Recent content by StrayCatalyst

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    Poll: What type of person are you?

    Breadboard, with a side of kitbashing.
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    Fusion of human brain and nanobots, what can be its hardness level?

    The amount of control we currently have is pretty poor - note that she has a less than 50% success rate, and that arm only has a few DOF. It's progress, and will lead to further progress, and I'm all for it - but it's nowhere near the "people fused their brain with nanobots, while they still...
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    Dealing with crazy obsessive girl

    Never sleep with anybody who is obviously FAR crazier than you. From the sounds of it, she's trying to work through some problems, but unless you feel like taking on the full-time job of catering to her issues, you should stay away from her. That level of obsession produces stalkers and...
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    News Are Heroin Overdoses Increasing in Maine Due to Cheaper Prices?

    I've driven a cab in a large city - I was pretty familiar with junkies. They're human, but their addiction becomes the most important thing - it eclipses all else, in all too many cases. I had people offer me sex, for enough money to buy a rock. I've had people try to rob me for the same...
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    Fusion of human brain and nanobots, what can be its hardness level?

    The human brain has a lot of features in common with all other human brains, but not nearly enough for a one-size-fits-all "enhancement" nanobot. If there were a way to network human brains directly with computers, then it might be possible to take advantage of the computer for storage, and for...
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    It's remarkable some of the things you lose in a divorce

    Divorce - when love dies, it doesn't leave a vacuum. It leaves behind an equal volume of anger, hurt, and rage, with the target being the person you used to be married to. My divorce was fairly mellow, by the standards of divorces. We had nothing fiscally worth fighting over, and no kids...
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    Body decays in a microbe-free environment?

    You carry microbes around with you. Unless the body were sterilized, decomposition wouldn't need to wait for external sources of microbes. You're also carrying around a few litres of acid in your stomach, as well... at a ph of 1.5-3.5, it will start digesting its way through the stomach promptly.
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    Logistics of Lasers as Weapons in SF

    Industrial lasers cut by heating the material - then blasting it with compressed gases, generally. Their "target" isn't moving, and is not more than an inch or so from the "weapon", so it's not really all that equivalent. For a laser to do lethal damage to a target, it would need to be able to...
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    Large-Scale Wave Amplification - Is it plausible?

    If you're talking "read the brainwaves and produce an amplified signal of the same frequencies, created by a carefully built device" then it's just an engineering problem. A complicated one, but it's still possible. If it's "amplify the brain waves so that they are, themselves, made so...
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    Evacuating Earth? NatGeo Doc Review

    Assuming the following: Every government on Earth knows about the 70 year timeline, believes it to be true, and isn't gripped by religious hysteria that causes them to do nothing meaningful. The incoming destructive event cannot be slowed down, or caused to change course. Spending on space...
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    Nukes on the Moon - visible from Earth?

    From Earth with the naked eye, the Moon is pretty small. If a nuclear weapon were detonated on the Moon, would it be visible from Earth? Would it make a difference if the device were detonated during local daytime (in full sunlight) as far as visibility is concerned? If it makes a...
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    Is It Acceptable to Avoid Social Interaction Entirely?

    If the way you live makes you happy, and you aren't getting in trouble for it, it's okay. I know many people with some degree of Aspberger's, and a few who are further along the autism spectrum - some are recluses, others have small circles of friends. If you're looking for a semi-social...
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    News How far should the Dragnet reach.

    As the government is treating Americans as suspects - to be closely monitored, lied to, and feared - while government secrecy is at an all time high (so much for "the most transparent administration in history") I look at the NSA widespread, warrantless, suspicionless domestic spying program as...
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    What Are Your Other Passions Besides Science and Mathematics?

    Old VWs, welding, treehouses, video games, electronics, and learning. I'll often pick a subject and read a few basic books about it - chemistry was a fairly recent one.
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    Average IQ of professional physicists/mathematicians?

    I'm part of Mensa, where everybody has an IQ of greater than 140 - but there are about as many physicists and mathematicians as any other random sampling of people. IQ is a fairly inaccurate way of determining if a person can solve problems, or has the dedication needed to get through college.
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