HawaiianHippie

Speaking in terms of cultures / civilizations, how far along does one have to be to understand prime numbers? What are the prerequisites? Verbal language? Written language?

I ask because I'm working on a novel (sci-fi) in which a planet has been set aside to preserve a potentially sentient species. On this planet, there are observation stations. The doors to these stations need to be protected by something hard enough that it requires cognitive reasoning to overcome, but still be designed to be accessible once the species is able to understand the information contained inside.

I'm thinking of a combination lock where to decipher the combination, you have to be able to factor a number into primes. For example, the lock may be lock #21, and the combination would be 3-7.

Looking for a song I heard on the internet. The refrain includes "you are the soul of my morning, the angel of my night" and "keep our love alive." It was a contemporary blues sounding song.

Mahalo!

I'm writing a sci-fi book. In it, as a historical footnote, is a quote from the next person to set foot on the moon. This will occur (in the book) on the 200th anniversary of the first moon landing, and the fellow who makes that next historic footprint will be a native Spanish speaker.

His words for the occasion will translate as:

"At last our footprints again leave our mother Earth"

I don't particularly care what flavor of Spanish is used, but I do want to be sure the translation holds water. I don't particularly trust Babelfish for this!

Oh, his name, at least tentatively, is Gaspar Eutimio De La Vega. Chosen with guided randomness from internet resources. Is that a believable name to someone with fluency in the tongue?

Thanks!

Early in the summer, we bought a selection of potted herbs. We moved them to bigger pots with fresh soil. I waster them daily and feed them weekly. Now, though, half of them are dying. I thought it was a lack of sunlight caused by moving shade as the season shifted, but moving them into more direct sun didn't help. Weird thing, the pots weigh almost nothing. They have a couple of gallons of soil in them, but feel like Styrofoam.

In a book I'm writing, there's a segment where one character (female) has to carry another unconscious character (male) to safety. He outweighs her by about 20 pounds. The terrain is a relatively level forest, transitioning into a marsh. She is using the fireman's carry, and carries him until she is at the point of collapse herself.

What I'm interested in is how this will impact the female character in days/weeks/months to come. Will it be something as minor as muscle soreness? Or would it be something more severe, like stress fractures, torn ligaments, other?

What would be a best case scenario? And average case? Worst case?

Mahalo!

I've come across various casual references over the years to the fastest velocity a bullet, propelled by gunpowder, could reach. (To be clear, I'm talking about a typical cartridge, primer, powder, and bullet type of ammunition, not something exotic like a rail gun or a rocket-assisted round.) I've seen 6,000 fps and 7,000 fps cited. I assume this figure would be based on the expansion of gasses from burning gunpowder in a non-confined area.

However, I've never been able to track down a source. People will say things like "oh, it was in an article in Shooting Times a few years back."

Can anyone point me to a source for this? Not a forum where someone is claiming to know, but an actual published study.

Mahalo!

I bought this gun used. It is a fantastically accurate gun, complete with the adjustable aperture and front globe sights. With CCI SV ammo, I can hold sub-MOA at 100 yards off a bench.

But, there's some damage to the chamber. I don't know if it was "shot out" or otherwise damaged by the previous owner, but there are visible grooves where there should be none, and I get backblast of powder. When I shoot standing, I can feel little bite on my left wrist each time I pull the trigger.

I don't really want to replace or reline the barrel, given what a great shooting gun it is. Is there anything I can do to mend the chamber without impacting its otherwise excellent performance?

Pictures here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30450170@N03/sets/721...

Aloha!

I've got an a4, it's a family heirloom. Unfortunately, it has been sporterized, and the receiver has been drilled for a modern scope.

I've decided to take it farther in that direction, and have bedded the action in a Boyds benchrest stock and mounted a decent Bushnell Elite scope.

Now, I'm searching for a good load for precision shooting at up to 600 yards.

My research indicates that the 1903 series preferred heavier bullets than M2 ball, and that snipers used 185 gr match ammo whenever possible.

