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Hi Mike Hearn,

In your post, dated 13 September 2006 at 11:05 am , you wrote:

"experiments done under controlled conditions have indicated that people can influence the rate of radioactive decay through the power of their mind"

Could you please cite the reference of those experiments ? I am very interested.

Thanks.

Similar to quicksand,sinkholes in bogs and marshes are much more deadly.Being born and bred in Newfoundland and Labrador,I`ve encountered sinkholes countless times,counting the fact that they are in most marshes and bogs on both Provinces.Traditionally,a bog or marsh of NL is a humongous body of murky mud water,ridden with clay,peat,sand,net-like roots,etc,and usually is covered in a network of plants and grass intertwined with each other,forming say a ```sponge`` with the exception of trees.These marshes are home to Bake Apples,and of course sinkholes,except these are no run of the mill sinkholes....more like ``sink-pools``. Here is wiki`s definition of a sinkhole: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinkhole .

Picture that you are on a dirt trail in a bog,and much like quicksand,the top of a sinkhole looks like normal solid ground(some are commonly noticeable).You then walk upon some ground,and suddenly you are submersed up to the groins.Unlike quicksand,a sinkhole will suck an object down almost instantaneously(depending on how solid the ground is. i.e if the ground looks solid,but in fact is water blended into the ground). Of course there are the instances where you can step on the ground without sinking,but with enough effort...you will...almost like playing in the mud.The big difference here is that in a marsh,the chances are solid ground vs soft is greatly overwhelmed do to a mass amount of water..Getting out is just as hard as quicksand and can be much more difficult considering that muck is much heavier than sand.If you don`t have anyone near by and are in a pool of muck.chances are you are screwed(unless the pool is made of up of more water than minerals). During the winter,traveling on a marsh is a brainless endeavour within itself. Although during the spring,summer,and fall seasons,it is safest to walk upon the spongy grass.

For example: Once upon a time while playing upon a marsh.A friend and I were traversing the marsh,during winter by the way.Although we knew the the dangers of a marsh,being kids we had a confidence of being impervious to such dangers.While running around on ice and snow,I so happened to walk upon a soft spot and all of a sudden I lost my footing. Within a second, my right leg was completely submersed in cold,thick muck. It just so happened that my left leg was on solid ground...so I fell to the side leaving myself halfway between safety and almost certain death.Lucky me,my friend was there to reach a hand and helped to pull out my leg. Of course I lost my boot and sock,but was relieved to be free from the clutches of the muck.

Why can't this system be used by governments all over the world?

Hejo said: "If we reverse the roles here (angry white guy who believes the blacks in his life are all racist against him) then we would have had a major news story which would've fit the media narrative of "racist white attacks black co-workers". ...

Not just media narrative, it is because it evokes history. When a black guy attacks a white guy, people tend to take it as a personal fight because blacks haven't dominated whites before and the incident does not fit a formula in the past. i am not saying it is correct in anyway. Doing a little analysis of what the audience thinks. Do I make sense?

white racist/black victim = "sexy news!!" = fits media narrative.
black racist/white victim = "never happens", "don't want to hear it", "you must be a racist for suggesting that blacks can be racist" = does NOT fit media narrative.
Alan Bellows, well done on an well written piece!!"

When whites are the victims, they downplay it. When blacks are the victims, everyone knows about it. It is all down to the victims' willingness to talk about the episode.

I saw the documentary on National Geographic I think.

Sometimes it is the fear of being discriminated that is the problem. If you think people will discriminate, you will act suspicious and generally unfriendly. People will not like you and they will let you know of the fact. You in turn will hate them more and you will probably feel helpless if they have control over your life. Then one day, you get unhinged and do something like what this guy did. It is obviously wrong, but I am answering the most important question here: Why would anybody do this?

"This proves it is possible to fly while hammered.." nice one.

The mole rats and I have something in common - East Africa. Hooray!

