these pieces of art. It is quite possible that there are some forums online where contests are organized to make some art in fields, with bonus points for getting the attention from the UFOlogists. Personally, I applaud the effort where they made this art in the desert, but I do not agree with the destruction of crops. The joke is getting too old, and the financial damage to farmers is not negligible.

! Moderator Note Schneibster, You seem to be putting words into people's mouths, and then attack them on that. This is similar to a strawman fallacy. Also, you seem to use more fallacies, such as the appeal to authority. I'd like to point out that the use of logical fallacies is against our rules. As it says in the rules: The use of fallacies undermines an argument, and the constant use of them is simply irritating. So, stop using logical fallacies. This is at least your second warning (here's another). We're not banning books here on SFN. But as good scientists, we question everything. If you want to use a book or famous scientist as a reference in a discussion, then just write that so-and-so wrote this-and-that in a book. But don't start claiming such a reference as an absolute truth. Generally, using references in a discussion is greatly appreciated, but occasionally you'll get attacked by members who disagree with your reference. At that point, you just have to either find another reference that is acceptable to your opposition, or go a level deeper into the matter and explain things yourself. Claiming that someone is famous is just not a valid argument. Btw, the moderators you seem to be fighting with are also famous. Do not respond to this mod note. If you have a problem with it, use the report button at the bottom of this post, and another mod will take a look at it.

You are paid to fill the shelves (of a shop) with soda bottles. You spend your time making phone calls to people who are important to you personally, but who are of no importance to the shop (they bring no income). The responsibility of your boss is to make as much revenues as possible in the shop. The responsibility of you is to listen to your boss. In exchange, you get paid. If you fail at your responsibility, you can get fired. This is just how things are in this world. No matter how important your other tasks are, you cannot decide to ignore your boss, and do something else with your time. To your boss, the importance of those phone calls is totally irrelevant (it might as well be a phone call to the Sesamestreet hotline). Your boss has no responsibilities towards any of the people you are calling with. She has only a responsibility to that shop, and I think she's doing a good job reminding you of your responsibilities. If you really cannot make those phone calls at another time, then I suggest you find another job... But please realize that your next boss will probably think the same about you spending work-time to do non-work things. One suggestion: if the people you are on the phone with also agree that you do impotant work, perhaps they can pay you for it? Then you don't need to fill any shelves, and you can be on the phone all day!

Perhaps you were looking for the Mass-energy equivalence? It is not a .pdf, but this link should contain some information for a beginner. (Why do you insist on a .pdf anyway, instead of just any document).

! Moderator Note You were warned before about not opening threads on dangerous or illicit materials. Thread locked pending review.

I just gave you a bunch of examples of things you can calculate - if you don't know how to do a particular calculation, I suggest you don't do it... The important thing was to set the boundary conditions, then make a plan what you're gonna do... and then start the design.

Although I am a chemical engineer, not an architect, I would suggest that you first set yourself some boundary conditions, and then calculate some key-numbers (and use only a very crude sketch of the building at this stage!). Boundary conditions Boundary conditions would normally be derived from the 1st chat with your employer (the guy with the money who wants a skyscraper), and would be derived from what your building is going to be used for. If the purpose is to have a luxury office for 5000 people, including restaurant, helipad, and fitness area, using only sustainable energy, then you can derive: - The total floor area (how big is 1 office, how many offices do you need), plus the size of the other facilities - The energy requirements (focus only on electricity, or you'll go mad) - The climate control (keep it simple: just the total flow of air, and then you may be able to calculate the heating needed) - Capacity of the elevators / stairs If you are with 2 people, you can do a short role-playing. One is the employer, the other the architect. The employer has a wish-list, while the architect is able to logically derive things from that wish-list. No designing yet. No opinions yet. Everything follows logically. I know you don't have an employer. But your life will be easier if you pretend you do. Design Now that you know what the employer wants, you can start designing. There are many ways to achieve the things your employer wants. - You can go high and narrow, or wide and not so high. - Each floor can be the minimalistic 2.5 meters high, or a spaceous 5 meters high (or anything in between). - Glass front, or brick... (or other options) - Elevators and stairs - this is a big mathematical challenge: how to optimize the elevators. How many do you need? They eat up a huge volume of your skyscraper if you don't pay attention. Make sure it still fits the budget set (or the description - simple, luxurious, modern, etc...). Make sure to also make a list of stuff that you don't include in your design (you could for example ignore the strength of the steel/concrete skeleton that keeps the whole thing up, or its earthquake resistance - such civil engineering may be too difficult).

An Alan wrench is hexagonal, which means that at 6 points, you have a small gap between your magnet and the side of the hole. Can't you just squeeze a needle in there, and use that as a lever? An optional addition to that idea is that you use a small plier to make a tiny bend in the very end (last millimeter) of the needle. Then jam is in, so that the end bends - but bends only below your magnet. The now fully bent needle could act like a scoop. If the hole is too deep, you may have to go for the epoxy glue or molten plastic options that were described before. Finally, although I like a good challenge, you are talking about less than a euro worth of components. Replacement - although it means admitting defeat - is an option.

