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What possible astronomical meaning or calendrical interpretation, if any, can be assigned to a structure containing thirteen groups of eight objects (of which two such groups might be slightly smaller, containing only six or seven objects each) ? Of course, one probable explanation would be the number of seven-day weeks in two years; however, the civilization which build the structure is known to have had a six day week, hence the dilemma. — 82.79.178.230 ( talk) 08:13, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
request for opinion on apocryphal sources |
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The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it. |
I've read two books (In French, by French people, printed in France), each one discusses a topic from a scientific point of view. The first one (talks about "Sleep") was against the use of alcoholic drinks and tobacco since they are harmful. The other one (about "Pleasure") encourages readers to drink and smoke and stuff, claiming that they are good for the human health! My question is: whom should we believe if both claim to be based on scientific evidence? (I don't mean only these books, but in general.) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 105.110.188.195 ( talk) 09:33, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
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Since magnetism is electromagnetism, what is the wavelength and frequency of the photons around e.g. two bar magnets next to each other? Th4n3r ( talk) 12:24, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
I don't doubt the North Koreans make stuff up or that they're nuts... nonetheless, killing Kim Jung Il sounds like a capital idea to most Americans. And I generally go by the rule of thumb that almost every nasty thing either side says about the other in any war is true, and this is a nasty thing. So can we make sense out of it? Now obviously it would help if someone can track down the original Korean and translate this without the "crazy" filter setting (I mean, I suspect it's pretty nuts in that language but I bet the BBC translators were hamming it up) but here is what I have to work with now: [4]
A hideous terrorists' group, which the CIA and the IS infiltrated into the DPRK on the basis of covert and meticulous preparations to commit state-sponsored terrorism against the supreme leadership of the DPRK by use of bio-chemical substance, has been recently detected...
They hatched a plot of letting human scum Kim commit bomb terrorism targeting the supreme leadership during events at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun and at military parade and public procession after his return home.
They told him that assassination by use of biochemical substances including radioactive substance and nano poisonous substance is the best method that does not require access to the target, their lethal results will appear after six or twelve months, bio-chemical substance can be added in cooperation with the CIA if one single correct information is obtained, the component of terrorism-purposed bio-chemical substance is the know-how of the CIA and it is only the CIA that can produce such substance, and that hardware, supplies and funds needed for committing terrorism against the supreme leadership will completely be borne by the IS. Then they handed him over 20 000 U.S. dollars on two occasions and a satellite transmitter-receiver and let him get versed in it...
In January, May, August and September of 2016 IS agents had satellite contacts with Kim who resided in Pyongyang. The IS agents gave instructions to choose and report the most effective and safe method with high probability of success while presenting him various terrorist methods using biochemical substances along with operational code of terrorism against the supreme leadership, the ways of bribing an object who would directly carry out the terrorist act and ways of entering the grounds of events.
On August 12, 2016 they gave him an instruction to collect and send as much information as possible concerning the surrounding environment of event ground where celebrations are held frequently, guard situation there and orders observed at times of events, saying that once concrete and detailed data are given, they would study the most reasonable way in cooperation with the CIA...
In March and April last an IS agent [name omitted] and his secret agent [name omitted], met the terrorist accomplice in Dandong of China and handed him over new satellite transmitter-receiver and 50 000 U.S. dollars. They signed a "contract" on setting up the overseas liaison center and let the necessary equipment and materials be introduced as the first instalment in early May.
On April 7 a guy surnamed [name omitted], chief of the IS team, taught Kim the way of bribing terrorist accomplices, saying that "even the U.S. CIA uses gradual engagement with due consideration given to the greed and mentality of persons depending on which class and strata they belong" and told him to use it as a reference in engaging terrorist accomplices to be infiltrated to the event ground.
On Nov. 4, 2016 and on April 13, 17 and 20 this year they let Kim know that they officially confirmed the types of bio-chemical substance and hardware to be used for committing terrorist act against the supreme leadership and requested it to the CIA, and instructed him to restudy the "creed" of the terrorist executor and reconfirm the state of "brainwashing" of him and report about them. They also repeatedly instructed him to take the best measure for the examination and preparations for the terrorist operation, as there can be such catastrophic incident as a war once the fact about terrorist means and funds provided by the IS is known.
The chief of the south Korean puppet Intelligence Service [name omitted] praised the terrorist as a "very valuable existence for the nation and 'IS'" and directly organized the terrorist operation and let the chief of the IS team [name omitted] and agent [name omitted] take the lead in executing it. The puppet forces gave the terrorist more than 80 instructions for the execution of the operation.
