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Thursday, June 30, 2011

Disney Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Figurine Play Set -- 6-Pc. (200653)

Disney Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Figurine Play Set -- six-Pc. (200653)

  • Includes Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy and Pluto toy figures
  • Scenic show packaging
  • Back of package folds down to generate a play scene backdrop, fastens back again with self-stick fabric closure
  • Plastic/PVC Figures up to 3 1/2'' H
  • Ages 3+
Join the jamboree with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Figurine Play Set. This Disney toy figure set involves Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy and Pluto plus a Clubhouse backdrop for additional playtime enjoyable!

List Cost: $ 39.99 Cost: $ 18.99



Star Trek: Toy Story Mashup Trailer

A Mashup Trailer paying homage to the new Star Trek Film. What if a Toy Story re-boot was directed by JJ Abrams? It may well search one thing like this.

An unboxing of the Star Trek NCC-1701 25th anniversary edition toy ship by Diamond Decide on. Get pleasure from! siilentmiike.com siilentmiike, star trek toys, ncc1701 toy, diamond pick, toy collection, collector, win toys, fail toys, toys getting laid, star trek, khan, screaming khan, khan... Video Rating: 4 / 5



Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Mickey's Mouseka TAG - Available at Toys R' Us

Sensible Step! Games supply hours of giggly entertaining although fostering the expertise youngsters need - like listening, sharing, turn-taking, and hand-eye coordination - with all the run-about entertaining they adore. Have entertaining with Mickey and the gang from Clubhouse Mickey with Mouseka-Tag! Listen to the commands, run and tag the target, understand your letters! Four levels and 4 fantastic games to play. Video Rating: 1 / five



Monday, June 27, 2011

Dance Star Mickey - 3 Reasons To Buy Him For Your Kids

Dance Star Mickey - 3 Reasons To Acquire Him For Your Youngsters

The Christmas season is just about right here once more and if you happen to be like other parents you happen to be currently racking your brains hunting for the very best gifts to give your kids. Yes, you can usually just ask them what they'd like to have but that will take away the element of surprise that tends to make gift giving so significantly enjoyable. Window buying, nevertheless nice and at times fruitful an physical exercise that is, can be a tiring job specifically when the malls are filled to the brim for the duration of the holidays. You can in fact give by yourself a tiny bit of relief if you consider the Dance Star Mickey, one particular of this year's most entertaining and most sought following toys for kids.  Fisher Price and Disney have accomplished it once again by making another great animated toy for your kids. Your youngsters will absolutely adore this not so ordinary stuffed toy.

1. This doll which stands at around two feet (16 inches) is as soft and cuddly as any stuffed toy you would uncover in any shops. But unlike other 'regular' stuffed animal toys, this can take your young children as close as they can nearly get to the effectively-loved character they only see on Television or motion pictures. Every single aspect of the toy is flexible making it appear wonderfully genuine, from the wide arch of the mouth which moves in retaining with the music which is played or the really pliable arms and hands which can lift up, flap around and even bend to the chest when Dance Star Mickey is performing some of his cool moves.

two. The extremely very best thing about Dance Star Mickey is the reality that he can walk, speak, and sing.  He dances to six distinct hip tunes, his mouth moves to the words, and all you have got to do to get him moving is press on his plush and yellow foot. Getting an interactive doll, your youngsters can groove to the songs that Dance Star Mickey sings to even though he shows off some of his great, new and very entertaining methods like the moonwalk. There are diverse music genres that Dance Star Mickey and your child can sing and dance to like Techno, Disco (1 of the songs sounds extremely familiar), Latin and the Moonwalk.

three. Mickey is extremely fashionable to search at in his cool atire that is extremely neutrally intended in colors that everyone will acknowledge. Dance Star Mickey wears a short-sleeved black shirt with a pair of extended red and grey striped sleeves underneath it, a red pair of trousers, the as well-massive white gloves and the yellow footwear. Your youngsters will be confident to enjoy Dancing Mickey so much that they are almost certainly want to take him to bed.  Both boys and girls love him so look at - there is going to be hrs of entertaining in your residence!

Dance Star Mickey is the excellent gift for preschool and school aged kids and he's just yet another example of how excellent the Mickey Mouse toys actually are.  Toddlers will really like him also, just use parental guidance with the younger children. Each Fisher Value and Walt Disney have done it once more by creating a toy that is best for a Christmas gift and will supply hours of entertainment for your kids.  You are going to be confident to be glad to have this 1 beneath your tree for the children!

Many of the Top Christmas Gifts for the year contain some wonderful toys for your children such as the Dance Star Mickey.  Visit my preferred gifts internet site to view the whole list of Top Toys For Christmas.


Post from articlesbase.com
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Sunday, June 26, 2011

Science Fiction Movies

Science Fiction Movies

In current years, science fiction films have manufactured a huge comeback in Hollywood and I, for one particular, take into account that a quite great point.

I like to be amazed when I go to the movies. I like to see points that I've never ever witnessed prior to and I like to be confronted by virtual realities that I did not even feel doable. That is why science fiction motion pictures are my cup of tea.

They traditionally cover a wide range of subjects and themes, which includes numerous that are uniquely their own. Today's trend in science fiction puts a premium on particular effects, backed by today's cutting-edge technologies that can make even the most bizarre scenes appear realistic, such as alien life forms, magnificent battles in outer area, time travel or traveling to other worlds at the speed of light.

Often, science fiction films are purely speculative in nature and are peppered with recurring themes involving science and engineering. Other prevalent themes in sci-fi movies are mysticism, magic, the occult and the supernatural, which are also crucial elements of fantasy or occult/religious films. In truth, quite a quantity of films blur the line between these genre, such as Forbidden Planet, Chronicles of Riddick, and the Star Wars series.

It really is hard to define precisely what tends to make a science fiction film since the genre has no universally accepted definition. In reality, science fiction could vary from viewer to viewer in that what is sci-fi to me may be fantasy or horror to you.

If you've been a extended-time fan of Hollywood, then you know that science fiction has come a prolonged way. There was a time when special effects meant placing a toy spaceship at the finish of a string and waving it in front of a camera or acquiring someone dress up as an orangutan and terrorizing an complete city. Certainly, the unique effects in science fiction motion pictures have evolved from the downright laughable to today's breath-taking and awe-inspiring treatments that seem truly realistic. Some of the great milestones in this regard are marked by films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, the Star Wars films, Star Trek: The Motion Image and The Matrix.

Of course, science fiction films just appear to be getting greater by the year, as evidenced by such current hits as "Lord of the Rings", "I, Robot" and "Superman Returns."

Kadence Buchanan writes articles on numerous topics such as Recreation, Arts, and Golf


Write-up from articlesbase.com


Saturday, June 25, 2011

Hasbro Mickey Mouse Toy Telephone Commercial

Throughout the 1960's Hasbro manufactured some really cool toys. 1 of these cool toys was the Mickey Mouse toy telephone. This classic commercial is showcasing the Mickey Mouse telephone, (which they claim was a "GIRL TOY) and a Sno - Cone machine ("BOY TOY".) Video Rating: five / five



Friday, June 24, 2011

Dancing Mickey Toy - Your Kids Will Love This Amazing Toy

Dancing Mickey Toy - Your Children Will Love This Remarkable Toy

Who do not enjoy Disney characters? We grew up loving them and viewing them with our mother and father but now it is so amazing that we can also appreciate one particular of them with our youngsters. Mickey Mouse is a single Disney character that we all love. He is giving us enormous joy and entertaining for numerous decades now and with the new dancing Mickey toy, you will adore him more and your youngsters will definitely adore him as well.

Gone are the days when a Mickey Mouse toy is just sitting there in your area or in your toy cabinet due to the fact this new dancing Mickey toy will really make your day. A new toy, a bestseller toy of 2010 considering that it came out of the industry this year. A item creation of Fisher-Cost, a subsidiary of Matell Inc., the makers of the well-known Barbie dolls bring Mickey Mouse to life with this wonderful dancing Mickey toy.

This all new dancing Mickey toy is not like any other toy because you will get amazed with his antics and humor. He can do a lot of tricks and antics that will bring happiness and fun in your family. This dancing Mickey toy is an interactive toy that can talk, sing, walk, crack jokes and of course can dance in diverse tunes like Latin and Techno music. You will be surprised that this dancing Mickey toy can do the Michael Jackson move. Yes! He can dance the Moonwalk. How is that? Your kids will be occupied and busy for hours with this interactive toy. The whole family will surely get up on their feet and dance with Mickey.

Youngsters and parents will fall in-love with this dancing Mickey toy. It is not only for kids but it is also a collector's item so those who are collecting Mickey Mouse, this is one particular a fantastic addition to your collection.

This toy is now a bestseller and a hot item for the holiday season so do not wait until it becomes a difficult to uncover toy. To examine about the evaluations of satisfied consumers and to know far more about the product particulars and how to get it at a wonderful price, pay a visit to Dance Star Mickey

For much more great finds, visit All The Best Finds

Gerry Restrivera writes informative articles on various subjects including Dancing Mickey Toy - Your Kids Will Enjoy This Incredible Toy. You are permitted to publish this article in its entirety offered that author's name, bio and internet site hyperlinks ought to remain intact and incorporated with each reproduction..


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Thursday, June 23, 2011

Fisher-Price Mickey Hot Dog Dancer

Fisher-Value Mickey Hot Dog Dancer

  • Kids can sing the enjoyable Mickey Mouse Hot Dog song with Mickey
  • Mickey says enjoyable phrases
  • Mickey can dance as he sings
  • In addition to dancing, Mickey tells funny jokes
  • Mickey Mouse Hot Dog dancer is confident to be the new finest buddy of every youngster
''Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggety dog,'' Mickey's got his dancing shoes on! Press the button on the shoe of this Mickey Mouse Hot Dog Dancer Toy and he begins singing, dancing and telling jokes. You are going to take pleasure in lots of delicious entertaining with this Mickey doll that has plenty of fantastic moves as he shakes his legs, arms and head to the beat of Hot Dog! Imported.Fully animated with moving head, arms and legsSings and talksPlastic/polyester13'' HRequires four AA batteries, includedAges 2+

List Price: $ 39.99 Value: $ 55.95



Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Looking for a Mickey Mouse toy. Where can I go?

Question by rob divine: Hunting for a Mickey Mouse toy. In which can I go? My son would like the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (the residence) for Christmas. I'm not certain if it sells or anything at all but I've checked a number of shops (walmart, toysrus, and kmart) and didn't find it. Exactly where else can I appear? Thankx Finest answer:

Answer by Maria M
KB toys if you have 1 in your mall. or attempt overstock.com. appear online

Give your answer to this question beneath!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Mickey Mouse Airwalker 52" Jumbo Foil Balloon Reviews

Mickey Mouse Airwalker 52" Jumbo Foil Balloon

  • 52 INCH JUMBO MYLAR BALLOON
  • double sided
  • self-sealing
Mickey Mouse Airwalker Jumbo Foil Balloon measures 52" high. This is an officially licensed © Disney product.

Checklist Value: $ 19.99 Price: $ 12.99



Monday, June 20, 2011

Q&A: Star Trek?

Question by Bean: Star Trek? Would you pay more than half a million Dollars for a Star Trek toy? Best answer:

Answer by RO35
If I was a billionaire I would. Actually I would donate it to charity

Add your own answer in the comments!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

How come playmates made such bad Star Trek toys?

Question by jbeyerstein: How come playmates created such negative Star Trek toys? not the old ones the ones from the new movie Greatest answer:

Answer by mc hammertoes
PLaymates has never been identified for good quality or realistic sculpts.

What do you feel? Answer beneath!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Beginner Woodworking Ideas - 5 Fun Woodworking Plans for You

Beginner Woodworking Ideas - 5 Entertaining Woodworking Plans for You

five Enjoyable Woodworking Plans for You

One particular of numerous great issues about woodworking is that the prospective are just restricted only from your range of wood plans and with your wildest imagination. 
So why just limit by yourself to building furniture? Now we've identified five excellent woodwork for beginners for far more fascinating and distinctive woodworking projects which are definitely enjoyable to construct, and even much more enjoyable to show off.

These are usually in no certain order:

1. Toy Train Plans

Even though this is really tricky to develop since of quite a few delicately developed moving components, making wooden toy train plansis usually such a pleasure.
In this distinct set of wooden plan, will be the end item of a steam engine, freight automobile, along with a small route for that train runs on.
It could be really worth reminding that this toy train is just not meant to withstand the heavy misuse such as other toys are put by way of.
If you endure to play with toys that appear rough, you could construct some thing a small bit robust. 

2. Toy Crane Plans

When completed, the toy crane truly rocks!
It has a cab that rotates a full 360 degrees, an adjustable boom, plus a easy mechanism that will permit the boom and hook cranks to lock.
The finest issue is that these crane wooden toys plans are fairly uncomplicated, nor require much advanced understanding of woodworking.  If you have a youngster that loves heavy machinery, you will need to obtain this plan.

three. Gumball Machine Plans

Why would you spend to use the gumball machines at the store when it's possible to produce your very own personal and maintain your alter? These gumball machine wood plans have a lever-operated release which allows it to be developed without a great deal of woodworking supplies plus a plain jar.  It bounds to be described as a effective woodworking project that a home could obtain, however you would want to handle gumballs just before showing this carpentry project!

four. Dog Pull Toy Plans

Several of you may possibly have noticed a wooden toy this way before.
Perhaps, some of you also have tinkered with a toy dog shot like as before you were just a kid.  It's just a terrific toy wood strategy that every single child will cherish.
This strategy is recommended for those who have little kid at residence.  They have a hinged dog on wheels with a pull cord which your youngster can pull anyplace in the house.
This wooden board that we've identified has a magnificent outcome with minimal effort regarding layout, wood and construction.  Undoubtedly a woodworker ought to-construct if in case that you have never developed similar to this before.

