Golgi Apparatus

1 very well known song, and 2 obscure ones. The first needs little introduction. Apparently Torry through she'd made a mess of it, and only realized they used her voice when she bought The Dark Side of the Moon from a record store. Needless to say, it's a stunning work.

The Coil song is odd, and is actually a cover of the opening credits of the sitcom 'Are You Being Served?' It should be complete bollocks, as the lyrics are ridiculous - yet it works incredibly well. The interpretation is so riveting that you can't help but be carried away with it, and it ends up being terribly poignant and abstract. To me at least.

The last track is the most difficult listen, and ugly in parts. It's certainly primal. But the emotion and passion is relayed in a very genuine way - none of it seems forced or artificial. It's the antithesis of all the insincere pop warbling you can find on your popular radio stations. A singly powerful piece; try and last the duration.

So, which do you find the most astonishing?

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***1) The Great Gig in the Sky - Pink Floyd

-- As sung by Clare Torry (vocal begins at 1:05)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqCEPytSFqU

***2) Coil - Going Up

-- As sung by François Testory (vocal begins at 3:45)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztdatfUEW94

***3) Max Roach - Triptych: Prayer/Protest/Peace

-- As sung by Abbey Lincoln (throughout)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMaUDAeiSIY

Well, I didn't see this coming, but it's a fine idea in my view. Interesting that they specifically want a long-term couple to reduce adverse psychological effects as much as possible. It's ambitious too - they want to get there by 2018 if funding can be found. Given that the story will attract much media attention, it might also attract the necessary contributors.

I don't really have any specific questions as such, I'm just open to your comments. Actually, I do have some specific questions: Firstly, do you like the idea? Do you think it is possible? And if so, will it be successful? Uh...and would you are your significant other volunteer for it?

Sources:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-2160...

http://www.inspirationmars.org/

I stole this question while browsing a recent answer by the user Nyx:

'...the really interesting question is why Andromeda, which has about twice the mass as the Milky Way, is coming towards us, not the other way around.'

Interesting. Any data suggesting why this is so? Could Andromeda just happen to be speeding towards us, perhaps due to wider gravitational forces? Or could our estimate of the mass of the Milky Way be skewed and incorrect in some way...after all, we are internal observers.

Thanks in advance.

Pluto now has 5 known moons. Could there be many more - or even a tenuous ring system?

I'm supremely excited for the New Horizons arrival in 2015 and I can't wait to see some high resolution photos of Pluto and her moons for the first time ever. Let's just hope it doesn't get smashed to smithereens by some rogue asteroid.

...at least that is the thrust of this BBC article, published today:

"We'd essentially be saying there's a new force of nature being communicated by the particle. We know that there's four forces: electromagnetism, gravity, and the strong and weak nuclear forces. This would be the fifth; every freshman physics class would have to change their textbooks."

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-1300...

This is a bold claim. The article mentions that there is only a 0.1% chance of a statistical anomaly in the data, but I don't understand how this constitutes to a new fundamental force of nature, as opposed to just the discovery of a new particle. Can anyone clarify this?

Additional pondering: if the Higgs Boson is discovered (not related to the above article), then would that also signal a new fundamental force of nature, or would it just sit snugly in the Standard model?

Cheers.

The Schwarzschild radius of the Earth is just 9mm.

Do people have enough mass to compress into a black hole? Just curious.

For info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwarzschild_radius

This is a question more aimed at vegans than vegetarians, who by nature are more discerning in what they are willing to eat.

Mushrooms are fungi. Fungi, somewhat surprisingly, are actually more closely related to animals than plants.

For most people I'm sure this is a non-issue, but I know some Vegans are extreme in their views.

What I mean is - how easy are the planets of our own solar system to spot using radial velocity techniques from some other solar system in the Milky Way?

4 gas giants would count in our favour, yes? Or are we too indistinct to be spotted?

...such as Trinity Church, Antarctica?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_Church,_Antar...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ypgkeREw2w

^ I really love these pieces by Górecki, although the second movement is clearly played too fast in this rendition.

What I'm looking for is something with a brooding introduction (like part I above), perhaps followed by a very strong, more upbeat rhythmic section (like section II above), then perhaps once again reverting back to the former brooding, lurching, mood (like part III above). Not specifically in this order, but this sort of overall feel.

Something like Olivier Messiaen? I'm not too sure. Any suggests would be welcomed.

This is a serious question. Firstly, a quick note. 'Eskimo' is a contemptuous name meaning 'eater of raw flesh', and so I will be referring to the people with their correct indigenous title, Inuit. They are, as we shall see, far more advanced the Western notion of a primitive people huddled in a single-room Igloo (Igloos are often many-roomed structures of an intricate and efficient design).

So, why are Inuits suitable candidates? See below:

*** Inuits have a different system of orientation to other peoples so the world. Often, there is no clear distinction between the horizon, the sky, and the ground in a heavy white-washed snowscape. Inuits have developed an omni-directional sense because of this, and are extremely adept at orientation puzzles, such as the nine-dot problem. Inuit perspective is so advanced they can comfortably read in any direction, often upside down, and even adorn the Igloo walls with pictures hung askew, or upside down. Such amazing orientation skills are unique in the world and would undoubtedly help in zero-gravity on the long months to Mars and back.

*** Inuits often have an amazing mechanical aptitude and retentive memories. This is another product of conditioning to extremely harsh conditions at the edge of survival. Inuits from Greenland in particular must memories distant, subtle landmarks to navigate from Igloos to hunting or fishing ground, lest they perish in exposure. They also test for the salinity of the air, moisture changes, or other minuscule stimuli to navigate.

