EdEarl

It depends on the lake. You can measure the temperature of the water at the bottom of a lake using some hose and a small pump. Put cloth over one end of a hose, attach a weight to the same end, and let that end fall to the bottom of the lake, use a 12 volt DC pump (used for fountains) and a 12 volt battery to pump water through the hose from the bottom of the lake for a couple of minutes, measuring the temperature of that water continuously until the temperature is lowest. If the water temperature is about 40 degrees, you have a good refrigerator.

Amen. Yes

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Whatever this list becomes, it cannot be complete. The US constitution and amendments are augmented by over 200 years of case law, which will forever change. That is the fate of all such documents in all countries. All documents of this type must contain a method of changing them and establish a legal system to augment them with statutes and case law.

Image via Blue Street Journal

500 V @ 1 A = 500 W, which is about 1 horsepower. How long can an eel generate that power? If an eel is about the same efficiency as a horse, pound per pound, then it is not particularly good at generating electricity compared to a gas turbine, windmill, or nuclear power station. Some automobile engines generate 500 horsepower in a smaller package than a horse. Gas turbines are more efficient and produce more per size than gasoline engines. If the eel is more efficient than a gas turbine, then it might have a niche in power production. I do not know how much energy input is required for that 500 watts output, but I suspect the eel is not very efficient.

One recent development in the US is online education for grades 3-12. Students must register in a private, charter, or state run online-school, and they are not limited to being in any particular location. Since all states provide free education for those grades, the state pay the online schools for educating students, which get approved books and other educational materials via snail mail. The school arranges for physical education, educational outings, and other school related activities. Certified teachers are assigned online classes and communicate via the internet with students and parents. It is not a panacea for educational problems, because someone must be at home with very young students, and it does not provide as much social interaction as regular classrooms. Nonetheless, it does seem to fill a niche.

There is no consensus to answer this question. Perhaps in the first instant of time, the space--time was contained in a Planck-volume--Planck-time hypercube, which some believe cannot be further subdivided, and contained energy enough for the BB. That hypercube is AFAIK as close to a physical point with no dimensions. What existed before the BB is unknown. The hypothesis of a multiverse may allow numbers and mathematics to exist for eternity. There is also M-theory which suggests branes existed before the Universe, but IDK how that would affect the possibility of mathematics existing. AFAIK current consensus is nothing existed before the BB. A point has no dimension and nothing within a point. The set of integers can be represented as a function in which the domain and codomain are equal, and can be represented in a table (sequence) as opposed to a formula. To represent that sequence requires a vector, which is one dimensional. Numbers from plus to minus infinity are a sequence, and a sequence has one dimension; whereas, a point does not. There are numbers and numerals. Numbers are abstract and numerals are written symbols. Information technology deals with both numbers and numerals. Numbers in a computer are represented as switch states being either on or off (binary), which many people do not realize or understand, because they interact with computers via symbols on a display (numerals, alphabetic characters, and other symbols). Both switch state and symbol require energy to change the state, and may require energy to maintain the state. Moreover, there is information in every atom, quantum states of electrons and quarks. The Hawking Paradox was about conservation of information. Yes, exist seems to have many meanings. I can accept that mathematics as we know it is inevitable. However, if the prior to the BB there was nothing, then nothing means no numbers and no mathematics, which leads to the paradox of how can mathematics inevitably be the same in in any universe that exists if it does not always exist. Perhaps there is a multiverse to explain this dilemma. See video: How to Find a Multiverse.

IMO the reason people have lost the power to control government is their incessant squabbling over a morass of issues. When people unite on an issue they can encourage law makers to act. Unfortunately, some choose to fight the right-to-life battle with others who choose to support euthanasia, capital punishment, abortion, among other issues. Some focus on animal rights and battle with farmers, hunters, fishermen, and researchers who experiment on animals. Various people select as most important diverse issues such as climate change, gun control, libertarianism, conservatism, liberalism, immigration, war on drugs, creationism, etc. On the other hand, corporations focus on relatively few issues, and they have money to win friends and influence people. It is no wonder they control all three branches of the US Federal Government and all the states. Their friends in the media whip out one story after another to fan the flames of one issue and then another; thus, keeping the population divided. I am very pessimistic about any cooperation except after a crisis, when the cost and effort of meaningful change is much greater than it would have been earlier with prudent planning.

The oldest GRB yet detected, from the time of the dark ages, indicates that:

An Englishman, a Frenchman, a Spaniard and a German are walking down the street together. A juggler is performing on the street but there are so many people that the four men can’t see the juggler. So the juggler goes on top of a platform and asks: “Can you see me now?” The four men answer: “Yes.” “Oui.” “Si.” “Ja.”