I expected the article to be about the Rosetta stone. Oh well, the project will do. It is an awesome idea.

The pandemonium line is hilarious. Way to go! The whole article is wonderful.
10q.

1c3d0g said: there's a pretty big difference between a 15 ton bomber flying at ~275 MPH and a 100 ton commercial airliner flying at ~540 MPH slamming into a building... :-/"

The water has it's own stroke in the 6-stroke process, that means it could use a semi-closed water/steam circulation system. Use a separate valve for steam-exhaust into a filter/condensing chamber and route that back into the water system. The water and filter can be periodically changed like motor oil. (I can see the public catching their own rain water to better MPG). I guess my idea might require a radiator and put half the plumbing back into the equation but now it's used to create power as well as cool the engine!

On a side note, this water injection/cooling would also raise the effective octane of all fuels used; this means naturally aspirated engines can use higher compression ratios without requiring premium and turbo cars can safely add more boost! Efficiency = more power, I love it!

I remember watching the second part of this when I got home from school. People in class were talking about it like it a lot and I had to see how it turned out. Found out how he did it much later in life, found him very clever and I had no problem with what he did for the game cause I could, I would have done the same thing.

to the author:How the F*** are you going to drop the name MK Ultra like its as common as saying..oh, I don't know.. "poor journalism"...without letting people know what the f***is up with it? half assed info...or disinfo..

Two Cents from Girth's mission in life seems to be shrinking scrollbars.

Oh the sheep of the 21st century.. Do you honestly believe there are not Daily media blackouts? Do you honestly believe that the government does not carefully script and plan nearly everything seen unrelated to local city/state news?

It's all a big book of manipulation, plain and simple the American public is carefully guided

Isn't it possible to make the liquid telescope look in other directions by placing normal, angled mirrors above it?

THANKS FOR RESETING MY PASSWORD. RW

HE IS A HERO, WHO WOULD THINK OF PUSHING ANOTHER AIRCRAFT? (THIS SOUNDS LIKE TIMES WHEN I OWNED AN OLDER CAR.) NEXT TIME I FLY, I WILL REMEMBER THE TRICK, THE GUY IN FRONT MAY HAVE A DEAD BATTERY.

amesegenalehu. des yemil minebab new. No, it is not the English word 'new'.

Italy

water
irritated
stars
hot

Illuminate

colder
oval
uranus
lame
duck

doomed
orange
nature
alleviate
tetris
eatery.

I saw in the article researchers aren't sure what environmental impact influenced there cancer immunity. this reminded me of an issue that Tasmanian devils are currently having. where they are so closely related they are transmitting cancer to each other. given that the mole rates are incredibly genetically similar, maybe even more so then Tasmanian devils. there cancer immunity may stem from combating similar cancer outbreaks in there population in the past. just some more brain food for ya.

Tasmanian devil cancer link :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_facial_tumour_disease

Thanks. Interesting once again. The story of Alexander was particularly so. Enough so that I was tempted to imagine this article framed by his story, starting with his predictions and then the later discoveries and modern investigations. But, just me wondering.

As no one has plugged it yet, the "hairless, oddly-reproducing outliers... of evolution" that are biologists had me laughing. Thanks again.

modulate your amplitude...ha! you're funny...dude.

registered...and this article is DI...totally...dude.

It's common in most reporting of "old Bang-Bang" to see lots of poetic license,
The 4000 ton ship used .1 kt bombs at lift-off, and maybe ,4 kt in space. Hardly the "huge mushroom cloud forming thousands of times brighter than the noon Sun" spectacle writers seem to be so fond of.
In space, Dyson said there would be a tiny brief barely visible flash as the bomb went off, followed a few thousandths of a second later by a building flare as the plasma piled up on the pusher plate.

Also, It could be clarified that assembling it in space and using it only in space, high orbit or above, would eliminate ALL environmental concerns -except the bomb-making industry, and without the Cold War impetus to 'damn the pollution, full speed ahead", I like to think we as a species are smart enough to handle fissionable fuels cleanly and responsibly.