Their mechanical aptitude is a recent revelation, but Inuits can intricately repair damaged engines with the most basic of tools, that Canadian engineers (specially flown in) are sometimes unable to fix. The abilities come from various parts of the Inuit culture, where manual dexterity is learned at an early age in the fashioning if small objects, together with an heightened sense of spacial-awareness. Such engineering applications are of course important to any long space journey.

What do you think?

They contain all 7 foods of Deuteronomy 8:8, you know. Behold! -

http://timesonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorize...

A fantastic idea, to be honest. I want one. The website that sells them is full of ludicrous claims, such as 'Our research strongly indicates that God cites these seven foods both for their spiritual as well as nutritional benefits.' LOL at spiritual benefits. Is it still spiritual after passing through the gastro-intestinal system? Website below, pretty entertaining read:

http://www.cliffscott.com/bible_bar.htm

I must be missing something painfully obvious.

But if electrons and quarks (and their constituent doppelgangers, the positrons etc.) are truly the most fundamental building blocks of nature, then through what medium does the electromagnetic force 'travel' through? Surely a force must move through some medium in order to have its influence felt.

I then thought that I was imagining this wrong, that electron clouds gyrate randomly, and deflect off the nucleus if they get too close. But then what is to stop them from pinging off into space? The pulling force of electromagnetism from the nucleus has to be 'communicated' in some way between the atomic nucleus and the distant electron clouds. But how?

A question not to be taken too seriously perhaps, but let's have at it!

So: if we remove the pigment of the skin, mutate the rusty heme of the blood, saturate the purple stains of mitochondria, and many other genetic dilutions, so that no colored or pigmented cells remain, could I create a ghoul-like translucent human being?

If not, why not? Which would be the hardest coloured body system to neutralize, dilute, impede, or destroy?

I heard that most cellular structures are colourless, but Mitochondria are purple and rend themselves a deeper hue when straining to produce ATP. This was the inspiration to this rather odd question.

All answers appreciated.

Go!

What do I mean by this? Perhaps I mean the doctor (sorry, forget name), who, specializing in cystic fibrosis, 'invented' a new type of effective cough for his patients to dislodge mucous, as well as a machine - a mechanical vest - for a similar purpose - to kneed the chest and lungs and clear airwaves. He also put his patients in a special tent infused with beneficial vapors. This, among his many other radical treatments, extended the lives of CS sufferers by many years compared to those under the treatment of other standard physicians.

What do you think? Is medical innovation normally shunned in this increasingly litigious and standardized world? Or is there scope for the odd bit of clinical experimentalism?

Theists: do you think you will ever have a 'love of death'?

One of the central characters of War & Peace, Pierre, is approached by a Rhetor of the sacred order of the Freemasons. In order to join, Pierre must observe these masonic virtues:

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'These virtues were: (1). Discretion, the keeping of the secrets of the Order. (2). Obedience to those of higher ranks in the Order. (3). Morality. (4). Love of mankind. (5). Courage. (6). Generosity. (7). The love of death.

"In the seventh place, try, by the frequent thought of death," the Rhetor said, "to bring yourself to regard it not as a dreaded foe, but as a friend that frees the soul grown weary in the labors of virtue from this distressful life, and leads it to its place of recompense and peace." '

- War & Peace, Volume II, part ii, p. 357.

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A standard affair up to virtue 7. What do you make of this? Do you feel that you could ever embrace death as a beautiful event - even the death of a loved one? What does your scripture say about this?

The answer is:

639 years!

The concert started in the year 2000, and is a mere 9 years old. It will continue for another 630 years. You can read more about it here:

http://www.john-cage.halberstadt.de/new/index.php?...

I would like to hear your thoughts on this project. I personally think it is a stupid idea - in one section of the concert, there won't be a chord change for 71 years! I also think it is of limited cultural and artistic merit. But by browsing the above website it is clear a lot of people take it very seriously. So, what do you make of it all? (You can listen to the concert under the 'notes and tones section' of the above website.).

Also, what how long did you expect the longest concert would be before you clicked into this question?

Ie, the act of reading, not what you read.

Do you read while walking down the street?

While cooking?

In the bath?

In a nightclub?

On the toilet?

While intoxicated?

Underwater?

Upside-down?

From across the room?

You get the idea.

There are more than 80 recorded spellings of Shakespeare, including 'Shaxberd' and 'Shappere'. Christopher Marlowe's only remaining signature is signed 'Christopher Marley,' and he was registered at Cambridge as 'Christopher Marlen'.

Even one of the first dictionaries from 1604 - 'A Table Alphabeticall [sic] of Hard Words' - spells 'words' differently on the front cover, both as 'words' and 'wordes'. (See below):

http://www.uni-due.de/SHE/Table_alphabeticall_2.jp...

Why!?

It has nothing to do with dyslexia, alexia, or anything or other linguistic dysfunction, because alternative spellings were extremely widespread.

What changed? Why was spelling almost completely free in Elizabethan times, but in modern times this is completely unacceptable?

And is the tide changing again? Txt spk, internet memes and the like, are altering the English language. All languages change and evolve - are we loosening the grip on acceptable spelling, punctuation and grammar? Not that this is necessarily a bad thing - English is a pretty illogical language, with many inconsistencies.

Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

(Note: not sure which category to put this in. I'll sling it in History and see how it fairs!)

Look no further than Mr. God Shammgod.

This is a REAL and LEGAL name. God is a professional basketball player:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Shammgod

So - what do you make of this?

Offensive? Funny? Irrelevant?