Off topic discourse and banter encouraged.
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Beyond
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by Beyond » Sun Jul 14, 2013 8:53 pm
neufer wrote:geckzilla wrote:
What if you increased the mass of the earth to the mass of the sun?
We would all be living on a white dwarf and I would be somewhat more degenerate than usual.
Only somewhat
![Question :?:](./images/smilies/icon_question.gif)
There's hope for us yet
![Exclamation :!:](./images/smilies/icon_exclaim.gif)
To find the Truth, you must go Beyond.
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bystander
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by bystander » Fri Aug 23, 2013 9:10 pm
Drain the Oceans: Part II
- Supposing you did Drain the Oceans, and dumped the water on top of the Curiosity rover,
how would Mars change as the water accumulated? — Iain
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk. — Garrison Keillor
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bystander
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by bystander » Fri Aug 23, 2013 9:13 pm
Random Sneeze Call
- If you call a random phone number and say “God bless you”, what are the chances
that the person who answers just sneezed? On average, not just in spring or fall. — Mimi
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk. — Garrison Keillor
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bystander
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by bystander » Fri Aug 23, 2013 9:15 pm
Restraining an Airplane
- If you wanted to anchor an airplane into the ground so it wouldn't be able to take off,
what would the rope have to be made out of? — Connor Childerhose
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk. — Garrison Keillor
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bystander
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by bystander » Fri Aug 23, 2013 9:17 pm
Dropping a Mountain
- What if a huge mountain—Denali, say—had the bottom inch of its base disappear?
What would happen from the impact of the mountain falling 1 inch? What about 1 foot?
What if the mountain's base were raised to the present height of the summit,
and then the whole thing were allowed to drop to the earth? — John-Clark Levin
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk. — Garrison Keillor
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bystander
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by bystander » Fri Aug 23, 2013 9:20 pm
Orbital Speed
- What if a spacecraft slowed down on re-entry to just a few miles per hour using rocket
boosters like the Mars-sky-crane? Would it negate the need for a heat shield? — Brian
Is it possible for a spacecraft to control its reentry in such a way that it avoids the atmospheric compression
and thus would not require the expensive (and relatively fragile) heat shield on the outside? — Christopher Mallow
Could a (small) rocket (with payload) be lifted to a high point in the atmosphere where
it would only need a small rocket to get to escape velocity?— Kenny Van de Maele
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk. — Garrison Keillor
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bystander
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by bystander » Fri Aug 23, 2013 9:22 pm
Updating a Printed Wikipedia
- If you had a printed version of the whole of (say, the English) Wikipedia, how many printers
would you need in order to keep up with the changes made to the live version? — Marein Könings
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk. — Garrison Keillor
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neufer
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by neufer » Fri Aug 23, 2013 10:01 pm
What If bystander ignored "What If?" for a hundred straight Tuesdays.
Would he EVER be able to catch up at that point
![Question :?:](./images/smilies/icon_question.gif)
Art Neuendorffer
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Beyond
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by Beyond » Sat Aug 24, 2013 12:24 am
NO
![Exclamation :!:](./images/smilies/icon_exclaim.gif)
He's an Apathetic Retiree. He doesn't have enough mustard to catch-up that much.
But then, neither do any of us.
To find the Truth, you must go Beyond.
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geckzilla
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Contact:
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by geckzilla » Sat Aug 24, 2013 2:40 am
I think he would but that is an awfully long time for him to be offline. Some kind of disaster would have to strike.
Just call me "geck" because "zilla" is like a last name.
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bystander
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by bystander » Sat Aug 24, 2013 4:05 am
It wasn't all my fault. These were all posted within the last 10 days.
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk. — Garrison Keillor
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owlice
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by owlice » Sun Aug 25, 2013 2:39 pm
Great reading with my Sunday coffee; thanks for posting these!!
A closed mouth gathers no foot.
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bystander
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by bystander » Tue Aug 27, 2013 2:35 pm
Signs of Life
- If you could teleport to a random place of the surface of the Earth,
what are the odds that you'll see signs of intelligent life? — Borislav Stanimirov
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk. — Garrison Keillor
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bystander
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by bystander » Tue Sep 03, 2013 5:44 pm
Speed Bump
- How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? — Myrlin Barber
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk. — Garrison Keillor
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Beyond
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by Beyond » Tue Sep 03, 2013 8:04 pm
I liked the baseball at the speed of light link. One pitch and it's all over, for quite a ways.
![Shocked :shock:](./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif)
ing
![Exclamation :!:](./images/smilies/icon_exclaim.gif)
To find the Truth, you must go Beyond.
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Ann
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by Ann » Wed Sep 04, 2013 1:16 am
Beyond wrote:I liked the baseball at the speed of light link. One pitch and it's all over, for quite a ways.
![Shocked :shock:](./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif)
ing
![Exclamation :!:](./images/smilies/icon_exclaim.gif)
My goodness me (to the relativistic baseball)!
There was a "Slow down" campaign in Sweden a number of years ago, and I remember one poster saying (but in Swedish) "It is the velocity that kills you".
Isn't that true.
Ann
Color Commentator
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Beyond
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by Beyond » Wed Sep 04, 2013 2:03 am
Velocity is what starts the ball rolling for other events to take place that makes the Big mess that does you in.
![Yes. :yes:](./images/smilies/yes.gif)
To find the Truth, you must go Beyond.
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rstevenson
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by rstevenson » Wed Sep 04, 2013 2:10 am
Ann wrote:... I remember one poster saying (but in Swedish) "It is the velocity that kills you".
Isn't that true.
It's not the velocity, it's the abrupt
reduction in velocity that gets ya. [We need a SPLAT! smiley.]
Rob
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Beyond
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by Beyond » Wed Sep 04, 2013 2:36 am
But with the "relavistic" baseball (which never makes it to you), there isn't any abrupt reduction in velocity, it's the nuclear conditions that it generates that gets ya. [We also need a little mushroom cloud smiley]
To find the Truth, you must go Beyond.
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rstevenson
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by rstevenson » Wed Sep 04, 2013 2:47 am
Sorry, I lost track of which kind of death we were talking about.
Rob
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Beyond
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by Beyond » Wed Sep 04, 2013 3:54 am
Completely understandable, given that there are so many ways to chose from.
![Laughing :lol2:](./images/smilies/asterisk_laugh.gif)
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bystander
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by bystander » Wed Sep 04, 2013 4:30 am
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk. — Garrison Keillor
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bystander
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by bystander » Tue Sep 10, 2013 7:01 pm
Falling With Helium
- What if I jumped out of an airplane with a couple of tanks of helium and one huge, un-inflated
balloon? Then, while falling, I release the helium and fill the balloon. How long of a fall would
I need in order for the balloon to slow me enough that I could land safely? — Colin Rowe
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk. — Garrison Keillor
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owlice
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by owlice » Wed Sep 11, 2013 3:56 am
The question never got answered!
A closed mouth gathers no foot.
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bystander
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by bystander » Tue Sep 17, 2013 5:48 pm
Google's Datacenters on Punch Cards
- If all digital data were stored on punch cards,
how big would Google's data warehouse be? — James Zetlen
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk. — Garrison Keillor