coquina

See the thread I just created about slang and expressions. When I was small, my mother still retained some of her English expressions, and there were sometimes problems when she helped me with my spelling words. As I recall, "colour" and "cheque" were marked as wrong. I can remember her asking the gas station attention to fill the tank with petrol and check under the bonnet. She ordered metal for my dad's shop and befuddled the sales people when she asked for "aluminium" (Al u MIN e um).

Post your favorite expressions that have caused international confusion. The cousin whom I am about to visit is a clone of Hyacinthe on "Keeping Up Appearances". (and you ask why I am only staying a week). One time when I had broken my hand, she sent me a note in which she told me to "Keep my pecker up." I couldn't believe what I was reading from Miss Prim and Proper, 'cause in American slang a "pecker" refers to a strictly male appendage, located below the waist. I wrote her back and said, "Sheesh Liz, I would if I had one." She was quick to inform me that in England, it refers to one's chin. Anybody got any others to contribute?

Ahh..polite enough to spell "civilised" the American way.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/do53am.html

Hmmm.... I guess since I will soon be a guest in your country, I better learn to keep my mouth shut, smile politely, say, "I'm sorry, I really don't care to discuss politics, " and move on.

A tiny correction... the President of the United States does not have absolute power, far from it. The US Government is based on the notion of "Separation of Powers" http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_sepp.html There are three branches of the US Government - the Legislative, composed of the House and Senate is set up in Article One of the Constitution: http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Article1 The Executive, consisting of the President, Vice President, and the Departments, is set up in Article 2 of the Constitution: http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Article2 The Judicial, composed of the Supreme Court and Federal Courts is set up in Article 3. http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Article3 The "Separation of Powers" prevents any one division of the government from ruling with an iron fist through a system of "checks and balances". http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_cnb.html The constitution was set up deliberately to keep the president from becoming a dictator. In my humble opinion, who we elect to congress is a more important issue that who we elect as president. Also - we tend to associate good or bad things that happen to the economy to the administration in power at the time, but cause and effect is far from immediate in government.

As far as bay currents go, if there is no wind, they move with the current, but the bay currents are different from the ocean ones. In either case, when the winds pick up, they are dispersed. There is a lot on the web about Ocean currents. Here are some images. Go to the source documents and see if you can narrow it down to where you want to be: http://images.google.com/images?q=ocean+currents&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search Of course, a ship leaking very small amounts of oil and flushing it out with its bilge water would cause the same problem. You have to figure out whether the slick is anthropomorphic or natural. I would think that the natural slicks would be found where it is easiest for diatoms to proliferate. Probably warm, shallow water in the "horse latitudes" and "doldrums", where the winds are very weak. Here's a link that explains those two terms: http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa110200a.htm and here's a picture of global wind patterns: http://www.erin.utoronto.ca/~w3env100y/env/ENV100/sci/weather_gifs/globalwinds.jpg

Since you can't get to space, and you can't create it's lowered gravity on earth, how can you control your experiment? With the building of the rocket, you could experiment with different fuels, design, or material, but I have a feeling lots of folks have done that already. When is the experiment due? If you have a long time, you might be able to do something with plants, or some easily acquired animal - fish or earthworms. What about something to do with the environment and how various pollutants affect animals? Compare a soil sample from an auto junk yard with one from a park maybe.

From this site: http://www.stormingmedia.us/47/4704/A470413.html I don't have a lot of experience with ocean slicks, although I have seen them offshore. I live on the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the US, and am much more familiar with the slicks seen there. The Bay has both tides and currents, the tide being verticle motion, the current being horizontal. The slicks always do look a little oily - the bay has a large quantity of menhaden, a very oily fish of the herring family. When a school of bluefish or stripped bass is feeding on them, the oil rises to the surface along with the fish scraps, which attracts the gulls. (Fisherman locate schools of large fish by looking for feeding gulls.) However, I have seen plenty of slicks with no birds, so I am sure we have diatoms at work too. Matter of fact, you ought to see a "red tide" caused by dinoflagellates, the Bay looks like tomato soup. Anyway, you see the slicks mostly at slack water, the period when the current is nil as it changes from ebb to flood and vice versa. ("going out" or "coming in"). They are also seen when there is a slight breeze and the wind and the current are going in the same direction. When the wind is against the current, a chop develops and the slick dissipates. Hope this helps.

