splat

26 ms·

211.
by splat 16y ago
> Remember, most of the time the LHC isn't actually colliding, as opposed to telescopes. As an astronomer, I would hope that your telescopes also are not spending most of their time colliding. :) (Although, if you're not careful, some o
212.
by splat 16y ago
I find it strange that news articles always phrase it as "The state estimates it loses about $1.1 billion a year in revenue through uncollected "use taxes" from online sales." rather than "It is estimated that consumers save about $1.1 bill
213.
by splat 16y ago
Unfortunately, your definition for "live comfortably" tends to change as you accumulate more money.
214.
by splat 16y ago
Hmm...I can't find a source in print, so all I can tell you is that I'm an astronomer who has observed at some of these observatories (e.g. LBT).
215.
by splat 16y ago
At large observatories (in the US anyway), the military will actually require that the telescope avoid observing certain regions of the sky at certain times so that enterprising astronomers can't figure out the orbits of their spy satellite
216.
by splat 16y ago
That would be really interesting if true. Do you have any sources to back that up?
217.
by splat 16y ago
The thing I find interesting is the FDA's blatant hostility towards electronic cigarettes despite their demonstrated health benefits over ordinary cigarettes (light or otherwise). [1] [2] Electronic cigarettes simply vaporize nicotine and d
218.
by splat 16y ago
It's a little complicated, although not so complicated that it has anything to do with the spin of elementary particles. The basic reason is due to perpendicular axis theorem. If you have a plate, there is some moment of inertia about the
219.
by splat 16y ago
Color me unconvinced, too. He brings up the example of the income tax as why the slippery slope argument fails, but it's actually a pretty convincing case study of the merits of the slippery slope argument. The income tax was originally p
220.
Divisibility rules for arbitrary divisors(nerdparadise.com)
2 points by splat 16y ago|0 comments
221.
by splat 16y ago
Hmm...I may be about to verify the fifth point of the original article, but Einstein died in 1955 and string theory didn't at all start to take hold in the physics community until the 1980s. It's true that he perhaps ignored developments i
222.
by splat 16y ago
I'll bet that one of the reasons that children in honors courses (AP, IB, etc.) do better and learn more than children in regular courses has nothing to do with the curriculum or the teachers of those courses, but is just due to the fact th
223.
by splat 16y ago
My favorite line: "I found it hard to believe that only this tic-tac-toe game was flawed. What were the odds that I just happened to stumble upon the only breakable game the very first time I played the lottery? Of course, I knew it was pos
224.
by splat 16y ago
I am reminded of this footnote in Feynman's Lectures on Physics: "Poets say science takes away from the beauty of the stars — mere globs of gas atoms. Nothing is "mere". I too can see the stars on a desert night, and feel them. But do I see
225.
by splat 16y ago
I wonder if it would be feasible to coat airplane windshields with some sort of narrow-band filter which would block light at the specific frequencies of commercial lasers, but let light at other wavelengths pass.
226.
by splat 16y ago
This is certainly true of physics or mathematics. You can read all the textbooks you want, but you can't claim to understand those subjects unless you sit down and actually solve some problems or prove some theorems.
227.
by splat 16y ago
Yes, LaTeX ignores anything more than one whitespace in the source. It does, however, automatically insert extra space after a period. (Unless you disable it with the ~ symbol, e.g. after the word Mr. or e.g.)
228.
by splat 16y ago
I recommend looking through http://www.roadsideamerica.com/ . I've found a few neat spots for my trips.
229.
Homeland Security Trolling We Won't Fly Blog(webcache.googleusercontent.com)
2 points by splat 16y ago|0 comments
230.
by splat 16y ago
And you also must keep your political opinions private. If you intend to make your political opinions public via pamphlets, opinion editorials, posters, books, protests, etc. you're advertising your political opinions and the government
231.
How to Record the Cops(reason.com)
9 points by splat 16y ago|2 comments
232.
by splat 16y ago
I was thinking of playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, but upon reflection I realized it wasn't appropriate.
233.
by splat 16y ago
The obligatory counterpoint: http://whatinthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/
234.
Nigeria's burgeoning film industry(economist.com)
17 points by splat 16y ago|5 comments
235.
Saturn's rings may have come from its destruction of moons(arstechnica.com)
2 points by splat 16y ago|1 comments
236.
by splat 16y ago
I agree. It would seem to me that if such organisms had such a big advantage in the wild they should have already evolved independently.
237.
by splat 16y ago
I can't wait for this to be incorporated on the arXiv.
238.
by splat 16y ago
How do you define uncommon? Here are just a few cases of Kelo-style eminent domain: http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/current/2010/04/11/from-the-e... http://reason.com/archives/2009/10/13/private-developers-hav... http://boortz.com/nuze
239.
by splat 16y ago
Wikileaks can still be accessed via its IP addresses: http://213.251.145.96/ http://88.80.13.160/
240.
by splat 16y ago
Tangentially related but interesting nonetheless: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abuse_of_notation

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