Science Forums - Watercooler

Levi Johnston

Moontanman — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:13:26 GMT

Is it just me or has the media gone completely over the edge? A young man who had sex with an underage girl and was too careless, thoughtless or stupid to keep from getting her pregnant is now a media darling and actually being asked to comment on things like politics? Sarah Palin may or may not be the crazy she seems but why does having sex with her underage daughter result in this kid being treated as though his thoughts and opinions matter? He didn't even have the forethought to wrap that rascal but he has been all over television as though he is some kind of special young man on the cutting edge of society, if so we are not leaning toward the abyss we have plunged in and are almost out of site in the drop.

Pirates

Getting A Life — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:11:43 GMT

It is in the news today that the US is calling for countries to refuse to pay ransom to pirates, Somalian or otherwise, as it only encourages them. The problem is severe - people are being killed, massive funds being diverted, and the recent shipload of weaponry pirated in the news bought this to many folks attention.

I think we need to take these mongrels on, but, it is very dangerous as they are all armed.

There are two things that make these pirates effective

1. Their boats

2. Their weapons

I propose an approach that will put the fear into them.

Unmanned drones, aerial or otherwise, for authorities to communicate with and identify any craft not registered to be in shipping lanes at the time. Drones carry armour, communications, and weaponry.

Weaponry... A weapon thast will sink a boat without exploding it. Then the pirates can be picked out of the water while their own weaponry will be useless. Some device that drills holes in hulls...

They will start to run out of boats and weapons if we keep sinking them.

Or will it just turn into an arms race with the pirates. Must be fairly lucrative their resources grow with activity while ours are depleted.

Beer!

DFINITLYDISTRUBD — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 01:38:44 GMT

YouTube- Beer Beer Beer-The Pogues (subtitulado...

I know there are at least two beer thredz here but as I recall they are in the lounge......annnnnnd seein as I aint welcome der....here is yet a nuther thred bout that lovely golden nectar of hops, yeast and barley....dang I'm gettin thirsty already:D

YouTube- Irish music-In Heaven there is no...

Solar Homes

BobLundy — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:00:53 GMT

One of the most commonly used technology for tapping sun’s heat are the solar panels. Also known as the Photovoltaic cells, the device is used to convert sunlight into electricity. The solar energy can be produced cleanly at a place where it is consumed. The solar panel investments have grown over the years, owing to the great qualities of this energy source.

The Solar panels or photovoltaic cells make use of renewable energy from the sun. The solar cells work by changing sunlight into electricity. The solar or PV cells are made up of silicon atoms that transfer the energy and release electrons from the orbit around the nucleus and generate electricity. The electricity generated from PV cells is clean and environmentally sound.

Homes that are completely solar powered homes are always in demand. The solar cells installed in the house enhance its value and take advantage of passive solar heating and day lighting techniques. The house can be built in such a way that it absorbs maximum heat. This can be done by planning the design carefully. The materials used in the floors and walls of the home should be chosen in such a way that it distributes heat evenly throughout the home.

Tried and True Chilli Recipes

freeztar — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:14:39 GMT

Why not?

Chilli is such a wonderful food. It's simple, tasty, ~~healthy~~, and diverse in its manifestations.

In ode to the annual Atlanta chilli cookoff, I'm making a big batch of chilli right now and figured I'd share my recipe for those interested. Hopefully others will chime in with other variations on this wonderful dish?

Freeztar's Fabulous Fhilli (couldn't help it - alliteration demanded)

(cans can be substituted with equivalent amount of prepared beans etc.)
3 lbs. ground beef
3 8oz. cans of tomato sauce
3 16oz. cans of beans (I use a mix of kidney beans, black beans, and pinto beans)
1 16oz. can of sweet corn
6tbls. chilli seasoning *
1tbls. cayenne
8 cloves of garlic (mashed)

Brown meat and drain. Combine meat and tomato sauce with 24oz. of water, chilli seasoning, and garlic. Stir. Add beans, corn, and garlic. Simmer until desired consistency is reached (stir every ten minutes). Note that as the mix cools, it will thicken some more (for thicker chilli and less cooking time, add cornstarch, kudzu starch, or arrowroot powder).

Let it cool a bit and garnish with grated medium cheddar and as much hot sauce as you like.

* Chilli seasoning powder can be purchased or can be made by combining 4tbls. cumin, 2tbls. paprika, and salt, pepper (white or black), and garlic powder to taste.

---

When I make this for myself only, I throw in a few whole habaneros (I'm a chilihead).