It's also interesting to point out that though .1C is lousy performance for an interstellar ship, it's just fine for opening the solar system. Colonies in the Oort halo at 500AU or so would not be out of touch with ships like this that could make the run in a few years. The colonies only need to provide the propellant to go into the ships' bomb/thrust-pulse units (about 90% of the total "expended" mass of the rocket.)

illiotibial said: "I think the alien theory is about the most unintelligent things I have ever heard. First of all, how did he get here? 2nd, why would an alien go for women? 3rd, what are the odds of an alien from a planet whose environment was so different from that of earth have a human appearance and stature?"

1. UFOs, Spaceships, whatever E.Ts use (we'll probably never know). He may have wanted to stay behind and let his own species leave without him.

2. He went for men too, though only slapping them. It's been psychologically proven that being in an atmosphere different from your own makes you go funny in the head (When Neil and his gang landed on the moon, they started laughing insanely, and it wasn't necessarily because of what they had achieved, but because the unfamiliar atmosphere was doing things to their heads. Jack was also known to be laughing insanely) There's hundreds of reasons why he may of chosen to go specifically for women, maybe one of them was because he found them vulnerable/easier to terrorize and doing this amused him. Also, Most know the astronauts can't walk on the moon due to the fact humans are too powerful for the moon's gravity, so they have to jump, and they could jump quite easily up to 30 ft. (Jack was reported to have usually been jumping up to 25 ft) Maybe Jack's own gravity was different, which is why he was leaping all over the place, maybe his planet is bigger and has a higher gravitational pull, being reared in this environment would make Jack experience the earth as a low-gravity world, again like we do the moon.

3. Just because of Atmosphere and Gravity, doesn't mean his environment has to be too different from ours, and also just because of his basic human appearance, doesn't mean he has to come from a similar environment. And why does everyone think aliens have to be these green skinned brown eyed creatures? And no, Jack wasn't described as too human looking. yes, he had four limbs and a pair of eyes (which were said to glow like two fiery balls, suggesting he's from somewhere nocturnal) but he was always described as 'unhuman-like' and 'Hideous' or simply just 'strange looking'. Maybe Jack didn't look human, perhaps his appearance was fake, a disguise/costume he made to try and look as human as possible.

As for the 'blue-fire', it probably wasn't fire at all. (No singes or scorch marks were reported on the victims) probably blue phosphor (only explanation I can find). Many of our species on earth have bio-luminescence, which means they can radiate light through the actions of some of the compounds in their metabolism. (One example would probably be the glow worm) Spring-Heeled Jack (if he were alien) could of had the ability to create bio-electricity, which means his breathing system could of been electrically charged, which would explain why his victims would have fits after he breathed the blue gas into their faces. Species like the electric-eel can do this and can create a paralyzing shock of up to 600 volts.

Also from all that I've read, the sightings of him went past the human life-span (or the adult life-span at least). This destroys the mad-inventor theory (which would be tough theory anyway considering springs can break your ankles) because obviously Jack couldn't of started as a child. The 'Inventor' would of had to of been an adult, and that adult would of become too old to do it eventually. You could say that maybe some people had picked up on the gadgets or perhaps there was a son who carried out Jack's work if he were an inventor, but then why would they go around attacking people anyway? Any inventor would rather find a way to make money out of it than to go around terrorizing people just for fun, and if it was someone mentally retarded, then they wouldn't of had the intelligence to build springs like that,

Another fact is that the Victorians didn't have time to go prancing around attacking people, even at night time, they needed long sleep for all the work they had to do, as the Victorian era wasn't as lavish as today, only the richest could spend time on hobbies, and again if it was an Inventor, like anyone, they'd want to make money out of their inventions. Also why haven't scientists and modern inventors come up with springs capable of launching you 25 ft into the air. There was also the case of World War II, where the Germans put springs in the heels of their boots, and ended up breaking their ankles, so there's all evidence of springs and spring-like substances not being able to launch you too far without breaking something.
So, I'm with the alien hypothesis, because it's the only thing that seems to fit logically.

