scientific-thoughts

I always get vexed when this topic always appears in July? and other times . The govenrment at some point in history [ 1970's] decided that more people were going to get better results each year , a result which has been ongoing since then . [ and is now so ridiculous that the results are inceasingly meaningless] . Results are used by people for differing reasons : 1. so the government can show how good it is atgetting more and more people into higher education 2. The population can see how their kids are much better than the preceding generation. 3. Universities can pick the best students commensurate with their teaching capabilities 4. Employers can know theyve a good chance of getting an employee who can do the job required. For too long , we've been getting items 1 +2 ..... rather than changing the whole shebang , I propose the following : Let the pass mark be 0% ,ie everyone passes [ its heading that way in any case so why not accept the inevitable] . Make the number of g...

This isnt a scientific bit , but thought I'd mention it nevertheless. America et al states that Iran has no intentions of becoming a nuclear power - it stopped ages ago , but has centrifuges [ read the news report on it - it does state this quite clearly ] To make a nuclear device using uranium , the metal has to be 'enriched' . Enrichment involves concentrating the isotope of uranium that can go 'bang' [U235?] from the stable bit [U238?] , the difference in the numbers being approximately the difference in atomic weights . Clear so far ? This is done by making uranium hexafluoride , which is a gaseous compound. This is put into a centrifuge where a slight separation happens [ it's only slight because the density of each compound is nearly the same . After that it goes into another , and another [ hence the term used of a centrifuge train- they are all linked together to ease production]. After several thousand centrifuges have been used, enough ha...

Ive had it with the media . This subject keeps coming up and the media keeps getting it wrong . For some reason they assume that because mobile phones use the electromagnetic spectrum, they must be using radio waves and as such .. if radio waves arent causing health problems , then mobile phones must be safe. The electromagnetic spectrum is HUGE and consists of light waves, Xrays and numerous other parts [ infra red etc]. The bit that mobiles use is microwave radiation . This part of the spectrum excites water molecules and hence water heats up [ think of your mirowave oven at home ... ] . As such and as your brain consists of lots of water , any losses go straight to your brain [which heats up by a small amount] , which is what the main concern is about , radio frequency waves [ hopefully] shouldnt be a problem as we are inundated with them 24/7/365 [ else your TV wouldnt work ]

I watched the recent UK channel 4 programme trying to repudiate the hypothesis stating that man was responsible for global warming , and was frankly fascinated with part of the discussion. Amongst quite a lot of dross and scaremongering were a few star items. Firstly there was a presumption that global warming was a direct function of the sun's activity . A minor argument for this is that the sun is by far the major factor in the earth not freezing , never mind warming ! The major argument , however, is that there is a close correlation between sunspot activity/solar flux and the earth's temperature [Dr Landsheit et al] . {see graph} As I understand it [ being hopelessly out of date with statistical analysis] , there is a close correlation here up till the start of 1900, when the correlation starts to break down and after 1950 other factors seem to be coming to the fore. This was also mentioned in The Sterns report which agreed that the above was very likely true up ...

Well I thought up this theory a couple of years ago and became soooo excited working stuff out , then I listened to a radio 4 show where a don from cambridge was discussing exactly the same subject !! It ranges from exceedingly trivial to quite profound, the problem is finding the questions.. rather than getting the answers . My ideas became formed , when I left my car on dark cold night and nearly wet my pants with the sooo urgent need to urinate. In mid stream, I wondered why this phenomenon occurred and overnight came up with the solution . Basically , the idea is that evolution has formed certain genetic imperatives in our body , to help survival . So once you find the question , you have to formulate the reason why its in our genes. In case you havent worked out the above yet ... In stone Age times , the main reasons for going from warm to cold is either entering water or leaving a warm cave/building. In the latter, it helps the clan hygiene if people urinate outside rather th...