5. Dartboard Cabinet Plans

Undoubtedly, don't assume that all toys are just for youngsters.
Protect your walls from stray darts and keep all supplies in one particular spot by constructing a dartboard cabinet.
These wood plans aid you guidebook to generate a shallow cabinet exactly where you will be ready to hang on the wall that can hold your board and supplies.
The most common element of woodworking plans are the modest piece of slate within the cupboard door to hold the score.

It is just a great touch generating the total factor look very expert.
When you can think it, you are going to be capable to create it having a handful of raw materials, some tools, and a pinch of perseverance.

These five stories of wood is a nice way to start off the dare you with new suggestions and potentially innovative expertise of carpentry.
Your pursuit for entertaining wood plans ends right here. 
Select the one particular which sounds fascinating.
And you'll be glad you did as properly as your loved ones and buddies.

To get instant access to above 16,000 downloadable woodworking plans, feel free of charge to visit this internet site http://www.tedswoodworking.com/.


Article from articlesbase.com


Friday, June 17, 2011

Halloween Costume Stores. Buy Online Vs Brick And Mortar

Halloween Costume Stores. Get Online Vs Brick And Mortar

Picking a Halloween costume is simpler that ever since there are several costume shops on the web.  Some of these websites will be attached to an actual retailer front, but why bother when it is so effortless and speedy to store and order on-line.  Take a moment to uncover the Halloween costume selections that are in store for you.

No matter what the occasion, household neighborhood gathering, formal masquerade event, or private All Hallows Eve for two, your costume awaits.

Children's Halloween costumes cover the gambit.  Disney characters for both girls and boys are ever common, and tiny ones will discover the Princesses, Shrek, a favorite fairy tale character, and, of course, there are costumes for movies this kind of as Toy Story, and Harry Potter, and the Comic craze.  Classic costumes like cowboys, cowgirls, nurses, police and firemen, ballerinas, and superheroes abound.  On-line you will even come across a choice for infants.  Parents or grandparents will not resist a cute baby bug, baby banana, or infant Shrek romper.  Pirates, superheroes, tv,  andmovie themes and characters costumes are created for all ages and all sizes.  Anticipate to see many examples of Star Wars, Star Trek, as nicely as all the slasher ghouls common with teens.  Have you noticed Hairspray?  Plus size adults could want to acquire a Motormouth Maybelle costume.Adults may be unaware of the great variety of Sexy Adult Halloween Costumes provided at online stores.  What better time to investigate a fantasy with your mate than Halloween.  Ok, sexy nurse, officer, or harem girl are old-hat, but take into account naughty Snow White, or Cinderella perhaps Hottie Angel is more to your liking.  There are couples' costumes that range from scary to sexy and just plain funny.Ordering Halloween costumes on the internet is quick and straightforward.  Search at the various weblog web sites and find out deeper discounts and specific bargain codes.  The blogs contain some fascinating concepts for Halloween costumes and parties.  On the internet shops, such as Halloween Adventure, have an straightforward access "Top Picks" list for fast variety.  It doesn't stop there.  Would you believe a Star War Halloween costume for your dog?  Also locate all costume accessories and party favors at these exact same internet sites.  No running all over town, no sales men and women to dodge.  Just prolonged on, browse the hundreds of costumes, make your choice, and place your order.  You and yours will be ready for Trick or Treat, what ever that entails.

Come across More Star Trek Toys Articles

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Marvelous Transforming Toys: With complete instructions and plans

Marvelous Transforming Toys: With complete instructions and plans

  • ISBN13: 9781561583812
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
With this book, woodworkers can build any number of unique toys in six different categories: boats, trucks, houses, planes, vehicles, or ships. Each system uses easily made interchangeable components.An initial chapter discusses materials, tools, jigs for cutting small parts, and safety issues. The rest of the book contains scale drawings (with dimensions) and step-by-step instructions.

List Price: $ 24.95 Price: $ 16.80

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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Sci-Fi Movies

Sci-Fi Movies

At house fresh years, science fiction films take produced a cumbersome comeback in Hollywood and I, as an alternative of individual, think about to a extremely skilled machine.

I like to be shocked after I turn into to the films. I like to ensure items to I've on no account seen sooner than and I like to be confronted by virtual realities to I did not even consider prospective. That is why science fiction films are my cup of tea.

They traditionally cover a expansive range of subjects and themes, as properly as many to are uniquely their personal. Backed by today's cutting-edge tools to can force to even the mainly bizarre scenes seem realistic, such as alien life types, magnificent battles in outer area, occasion travel or roaming to other worlds on the hustle of light.

Other prevalent themes in sci-fi movies are religious studies, magical, the occult and the supernatural, which are in addition recipe components of fantasy or occult/religious films. At home piece of info, very a total of films blur the line amid these genre, such as Forbidden Planet, Chronicles of Riddick, and the Star Wars succession.

It is unkind to delimit in particular come yet again? Tends to make a science fiction film for the purpose that the genre has refusal universally normal definition. At house piece of information, science fiction might differ from viewer to viewer in to come yet again? Is sci-fi to me may be fantasy or horror to you.

If you've been a lengthy-time fan of Hollywood, followed by you know so as to science fiction has turn up a extended way. There was a count as special sound effects inescapable placing a toy spaceship by the base of a succession and waving it in front of a camera or getting someone dress up as an orangutan and horrifying an entire city. Definitely, the unique sound effects in science fiction movies state evolved from the downright laughable to today's breath-taking and awe-inspiring remedies so as to seem genuinely realistic. Some of the splendid milestones in this regard are noticeable by films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, the Star Wars films, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and The Matrix.

Of stream, science fiction films appropriate seem to be acquiring far better by the time, as evidenced by such up to date hits as "Lord of the Rings", "I, Robot" and "Superman Returns."

To discover a lot more details click here: Boxofficefever


Article from articlesbase.com

you will be Assimilated, Resistance is futile, Buy Volvo, Eat Chocolate Video Rating: 4 / 5



Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Tremendous Toy Trucks: With Step-by-Step Instructions and Plans for Building 12 Trucks

Great Toy Trucks: With Step-by-Step Instructions and Plans for Creating 12 Trucks

  • ISBN13: 9781561583997
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking supplied on most orders. Acquire with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Straightforward, functional...and just plain enjoyable: that describes the 12 projects in this collection of classic wood toys. The projects featured right here contain dump trucks, a tow truck, a flatbed, a semi, a cement truck, logging trucks...you name it. There is a project for every woodworker -- and hrs of imaginative play for the lucky kids who will get the trucks once they're made.
-- Styles are varied and durable adequate for youngsters who play hard.
-- Includes much more than 300 photographs and illustrations.
-

List Price: $ 19.95 Value: $ 12.03



Monday, June 13, 2011

Fisher-Price Mickey Mouse Clubhouse See n' Say

Fisher-Cost Mickey Mouse Clubhouse See n' Say

  • Location a amount into an empty space and Mickey will determine the amount and its color.
  • Removing a number will identify the character hiding beneath that shape.
  • Mickey will ask concerns about a shape or a character.
  • Mickey will ask you to uncover the range and place it into the space.
  • Wonderful finding out tool!
See 'N Say Mickey Mouse Clubhouse style!

List Value: $ 18.99 Price tag: $ 13.25



Sunday, June 12, 2011

Vtech Licensed Learning Mousekadoer Laptop

Vtech Licensed Learning Mousekadoer Laptop

  • Based on Disney Playhouse 'Mickey Mouse Clubhouse' Tv show
  • 26-letter buttons, ten-amount keyboard
  • LCD screen, movable mouse and Mickey and Minnie buttons
  • 12 studying activities teach numbers, letters, music and much more
  • Ages three - six
The Mousekadoer Laptop introduces preschool basics in a entertaining and engaging way. Featuring an alphabetical keyboard and twelve fun activities, your youngster will find out letters, numbers, logic, memory expertise and much a lot more as they play with Mickey Mouse and all his close friends. Entertaining animations and encouraging phrases add to the enjoyable!

List Value: $ 34.99 Cost: $ 25.99

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Friday, June 10, 2011

Train Track Router Bits, Set of 4

Train Track Router Bits, Set of four

  • K10 and K20 grade carbide for clean cutting action
  • Final sharpening with 600 - 800 grit diamond wheels
  • Precision balanced for smooth operation
  • Baked-on anti-stick coating to minimize pitch and resin buildup
  • 100% satisfaction guarantee!
Leading top quality router bits that meet the high standards of Rockler Woodworking and Hardware. These bits are competitively priced although providing high performance and extended life. If you are not 100% satisfied with these bits, send them back for a refund.

These carbide-tipped bits let you develop classic wooden toy train tracks, equivalent to the high-priced shop-purchased track. Accessible individually, or in this set of all four bits. All have 1/2" shanks. # 23613

Set of four # 23613 inc

List Value: $ 119.99 Cost: $ 119.99



Mission Impossible (Or Highly Improbable)

Mission Impossible (Or Highly Improbable)

In Alice in Wonderland (or was that Through the Looking-Glass – I can never remember which one of the two it was**) it's stated that it's possible to believe many (as in six) impossible things before breakfast. Science and associated philosophies have had to deal with impossibilities and wildly improbable things, some of which are straight forward, and some of which aren't – perhaps to the point where something possible is in fact impossible and fundamentally wrong. Conversely, something considered impossible might in fact be possible and fundamentally right. 

 

A cautionary note: when it comes to what's possible or impossible; plausible or implausible; probable or improbable, majority doesn't rule. This isn't a democracy. If a billion people believe nonsense, it's still nonsense. This however is in contrast to what has been proven beyond a reasonable scientific doubt. If a billion people continue to disbelieve something that has been proved, then it's those billion people who are nonsense, not the idea.

 

Time and time again the self correcting nature of scientific investigation has invalidated the norm of the day, resulting in a paradigm shift. Often the seemingly impossible has proved to be possible, even inevitable. Sometimes what's been believed to be obviously plausible as proved to be anything but plausible. So, if today's science says something's impossible – well, maybe. If I say something is impossible – the same caveat applies. I tend to argue from common sense logic, which, as any philosopher or historian of science will tell you is no sure pathway to what is, and isn't.

 

 

FIRSTLY, let's list just a few once-upon-a-time scientific impossibilities that have proved to be anything but.

 

It used to be quite obvious that the Sun went around the Earth – any other configuration was considered impossible.

 

Once upon a time, our Universe could not be anything but static – neither expanding nor contracting. Einstein however knew the Universe should be contracting because of the attractive force of gravity. To counter that, and keep the static Universe he and the science of the times believed in, he invented his 'cosmological constant', a repulsive force to exactly counter gravity's pull. He later called that his greatest blunder. However, that 'cosmological constant' has recently resurfaced in the form of 'dark energy', so Einstein might have been right after all!

 

Those Black Holes, while existing on paper in relativity theory, could not actually exist in reality - in practice they were quite the impossible object.

 

No one in their right mind would believe that it was possible that mankind had any actual evolutionary relationship with 'lower' life forms.

 

That matter actually consisted of indivisible bits called atoms - the atomic theory was nonsense.

 

That 'island universes' were actually independent conglomerations of stars and not nebulous entities part and parcel of our own Milky Way Galaxy was deemed impossible by experts.

 

Catastrophism in geology was considered a no-no for much of the time since it began as a legit part of earth science. All geology (especially landforms) could be explained as a gradual softly-softly, slowly-slowly, process. Violent events need not apply to explain things. Tell that to the dinosaurs! Of course we know better today. Catastrophism has taken its place and role playing in the geologic scheme of things.

 

Speaking of geology, the idea of continental drift was once considered preposterous pie-in-the-sky stuff. How dare a meteorologist (Alfred Wegener in 1912) tell geologists what should have been bleeding obvious! Geologists of course countered that there was no physical mechanism that could push continents around. Well, there was as it turned out, only we may no longer call it continental drift but rather plate tectonics. So, the meteorologist could the geologists flatfooted after all. 

 

Once upon a time, the concept of nuclear energy was pie in the sky – a subject no scientist would take seriously.

 

Prior to the initial test, there were 'experts in explosives' who said that the A-bomb would never work.

 

Powered flight was once considered impossible – balloons were the only feasible means of air travel.

 

Rocket travel was utter bilge as there was nothing in space for the rocket's exhaust to push against.

 

It was impossible for the human body to travel faster than the speed of a (fill in the blank) without suffering fatal physiological consequences.

 

The sound barrier would never be broken.  

 

It was considered impossible for stones to fall from the sky – witnesses to the contrary are damned. Today, we incorrectly call them 'shooting stars'; more correctly meteors, and when then hit the ground, meteorites. 

 

The Titanic was 'unsinkable'.

 

The city of Troy was mythology, pure and simple. There was no such place in reality. 

