HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: tlilley@csugrad.cs.vt.edu (Tripp Lilley)
Newsgroups: alt.fandom.cons
Subject: SciCon @!
Date: 9 Nov 92 22:42:44 GMT
Organization: Babbage's dicount house of mathematical contrivances

anyone up for @! at sci-con this weekend? (nov. 13-15, va beach)
i'm pretty sure i already know everyone who might be, but just in case
you're coming from 'out of town', send some mail/ost/whatever...

if you 'just arrive' and don't bother to post or anything, look me up in
the larp... the GMs should be able to point you in the right direction
(or just look around for the guy with the knife in his back :>)

- t.


-- 
 USES disclaim;                                                      |^^\/^^| 2
 Tripp Lilley   -- tlilley@csugrad.cs.vt.edu                         | |\/| |
 The MultiMedia Lab of the Colleges of Architecture and Engineering  |_|  |_|
 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University         (silly ASCII logo)
Xref: sparky alt.fandom.cons:361 rec.arts.sf.fandom:1165
From: phydeaux@src4src.linet.org (Dave Weingart)
Newsgroups: alt.fandom.cons,rec.arts.sf.fandom
Subject: Philcon?
Date: 7 Nov 92 17:38:41 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: The Source for Source

On this note...just before our mail/newsfeed went on vacation to the Twilight
Zone, there were minor discussions of who was going to Philcon (one week from 
as I write this).

What was the general con-census on some sort of @! con-vergence?

-- 
73 de Dave Weingart   KB2CWF   phydeaux@src4src.linet.org

Particle Man, Particle Man, doing the things a particle can...
Xref: sparky alt.sci.planetary:236 sci.astro:11681 sci.space:15380
From: max@west.darkside.com (Erik Max Francis)
Newsgroups: alt.sci.planetary,sci.astro,sci.space
Subject: Re:         Scenario of comet hitting Earth
Date: 4 Nov 92 18:16:11 GMT
Organization: The Dark Side of the Moon +1 408 245 SPAM

black@breeze.rsre.mod.uk (John Black) writes:

> What are the chances of the comet's orbit to be change significantly so that 
> the close approach or impact doesn't happen. More specifically, what is the 
> affect of outgassing or gravitaional interaction with a giant planet?

From what I understand, the outgassing is what _causes_ the possibility 
of hitting the Earth (non-gravitational disturbances make the orbit hard 
to predict, and it's _possible_ that it might hit the Earth).  We won't 
be able to revise the probabilities (has anyone gotten the "official" 
chances of it hitting the Earth?) until it is on approach.  I'm of the 
opinion that we'll have plenty of time to deflect it if it's determined 
to be a significant threat, as long as we get our butts in gear.

----------
Erik Max Francis   Omnia quia sunt, lumina sunt.  Coming soon:  UNIVERSE _ | _
USmail:  1070 Oakmont Dr. #1 San Jose CA 95117  ICBM:  37 20 N  121 53 W _>|<_
UUCP:  ..!apple!uuwest!max   Usenet:  max@west.darkside.com   464E4F5244   |
Xref: sparky alt.sci.planetary:233 sci.astro:11650 sci.space:15344
From: alfa@csource.oz.au (glenn durden)
Newsgroups: alt.sci.planetary,sci.astro,sci.space
Subject: Re:         Scenario of comet hitting Earth
Date: Thu, 05 Nov 92 12:58:39 +1100
Reply-To: alfa@csource.oz.au
Organization: Unique Computing Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia

black@breeze.rsre.mod.uk (John Black) writes:

> PS no-one answered my question about what the "P/" means infront of comet nam

It stands for 'Periodic'.
This is just an indicator that the comet is in orbit around the sun and comes 
back every so often.    (as opposed to non-periodic comets which are either 
just passing by the sun once only..ever, or that the comets orbit is so large 
that to all intents and purposes it might as well be non-periodic)

.........................................................
glenn durden
alfa@csource.oz.au  Unique Computing Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia
The opinions expressed above are that of the author only.
Newsgroups: alt.sci.planetary
From: biesel@javelin.sim.es.com (Heiner Biesel)
Subject: Re: Why does the sun rise/set above due east/west?
Organization: Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp.
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 20:34:22 GMT

steveo@think.com (stephen anthony) writes:


>Here's a question that's stumped me for a while, but I've not known who to
>ask. If this group isn't the appropriate forum, let me know and I'll go
>elsewhere.

