RichF

You know, I can remember the exact sequence of how to put a GI-Joe toy together 20 years ago but I can't remember the name of a person I met 30 seconds ago. I wouldn't worry about it too much; it's all about how you're wired and how much your paying attention at the time. JMO...I'm no expert.

Well I have a been diagnosed with a minor auto-immune disorder (runs in the family) and have been taking Prednisone for about a month. I've noticed that I'm much more on edge lately and I go off on people very quickly. This isn't normal as I usually let things that annoy me slide. My Mom has been on a pretty high dose of Prednisone in the past and my Dad has described her as being down right mean during the period. Family friends on the same drug have described the same experience. Anyone have any experience/advice here as I don't won't to piss off everyone I know. Believe me, I've done a pretty good job at being pissy over the last couple of weeks. Thanks, Rich

I'm not a huge fan of Newt but I respect his arguments. I agree with your statement on the sad progression of our culture whole heartedly. This country is unfortunately heading more and more towards becoming a entertainment culture. Critical thinking and logic are no longer important. Personally, I find it depressing that a large majority of the population is more interested in the thoughts of high school drop out rock stars and tv/movie stars. makes me sad!

The bubble boy would find it useful! Yes the above statement is insensitive but I've been watching Seinfeld reruns so all is excused.

Iran is a theocratic republic, as such he's either trying to appease the Mullahs, fool them or both. 1)He's using double talk to fool the Mullahs so that he can peruse his own agenda without them interfering. 2)He's using double talk to fool the rest of the world so that he can persue his agenda without the UN interfering. 3)He's a delusional, schizophrenic, crazy son of a female dog. 4)1,2 and 3. I have no idea which is correct and I find it a little unsettling. Maybe that's his plan? He wants to confuse me and make me eat an entire bag of Doritos under stress and die from heart desies! EVIL BASTID!

What scares me is that he may really believe what he says. Personally I don't have a problem with him speaking at the UN; maybe it'll help to open peoples' eyes as to how radical he appears to be.

What are your thoughts on Ahmadinejad's statements? I can see this going south so let's try to keep personal views of the current US administration outside of the discussion. Personally, I don't trust the guy and he scares the crap out of me! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14911603/

Thanks Martin, that's some pretty cool stuff to think about! I'll try to do some searches on the topic this weekend. If the theory is valid I find it VERY cool how mother nature is the ultimate recycler!

Interesting, I never really thought of it that way. Martin, thank you for the link...I will do some searching in my spare time. So, can any black hole create a little big bang in a separate space time or does it need to be a certain size to reach critical mass?

Just something that I have been pondering for a while. Is it plausible that the big bang could be a localized phenomenon? Assumptions. 1)The universe is larger than we can imagine. 2)Gravity caused by the convergence of countless galaxies can create a very large unstable mass. (I don't know how this works so I'll ask below) 3)Big Crunches happen on a localized basis. 4)The unstable mass reaches it's critical stage and explodes. Existing galaxies in the region are pushed away if not destroyed. However, the event is localized. Does this sound plausible? Can Big Bangs be local phenomenon? It would explain the existence of galaxies/stars older than current science can explain. Is there a theory on what would cause such a giant mass to go critical as theorized in the big bang? Just asking because we seem to limit our thoughts to our local area in time and space. Thanks, Rich

and it has some pretty cool maps too!!! http://www.coolantarctica.com/gallery/views_of_antarctica.htm I don't know how I missed this image on wikipedia... Hi-Res http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/AntarcticaRockSurface.jpg

Cool...I did not know that! Does anyone have a good link for the geological history of the Antarctic coninent? I had some trouble finding one. Oh yeah...any one have a map of the land structure under the ice as I am really curious as to what she actually looks like declothed!!! As far as meteorites go I stuck another post up regarding tectonic plate movement. I found the info while looking for Antarctic history. Apparently, 250 million years ago a humongous asteroid split the Antarctic and Australian continental plates. I thought they were two different topics..thus the two threads. I was checking out the location of the Tsar Bomba detonation location on Google Earth the other day (73.85° N 54.50° E , over Mityushikha Bay) and if you scroll north and look around you can see a few nicely preserved meteor impact craters. I imagine that the polar ice has protected them?

That makes sense due to the glacial formations not occurring until 38 million years ago. However, glaciers tend to carve/grind up everything in their path. Could any evidence have survived? Beyond biological evidence, would we find anything else of interest?

How large does an impact need to be to impact tectonic movement? Would the impact need to breech the earth's crust? This is interesting.... http://www.osu.edu/features/2006/bigbangcrater

So Antarctica began to break apart from Gondwana 160 million years ago, glaciers began to form 38 million years ago and it has existed under an icecap for the last 5 million years. If it was to thaw out tomorrow, would we find any biological history or would the damage due to glacieral shifts have pretty much destroyed any evidence? Personally, I find the concept very interesting!!!! http://www.secretsoftheice.org/explore/past.html

I'm going to be an arrogant ass now, but I told ya' so... study the European environment prior to the little ice age. I do admit that I could be wrong as I am not any sort of expert but history provides some valuable clues.

What are the best home grown options for biodeisel? Currently I buy from the local station which offers 20% biodiesel made from soy beans....just curious if there is a more viable option. I've read that used veggie oil can be converted for around 40 cent/gallon but I'm curious as to why it hasn't been looked into further; Is it due to the glycerin byproducts? Exactly what does happen to used veggie oi anyways:confused: If kudzu could be converted into biodiesel...the south would rise again! From what I understand, the poop grows 6" per day during the warm season.

Damn it...I'm gonna need a bigger tractor beam!

Well, I've been browsing around and ran across Meade's refurbished site. Can anyone give me some advice here? I'm considering the.... TeleStar DS-114AT Meade DS127EC , Polaris DS-2114ATSA Telestar DS-2114ATSA TeleStar DS-2130AT Are these scopes worth considering or should I just save up? I'm not looking to find new galaxies, just the local poop. http://stores.ebay.com/Meade-Factory-Outlet_W0QQcolZ2QQdirZ1QQfsubZ0QQftidZ2QQpZ2QQtZkm Thanks, Rich

I'm sorry to be whoring but after looking at the above chart...the earth's temp seems to be most happy at 22C. What happenened in the Tertiary period to cause the slow decline as compared with the other dramatic drops?

These guys have the average historical global temp being 17C. What is the current average global temperature? Are we positive that we are not in one of the dramatic shifts seen below? Edit: I would like to note that I by no means am an expert. I do believe that man's actions have an impact on the environment but I'm still a little skeptical about how much. http://www.scotese.com/climate.htm

Thanks for the information and replies. I was so looking forward to the moon going out kaboom!!! It appears that my friends from Zeta Reticuli will need to find a larger rock!

Do not underestimate mother nature's counter measures. Prior to the little ice age, which lasted 400 years, Europe experienced unusually warm weather. It is believed that this caused glacier melting that resulted in cold, fresh water entering the northern oceanic streams. One theory states that this disrupted the streams, cooling the ocean temp an causing the little ice age. What caused the the wierd weather prior and during the little ice age? Was it due to the increased volcanic activity, a solar minima or a shift in the magnetic field or a combination of all? Who knows. In the end mother nature will balance it out whether we are around to see it or not. I would highly recommend reading up on the little ice age. Interesting stuff! Quick Edit: I do believe that green house gasses are bad and should be limited within reason but former politicians running around like chicken little screaming that the sky is falling turns me off.

Thanks. I imagine that a 400m asteroid hit it would liquefy most of the immediate surface area and create a pretty cool show!!