We can easily imagine things that do not exist in nature, for example faster than light speed. Similarly, mathematics can enumerate the impossible, for example a temperature below absolute zero. Thus, we cannot trust our imagination or mathematics to explain existence, we must augment imagination and mathematics with observation and testing, i.e., the scientific method, which cannot be done except within the confines of the Universe. Observation and testing are fallible, so we cannot know with certainty that anything exists. For example, we may be virtual beings in a game made by a godlike programmer. We cannot know whether existence or essence is more fundamental. We are limited to "cogito ergo sum." We may believe mathematics exists beyond space-time, but we cannot know it.

Whether mathematics existed before the Big Bang is a new idea for me, and leaves unanswered questions, which could not be resolved by my search in Wikipedia or by my google. Mathematics is independent of any known manifestation of reality. It existed before the universe came to be, and will continue to exist after the universe dissolves into the raw energy from which it was formed. The manifestation of our universe does not change mathematics in any way-- it simply allows for the expression of mathematical forms. Cosmologists claim the Big Bang created space-time, which seems to say neither space nor time existed prior to it. If space-time did not exist before the BB, it seems no dimensions exist, which implies that numbers cannot exist because numbers are a line of one dimension. Moreover, numbers are information, which cannot exist without space-time and mass-energy. On the other hand, it seems inevitable that the same numbers exist in all universes as well as the same mathematics. Moreover, the language of science is mathematics, which means the universe is mathematical regardless of whether an intelligent species understands mathematics. The existence of anything without space-time seems paradoxical, even something as abstract as mathematics. A paradox may mean our assumptions or thoughts are erroneous. I once read about time existing before the BB (IDK where), which results in one dimension and numbers existing before the BB.

I think I understood your intent. It seemed you did not consider that technology will affect our culture. When considering the ramifications of technology on society, we invariably cannot imagine them. Thus, I simplified and considered as extreme ramifications as I could; the result is idealistic. Perhaps it sets one limit on what may occur. However, you may also consider the robots as analogs for laws. My question may be restated as, "Are we free, or are we in a prison with laws for guards?"

I think your list is too complicated, and some items lead to conflict. For example, right to property. Some property is more valuable than others, and invariably more than one person will covet the best property. Giving everyone the right to bear arms means someone sometime will kill someone else for their property. I'd like to simplify this fantasy, and focus on needs first. Everyone needs food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, and friends. Lets assume robots provide the food, clothing, shelter, and healthcare. 1. Everyone has the right to things they carry, and everything else is shared. 2. Everyone has a right to friends. 3. Everyone has a personal robot, and their robots prevent people from killing each other. 4. Robots mediate when more than one person wants a scarce resource, and assure that everyone has fair access. Are we free, or are we in a prison with robot guards?

Welcome to SFN. See: Science Forums Etiquette Post #1 Since you consider correct language important, I've made a couple of corrections.. I think your question is, "In simple words, what does it mean to exist?" I believe we exist because of an accidental Big Bang, a Big Chill will be the end, and there is no global meaning of existence. Each of us endures and defines our own existence.

It's been test tasted. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23576143

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=616820255016317&set=a.465299380168406.106666.465298390168505&type=1&relevant_count=1&ref=nf

I rarely remember my dreams. When I was young, I had a recurring nightmare of riding in a car on a mountain road and going over the side of the road. My stepfather who drank and drove on mountains roads, actually killed himself driving off a mountain road, luckily I was not in the car. I think I stopped remembering my dreams because many were bad. It is now been over 50 years since I last remember having that nightmare, but it is still vivid. Please, be good to children, whether they are yours or not.

I am not a botanist; thus, I am not qualified to comment on your questions about "essential to the configuration" and "How do w make this a reality?" AFAIK botanists are making it a reality, and tree farms, such as the ones that grow Christmas trees, provide renewable lumber for many uses. The main problem seems to be in rain forests, where trees are being cut without replanting. I have no idea how this practice can be stopped or modified. It requires foreign governments to take action, and in many cases they seem unwilling or incapable of doing anything in this regard.The other end of the supply-demand chain is to change people who believe using teak and other exotic woods is a bad idea. I do not know how to change those people either. But, the larger problem is slash an burn agriculture, which destroys forests with no plans of replanting and the trees are merely burned. I do not know how to convince people that eating less meat is a good idea, not even my own children. Increasing growth rates in rainforest hardwoods may be possible, but the overall effect will be minimal for many decades if it can be done. And, will have no effect when forest is cut or burned for farm and ranch land.

What Daedalus said.

The times I am most frustrated with someone not understanding me are usually because of my inability to explain well enough. At those times I often begin to SHOUT TO HELP THEM UNDERSTAND; thereby, showing my ignorance. When I come across someone who really has trouble understanding, I am often puzzled about what it is that makes them unable to understand. Many times it is personal differences, for example my ability to read expressions and body language is more limited than my wife. However, some people are completely baffling. For example, someone sees a YouTube video of unexplained lights over L. A. and they conclude it was a UFO. I avoid such people.

Vikings and Pioneer got energy from several planets, not the Sun. Just because the planets are not moving fast enough to escape does not prevent them from adding energy to a spacecraft moving faster than the planet. Light cannot escape the universe; thus, a spacecraft cannot.

Please do not yell.