>There's a bit of reservation land nearby that has what they call the
>'solstice stones'. Nothing like Stonehenge, or anything, but simply a set
>of stones in the ground that mark the ordinal points of the compass, along
>with the sun rise/set points for the summer and winter solstice. The
>placement of these solstice stones confirmed something I had known for a
>bit; that in the Northern Hemisphere, the point of sunrise/set on the
>summer solstice is above the east-west axis. Since, the sun on that day is
>at it's highest (Tropic of Cancer (or is it Capricorn?)) and that that is
>far south of eastern Massachusetts, how can this be? 

>I tried to explain it by using the fact that the earth is (almost) a
>sphere, and that at dawn here, it's noon 7 hours ahead (so somewhere around
>the Mideast), and perhaps the apparent angles make it appear that the sun
>is rising above the east-west axis. But I was unable to prove this to my
>satisfaction.

>Does anyone have an explanation for this, or a pointer to a reference?

>I'd appreciate it.

The sun rises in the east, falls in the west on the equinoxes, not the
solstices. A little experimentation with a sphere whose axis of rotation
is inclined about 21 degrees with respect to the plane in ahich it orbits
around a light source will make this all very clear.

Regards,
       H. Biesel
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: alt.sci.planetary,sci.space
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 13:54:43 -0500 
From: Kevin William Ryan <kr0u+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: O2 spacecraft (was Re: Lunar "colony" reality check)
	<roelle.721413660@uars_mag>

roelle@uars_mag.jhuapl.edu (Curtis Roelle)
>>Suffice it to say that Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo astronauts worked in a
>>5 psi pure O2 environment.  This simplified the environmental control system
>>and eliminated the need to purge N2 prior to EVA.  
> 
>Are you certain that Apollo astronauts breathed pure O2?  I thought that
>after the fatal Apollo 1 fire, which killed astronauts Grissom, White, and
>Chaffee on January 27, 1967, pure O2 was no longer used because it was a
>proven fire hazard.  Or did NASA simply reduce the cabin pressure as
>suggested by Carl Lydick?

    People can withstand a long term pure O2 environment, as long as the
O2 pressure is on the order of the partial pressure of O2 in standard
air. Since oxygen is about 20% of the atmosphere, about 3psi of oxygen
would suffice. Somewhat higher pressure (the 5psi referred to) would be
preferable simply for reasons of sound and temperature conduction. 15psi
of oxygen is manageble for a time but not a good idea for the long run,
due to problems with flammability, and I believe to problems related to
hyperventilating (I could be wrong on the last point). 

    The fatal Apollo fire happened with 15psi oxygen in the cabin during
a ground test. That was an intermediate step leading to 5psi oxygen for
orbital conditions, where the standard atmosphere was flushed. Following
this the flushdown procedure was changed, as well as the Apollo hatch.
The original hatch design sealed under positive pressure and opened
inward: the new design, although heavier, opened owtward and therefore
could be opened under a high internal pressure, such as that caused by a
fire. The cabin atmosphere expansion of the fire effectively sealed the
cabin until far too late for the crew. 

    Incidentally, a number of the spacesuit designs have specified
internal pressures on the order of 3psi in order to simplify design,
including the Space Activity Suit of the early 70's, which was basically
a multilayer leotard with a air tight neck seal. The air bag for the
head and chest was at 200 torr (760 torr in one atmosphere) with
pressure tapering to ~150 torr at the extremities, supplied by the
stretch of the suit. (Sorry, pet project of mine, had to throw it in...)

                                                    kwr

Internet: kr0u+@andrew.cmu.edu
From: steveo@think.com (stephen anthony)
Newsgroups: alt.sci.planetary
Subject: Why does the sun rise/set above due east/west?
Date: 11 Nov 1992 19:39:52 GMT
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge MA, USA
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: pythagoras.think.com


Here's a question that's stumped me for a while, but I've not known who to
ask. If this group isn't the appropriate forum, let me know and I'll go
elsewhere.

There's a bit of reservation land nearby that has what they call the
'solstice stones'. Nothing like Stonehenge, or anything, but simply a set
of stones in the ground that mark the ordinal points of the compass, along
with the sun rise/set points for the summer and winter solstice. The
placement of these solstice stones confirmed something I had known for a
bit; that in the Northern Hemisphere, the point of sunrise/set on the
summer solstice is above the east-west axis. Since, the sun on that day is
at it's highest (Tropic of Cancer (or is it Capricorn?)) and that that is
far south of eastern Massachusetts, how can this be? 

I tried to explain it by using the fact that the earth is (almost) a
sphere, and that at dawn here, it's noon 7 hours ahead (so somewhere around
the Mideast), and perhaps the apparent angles make it appear that the sun
is rising above the east-west axis. But I was unable to prove this to my
satisfaction.