I'd like to mention that Pinoakkeo's link seems to have disappeared.
The NIMH's updated page about ADHD is now located on http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd/index.shtml.

Additional ADHD related article published recently: http://searchwithmylife.com/the-hidden-price-of-adhd/

Yes, it seems that Her Majesty suckles very young pups in rotation before they are old enough to be weaned and cared for by other colony members. Because she's pampered and well fed herself, she can spare the time and nutritional resources for an intense breastfeeding schedule. Interestingly, mole rat pups have a correspondingly laid back attitude to feeding— despite the nipple shortage, they appreciate there's plenty to go round and wait patiently in turn without the frenzied jostling that other species' young undergo at suckling time:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/08/990811075332.htm
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1383241

Foo--the HTML version of that link didn't work right. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagina_dentata for the discussion of the "vagina dentata".

(from this article) "Relieved of pupcare duties by her celibate minions, she can concentrate on breeding rather than nursing. Almost uniquely among mammals, naked mole rat queens can therefore have litter sizes larger than the number of nipples available for suckling."

(from the Wikipedia article) "The queen nurses them for the first month; after which the other members of the colony feed them feces until they are old enough to eat solid food."

Does the queen then nurse the pups in rotation, I wonder, if she has more pups than nipples? The worker females should not be able to personally help with nursing, since (I presume) they are like other mammals in that their mammary glands are not activated unless they have been pregnant.
Matt, Alan, others -- do you know?
= = = = = = = = = = = =

lydokane, your image reminds me, in a way, of the (fortunately) mythical <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagina_dentata"vagina dentata"....

One time I forgot to take my condom off before falling asleep. Those things remind me of what I was looking at the next afternoon (only they have teeth).

Damn good article :)

matthew1701 said: "IMADR said: "Great article! but there is one sentence I can't make sense of:"To date, researchers have noted neither flickers of lightning nor a stirring Queen soundtrack alongside this surprising physiological process."Is there a word missing? or and I just retarded"

this was the reference to "highlander" that HiEv was talking about. In that movie when 1 immortal killed another it was always followed by lightning striking the winner..."

To expand, the repeated phrase in the movie is "There can only be one", referencing the tournament amoung the Immortals until there was only one left alive (much like the fight between the molerats). Also, Queen did the awesome soundtrack.

matthew1701 said: "IMADR said: "Great article! but there is one sentence I can't make sense of:"To date, researchers have noted neither flickers of lightning nor a stirring Queen soundtrack alongside this surprising physiological process."Is there a word missing? or and I just retarded"

this was the reference to "highlander" that HiEv was talking about. In that movie when 1 immortal killed another it was always followed by lightning striking the winner..."

And I appluad the unexpected reference.

IMADR said: "Great article! but there is one sentence I can't make sense of:"To date, researchers have noted neither flickers of lightning nor a stirring Queen soundtrack alongside this surprising physiological process."Is there a word missing? or and I just retarded"

this was the reference to "highlander" that HiEv was talking about. In that movie when 1 immortal killed another it was always followed by lightning striking the winner...

Great article! but there is one sentence I can't make sense of:
"To date, researchers have noted neither flickers of lightning nor a stirring Queen soundtrack alongside this surprising physiological process."
Is there a word missing? or and I just retarded

Interesting article, well done!

It's generally accepted now, in 2013, that fracking causes earthquakes, via the pumping of wastewater into the ground. That doesn't really match up with the process that justanothername was describing ... but I'd like to think he was a just a slightly confused time traveler sent back to warn 2005 about fracking.

