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What is the secret behind pi? Let's start with some properties of pi... First off, it's an irrational number, meaning basically that it cannot be represented by any fraction. Second, it's a transcendental number. That's a bit more complicated, but it means that pi is not the root of any algebraic equation. That means that pi cannot be derived through algebra, merely approximated. Pi was the second number...

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When and where was the first calendar compiled? Short answer: Nippur, Sumeria circa 4,400 BC much longer answer: Perhaps the earliest known calendar was devised in the Sumerian city of Nippur, circa 11,000 BC. The interesting thing about this calendar is that it is quite similar to our modern calendar, using 365 days for a solar year, and dividing the year into twelve months, based loosely on the moon's revolutions. Not to...

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How is cannabis resin made from the marijuana plant? The common form, hashish, is made by removing the resin glands and collecting them. The most recent method is to submerge the plant matter in a bucket of ice water. This chills the resin, and makes the glands brittle. The mixture is agitated, to break off the glands. Then, it is passed through a series of filters. Resin glands are fairly uniform in size, so the result is nearly pure glands,...

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Why do most Christians find Wicca holy icons to be Demonic, such as pentagrams, etc.? Please bear in mind that the following is my opinion, not the opinion of every Wiccan. As it happens, I am a coven priest, yet I do not worship anything or anyone. I respect Divinity, including the gods of other religions. Many reasons, some of which are mighty controversial. For starters, many people believe that Wiccan ritual tools are used to 'worship' some spirit or another...

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As seen in "Back to the Future", could garbage really be a reliable fuel for fusion power? What would the byproducts be? Yes. Plastics, hydrocarbons, and biological materials all contain significant amounts of hydrogen. So, your first problem is extracting hydrogen. The easiest way would be to pulverise the garbage, then electrostatically ionise it until all the molecules are dissolved into their constituent atoms. The resultant ions would be spun in a magnetic field to separate out the hydrogen, and prevent any...

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What kinds of physical and engineering challenges will have to be overcome before energy shields (or force fields) can be invented? A force field specifically for blocking matter is readily conceivable. In fact, it's been documented. (This has not yet been corroborated, nor has it been treated scientifically...) In August 1980, at a 3M plant in South Carolina, a curious phenomenon was discovered. This plant processed large amounts of polypropylene film. On the factory floor, a continuous feed of plastic film 21 feet in...

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How feasible is inventing a teleporter? What impact might it have on the world economy when we're able to teleport people and cargo? The basic foundation for this technology is proven. Using quantum entanglement, teams from at least two research institutions have teleported a laser beam. It's not quite matter teleportation, but it's a big step. Right now, it's more a case of scaling up the process, and the processing power available, in order to handle the vastly greater complexity of matter. See: ...

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What are some possible applications of nanotechnology? One of the most interesting applications of nanotechnology principles that is in production today is Texas Instruments' digital light processor (DLP). This device is an array of tiny mirrors on cantilevers, controlled by electrical impulses. It's purpose is to digitally produce a high-resolution optical image, most commonly replacing LCD projectors. DLP chips are also used in some...

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My EFI cylinder accidentally sucked the plastic tube (usually red) of EFI spray/cleaner. Is this a threat to my engine? I'm assuming you mean the tube was sucked into the injector. Most likely, the tube will limit or block fuel flow through the injector. This will cause the associated cylinder to misfire, or not fire at all. There are a number of problems this can cause... In the short term, it probably won't hurt. Even so, don't run the engine until you can get it removed! When one cylinder...

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Is it possible for humans to travel faster than the speed of light? Perhaps... No mass can subjectively travel at the speed of light. It may be possible to circumvent this restriction, however. Consider NASA's breakthrough propulsion program: http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/bpp/ Sadly, no longer funded, this was the first serious investigation into the feasibility of faster-than-light and/or massless propulsion travel. Many of these methods rely on...

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Would it be possible to build a giant walking robot that you could ride in a cockpit inside its head? I've personally seen a four-story robot in use, in Detroit, MI, for the purpose of building the robots that assemble cars. This was fifteen years ago, and wasn't all that new at the time. It was fully hydraulic, with fairly rudimentary control systems. A modern computer-controlled version could certainly cruise you in style. If you've ever seen that video of the guy in California...

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How do you make a light bulb? For fluorescent bulbs, the process is similar. A tube of glass is coated inside with a phosphorescent material, then capped on both ends with ballast (capacitance and arc discharge unit). The air is evacuated from the tube, and a small amount of argon and mercury vapor is injected. The bulb is sealed, the ballast charges, the gas ionizes, the mercury releases UV, which excites the phosphor,...

