is there anything you ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW?

[freedomclub]

It seems in terms of energy (electric, solar, nuclear, whatever)

Why haven't they found a way to harness the ocean's tidal flows?
Why haven't they found a way to harness a volcano's heat?

 

[preacha]

It means that something is cheap and abundant. Hyundai excels are a dime a dozen for example.

It usually has negative conotations. I would never get a Hyundai Excel because they're a dime a dozen for example.

It can also just mean that something is overly abundant. Emo kids these days are a dime a dozen for example.

stop bagging out emo
modern emo isnt true emo
i feel like a fucking dick saying 'true emo' as if it's a genre, but geez

 

[lostpunk5545]

I'm not bagging out emo. I'm bagging out emo kids.

I like bands like Weezer too.

freedomclub:

They have found a way to harness a volcano's heat:

Volcanic energy cannot be harnessed (controlled and collected), but in a few places heat from the earth, called geothermal energy, can be collected. Usually, engineers try to collect this heat in the rare places where the Earth's crust has trapped steam and hot water. Here, they drill into the crust and allow the heat to escape, either as steam, or as very hot water. Pipes carry the hot water to a plant, where some of the steam is allowed to "flash," or separate from the water. That steam then turns a turbine - generator to make electricity.

Image of a geothermal power plant. The Power Plant gets steam from a production well. The well gets steam from a geothermal reservoir. The used steam goes to an injection well that reinjects the fluid into the geothermal reservoir. Geothermal energy was first used to produce electricity in Italy in 1903. At the end of 2004, there were 43 power plants producing electricity from geothermal energy in the USA. Most of these are located in California and Nevada; Utah has two geothermal plants and Hawaii, formed by volcanic eruptions, has one. Generation from geothermal sources is therefore "site specific," meaning it's only possible in a few places under unique geologic conditions. One such site in California, called The Geysers, can produce almost as much electricity as all the other geothermal sites combined.

Geothermal energy can be used as an efficient heat source in small end-use applications such as greenhouses, but the consumers have to be located close to the source of heat. The capital of Iceland, Reykjavik, is heated mostly by geothermal energy.

Geothermal energy has a major environmental benefit because it offsets air pollution that would have been produced if fossil fuels were the energy source. Geothermal energy has a very minor impact on the soil - the few acres used look like a small light-industry building complex. Since the slightly cooler water is reinjected into the ground, there is only a minor impact, except if there is a natural geyser field close by. For this reason, tapping into the geothermal resources of Yellowstone National Park is prohibited by Law.

Source

Further reading - Wikipedia: Geothermal Power

There is also a way to harness tidal flows:

Tidal power is a means of electricity generation achieved by capturing the energy contained in moving water mass due to tides. Two types of tidal energy can be extracted: kinetic energy of currents between ebbing and surging tides and potential energy from the difference in height (or head) between high and low tides. The former method - generating energy from tidal currents - is considered much more feasible today than building ocean-based dams or barrages, and many coastal sites worldwide are being examined for their suitability to produce tidal (current) energy.

One method of extracting tidal energy involves building a barrage and creating a tidal lagoon. The barrage traps a water level inside a basin. Head is created when the water level outside of the basin or lagoon changes relative to the water level inside. The head is used to drive turbines. In any design this leads to a decrease of tidal range inside the basin or lagoon, implying a reduced transfer of water between the basin and the sea. This reduced transfer of water accounts for the energy produced by the scheme.

Tidal power is classified as a renewable energy source, because tides are caused by the orbital mechanics of the solar system and are considered inexhaustible within a human timeframe. The root source of the energy comes from the slow deceleration of the Earth's rotation. The Moon gains energy from this interaction and is slowly receding from the Earth. Tidal power has great potential for future power and electricity generation because of the total amount of energy contained in this rotation. Tidal power is reliably predictable (unlike wind energy and solar power). In Europe, Tide Mills have been used for nearly 1,000 years, mainly for grinding corn.

The efficiency of tidal power generation in ocean dams largely depends on the amplitude of the tidal swell, which can be up to 10 m (33 ft) where the periodic tidal waves funnel into rivers and fjords. Amplitudes of up to 17 m (56 ft) occur for example in the Bay of Fundy, where tidal resonance amplifies the tidal waves.