Hey, I noticed some site updates recently and I was hoping that it foreshadowed some new entries in the Damn Interesting catalog. Yay! :-)

Anyways, fascinating stuff. Everything from the insect-like social behavior, to the physiological pluses and minuses, and especially the fact that they were predicted to exist. Damn interesting, indeed.

The oblique Highlander reference was nice, but the article still needs a picture of Rufus from "Kim Possible". ;-)

Good work, can't wait for more.

Nice article. I've known about naked mole rats for years, but I had no idea about their anti-cancer ability or the pain and hypoxia tolerance.

First... I think.

As we were working on this article, the frequently excellent Ze Frank released a stimulating video on the naked mole rat, as can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHi9FvUPSdQ

Very Tidy indeed!

Welcome to the crew.

Now. More please?

D

John said: "Albert Einstein actually had an enlarged Parietal Lobe, where the visual spatial thinking resides. There is some thought amongst klinefelters (genetically 47XXY) (whom also have an enlarged parietal lobe), that Einstein, was a 47XXY (mosaic)."

can u put that in english please

i read from a article online that they took his eyes too and gave them to his eye doctor but i dont know if what they said was true and was his brain not a normal size when he was born or was him thinking more cause it to grow cuz i read books on him and it said even when he was born he had a odd shaped head thats why they said he looked like he was stupid and wouldnt talk but what people dont know is that he didnt want to talk untill he knew how to talk in compleat sentences and was putting them together in his mind

i think the fact that they didnt pick up another signal like it again after searching for another 20 years suggests that the wow signal did indeed come from something outside our solar system

if it was a radio signal that bounced off of something in space wouldnt they have picked up something again after 20 years of searching again?

The Russians are The Great!

Damn shame lots of minors that came from all over the country to work this project, got lay off slips with short notice.I know, I was one of them. I can name most of the minors in these pictures. We all invested lots of money to move our families to Waxahachie, bought homes. Then with a whim the goverment shut it down. We was ahead of schedule and below budget. We needed about 6 months more to give them all the tunnel work. Then they would of had a usable product, now they just got useless huge holes in the ground.

Fascinating!

Jct: Looks like the Bitcoin Tulip bubble is about to pop.

I have one statement and one question:

Tesla is most absolutely a genius and way ahead of his time.

Who gets to pay for the energy generation that the tower would have given away for free?

I look at the clock every 10:22..which is also my birthday. So i figured this may be my lucky number (1022). Its gets very interesting to knw that everytime i use this number for eg. A lottery or draw......I LOSE! Am serious

I personally believe we're in a far off, dusty and distant corner of the Universe (re Douglas Adams) we're not as important or as intelligent as we feel we are...

As for hostile Aliens, i don't believe that, everything they could ever need is just floating around in Space, if they have the tech to get here then they have the tech to gain any resource they need... they see us, they just don't want to be near us... and who could blame them?

I hate to be "that guy," but it should be styled simply The Medal of Honor, not The "Congressional" Medal of Honor. Many veterans would be less courteous about this, it tends to get people riled up.

Otherwise, I thought the article was pretty damn interesting.

The concept is called "Law of attraction". One of the 4 laws of creation. Read book called "The power of now"

one more thing, if canada is attacked for any reason, who ever they be, they would have the world to deal with, and im not talking about the people who sit back at the're homes watching from the side lines.

To all who commented or will comment:

the U.S. had this planned out against the british, a long time ago, now, the U.S. and england work togather, regardless of peoples views, canada was a view point for both sides at the time, one, england already seen it as there own, 2, the U.S. was right beside it, seeing it as a vantage point for england, canada is beside the u.s. from englands point of view, if the u.s. and england had at it, none would have a choice to to use canada as a protection/vantage point, its nothing against canada and its people, and to point out a very importent fact, the people of canada would not take orders from england or the u.s. if the orders were about invading anyone!, canada is about peace, not war, if they have to, they will protect, and they will Fight!, they are not dumb hippies gaging on syrup as most see them, canada would be the third party standing in the middle with both arms up at the both of them, saying "What the fuck! do you two think you are doing!", canada does not pick sides, canada will forever be upon those who need protection, the victims, the inslaved, canada will always be against those who take!, those murder, and those who inslave.
Canada Is Of Everyone!, "Canada Are The People".