Does anyone have an explanation for this, or a pointer to a reference?

I'd appreciate it.
-- 
Steve Anthony                     |  "Ain't nobody gettin' outta here |
Software Engineer              	  |   with out singin' the blues"     |
(617) 234-4000                    |                                   |
steveo@think.com                  |  - Albert "The Iceman" Collins    |
Newsgroups: alt.sci.astro.figaro
From: herzog@ux5.lbl.gov (Hanan M. Herzog)
Newsgroups: alt.sci.astro.fits,sci.astro,comp.compression
Subject: FITS Compression
Followup-To: alt.sci.astro.fits
Date: 10 Nov 1992 02:51:15 GMT
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
NNTP-Posting-Host: ux5.lbl.gov
Keywords: fits, ccd, compress, images

Hi,
	I am interested in compressing some FITS images.  The images
in the compressed format do not have to be viewable.  If they are
useless until decompression, that's fine.
What is the best compression program for this type of data?

Also, where can I (by FTP) find a copy of "FITSPRESS"?

Thanks,

Please reply by e-mail.

Hanan Herzog
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
e-mail: herzog@lbl.gov
From: pmurphy@nrao.edu (Pat Murphy)
Newsgroups: alt.sci.astro.aips
Subject: FITTP bug on DecStations
Date: 6 Nov 92 19:38:10 GMT
Distribution: alt
Organization: National Radio Astronomy Observatory


There is a bug that will affect all recent versions of AIPS on systems
that support IEEE floating point format AND have little endian byte
order.  As far as the AIPS group knows, this means DecStations and
DecSystems only (in terms of machines we know are running AIPS in
production mode).  The bug only affects tasks FITTP, VLBIN, and TVMON,
and is apparent in the antenna tables written to FITS files by FITTP
where there are double precision values.

Patches for this bug are now available in the anonymous ftp area of
baboon.cv.nrao.edu (192.33.115.103), area pub/aips, directories
15OCT92, 15APR92 and 15APR91 depending on your version of AIPS.  The
text in the README file for these areas pertaining to the patch is
appended here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Task:        FITTP, VLBIN, TVMON
Summary:     Antenna tables written by FITTP are bad on DecSystems.

Bugs:        For DECSTATIONS and DECSYSTEMS running ULTRIX only.
             (actually for any computer using IEEE floating point
              format that has little endian byte order).
             There is a bug in the ZRLR64 subroutine that can affect
             antenna tables and any other double precision output on
             FITS tape or disk file.  Bytes were not getting swapped.
             The modified ZRLR64.FOR routine here fixes the problem.

Files:       /15OCT92/APL/DEV/ZRLR64.FOR

Fix:         (1) Get ZRLR64.FOR and place in $APLGEN
             (2) Recompile: 
                 COMRPL $APLGEN/ZRLR64.FOR
             (3) Rebuild tasks:
                 COMLNK $APGNOT/FITTP $APGNOT/VLBIN $YPGVDEV/TVMON
--
==========================================================================
| Patrick P. Murphy, Ph.D.                Scientific Programming Analyst |
| National Radio Astronomy Observatory    Net:   pmurphy@nrao.edu        |
| 520 Edgemont Road                       or:    uunet!nrao.edu!pmurphy  |
| Charlottesville, VA 22903-2475          Phone: (804) 296-0372          |
|      "I don't believe in the no-win scenario"  --- James T. Kirk       |
==========================================================================
From: butler@cluster.gps.caltech.edu (Bryan Butler)
Newsgroups: alt.sci.astro.aips
Subject: Re: random number generator in aips?
Date: 5 Nov 92 07:08:13 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
NNTP-Posting-Host: cluster.gps.caltech.edu

In article <1992Oct30.225106.28466@midway.uchicago.edu> mehr@oskar.uchicago.edu (David Mehringer) writes:
>Is there a function in aips that generates random numbers?
>--

check out $APLSUB:RANDIN.FOR and $APLSUB:RANDUM.FOR
RANDIN initializes the random number generator, while
RANDUM returns random numbers distributed evenly between
0 and 1.  for an example of how to calculate gaussian
random numbers given numbers from RANDUM, check out
the subroutine NOISE in the program $APGNOT:IMMOD.FOR

        -bryan
         butler@cluster.gps.caltech.edu
      or butler_b@caltech.edu

"Instead of all of this energy and effort directed at the war
to end drugs, how about a little attention to drugs which will
end war?"	Albert Hoffman
From: franl@centerline.com (Fran Litterio)
Newsgroups: alt.sci.physics.new-theories
Subject: Re: A question
Date: 6 Nov 92 21:33:53
Organization: CenterLine Software, Inc.
NNTP-Posting-Host: 140.239.3.116
In-reply-to: potter@charon.phys.rpi.edu's message of Fri, 6 Nov 1992 20:21:55 GMT

potter@charon.phys.rpi.edu (Curt Potterveld) writes:

> I'm not sure that the actuall boundry can be expressed meaningfully in three
> dimensions. The analogies I've seen compare the expansion in four dimensions to
> a balloon expanding in three. 

