Clearing up some common misconceptions.

[Thaluikhain]

Aside from the logistical nightmare or rather impossibility of mining something as dense as black hole or keeping it somewhere that is not how fission or fusion works. Gravity is weak because it is weak as to compare it to video games dual wielding Klobbs still doesn't make them a decent gun.

Fusion works when the gravity in a star compresses Hydrogen to Helium and then the heat assists in this or we heat things really hot and then they can fuse more easily. That is a simplification though. Black Holes just suck everything into its super dense self so I don't see how this would aid in fusion.

I think the point was that a blakc hole might seem very impressive, but a total mass conversion using the same amount of mass would be much more so.

...

Oh, there's a lot about nuclear weapons.

Duck and cover, sticky tape on the windows ect aren't worthless ideas, if you are far enough away from the point of initiation to have any chance of survival, it will significantly improve your chances.

A single device (of the size generally around today) isn't initiated at a random point in a city to destroy it, it's used on a particular part to destroy something specific, leaving most people and buildings more or less intact.

To spread the destruction over a larger area, you initiate the device high in the air, the energy isn't wasted digging a big hole in the ground (unless there's something underground you don't like). You also get less fallout that way, there's less stuff in the fireball to become radioactive.

Several small devices are more cost effective than one big one. Bigger ones are useful if you aren't going to get the device anywhere near the target, they allow you to hit even if you miss by a lot, but that's not such an issue today.

Um...Oh, an anti-missile system doesn't have to shoot down that many missiles to be effective, the enemy knows you've got one and has to send multiple missiles at targets it needs to be certain of, meaning missiles that do get through will be wasted on destroying already destroyed targets.

Nuclear war couldn't destroy the world, only the world as we know it. Humanity (in some numbers) would survive if society did not.

Oh, and they aren't going to be used any time soon.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Aside from the logistical nightmare or rather impossibility of mining something as dense as black hole or keeping it somewhere that is not how fission or fusion works. Gravity is weak because it is weak as to compare it to video games dual wielding Klobbs still doesn't make them a decent gun.

Fusion works when the gravity in a star compresses Hydrogen to Helium and then the heat assists in this or we heat things really hot and then they can fuse more easily. That is a simplification though. Black Holes just suck everything into its super dense self so I don't see how this would aid in fusion.

I think the point was that a blakc hole might seem very impressive, but a total mass conversion using the same amount of mass would be much more so.

Right maybe I read it wrong but if that is what s/he meant to say that would make more sense.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Fusion works when the gravity in a star compresses Hydrogen to Helium and then the heat assists in this or we heat things really hot and then they can fuse more easily. That is a simplification though. Black Holes just suck everything into its super dense self so I don't see how this would aid in fusion.

Hint: why do we use pressure cooking? So water has a higher boiling Temperature

We wouldn't have to use so much energy to ignite the fusion. So far we have only done it by starting fission first.

Don't quote someone in an edit they will never get it. I only got it because someone else quoted me.

No have not only done it by using fission first. That is what a hydrogen or fusion bomb is.

Here is one way. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muon-catalyzed_fusion] If you want skip the article and go citations it is probably better. A pressure cooker has nothing to do with getting fusion to work with a Black Hole.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Space is a vacuum. Some parts are warm, because they cant pass their heat on. If you were stuck in space, you wouldnt freeze to death but die of overheating since your bodyheat woud have nowhere to go.

You do dissipate heat trough infra-red radiation. But we are definitely not the best radiation emitters so the amount of energy dissipated is very low.

Oh, hang on, if you were to find yourself suddenly in a vacuum, you'd probably have to be somewhere with an atmosphere before that, right?

Now, if some of the atmosphere goes into the vacuum with you, wouldn't it absorb heat from its surroundings (yourself included) as it expands? Not necessarily instantly freezing you solid or whatever, but you'd still lose heat.

