kokopelli

I am another gun possessing American but would like to see stricter controls on who can buy them. In my state it was very difficult to get permission to buy a handgun although easy to guy a rifle. I started my shooting career with the Boy Scouts and earned a sharpshooters cert from the NRA and honed my skills shooting varmints(woodchucks) on my cattle ranch. But as time went on I have sold my two rifles and a handgun and keep the other one safely locked away. As for the connection between cars and guns, just beware those guys with the rifles hanging in the rear window of their pickup trucks.

Yes, Sir Issac Newton and his laws of gravitation does indeed give the answer to the loss of weight of Curiosity. The gravity on Mars is much less than Earth and Curiosity thus "lost" weight although it's mass remained the same.

I used the same reasoning as Shakespeare. Also the word "Moor" has various meanings and does not necessarily mean a black African, as black as they get. Othello was a General in the Venetian army and was well traveled in his military career.

President/General Grant is "buried" in Grants Tomb in New York City/USA,The Newton was named after Fig, the town of Newton in the USA

This brings on another quick quiz! When Curiosity left Earth it weighed one tonne/ton = 2000 lbs but when it landed on Mars it only weighed 760 lbs. What happened to those 1240 lbs???

I am pleased to see that our members are slugging away for the correct answer but to no avail. Most likely Rogie knows the answer because of his scientific background but wanted to give everyone else a shot at it. In the English/Imperial system of measurement a SLUG is a unit of MASS. The equivalent unit in the Metric system would be the KILOGRAM. Thus z909's mass would be 4.86 slugs = 71 kg. Some may think that the equivalent unit of a kilogram is the pound but that is wrong. The pound is a unit of FORCE; the equivalent unit in the Metric system would be the NEWTON (nt). Thus z909 would "weigh" on Earth, not 71kg but 698 nt = 157 lb. Wow, he is slim! Wanna guess who the newton was named after?

Speaking of English and Metric equivalents, would any of you like to guess what a "slug" measures? No cheating.

And there is the car with a 5 liter engine producing 300 horsepower.

I have now lost track of Phelps's medals. I think it is 18 gold and no more events. Here is a good article in NY times which does discuss the best Olympian. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/sports/olympics/as-most-decorated-olympian-michael-phelps-changed-swimming.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp

Rogie; refer to my post on the Mars Rover post. You were using English system in reasoning , I was using Metric system in my reasoning. Although I believe the English use Metric and the Yanks use English ?

Hope NASA learned a lesson when they sent one probe to Mars which was designed by Engineers and programmed by Scientists (or vice-versa) ; English units and Metric units were not compatible. Hard to believe such a blunder could happen. What is most intriguing about this mission is the manner whereby the rover will be lowered by cables from a hovering rocket powered craft. Like Navy Seals repelling down from a helicopter. If it works it really will be an outstanding achievement.

Othello is correct? I never read the play nor cheated. Just pulled the answer out of my ass. Figured if Othello was a Moor then maybe he traveled to some Muslim countries.

Othello

I understand that North Korean also offers prizes to the winners such as refrigs, apartments and other amenities. The loser may well end up in prison. Saw this in NYTimes but don't have link at the minute.

Not again?

First of all I have no idea what an iPhone is. I understand the Phone bit but why the "i" bit? Why is Phone capitalized and i in lower case? Is it an intelligent phone or a phone for idiots? Nonetheless I was impressed by the story of a missing iPhone and how it was found. Here is a link to an article in the New York Times about an iPhone which went astray. http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/02/where-is-david-pogues-phone/?hp

Uh oh, another gold medal.

Although I enjoyed reading about Tokyo I have no yen to visit. Once I did stay one night outside of Narita Airport due to food poisoning on the flight from BKK to USA. I notice that Delta Airlines, my carrier, is offering flights, using frequent flyer miles, which arrive at one airport, Narita, and departs from the other, Haneda and with a 15 hour connection time. Apparently it is up to the traveler to make the connection on his own. For me that would be a challenge and even more so with lots of luggage. I suppose if there were a connecting bus from airport to airport it might be possible but not something I would consider.

What? A dress code like Wimbledon? Do you want the swimmers balls to fall out like those tennis players?

Here is an editorial in the New York Times entitled "Don't Rain On Our Parade". Well, that is not really the title, it is The Greatest Olympian. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/02/opinion/michael-phelps-goat.html?ref=todayspaper

Excellent idea however in some events such as fencing that might be unwise.

I believe I shall follow your advice.

Welcome back.

I know nothing about Olympic rules or sports, but is there anything prohibiting someone from competing in a variety of events? For example, couldn't a runner compete in various competitions? I believe there are 10 running events so why not compete in all ten and win ten gold medals? Isn't that what Phelps did, compete in a variety of swimming events rather than just specialize in one?

To answer the question is Michael Phelps that great here is a quote by a previous Olympic swimmer Mark Spitz: "Epic. It goes to show you that not only is this guy the greatest swimmer of all time and the greatest Olympian of all time, he's maybe the greatest athlete of all time. He's the greatest racer who ever walked the planet. —Mark Spitz (on Phelps winning his 7th gold medal)[128]" This was after Phelps won his 7th gold medal. I think it is a matter of credit where credit is due.