The curvature of spacetime has always confused me.  When a one
dimensional line curves, it curves into a second spatial dimension.
When a two dimensional surface (like the surface of the infamous
balloon) curves, it curves into a third spatial dimension.

Does that mean when four-dimensional spacetime (3-space + 1-time)
curves, it curves into a fifth dimension?
--
franl@centerline.com   || Fran Litterio, CenterLine Software R&D
617-498-3255           || 10 Fawcett St, Cambridge, MA, USA 02138-1110
"It's not the thing you fling, it's the fling itself."  -- Chris Stevens
From: tarl@sw.stratus.com (Tarl Neustaedter)
Newsgroups: alt.sci.physics.new-theories
Subject: Re: Einstein's Incomplete theory/Philadelphia Exp.
Date: 10 Nov 92 15:27:37 GMT
Organization: Stratus Computer, Inc.
NNTP-Posting-Host: coyoacan.sw.stratus.com

In article <im14u2c.721381647@camelot>, im14u2c@camelot.bradley.edu (Joseph Zbiciak) writes:
> I am *NOT* referring to the sci-fi movie that is a take-off of
> this experiment.  Although that movie contains *some* historical
> facts, it is *not* a valid reference in my book.

You description accurately matches the movie. Any particular reason we
should assume your source is anything other than the movie? Presumably,
you have a source, since you state authoritatively that the movie
contains historical facts and is a take-off on the experiment.

Someone brought this up a year ago, and I tracked down the USS Eldridge.
It was in active service after the time mentioned in the above posting.
-- 
         Tarl Neustaedter	tarl@sw.stratus.com
         Marlboro, Mass.	Stratus Computer
Disclaimer: My employer is not responsible for my opinions.
From: sichase@csa1.lbl.gov (SCOTT I CHASE)
Newsgroups: alt.sci.physics.new-theories
Subject: Re: Anti-gravity/antimatter related?
Date: 11 Nov 1992 12:39 PST
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory - Berkeley, CA, USA
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.254.196
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    

In article <1992Nov10.205955.28451@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>, wvhorn@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (William VanHorne) writes...
>In article <10NOV199212024438@csa1.lbl.gov> sichase@csa1.lbl.gov (SCOTT I CHASE) writes:
>>
>>You have only demonstrated that antimatter has positive inertial mass.  That
>>says nothing about how antimatter couples to gravity.  No widely accepted
>>experiments have conclusively shown that antimatter falls down rather than
>>up.  If it does fall up, then, of course, significant modifications to our
>>understanding of gravity would be necessary.
>>
> 
>Why wouldn't it fall down?  I thought that the only difference between matter
>and anti-matter was electric charge.  Did I miss something?

You haven't missed a thing.  You have just presupposed that we know more
about antimatter than we really do.  We *assume*, for the most part, that
antimatter falls down.  It has never been settled experimentally.  
We know almost zero about the gravitational interaction of subatomic 
particles because gravity is so weak compared to all the other forces.

Antimatter differs in more than just electric charge.  All quantum numbers
of the particle must be reversed in the antiparticle - opposite strangeness,
magnetic moment, etc.  Even then, there is more to the difference.  There
is not perfect symmetry between matter and antimatter.  We don't know
why.  It's called CP violation.  It means, essentially, that antimatter
follows slightly different rules for interaction and decay than the
corresponding matter.  

-Scott 
--------------------
Scott I. Chase			"It is not a simple life to be a single cell,
SICHASE@CSA2.LBL.GOV		 although I have no right to say so, having
				 been a single cell so long ago myself that I 
				 have no memory at all of that stage of my 
				 life." - Lewis Thomas
Newsgroups: alt.sci.physics.new-theories
From: spani@mprgate.mpr.ca (Leonard Spani)
Subject: Graviton beams?
Followup-To: alt.sci.physics.new-theories
Organization: MPR Teltech Ltd., Burnaby, B.C., Canada
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 92 20:47:46 GMT

[this is my 3rd attempt to post this - sorry if the others 
actually got through]


I have read that gravitons, if they exist, would be similar to
photons in many respects (same spin etc...)