 

 

SECONDLY, let's look at a few really bona fide actual or statistical impossibilities according to today's scientific thinking.

 

It's impossible to divide any number by zero.

 

It is impossible to travel at the speed of light if you have mass. That's because at light speed, mass becomes infinite; time stops; your length contracts to zero. However, travel faster than the speed of light seems to be okay (albeit with weird consequences), if only one could figure out how to get from sub-light to faster-than-light without actually crossing the speed of light threshold. It's like driving your car from zero to sixty km/hour without actually passing through the 30 km/hour region. 

 

It is considered impossible for a macro object to escape from a Black Hole. To escape from a Black Hole would require passing through that speed of light threshold.

 

Perpetual motion machines are a big no-no. There's no such thing as a free lunch! No country's patent office will even remotely consider proposals for devices that operate on perpetual motion ideals.

 

It's apparently impossible to get around the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle part and parcl of quantum physics. Einstein tried for decades to do so and failed each and every time.

 

It's impossible to ever reach a temperature of absolute zero (zero on the Kelvin temperature scale) where all molecular, atomic and subatomic activity ceases and all is motionless. It's impossible because it violates the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle and also because of the vacuum energy, also known as quantum fluctuations. At the extreme micro level, virtual particle pairs pop into and out of existence borrowing from the, and returning energy to, that energy reserve that pervades the cosmos – quantum foam. Finally, energy is spread across the Universe, and can not be created nor destroyed. Although the Universe is expanding, that just means that available energy is being spread thinner and thinner – the energy density of the Universe is therefore decreasing*. But, as long as our Universe retains a finite volume, that density can never reach zero. [*There's one caveat to that. If 'dark energy' is a property of space, and if space is expanding, then the amount of 'dark energy' is not thinning, but increasing. More space means more 'dark energy'.]    

 

No matter what the merits of reincarnation are (and there are none IMHO), it is impossible to recall past lives. The egg and the sperm from which you were conceived had no past memory of your alleged past lives since they came from individuals not so related to your past existences. So, you started out from the get-go with no memory. Any and all memories you now have started from day of conception onwards – full stop***.

 

On a lighter note, films often give you impossibilities. You know they are impossible, but you accept them anyway, at least while the film is running. Superman's flying comes to mind, or for that matter the original premise behind the various attributes of all our celluloid superheroes. It's impossible to have any such of a thing as an invisible person. That person would be functionally blind as light would pass right through their eyeballs. A standard of sci-fi are insects the size of houses – impossible as they would quickly die of suffocation.  A fifty foot human is also impossible because their scaled up legs get scaled up far less than the increase in body mass, and so the individual couldn't stand up. Similar physiological problems arise if you shrink humans to standard insect size. The standard impossibility is hearing the noise and sounds a spaceship or space battles make while in the vacuum of space. I'm sure any readers could think up dozens of other examples. Most films never get the science right, but of course it's just entertainment not to be taken as accurate representation of reality.

 

Lastly, there's one impossible thing you just can't think of and believe before breakfast, or any other time. It's impossible to think that you don't exist (either as an actual or simulated being) for who's doing the thinking if not you? Therefore, the famous observation and quote, "I think therefore I am".

 

 

THIRDLY, let's look at commonly accepted scientific beliefs that are IMHO ultimately flawed concepts – flawed to the point where I suggest they are either flat out impossible or at best wildly improbable. [This is the section where scientists wish there really were a Hell they could send me to!]

 

IMPOSSIBLECOSMOLOGY

 

There are those cosmologists who believe (or so they say) that our Universe was created from nothing – absolute nothing. First there was nothing; then there was something, so they say, but without bothering to explain in acceptable layman's language the 'how' of that. If fact, they just take that as given and then just deal with, and devote their time and energy to, the subsequent expansion and understanding of that something. That something can be created out of nothing somehow violates one of the most cherished and fundamental of all scientific principles, one which even elementary school students are taught. It's a violation of the ultimate conservation of matter and energy. Matter and energy can neither be created or destroyed, only changed in form, from one kind of matter to another; one kind of energy to another; or matter to energy and vice versa. 

 

That the Big Bang somehow created time and space. I propose instead that the Big Bang happened in previously existing time and space.

 

That the Big Bang somehow created both matter and energy - matter and energy being two sides of the same coin as per Einstein's famous equation. I propose instead that the matter/energy that we observe in our Universe was actually matter/energy that was recycled from a previous universe.

 

You will sometimes find in the literature statements by scientists (who should know better) that at the moment of the Big Bang event, the temperature of our 'Universe' – such as it was in the beginning – was infinite. As the Universe expanded, and expanded some more, expanding ever outwards, it cooled and continued cooling to reach what we note as today's cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) temperature, just several degrees above the theoretical absolute zero. This is absolute nonsense. It is rubbish. It is impossible (the infinite temperature in the beginning, not today's measured CMBR temperature). Scientists sometimes play extremely loosely with the word 'infinity', when they actually mean 'extremely' high (or dense or vast, etc.). So, why can't the Big Bang event have had infinite temperature? Simplicity itself! If you add, subtract, multiply or divide any finite number into infinity, you get – infinity! In the case of the Universe expanding, if you double her dimensions, you have a reduction in her density (mass or energy) by a factor of eight. That's fine if you start with a finite value, but infinity divided by eight is still infinity. Our Universe would never cool below an infinite temperature no matter how much it expanded! That's clearly not what we observe (and if that weren't the case we wouldn't be here to contemplate the matter since life couldn't arise in an environment of infinite temperature), so clearly the origin of our Universe had a finite (even if extremely high) temperature from the get-go.    

 

Then there are cosmologists would have you believe that space itself is expanding; that 'dark energy' is a property of space that pushes apart space itself, creating more space, which comes equipped with its own quota of 'dark energy', which further expands or pushes apart space, creating thus even more space and more 'dark energy' – it's a vicious circle and the ultimate 'free lunch' if true. However, I maintain that's impossible.  There may well be a repulsive force, a sort of antigravity called 'dark energy', and it may be a property of space itself, but it repels or pushes matter further apart, not space. Translated, the Universe's matter is expanding, with the assistance of 'dark energy', through existing space. That matter is not being carried along by space itself, space expanding due to the repulsive nature of its 'dark energy'. [As an aside, if one prefers, one can think of 'dark energy' as a pull force that pulls things apart, and thus gravity as a push force that pushes things together, instead of associating 'dark energy' with push, and gravity with pull. A rose by any other name… . The bottom line is that 'dark energy' is repulsive; gravity is attractive, which has nothing to do with one being prettier than the other!]   

 

That one can squeeze the contents of the entire observable universe into a volume less than that of a pinhead – much less in actual fact. Okay, pull the other one!  

 

IMPOSSIBLE PHYSICS

 

Item one in the 'impossible physics' category is that the elementary or fundamental particles are only 'point* particles' existing as dimensionless objects with no volume. That might simplify particle physics maths, but is nonsense. That idea, if correct, would render impotent particle accelerators like the Large Hadron Collider. How could two particles collide if they don't have any volume? [*A point is zero dimensional; a line or curve is one dimensional; a square or circle is two dimensional; a cube or sphere is three dimensional.]

 

A second item in the 'impossible physics' category is that particles also behave as waves (the wave-particle duality). The wave aspect, despite experimental evidence, is an illusion IMHO. Particles are particles – tiny billiard balls if you will. If you have mass you do not wave (although under the right circumstances you might vibrate). Photons don't have mass and so you do have light (photons) behaving as waves, which is also why photons travel at the speed of light. That's unlike mass particles, for example like electrons that do have mass. They can't travel at the speed of light. Look at it this way, or at least through the philosophy of Occam's (Ockham's)Razor that simpler is better; the fewer the assumptions required to explain things, the better. Say you have an electron emitted from a specific point 'A' in space and time – say from the electron-gun in your TV set. That electron impacts your TV screen at a specific point 'B' in time and space. What happens to the electron in-between 'A' and 'B'? Does it wave all over the place on the journey so that its location between 'A' and 'B' is just probability, or does it travel like a little billiard ball in a straight line from 'A' to 'B'? If all the electrons emitted by your TV set's electron-gun waved all over the place, each could take varying intervals of time to reach your TV screen. Your TV picture would be a mess!

 

Thirdly, Black Holes have singularities at their centre with zero volume and infinite density. The problem with that is that if you chuck matter into a Black Hole (ending up ultimately in their singularity), the Black Hole's event horizon grows in size. If that is so, that is if the Black Hole grows in size, then the singularity must have finite volume that increases as you throw more and more stuff into it.

 

Now, it has been speculated that matter that gets sucked into a Black Hole undergoes a phase change into a new form of matter, sort of like ice to water to steam, or steam to water to ice. What exactly the nature of that inside-the-Black-Hole phase change is – well, your guess is as good as mine. However, I have come up with an idea. The matter sucked inside a Black Hole has been transformed into 'dark matter'! Now 'dark matter' has mass and gravity, but doesn't interact with any electromagnetic forces. We know that because 'dark matter' exists within our Universe; not of necessity hidden exclusively within Black Holes. So, how does 'dark matter' get out of a Black Hole and into our Universe at large? It doesn't, at least not as 'dark matter' but maybe a Hawking radiation. Well, that doesn't explain the 'dark matter' all around us. So there has to be an exception, and I suggest that exception was the transformation of a previous universe's Big Crunch – forming the Mother of all Black Holes – so warping space-time that it turned itself inside out and emerged as a While Hole, spilling out its contents and forming our Universe in the process. The Mother of all Black Holes transformed much of that universe's ordinary matter into 'dark matter', but the process of Black to While Hole transformation happened so rapidly that not all matter got so converted before the spewing. So, what was vomited as our Universe was a lot of 'dark energy', but not quite 100%, keeping in line with what we observe, or detect but don't observe directly, today.  

 

A fourth item has to do with the Holy Grail of physics, the TOE (Theory of Everything). It is commonly accepted that there are four fundamental forces in the cosmos – electromagnetism (quantum physics), the strong nuclear force (quantum physics), the weak nuclear force (quantum physics), and gravity (classical physics). A TOE would somehow relate all four forces; they would be unified into just one overall grand physics concept. But, the fly in the ointment has been gravity. Perhaps gravity isn't a force but a property of space itself (as is its counterpart, 'dark energy'). If that's so, then it might prove to be impossible to come up with a TOE that unifies the three quantum forces with classical gravity. Put another way, gravity in the form of general relativity (the macro) and quantum physics (the micro) are forever bound to be un-bonded – it's like there are two totally separate types of incompatible software governing the cosmos.

 

Another concept that has actually mastered the TOE is known as string theory, superstring theory, or M-theory. It's one of these wildly improbably ideas that's the 'in thing' in modern physics – and has been for decades. And therein lays one of the problems. While it is ascetically beautiful and explains much about life the universe and everything from Hawking radiation to the unification of quantum and classical physics, it has three flaws. Firstly, it's pure abstract mathematical theory. Secondly, variations onstring theory is now over 30+ years strong without having one shred of experimental evidence to back up the basic idea that elementary particles are tiny vibrating strings and not little billiard balls. Thirdly, string theory requires the total existence of ten or eleven dimensions. These extra six or seven unobserved and undetected dimensions (additional to the four we commonly interact with) are unobserved and undetected because they are curled up so tightly that they're down to ultra micro size, way below the threshold of observation and detection – how connivent. If you accept that premise, well there's this bridge in Sydney I have going for sale real cheap! 

 

Particle/nuclear physicists would have you accept that unstable (radioactive) nucleus decays into more stable nucleus without any reason; without any cause. First it is unstable; then all of a sudden, at a time undeterminable, 'poof', it is stable, or at least on the pathway to eventual stability, with alpha, beta and/or gamma radiation given off in the process. Firstly, things don't happen without a cause. That's impossible IMHO. Maybe the unstable nucleus got hit with a cosmic ray or a neutrino (there's lots of them around) which triggered the 'poof' event. But something was the trigger. Secondly, how could radioactive decay happen to individual nuclei without cause, yet collectively all the nuclei decay over time by following a neat and precise and predictable (half-life) mathematical relationship?

 

I believe there is a prim and proper causality explanation to radioactive decay. I suggest above the impact between an unstable nucleus and either a cosmic ray or a neutrino. Of the two, cosmic rays can't penetrate very far into the ground, but neutrinos can and do, in fact nearly all neutrinos pass right through the Earth itself without the slightest fuss and bother. However, a few neutrinos do run smack into something. Most of the times it's a stable nucleus and nothing happens. Occasionally, it's an unstable nucleus and that impact is enough to trigger the instability cascade down the slope to stability. So, unstable nuclei, deep inside the Earth, get whacked too and thus decay too, generating a lot of Earth's interior heat in the process. Now, I suggest my idea is subject to experimental research and verification – or not. All one needs to do is artificially increase the normal background neutrino rate and see if the half-life of a radioactive element changes! These external influences like neutrinos (maybe cosmic rays), are uniform enough (everyday normal constant background rates) so that given impact events, if 1000 unstable nuclei  go 'poof' after one time unit; the next time unit sees 500 nuclei go 'poof' and so on. So, my neutrino (or cosmic ray) impact idea explains the half-life phenomena.

