[Non-political] News that makes you Laugh/Cry/Both...

[tzor]

BY the way, in case you are into Twitter and you are into space, seriously, follow Nancy Atkinson
@Nancy_A Illinois
Senior Writer and Editor for Universe Today, Project Manager for 365 Days of Astronomy, Host of NLSI podcast & a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador.
http://www.nancyatkinson.com

If you just want to see the cool pictures, you can also
follow Phil Plait
@BadAstronomer Boulder
Astronomer, author, skeptic, father, punster. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy

[Cynic]

Really, this isn't news but aside from making another topic, I figured this topic could work.

Instructables.com is a great site for DIY projects. I love the site. I have several different projects that I would love to try. Now this is another one. Use Nuclear Fission as a coffee table piece. Screw Cern. You don't need the Large Hadron collider*.
DIY Electron accelerator

* Yes, I know the LHC does more than this machine. I also know that this isn't a small scale LHC.

[tzor]

I just saw this on twitter ... Photo Exhibition Held at a Shipwreck 93 Feet Deep in the Ocean.

[Maj]

As a person who spent a lot of time watching Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer on repeat with her younger siblings, I am pleased to announce that the planet Spectra has been found!!

International Business Times[/url] {OK, Big-Ass Diamond, Astronomy}]The Largest Diamond is ... an Entire Planet?

Researchers have found an exotic planet made completely of diamond, orbiting an even more exotic star relatively close to Earth.


Swinburne Astronomy Productions - An artist's conception of the pulsar PSR J1719-1438 (bright dot, center) and the Jupiter-mass planet that orbits it (smaller dot, with the orbit traced by a dashed line).

The new planet is more dense than anything observed before, and is made almost entirely of carbon. Because the molecules are so tightly packed together, researchers calculate that it must be crystalline in nature, making it effectively diamond.

The study was led by Professor Matthew Bailes of Swinburne University of Technology in Australia and published in the journal Science.

"The evolutionary history and amazing density of the planet all suggest it is comprised of carbon -- i.e., a massive diamond orbiting a neutron star every two hours in an orbit so tight it would fit inside our own Sun," said Bailes.

The team first detected an unusual pulsating star, called a pulsar, lying some 4,000 light years away. Pulsars are tiny, dead neutron stars that are only about 12 miles in diameter and spin hundreds of times a second, emitting beams of radiation.

Astronomers said only two of the 1,800 known pulsars concealed planets and it's the first diamond planet ever seen.

In the case of this pulsar -- named called PSR J1719-1438 -- irregular movements in the beams clued scientists in that there was a companion planet orbiting the pulsar, tipping them off to the existance of the diamond planet.

Researchers said the planet, which orbits its star every two hours and 10 minutes, has slightly more mass than Jupiter but is 20 times as dense, Bailes and colleagues reported in the journal Science on Thursday.

In addition to carbon, the new planet is also likely to contain oxygen, but the density suggests that the lighter elements of hydrogen and helium, which are the main constituents of gas giants like Jupiter, aren't present.

While all the findings suggests the planet to be a massive diamond, precisely what it looks like up close is still a mystery.

"In terms of what it would look like, I don't know I could even speculate," said Ben Stappers of the University of Manchester. "I don't imagine that a picture of a very shiny object is what we're looking at here."

"It's highly speculative, but if you shine a light on it, I can't see any reason why it wouldn't sparkle like a diamond," Travis Metcalfe of the National Center for Atmospheric Research told New Scientist.

The team comprised of scientists from Australia, Germany, Italy, the UK and the U.S. made the discovery by using a 64-meter radio telescope in Parkes, Australia.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

I'm not sure, but I'm assuming that anything alive that got that close to a pulsar would be crispy, I'm assuming. Still, that's pretty cool.

[Josh_Kablack]

I'm not sure, but I'm assuming that anything alive that got that close to a pulsar would be crispy, I'm assuming. Still, that's pretty cool.

Apparently 10 light years is "close" enough for that sort of thing.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

I like space. IT seems like every time we look, we find out something like no one could have imagined.

[angelfromanotherpin]

I like space. IT seems like every time we look, we find out something like no one could have imagined.

No-one could have... dude, Maj referenced Spectra right at the top of her post.

[CatharzGodfoot]

I like space. IT seems like every time we look, we find out something like no one could have imagined.

No-one could have... dude, Maj referenced Spectra right at the top of her post.

Also Sagan. Of course.

There is a place with four suns in the sky-red, white, blue, and yellow; two of them are so close together that they touch, and star-stuff flows between them. I know of a world with a million moons. I know of a sun the size of the Earth-and made of diamond....The universe is vast and awesome, and for the first time we are becoming part of it.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

Is it really necessary to pwn me right now? I'm just curious, I thought what I said was mostly harmless.