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Is it possible to recover files that I have deleted and emptied from the recycle bin? Generally speaking, both answers are correct. However, it is possible to recover data which has been overwritten, even several times, with specialty hardware and software. The existence of such processes are why governments and militaries degauss and shred whole hard drives when they're decommissioned. As in, physically chop the drives into little bits. Some data recovery specialists can...

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How do you allow users other than root to shutdown? For Mandrake Linux 10.0: Go to Applications: System: Configuration: Configure your Computer Enter your root password. Click on Security: Level and Checks: System Options Set the field 'Reboot by the console user' to yes. This may not allow you to shutdown from X Windows, but you can from any terminal. For other linux distros: Check your security settings. I don't know...

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How can I play Mpeg files in Linux? Install any of these or the other software solutions mentioned. MPlayer (great for transcoding stuff) OSD Xine (great Window$ format support, inc. asf and wmv) Gtv XMovie Totem Most video apps include a broad range of codec support, over and above the codec libraries that are already in your system.

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What is "High Magick"? One point of view is that High Magick concerns the ritual manipulation of energies, thoughtforms, and tools to obtain effective, reliable effects. It is also often said to be the commanding of natural spirits. Most commonly, it involves one's own energies, colored and amplified by set, circumstance, and will to achieve magickal action. Overall, this point of view considers high magick to...

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Is starting a coven necessary if you want to learn about and practice Wicca? Far better to review the literature, and get a sense of things for yourself. I'd be very careful about groups until you understand the moral code and what they expect of you. There's nothing wrong with choosing an established tradition, or starting your own coven, but do it informed and eyes open. Wicca supports personal choice. Do what you feel is right, but try to learn as much as...

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Do Wiccans really use wands or ride broomsticks? Ritual tools are symbols, and keys. A wand does focus energy, but once you've used one, the same effect can be reproduced from memory, without the tool. It's still nice to have the proper tools... Shows commitment, even if only to yourself. Besides, it's easier to produce a specific effect with the proper tool than it is to work freehand.

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Is there an age limit for people who want to practice Wicca? No, but self-analysis, introspection, and psychological development are critical. A bright, logical, self-confident child of eight will acheive more understanding than a troubled, deluded, self-doubting human of any age. Wisdom generally tends to increase with age, though. How young are children indoctrinated into Christian churches? There seems to be an unspoken law against being 'pagan...

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What is Ken Wilber's "Theory of Everything"? This is tricky, and I should mention I've only read excerpts of his books. However... Ken's 'Theory of Everything' is a philosophical exercise which seeks to unify modern, rational observation (that is, science) with subjective, spiritual reality. Many philosophies, and most religions, admit to the existence of subtle or 'supernatural' energies and states. So far,...

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Why would a thick glass candy dish suddenly break in two with no one near it? Thermal expansion is the most likely possibility. It's also possible that an ultrasonic sound wave at a harmonic of the glass' resonant frequency caused the fracture, probably starting near a bubble or other imperfection. Maybe the contents of the dish absorbed enough heat and/or water to swell and split it. Maybe it encountered a random psychic energy vortex. Maybe the Brownian...

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Is it possible to make a time machine? If so, how? Possible? Almost certainly not. If it were, though, Einstein had some things to say about it... All paradox aside, the prime candidate is time dialation. Relativity states that as an object travels significant portions of the speed of light, it experiences a shorter amount of time than an observer at rest. As one approaches c, one's experienced time approaches 0. If one could go faster...

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How is cold fusion supposed to work? Let's start with fusion. The big problem is that nuclei really don't want anything to do with each other. There is a certain minimum amount of energy required to make them stick, no matter where that energy comes from. Energy comes in many forms: thermal, kinetic, electromagnetic, etc. The easiest way to make fusion work is a combination of heat and magnetic fields. Cold fusion,...

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How far would the sea level have to drop for the Earth's surface to have more land than sea? Let's consider points on land to have a positive height, and points on the seafloor to have a negative height. Assuming we have accurate maps for both (and the number of points per unit area are the same), we can add up the height of every point, then divide by the number of points to get the average height. Since there is more ocean than land, this should be a negative number. This will...

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How do speaker voltage and impedance relate to the voltage and impedance of the amplifier/receiver? Short answer: use the same impedance in both. The optimal actual power recieved by a speaker depends on the impedance of both speaker {R(s)} and amplifier {R(i)}, and the peak (distortion-free) voltage {V(i)}of the amplifier. The reason one is supposed to match impedance is because the most actual power is produced when the impedance of the speaker and the amplifier are the same. Real...