Oh. Crap.

  • Thread starter Exaulted_Leader
  • Start date
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Exaulted_Leader

Guest
I'm not sure if this post belongs in the Off-topic forum or this one, though given the nature of the source-material it was derived from, I decided I should put it here:

I'm not sure if anyone has a copy of 'Dude, Where's My Country?' hanging around (A Michael Moore documentary book - the follow-up to 'Stupid White Men'), but I just cracked it open and got past Chapter 5...

And then had the crap scared outta me.


This doesn't really have anything to do with the context of the book, but is more just a general science question:

Anyone know what makes-up the Sun's composition? Or could anyone point me in the direction of a source that would detail that info (or our best estimates as of today)?
 

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
Since it's just a general science question so far, I moved it to Off-Topic until and if people start talking about the book itself :)
 

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
Because the question itself isn't political and if it never moves beyond it, it's wasting space in the Current Events forum...

just call me ultra-organizer :)
 
T

train

Guest
re-phrase...(I really need to work on this...)

Why do you want to know the composition of the sun?...
 
N

Nightstalkers

Guest
Interesting fact:

Two most common things in the universe are Hydrogen and Stupidity.
 
N

Nightstalkers

Guest
>.>;;


And human's are funny creatures, they point out the most obvious of facts. Why do you do that?

A man walks outside and looks up then says: "Its raining."


I still do not get it. I formulated a thesis that was based upon the fact that human beings have to keep their mouths going lest their brains turn on... but soon scrapped that idea altogether.
 

Oversoul

The Tentacled One
If it were true, then there would be some sort of advantage to taking a vow of silence...

Or losing your voice...
 
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Nightstalkers

Guest
Originally posted by Oversoul
If it were true, then there would be some sort of advantage to taking a vow of silence...

Or losing your voice...
That too... I found some human beings who were actually smart and talked a great deal.
 
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Exaulted_Leader

Guest
train: Just wanted to know what keeps stuff like stars burning (...if my infinitely limited knowledge in physics serves me any well at all, it's particle interaction, correct? Somebody with a physics degree is going to stomp me into the ground for not paying close attention when I was taught, I know...). I just occassionally like to assure myself that there are indeed alternative measures for producting heat & energy once we've tapped the majority of our fossil fuels (which, indeed, is probably at least a century or two away).

I just got spooked. :p
 

Spiderman

Administrator
Staff member
I hated physics also, but I thought stars burn because of continual "nuclear" reactions (somehow it's self-sustaining). In a real general sense...
 
N

Nightstalkers

Guest
Okay, light is energy... we have solar panels to collect that energy...


Wind is energy, we have windmills to harness that...


Heat from nuclear fission, coal, and other burning materials is energy...


So why can't we harness sound as energy?
 

Killer Joe

New member
Has anyone actually seen Michael Moore and Peter Jackson in the same room? Ooooooo, betcha never thought of that one, didja? huh? Huh? HUH!!! Oooooooono ya didn't.
;)
 

Oversoul

The Tentacled One
The sun and most other stars are powered by the nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium. Four hydrogen atoms collide at massive speed and fuse into one helium atom. It releases energy because of something with the structural difference between atoms of smaller size progressing up the periodic table, but stopping at iron (can't have any fusion past iron that I've heard of). I do not understand it well enough to explain it. Sorry...
 
O

orgg

Guest
Originally posted by Nightstalkers
Okay, light is energy... we have solar panels to collect that energy...


Wind is energy, we have windmills to harness that...


Heat from nuclear fission, coal, and other burning materials is energy...


So why can't we harness sound as energy?
Actually, we do harness sound as energy in the process of recording it. The microphone is used as a transducer and creates nonregulated AC currents that are then put through multiple circuts and onto tape or into a Digital Audio Workstation like Pro Tools. The reason that sound cannot be utilized as an actual energy source is that microphones that could pick up a high enough decibel source would need to be very large, and be made of a material that didn't decompose/disentigrate when the high decibels hit it... as even 140dB is picked up 'quietly' by most microphones before some form of gainstage is utilized.

Thus, sound is energy and can be converted to electricity... but not enough to power a lightbulb, or even a LED wired into the circuit(usually.).
 
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