[Chamomile]

We have a quota.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

Ah, makes sense. There's been considerably less sperg-rage on these forums than usual.

[Chamomile]

Sperg-rage?

[Count Arioch the 28th]

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Sperg

[CatharzGodfoot]

Is it really necessary to pwn me right now? I'm just curious, I thought what I said was mostly harmless.

You don't have to take everything personally. Sometimes people like to brag about their erudition without wanting to rain on your parade at all.

[Datawolf]

Is it really necessary to pwn me right now? I'm just curious, I thought what I said was mostly harmless.

You don't have to take everything personally. Sometimes people like to brag about their erudition without wanting to rain on your parade at all.

To be fair, this is the Gaming Den, where posters insult each other constantly. It's all part of the charm, really.

[tzor]

I think someone in another thread mentioned an eighth grader. Well are you smart enough to be an 8th grader? Hoew about one from a few centuries ago? I just got this from a friend in the mail.

This is the eighth-grade final exam from 1895 in Salina , Kansas , USA . It was taken from the original document on file at the Smokey Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina , KS , and reprinted by the Salina Journal.

8th Grade Final Exam:
Salina, KS, 1895

Grammar (Time, one hour)

1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.
2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.
3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph
4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of "lie", "play", and "run."
5. Define case; illustrate each case.
6. What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.
7 - 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.

Arithmetic (Time, 65 minutes)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.
2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?
3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1050 lbs for tare?
4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?
5. Find the cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.
6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.
7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per meter?
8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.
9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?
10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided
2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus .
3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.
4. Show the territorial growth of the United States .
5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas . < /STRONG>
6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.
7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?
8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, and 1865.

Orthography (Time, one hour) (Do we even know what this is???)

1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, and syllabication.
2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?
3. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, sub vocal, diphthong, cognate letters, and lingual.
4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u.' (HUH?)
5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e.' Name two exceptions under each rule.
6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.
7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi-, dis-, mis-, pre-, semi-, post-, non-, inter-, mono-, and sup-.
8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.
9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.
10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)


1 What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?
2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas ?
3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?
4. Describe the mountains of North America
5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia , Odessa , Denver , Manitoba , Hecla , Yukon , St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco .
6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.
7. Name all the republics of: Europe and give the capital of each.
8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?
9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.
10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.

Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete. Gives the saying "he only had an 8th grade education" a whole new meaning, doesn't it? This also shows you how poor our education system has become... and, NO! I don't have the answers

[Doom]

Nah, don't believe it. We've already established in this forum that people knew nothing in the 19th century, just sat around and banged rocks together all day.

[RobbyPants]

I thought that looked familiar. Snopes lists it as false.

[Koumei]

Every 30-odd years, they have to "re-normalise" IQ tests, because so many people score what previously would have been 120-140. Note that the average IQ is by definition 100.

This means that someone who scored a 100 say, 60 years ago, would technically qualify as legally retarded, such that they can avoid the death penalty in the US. There are even lawyers who will use this to try to save their clients, pointing out "Look, he has IQ 80 which means you can fry him, but remember, that was taken 40 years ago. Re-calculating that brings it below 70, so he should just get life without parole."

I'm sure you've met people over 60 years old who are smart, and you would certainly not qualify them as retarded.

So what does this mean? That the IQ thing is very confusing for everyone, and most "how much does/did/should a person know" tests really don't do well if you try to apply them to different places/time periods. I mean, let's go back 200 years and ask people about when the moon landing occurred or about anything based off Einstein's discoveries.

So on an individual level, it's tricky. We probably are more knowledgeable (if not by much) than our peers 100 years ago, though I won't speak for other aspects of intelligence. On a society level? There's no question, people as a whole are getting smarter and knowing more (due to the fact that any given smart person can add knowledge into the pool for others to utilise or improve on, and individuals who don't add anything... just don't add anything, they don't cause information erosion for society - with the possible exception of Rupert Murdoch).

[Chamomile]

And it's not like Rupert Murdoch's got some kind of negative IQ that's draining the world by its very existence, either. He's just a supervillain bent on turning the entire population of the world into docile and obedient cattle, possibly so he can hunt us free range.

[Draco_Argentum]

The maths is trivial, merely reliant on outdated units of measure. I was learning volume of solids and trig in grade 8.

[Doom]

I thought that looked familiar. Snopes lists it as false.

To be fair, if you read the Snopes discussion fully, Snopes doesn't say it's so much 'false' as 'unfair', students today know many more ways to be offended, for example, which isn't even a topic on that test.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

The test is for 8th grade TEACHERS, not STUDENTS.

[violence in the media]

I don't know why we're pointing to those feeble-minded 19th century data parrots as paragons of learning and intellect, what with their reliance on writing. REAL educated people commit EVERYTHING to memory and pass on the whole of knowledge through oral tradition.

[/Socrates]