Wikipedia: Source and further reading

Currently there is also experimental devices in testing to harness wave power:

State of the art methods

Existing wave power devices are categorized by the method used to capture the energy of the waves, by the intended location, and by the power take-off. Method types are wave power point absorber, occupying a small area; wave power attenuator, occupying a line parallel to wave propagation; and wave power terminator, occupying a line perpendicular to wave propagation. Locations are shoreline, offshore, and deep water. Types of power take-off include these: hydraulic ram, elastomeric hose pump, pump-to-shore, hydroelectric turbine, air turbine, and linear electrical generator.

Systems include oscillating water column, articulated pontoon, wave pump, anchored buoy, fixed buoy, and overtopping reservoir. Several of these designs incorporate parabolic reflectors as a means of increasing the wave energy at the point of capture.

These are descriptions of some wave power systems:

* A pontoon lying in the water is driven by wave action to push or pull a generator. (See Pelamis Wave Energy Converter.)
* Wave action compresses air in a tunnel which drives the vanes of a generator.
* A device called CETO, currently being tested off Fremantle, Western Australia, has a seafloor pressure transducer coupled to a high-pressure hydraulic pump, which pumps water to shore for driving hydraulic generators or running reverse osmosis desalination.
* Waves overtop the side of a reservoir, and the water in the reservoir runs hydroelectric generators. (See Wave Dragon wave energy converter)

Source and further reading - wikipedia

So there you go. These are just 3 of a shitload of different methods that can and are being used to create power in a sustainable manner. The real question is why we're still using fossil fuels when we're facing such dire climatic problems. And the answer is: MONEY! Arbitrary numbers made up by the rich elite to make sure they never actually have to work, and yet can have anything they want.

 

[elevhein]

So there you go. These are just 3 of a shitload of different methods that can and are being used to create power in a sustainable manner. The real question is why we're still using fossil fuels when we're facing such dire climatic problems. And the answer is: MONEY! Arbitrary numbers made up by the rich elite to make sure they never actually have to work, and yet can have anything they want.

I was listening to trusty ABC radio (the real ABC radio, the AM kind) and they were saying that off the coast of WA there are MASSIVE tidal shifts that could be converted into quite the source of power. The only problem? No one lives anywhere near these areas, and the transportation of the power then becomes more hassle than it's worth (if the could get it to where it's needed at all, like over populated cities such as Melbourne!).
Shit, we could really do with some of their water too!

Now that's no reason to not keep looking for alternate methods.

 

[katmeow]

What is 'true emo' music?

 

[lostpunk5545]

This excerpt kind of sums things up but read the whole Wikipedia entry for the full scoop.

Emo (music)


Emo is a subgenre of hardcore punk music. Since its beginning, emo has come to describe several independent variations, linked loosely but with common ancestry. As such, use of the term (and which musicians should be so classified) has been the subject of much debate.

In its original incarnation, the term emo was used to describe the music of the mid-1980s Washington, DC scene and its associated bands. In later years, the term emocore, short for "emotional hardcore", was also used to describe the DC scene and some of the regional scenes that spawned from it. The term emo was derived from the fact that, on occasion, members of a band would become spontaneously and strongly emotional during performances. The most recognizable names of the period included Rites of Spring, Embrace, One Last Wish, Beefeater, Gray Matter, Fire Party, and, slightly later, Moss Icon. The first wave of emo began to fade after the breakups of most of the involved bands in the early 1990s.

Starting in the mid-1990s, the term emo began to reflect the indie scene that followed the influences of Fugazi, which itself was an offshoot of the first wave of emo. Bands including Sunny Day Real Estate and Texas Is the Reason put forth a more indie rock style of emo, more melodic and less chaotic in nature than its predecessor. The so-called "indie emo" scene survived until the late 1990s, as many of the bands either disbanded or shifted to mainstream styles.

As the remaining indie emo bands entered the mainstream, newer bands began to emulate the more mainstream style, creating a style of music that has now earned the moniker emo within popular culture. Whereas, even in the past, the term emo was used to identify a wide variety of bands, the breadth of bands listed under today's emo is even more vast, leaving the term "emo" as more of a loose identifier than as a specific genre of music.

 

[pl4yer0ne]

I was listening to trusty ABC radio (the real ABC radio, the AM kind) and they were saying that off the coast of WA there are MASSIVE tidal shifts that could be converted into quite the source of power. The only problem? No one lives anywhere near these areas, and the transportation of the power then becomes more hassle than it's worth (if the could get it to where it's needed at all, like over populated cities such as Melbourne!).
Shit, we could really do with some of their water too!

Now that's no reason to not keep looking for alternate methods.

