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User: danbert8

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  1. Re:Freakin' Riders. on Incandescent Bulbs Get a Reprieve · · Score: 1

    There is always a pressure differential between the inside and outside. Don't know what pressure they put in the bulbs (probably less than atmospheric), but even if they put in atmospheric pressure, there is going to be a difference because you aren't at the same elevation, weather conditions are different, and because pedant. Wouldn't surprise me if they put in .25 atm or something of the inert gas just to save on the amount of gas they need... They probably do a value calculation of the relative cost of the inert gas vs the extra glass for strength to determine the pressure inside the bulb and the glass thickness.

  2. Re:Freakin' Riders. on Incandescent Bulbs Get a Reprieve · · Score: 1

    Mathematical formulas you get: http://electronicdesign.com/energy/what-s-difference-between-watts-and-volt-amperes
    Also Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_factor

    You are missing the power factor and the difference between instantaneous current and voltage and RMS current and voltage.

  3. Re:Freakin' Riders. on Incandescent Bulbs Get a Reprieve · · Score: 1

    Wattage is voltage times amperage, but it isn't really that simple with AC as it is with DC. The wattage is the more accurate number to use. The current fluctuates with the voltage. The wattage is the averaged out power consumption.

  4. Re:Freakin' Riders. on Incandescent Bulbs Get a Reprieve · · Score: 1

    I don't think modern incandescent bulbs use a vacuum to protect the filament. I think for safety reasons and to minimize the thickness of the glass they went to using inert gases to fill the inside of the bulb and protect the filament.

  5. Re:Took them long enough... on Federal Judge Rules Chicago's Ban On Licensed Gun Dealers Unconstitutional · · Score: 2

    Agreed, people who think gun bans will make us safer haven't heard about how many people do drugs even though those are banned already.

  6. Re:Global warming. on Helicopter Rescue For All Passengers Aboard Antarctic Research Ship · · Score: 1

    I'd consult with a climate scientist, but apparently they are trapped in antarctic ice...

  7. Re:Sure they will on Mars One Selects Second Round Candidate Astronauts · · Score: 2

    Except it doesn't work that way. The spacecraft doesn't move in a straight line and while mars and earth might be that close instantaneously, the rocket will need to head for where mars WILL be when they get there. They want to launch to minimize travel distance and time, not minimize the distance between the two planets.

  8. Re:Right On on Snowden Says His Mission Is Accomplished · · Score: 1

    You are very incorrect. Third party voting in a close election is the strongest vote. If R and D are nearly the same, it's not much of a spoiler effect because we are doomed anyway. Forcing a major party to lose because a 3rd party took enough votes is EXACTLY what it will take to change the policies of the major party. Obama and Romney were ideologically the same. I voted Gary Johnson because he had better executive experience and record than either of them and actually had policies that made sense. If he had managed to pull enough votes from either side to upset the election, then this next election cycle Republicans and Democrats would start catering or at least paying some lip service to libertarian ideas.

  9. Re:Right on Huge Pool of Ice-Free Water Discovered Under Greenland Ice · · Score: 1

    Not necessarily, Europa doesn't have the internal heat of the earth (though it probably does have a significant amount) and definitely doesn't get as much energy from the sun yet there is liquid water under the ice. Pressure does change the temperature at which water will turn to ice.

  10. They address that on their website. 1) It's not a clear coating, it creates a frosted appearance so wouldn't be usable where you need clarity and 2) it's not very durable... When I applied it to some test pieces it worked great for about 2 days and then was just about worthless. Might still be waterproof, but stuff didn't bead up anymore.

  11. Re:Cool, about time for some windshield wiper tech on Next-Gen Windshield Wipers To Be Based On Jet Fighter "Forcefield" Tech · · Score: 1

    Notice you can't buy the cheap blades anymore? Car manufacturers got in bed with the wiper manufacturers and created new proprietary connectors that are brand specific so you have to buy the premium blades that come with adapters. The cheap blades come with the former standard metal clip that worked simply and perfectly and was not in need of replacement.

  12. Re:Ah the memories on Doom Is Twenty Years Old · · Score: 5, Funny

    Bah, why isn't there an undo mod command. I accidentally hit underrated instead of overrated. Now I have to reply, lose a mod point, and can't mod anymore in this thread. Oh and so I have a relevant comment: iddqd I AM INVINCIBLE TO YOUR MODS!

  13. Re:Genitalia on Moon Express Unveils Next Moon Lander · · Score: 2

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B4suxQVUAQ

    That looks just like an enormous... WANG, pay attention!

  14. Re:First sentence is broken on Moon Express Unveils Next Moon Lander · · Score: 2

    Unless you consider the astronaut's hopping footsteps to be repeated controlled landings until the last few steps when the left the surface...