Great link, Martin. I said I was going shopping - been there, done that, maxed the card I'll leave here on 9/28 and drive to daughter's house, who lives in DC area, fly from Dulles to Heathrow on 9/29, fly back on 10/6, spend the night with daughter and return 10/7. My cousin has the internet, so I may be able to check in from time to time while there. Keep those geology threads rollin' folks. We can roll right on up through the Holocene if ya wanna.

My friend's wife was diagnosed with breast cancer 13 years ago. She managed to stay alive for 11 years. About 8 years longer than was initially expected. She had started nursing school earlier in life, and quit to raise her kids. When she got sick, she went back and finished, because she wanted to be able to understand what her doctors were telling her. If she felt her doctor wasn't treating her like a member of his team, she fired him and found somebody else. When a doctor told her she was terminal, she fired him and found somebody else. She wasn't afraid to die, she was determined to stay alive until her children finished school. Her youngest child was six when she was diagnosed, she was a senior in high school when she died. The difference between Shirley and the man who wrote the article is the author said, "I want my doctor to..." Shirley said, "My doctor will..." She was only about 5', but she refused to be intimidated. She would tell them, you do your part, I'll do mine. She "did hers" even to the extent of administering her own chemo through a PIC line.

http://www.agu.org/revgeophys/moskow01/node5.html http://images.google.com/images?q=magnetosomes&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

One of the reasons I participate in these boards is that I like to learn and to discuss what I have learned. I have a large group of friends and acquaintances. Most of them work at some job or other and are quite knowledgable about what they do. They have no interest in learning about anything thing else. When you talk to them about any kind of new scientific discovery, their eyes glaze over. The problem I have with this attitude is that there are a lot of times that having a good basic knowledge of science is very important. Political issues such as stem cell research, or spending more money on space research, are at the tip of the iceberg. The biggest problem of all, is that most of these people have not been taught to think. They don't understand anything about logic, and they tend to believe everything they read, whether it is logical or not.

Maybe the problem is not with Waterstrat, but with the author of the article who claimed that the material "changed in response to the force to prevent new damage" and had "healed itself". The author is refering to metal anthropomorphically - crediting it with human emotions and abilities. As I said before - what is described has been known in the machine shop trade as "work hardening". It's just a physical property of some metals, and they don't do it on purpose to keep machinists from cutting them. Perhaps it's not machinable using conventional tools. No big surprise there either. The tool has to be harder than the material. Undoubtedly Waterstrat's material is harder than high speed steel. It may be harder than carbide, but it is certainly not harder than diamond. The second article cited said he got the award for developing that fantabulous material in 1993 - it is now 2004. If the stuff was all that wondrous, don't you think it would at least have a name by now? What it probably comes down to is that the metals are so rare, they are prohibitively expensive to manufacture in quantities suitable for mass production.

The machinist was unable to cut the material in a lathe because it "work hardened". Stainless steel is famous for pulling this trick. One avoids the problem by not allowing heat to build up. You flood the material and tool with coolant, and make sure your tool is sharp. We use disposable carbide inserts that have several cutting surfaces. Here are some pictures: http://images.google.com/images?q=carbide%20inserts&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi They are precision sized so that when you program a part you can change an insert without changing the program. As you can see, they come in triangle and diamond shapes. You can get 6 new cutting surfaces out of a triangular shaped insert. If you are cutting something very expensive that is apt to work harden you turn or change the insert before it starts to get dull. For really mean materials, one can use ceramic or diamond tooling. One can also use an "electric discharge machine" or EDM. There are two types - wire and sinker. Wire is like a band saw, it uses electricity to burn through the material. With the sinker EDM - you make a carbon or a tungsten electrode in the male shape - it will burn a female shape. If it is metallic, you can burn through it. You can also use a "water knife" - extremely high pressure water with a matrix of corundum or diamond mixed in. Excuse me - but this guy sounds like a crackpot. He's probably suckering in people for his invention, or trying to explain why their investment went down the toilet.