The remarkable claim here is that it is a radioactive substance and a biochemical substance. This implies a level of sophistication in the attack comparable to something like a targeted cancer therapy that brings a radioactive isotope to a specific (cancer) cell to kill it. The North Koreans have obviously thought up the notion of finding some cell type to target (what???) that is a lot less dispensable than a cancer cell. Whether they have thought that up by interrogating a U.S. agent or have purely invented it in their own laboratories to use on us, it is still of interest.
Anyway, some topic of interest here: is there any record of people considering "targeted assassination therapy", and what would they target? Is there something that is easier to inhale and get into a bloodstream than an antibody that they could link to the radioactive isotope? Or would they just be hoping to make a lot of shrapnel and something would hit, or do they have a way to make inhaled antibody cross from lung to bloodstream? There are so many options here I don't even know where to begin - that's obviously a really vague source text. What can we think of? Wnt ( talk) 14:05, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
For a haywire SF plot, I'm stepping through rotational frames of reference and summing up angular velocities relative to a given gravitational center (Earth rotation, Earth orbit, orbit of solar system around galaxy center...). Now I'm trying to figure out whether I can go one farther and add an angular velocity for the movement of the Milky Way. However, IIUC, there is no indication of actual rotation of the Milky Way around, e.g., the gravitational center of the Local Group, or anything at larger scales. Once we leave the galaxy, movements are linear and/or omnidirectional ( Hubble flow, microwave background). Is that correct? -- Elmidae ( talk · contribs) 15:17, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
See the Local Group and the Great Attractor. Most bodies in motion towards each other tend to be off center and hence have some rotational component (think of the Theia hypothesis but the space scale may be so vast we have not had time to observe it directly. μηδείς ( talk) 17:22, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
Alright, thanks guys. This strikes me as "it's complicated, but for practical purposes there is no orbiting motion with readily discernable characteristics". That should be enough to not make me break my intended Level 4 position on the SF Mohs Scale :) -- Elmidae ( talk · contribs) 08:01, 9 May 2017 (UTC)
@ Elmidae: That wasn't the message I meant to send with my comment about the paper above. It actually did define a region based on the distance where the gravity from the Local Group can retain galaxies within a region ... I think. So AFAICT the Milky Way is orbiting ... it's just that the nature of the "center" in a group of galaxies, when there are a few stray galaxies mixed in that aren't expected to be gravitationally bound but nonetheless affect the whole, and all the data is incomplete anyway, is a little iffy. Wnt ( talk) 16:15, 9 May 2017 (UTC)
I want a black backdrop for making some project videos for YouTube and photographers seem to recommend velvet but it seems to me that even velvet can have some sheen and reflect light, appearing grey. Would it make sense to buy a fabric and then attempt to dye it further? It's possible that all the locations in the fibres that can be occupied by the dye are already occupied. I know photographers can make a white background look black in a suitable environment but that's not possible in the confinement of my living room. How to make a surface not reflect visible light and absorb more? -- 78.148.99.149 ( talk) 16:26, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
This article [6] explores an interesting concept that people can broadly be put into 4 different categories. However, can it be argued that this is too broad even for managing relationships in the workplace? Because this could differ based on different cultures (whether organisational, related to a specific profession) or even depending on a person's mood or period of their life. In addition, I can think of many personality types which don't fit into these 4 categories. For example, where would you put the competitive type who likes to play strategic mind games with others, often prevalent in macho organisations? 2A02:C7D:B953:4700:4F9:B85D:C8AB:CF4F ( talk) 17:31, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
In both 2011 [7] and 2016 [8], US used approximately 97 quads of primary energy. In 2011, 41.7 quads went into energy services, a 43% efficiency. While in 2016 only 30.8 quads went into energy services, resulting in an efficiency of only 32%.