  15. Re:amazing indeed on World's Largest Ship Floated For the First Time · · Score: 1

    BLEVEs usually occur when a pressurized container is heated (usually by fire). The LNG may stay liquid at cold temperatures and atmospheric pressure, but if the container is heated, it will pressurize and boil and can cause a BLEVE just as LPG would. Water can cause a BLEVE if heated sufficiently. Also heating has the double whammy of boiling the liquid and weakening the steel, both making BLEVEs due to fire more likely.

  16. Re:amazing indeed on World's Largest Ship Floated For the First Time · · Score: 1

    You are correct, it likely wouldn't go off like a bomb or a fertilizer plant since there is no oxidizer for it. You wouldn't likely get one big rupture anyway, just a leak that would spew out high pressure natural gas which would rise pretty quickly. With an ignition source you'd probably end up with a very nice flare that would slowly enlarge the hole until either a BLEVE or the vessel ran out of fuel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_liquid_expanding_vapor_explosion

    I will admit, due to the lightness of natural gas, the flare would go upward and make a BLEVE unlikely, but it is still a risk depending on the configuration of the vessel and the location of the flare. Even if the natural gas doesn't all burn, the expansion of the boiling liquefied gas is enough to destroy the whole vessel and probably eject the material miles away.

  17. Re:Just drive there on Gov't Puts Witness On No Fly List, Then Denies Having Done So · · Score: 1

    Ok so Hawaii has one... What about Alaska? Oh wait, aside from a few sections of controlled access highway (in Anchorage, Wasilla, and Fairbanks), Alaska is expresswayless. Technically the roads are still funded through the interstate system, but they aren't exactly highways. From Wikipedia:

    Currently, all Interstates in Alaska are unsigned [3] and are not generally referred to by their highway numbers. In fact most Alaskans are unaware of those numbers.

    Most of the lengths of the Interstates in Alaska are not constructed to Interstate Highway standards, but are small, rural, two-lane, undivided highways. Title 23 provides that "Highways on the Interstate System in Alaska and Puerto Rico shall be designed in accordance with such geometric and construction standards as are adequate for current and probable future traffic demands and the needs of the locality of the highway."

    Picture of an Alaskan Interstate: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/Glenn_Highway_and_Mount_Drum.jpg/800px-Glenn_Highway_and_Mount_Drum.jpg

  18. Re:amazing indeed on World's Largest Ship Floated For the First Time · · Score: 1

    More for the life in the air and on land than the stuff in the water. A spill of LNG would boil pretty rapidly and gas off primarily methane into the atmosphere. Methane is lighter than air, so it would quickly rise and lead to an increase in the greenhouse effect until broken down. GLOBAL WARMING ALARM!!!

    Unless there is an ignition source... In that case, BOOM!

  19. Re:At least... on Tesla Faces Off Against Car Dealers In Another State: Ohio · · Score: 2

    The libertarian ideal is "move everything to the individual level" but failing at that we attempt to get it to the local level, and failing at that, the state level. Basically the smaller number of constituents to politician ratio, the more power the individual has.

  20. Re:In the USA on Science Museum Declines To Show Climate Change Film · · Score: 1

    Changes in CO2 concentration were also too small to detect in early history too. Are you saying that because it's too small to measure that it's insignificant?

  21. Re:Complex topics? on Science Museum Declines To Show Climate Change Film · · Score: 1

    Yep, that's the real attitude that sparks debate. The science is settled. Sit down and eat it you deniers you!

  22. Re:In the USA on Science Museum Declines To Show Climate Change Film · · Score: 1

    Point number 0) in your list should be: The amount of light coming from the sun is not constant and cannot be predicted nor affected. Disagree? Please explain and show your work.

  23. Re: Power on Where Does America's Fear Come From? · · Score: 1

    There are many rewards for feeding the starving poor. Norman Borlaug is probably the biggest winner in that respect. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug

    Monsanto catches a lot of crap nowadays, but is greatly interested in increasing agricultural production. Sadly most of the gains we've made recently in increasing crop production have gone to stupid things like ethanol production which would go away under capitalist circumstances, but I digress.

  24. Re:America's fear comes from... on Where Does America's Fear Come From? · · Score: 1

    I think he's trying to say that Fox News is one of the very few conservative biased news sources whereas the liberal biased media sources are so common the average viewership of each individual station is less than Fox News on the whole. Which isn't really supporting any actual argument at all, merely pointing out that a population spread into more groups generally causes smaller groups.

  25. Re: Power on Where Does America's Fear Come From? · · Score: 1

    Capitalism rewards giving people what they want. Hard work has nothing to do with it, nor luck or cunning. Marketing can affect what people want, but at the end of the day you make money by exchanging goods and services with people. If nobody wants it, you aren't going to make money. Please note that what people say they want is not necessarily what they actually want.