 

[OneCatch]

Oh, there's a lot about nuclear weapons.
{Snip}

Along similar lines:

"Radiation is always bad"

No, no it isn't. We eat radioactive [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_equivalent_dose] stuff, we breathe radioactive stuff [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radon_gas#Natural] and we are constantly bombarded by radioactive stuff [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_ray]. We're adapted to it. Hell, we need [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Background_radiation#Radiation_inside_the_human_body] some radioactive stuff to function!

It's excessive dosage by certain types of radiation that can cause problems, not radiation itself. If you inhale pure radon, you'll get lung cancer. If you go waltzing inside a reactor core (good luck with that [http://fallout3.nexusmods.com/downloads/images/2619-1-1231048010.jpg]), yeah, you're gonna die. But day to day, you really don't need to worry about nuclear reactors or power lines.

Yet whenever you say the word "radioactive" to someone, they panic like you've told them you've just injected them with Ricin. They won't believe you if you say that most pilots get higher radiation doses from the fucking sun than a nuclear reactor worker gets in a year.
Or if you say that a single CT scan give you a greater dose than if you'd been right next to 3 mile island [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_Mile_Island_accident].
Or if you tell them that a banana a day increases your yearly dose by the same amount as one and a half chest x-rays.
I mean christ, a lightbulb is radioactive if you use the strictest sense of the word (it radiates a bit of visible light and a whole lot of infrared).

People go absolutely apeshit over nuclear power stations, saying that they're toxic or whatever, while eating Tesco Value foods that are absolutely saturated in preservatives and pesticides and colourants and animal antibiotics and fuck knows what else (Note that I'm not anti-preservative, but they still pose slightly more of a cumulative risk than a nuclear power station next door).

And don't get me started on the "Powerlines give you cancer" bastards [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-350946/Confused-risk-power-lines.html]. The single stupidest healthscare since the MMR vaccine. They haven't even decided what causes the supposed cancer. First they say it's radiation (see above), then they say that it's electric fields, then they say that it's magnetic fields, and then they get some hippy to say "I always feel really drowsy when I go near the mast, THINK OF MY CHILDREN [http://www.emwatch.com/PowerLines.htm]".
I was reading a newspaper the other day that had a whole page dedicated to telling me that the magnetic fields from powerlines and phones cause cancer. And then, right next to it on the other page, was an advert for magnetic bracelets that are apparently a veritable panacea for everything from arthritis to blood circulation, and a cancer cure to boot. Have a look at this [http://www.magneticbracelet.co.uk/magnetherapy.html#magdef] website on 'magnetic therapy' if you want a really good laugh.
It's all utter horseshit, but people believe it, despite the fact that it was thought of in the late 70's and there's still been no conclusive evidence to support it.

So, to conclude; radiation may be invisible, but it's by no means only man-made, and unless you happen to be really unlucky, it's not gonna kill you. Go worry about some other environmental catastrophe that might actually need solving and if you happen to work for the daily mail, quit scaremongering (yeah, I know, pigs will fly over a frozen hell first)

Also; This is a lovely chart of relative radiation doses that enables you to come up with useful, informed comparisons with various types of radiation does. It comes with sources and disclaimers, which is more than most anti-nuclear hystericists do.

http://xkcd.com/radiation/

And xkcd is great, go buy something from the store!

/rant

 

[Thaluikhain]

Spoiler: snip

Oh, there's a lot about nuclear weapons.
{Snip}

Along similar lines:

"Radiation is always bad"

No, no it isn't. We eat radioactive [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_equivalent_dose] stuff, we breathe radioactive stuff [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radon_gas#Natural] and we are constantly bombarded by radioactive stuff [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_ray]. We're adapted to it. Hell, we need [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Background_radiation#Radiation_inside_the_human_body] some radioactive stuff to function!

It's excessive dosage by certain types of radiation that can cause problems, not radiation itself. If you inhale pure radon, you'll get lung cancer. If you go waltzing inside a reactor core (good luck with that [http://fallout3.nexusmods.com/downloads/images/2619-1-1231048010.jpg]), yeah, you're gonna die. But day to day, you really don't need to worry about nuclear reactors or power lines.

