How difficult is it for most people to memorize relative finger positions as opposed to absolute positions on a keyboard? How much lag will users experience transitioning to some other interface each time they get to a character they haven't memorized?

All of the Democrats in the house believe in gun control. But then again, so do all of the Republicans:

http://www.politicususa.com/2013/12/03/gop-house-decides-2nd-amendment-limits-approves-gun-control-measure-voice-vote.html

The republicans are much better at drawing people together based on commonalities in what they hate and fear than the Democrats. That has worked best by pushing simple yes/no good/bad simplified versions of issues - like gun control - and burying the complications.

In the sense that science and religion both underpin the way people see and interact with the universe, other people, and many of their attempts to control both. Sort of how apples function as oranges if what you are doing is holding a piece of fruit or chucking it at someone's head. Eating them are somewhat different experiences though.

If you're in CA, CO, or one of the other drought stricken states you might want to skip the lighter. If you've gotten yourself lost, you probably shouldn't be setting a signal fire:

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/oct/24/ceder-fire-san-diego-ten-years-later/

Until grants provide funding for reproducing old results, publishing a paper will remain the first step in getting the work reproduced. Typically by someone who needs the technique/result for their own work.

retractionwatch.com is great for the most influential journals but it's safe to say it's only catching a small minority of the infractions, and of those really only the ones published in english. One cynical solution: as grant money continues to dry up, scientists will realize that the easiest way to improve their chances to get their grant approved is to thin out the competition: exhaustively check their competitors' publications and old grant applications for plagiarism and fraud, then complain anonymously.

You know, I don't think I've ever heard of a mix of cash, lawyers, and lobbyists being referred to as "dispersant" before.

How much oil (weight/weight) can a piece of membrane hold on to? Can the oil be stripped off of the membrane so that the membrane can be reused? If the answers are "less than 1:1" and "no", this might still be useful as a final purification stage after most of the oil has been removed or for situations where you are trying to clear smaller amounts of more toxic materials.

I think the right people were the ones who received a portion of each deal without actually having to hold on to the security/property itself or at least not for very long, thus minimizing their risks. Bundle the mortgages, shove out the door ASAP. See: Goldman Sachs.

A lot of the money did just evaporate: securities became worthless, real estate lost 40% or more of its value. But for the actuaries/econ wonks planning the deals almost all of them were better off just being optimists. The worst that would happen is they would look bad (and get laid off) at the same time that all of their peers looked bad. If they tried to call the bust most would have gotten the date wrong. If they called it too early they would most likely be ignored then fired. If their client/boss had actually paid attention their investments would have quickly underperformed everyone else's: they would have been ridiculed and THEN fired. Sure they would have been vindicated eventually ... well after they were fired. If they called the bust too late: same results, more or less. A few would of course get the date right, but how many people get to be economists by drawing to inside straights?

Can it tell the difference between a shark and a dolphin? I guess if it mistakes a duck diving surfer for a shark it would be one way to cut down on the crowds.

Sounds like a great way to sell a $5000 oven that will regularly require parts and services to keep all of the extra features running - and of course the oven will be programmed not to function at all unless all of the features are working.

I like some of the features, but overall I would like a cheap reliable oven which minimizes heat transfer to the kitchen I am paying to air condition.

So you burn the seasoning off of the grill before cooking the steak? The carbon will be burned off by the time you hit 800C (1470 F).

Yup, but I don't think any were worried that suddenly looking for and then telling the truth would burst the bubble. They just knew that promotions, endowed chairs, year end bonuses, etc, were not going to be handed to the pessimists saying "you know that thing we're doing that's making all the money? Stop it. Right now."

I don't know about now but when/where I was growing up it cost about half as much to take a limo home from the airport as a taxi.