 

By analogy, picture a roomful of inflated toy balloons. Standing outside the room, toss dart after dart into the room. At first, you hit lots of balloons; say half of them in one hour's worth of dart tossing. But, as the number of inflated balloons decrease, so in the next hour worth of dart tossing, you're not going to hit as many inflated balloons, maybe only half of the half that's left, and in the hour after that even less (another half of the half), until there's one balloon left standing - until a stray dart find that and the room is now stable and free of inflated balloons. It's a half-life relationship. Now substitute a collection of unstable nuclei for the balloons and neutrinos (or maybe cosmic rays) for the darts and there you have it. Causality rules, okay?

 

Either that or maybe you have to assume intelligent, communicating, all-knowing unstable nuclei. Imagine this conversation as an explanation. Jane: "Hi Clive" Clive: "Hi Jane" Jane: "Look Clive, one of us must go 'poof' now in order to keep this half-life relationship in sync" Clive: That's okay Jane, I'll go 'poof' – see ya". Jane: "Thanks a bunch!" Of course the above conversation is hardly one that anyone could take seriously!

 

So if an unstable nucleus goes 'poof' without any cause, then the collective of all such nuclei bound together each participant going individually 'poof', each without cause, would be have to end up being collectively a totally random and variable result, not a half-life predictable result. That's not what we observe.

 

IMPOSSIBLE PHILOSOPHY

 

I doubt that there is such a thing as 'free will'. If, in the beginning, one defines a set of initial conditions, a finite number of particles having deterministic laws and relationships governing them, and hence starts the clock running, then, crunching the numbers by cranking the handle, one can predict an absolute outcome for those particles based on those laws and relationships X number of time units in the future. If that is acceptable, then there is no independent 'free will' variable. It's a clockwork universe. 1 + 1 = 2, the first time, the last time; all times in-between. No variations allowed. 

 

I also doubt that you have an invisible friend who art in heaven. Sorry, but there's no evidence supporting the existence of any supernatural creator God or gods.

 

 

FOURTHLY, let's look at the reverse, some commonly accepted notions by scientists that they consider impossible or wildly improbable, but which, in IMHO are ultimately flawed concepts they have – flawed to the point where I suggest these scientist's 'impossibilities or implausibility's' range from an actual near certainty to only somewhat implausible.

 

One category that immediately comes to mind is 'sea serpents'. We know from the fossil record that large marine reptiles like plesiosaurus and the mosasaur once existed. There's no obvious reason why these creatures went extinct as their marine environment is fairly resilient against environmental change such as salinity, temperature, etc.

 

There's the eye witness evidence of sightings of creatures very similar to these apparently extinct beasties both from ship, and from shore. 

 

There are  examples of other thought-to-have-been-extinct animals, and I mean extinct for many, many, many millions of years, that have turned up alive and well (such as the coelacanth), thank you very much!

 

Another item that comes to mind is one of the great mysteries of ancient history – what happened to the Minoan civilization 3,500 years ago on the island of Crete? They just vanished as a unique culture. Was it invaders or natural disaster? Modern archaeological and geological evidence all point to a massive order of magnitude greater volcanic eruption than happened at Krakatoa on the island Thera immediately to the north of Crete, yet still too far away to totally account for the mystery. By now, you've probably guessed the answer. The eruption generated a massive series of tsunamis some 30 meters high which destroyed the villages and towns, all of which were on the coast. The one-two punch, a mega-volcano plus mega-tsunamis and you had the total destruction of the Minoan civilization. That, in turn gave rise to the origin of the Atlantis tale. The legend and mythology surrounding Atlantis has long been consigned to the pseudoscience dust bin. Yet while there's no proof positive and probably never will be, it is quite plausible that legends and mythology derived from the above Thera (or Santorini) eruption plus associated tsunami wiping out the Minoan civilization on Crete, did indeed, form the foundation for the legend of Atlantis.

 

The UFO ETH (extraterrestrial hypothesis) also immediately comes to mind, as well as her closely related sister, 'ancient astronauts' (the UFO ETH and associated closely related topic of 'ancient astronauts' are really two peas in a pod). Why? The answer is twofold. Firstly, there is the theoretical underpinning the two. Secondly, there is the observational evidence supporting the two. Considering those two in turn…

 

Theoretical Underpinnings: I'd like to think that Planet Earth would be among the cosmic real estate of some interest to any advanced technological species of extraterrestrial being, especially since the Cambrian Explosion over 500 million years ago when complex (multi-cellular) life forms became noticeable. Like the Star Trek mantra says, 'to seek out new life…'.

 

Now in terms of cosmic real estate, comets and asteroids are pretty common, ditto airless rocky worlds; gas giants seem to be worth a dime-a-dozen, but real estate that has an atmosphere, and a hydrosphere, and a lithosphere, and a biosphere aren't dime-a-dozen bodies. So, when one appears on an extraterrestrial's 'radar', either through personally or robotically 'boldly going', or via remote sensing (our oxygen rich atmosphere is an obvious giveaway that just screams out as something that should be singled out for extra attention. That's us! We have a biosphere. We have life. Well, that's interesting.

 

Of course for most of our biosphere's existence, we've been interesting in the same way as an ant hill is interesting to an entomologist or a bacterium is interesting to a microbiologist. Just like it doesn't take all that much effort for an entomologist to seek out an ant hill or a microbiologist to find a bacterium, so, in the cosmic scheme of things, it doesn't take all that much effort for an alien technological civilization to reach us. Many might dispute that statement, but the fact is, going from point A in our galaxy, to point B in our galaxy, violates no known laws or principles of physics. Once they have the desire and the ways and means of 'boldly going', the rest are details. And Planet Earth can no more hide from exploring alien eyes than an ant hill can hide from aninquisitive entomologist! Now you take local A, somewhere in our galaxy, home to an alien civilization. Now take place B – Planet Earth. What's the distance between the two? It doesn't matter. If the civilization can achieve 1% to 10% light speed interstellar travel – no violation of physics in that – calculate how long it would take them to get from A to B. Now, compare that with the overall age of our galaxy! You'll find the ratio is somewhere in the same ballpark as how long it took humans to migrate and explore and colonize Planet Earth!

 

Observational Evidence: Well, for starters, regarding UFOs (as extraterrestrial vehicles), how about over six decades on, hundreds of thousands of sightings in all countries of the globe, by all walks of life - male & female; rich & poor; professional & illiterate; the young and the elderly, all religions; all races; all nationalities; no category has been left out. Then how about witnesses, passing lie detector exams all the while insisting "I know what I saw"? Then how about the fact that there are those experts in aerial phenomena who should be able to, but can't explain all the sightings – the usual unexplained residue being between 5% and 10% - the hard core, bona-fide UFOs. Now throw in multiple and independent witness accounts! You don't care for eyewitness testimony? Too unreliable you say? Well, chuck in a pot full of unexplained photographic and motion pictures, lots of unexplainable radar returns, ground traces, and all manner of other bits and pieces that instrumentation has detected or can do analysis on – no human brain entered into, just iron and silicon.  Also, you have the undisputed fact that many countries have undertaken official investigations into the UFO issue – that in itself suggests that the issue has been taken seriously at the highest levels, unlike say, ghosts or stigmata!

 

Ancient astronauts are a slightly murkier kettle of fish because of the time separation between then and now. It's easier to come to terms with what happened 20 years ago vis-à-vis 2000 years ago. Still, I'd maintain that there exists a reasonable amount of artistic and literary remnants from those long ago and far away places that are suggestive of otherworldly influences. As but one example, nearly every culture has legends, a mythology if you wish, of 'sky beings' who obviously, in most cases at least, were considered some sort of gods. Since of course nobody actually believes they were supernatural gods, that still leaves the pigeonhole of 'sky beings'. 

 

Now, is all of that proof? No! Is all of that evidence? Yes! It's the sort of evidence that's lacking in most of the other paranormal/supernatural bits and pieces that the skeptics love to collectively debunk and rubbish. But, that evidence makes my assertion that some paranormal claims are more equal than other paranormal claims more credible.

 

 

FIFTHLY, there are those other apparent impossibilities that involve contradictions between solid theory and solid observation. For example, astrophysicists predict that in-the-beginning (the Big Bang event) equal amounts of matter and antimatter should have been created. Observation says otherwise – it's a matter dominated Universe. Physicists predict a certain value for the vacuum energy. Experiment shows the vacuum energy to be some 120 orders of magnitude less that what theory mandates – the biggest discrepancy between theory and observation ever in the history of science. Theory suggests that the physical laws, principles and relationships that govern the Universe should be able to be unified into a Theory of Everything (TOE) – an ultimate equation that can fit on the front of a tee-shirt. The most brilliant minds on the planet have struggled decade after decade after decade to find one that works in practice.  Absolute failure has resulted – at least to date. Something's screwy somewhere!

 

 

FINALLY there is a resolution to all of this that will make nobody happy! That resolution applies whether you consider something to be impossible but science doesn't; science says something is impossible but you don't agree; or everyone agrees something is just not on. And that resolution is that life, the Universe and everything is a work of fiction – an illusion. For example, there are art works that can depict 2-D images of objects that are impossible to construct or be realised in 3-D. You can believe hundreds of impossible things before breakfast, lunch and dinner if you take films, TV shows, holograms and video games at face value. The list of impossibilities that you'll find written in novels, short stories, plays, fine literature or the pulps, comic books galore – well, fiction full-stop – would itself fill a goodly sized book, perhaps several volumes worth.

 

So, our Universe, filled with many paradoxes, contradictions, impossibilities, implausibility's, or improbabilities reads more like sci-fi or looks more like a video game or computer simulation. If so, then we're part of the Universe and then we're part of the simulation by powers or people (aliens?) unknown and probably unknowable, just like a character in a video game can't be aware of the identity of either who created the game, or the player.

 

The Universe isn't real; Planet Earth isn't real; you're not real; I'm not real. However the Universe is virtually real; Planet Earth is virtually real; you are virtually real; as am I. We're all the creation of someone, or something, else that is real. Or maybe that entity in itself is the creation of an even more remote – one step further removed – something. It's like a character in a film making a film; a character in a video game creating a video game; a character in a novel writing a novel; a person depicted in a painting who is making a painting. 

 

The rational is that in any given reality that includes an advanced technological species, the number of virtual realities relative to the one that actually exists, could be in the ratio of thousands to millions to one. Reality is going to be vastly outnumbered by virtual reality. So the odds are rather in favour of us (humans and associated real estate) being one of the virtual realities.

 

Now if you imagine yourself as god (or a good computer programmer or creator of video games) creating a universe from scratch, well, being not quite Mr. or Mrs. or Ms. Perfection, might you not for one reason or another cut corners or accidentally stuff things up and end up creating in your virtual world impossibilities, implausibility's or improbabilities? 

 

In this scenario, as the song lyrics state, 'heavens knows, anything goes'!

 

Could this mean the Loch Ness Monster exists? Of course!

 

Could radioactive nuclei go 'poof' for no reason? Yes indeed!

 

Could aliens be abducting humans from their beds? Of course!

 

Could two separate and apart sets of software (quantum physics and relativity) be collectively governing the Universe, meaning no TOE? You bet!

 

Could heaven and hell exist (as your afterlife software subprograms)? I think that could be the case!

 

Could this illusionary or simulated Universe be one where things can both be and not be (particle and not-particle-but-wave) at the same time? Of course!

 

What would it take to swing one around to the simulation point of view? Well, you'd need a set of observations that could not be refuted, ideally experimental ones that are repeatable and repeated, that science, not even in it's wildest theoretical best, can adequately and naturally explain, and which at the same time shatters some ultra well established and most fundamental of scientific principles – say gravity. What if all tennis balls, and only tennis balls, started floating upwards? Either that would demonstrate a simulated Universe, or else you'd better be prepared to think supernatural. Of the two, at least the former is still scientific and rational!

 

Since we don't apparently have floating tennis balls, perhaps there is some other, maybe not quite so obvious an anomaly. One that comes to find are various observations of objects in deep space that appear connected by bridges of matter yet which have widely differing red-shifts, thus widely differing velocities.  The problem is that the red-shift – velocity relationship is one of the rock-solid foundations of all standard cosmology. On the other hand, the close distance relationships of objects with vastly differing red-shifts some via linking bridges is based on actual observations (usually associated with professional astronomer Halton Arp) which any astronomer can verify (if they want to; most don't because it challenges their career's work. It's easier to just shrug and say 'it can't be, therefore it isn't).  [For additional information see:]

Arp, Halton; Quasars, Redshifts and Controversies; Cambridge University Press; Cambridge; 1989: 

Arp, Halton; Seeing Red: Redshifts, Cosmology and Academic Science; Apeiron, Montreal; 1998: 

Arp, Halton; Catalogue of Discordant Redshift Associations, Apeiron, Montreal; 2003:

 

Another possible example is with respect to apparitions, ghosts, phantoms, spectres, spirits, spooks, wraiths – call them what you will like 'things that go bump in the night' if you wish.