Yet whenever you say the word "radioactive" to someone, they panic like you've told them you've just injected them with Ricin. They won't believe you if you say that most pilots get higher radiation doses from the fucking sun than a nuclear reactor worker gets in a year.
Or if you say that a single CT scan give you a greater dose than if you'd been right next to 3 mile island [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_Mile_Island_accident].
Or if you tell them that a banana a day increases your yearly dose by the same amount as one and a half chest x-rays.
I mean christ, a lightbulb is radioactive if you use the strictest sense of the word (it radiates a bit of visible light and a whole lot of infrared).

People go absolutely apeshit over nuclear power stations, saying that they're toxic or whatever, while eating Tesco Value foods that are absolutely saturated in preservatives and pesticides and colourants and animal antibiotics and fuck knows what else (Note that I'm not anti-preservative, but they still pose slightly more of a cumulative risk than a nuclear power station next door).

And don't get me started on the "Powerlines give you cancer" bastards [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-350946/Confused-risk-power-lines.html]. The single stupidest healthscare since the MMR vaccine. They haven't even decided what causes the supposed cancer. First they say it's radiation (see above), then they say that it's electric fields, then they say that it's magnetic fields, and then they get some hippy to say "I always feel really drowsy when I go near the mast, THINK OF MY CHILDREN [http://www.emwatch.com/PowerLines.htm]".
I was reading a newspaper the other day that had a whole page dedicated to telling me that the magnetic fields from powerlines and phones cause cancer. And then, right next to it on the other page, was an advert for magnetic bracelets that are apparently a veritable panacea for everything from arthritis to blood circulation, and a cancer cure to boot. Have a look at this [http://www.magneticbracelet.co.uk/magnetherapy.html#magdef] website on 'magnetic therapy' if you want a really good laugh.
It's all utter horseshit, but people believe it, despite the fact that it was thought of in the late 70's and there's still been no conclusive evidence to support it.

So, to conclude; radiation may be invisible, but it's by no means only man-made, and unless you happen to be really unlucky, it's not gonna kill you. Go worry about some other environmental catastrophe that might actually need solving and if you happen to work for the daily mail, quit scaremongering (yeah, I know, pigs will fly over a frozen hell first)

Also; This is a lovely chart of relative radiation doses that enables you to come up with useful, informed comparisons with various types of radiation does. It comes with sources and disclaimers, which is more than most anti-nuclear hystericists do.

http://xkcd.com/radiation/

And xkcd is great, go buy something from the store!

/rant

Oh, fucking hell that is annoying, yeah. Though, I'd personally say that the "vaccines cause autism" health scare was worse than the powerlines/cancer one.

Oh, add vaccines cause autism to the list. Honestly, some celebrity says it so it must be true? And fucking Oprah letting her make it into a big thing, there's blood on both of them.

 

[OneCatch]

Space is a vacuum. Some parts are warm, because they cant pass their heat on. If you were stuck in space, you wouldnt freeze to death but die of overheating since your bodyheat woud have nowhere to go.

You do dissipate heat trough infra-red radiation. But we are definitely not the best radiation emitters so the amount of energy dissipated is very low.

Oh, hang on, if you were to find yourself suddenly in a vacuum, you'd probably have to be somewhere with an atmosphere before that, right?

Now, if some of the atmosphere goes into the vacuum with you, wouldn't it absorb heat from its surroundings (yourself included) as it expands? Not necessarily instantly freezing you solid or whatever, but you'd still lose heat.

TBF, I think you'd run out of air first

But seriously, from what I remember reading (and this was years ago) a person won't freeze or boil instantly in a vacuum. I think that you dry out pretty quick because any liquid (from eyes, nose, mouth and the skin) boils off, so you essentially get flash frozen. It's not all that fast though, and it's not due to temperature changes, it's because of the low pressure. Remember pV = nKT; counter-intuitive things happen at weird pressures and temperatures. That's how cloud chambers [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_chamber#Structure_and_operation] work.
The other thing that was thought to be potentially dangerous about being in space without a suit was actually sunburn. The suns light is an awful lot stronger outside of the atmosphere, which is why astronauts have those funny gold visors, and it could blind you (or possibly overheat you) if you were caught out of the shadows.