Great Article! Keep up the good work!

I've been confirmed to exhibit alexithymia by multiple psychiatrists and I can say from experience, the person who wrote this article and almost all of the people who've commented DO NOT have a correct understanding of what alexithymia actually is.

Let me make this clear:
***************
ALEXITHYMIA HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH AN INABILITY TO FEEL EMOTION. THAT IS CALLED A BLUNTED OR NUMBED AFFECT AND IT IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.
*****************

Alexithymia is instead a difficulty or inability to connect the abstract feelings from the emotional regions of the brain with the higher functioning, logical regions on the separate hemisphere in order to adequately form a conscious comprehension of the feelings being experienced. PEOPLE WITH ALEXITHYMIA STILL FEEL EMOTIONS AS STRONGLY AS THEY WOULD WITHOUT IT. Trust me, I'm also severely Bipolar. I still experience the uncontrollable overwhelming emotional feelings typical of mood disorders. I just have difficulty consciously understanding what I'm feeling and I cannot describe them in words that adequately explain what they feel like. It's as if they are infinitely complex and cannot be communicated in any way humanly possible. Combined with extreme mood swings, I'd become delusional and then would become so overwhelmingly confused, I'd just fall into catatonia for sometimes a couple weeks at a time and since it's not a typical psychosis, was completely unresponsive to medication. I literally have to purposely dull my emotions to keep that from happening.

Great article Mr. Hildebrand, looking forward to the next one.

Jatt
Do they know what determines which ones become brain-changers and which don't?"

From the article: "Most of the parasites make their way to the abdomen, but a few take a detour which leads them to the insect's nerve center, where they use mysterious methods to establish overpowering influence."

I would assume the brain-changers are the ones that actually make it to the brain, and the ones that go to the abdomen are the ones that reproduce in the cow.

Me
Idiot u need to control the brain of the insect to get on the leaf to be eaten by a cow

Any word on Robert Jr.? Did he die in prison? Still in prison? Out?

We give blood for free to REDCROSS, but they refuse to give blood to greece unless they can get money!!! boycott corrupt redcross!

Redcross not in it to save lives, just make a profit... They say no blood to those in need, in Greece, unless they can get paid so much money! They say the blood you give them to save lives is a resource for them to make profit!! ie redcross says money is more important than lives!

Whoo, now this is one damn interesting story. This is not something they will tell you in history class, portraying the US with a weakness so absolute, that the DoD says the consequences could have been fatal had war broken out with the Soviets. And all because some kid was pissed they put him behind a desk.

Damn interesting indeed.

If you are ever in Halifax and want to find the best viewing plane of where the accident happened you need to go to the monument at Fort Needham park in the North end. From there you can picture everything, and behind you is the Hydrostone, the first federally funded housing project to house displaced residents form the halifax explosion. Today the Hydrostone is one of the most coveted neighbourhoods in the city.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hydrostone

Very nice. I did found a few errors, but its fine. Welcome aboard.
I wish we knew better about what was going on between him and his son. But I can imagine: being left in a foster home and knowing your father is a traitor and may have caused the dead of some of your friends. It's something to stab for.

What an ending! Real life spy stories are never the glamourous, action-filled stuff of Mr. B,JB, but this one had its elegant touches...the cognac...the femme fou-tale...and the stabbing in the chest! Didn't see that coming!

Great read! Bravo!

It's amazing what people would do for a few thousand dollars.

Criggie said:
Just remember "their" traitors are "our" heroes - and vice versa.
I'm sure the Russians thought similarly about Nosenko."