 

Now I must stress that I am NOT, repeat NOT, talking about séances, ouija boards, spiritualism, mediums, channeling, and yucky ectoplasm. Rather, just old fashion unexpected, unplanned, undesired, unwanted close encounter with those things that go bump in the night and go 'boo' and like to haunt things. The unfortunatething is that said encounters go back to the ancient Greeks (and probably before if there were records) and proceed through every century up through and including the 21st. Ghostly encounters are recorded across the entire spectrum of the human condition. Young and old; male and female; every race, creed, culture, socioeconomic group, nationality, IQ level, etc. has recorded encounters. By now, that's probably in the hundreds of thousands to millions of cases, not all by any means noted and logged in the literature. I'm sure many members of the great unwashed keep quiet for obvious reasons. Problem one: has each and every one of those witnesses to ghostly happenings been mistaken?

 

Problem two is the counterpoint. If you can see or hear ghosts, or photograph them or record them and their activity with other instruments, then ghosts must be composed of matter and energy, yet there is no way known to science to form these ghostly apparitions, comprised of necessity of matter and energy. Since ghosts are apparently whatever leaves the body after death, and since a body doesn't lose any mass in that interval or transition between life and death, there's no decrease of X amount of grams, the ghost has to be comprised of nothing and be 100% immaterial – but then you couldn't see or hear them! That contradicts all those millions of witnesses.

 

One can invoke the idea of parallel worlds to explain ghosts, not as the remains of the dead but is barely perceptible images of living beings on a parallel world; a parallel Earth in all probability. But parallel worlds or universes are theoretical at best and the macro mechanism(s) by which these macro ghostly entities could appear in our realm is also very hypothetical, and it's compounding one speculation by heaping on it another. 

 

So the bottom line is that science says they (meaning the remains of dead entities) can not be; witnesses testify otherwise. Impasse! On the other hand, the simulation argument works for me. Impasse no longer!

 

 

** Having since looked it up, I've confirmed it as the White Queen's statement from Through the Looking-Glass.

 

***When I mentioned this observation to a friend, she immediately suggested that the memory of a past life or lives was due to the implantation of your soul. It's your soul (assuming there is such a thing) that has the memory.

 

Actually I was under the impression that it was one soul per person, but maybe not. One soul might be passed down from one person to that person's reincarnation to that person's reincarnation for however long the process goes on for. Maybe like in Doctor Who you only get so many regenerations (or in this case reincarnations).

 

Anyway, I was also under the impression that the soul is intangible or nebulous – it has no actual substance, a thing that can be examined in the laboratory and under a microscope.

 

Memory however has to be something part and parcel of the biochemical's and biochemistry and energy flows that happens in your brain whenever you remember something. Memory must have some physical substance – it has mass and energy. Memory can be affected by chemicals and energy. A soul doesn't have mass or energy and presumably can't be influenced by external influences. So, if your soul contains the memories of your past lives, then no amount of foreign drugs, disease or injury will make you forget past lives because the soul is indestructible. Sorry, but if you have a memory of a past life then I suggest that memory, even though it's a false or delusional memory, can be affected by physical influences, like drugs, disease or injury.

 

Science librarian; retired.


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Thursday, June 9, 2011

Q&A: Is carrying a real closed sword illegal? Is carrying a toy wooden sword illegal?

Question by Ninja: Is carrying a real closed sword illegal? Is carrying a toy wooden sword illegal? I was organizing my costume for Halloween, and I'm deciding if I could carry a genuine sword on my back, and of course.. it really is in the sheath. It really is about 4 feet total, the blade is around three feet. Also I'm asking yourself the very same issue about a wooden toy sword, but it's not a lot of a sword to the point where you could hurt somebody, just looks like it, without a sheath too. Oh, and I live in California. Please, and Thank you! The wooden sword is 3 feet, if that matters. Best answer:

Answer by Jim Raynor
as far as i no most of the laws regarding blades are about knifes, i have in no way seen a law about carrying a sword. that becoming mentioned the only way i would think of u getting in difficulty would be if u had been "concealing" it but on your back is pretty out in the open. to be on the secure side i would not take it out a lot. In the strictest sense, no it is NOT illegal. However. . . prior to you start off carrying a sword, here are some laws you might want to contemplate: Penal Code section 12020 covers harmful and illegal weapons. One particular of the listed weapons that are prohibited are what is recognized as "dirks" and "daggers". These are any weapon, with or with out a hand guard that is capable for instant use as a stabbing weapon. Those are illegal if carried concealed. So - despite the fact that it may well be technically legal to carry a sword in plain view, do you want to be held at gunpoint by an officer for your subsequent traffic infraction while the two of you debate the fine points of California law?

Give your answer to this question beneath!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

General Knowledge Pt. XVI

General Knowledge Pt. XVI

What is collateral debt obligation?

Collateral Debt Obligation (CDO) is the cause of the subprime crisis and recession. European banks and investors bought sub-prime housing loan portfolios from original US lenders to diversify their investment portfolio before the sub-prime crisis. At that time, it seemed a lucrative investment avenue. These are known as Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS). Later on, CDOs became toxic assets for these banks and investors.

In star wars, how is a sith different from a jedi?

Star Wars is a series of science fiction movies depicting events taking place in a fictional galactic empire filled with a mysterious force. The Siths and the Jedi are two cult-like orders in the galaxy, and are enemies. The Jedi are the guardians of peace and justice in the empire. The Siths, on the other hand, are devoted to the dark side of the force, which imparts to them evil characteristics like hatred, aggression and malevolence.

What is barcode art?

Barcode art is created using the personalized data of a human being. When an individual's gender, weight, height, age and location are entered, a barcode is formed using realworld data. This barcode can then be printed, mapped, scanned, even depicted on a T-shirt or a coffee mug. The calculation of an individual's BMI reveals the health of an individual. Thus, those considered underweight or over weight are worth less money.

Why is the empty space in a car measured in litres?

Generally, volume in litres is associated with liquid measurements. Space inside a car is a not a perfect cube or an easily calculable shape. Volumes are not always easy to measure for irregular solid objects or spaces. We can use litres and cubic centimetres, or even cubic metres for measuring solid objects, or space that something might fit into, for example, the space of the car boot, as well as for liquids such as drinks, water, and gas.

What is the delta triangle?

The Delta Triangle is an imaginary uninhabited sector of the Milky Way galaxy that finds a mention in the series/ film 'Star Trek', with a lot of similarities with the infamous Bermuda Triangle on Earth. The Delta Triangle has the unusual ability to cause starship sensors fluctuate in a state of chaos while within the region. According to the film's plot, the Delta Triangle is explored by the Starship 'Bonaventure' but it gets trapped in it. Finally, the airship USS Enterprise is sent to investigate the incidences, but that also gets trapped.

What gives sunrise and sun-set an orange glow?

At sunrise and sunset, we see the sun through a greater thickness of air because it is low in the sky Therefore, we are looking at it across the earth's surface rather than directly up into the sky At these times, the sky often turns orange-red because the photonsof red and orange light are scattered through the atmosphere around us.

Which christian festival is the nice carnival linked to?

The Nice Carnival has been held annually since the 14hth century, 12 days before the Christian festival of Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, and which occurs 40 days before Easter (excluding Sun days). During this period, verious performances and festivities succeed one another on a 2-km stretch of the town The carnival ends with a grand fireworks display on Shrove Tuesday.

What is slow blogging?

It's a movement that emphasizes blogging after thoughtful consideration instead of hammering out posts in a surge of emotion. While successful bloggers are known to update their blog regularly, slow blogging urges bloggers to slow down. In its manifesto, ToddSieling, a Canadian technology consultant, writes that slow blogging is "a rejection of immediacy... an affirmation that not all things worth reading are written quickly..."

What are the silver lotus awards in indian cinema?

The Silver Lotus awards are the national film awards presented in two main categories: feature films and non-feature films. They are the country's oldest award alongside the Filmfare awards. The awards hold the distinction of recognizing merit in Indian cinema as well as presenting awards for the best films in each region and language of the country.

What is a liquidity trap?

In this age of recession and shrinking world economies, governments, in a bid to increase aggregate demand (AD), may lower interest rates to encourage spending. This is because a lower interest rate makes spending relatively more attractive to consumers and businesses than saving in banks. When a government continues to lower interest rates repeatedly and they reaches a level of 0% without correlated increase in AD, then it is called a liquidity trap.

What's the blue nile and the white nile?

Blue Nile and White Nile are two tributaries of the Nile that flow from the South into what is referred to as the Nile proper, the longest river in the world. While the White Nile is the longer tributary, the Blue Nile is the main source of water and fertile soil.

What is the difference between a coat and a blazer?

A blazer is for formal wear and a coat is for anytime wear. Formal blazers are generally made in deep shades. Coats can be made of any fabric like cotton, linen and leather.

What is push to talk feature in mobile phones?

Push to Talk (PTT), also known as press to transmit, is a method by which we can communicate on half-duplex communication lines, including two-way radio, using a momentary button to switch from voice reception mode to transmit mode. A two-way radio can both transmit and receive (a transceiver), unlike a broadcast receiver which only receives content.

How is the distance between planets calculated?

The distance between planets was calculated by Copernicus using Kepler's Third Law of Planetary Motion: the square of the time period of the revolution of a planet around the sun is directly proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit.

Who is a musher?

A musher is a person who competes in cross-country races with a dog team and sled. The word mush probably originated from the French term marchons meaning 'let us march'. Mush is a command word to sled dogs and is used to make sled dogs start pulling or moving faster. The person giving the mush command to sled dog is called musher.

What is a staycation?

A staycation is a neologism in vogue, where a person or family stays home instead of taking expensive and stressful vacations to exotic locations. It is a new travel word and is very popular what with today's recession and high prices.

What is 3-g technology?

3-G technology refers to third generation of mobile telephony technology, with improved and extended facilities over the first and second generation technologies. Transfer of data in 3-G is many times faster, up to 384 kpbs.

What is spoofing in it?

The most common sort of spoofing online is 'e-mail spoofing', i.e making an e-mail message appear to have come from one place when really it comes from another. It is generally used by spammers, who do not want their real address to appear on the e-mails they send.

What is the concept of a time machine? How does it work?

To locate an object in a plane, we require four dimensions — length, breadth, height and time. We all travel frequently in the first three dimensions, but can't do it in the fourth dimension 'time'. A time machine is a device or vehicle that can potentially take us into the future or past.

What are floaters?

Floaters can be any of these things: Musca volitans — spots before the eyes caused by opaque cell fragments in the vitreous humour and lens of the eye; a debt instrument with variable interest rate tied to some other interest rate; a va grant with no established residence or visible means of support; an employee who is reassigned from job to job as needed; a voter who votes illegally at different polling places in the same election; a swimmer who floats in the water; an object that floats;an insurance policy covering loss of movable property,

What is a stimulus shelter?

Stimulus shelter is a mechanism that the brain develops to shield us from the barrage of information coming our way every minute. It filters out unimportant stimuli and retain the important ones.

How did the symbols +, - etc originate?

The earliest print appearance of the modern signs seem to come from a book on Mercantile Arithmetic by Johannes Widmann in 1489, used to indicate surpluses and deficits. The + is a simplification of the Latin "et". Robert Recorde, designer of the equals sign, introduced plus and minus in the UK in 1557.

What is a busman's holiday?

The phrase Busman's Holiday means to do the same thing on one's day off as one does all week. The accepted origin of the phrase traces it to drivers of London's horse-drawn omnibuses in the 19th century, who would supposedly spend their days off checking up on how the substitute drivers were treating their horses.

What is bibliotherapy?

Bibliotherapy is an expressive therapy that uses an individual's relationship to the content of books and poetry and other written words as therapy. It is often combined with writing therapy

What does mineral water contain?

Naturally available water, after coming in contact with various salts found in soil, contains alarge number of chemicals, including calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron. Small quantities of these give water its odour and are useful for the essential functioning of the human body

What is global cooling?

Scientists believe the cooling of the sun causes global cooling. Global cooling is known for the absence of sunspot activity. According to the theory of global cooling, the sun had no sunspots between 2008 and 2009, while sunspot activity was at its peak in the 1990s.

Why are danger signals in red although the eye is most sensitive to yellow and green?

Although the human eye is sensitive to yellow and green, it has become a tradition to use red as a signal for caution. Experts believe that since the deep red colour of blood could shock people into alertness, such a shade was most suitable as a signal for caution.

What is the oldest dance form?

Historians consider the dance form that is today known as belly dance the oldest form. It originated 6,000 years ago and was practised by many ancient cultures, including those of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and India. Even though the modern belly dance has many negative connotations and is considered to be seductive, it had a totally different purpose in ancient times. Originally, it was performed only by women, for women, sometimes as a part of goddess worship and sometimes to celebrate womanhood. Its practical purpose was to exercise the abdominal muscles of women so that they could go through pregnancy and child birth successfully.

How is doldrum pressure formed?

The equatorial area is a region of high temperature. Due to intense heat, the atmosphere heats up, expands arid becomes lighter. Hence, the air starts rising vertically, causing low pressure on the ground. The horizontal movement of wind in this belt is very feeble. It is, therefore, a calm belt, also known as doldrums.

What is ratware?

Ratware is the colourful name for any mass email software that generates, sends, and automates spam email sending.

What is taipei 101?

Taipei 101 is a skyscraper located in the international business district of Xinyi (code 101) in Taipei, Taiwan, with 101 floors constructed above the ground and five floors underground. Taipei 101 has been the world's tallest completed building since 2004. Though the Burj Dubai building structure surpassed Taipei 101's height in July 2007, the building is still under construction.

Where did the phrase 'throw in the towel' originate?