Without the sun temperature doesn't really play a part though. The liquids boiling off you would keep you cool enough in the short term to counteract the insulative properties of a vacuum. When you run out of liquids, you get very hot, but there's nothing left for the heat to boil.

 

[OneCatch]

Spoiler: snip

Oh, there's a lot about nuclear weapons.
{Snip}

Along similar lines:

"Radiation is always bad"

No, no it isn't. We eat radioactive [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_equivalent_dose] stuff, we breathe radioactive stuff [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radon_gas#Natural] and we are constantly bombarded by radioactive stuff [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_ray]. We're adapted to it. Hell, we need [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Background_radiation#Radiation_inside_the_human_body] some radioactive stuff to function!

It's excessive dosage by certain types of radiation that can cause problems, not radiation itself. If you inhale pure radon, you'll get lung cancer. If you go waltzing inside a reactor core (good luck with that [http://fallout3.nexusmods.com/downloads/images/2619-1-1231048010.jpg]), yeah, you're gonna die. But day to day, you really don't need to worry about nuclear reactors or power lines.

Yet whenever you say the word "radioactive" to someone, they panic like you've told them you've just injected them with Ricin. They won't believe you if you say that most pilots get higher radiation doses from the fucking sun than a nuclear reactor worker gets in a year.
Or if you say that a single CT scan give you a greater dose than if you'd been right next to 3 mile island [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_Mile_Island_accident].
Or if you tell them that a banana a day increases your yearly dose by the same amount as one and a half chest x-rays.
I mean christ, a lightbulb is radioactive if you use the strictest sense of the word (it radiates a bit of visible light and a whole lot of infrared).

People go absolutely apeshit over nuclear power stations, saying that they're toxic or whatever, while eating Tesco Value foods that are absolutely saturated in preservatives and pesticides and colourants and animal antibiotics and fuck knows what else (Note that I'm not anti-preservative, but they still pose slightly more of a cumulative risk than a nuclear power station next door).

And don't get me started on the "Powerlines give you cancer" bastards [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-350946/Confused-risk-power-lines.html]. The single stupidest healthscare since the MMR vaccine. They haven't even decided what causes the supposed cancer. First they say it's radiation (see above), then they say that it's electric fields, then they say that it's magnetic fields, and then they get some hippy to say "I always feel really drowsy when I go near the mast, THINK OF MY CHILDREN [http://www.emwatch.com/PowerLines.htm]".
I was reading a newspaper the other day that had a whole page dedicated to telling me that the magnetic fields from powerlines and phones cause cancer. And then, right next to it on the other page, was an advert for magnetic bracelets that are apparently a veritable panacea for everything from arthritis to blood circulation, and a cancer cure to boot. Have a look at this [http://www.magneticbracelet.co.uk/magnetherapy.html#magdef] website on 'magnetic therapy' if you want a really good laugh.
It's all utter horseshit, but people believe it, despite the fact that it was thought of in the late 70's and there's still been no conclusive evidence to support it.

So, to conclude; radiation may be invisible, but it's by no means only man-made, and unless you happen to be really unlucky, it's not gonna kill you. Go worry about some other environmental catastrophe that might actually need solving and if you happen to work for the daily mail, quit scaremongering (yeah, I know, pigs will fly over a frozen hell first)

Also; This is a lovely chart of relative radiation doses that enables you to come up with useful, informed comparisons with various types of radiation does. It comes with sources and disclaimers, which is more than most anti-nuclear hystericists do.

http://xkcd.com/radiation/

And xkcd is great, go buy something from the store!

/rant

Oh, fucking hell that is annoying, yeah. Though, I'd personally say that the "vaccines cause autism" health scare was worse than the powerlines/cancer one.

Oh, add vaccines cause autism to the list. Honestly, some celebrity says it so it must be true? And fucking Oprah letting her make it into a big thing, there's blood on both of them.