Its hard to get electricity (referred to as "juice" from now on) to travel long distances because it gets wasted as heat and shit. Thats why the high voltage lines are used for moving it around long distances because volts and amps and everything are connected so you can crank up the volts to 50000 (which is what the high volt lines are) and lower the current to keep it equated. With lower current less juice is wasted as heat and stuff. Then they transform it back to lower volts and higher current nearer to your home.
So it is unfeasable to transmit lots of juice over a large distance because it gets wasted before it gets there. Also maintenance and stuff is very expensive in remote areas.

This is all off the top of my head so may contain fragments of distruth. sorry.

 

[MoeBro]

^^truth.
that sim city style microwave transmission method would be fuckin awesome though.
we should try that.

 

[PsYcHoBuNnY]

^^^ while we're on it, lets get something simpler like perpetual motion happening

 

[MoeBro]

Where do you get your explanations of simpler and microwave transmission from?

 

[UnSquare]

You gotta turn disasters off tho...
Ever had a microbeam hit yo' city.

It's chaos, dude.

 

[lostpunk5545]

Ok I could probably find out a bit more about this if I research further but a basic google search hasn't answered this question. Is it possible to catch two colds at once?

I know that colds are caused by something like two hundred different viruses. But my speculation is telling me that they must evolve or change in some way for the body not to eventually just get immune to them. Therefore if there is different strains of the particular viruses (this is just my speculation) is there any reason why you could not be afflicted by two different strains at the same time? Or maybe affected by by two of the different viruses at the same time?

I assume if you were, you wouldn't feel any worse than having a single cold because your body would be fighting them both at the same time.

 

[preacha]

because it doesn't get colder than cold

except maybe 'ice cold'

but then the question would be 'what's cooler than being cool?'

word son

 

[miss_goody2shoes]

bumpidy-bump

I got thinking today (whoa clear out kids).....if "there's more than one way to skin a cat" then how many are there exactly???
And even tho I probably don't really want to know, what are these ways?

 

[lostpunk5545]

It's just an expression You're not supposed to think about it any deeper than that stoner!

 

[miss_goody2shoes]

^^ I know it's only an expression but I was still putting it out there. Like "a dime a dozen" is also an expression, none of us know historically what that was based on, whether you could actually buy a dozen something in particular for a dime.
And "stoner" !? wtf....I ain't no stoner don't even do pot. Is this following on from m4dd0g implying I was???
(maybe I gotta stop dumbing myself down....)

 

[zephyr]

^You e-tard then you!

Im bored so I checked this out. It depends on where you are from as to what it actually means.

Q] From Mike Reilly: “Anything interesting in the origin of There’s more than one way to skin a cat?”

[A] To a lexicographer, all phrases are interesting, it’s just that some of them are more interesting than others ...

There are several versions of this saying, which suggests that there are always several ways to do something. Charles Kingsley used one old British form in Westward Ho! in 1855: “there are more ways of killing a cat than choking it with cream”. Other versions include “there are more ways of killing a dog than hanging him”, “there are more ways of killing a cat than by choking it with butter”, and “there are more ways of killing a dog than choking him with pudding”.

Mark Twain used your version in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court in 1889: “she was wise, subtle, and knew more than one way to skin a cat”, that is, more than one way to get what she wanted. An earlier appearance is in ’Way down East; or, Portraitures of Yankee Life by Seba Smith of about 1854: “This is a money digging world of ours; and, as it is said, ‘there are more ways than one to skin a cat,’ so are there more ways than one of digging for money”. From the way he writes, the author clearly knew this to be a well-known existing proverbial saying. In fact, it is first recorded in John Ray’s collection of English proverbs as far back as 1678.

Some writers have pointed to its use in the southern states of the US in reference to catfish, often abbreviated to cat, a fish that is indeed usually skinned in preparing it for eating. However, it looks very much from the multiple versions of the saying, their wide distribution and their age, that this is just a local application of the proverb.

The version more than one way to skin a cat seems to have nothing directly to do with the American English term to skin a cat, which is to perform a type of gymnastic exercise, involving passing the feet and legs between the arms while hanging by the hands from a horizontal bar. However, its name may have been suggested by the action of turning an animal’s skin inside out as part of the process of removing it from the body.

source

Not sure how many ways there are to skin a cat but here are some suggestions:

1. knife.

2. shard of glass.

3. small explosives.

4. teeth.

5. the power of prayer.

6. can opener.

7. unzip from neck to navel.

8. set a series of short-term easily attainable goals, resulting in skinned cat. accomplish goals.

