Cool facts and articles

[Plutonic Panda]

A couple cool barn homes from a Yahoo article. Note- these are all for sale!

''Weston, CT
119 Kettle Creek Rd, Weston, CT
For sale: $775,000

The Brown Barn on Kettle Creek was built in the mid-19th century and converted into a residence in 1927.''



''Carbondale, CO
(undisclosed address), Carbondale, CO
For sale: $1.35 million

This home was built from barn siding milled in Wyoming in 1902.''



More here: Yahoo!

[ThomPaine]

There Are (Probably) Billions of Earth-Like Planets in the Universe - Megan Garber - The Atlantic

Here's more potential evidence against notions of Earthian exceptionalism: The team estimates that 22 percent—essentially one in five—of sun-like stars have potentially habitable Earth-size planets. (Not all of those planets, however, may be rocky or feature liquid water, a presumed prerequisite for life. And it's worth noting, as well, that the margin of error for that stat is plus or minus 8 percent.) Caveats aside, however, that is still an astoundingly large number. It means, as the Washington Post points out, that the Milky Way galaxy alone "could harbor tens of billions of rocky worlds where water might be liquid at the surface." Yep, tens of billions. Which is a lot of maybe-Earths.

[Dustin]

It's ignorant to believe we are the only intelligent life in the universe.

[RadicalModerate]

It's ignorant to believe we are the only intelligent life in the universe.

True . . . true . . . Yet what about that alien intelligent life(-form) that is dedicated to the proposition that They are, in fact, the only intelligent life in the universe and will stop at nothing to make sure their viewpoint cannot be disputed?

I really think we need to stop shooting V'gers at them and, instead, beam only reruns of Honey Boo Boo, That 70's Show and Three's Company, in their direction, so's they will know that we aren't an intelligent target worthy of their attention.

[ThomPaine]

It's ignorant to believe we are the only intelligent life in the universe.

Didn't somebody once say: "I'm not sure what's more frightening - the thought that we are the only intelligent life in the universe, or that we are not."

[RadicalModerate]

Shortest Horror Story Ever:
The last man on earth sat alone in a room.
There came a knock on the door.

(all credit for that to Harlan Ellison or whomever . . . =)

[Dustin]

True . . . true . . . Yet what about that alien intelligent life(-form) that is dedicated to the proposition that They are, in fact, the only intelligent life in the universe and will stop at nothing to make sure their viewpoint cannot be disputed?

I really think we need to stop shooting V'gers at them and, instead, beam only reruns of Honey Boo Boo, That 70's Show and Three's Company, in their direction, so's they will know that we aren't an intelligent target worthy of their attention.

The technology to travel solar system to solar system would be super advanced. Even if they could travel to earth, would they want to? To them we are probably the equivalent of what ants are to us; miniscule and insignificant.

The only thing that would be of any use to such an advanced species in our solar system would probably be our sun.

[Dustin]

[RadicalModerate]

The technology to travel solar system to solar system would be super advanced. Even if they could travel to earth, would they want to? To them we are probably the equivalent of what ants are to us; miniscule and insignificant.

The only thing that would be of any use to such an advanced species in our solar system would probably be our sun.

Probably so . . .
Our sun would be, like, a billion billion times more important to Them than, say, The Borg, on a Cosmic scale.
And "assimilation" isn't in their vocabulary. Eradication is. Something that The Borg found out much to their dismay.
(on account of They are the only form of intelligent life in the universe . . . or eventually will be.)

This is probably why I don't invest a lot of concern over The Federal Deficit or some OKC Planner moving to greener pastures.

[ThomPaine]

The technology to travel solar system to solar system would be super advanced. Even if they could travel to earth, would they want to? To them we are probably the equivalent of what ants are to us; miniscule and insignificant.

The only thing that would be of any use to such an advanced species in our solar system would probably be our sun.

Or Kevin Durant...

[MadMonk]

How microprocessors are made. It's not big on technical details and is a bit sales-pitchy, but interesting nonetheless.