Yeah, at least the powerline scare hasn't actually killed anyone, it's just devalued a couple of houses! What astounds me is that anyone took it seriously. The guy's experiment was a joke. Even HE thought it wasn't conclusive, What is it with the media and science reporting?

 

[Thaluikhain]

TBF, I think you'd run out of air first

But seriously, from what I remember reading (and this was years ago) a person won't freeze or boil instantly in a vacuum. I think that you dry out pretty quick because any liquid (from eyes, nose, mouth and the skin) boils off, so you essentially get flash frozen. It's not all that fast though, and it's not due to temperature changes, it's because of the low pressure. Remember pV = nKT; counter-intuitive things happen at weird pressures and temperatures. That's how cloud chambers [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_chamber#Structure_and_operation] work.
The other thing that was thought to be potentially dangerous about being in space without a suit was actually sunburn. The suns light is an awful lot stronger outside of the atmosphere, which is why astronauts have those funny gold visors, and it could blind you (or possibly overheat you) if you were caught out of the shadows.

Without the sun temperature doesn't really play a part though. The liquids boiling off you would keep you cool enough in the short term to counteract the insulative properties of a vacuum. When you run out of liquids, you get very hot, but there's nothing left for the heat to boil.

Yeah, unfiltered sunlight leaves you instantly and permanently blind.

I'm not saying you'll instantly freeze (people have survived vacuums), just that you will lose heat...how can you be flash frozen without it happening all that fast, though?

Also, why do you get hot, does the body continue to produce heat once you've suffocated after a few minutes?

 

[Dasick]

atheists = satanists. this is a clear misconception that many religious people tend to use. we cant be satanist, we dont believe satan exist either.

Atheistic Satanism [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satanism#Atheistic.2FDeistic_Satanism] uses Satan as an allegory for ego, meaning you "worship" yourself and what makes you feel good.

So, many atheists actually do fall under that definition of Satanism.

Also, metal != satanism. A surprising number of metal artists are Christian, enough that Christian Metal is a genre with sub-genres in it.

 

[HDi]

The word 'myriad' can be used as a noun or an adjective.

To say "myriad of something" is fine.


http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myriad

 

[OneCatch]

Spoiler

TBF, I think you'd run out of air first

But seriously, from what I remember reading (and this was years ago) a person won't freeze or boil instantly in a vacuum. I think that you dry out pretty quick because any liquid (from eyes, nose, mouth and the skin) boils off, so you essentially get flash frozen. It's not all that fast though, and it's not due to temperature changes, it's because of the low pressure. Remember pV = nKT; counter-intuitive things happen at weird pressures and temperatures. That's how cloud chambers [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_chamber#Structure_and_operation] work.
The other thing that was thought to be potentially dangerous about being in space without a suit was actually sunburn. The suns light is an awful lot stronger outside of the atmosphere, which is why astronauts have those funny gold visors, and it could blind you (or possibly overheat you) if you were caught out of the shadows.

Without the sun temperature doesn't really play a part though. The liquids boiling off you would keep you cool enough in the short term to counteract the insulative properties of a vacuum. When you run out of liquids, you get very hot, but there's nothing left for the heat to boil.

Yeah, unfiltered sunlight leaves you instantly and permanently blind.

I'm not saying you'll instantly freeze (people have survived vacuums), just that you will lose heat...how can you be flash frozen without it happening all that fast, though?

Also, why do you get hot, does the body continue to produce heat once you've suffocated after a few minutes?

I've just realized I've got my terms mixed up. When I said flash frozen, I meant freeze drying [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeze_dried]. My bad, sorry for the confusion!

I'm running on the assumption that running out of air isn't a problem (maybe the guy has scuba gear or something). If the person dies instantly from asphyxiation then they aren't going to produce additional heat. They act as any other inert object, and will gradually radiate residual heat away when in shadow, and absorb heat from the sun when in the light.

