splat

15 ms·

91.
by splat 13y ago
The author isn't a journalist. Joseph Stiglitz is a Nobel-prize-winning economist.
92.
by splat 13y ago
I'm a grad student in astronomy, and I try to read one paper per day, so I've thought a bit about where to best find good papers to read. Firstly, if you are interested in finding papers in astronomy, the best resource is the ADS
93.
by splat 13y ago
Keep in mind that the 2 megasecond exposure was not done all at once. It consists of many shorter exposures (probably about 10-20 minutes apiece) added together. If the exposure had been done all at once, it would have saturated. Moreove
94.
Why Steinway Is Likely to Be Sold to a Hedge Fund Manager(npr.org)
33 points by splat 13y ago|22 comments
95.
by splat 13y ago
The example of Herbert and Dorothy Vogel shows that that's not true if you're willing to work at it: http://mentalfloss.com/article/48844/how-working-class-coupl...
96.
by splat 13y ago
I agree with your point, but have to note that this is perhaps the most literal example of survivor's bias I have ever seen.
97.
by splat 13y ago
This is true. Although fusion into elements heavier than iron happens both during the last stages of a star's life and during the supernova itself, the last stages of the star's life last only a few hours anyway. At that point it really d
98.
by splat 13y ago
The astrophysics here is not quite right. Stars actually do make elements heavier than iron (where else would they come from?), they just don't get any energy out of them. Also, it's a misconception that the iron on Earth is made in the co
99.
by splat 13y ago
It's still unknown whether or not these orbits are stable. It seems probable that they're unstable, in which case you would never expect to find them in the universe.
100.
by splat 14y ago
Austrians are fine with price deflation, but not monetary deflation: "If a man has been hurt by being run over by an automobile, it is no remedy to let the car go back over him in the opposition direction." -- Ludwig von Mises ( http://mis
101.
by splat 14y ago
Beans (like grains) have a lot of phytic acid in them. Phytic acid prevents the absorption of minerals. The amount of phytic acid can be reduced if the beans are soaked in water that contains lactobacilli for a day or so, but almost no on
102.
by splat 14y ago
Is that really true, though? The US has a large military, but it pales in comparison to the number of armed civilians. Just look at the number of hunters in this country. In Wisconsin alone there are 600,000 hunters. That would make the
103.
by splat 14y ago
Since the bubble expands faster than the speed of light, it would not be visible in the CMB. The reason that there should be billions of years left is just a statement about probability. Given that the universe has already lasted for bill
104.
by splat 14y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomsday_argument
105.
by splat 14y ago
Keep in mind, though, that you would want to write it (9!)! or ((9!)!)!. 9!! is actually the double factorial, which is defined as 9!! = 1 * 3 * 5 * 7 * 9. So 9!! < 9!.
106.
by splat 14y ago
I think the new part is that this is very close to absolute zero from the negative side instead of the positive side. It also seems the other interesting part is that the system transitions from positive to negative temperatures very sudde
107.
by splat 14y ago
I think the way the scientific method is generally presented does not really accurately represent how science is really done. It's true that there are many scientists who more or less follow the scientific method to the letter. But I thin
108.
by splat 14y ago
I would agree that having a healthy scepticism of those in authority is a very fundamental part of libertarian philosophy. But if you find the author's political inclinations objectionable you can read the original book by Samuel Arbesman
109.
1,458 Bacteria Species 'New to Science' Found in Our Belly Buttons(theatlantic.com)
1 points by splat 14y ago|0 comments
110.
by splat 14y ago
Finding signs of intelligent life might be hard, but finding signs of life would be relatively easy. When exoplanets transit in front of their star, it's possible to get a spectrum of their atmosphere and determine its composition (though
111.
Ways Your Spending Habits Change with Age(businessinsider.com)
2 points by splat 14y ago|0 comments
112.
by splat 14y ago
Assuming it kept the same mass. If it had a lot more mass, the Earth's orbit would be identical to it's orbit around a star with that much more mass. The fact that an object is a black hole only becomes relevant when something passes the
113.
by splat 14y ago
Yes. Formally, a singularity is just a "hole" in spacetime. As you increase the mass of the black hole, the singularity itself doesn't change, but the curvature of the spacetime around it becomes stronger.
114.
by splat 14y ago
Far from the event horizon, a black hole acts like a point mass just like every other star. If, for instance, the Sun were to immediately turn into a black hole, the Earth would continue to orbit it as if there had been no change.
115.
by splat 14y ago
It's generally hard to get stars to collide with black holes since even the very largest black holes are still very small relative to the distances between stars. There's just too much angular momentum that needs to be removed. (Which is
116.
Advice to the Young Astronomer(whitedwarf.org)
1 points by splat 14y ago|0 comments
117.
by splat 14y ago
> Backscatter doesn't pose any health risk to travelers. This is possibly only true if there are no problems with the machines. If the machine is functioning properly, an X-ray beam will quickly scan you from head to toe. But if the s
118.
by splat 14y ago
Cork also has the problem that it can occasionally spoil the wine. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cork_taint ) My understanding is that twist-off caps are strictly better for wine, but the inertia of tradition has kept most wines sealed wi
119.
by splat 14y ago
True, but the physics that produced the CMB during recombination is the same as the physics that produces light in stellar atmospheres.
120.
by splat 14y ago
It's not usually noted, but Olber's paradox relies on a false assumption. The argument goes that the night sky is dark and therefore the universe must be finite in extent or duration or both. But the night sky isn't really dark. Olber wa

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