I suppose it's a matter of semantics (or politics) whether the USSR was technically an enemy. (Does a state of war have to exist, for such definition?) If so, then Johnson's activities were indeed treasonous.
Convicting him of treason might have been difficult, though, considering that few Americans knew of his deeds, and fewer were in a condition to testify. His wife's irregular mental state might disqualify her, for instance.

Fascinating.

One wonders how much this may have actually helped stabilize the world, since the old Soviet Union certainly lagged behind the US in many areas. This intelligence helped make the two closer to being equal superpowers and make the USSR more aware of how far behind they were and how bad it would be if they attacked. The intelligence didn't give them the upper hand, so much as it helped give them equal footing.

In any case, it was a dangerous time in world politics, and we're lucky we pulled through intact.

clarkbhm said: "A fitting end to a disgusting person... Thanks for the article!"

Just remember "their" traitors are "our" heroes - and vice versa.

I'm sure the Russians thought similarly about Nosenko.

Well, disgusting person, is debatable at least. In any case, DI!

A fitting end to a disgusting person... Thanks for the article!

Thanks! And regarding Hedwig, none of the sources I could find mentioned what happened to her beyond her confession to the FBI. If I had to guess I'd say she probably disappeared into some manner of witness protection program so that the KGB couldn't off her in retaliation. I can't imagine that they were very happy with her spilling the beans on their star spy.

Damned interesting article. Welcome to the team Gustaf, I enjoyed your first article very much. Other than the Rosenbergs, I don't recall ever learning a whole lot about U.S. intelligence failures. And now I am left wondering whatever happened to Hedwig....

