EdEarl

If it works, it will demonstrate technological feasibility of fusion power. However, a 500 MW power plant typically costs three orders of magnitude less; thus, technological feasibility does not imply it will be practical.

Hydrogen is neither a halogen nor an alkali metal. It is a diatomic nonmetal.

No one knows how life started, and there is a possibility it started elsewhere and came to Earth on a comet, see Panspermia.

We always travel forward through time, not backwards, and we cannot change the laws of physics.

Although fusion technology is being researched, it is far from being perfected. A number of projects exist to build launch vehicles, but the only ones I have heard of are intended to launch into LEO, to the Moon, or to another planet within the Solar system. We have not yet put a man on Mars. Only three space missions, launched over 30 years ago are considered to be on interstellar missions, AFAIK, and they will run out of power long before they come close to another star (see Voyager 1, Voyager 2, and Pioneer 10). Interstellar travel is considered possible, but difficult and expensive, with no possibility of return on investment. The nearest star is about 4 light years distant ( 37 817 019 822 000 kilometers). Pioneer 10 travels about 50,000 km/h, which means it would take about 86,000 years to get to the nearest star. At this time we have no electronics (e.g., computer) that will operate for that length of time without failure. Thus, we have no hope at this time of building a successful starship. Even if we did have self repairing equipment, the cost of an interstellar ship would be high, and returning from such an adventure in more than 172K years means no one could benefit economically from it. Without self repairing machinery, the probability that any organization or government is building a starship is very remote, except for the possibility of an unmanned robot to follow it the tradition of the Voyager and Pioneer interstellar craft. The purpose of such a craft might be to map the Ort cloud, explore the Kuiper Belt, or identify comets before they are visible from Earth. Discovering comets still in the Kuiper Belt would help protect Earth from comets impacts large enough to destroy life, but it is unlikely one craft would be enough. A better system would be to have a fleet of craft orbiting in or near the Kuiper belt, each with telescopes to search for comets that might impact the Earth. Such projects would span many decades or centuries; thus, they are unlikely to be attempted by people whose lives rarely span a century.

Who said we might enter an ice age in 1500 years except for global warming? I think either an ice age or global warming pose threats. A 4 - 8C increase in temperature sounds serious to me. http://phys.org/news/2013-12-cloud-mystery-global-temperatures-4c.html

Creationists have honed their arguments concerning evolution to make them sound reasonable to believers; thus, arguing evolution is futile. Perhaps a better argument is, "Science works." Without science there would be no International Space Station, no airplane, no automobile, no telephone, no television, etc. Physics has learned about the atom, and E=mc2, including radiation. Radiation is used to date things via radiometric dating, which has established the age of rocks and earth to be over 4 Billion years. If science were wrong, the airplane, automobile, telephone and television wouldn't work.

See https://www.khanacademy.org/

I agree that all of us are different. Though, not specifically stated, I did not intend to imply that people are born with knowledge. When we are newborn we can swallow food, breathe, feel, etc., and very little else. We slowly develop our physical and mental skills, both simple such as touching our nose and complex such as philosophical knowledge. The gifts we are born with are abilities to do and learn. People learn from direct experience and are taught by others. People who learn from direct experience, often figure things out without being taught.

Such a big project would, almost certainly, cause unintended consequences; although, I cannot fathom what they might be. Perhaps the cavity created from pumping may collapse, which might not be bad. But, if geothermal energy is keeping the water melted, it would probably melt collapsed ice. Your idea seems worth discussing and modeling.

The whole grains, fruit and vegetables are healthful food. The remainder of your list may not be, for example the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant explosion is irradiating sea food, countries with the highest dairy consumption also have the highest osteoporosis rates, and cholesterol in meat, fish and foul cause heart attacks and strokes, and canned foods tend to have too much salt. IMO a better plan, when possible, would be to provide gardening facilities for people, who could exercise by gardening and eat the food they grow. Neither food stamps or free cafeterias are a great solution, but they do service some needs.

Seasons greetings.

I think we agree.

If there are other universes, then our universe is part of a multiverse, and I suppose each of the universes could be infinite, and not contained within any other universe. It is difficult to consider what infinity means.

OMG maybe I can explain my thoughts in one post and avoid this side topic starting a new thread. If not, the moderators can step in. Several governmental organizations already support agribusiness, which is a huge industry, and private agribusinesses are likely to protect their business from government intervention using political contributions and lobbyists. When the government runs an organization that does things that businesses also do, whatever competition occurs is "poor" because the two entities operate with different rules. Businesses are economically oriented to optimize profit. Government organizations are not typically motivated by profit. One of the main motivators in government is to avoid controversy that may cause a civil servant to loose their job, and such motivators vary but are not usually economic; often they are political. The mail industry is serviced by both USPS and private carriers. Currently, USPS is suffering from budget shortfalls and plans the following: FEDEX and UPS posted profits in 2012.

Capacitors store charge as electrons on a plate, which would be in or near the boundary between the dielectric and plate or in the dielectric, whatever the dielectric material may be.

"Must be government run" is probably not possible in the US, because the government typically does not compete with businesses, and when it does, it is usually poor competition.

Poor people without medical insurance won't have access and may not have an education, either.

Agree, and the only reason to ever use so ... as is in dialog of creative writing. Otherwise, it is slightly better to use as ... as.

AFAIK they mean the same thing.

Toys are temporary, whether bobsled or Bentley. Seek happiness, health, and wisdom.

Exactly, I would recommend writing a paper for an English class using so ... as, except as dialog for creative writing.

If someone gives medical advice that is used by another person, who is harmed as a result of that advice, the person giving the advice might be held responsible for that harm. I am not a lawyer and do not know if such a case has occurred. But, I would not want to be involved in such a case.

Ref: http://grammar.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=grammar&cdn=education&tm=33&f=00&su=p284.13.342.ip_&tt=2&bt=2&bts=2&zu=http%3A//garbl.home.comcast.net/~garbl/stylemanual/ Ref: http://grammar.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=grammar&cdn=education&tm=33&f=00&su=p284.13.342.ip_&tt=2&bt=2&bts=2&zu=http%3A//garbl.home.comcast.net/~garbl/stylemanual/ AFAIK so ... as is commonly used, but not proper English,.