When you throw in the towel, you are giving up. In its original form, it was called 'to throw up the sponge'. The reference is to sponges used to cleanse combatants faces at prize fights. A contestant's manager throwing in the sponge would signal that the fighter had had enough. In recent years, towels have been substituted for sponges at fights, and consequently, replaced the term in the expression too.

What is the origin of the phrase 'there are no atheists in a foxhole'?

The phrase means in a pressure situation, such as war or a terrorist attack, even committed atheists may start thinking about God. This line is used in the 1942 film 'Wake Island', a story about the military garrison in Wake Island and the travails in the island during the Japanese attack. The phrase is believed to be of World War I origin.

What are mammatus clouds and how are they formed?

True to their ominous appearance, mammatus clouds are often harbingers of a coming storm. Composed primarily of ice, they can extend for hundreds of miles in each direction and individual formations can remain visibly static for 10-15 minutes at a time. While they may appear foreboding, they are merely the messengers.

Why 'daily soaps' are called so?

Daily soaps are a take-off from opera shows in South America, which were sponsored by soap manufacturers. They were then known as 'soap operas'— these inspired daily television shows, known as 'daily soaps'.

What is 'feeling stressurised'?

Feeling 'stressurised' means the feeling of "being under pressure and stress" at the Same time.

Tidal waves occur at night due to the moon's attraction. Though the moon is present in the day too, why are there no tidal waves?

It is not true that there are no tidal waves during the day. Tidal waves are the result of the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun, but the effect of the sun is much less than that of the moon. In fact, tidal waves occur twice on any day-night cycle of 24 hours — once when the moon is right over the head, and for the second time when the moon is in the opposite position.

How do odi teams choose their colours?

There is no hard and fast rule about choosing cricket colours. In most cases, the country adopts colours from their national flags — as Pakistan, Bangladesh, England, West Indies, Zimbabwe do. In some cases, the country wears the national colours — Australia wears green and gold, Holland wears orange, South Africa wears dark green and New Zealand wears black (silver earlier, as silver and white are their secondary national colours). India wears blue because of the blue Ashok Chakra on the flag, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) flag is also blue.

What is the maginot line?

The Maginot Line was built between 1930 and 1940, and named after French minister of defence Andre Maginot. It was built to prevent attacks from Germany, after learning a hard lesson from World War I. The Maginot Line was a line of concrete fortification, consisting of tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts and other defence establishments, like a complex of bunkers. It was constructed to cover its borders with Germany and Italy, although the line stretched from Switzerland to Luxembourg. It was extended further after 1934 to the Strait of Dover. However, it later proved to be strategically ineffective, as the Germans invaded France through Belgium.

What is paypal?

PayPal is a safe and easy way to pay and get paid online. The service allows anyone to pay in any way they prefer, including through credit cards, bank accounts, buyer credit or account balances, without sharing financial information. Available in 190 markets and 24 currencies around the world, PayPal enables local e-commerce by making payments possible across different locations, currencies and languages. Located in San Jose, California, PayPal was founded in 1998 and acquired by eBay in 2002.

What is the catfish effect?

'Catfish effect' is a term used in human resource management to describe how groups are motivated by the addition of a strong competitor. The phrase comes from the practice of Norwegian fishermen, who add a single catfish into their haul of live sardines. In this way, the sardines swim vigorously to avoid contact with the catfish, and can be brought to market while still alive, thus fetching a higher price.

What is the difference between tomato sauce and tomato ketchup?

In the US, ketchup is prepared with tomatoes, sugar, vinegar/acetic acid and spices. It is used as a dressing or table condiment. Ketchup is cold and is never heated as a rule. Tomato sauce, on the other hand, is made from tomatoes, oil, meat or vegetable stock and spices. Vinegar is not usually used. Sauces are generally served hot. Most manufacturers insist that ketchup is made with spices while Sauce is generally made without spices.

What is the saros cycle?

The Saros Cycle is an eclipse cycle with a period of nearly 18 years, 11 days and 8 hours. The earliest discovered historical record of the Saros Cycle is by the Chaldeans (ancient Babylonian astronomers). It is very useful for predicting the times at which nearly identical eclipses of the sun and moon will occur. A complication with the Saros Cycle is that its period is not an integer number of days.

What is a nuclear umbrella and how does it work?

Nuclear umbrella refers to a guarantee by a nuclear-weapon state to defend a non-nuclear allied state. It is usually used for the security alliances of the United States with Japan, South Korea, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and Australia, originating with the Cold War with the Soviet Union. For some countries, it was an alternative to acquiring nuclear weapons themselves.

What is groundhog day?

It is a traditional American festival celebrated on February 2. The legend of Groundhog Day is based on an old Scottish couplet: "If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there'll be two winters in the year." It is said that if the groundhog pops out from its electrically-heated burrow, sees his shadow, and then disappears again, it will mean that winter is to continue for six more weeks. But if the groundhog does not see its shadow, then winter will soon end. Groundhog Day received worldwide attention as a result of a 1993 film of the same name.

Who is a warmist?

A warmist —or global warmist — is a person who believes that the human race is primarily responsible for warming. Once a term used for scientists whoso believed, it has now taken on a pejorative meaning. There are 'deniers' who believe that while global warming may be true, warming and cooling has been happening for millions of years, and man may not be directly responsible. 'Coolists' are those who disbelieve the warming theory.

How did spectacles originate?

Lenses are the key component of spectacles and were made even in ancienttimes. However, it is not known whether such lenses were used merely as ornaments or as visual aids. It was discovered around 1000 AD that a glass sphere, when placed on a surface, enlarged the contents of the surface beneath it. The first wearable eye glasses were made by an Italian, Salvino D'Armate, in the 13th century AD. Soon, they became quite popular with priests. While spectacles have undergone many design improvements since then, the credit for making spectacles with double-hinged side pieces is given to British designer James Ayscough, who made them in 1752. In 1784, American inventor Benjamin Franklin made the first bifocals.

What substance do bones of birds contain?

Bones of many adult birds are hollow and are connected to a system of air sacs dispersed through the body Bone or osseous tissue consists of phosphate and carbonate of lime, salt and a few other substances. They are not filled with marrow and contain more calcium than mammalian bone, which tends to make them more brittle and prone to developing multiple fractures.

What is an integrated city?

An integrated city is developed as a whole, by examining the existing city and identifying areas which have been neglected. 'Civic software' is still new and can be utilised to work out problems. Those who advocate this concept aim for at a 'do-it-yourself' city which does not need government departments and funds. They look at integrating the city with a transport system which connects all areas and urban design which taps local resources. Liverpool is the first city with such a project at hand.

What does t in t-shirt stand for?

The origin is uncertain: it may refer to the shape of the shirt as a T — when laid out, it looks like the alphabet T; it may be derived from its use by the army as a 'training shirt'. The shapebased theory is supported by the existence of an A-shirt in the 1930s, which was a typical undershirt and later referred to as a tank top.

Why does an iron nail gain weight on rusting?

Rust is iron-oxide — a molecule consisting of iron and oxygen. When rust forms, the mass of the iron object is increased by the mass of oxygen that has combined with some of the iron.

What is the betawi dance?

The Betawi dance form or 'Topeng Betawi' is an art form of the people living in Java and Ball in Indonesia. The name comes from Batavia, the old Dutch name for the city of Jakarta. It can be used to describe both theatre and dance, with the performers sometimes wearing masks. A performance can include a mix. of dialogue, song, comedy, dance and music, beginning with dance but could include dialogue later. They are sometimes performed by a female singer-dancer and a male clown. Music is provided by a small ensemble of bronze idiophones, drums called gendang, and a two-string spike fiddle called a rebab.

How is the data of emails stored on servers? What is their capacity andwhere are they located?

An e-mail system consists of two different servers running on a machine. One is called the SMTP server, where SMTP stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. The SMTP server handles outgoing mail. The other is either a POPS server or an IMAP server, both of which handle incoming mail. POP stands for Post Office Protocol and IMAP stands for Internet Mail Access Protocol. In the simplest implementations of POPS, the server maintains a collection of text files — one for each e-mail account. When a message arrives, the POPS server simply appends it to the bottom of the recipient's file. With POPS, once downloaded, email is removed from the POPS server, with IMAP, the mail stays on the server. Size of the server can be 2-10 Terra bytes. All email providers have several clusters of servers in various locations across the world. Each cluster has a few thousand servers. Google server farms are all over the world: 19 in the US where they operate data centres, 12 in Europe, one in Russia and three in Asia.

Why do most birds jump on landmstead of walking?

Smaller birds hop, while larger ones walk by alternating legs. Smaller birds won't get very far with each baby step, However, there are plenty of exceptions, even within the same taxonomic groups, and some species (ravens, robins and blackbirds) move by both methods.

What is the fog index?

The Fog Index was developed by Robert Gunning, an American businessman, in 1952. It is a test designed to measure the readability of a sample of English writing. The resulting number is an indication of the number of years of formal education that a person requires in order to easily understand the text on the first reading. If a passage has a fog index of 12, it has the reading level of a US highschool senior. Texts that require a close-to-universal understanding generally require an index of less than 8. The Bible and Shakespeare reportedly have a fog index of 6.

Why do our joints and knuckles crack?

Joints produce a cracking sound when nitrogen bubbles burst in a thick and clear fluid surrounding the joints to lubricate them, called 'synovial fluid'. When we stretch or twist our fingers, the pressure in the fluid decreases, which leads to dissolving of gases present there, forming bubbles, through a process called "cavitation". When the joint is stretched far enough, the pressure drops and the bubble burst, producing a pop sound. It takes about 25-3O minutes for the gas to redissolve into the joint fluid. During this period, the knuckles won'tcrack.

What is an ice dance?

Ice dancing is a sport in which iceskating pairs perform to music routines similar to ballroom dances. Ice dancers are judged on the difficulty and originality of their dance steps, their interpretation of the music and their timing and unison. Unlike figure skating, ye dancing does not allow movement of strength or technical skill. It hasbeen an Olympic event since 1976.

What is philematology?

Philematology is the study of kissing, what it means and its place in various cultures. It is the subject of a new book A Compendium of Kisses' by Lana Citron, an actress and stand-up comic. Citron talks descriptively about the light cheek-brushing to the French smooch to the 'olfactory kiss' or the rubbing of noses. The study includes observations by celebrities and how the kiss has metamorphosed from an expression of love to social style.

What is philosopher's wool?

The compound zinc oxide (ZnO) is called philosopher's wool. Alchemists, as part of their rituals, would burn zinc in air and collect the residue, which formed into white woolly tufts. They called it lana philosophica in Latin, meaning philosopher's wool. Zinc oxide has many uses: as white pigment in paints, component in zinc ointment for treating skin diseases, material in sun screens and sun lotions, in rubber manufacture and in photocopying products.

What is the emperor pair?

In cricket, if a batsman is out for no score in both innings of a Test match, he is said to have scored a 'pair' or a 'spectacle'. When a batsman is out for a duck in both innings — on the very first ball — in each innings, it is termed an 'Emperor Pair' or 'King Spectacles'. The record for the maximum number of Emperor Pairs is held by ace spinner Bhagvat Chandra Sekhar, who managed it twice in two Tests.

What does eliot's famous line 'i have measured out my life with coffee spoons... Mean?

This line is from the poem The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock, in which Prufrock is a mythical person symbolic of the 20th century man. The poem highlights the emotional woes of this man, who has no self-confidence, is indecisive about proposing to the girl he loves.

What are quarks and gluons?

For close to three decades, nucleons (protons and neutrons) were considered to be the ultimate subatomic particles. As scientists delved deeper, they detected shadows of yet another layer of matter inside nucleons. Unable so far to crack open a nucleon and bring out one of these shadowy objects for observation and measurement, they named them quarks. It is believed that one up and one down quark make up the proton and neutron. Quarks are held together by a force dubbed the chromo force, represented by particles named gluons, which are just as unseen as quarks.

Where is the sonoran desert?

The Sonoran Desert, sometimes called the Gila Desert, is located in North America and covers parts of the state of Arizona and California in the United States and the state of Sonora in Mexico. It is spread over 3,11,000 sqkm.

Why are the wee hours called so and what is the origin of the phrase?

Wee hours mean the early hours of a day, or the period immediately after midnight. They are called so because the word 'wee' in present-day English means 'very small or tiny'. As these hours are the beginning of the new day they came to be referred to as the wee hours. According to the Oxford Dictionary, 'wee' has been in usage with the above meaning since the 1600s in Southern England.

What makes honey sweet?

Nectar is taken from a flower by the bee and carried in the honey sac back to the hive. It is transformed into honey by enzymes produced in the honey sac, which convert the natural sucrose (a complex sugar) in the nectar into fructose and glucose (simple sugar). Fructose is the sugar that makes honey sweet.

What is zero net?

Zero net is the modern strategy to regulate pollution by controlling the use of energy in constructions. The term 'zero net energy' is used whenthe amount of energy utilised by a building is equal to the amount provided by on-site or nearby renewable energy resources. Such buildings are also called zero energy buildings and are gaining popularity in US and Europe.

How did positions on the cricket field get their names?