When a man has pity on all living creatures then only is he noble.

~~~~~The Buddha~~~~

Even better if one can harness the old wish-for-more-wishes trick. As in, thinking about doing stuff makes you better at it - so, what does a thinking man do, he thinks about thinking.

e.g. if he had 2 years to mentally work out, he should spend the first year thinking up about thinking, and the second year thinking about working out. That way he'd end up with quadruple the muscles he'd have gotten through mental working out alone, based on all existing measurements.

Point proven.

Exactly.

You know, if this plan half works, people may think it's an entrance to Hell, or the remains of a dead God who's corpse might by cursed. Or something else like that. Remember one of the Bible's words for Hell came from a old Garbage Site.

Haywood Jablome said: "Can you imagine what this guy smelled like after all those years?!?!!? The same "dress uniform" from the 40's. omg."

Well, I don't know about uniform, but from an article I read, it seems the medical check-up result showed that onoda was in good health. Not even cavities found in his teeth.

bryon said: "I wonder how Suzuki got close enough to Onoda without getting capped?"

Apparantely, it was easier for onoda to trust a single exploring man, rather than a band of search parties. furthermore, at first sight of onoda, suzuki said to him: "Onoda-san, the emperor and the people of japan are worried about you."

"Francium tends to surrender to decay rather rapidly". Excellent.

How do u get 290,299,465????

The method of flight is wrong, but the basic concept is sound. In fact the same principle is currently in use for underwater vehicles called gliders. An independent ROV that has crossed the Atlantic on several D cell power.

Avoids perpetual motion concerns the same way gravity does. No work is generated. W = F X D. In gravities case force is applied, but not through any distance. No Work expended, No thermodynamic violation. At least no more that gravity acting on you when standing still ...

NOAA is using them for current and water study.

My husband is a Sleeman and related to Sir Henry.

For mysterious reasons, that number is unobtainable.

But what is the atomic number of Unobtanium?

Thanks for another great read, Alan!
I too grinned at the #%$!pandemonium reference...

Got one nitpick and one amplification for ya...
While the francium nucleus does indeed break up, "spontaneous fission" (SF) usually results in fragments larger than alpha particles; francium is not known to undergo SF.

G. Harry Stine, in a guest editorial for [i]Analog[/i], noted that the stability of atoms with Z greater than ~174 seems to be impossible. A few such atoms have been formed in collisions in accelerators, but they change Z by a unique method: the electric-field energy is so large near the nucleus that spontaneous pair production happens. The electron that is formed falls into the nucleus and neutralizes a proton, forcing Z down by one!
(The new nucleus is still highly unstable, so it decays rapidly, but by more conventional means such as SF.)

Mr Segrè travelled all the way from Sicily to America, to get his colleague Mr Lawrence to post him something in the mail. It was only later that the moderate inefficiency of this process occurred to him.

Great article. I second the comment about the use of "pandemonium."

While Dr. Seaborg was alive when element 114 (flerovium) was first created, unfortunately he had had a stroke just two months earlier and never recovered to see the discovery.

Also, you wrote, "As of this writing (January 2013) the heaviest element yet made by man is element 118, known by the temporary name 'ununoctium'." That may be stretching things a bit, as in 2011 the IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) said, "The three events reported for the Z = 118 isotope have very good internal redundancy but with no anchor to known nuclei do not satisfy the criteria for discovery". In other words, maybe they made them, but there's not enough evidence yet to be sure. The report on element 117 are currently pending review, but 116 has been accepted and named (livermorium). It would be better to say 118 is the heaviest element reported to have been created.

There's an excellent, if slightly out of date, video by NOVA Science Now that helps explain a lot of the physics involved:
Island of Stability (9/3/'06 - click the "Launch Video" button there)

Thanks for the article, looking forward to more!

Excellent read as always Alan!

"92uranium, 94plutonium, and #%$!pandemonium" genius! :)

Update: They released an industrial version for use on small tractors. Still no commercial use, but they are getting there.

http://www.michelintweel.com/

Exploring the deepest point on the planet? Leave it to someone named Pic(c)ard to be the first to make it so.

http://www.airportjournals.com/display.cfm/VanNuys/0302003

Similar to 'Pardo's Push' in '67. F-4 Phantoms ...

Okay, everyone, let's get this thread back on topic before I have to bring out the really big stick.

GDSquire, we respect your viewpoint and appreciate you sharing it with us - it's much more helpful to know what our readers think than to be kept in the dark.

Silverhill and WXNerd, thanks for jumping to our defense. We appreciate that, too.

Now, play nice. This really isn't the place for an argument. Let's stick to discussing the article, ok?

GDSquire, you would make a better impression if you did not merely say "That sucked!". How about offering *constructive* criticism? If you want the site to be better, *help* it be better.
Also, complaining about the frequency of issue only shows that you do not know (or, perhaps, do not care?) about the authors' personal matters that can sometimes strongly affect their production. The content here is offered freely (without even support from advertising). Be grateful -- or at least, not grouchy.

(You'll notice that I did not call you a bitch, or the like; that would be ungentlemanly as well as unnecessary. Behave yourself.)

wxnerd said: "Dearest GDSquire,

Damn Interesting is looking forward to your upcoming article submission, since you can obvz do a much better job than the current staff. Also, please submit it within two weeks because otherwise someone would have to be all, "take long enough?""

It's interesting how people think that if someone doesn't like content that someone must be put up against the "Prove yourself more worthy, you aren't capable of proving yourself worthy" wall. Shut the fuck up, and you post something on here. We'll see how that works out, since by my deductive reasoning I believe you must be a lot better at writing that I am. Pun intended bitch

Always loved DI, and this article was no exception. Wish you guys still got the attention you used to! I'd bet you'd find a few more aspiring authors!

No mention of the fact that certain medications can worsen/awaken previously hidden Tourette's? My family carries the gene for Tourette's syndrome, but it's apparently dormant - except in my aunt's case. She was on Ritalin (or something similar) for behavioral problems, but it caused the minor tics previously unnoticed to become more prominent. (Unfortunately, she blames my grandparents for not knowing that this could happen, and is now estranged from the rest of the family.)
IF I am in mistaken in interpreting this situation, please inform me. I am, after all, only getting this information secondhand.