EdEarl

Any camera picks up both emitted and reflected light/infrared (EMR). Better cameras will pick up lower levels of EMR. It's really about how much you want to spend on a camera, whether or not it detects what you want it to. The inexpensive security cameras need infrared light to illuminate the scene. IDK if this camera will do what you need, its specifications include the following: It is necessary to find out how much temperature change in air occurs from acoustic waves.

My first experience with a computer was an IBM 1620. It was a decimal machine, with 60,000 digits of core (magnetic torus) 20 micro second memory; circuits were made with germanium transistors. It had an IBM typewriter and big card reader for input, the typewriter and card punch for output. A disk that sprung a leak once and flooded the computer room floor with hydraulic fluid. It compiled Fortran and was really good machine to learn on, but odd by today's standards.

IDK if this is reliable, but sounds like having fun is good for you.

IDK, the people who once sold butane, and switched me to propane, said it was for safety as I said before. I didn't investigate. It was many years ago. I just looked, and Butane is still sold in bulk, in Texas. Maybe it was a city ordinance, or maybe the company wanted to sell propane instead of butane.

Shh, they'll ban propane, too.

I think everyone agrees the brain is wonderfully complex. On the other hand, not as many think about how it is complex. Of those who think about brain complexity are neurosurgeons, psychiatrists, physiologists, AI programmers and a few others. The brain has inputs, outputs, and internal processes. Inputs are the senses and sensations, such as sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell, and internal sensations such as emotion, nutrition, and being, which include chemical receptors and neural feedback circuits. An elephant has more muscle mass than a person, and more individual muscles. The elephant trunk has 150,000 muscles. The human body about 750. Thus, the amount of brain to control an elephant's muscles must be much larger than similar brain tissue in a human. That is only one example of the differences. Thus, comparing brains of two different species by "intelligence" is apples and oranges; each species has necessary intelligence for survival, different from other species. It seems to me controlling 150,000 muscles to produce any work of art is an act of great intelligence. We know little about how an elephant perceives the world, for example, do they see perspective (i.e., 3D) the same way we see it? What do they smell. What do they taste. Etc. Inter-species comparison of intelligence has limited utility.

@cloudking I now think I understand what you have been saying, and basically concur.

AI is already being used to solve real problems, and it will continue to improve, regardless of whether we can define intelligence or sentience. We should be concerned that our stepwise refinement of AI will result in an uncontrollable sentient intelligence. I'm not saying it will occur, merely that the possibility exists. Whether it occurs in 20 years or 2000 should not change our concern; though, it changes the urgency.

@cladking I selected this paragraph as an example; it is characteristic of your writing. I'd like you to relate intelligence to something measurable, but you elect to relate it to cleverness, both are ambiguous. Consequently, your writing remains incomprehensible. I'll briefly discuss features of our brains that can be measured, such as memory, speed, and pattern recognition. We have short term and long term memory, and we can compare the ability of various people to remember by showing them a list of words or numbers and see how many they remember after 6, 60, and 3600 seconds. We process visual, auditory, olfactory, etc. data, and it is possible to measure the rate at which we can understand these inputs. Our brains are so complex that measuring anything about them is tricky because unintended consequences are likely to confuse ones results. To minimize the effects of complexity, we need to measure simple things, not intelligence or cleverness.

This statement makes no sense, You say, "intelligence doesn't exist," and in the same sentence say it does when you say, "we misapprehend its nature." Strange challenged the statement, and you dance around without answering his question, cladking. You might rewrite the sentence to make it more clear to us, or something to the point. If we don't understand you, repeating the words louder doesn't help (I know because I've done that all my life, it's a hard habit to break). Think of another way of saying what you mean.

The best infrared cameras cool the infrared detector chip to eliminate some of the infrared noise, and thereby it is a better detector. Infrared detectors work better when the source of infrared they see is warmer than the detector.

Pure octane isn't generally available, AFAIK. Gasoline contains octane and is a liquid at room temperature; although, it does evaporate rather quickly and can be dangerous. I didn't make the law that eliminated butane as a heating fuel, didn't even know it was being done. One day I tried to order a few hundred gallons, and learned I had to buy a propane tank and convert my appliances.

octane family C8H18 or octane rating of gasoline? At one time I bought butane to heat my house, and the state prohibited that use. Now I use propane.

Butane is heavier than air; thus, it can pool in low places, which makes it dangerous. It is no longer available in bulk, only small amounts useful for lighters and torches.

Marcus must have read all he could find. His tutor Lucius Volusius Maecianus was once governor of Egypt, when a "daughter library" of the Library of Alexander existed in the Serapeum of Alexandria.

Just as we can count towards infinity, the Universe expands towards infinity. No number can be infinite, and the Universe cannot be infinite. That's the way I think of it; some may say that's no different than saying the Universe is infinite. And, I'd say OK; it's just semantics.

This thought is common in Eastern philosophy; did Marcus learn of it from traders or invent it?

Everything in the Universe has been moving since the Big Bang.

@MigL yes. I'm building an atrium and will garden.

It may be possible, as sound travels in air, it compresses a volume of air, which should cause it to heat up slightly. Alternately, sound decompresses the same volume, which should cause it to cool slightly. I didn't find a reference via Google, but only made a quick search. Someone else here may know more.

Do you have evidence, or is this an uninformed remark about Neanderthal being dumb brutes?

AFAIK an intelligence tests does not exist. IQ tests are culture specific to some degree, and were designed to predict how well students will do in school. Thus, any answers to this question will be partly or wholly opinion. My answer is IDK. I doubt it. Neanderthal were not dumb brutes, archeology is incapable of assessing Neanderthal intelligence with any accuracy; thus, it is possible they were smarter. There is no single answer to this question. Often people in power enrich themselves at the expense of others. Some people live in areas with many natural resources, and tend to have more wealth. Many countries were invaded by Europeans who took natural resources, including land, and gave it to European settlers, which impoverished natives who were not killed; this scenario left American Indians dead and poor. Although, the US government has made some reparations, history cannot be reversed and some Indians will be dissatisfied. There are, no doubt, many more reasons. What do you mean, rescued us from poverty?

Circles are perfect, and perfection is either rare or does not exist. Thus, few orbits will be a perfect circle.

There are techniques to help one remember, and practice can improve your memory. There are other similar tips on the internet. Just search for how to remember.

It depends. Beating a slave to do something is not generally acceptable; although, many think paying slave wages is OK, IMO it is not.