Has anyone out there worked up a load that will hold MOA out of a 1903 at up to 600 yards?

Thanks!

I'm writing a story that involves searching for a missing spaceship. The ship in question got buried in river silt during a seasonal flood. However, it's intact, everything is in working order, and it has some power, enough that its emergency radio beacon is operating.

What would that sound like to a searching craft with a radio receiver? Would the content of the message be intact, somewhat garbled, or just static? How about directionality... would searchers have a harder time triangulating the location? How much would the power of the transmission be diminished?

Thanks in advance!

I'm writing a sci-fi story, and need a ballpark answer.

The ship needs to accelerate to the midpoint, then decelerate to a stop, covering a distance of 1 light-month (roughly 32.4 billion km). It can maintain a continuous acceleration / deceleration of roughly 3-g (roughly 30 km/sec/sec).

How long does this trip take?

Thanks!

I'm looking for something from the Greek mythos, the name of someplace barren, desolate, empty. Not necessarily an evil or bad place, simply one with nothing of value.

My boss uses this term a lot. Contextually, he obviously means it as an insult, but I can't get a grasp on it.

It seems to me that if a person were a "tool," they'd be a person used by someone of higher power or authority. The "tool" would be there to implement his (or her) master's will, and not be capable of pursuing an independent agenda. "Puppet" would be a good synonym.

However, that just does not fit any of the situations where I hear one person call another "tool." I hear it most often from my boss, but also from other places, and it consistently seems to be purely pejorative with no specific meaning.

Can someone clarify?

Mahalo!

I know I've heard it before, but even on the long version of the commercial, I can't place it.

The trailer gives me hope. It shows a lot of key plot points... the death of the original Night Owl, the creation of Dr. Manhattan, Rorschach's crusade...

http://watchmenmovie.warnerbros.com/

When you're out and about, how much do you think about this? Do you check for barricade points and escape routes when you go into the grocery store? Do you keep your eyes on the entrance while you stand in line at the Starbucks? Are you packing? Do you keep your car's gas take at least 3/4 full at all times? How many machetes do you own? Do you have a stockpile of beer bottles and cloth rags for making Molotov cocktails? Are there bars on your windows? Do you move away from anyone in a crowd who coughs or seems dizzy? Do you practice reloading drills every day?

How ready are you?

She just keeps licking and licking at her tummy and bacl thighs. Pulls all the fur out. The skin underneath doesn't seem irritated or anything.

She's around 7-8 years old, fixed, and is about a year overdue for her maintenance shots.

I'm having some gum problems (lychen planus) and my dentist had me brush with this for a couple of weeks, as well as rinsing with a topical steroid. I showed a lot of improvement, so he said I can go back to a mild natural toothpaste. The thing is, I kinda LIKE the baking soda and peroxide. No obnoxious flavors, easy to rinse, doesn't make me gag.

I looked about on the web, and while numerous sites espouse the tooth-whitening values of this combination, I can't find any that say if it is a good (or bad) idea to make it my regular oral hygiene regime.

I mean, seriously! I look at the questions on here... roughly half are of the "look at me I'm so great" variety (maybe this one falls into that category), roughly half are more of the "you should really consult a professional" variety, leaving just a tiny little percentage of questions that seem worth the brain power to answer. So, what's a good, appropriate question for a global forum like this?

It was about a reptilian monster that lived in the sewers or storm drains of a large city. It preyed on the poor communities and markets that were adjacent to those areas. The "hero" looked Japanese, and went into the sewers to find his sister or daughter who had been taken by the monster.

I don't remember any big names being attached to the cast or crew. The trailers didn't indicate much in the way of effects, big guns, etc. Just desperate people in terrible circumstances.

I'm looking for 3-sided steel...tubing is the closest word I can think of. Ideally, it would have all 3 sides of equal width, about 3-4". The steel needs to be hard. The interior opening should be large enough to snugly fit a steel pipe around 1" - 1 1/4" O.D.