Did it occur to you that the professor may have given you the papers similarly to a bank clerk giving a bankrobber the money? Not because they really wish the bankrobbers to have that money, but more to solve a much more immediate problem: a strong feeling of discomfort. Please don't think that I call you a criminal - I just have no other analogue at this moment. Teaching is more than just getting some papers and knowing a lot about the topic. Teaching is also about knowing how to explain something (if you understand it, that does not mean you can explain it to someone else!), and about having some leadership qualities, among other things.

Although I don't know what CVS is (I live in Europe), I think it's pretty simple: The company wants to be a little bit more ethical about their business, but going 100% ethical and right would hurt their business too much.

Easy. MacGyver.

I am locally significant, globally mostly harmless, galactically insignificant and universally liked. What's it like? Oh, you get used to it... The notion of my significance has become a rather insignificant part of my consciousness.

I guess it depends on the glue. Water glue (like glue that kids use at school) will come off with water. Other glues can be dissolved with an organic solvent (nail polish remover is often just acetone, and may work). Vegetable oils may also weaken a glue to a point where it comes off. Without more information on the type of glue, we can't help you any more. On a side note, that metal ball is just so the screw driver won't fit, right? Don't you think that some thief would just knock that off with a bit of violence? You're trying to glue a metal to another metal, which is quite difficult. The result may not be as strong as you think.

Yes, that's the angle I was thinking of: cats are known to - for example - watch tv. This I can confirm from my own experience. They can recognize a bird on a flat surface like a tv. So, why wouldn't they recognize pictures? In addition, some cats will clean their people - licking and even gently biting is their way of carressing (or perhaps just removing that awful human smell, replacing it with a more feline smell). Alternatively, perhaps the photographs are in a frame, which probably means there is a glass cover on the front. The glass itself won't attract much attention from the cats, but perhaps the soap used to clean the glass will leave a taste that the cat likes? A quick google search for cats and soap suggests cats lick soap also from other surfaces - not just photographs.

Just curious: does the cat lick any picture, or just the portraits?

! Moderator Note This thread is locked for review. The thread has violated the following rules: - Slurs or prejudice against any group of people (or person) are prohibited. - The use of logical fallacies to prove a point is prohibited. The use of fallacies undermines an argument, and the constant use of them is simply irritating. And possibly also: - Preaching and "soap-boxing" (making topics or posts without inviting, or even rejecting, open discussion) are not allowed. This is a discussion forum, not your personal lecture hall. Discuss points, don't just repeat them.

Welcome to the forum, everyone. Disenssio, if your native language isn't English, don't worry about any spelling mistakes. Just make sure to ask good questions, or give good answers. Davidivad, ducttape is your friend for putting things together.

Please answer my question first: Why do you want to make ethanol gel?

Why do you want to make ethanol gel? Btw, we had a whole bunch of threads about this in the past. It was a real hype in 2008 and 2009 here on the forum. I suggest you read those old threads (here, here, and here). As far as I remember, nobody explained me why they want to make the stuff.

! Moderator Note John Cuthber and Alan McDougall, You are both failing to engage in a friendly discussion. You both have written too many posts that were aimed exclusively to each other, to 'win' the discussion. John, you simply break one of our first rules: Be civil. No flaming. Refrain from insulting or attacking users in a discussion. You suggest that Alan doesn't know what he is talking about. You attack his spelling. You command him around instead of asking nicely. I have noticed before that your style generally fuels any fires that are already burning. Stop that. Alan, your refusal to participate in the discussion is unacceptable. If you don't want to respond, then don't respond. But if you do respond, please make sure that the post contains some new information or opinion. This thread is closed for moderator review.

The rest of the plant is actually an excellent source for the 'Second generation' biofuels, using cellulose as a source for sugars. Hemp has a relatively high cellulose content in comparison to other annual plants (e.g. grasses and other energy crops).

! Moderator Note This thread has been locked because the topic is (closely) related to the synthesis of illegal substances. Recently a member added a new post to this relatively old thread, which we subsequently removed. This is the reason for this 'update'. Unfortunately, we (mods) had failed to lock the thread before. We apologize that we left a thread open that should have been locked a long time ago. So, move along, move along... there's nothing to see here. Only this mod note is new.

Research is aiming to use residues from agriculture instead of the food itself. Example: wheat is grown for food, but the straw that is left is used for fuel / chemicals. Right now, part of the straw is left on the fields to rot, and while that means it is food for fungi and microorganisms, the ethical issues to use that for fuel weigh less (arguably) than when it is food for humans. (And yes, research groups are also investigating how much straw must be left on the fields to prevent soil degradation).

How do you know the ground is flat?

3 reasons to open a new thread instead of posting a 2nd question in an existing thread: 1. There is no limit to how many threads you can open, so there is no reason not to create a new thread for a different topic. 2. People start ignoring certain threads they're not interested in, so it is better to open a new thread to attract all the attention that your new question deserves. 3. You are not the owner of the threads you open. Maybe your question is answered sufficiently for you, but maybe someone else doesn't understand it yet, or wishes to add something else. A thread is not finished just because the OP says so. If a new question is very much related to an existing thread, just open a new thread, and place a link in the 1st post to that old relevant thread.