It may appear that my posting is drifting as much as the continents, but hang with me, I have a point to make. Probably most of you have some basic knowledge of "plate tectonics" - that continents drift around the globe floating on a sea of magma. There have been periods of geologic time when they have all been jammed together, and others when they have been spread apart. Their relative positions have a great deal to do with what the climate of the entire earth was like, because they affect the formation of ocean currents. When the continents are spread out, as they are now, warm and cold currents has the opportunity to circulate among them and affect the temperature much more. When all the continents are jammed together, the interior of the land mass is unaffected by the stabilizing influence of the ocean. Snow accumulates on the land masses, and sea level falls. The continental shelves are exposed as dry land which eliminates a prime breeding ground for life, shallow water through which light and warmth can penetrate. For a very good background in continental drift, ocean formation and demise, check out James Madison University's site on the "Wilson Cycle" http://csmres.jmu.edu/geollab/Fichter/Wilson/Wilson.html There is detailed, step by step information there, but this page is the "cut to the chase" version. http://csmres.jmu.edu/geollab/Fichter/Wilson/wilsonsimp.html IMHO, the other site that provides invaluable information of past times is the Paleomap project: http://www.scotese.com/earth.htm Check it out - one can see how the continents were placed over time. (There are ways that this is deduced, if anyone wants to discuss it, I suggest you start a separate thread.) There is also a section on "paleoclimate". So - lets concentrate on the Precambrian and the Cambrian to see what was going on: http://www.scotese.com/precambr.htm As you can see, all of the continents were jammed together with one very large ocean surrounding them. There was a southern icecap, but Antarctica wasn't the land beneath it. The land that is now North and South America was. There is not a separate climate map for the Precambrian, but the authors refer to the period as an "ice house world". Onward to the Cambrian: http://www.scotese.com/newpage12.htm You can see that the continents are starting to drift apart again. Climate: http://www.scotese.com/ecambcli.htm It is thought that it had warmed up considerably and was a temperate world. As the "ice house" melted, sea level rose. There would have been a lot of shallow seas around the edges of the continents that would have allowed sun to penetrate to the bottom. For the most part, the seas were connected. Most, if not all, of the Cambrian critters were marine; ocean currents would have spread them around and allowed them to proliferate. I think this would have provided ample ammunition for the "Cambrian Explosion". There were probably other contributing factors too. There is a lot more to climate than continental drift - the earth's orbit varies from almost circular to eccentric. The earth's "wobble" changes too. There are times when the two coincide to make a very warm earth. Google "Milankovitch Cycle" I will check back this evening - today - I am going shopping for my trip across the pond. Hope you enjoy the links. L8R.

has a great geology site: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibit/geology.html and a great "Geologic Time Machine" http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/help/timeform.html The Cambrian period lasted from 543 to 490 MYA: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/cambrian/camb.html But there are fossils from the Vendian Period, 650 to 543 MYA : http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/vendian/vendian.html At work, will post more later...

First off, when we speak of the "fossil record", for the most part, the only creatures that are recorded are those with hard enough parts to be fossilized. This link gives a pretty good overall explanation: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/03/4/l_034_02.html Have you ever heard of the "Burgess Shale"? If you haven't, find Stephen J. Gould's book "Wonderful Life" and read it. The Burgess Shale is located in the Canadian Rockies - a special set of circumstances preserved an ecosystem of bizarre soft bodied creatures. My personal favorite is opabinia: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=opabinia followed closely by hallucigenia: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=hallucigenia wiwaxia is also a cute little number: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=wiwaxia Anomalocis is the largest - you wouldn't want to meet him in a swamp. http://images.google.com/images?q=Anomalocaris&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi It just so happens that conditions were perfect to preserve these wonderful creatures. There is another reason that the further one goes back in time, the fewer fossils one finds. That is due to the fact that the leading edges of the continental plates are being subducted into the earth's interior and melted. As the recycling continues, new plate material is being formed at the mid ocean ridges, so the fossils are being continually destroyed. Hope you enjoyed the links.

How much reading have your done about "standing stones", etc? The reason that I ask is that I used to read a lot of historical novels. I live in a historical colonial area - Yorktown, Williamsburg and Jamestown are known as "the historic triangle", so we often see this area depicted as it was a couple of hundred years ago. Anyway - I used to have dreams that took place in bygone times... from the attire, I'd say it was mostly the late 1800's - hoop skirts and horse and buggies. Anyway - some people might attribute that to a "past life" a la "Bridey Murphy", but I just figured that between seeing a lot of people dressed in period costumes on a regular basis, and reading descriptions of 19th century towns, that they had become imprinted in my brain, and were getting mixed up with "real" memories. Have you read any of the books in "the Outlander" series? Your dream brings them to mind.