Other ideas: Add stewed (or diced) tomatos, celery, and diced carrots. Other garnishes can include sour cream, chives, and bits of bacon.

Enjoy! :)

Looking For An Answer

Pyrotex — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:40:38 GMT

Anybody who has a simple (SIMPLE!!!) question to ask about Hypography or any of its threads, can post it here, and maybe one of us will know the answer.

My question: we used to have a thread all about a physics/mechanics simulator that was available (somewhere) online. We built cars and catapults out of wheels and sticks and tried to get the "payload" into the Pink Zone. Does anyone remember how to find that online simulator?

How Hypography looked back in the day...

Tormod — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:43:51 GMT

This is a snapshot of our forums around the beginning of June 2002. A lot has happened since then. :eek_big:

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Why so many books?

Ben — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:54:23 GMT

I am decorating the room in our house (Mary's and mine, that is) that I laughingly call my "study".

It is approx 3m by 4m, and, at a guess 4m high - not small. I built bookshelves, floor to ceiling on 3 of 4 walls. They were all overfull of books before I started decorating. As I boxed them up, I'm thinking, do I really, like, really want to keep all these? There must be several hundred of the bastards

True enough, some are references of various sorts, some are hardbacks I found in second-hand dealers shops, but most are paperback novels, which I doubt I shall ever read again.

THROW THEM OUT, says an inner voice.

Know what - I cannot. Kind of feels like "book burning" in a weird sort of way.

I suppose we are all queer in our own sort of way. Just that that my queerness is terribly space intensive. Anyone else likewise queer about books?

How do you coffee? :)

alexander — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:43:43 GMT

I know we had another thread on coffee somewhere, but it clearly got left behind, and i wanted to bring the topic back up again :)

So today marks the newest welcome addition to my coffee-maker list, i just got an ibrik, which makes it my 5th contraption to make coffee, so now i have 4 choices as to how to prepare my coffee, which is always great.
french press
normal coffee maker
chemex pot
espresso machine
ibrik

So, the list is down by the grind, the most course grind goes to the FP, and the finest goes to the ibrik (if you dont know what an ibrik is, it's a copper or brass pot with a specific shape, wider towards the bottom and then again at the top (look at image attached))
Of the 5, espresso machine is the only one i dont go crazy about, i like coffee, i enjoy espresso, and i rarely have time to make proper espresso, it's an art, and it requires certain tallent, so that aside, let's discuss coffee :).

I find that regardless of how you like your coffee, it all boils down to 4 main areas of focus:

water - good watter makes better coffee then bad water, so use a good filter. Water from bottles does not mean that its the best water, use the a good filter :)

coffee - can't stress enough, regardless of what kind of coffee you like, how strong, or what qualities you look for in your coffee (and i am talking about people who like coffee, not pumpkin spice lattes, or an extra shot of caramel in their Dunkin Donuts cup), you cant make good coffee from brown bean crap most people get at the local supermarkets dirt cheap. Coffee needs to be freshly roasted, it's best after about 2-3 days after roasting, then it gets ok after 4-5 days, worse yet in another week, and then it becomes supermarket-fresh coffee in about 2 weeks, and that's unground, ground coffee stales in hours after grinding, minutes if left in open air... This is actually especially easy to see using a Chemex pot, fresh coffee, when you pour hot water into it, will release these bubbles, that make your coffee almost foam up at the top (sometimes called a boil), the older the bean, the less of that effect you will see, it's quite interesting :)

temperature - honestly, there are many ways of making coffee, but for most optimal coffee, if not using an ibrik, your water temperature should ideally be around 88-95 degrees Celcius, around 185-190 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature should not exceed 200F, ibrik being the only case where it will. If the water is too hot, it will bring out a lot of bitterness in coffee, but because you are looking for a very strong dark and bitter coffee with the ibrik, it's a part of the brewing process. But for drip, FP, Chemex, 190F is about your ideal :)

brewing time - the extraction process time frame is around 3 minutes, you would under-extract the coffee in less then that, and over extract the coffee if you go longer. So you don't get all the beautiful flavors if you go shorter, or pick up bad flavors if you go too much over...

anyways, these are my thoughts atm, let's talk about coffee, i cant be the only person here who likes a good cup :) (and i dont drink a lot of it, usually 1-2 cups a day)

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Nobel Peace Prize Quiz

Tormod — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:27:37 GMT

Since the Peace Prize is all the rage I figured it was a good topic for our first quiz in a long time!

Try it and post your score. :)

Nobel Peace Prize Quiz