[ThomPaine]

How folks move around cities during the day (and night).An Intriguingly Detailed Animation of How People Move Around a City - Emily Badger - The Atlantic Cities

ActiveMaps

[Plutonic Panda]

Didn't fact check these, so not sure which(if any) are true. But, truly amazing if so!

[Plutonic Panda]

[Plutonic Panda]

[RadicalModerate]

The picture of the knee (Number 2, above), reminds me of a little work-related accident I suffered back in the 80s.

I injured my knee in such a way that it swelled up to about twice its size. I hobbled around on it for a couple of weeks and it wasn't getting any better. I went to my trusty, ex-army sawbones, Dr. H.J. Freede (the guy who patched me up after a motorcycle wreck back in '76) to see what could be done. "Drain It," he said. His assistant, who I refer to as Igor, came into the room with this huge syringe and a maniacal grin on his face. I seem to recall that he was actually cackling. Dr. Freede came in after awhile, shot the knee up with some local anesthetic and proceeded to jam in the big syringe needle and withdraw what seemed to be a LOT of dark fluid. He'd empty the syringe into a bucket between withdrawals. It sounds sort of bad, but I have to say that the release of the painful pressure made the whole experience a lot better than it might appear. When I walked out of his office my knee felt as good as new. I still have fond memories of Dr. Freede: He was gruff and looked like The Monopoly Man but he sure knew his doctorin' . . . .

Oh! And the third one from the bottom reminds me of a little encounter I had with a spinning lawnmower blade about 8 years ago. I didn't go the doctor that time, but the tip of one finger is like new and the one that REALLY got whacked skinned over and sort of grew back close to normal. Thankfully, it was on my right hand rather than the one I use to press the strings on a guitar.

That girl in pic 3 looks like The Elf Princess. And I don't mean that as an insult.

[Plutonic Panda]

Ouch, hopefully you weren't riding around Penn and Memorial when you crashed(wrecked)

As for the girl in pic 3, I visually enjoy her. She has a face I wouldn't mind waking up to every morning. Not sure about her personality though, I have questions about her stomach lining; just not sure if her stomach lining and my stomach lining connect, naw I mean?

[Prunepicker]

Suffer from Ornithophobia...

This sounds like a Hitchcock movie.

[Prunepicker]

Last weekend I saw someone who resembled RadicalModerate. It was...
well... almost political.

Since everyone was packing I wasn't overly concerned. Just scared.

[Plutonic Panda]

[MadMonk]

Epic Split


Epic Split Parody

[ThomPaine]

Grasping Large Numbers

Money Stacks

One way to better understand large numbers is to compare the heights of stacks of varying numbers of dollar bills. The thickness of a single one dollar bills measures .0043 inches or .0000000679 miles.

The height of a stack of 100 one dollar bills measures .43 inches.

The height of a stack of 1,000 one dollar bills measures 4.3 inches.

The height of a stack of 1,000,000 one dollar bills measures 4,300 inches or 358 feet – about the height of a 30 to 35 story building.

The height of a stack of 100,000,000 (one hundred million) one dollar bills measures 35,851 feet or 6.79 miles.

The height of a stack of 1,000,000,000 (one billion) one dollar bills measures 358,510 feet or 67.9 miles.

Mad stacks, yo!

[Dustin]

Gravity visualized

[MadMonk]

Site mentioned in the video above. Pretty interesting scientific simulators.
New Sims - PhET Simulations

[RadicalModerate]

Gravity visualized

I think I saw something like this at The Omniplex once.
It impressed me then, too. Thank you.

The guy in the vid reminds me of a kinder, gentler, version of my 8th Grade Earth Sciences Teacher, Basil G. Dean. (you didn't f-ck with Basil G. Dean, as compared to the misery we inflicted on Mr. Anderson The Art Teacher, and that was OK . . . at least to us. =)

Oh! Here's another scientific resource to duplicate the explanation: American Science & Surplus : Items Just Off the Truck
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