9. peer pressure, "all the cool cats are getting skinned"

10. whittle it off.

11. give cat post-hypnotic suggestion to get skinned every time it hears the phrase "is it hot in here?" later, say phrase.

12. rent instructional cat skinning video, study carefully, and apply what you learn.

13. tell cat pleasant tale about a young boy who loves fruit. while cat is distracted by story, quietly, gently remove skin.

14. use your super samurai slice action!

15. try the classic 'toothpaste tube' method.

16. centrifugal force.

17. suddenly and severely frighten cat. try sneaking up and clapping cymbals.

18. marry cat. divorce cat. take cat to court for half of skin. (repeat for full skin)

19. allow cat to evolve beyond need for skin.

20. huff and puff and blow his skin off.

21. offer your own skin in trade. welch on deal.

22. vote yes on proposition 98. (the cat skinning law)

23. procrastinate. wait until it's almost to late. promise to skin cat tomorrow. forget. (this method works for me)

24. find a way to make cat so angry that it's skin falls off. (this method requires much persistence)

25. if in a horror movie, dream about cat getting skinned. wake up to discover cat was really skinned!!

26. try some sort of skinning machine.

27. change definition of skin to mean "read" and change cat to mean "this sentence"

28. press cat's eject button.

29. travel forward in time to sometime after you've already skinned cat. get skin and return to present time. triumph!

30. remove tab a(skin attachment) from tab b. (get it? tab b... tabby. never mind, this is way over your head)

31. next time you're cleaning 'accidently' use your powerful new suck-o-lux vacuum to remove cat's internal organs.

32. ask nicely to 'borrow' skin for just a moment.

33. dare cat to get skinned. if that fails, double dare it. finally, as last resort, triple dog dare it.

34. approach cat with scissors, assuring it you will only be doing some minor alterations to it's skin.

35. run in the opposite direction at the speed of light. (nobody knows why, but it works)

36. wait until opposite day and then don't skin cat.

37. write screenplay containing scene where cat gets skinned. get screenplay produced. perform skinning scene.

38. next time cat removes skin to clean bones, swipe!

39. invite cat to play strip poker. cheat.

40. destroy entire universe except for cat's skin.

41. simply click your heels together three times and say "there's no cat like a skinned cat"

42. tie one end of string to doorknob, other end to cat's skin. slam door.

43. wait until cat gets stuck in tree. call fire department to rescue it. tell them "only rescue the skin part"

44. lie and say you already skinned cat. grow to believe lie.

45. perhaps a clever skin inspector costume might pull the trick.

46. accuse cat of murder. collect skin as evidence.

47. using a magnetic hypersonic resonance decapacitor, deplete invisible bond holding together cat's skin molecules.

48. flood the cat out of it's skin, in the same way you'd flood a gopher out of a hole.

49. set phasers to 'skin' and fire when ready!

50. let someone else do it.

source

So theres at least 50 ways. Maybe this would make timely yum cha discussion next time we go

 

[Naughtiest_Maximus]

I know that colds are caused by something like two hundred different viruses. But my speculation is telling me that they must evolve or change in some way for the body not to eventually just get immune to them. Therefore if there is different strains of the particular viruses (this is just my speculation) is there any reason why you could not be afflicted by two different strains at the same time? Or maybe affected by by two of the different viruses at the same time?

I assume if you were, you wouldn't feel any worse than having a single cold because your body would be fighting them both at the same time.

Isn't the fear of a bird flu pendemic based around the possibilty of someone with one of the many strains of flu virus contracting bird flu allowing those 2 viruses to exchange information which would then allow for human to human transmission. If that's the case would it stand to reason that you can catch 2 different strains of what causes the common cold at the same time?

 

[lostpunk5545]

And "stoner" !? wtf....I ain't no stoner don't even do pot. Is this following on from m4dd0g implying I was???
(maybe I gotta stop dumbing myself down....)

I was just joking. I don't smoke weed very often but when I do I wig really intensely about things that probably don't need that much thinking about

 

[miss_goody2shoes]

^^ hehe yeah I know you were.
Seems I don't need pot to ponder about rather irrelevant things haha.

thanks for the info zephyr, those 50 suggestions will uhh sure come in handy.
n "e-tard" ? .....yeh I 'll pay that hahaha. nah actually I've been good lately

I should know something about the potential to catch 2 colds/viruses at once given I did virology but umm I must of been away the day all that was discussed.
always saying in response to medical or microbiological related things..."yeah I should know that but..."
tsk tsk tsk