Would it be theoretically possible, based on the current theories
about gravitons, to build the graviton equivilent of a laser?
(i.e. coherent graviton beams), and if so what would be the
properties of such a beam? How would someone go about building
such a device? 

Just curious.


Leonard.



-- 
***********************************************************************
| Leonard E. Spani      |       //!?\\         | (disclaimer-p)       |
| spani@mprgate.mpr.ca  |       \\?!//         | t                    |
*****************-<( "everybody thinks I'm paranoid" )>-***************
From: xeno@iastate.edu (Gary L Snethen)
Newsgroups: alt.sci.physics.new-theories
Subject: Re: Graviton beams?
Date: 12 Nov 92 20:09:20 GMT
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames IA

On the topic again...

If gravitons are affected by gravity and travel at light speed, then they
could never escape a black hole, thus black holes are 'self-sealing' and
cannot possibly affect anything outside of themselves --- including drawing
other matter into them.

If gravitons can escape the black hole, then external observers gain
information as to what is happening beneath the event horizon of the black
hole, and thus it is not so black.

What have I missed?

It would seem that to keep the concept of a black hole as I understand it,
one would have to say that any mass that passes into the event horizon
instantly becomes part of the black hole's 'point mass'...  But this does not
seem reasonable to me, as it creates a dicontinuity in the gravitational
field outside the black hole.

Any takers?  I'm not a black hole specialist.

---Xeno
Gary Snethen
From: sichase@csa1.lbl.gov (SCOTT I CHASE)
Newsgroups: alt.sci.physics.new-theories
Subject: Re: Anti-gravity/antimatter related?
Date: 10 Nov 1992 12:02 PST
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory - Berkeley, CA, USA
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.254.196
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    

In article <1dndfuINN7b1@darkstar.UCSC.EDU>, gross@maxwell.ucsc.edu (Mike Gross) writes...
>In <1992Nov9.180551.60551@cc.usu.edu> ronb@cc.usu.edu writes:
> 
>>anti-matter would have a repulsive effect on 'normal' matter that would be
>>enough to overcome the force of gravity?
> 
>The odds are very small. There have been experiments to weigh antimatter,
>and it still has positive mass.
> 
>Here is a simple (and oft repeated) one: The basic equation for cyclotron
>motion is F = ma = qvB, which corresponds to circular motion. If one changes
>the sign of both q and m, as you are proposing, nothing changes. If one changes
>only the sign of q, then the force acts in the opposite direction, and one has 
>to reverse the velocity (and the direction of rotation) in order to make it
>work.

You have only demonstrated that antimatter has positive inertial mass.  That
says nothing about how antimatter couples to gravity.  No widely accepted
experiments have conclusively shown that antimatter falls down rather than
up.  If it does fall up, then, of course, significant modifications to our
understanding of gravity would be necessary.

We will hopefully know within a couple of years which way antiprotons fall.
Whether the result is the one we expect, or the exciting alternative, it
will be "one for the textbooks."  The experiment is being conducted at LEAR,
at CERN.

-Scott
--------------------
Scott I. Chase			"It is not a simple life to be a single cell,
SICHASE@CSA2.LBL.GOV		 although I have no right to say so, having
				 been a single cell so long ago myself that I 
				 have no memory at all of that stage of my 
				 life." - Lewis Thomas
From: sichase@csa1.lbl.gov (SCOTT I CHASE)
Newsgroups: alt.sci.physics.new-theories
Subject: Re: Graviton beams?
Followup-To: alt.sci.physics.new-theories
Date: 11 Nov 1992 12:41 PST
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory - Berkeley, CA, USA
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: 128.3.254.196
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    

In article <1992Nov10.204746.22583@mprgate.mpr.ca>, spani@mprgate.mpr.ca (Leonard Spani) writes...
> 
>Would it be theoretically possible, based on the current theories
>about gravitons, to build the graviton equivilent of a laser?
>(i.e. coherent graviton beams), and if so what would be the
>properties of such a beam? How would someone go about building
>such a device? 

Unlike electromagnetic radiation, which relects off matter, sometimes almost
completely (a mirror!), gravity waves pass right through.  (There is 
*some* scattering, of course, but it's minutely small.)  So you couldn't
build a resonating cavity in the same way.

-Scott
--------------------
Scott I. Chase			"It is not a simple life to be a single cell,
SICHASE@CSA2.LBL.GOV		 although I have no right to say so, having
				 been a single cell so long ago myself that I 
				 have no memory at all of that stage of my 
				 life." - Lewis Thomas
Newsgroups: alt.sci.physics.new-theories