The words 'on' and 'off' originate from the offside and near side of a horse or carriage, the 'offside' being the opposite side, which a driver walks or rider mounts. The origin of the word 'slips' is hinted at in an early description of the long stop, who "is required to cover manyslips from the bat". Early cricket writers identify two slip positions — 'short-slip', which was equivalent to modern-day first or second 'slip' position. The other position was 'long-slip', equivalent to the modern-day 'short third man' or 'fly-slip' position. By the turn of the century, an attacking field would usually have two 'slips' — 'first slip' and 'cover-slip' or extra-slip. The name gully apparently derives from the more general meaning of a narrow channel or gorge between 'point' and slips. It became a position in its own right, following the development of off-theory attack towards the end of the 19th century The origin of the term 'point' stems from early cricket when the position was called 'point of the bat' and the fieldsman would field no more than three and half yards from the batsman. 'New fieldsman' was the third man up.

What is coriolis force?

It is an apparent force caused by the earth's rotation. The coriolis force is responsible for deflection of winds towards the right in the northern hemisphere and left in the southern hemisphere. It is also known as Ferrel's law, and is responsible for deflection of the south-east trade winds which enter the Indian peninsula as the south-west monsoon.

What is a travelling exhibition?

A travelling exhibition is that which is available for circulation on a local, national or international level. The collection of the exhibition can be en tirely loaned to organizations for a fixed period of time. Travelling exhibitions are usually supported by governmental organizations to spread knowledge and local culture.

Where is the white city?

Located in Tel Aviv, Israel, the White City was constructed from the early 1930s to 1950s, based on an urban plan by Sir Patrick Geddes. The buildings were designed by architects trained in Europe where they practised before immigrating. They created an outstanding architectural ensemble of the Modern Movement in a new cultural context. Over 4,000 Bauhaus or international-style buildings were built and all painted white. The architecture had to be adapted to suit the extremes of the Mediterranean ; and desert climate.White and light colors reflected the heat. Large areas of glass that let in the light, a key element of the Bauhaus style in Europe, were replaced with small recessed windows. The houses had long, narrow balconies and flat roofs for socializing in the evening.

Who is an ecotarian?

An ecotarian is a person who eats a diet of food grown or produced in an eco-friendly manner. In a wide sense, it is organic, locally produced food, minimally processed and with little packaging. It should have a minimal impact on the planet. An ecotarian is not necessarily a vegetarian, but a meat-eater who sticks to poultry and pork.

What is the chemical composition of ivory?

Ivory tusks and teeth consist of an inner pulp cavity surrounded by dentine — a combination of connective tissues that have minerals and collagen properties. Found in tusks of elephants and teeth of mammals such as the hippopotamus, walrus, boar, sperm and killer whale, ivory forms layers. It gets strength and rigidity from inorganic components, namely mineralised tissues. The organic element, collagen, helps in the growth and repair of ivory, which has no blood vessels, is porous and absorbs and releases moisture.

What causes 'winterline' and why is it visible only in a few places in the world?

From mid-October to January, when the sun sets, the western horizon turns a myriad combination of yellow, red, orange and mauve. This is known as the winterline. The phenomenon is unique to Mussoorie and a part of Switzerland. The sun drops behind a false horizon, a grey and mauve strip, with a bright line of yellow and orange colours at its upper end. It occurs due to the refraction of sunlight at a particular angle, visible only from mountain areas with a long, clear valley towards the west. .

Why does the wwf logo feature a panda?

The World Wildlife Fund was founded in UK by Sir Peter Scott, a British naturalist and painter, in 1961. The WWF got the idea of using Chi-Chi, a female giant panda at London Zoo. The team felt "the big, furry animal with her appealing, black-patched eyes" would make an excellent logo. Another reason was to minimize printing costs (it needed just black and white).

What is the dog house in the glass industry?

The charging end of the glass furnace is commonly referred to as the 'dog house'. It comprises a tank with spaced sidewalls. The glass-batch (raw material) is fed continuously into this opening — called dog house — at one end of the tank, and the melted, refined and conditioned glass is drawn out the other end.

Who is zorro?

Zorro is a charismatic legend, which changed through 90 years of cinema. Zorro's origin lies in Baroness Orczy's 1905 novel 'The Scarlet Pimpernel', where the hero helped scores of French aristocrats escape from France and avoid the guillotine. Johnston McCulley first introduced the character of Zorro. In 1920, Douglas Fairbanks Sr brought fame to McCulley, by starring as Don Diego Vega and Zorro. We now have Antonio Banderas carrying the baton.

What is peep culture?

Pop culture, with television and radio as entertainment, has evolved into peep culture, with reality TV and internet. Entertainment is all about going through people's private lives on blogs and social networking sites. These are tellall, show-all times. Peep culture is a vent for social isolation, ironically, a result of an increasingly virtual world.

What is carbon dating?

It is a method to determine the age of plants and fossils. Carbon has three naturally occurring isotopes, C12, C13 and C14. Of the three, C14 is radioactive in nature and has a half-life (decays to half the strength) of 5,730 years. Scientists measure the strength of C14 in the plant or fossil, and compare it with the expected strength of C14 in the atmosphere, to compute the age. Also known as radio carbon dating, this technique was developed by Willard Libby in 1949. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1960.

What is the anchor investor concept?

The anchor investor is a recently introduced category of investor in the Initial Public Offer (IPO). A Qualified Institutional Buyer who gets firm allotment in an IPO of up to 30% of the institutional quota is an anchor investor. The lock-in period for such an investor is 30 days. This is done to instill a higher degree of confidence among the investing community, as an anchor investor is its brand ambassador.

Why does the touch-me-not shrink when touched?

The touch-me-not shrinks due to loss of turgidity (the pressure of content against the cell wall) by cells within the pulvini-specialised motor organs at leaf joints. Upon stimulation, like touching, the leaf cells lose potassium ions, triggering water to leave the cells through osmosis. It takes about 10 minutes for the cells to regain turgidity and the leaves to open out.

What is big crunch theory?

This theory says the universe will one day stop expanding. Then, as gravity pulls on matter, the universe will begin to contract, falling inward until it has collapsed into a superhot, super-dense singularity. The universe is like a giant souffle. It starts out small, expands as it heats up, and eventually, as the souffle cools, begins to collapse. Big Crunch is the consequence of the Big Bang Theory.

Who is known as the 'pumpkin king of britain'?

Ralph Upton of the village of Slindon, in West Sussex, south England, was known as the 'Pumpkin King of Britain'. This market gardener died earlier this year, at 88, and his son Robin Upton took over. The Uptons have been growing pumpkins on their sixacre plot for over 40 years, producing over 50 varieties. Slindon is known as the pumpkin capital of Britain.

Who is super child?

The Super Child University in Gandhinagar promises couples that they can have a super child, who is tutored in the womb. Researchers claim to have studied ancient Indian literature and modern sci ence and feel it is feasible. Couples have to stay at the university for a week after conception. Here, they visualize the kind of child they want and are guided on how to do attain the same.

Why is a feature film so called?

The term 'feature' was an inheritance of the Vaudeville — programme. When the feature film was first marketed, it meant a special film, that could be featured between advertising shorts. A feature film was one that cost more to make, buy, rent, and sometimes mojpe to watch. That usually meant longer films and after 1909, 'feature' was the term used for any multireel film. In 1909, a feature film was 1,000-ft long or a little less, running 15-20 minutes at its slowest speed.

What is maslow's hierarchy?

Maslow's hierarchy is a model for understanding human behaviour, put forth by Abraham Maslow,an American psychologist, in the 1940s. It refers to a five-layered pyramid representing the psychological need structure of human beings. Each level further up the pyramid represents a more advanced or higher order need. Maslow suggested that higher order needs (such as self-esteem, self-actualisation) become relevant only when basic needs (physiological, safety, belonging) are met. '

How did the hula-hoop get its name?

The hula-hoop got its name from the resemblance and movements made while spinning one swiftly around the body to Hawaiian hula dances. It is also a trademark for a * plastic ring, which Wham-0 used when it started manufacturing the toy in 1958.

What is the significance of 65 in the dish 'chicken65'?

Chicken65 is a spicy, deep-fried chicken dish popular as a bar snack, entree or quick snack. There exist a number of theories behind the number '65'. One is that '65' represents the year 1965 in which it was introduced by a famous hotel in Chennai. Another is that the number 65 is said to be the number of days taken to prepare the marinade. According to a chef on Youtube, the true story behind the name is that the recipe originated in an Army mess hall where the number 65 referred to the recipe number on the menu.

What do nanomites mean?

Nanomites are nanosized partides, nanorobots or nanites, which when released into the bloodstream of a human kill infected or cancerous cells, The precision and minute size of these particles make them useful in medical science. However, it's still a concept and there's a long way to go before actual nanomites being made.

Who is frenemy?

Frenemy is made of two opposites — friend and enemy — and is used for a person who appears to be both. A friend who shares similar interests and hangs around with you, but who secretly works against your interests and is fiercely competitive. It came into currency with chicklit and television serials, mostly in the feminine world.

What is a zwitter ion?

A zwitter ion is an inner salt of amphoteric compound resulting due to the reaction between acidic and basic groups. Ammo acids and proteins constitute both acidic (-COOH) and alkaline (-NH2) groups, as a result they can form salts with acid and alkali. When dissolved in either acid or alkali, they behave like anions and cations, migrating to either cathod or anode. However, at a definite pH, called isoelectric pH, they form inner salt or zwitter ions, at which they are least soluble and electrically neutral.

Why does the sky look blue from the earth and black from the moon?

A phenomenon called Rayleigh's Scattering causes light to scatter when it passes through particles that have a diameter one-tenth that of the wavelength (colour) of light. Sunlight is made Up of different colours, but because of the elements in the atmosphere, the colour blue is scattered more efficiently than other .^colours making the sky appear blue. However, the moon does not have an atmosphere, so light is not scattered, and the sky appears black.

What is a mud bath?

Mud from certain water sources is wrapped around body parts before a proper bath. This contains therapeutic value and cures some skin-related diseases, including psoriasis. Dead Sea in Israel is especially famous for mud baths, and attracts people from across the world.

What is a quadrillion?

Quadrillion is 1,000 trillion. It has a value in which 1 is followed by 15 zeros in Short Scale countries such as UK and USA. In Long Scale countries like some European nations, quadrillion is 1 followed by 24 zeros.

Why does the black box remain intact in an air crash?

Each aircraft is fitted with two pieces of equipment — Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) — that are designed to survive an air crash so that the data recorded helps investigators reconstruct events preceding the crash. FDR records values of about 700 parameters related to the flight and controls and CVR records conversations taking place in the cockpit. The data is recorded in a crash survivable memory unit and housed in a cylindrical casing made of three layers that can withstand extreme .heat, high impact and pressure. The black box is painted orange, not black, has reflective tape on its surface and is fitted with underwater locator beacon.

What is a wildscape?

It is a garden landscaped for wildlife — like frogs, garden snakes, birds and butterflies. Small wild animals visit a wildscape which provides food, water and shelter.

What is couch surfing?

Couch surfing is getting to know about other parts of the world through the internet. CouchSurfing is an international, non-profit network site that connects travellers with locals in over 230 countries around the world. Since 2004, members have been using the System for cultural exchange. Today, there are over a million couch surfers.

What are anticyclones? How are they caused?

An 'anticyclone' is opposite to a cyclone, in which winds move into a lowpressure area. In an anticyclone, winds move out from a high-pressure area with wind direction clockwise in the northern hemisphere, anti-clockwise in the southern hemisphere. Such a high pressure area is usually spread over a large area, created by descending warm air devoid of moisture. The absence of moisture makes the dry air denser than an equal quantity of air with moisture. When it displaces the heavier nitrogen and oxygen, it causes an anti-cyclone.

What is pink noise?

Pink noise, also known as 1/f noise, is a sound that has equal energy in all octaves. It primarily consists of low frequency sounds. Due to practical constraints, pink noise can be produced only over a certain range of frequencies and occurs naturally. Astronauts listening to electromagnetic radiation in outer space have noted it being emitted from certain stars. In biology, it is produced by the heartbeat and has shown up in DNA sequence statistics.

What is the quantum god effect?

Albert Einstein considered the idea of quantum entanglement, like much of quantum physics, to be ridiculous. The phenomenon asserts that two particles can be connected so that changes in one are instantly reflected in the other,, even if those two particles are light-years apart. Despite its strangeness. reports of entanglement have been well-documented. Known as 'the God effect', entanglement is an area of constant development because of its potential in real-life applications, making possible codes that are unbreakable, instant communication across distances, and teleportation.

How are the maximum and minimum temperatures of a place fixed?

Maximum and minimum temperatures are measured using thermometers mounted inside a wooden box with slits, called Stevenson's screen, which is generally kept facing north. The maximum thermometer is mercury-in-glass — as the temperature rises, the mercury expands and moves freely up a constriction in the thermometer. When air temperature drops, the constriction prevents the mercury from flowing back due to higher pressure, and gives the maximum reading. The minimum thermometer is alcohol-in-glass and is kept horizontally inside the box. As the temperature falls, the alcohol contracts and the index is dragged towards the bulb by the surface of the alcohol meniscus, giving the lowest, or minimum, temperature.

What is a dress rehearsal?

A dress or full dress rehearsal is the pre-final stage of an activity or event, and is performed to ensure that nothing goes wrong at the final event. The concept of dress rehearsal may apply, apart from performing arts, to business promotional programmes also.

Who is known as a cragger?