Hypothetically, if they weren't killed from asphyxiation, their body would produce heat faster than it could radiate it. We mammals aren't very good at radiating excess body heat, that's why we rely on sweat and conductive heat loss (basically, wind chill). The evaporation of liquids from the surface would temporarily cool the body by taking heat energy with it, and this cooling might be enough to cause death. Once the liquid ran out (and it would fairly quickly) the body would overheat and die, if it hadn't died already.

 

[darksakul]

Clearing up some common misconceptions.

Assuming that freedom of speech equals freedom to be listen to and understood.
And freedom of speech without backlash.

Why should we care enough to observe your opinion or even take the time to listen?

Excuse me as I eat an entire heard of Wilder beast

 

[OneCatch]

atheists = satanists. this is a clear misconception that many religious people tend to use. we cant be satanist, we dont believe satan exist either.

Atheistic Satanism [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satanism#Atheistic.2FDeistic_Satanism] uses Satan as an allegory for ego, meaning you "worship" yourself and what makes you feel good.

So, many atheists actually do fall under that definition of Satanism.

Also, metal != satanism. A surprising number of metal artists are Christian, enough that Christian Metal is a genre with sub-genres in it.

LaVey-style Satanism also contains a healthy dosage of mysticism and incorrectly appropriated pagan ritualism as well, so it's a bit simplistic to call it 'Atheistic Satanism'.
Frankly (and I don't mean any offense to any Satanists who are around) LaVey Satanism is egoism with a fair bit of anti-abrahamic trolling and some nihilism thrown in.

It's not specifically atheistic any more than say, utilitarianism is.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

The story about the guy who took acid and then thought he was an orange and started to peel himself is a lie. There are variations that he was worried people would peel him or thought he was a glass of orange juice and would do everything stood straight up.

Acid also doesn't do shit to your spinal fluid and it doesn't give you flashbacks or make him see what you saw during your trip, that ones a medical phenomenon. Yeah, I know a little bit about acid, I was on the list of misconceptions about drugs page yesterday and the LSD one was the funniest.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I've got one for all the religious wackbags. The Theory of Evolution does not discount the possibility of there being some sort of God! It does discount the whole Garden of Eden thing, but let's be honest that's really rather creepy when you think about it. It kinda gives me the insatiable urge to start chewing on a piece of wheat while strumming a banjo if you get me drift.

 

[Xaio30]

Atheism is the default position for any living being.
It has nothing to do with Evolution or the Big Bang.
It is the lack of faith in the existence of one or more deities.
The majority of Buddhists are Atheists by definition.

 

[Krion_Vark]

If there's anything people eat too much of it's carbohydrates. They're one of the worst things you can eat, it's akin to eating pure fat.

Here's Canada's national food health guide, America's guide is pretty much the exact same.

That's right, the food group proven to be worse for your health than any other, is the same food group your government is telling you to eat lots of. It's one of the reasons why obesity has climbed so high in the past 50 or so years, people simply became convinced that bread is very healthy and that you should eat lots of it.

It's not like people actively follow the food guides, but when it's clearly telling you that eating a bunch of bread is actually a little better for you than eating a bunch of vegetables, you're going to get the impression that bread is some godly health food.

Our governments were simply convinced by the wrong group of scientists who came to the wrong conclusions, and nobody has ever bothered to change the food guides to comply with modern knowledge.

YOU SHALL NEVER TAKE MY PEANUT BUTTER FROM ME!!

Sorry got a bit defensive there.

How about this one. Just because you are not white does not mean that you cannot be racist. Yeah had someone come into my school and say that racism is the majority putting down the minority so by that definition only white people can be racist. I almost left but then I would have been suspended. But really I hated that person that they had come in.

 

[Woodsey]

The everyday use of the word "theory" is not the same as the scientific definition. So yes, evolution is a theory, but it is not 'just' a theory, it is also a fact. Whether you like that or not is irrelevant.

By extension, there is no great debate amongst scientists regarding creationism vs. evolution.

Both of these seem to be rather large misconceptions in certain, frighteningly large communities.

Oh, and atheism is not a religion, for the hundredth fucking time.