With all the talk about electric cars and energy conservation, I expected a slight improvement in overall energy efficiency. But this is a eleven percentage points drop in energy efficiency. In just five years! What's going on here? ECS LIVA Z ( talk) 18:37, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
I saw a video of an African Bullfrog swallowing a mouse whole without chewing or anything. The mouse was still alive without even a scratch as it was swallowed. How come the mouse can't attack the insides of the Bullfrog and escape? Isn't swallowing live prey that can attack your insides very dangerous? How long would the mouse be alive down there and what would be the cause of its death?-- 83.136.45.50 ( talk) 21:50, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
Animals do develop defences against being swallowed whole. There are species of catfish that have sharp spines that evolved to get stuck in the predator's throat (I'll find a link in a minute, I forgot the binomial for it but it'll come back to me soon enough). There are rough-skinned newt species that have TTX toxin in their skin secretions: they've been documented to kill a toad and climb back out from toad's mouth intact. Finally, there was a paper recently about a typhlops surviving a trip through a toad and coming out alive from the other end (with pictures - NSFW). Dr Dima ( talk) 22:51, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
Science desk | ||
---|---|---|
< May 7 | << Apr | May | Jun >> | May 9 > |
Welcome to the Wikipedia Science Reference Desk Archives |
---|
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages. |
What possible astronomical meaning or calendrical interpretation, if any, can be assigned to a structure containing thirteen groups of eight objects (of which two such groups might be slightly smaller, containing only six or seven objects each) ? Of course, one probable explanation would be the number of seven-day weeks in two years; however, the civilization which build the structure is known to have had a six day week, hence the dilemma. — 82.79.178.230 ( talk) 08:13, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
request for opinion on apocryphal sources |
---|
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it. |
I've read two books (In French, by French people, printed in France), each one discusses a topic from a scientific point of view. The first one (talks about "Sleep") was against the use of alcoholic drinks and tobacco since they are harmful. The other one (about "Pleasure") encourages readers to drink and smoke and stuff, claiming that they are good for the human health! My question is: whom should we believe if both claim to be based on scientific evidence? (I don't mean only these books, but in general.) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 105.110.188.195 ( talk) 09:33, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
|
Since magnetism is electromagnetism, what is the wavelength and frequency of the photons around e.g. two bar magnets next to each other? Th4n3r ( talk) 12:24, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
I don't doubt the North Koreans make stuff up or that they're nuts... nonetheless, killing Kim Jung Il sounds like a capital idea to most Americans. And I generally go by the rule of thumb that almost every nasty thing either side says about the other in any war is true, and this is a nasty thing. So can we make sense out of it? Now obviously it would help if someone can track down the original Korean and translate this without the "crazy" filter setting (I mean, I suspect it's pretty nuts in that language but I bet the BBC translators were hamming it up) but here is what I have to work with now: [4]
A hideous terrorists' group, which the CIA and the IS infiltrated into the DPRK on the basis of covert and meticulous preparations to commit state-sponsored terrorism against the supreme leadership of the DPRK by use of bio-chemical substance, has been recently detected...
They hatched a plot of letting human scum Kim commit bomb terrorism targeting the supreme leadership during events at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun and at military parade and public procession after his return home.
They told him that assassination by use of biochemical substances including radioactive substance and nano poisonous substance is the best method that does not require access to the target, their lethal results will appear after six or twelve months, bio-chemical substance can be added in cooperation with the CIA if one single correct information is obtained, the component of terrorism-purposed bio-chemical substance is the know-how of the CIA and it is only the CIA that can produce such substance, and that hardware, supplies and funds needed for committing terrorism against the supreme leadership will completely be borne by the IS. Then they handed him over 20 000 U.S. dollars on two occasions and a satellite transmitter-receiver and let him get versed in it...
In January, May, August and September of 2016 IS agents had satellite contacts with Kim who resided in Pyongyang. The IS agents gave instructions to choose and report the most effective and safe method with high probability of success while presenting him various terrorist methods using biochemical substances along with operational code of terrorism against the supreme leadership, the ways of bribing an object who would directly carry out the terrorist act and ways of entering the grounds of events.
On August 12, 2016 they gave him an instruction to collect and send as much information as possible concerning the surrounding environment of event ground where celebrations are held frequently, guard situation there and orders observed at times of events, saying that once concrete and detailed data are given, they would study the most reasonable way in cooperation with the CIA...
In March and April last an IS agent [name omitted] and his secret agent [name omitted], met the terrorist accomplice in Dandong of China and handed him over new satellite transmitter-receiver and 50 000 U.S. dollars. They signed a "contract" on setting up the overseas liaison center and let the necessary equipment and materials be introduced as the first instalment in early May.
On April 7 a guy surnamed [name omitted], chief of the IS team, taught Kim the way of bribing terrorist accomplices, saying that "even the U.S. CIA uses gradual engagement with due consideration given to the greed and mentality of persons depending on which class and strata they belong" and told him to use it as a reference in engaging terrorist accomplices to be infiltrated to the event ground.
On Nov. 4, 2016 and on April 13, 17 and 20 this year they let Kim know that they officially confirmed the types of bio-chemical substance and hardware to be used for committing terrorist act against the supreme leadership and requested it to the CIA, and instructed him to restudy the "creed" of the terrorist executor and reconfirm the state of "brainwashing" of him and report about them. They also repeatedly instructed him to take the best measure for the examination and preparations for the terrorist operation, as there can be such catastrophic incident as a war once the fact about terrorist means and funds provided by the IS is known.
The chief of the south Korean puppet Intelligence Service [name omitted] praised the terrorist as a "very valuable existence for the nation and 'IS'" and directly organized the terrorist operation and let the chief of the IS team [name omitted] and agent [name omitted] take the lead in executing it. The puppet forces gave the terrorist more than 80 instructions for the execution of the operation.