A cragger is a member of a carbon reduction, action group. Such a person is in terested in reducing her car bon footprint. The word has made it to the growing lexicon of green terms in the Collins Dictionary

What does the bitten apple in the apple computers logo signify?

The original was a quotation by Wordsworth, inscribed into the logo: 'Newton — a mind forever voyaging through strange seas of thought'. That was changed by designer Rob Janoff into a multi-coloured bitten apple —the 'rainbow apple' — to commemorate the discoveries of gravity (the apple) and separation of light (colours) done by Isaac Newton. Besides, Alan Turing, the father of modern computing, committed suicide using a cyanide-laced apple. In 1997, .Steve Jobs decided to replace this apple by a solid one.

What imparts fragrance to flowers, fruits and spices?

The fragrance in flowers, fruits and spices is due to the evaporation of certain volatile chemicals into the air. Flowers produce a scent which is a complex mixture of low molecular weight, with volatile compounds such as esters, is emitted into the atmosphere. No two floral scents are exactly the same because of these compounds. Plants pollinated by bees and flies have sweet scents, those pollinated by beetles have strong musty, spicy, or fruity odours.

What is the full form of spa?

SPA is an acronym originating during the Roman Empire, when battle-weary legionnaires found a way to recover from their military wounds and ailments. They sought out hot springs and built baths so they could heal their aching bodies; calling these places 'aquae' and naming the treatment there 'Sanus Per Aquam' (SPA) — meaning 'health by or through water'. During this period, the town Spa in Belgium wasfounded.

Why does an iron work only when it is hot?

An iron can be worked even when it's not hot. However, it becomes softer when heated, so working on cloth becomes easy. When iron, like any other metal, is heated, it absorbs energy which excites its molecules. This makes the metal softer. This property was known to ancient craftsmen and is used even today in producing iron implements.

What is the kanga?

Kanga (or khanga) is a popular traditional garment worn mostly by women of East Africa. Rectangular in shape, it has enough length and breadth to cover the body from neck to knee. It has bright, colourful designs and is worn as a wraparound dress by women on all occasions. Even men wear it, but only at home. White spots against a dark background, a common design, made it resemble the plumage of the guineafowl called kanga, and hence the name. Today, the kanga is to East Africa, what the sari is to India or the kimono to Japan.

What is brain roughage?

Brain roughage is information fed to the brain to chew on and digest, in digestible chunks. It is a term lifted from gastronomic language to liken the brain to the stomach, and is of very recent origin. Roughage is ingested to help in food digestion, and is considered good for the system, similarly brain roughage. Other such terms are information snacking and junk, as parallels for the brain. Roughage may be a little tough and needs some exercising to digest, but the grey cells need to work and think before absorbing the information.

What is an okapi?

The okapi is a mammal belonging to the giraffe family. Also known as 'forest giraffe', it is native to the Ituri rainforest in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa. The okapi lives a secluded life and was not discovered until 1900 by explorer Sir Harry Johnson. It is shorter than the giraffe and has stripes on the legs, reminiscent of the zebra. Okapis are herbivores; the name is a portmanteau of two Lese words, oka — a verb meaning to cut, and kpi — a noun referring to the design made on arrows by wrapping the arrow with bark so as to leave stripes when scorched by fire.

What is bee dancing?

Bee dancing is the circling and wag- ging movements made by worker bees to give other bees in the hive information about the location of a new source of food. Bees dance in a particular area in the comb: the dance floor. They perform a waggle dance, indicating that food is farther away, while the round dance indicates the food is nearby

How does an ant know its way home with no clues in a desert?

Experiments by German scientists on the Sahara desert ant, called cataglyphis fortis, have shown that the ant uses a method known as 'path integration' in its navigation. Path integration consists of measuring the extent of each turn, and remembering the direction of its nest, whenever the direction of its path changes, and then measuring the distance of travel in each direction.

What is the history of sudoku?

Sudoku was first designed in the 1970s by a retired architect and freelance puzzle constructor, Howard Garns.The puzzle was first published in 1979 in New York by Dell Magazines and was titled 'Number Place'. In 1984, the puzzle was introduced in Japan by puzzle magazine 'Nikoli' and titled 'Suuji wa dokushin ni kagiru' which in Japanese meant, "the numbers must occur only once". This was abbreviated to Sudoku; 'Su' meaning number and 'Doku' meaning single.

What are astroturf groups?

Astroturf refers to grassroots-based citizen groups or coalitions that are created and funded by corporations, trade associations, political interests or public relations firms. They use computer databases, telephone banks and hired organizers to rope less-informed activists into sending letters to elected officials or engaging in other actions that create the appearance of grassroots support for their client's cause.

What's hakkeijama sea paradise?

Located in Yokohama, Japan, the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise is an amusement park consisting of an aquarium, mall, hotel, marina and amusement rides. Also known as the 'Aqua Museum', it has thousands of varieties fish and other aquatic life forms, rides featuring sea animals, besides exotic gardens. It is a top attraction in Yokohama, besting even the temples and zoological gardens the area is known for.

What does bt in bt brinjal signify?

Bt brinjal, a genetically modified version of the common brinjal, is a transgenic vegetable created by inserting a gene (Cry lAc) from the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) into it. The insertion of the gene is said to give the brinjal plant resistance against insects like the brinjal fruit and shoot borer and fruit borer.

What is pascal's wager?

It refers to the argument put forward by famous French mathematician Blaise Pascal to help a person arrive at a decision on the existence of God. You'd better believe in God, Pascal argued, because if you are right, you stand to gain eternal bliss and if you are wrong, it won't make any difference, anyway. But if you don't believe in God, and turn out to be wrong, you are eternally damned, whereas if you are right, it makes no difference.

How did the dollar get its sign?

The symbol $ written before the numerical amount is used for the US dollar and many other currencies. The sign's actual origins are not certain, though it is possible it comes from the Pillars of Hercules, which flank the Spanish coat of arms on the Spanish dollars that were minted in the New World Mints. The Pillars of Hercules are in the form of two vertical bars and a swinging cloth band in the shape of an'S'. Another explanation is that the symbol for peso was the result of the abbreviation 'ps' —the p and s came to be written over each other, appearing like '$ '. Another possibility is that the dollar sign is capital letters U and S typed one on top of the other. This theory, popularized by novelist Ayn Rand in Atlas Shrugged, does not consider the fact that the symbol was in use before the formation of the United States.

What is the camel race track?

Camel racing is a deep-rooted traditional sport that finds its origins in the desert culture of the Arabian peninsula, North Africa, and West Asia. The UAE has 15 race tracks across the country Race distances can be 4-10 km and may include anywhere from 15-70 camels.

What is the atomic number of the element named after einstein?

The name of the element is 'Einsteinium', its symbol is Es and the atomic number is 99. Named in honour of Albert Einstein, it is the seventh transuranic element and does not occur naturally in any measura ble quantities. Einsteinium was first identified in December 1952 by Albert Ghiorso, with co-workers at the University of California, Berkeley, when he was examining debris from the first hydrogen bomb test of November 1952.

Why are south africans called the proteas?

The giant or King Protea, South Africa's national flower, is the largest of the proteas species, which make up an important part of the Cape Floral Region, a major global biodiversity hotspot and Unesco World Heritage site. The South African cricket team got its name from this flower with pink and yellow petals. Similarly South Africa's rugby team is called Springboks, which is the country's national animal.

What is a thumbo?

A thumbo is an error made while typing a text message on a mobile phone —basically a mix of thumb and typo. Typo is an old word which means a mistake made while typing. A related word is speako, used to indicate mistakes made while dictating text.

What is wingloading of an aircraft?

Mathematically, wingloading of an aircraft is the total weight of the aircraft (during take-off), divided by the span area of the wings. It is, thus, the weight carried by per unit area of the wing during flight. Wingloading is the most important factor while stress analyzing and designing an aircraft wing. The wing has to be strong enough to safely carry, the 'load' of the entire aircraft.

What is the difference between measles and german measles?

Both measles and German measles (rubella) are viruses. German measles is accompanied by a blotchy red rash. The patient sometimes suffers a slight cold prior to the appearance of the rash. German measles can be dangerous for pregnant women, who have no immunity for the virus. It is called German measles because it was German physicians who first described this disease. Mild upper respiratory affect, high temperature that can last for four days and conjunctivitis are some symptoms of measles.

What is a heat budget?

A heat budget is the perfect balance between incoming heat absorbed by earth and outgoing heat escaping it in the form of radiation. If the balance is disturbed, then earth would get progressively warmer or cooler with each passing year.

What does the warsaw convention signify?

The Warsaw Convention, which took place in Warsaw on October 12,1929, comprising experts in the field of aviation law from 31 nations, intended to create a legal framework that binds international aviation even today. Its regulatory issues consist of mandates covering carriers to issue passenger tickets, baggage checks for luggage, compensation amount and limitation period for claiming^ compensation. It was amended later at The Hague, in 1955, and in Montreal in 1999.

How did red indians get theirname?

Red Indian is an offensive term for a native North American. In North America, the term is now considered a racial slur. The use of the term Indian for the natives of the Americas originated with Christopher Columbus, who mistakenly believed that the Antilles were the islands of the Indian Ocean, known to Europeans as the Indies. Though Columbus's mistake was soon recognized, the name stuck, and for centuries the native people of the Americas were called Indians.

Who is a plastinator?

The art of plastination deals with preservation of organs, tissues and whole beings. Plastination, unlike preservation through formalin, involves a series of processes that replace the fluids in the tissues and organs by reactive plastics such as silicon rubber, epoxy resin and polyester resin, in a special vacuum process. This achieves the same objective as formalin, which is to prevent decay, and also retains the natural colour and texture of the specimen. Gunther von Hagens, research assistant at the Institute of Anatomy and Cellular Biology at the University of Heidelberg, in 1978, accidentally stumbled upon using plastics to preserve anatomical specimens.

What is a pity bonus?

Even with economic restrictions, companies are finding ways to pay the big bosses with incentives and discretionary bonuses. 'Pity bonus' is one such sum given to a CEO who fails to qualify for a big payout because of the downturn. Boards of companies make special concessions to award such incentives. CEOs may not be taking home good salaries, but the bonuses make up for the losses.

What is the maastricht discipline?

The term refers to conditions that all countries of the European Union had to adhere to while adopting the Euro as a common currency. To do so, the countries had to show that their economic condition was stable and their fiscal deficit did not exceed 3%. Initially, Poland and some other countries did not join because of their poor growth rate.

What is an ouija board? How does it work?

Modern Ouija boards were developed by William Fuld who sold his patent to the Parker Brothers in 1966. The Ouija Board has evolved from a mindreader to a portal of communication with spirits. It is a small board with letters, numbers from 1 to 9 and words like 'Yes' and 'No'. 'Out' and 'ja' mean, 'yes' in French and German respectively. A heart-shaped plastic planchette or pointer held at the fingertips is used to navigate letters or numbers to spell words, in answer to questions asked to the spirits.

What is the origin of orkut?

'Qrkut' is believed to be of Turkish originand is a common name among men. The person who created the famous online community site www.orkut.com was a Google employee, Orkut Buyukkokten. He reportedly lost his girlfriend in a train accident but believed that she was not dead and that he could find her. Orkut hired developers from across the globe to develop a software to search for her on the web. After spending three years and millions of dollars, he found her. He decided to shut down the site, but the CEO of Google took over the application, though Orkut gets paid for each login!

How does a jukebox operate?

A jukebox is a semi-automatic electro-mechanical music playing device that works on a coin-operated system — a person can select music of his choice by pressing certain numbers. The original design of the jukebox contained a rack of records in vertical slits with numbers designated to each record.

How does a cricketer get inducted into the icc hall of fame?

Taking cue from sports bodies around the world, the ICC and Federation of International Cricketers' Associations launched the 'Hall of Fame' as part of the centenary year celebrations. Initially, 55 cricketers — from Richie Benaud to Sunil Gavaskar — were inducted. The inductees received a Fame cap. The elected members also get a chance to recommend other cricketers as inductees. The new players are announced every year.

How are card structures built?

US card stacker Bryan Berg, 35, made it into the Guinness World Records and then recently broke his own record by building the largest house of free-standing playing cards. The architect successfully created a replica of the Venetian Macau with 2,18,792 cards. These cards are stacked without glue or tape. His method has been tested to support 660 Ibs per square foot. The secret is that cards are placed like grids or honeycombs.

Who is a vegangelical?

A fanatic vegetarian out to convert non-vegetarians. The word vegangelical comes from vegan and evangelical. A vegangelical is someone who thinks that any other lifestyle choice besides veganism is wrong. The word usually used in the West, first made its appearance in print in 2003.

What is silhouette photography?

Silhouette photography is the technique of taking a photograph so the subject appears like a black outline against a bright background. The light should not be too bright or too dull and most of these photographs are taken with the rising or setting sun as the background.

What is baryogenesis?

It is a branch of physics concerned with how baryons were originally formed. Baryons are a family of subatomic particles a

Dr. Ashok Kumar Sharma, M.A.(History); Certificate in Taxidermy(Madras); Certifate in Library Science (TOPPER-ML Sukhadia Uni. Udaipur,(Rajasthan) INDIA. Hobby: Cricket; Postal Stamp Collection and Collection of Quotations since 1981.


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