Recent content by Barfolumu

Yes! I'm a non-trad undergraduate -- not horribly out of place, but I took time off to go "Find Myself" for awhile, and will not have my Bachelor's until I'm ~ 27.

I second this route. Though I also ask questions on class whenever I do not understand something: They are their to teach you after all. It is much more important to understand the material than to look smart.

Getting your drivers license is, in a sense, a step towards adulthood. So, getting your derivers license would be, in a sense, a step towards being a physicist. They sound similar, so... yeah. That's the pun. I thought it was funny :D.

Well... I don't know if they can't get research positions anywhere else... just perhaps not at Harvard. I guess what I mean to say: While I understand the reputation and excellence that Harvard brings by charging what they do, those who are not at Harvard can still be excellent.

I generally take the stand that free will does not exist, and that everything has already been set in motion. But I only have a weak a priori argument for it, and it requires an assumption that isn't necessary. However, whether the universe is absolutely predetermined or somewhere in between (I...

Inspired by http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23696646-13762,00.html" . Would running before you spit increase the distance your spit travels? I figure, most of the energy comes from your mouth, and you'd probably stop at the end of your run, so would a "running start" increase the distance?

I'm not quite sure I understand your question... I look up anything that I don't know, and write it down, even if I have it written down. I write out my thinking, step by step, until I feel "comfortable" (a horribly subjective term abused by the lazy :D). Is this what you're asking?

To study, I do problems out of the book outside of those assigned. These require you to use definitions, equations, and conceptual knowledge. Eventually, with use, these things are committed to memory, and you've practiced doing things you'll need to do on your test.

Throwin' my two pennies in... I'm all for the ban being lifted. Even if you disagree with Foie Gras, the ban doesn't attack the problem. I do wonder if this is a necessary evil, though. You get a larger liver, but Foie Gras isn't exactly what you'd call a staple. Since it is a luxury item...

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j0sGgbVEkkxS_rUARPGN11dUe3zw" Any thoughts on this?

However, I wonder if college education became as free and required as a HS education is now, would it then be hampered in the same manner as public education? Privatization has some definite advantages... the only downside is that sometimes those advantages are reserved for the wealthy. I...

Universities are certainly businesses. So is Dillon's. So is AT&T. So is Ford. Like most businesses, they have a bottom line to keep, but they also provide a benefit to society, like food, communication, or transportation. The university just provides education and support for research...

And, from what I'm reading here, the answer is conclusively "No". We don't live in a cyberpunk world, in 1984, or in Fahrenheit 451-land :D. The means to learn how to build something obscenely destructive is easily obtained by persons not in league with the government.

I don't know about the specific steel used in medical forceps, but with regards to stainless steel in general: The main metal added to stainless steel to make it... stainless?... is Chromium. Chromium reacts with oxygen to form a thin layer on the outside of the object, whose atoms are...

I walk whenever I can. I use energy efficient bulbs. I reuse containers when I can. I recycle aluminum cans.