lajoswinkler

I'd try updating the drivers first, but it does look like a problem with the actual card. Turn off the computer and jiggle the card a bit, or pull it out, swipe the golden contacts with a cloth damped with alcohol and blow some canned air (do not blow, that air is moist) into the socket. Plug the card back and if it still doesn't work, something is wrong with the card itself.

It kind of reminds me of Weebo from Flubber. You could just leave the tracker on a designated place and let Lily fly around it. It doesn't have to be a "selfie" device. (I hate that word.)

Hypergolic reaction means that two or more substances react upon touching one another without heating up or spark at room temperature, and deliver enough energy to cause visible emission of light, therefore flame erupts. If a substance AB touches a catalyst C that causes it to decompose violently into A and B, we could call it a hypergolic reaction, why not? It doesn't matter the catalyst is not chemically consumed - it still enters the reaction: AB + C -> ABC -> A + B + C or to summarize: AB --C--> A + B Catalysts aren't inert materials that magically cause the reaction to proceed. They are reactive, but simply aren't chemically consumed (they are wrecked physically, turning into powder, etc.). AB is not hypergolic. C is not hypergolic. Their reaction is.

I agree. Reason just doesn't work with these monkeys.

So, will anyone watch?

Who are you?

I really like Sagan more. deGrasse Tyson is making me nervous for the reasons parodied here.

And how does the water filled sink spill the soup? All cryogenic liquids have pathetic heat capacity. You'd need an enormous amount of liquid nitrogen to cool a pot of hot water, which soup basically is. Just use cold water from the faucet like regular people. LOL

Fill the sink with tap water, immerse the pot, wait. Be sure to put a lit on the pot. You don't want germs to fall in. Liquid helium has pathetic heat capacity compared to water, so no.

Rocket plume in vacuum lit by the sunlight. Enormous amount of morons are sharing the video where the plume is visible, claiming it's "aliens" or "god". So, so sad.

It's not the brain and you. You're the brain, too. It's just lower functions that take over in certain situations, as well as reflexes calculated in your spinal cord.

Don't click after dark. http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/horrifying-house-guest-shadowlurker

This is pretty much only for east coast USA. Thanks to Aethon for reminding me. September 5th, this weekend, Aldebaran, the main reddish star of Taurus, will get eclipsed by the Moon early in the morning before sunrise. It should be an interesting sight. It will suddenly disappear and, 45 minutes later, suddenly appear on the night side. Suddenly, because apparent diameter of all but a handful of stars is negligible from our vantage point. Grazing is possible - the Moon has a rough "edge" because of the canyons, craters, mountains, so it could blink one or more times. http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/bstar/0905zc692.htm

I've never heard of it happening, but it's an interesting question. Lunar occultations of stars happen all the time, but those stars have apparent magnitudes way below our perceptible level. Mu Piscium is around 4.7m so if you live in a town you'd want some binoculars, especially if the Moon is full, which is almost the case. Aldebaran will get occulted this weekend, but I won't be able to see it.

It happens because for some people, sometimes, parts of the brain don't go to sleep or wake up fast enough. Such people usually have much easier access to lucid dreams. It might be a symptom of underlying pathology, though. If it happens often, I'd visit the neurology department. It's one of the things that are responsible for the development of superstition like demon lore in all cultures. Our consciousness is not a single entity. It's layered, the layers can shed or build up, and there are deep things inside you that never show up on the surface. Drug usage can help them rise up and get lodged there forever and some things should stay under the carpet where no one can see them.

Actually, occultation of a star visible by a naked eye is not something you see every day. Compared to lunar occultation of planets, which is neat to watch with a telescope, stars (except a handful of them) have negligible angular diameters, so at the moment of occultation, they just WHOOSH! from the sky and it's a pretty fun thing to watch, especially if the star is very bright. That's also a proof that the Moon doesn't have an atmosphere. I got them from one skygazing group on FB. Sadly, I couldn't watch it. Yeah, it was an event for people living across the Atlantic ocean.

If I had a moni each time I was told I wasn't a "real gamer", I'd have lots of moni. I'm pretty sick of RPG-fantasy bastards who think they have a monopoly on defining even what a game is. Fantasy is by its definition unlimited, yet we have a commercially made blob of lard that has one particular lore and a need to diss everyone else. Screw them! A gamer is anyone who spends a relatively significant amount of time and effort on a game, compared to general population.

Times are in CET. I'll try to watch it with binoculars.

I'm not sure if it could be some sort of a pingo. The hypothesis is interesting. I'm more inclined to think it's a cryovolcano forming. Time will tell. Here are two new photos by HAMO instrument from this new, lower orbit. Observe the apparent total lack of craters on the slope and in the center of this formation that's probably a crater. It's obviously very young. I'd say that, when something large enough hits Ceres' surface, ices inside cause it to get disfigured. Other, way more interesting image. Formation in the upper left corner. At first, to some it might look like a dent, a flow towards up-left, but look at the shadows on the edge. This is a bulge and it's flowing towards down-right. To me, it looks like an ancient "glacier", icy dirt material that spilled out and came to a halt as the surface ices sublimed, forming a crust.

It's China, the paper mache dragon economy/country. Shiny outside, held by sticks and cheap glue inside. It's not a free country and care to prevent things like these is very low compared to more socially developed countries. I doubt the guy will get paid for this. In fact, if he stands up for his right to get the damage repaired, the government has its thugs to shut him up. So yeah, don't be surprised by these things.

Fungi like champignon mushroom can't grow without actual dirt with nutrients. They aren't like common mold. I'll never be an astronaut, rest assured. Somehow I think the engineers already know about my idea. It's not groundbreaking.

What are you talking about? This year summer ends on September 22nd.

Make a blob of scrambled egg and catch it with two teflon coated heating plates. Adjust plate separation. Turn on the heat. Enjoy your omelette. Easy peasy.

Stereo view by Brian May. Quite nice. http://www.brianmay.com/brian/brianssb/brianssbaug15.html#22

That was a reactor core that worked at one point in time, therefore it had fission products like cesium-137 which is soluble in water and, as all alkali metal ions, very mobile in the environment. Reactor that's about to get launched is poorly radioactive. You'd be surprised how easy nonfissioned uranium and plutonium in oxide (ceramic) form are manageable when dispersed.