The remarkable claim here is that it is a radioactive substance and a biochemical substance. This implies a level of sophistication in the attack comparable to something like a targeted cancer therapy that brings a radioactive isotope to a specific (cancer) cell to kill it. The North Koreans have obviously thought up the notion of finding some cell type to target (what???) that is a lot less dispensable than a cancer cell. Whether they have thought that up by interrogating a U.S. agent or have purely invented it in their own laboratories to use on us, it is still of interest.
Anyway, some topic of interest here: is there any record of people considering "targeted assassination therapy", and what would they target? Is there something that is easier to inhale and get into a bloodstream than an antibody that they could link to the radioactive isotope? Or would they just be hoping to make a lot of shrapnel and something would hit, or do they have a way to make inhaled antibody cross from lung to bloodstream? There are so many options here I don't even know where to begin - that's obviously a really vague source text. What can we think of? Wnt ( talk) 14:05, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
For a haywire SF plot, I'm stepping through rotational frames of reference and summing up angular velocities relative to a given gravitational center (Earth rotation, Earth orbit, orbit of solar system around galaxy center...). Now I'm trying to figure out whether I can go one farther and add an angular velocity for the movement of the Milky Way. However, IIUC, there is no indication of actual rotation of the Milky Way around, e.g., the gravitational center of the Local Group, or anything at larger scales. Once we leave the galaxy, movements are linear and/or omnidirectional ( Hubble flow, microwave background). Is that correct? -- Elmidae ( talk · contribs) 15:17, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
See the Local Group and the Great Attractor. Most bodies in motion towards each other tend to be off center and hence have some rotational component (think of the Theia hypothesis but the space scale may be so vast we have not had time to observe it directly. μηδείς ( talk) 17:22, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
Alright, thanks guys. This strikes me as "it's complicated, but for practical purposes there is no orbiting motion with readily discernable characteristics". That should be enough to not make me break my intended Level 4 position on the SF Mohs Scale :) -- Elmidae ( talk · contribs) 08:01, 9 May 2017 (UTC)
@ Elmidae: That wasn't the message I meant to send with my comment about the paper above. It actually did define a region based on the distance where the gravity from the Local Group can retain galaxies within a region ... I think. So AFAICT the Milky Way is orbiting ... it's just that the nature of the "center" in a group of galaxies, when there are a few stray galaxies mixed in that aren't expected to be gravitationally bound but nonetheless affect the whole, and all the data is incomplete anyway, is a little iffy. Wnt ( talk) 16:15, 9 May 2017 (UTC)
I want a black backdrop for making some project videos for YouTube and photographers seem to recommend velvet but it seems to me that even velvet can have some sheen and reflect light, appearing grey. Would it make sense to buy a fabric and then attempt to dye it further? It's possible that all the locations in the fibres that can be occupied by the dye are already occupied. I know photographers can make a white background look black in a suitable environment but that's not possible in the confinement of my living room. How to make a surface not reflect visible light and absorb more? -- 78.148.99.149 ( talk) 16:26, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
This article [6] explores an interesting concept that people can broadly be put into 4 different categories. However, can it be argued that this is too broad even for managing relationships in the workplace? Because this could differ based on different cultures (whether organisational, related to a specific profession) or even depending on a person's mood or period of their life. In addition, I can think of many personality types which don't fit into these 4 categories. For example, where would you put the competitive type who likes to play strategic mind games with others, often prevalent in macho organisations? 2A02:C7D:B953:4700:4F9:B85D:C8AB:CF4F ( talk) 17:31, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
In both 2011 [7] and 2016 [8], US used approximately 97 quads of primary energy. In 2011, 41.7 quads went into energy services, a 43% efficiency. While in 2016 only 30.8 quads went into energy services, resulting in an efficiency of only 32%.
With all the talk about electric cars and energy conservation, I expected a slight improvement in overall energy efficiency. But this is a eleven percentage points drop in energy efficiency. In just five years! What's going on here? ECS LIVA Z ( talk) 18:37, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
I saw a video of an African Bullfrog swallowing a mouse whole without chewing or anything. The mouse was still alive without even a scratch as it was swallowed. How come the mouse can't attack the insides of the Bullfrog and escape? Isn't swallowing live prey that can attack your insides very dangerous? How long would the mouse be alive down there and what would be the cause of its death?-- 83.136.45.50 ( talk) 21:50, 8 May 2017 (UTC)
Animals do develop defences against being swallowed whole. There are species of catfish that have sharp spines that evolved to get stuck in the predator's throat (I'll find a link in a minute, I forgot the binomial for it but it'll come back to me soon enough). There are rough-skinned newt species that have TTX toxin in their skin secretions: they've been documented to kill a toad and climb back out from toad's mouth intact. Finally, there was a paper recently about a typhlops surviving a trip through a toad and coming out alive from the other end (with pictures - NSFW). Dr Dima ( talk) 22:51, 8 May 2017 (UTC)