PBS has a very interesting article on their website: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/07/3/text_pop/l_073_04.html Snippets of information from the article: Paraphrasing: The earliest humans probably had a lot of body hair, like chimpanzees. They probably only had sweat glands on their hands and feet. When humans started foraging on the savannas, primates with hairless bodies and lots of sweatglands were best able to survive the heat. Hairless, pale skin, is most easily damaged by ultraviolet light. Melanin is a natural protector against ultraviolet light absorption. Although UV light can cause skin cancer - this usually happens late enough in life that it doesn't interfere with reproduction.

Sometimes people pass laws that they think will help, which may have been good at the time, but don't apply anymore. For example - take the concept of "zoning". During the Industrial Revolution people lived where they worked. The factories were run by coal, and billowed smoke that was unhealthy for people to breathe. Zoning ordnances were put into effect insuring that factories would be in one area and residences in another. This eventually even spread to retail areas. Zoning prohibited store owners from living over their establishment as had been the custom forever. With the advent of the automobile, it became easier for people to live far away from the dirty, unhealthy city. Well - times have changed. Factories are no longer run by coal fired steam boilers but by non-polluting electricity. There is no longer the need for zoning. Some city planners are beginning to recognise this fact and revitalize their downtown and working areas. In some areas, new towns are being planned that put people's work and recreational areas within walking distance of their homes. Tax incentives are given to businesses who cooperate and who provide day care centers for preschool children. I believe that that rezoning and revitalization is one step that can be taken which will help both the economy and the environment. 1. It eliminates long commutes, saves millions of gallons of gas, and puts millions of dollars of spending money back in the consumers' pockets. 2. It allows people to have more time to spend with their families rather than driving to and from work. 3. It makes cities become attractive places to live, bringing the people back which provides government with a higher tax base, (not by raising taxes, but by providing more higher income people to contribute) which in turn leads to better schools and other community services. I believe we need to support candidates for public office who are forward thinking enough to adopt this concept.

I'm very glad you did. Thank you.

http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/linguistics/russell/138/sec4/acoust1.htm I was explaining it the way I was taught - check out the link - I'm not sure I understand how the blue wave was generated from the 2 red ones. Martin I don't think you will hear beat waves in this case, if both tones are "in tune" because they are the same note. 440/110=4 so if you start both tones at the same instant, and play them for exactly one second the lower "A" will have one complete wave, and the higher one will have exactly 4 - right? So - what happens when you combine the two sets of waves to make one, as per the above link? I saw some research that was done at NASA Langley Research center where noise was eliminated by generating a wave that was the reciprocal of the noise. I read that the same technology is being used to develop a treatment for tinnitus (ringing in the ears). I hope it comes to market soon, because I have that. (Probably from listening to too much machine shop noise and too many boat engines.) BTW, Martin, a wee correction... - they're not outboards. They're twin 330HP inboards.

Leaves turn red and gold in the fall because the chloroplasts die. The cells that contain the carotinoids are left. They are there all the time, but during the warm months, there are many more chloroplasts, so one cannot see them. I wonder if the carotinoids are more effective with dealing with photons that are hitting the earth at a greater angle, as happens when winter approaches. I'm sure the answer is on the net somewhere, but I'm to tired to look it up at the moment. Someone else want to give it a go?

before I barge in on your pi$$ing contest. It has been a long time since I studied biology, and a lot has changed, but I still remember some interesting facts. Before I chime in here, I often do a little research double check my memory. Here is a link from Rutgers University about the "Euglenoid Project". http://bio.rutgers.edu/euglena/ Regarding the idea that plants and animals evolved from the same organism, there is a really cool one-celled organism that contains both plant and animal characteristics. Its name is Euglena. As far as its animal characteristics, it has flagella, and can move. As far as being plantlike it contains chloroplasts and can photosynthesize. I guess you could call it a "planimal". There are a variety of euglenoids - and different species vary as to the degree that they are plant-like or animal-like. They have a very unique cell surface, called a "pellicle". One of the major differences between plant cells and animal cells is that plant cells have a rigid wall, and animal cells have a flexible membrane. The pellicle of the euglenoids is organized with ridges and grooves, and beneath them are protein based strips. If the strips are arranged longtitudinally, the animal is rigid. If they are arranged in a helical fashion, the animal is able to "wiggle".