You apparently overlooked the '...' around 'empty', and the note[1], where I said that 'empty' is a deceptive description of space to astrophysisists.

What I was alluding to was the average Joe picturing vast volumes of space as being empty of stuff that can be detected with the human eye in context to TFA talking about using the human eye and brain in searching out these particles collected in the aerogell.

As far as space being actually mostly empty, that is not true. it is chock full of stuff, mostly requiring dectors that far exceed human eyesight.

Quarks, gluons, nuetrinos, leptons, dark matter, black holes, most wavelenghts of EM radiation, gravity, the 'fabric' of space time, many more are crammed int the volume of what would look to a human using the good old 'Eyeball, Mark 1' as a mostly empty void.
Most layman/people only beleive in what they can see, but that is only the barest 'tip of the iceberg' to what's actually out there.

'Tenous gas', various EM radiation, sub atomic particles, 'dark matter, etc. and ad nausem and quantam foam, and more are all presented as theories.
Taken altogether, 'empty' space is actually more crowded than a Tokyo subway during rush hour, and busier than a one-armed paper hanger.

I do actually agree with you, but I was trying to play to a more 'layman/mainstream' crowd, and tried to give the more knowledgable here acknowledgement that it was far from 'empty'

Sorry I failed to make that clear. :-)
But then again, because I like to stir the mudpuddles....;-)

Look at how 'empty' aerogel is: 99.8% 'empty space', and how much 'empty space' there is in an atom.

Sorry to double-reply, but SoylentNews underwent an announced shutdown for maintainance last night, and apparently something went arwy, the site is currently down as of a few seconds ago....

FTA:

Well, not quite ready for 'Night at the Improv', worth a grin anyhow.

Only two particles out of only seven impacts, over 200 days shows just how 'empty'[1] space really is.

[1] 'empty' space can be surprisingly a deceptive statement in astrophysics, though...:-)

Gah, slashcode mangled the double parenthesis again!
When do we get proper unicode support?

You can do what I just did:
1.) go to pref's, and assign a '-5' modifier to your foes, then mark those spam-post authors as 'foe' and reload page.

Or:

2.) join in the discussions at SoylentNews.
I have been spending more time there than on /. lately. The discussions are more like /. was before Dice took over, and it started as a direct result of /.Beta.

The the SN community is still small(but growing), and the SN team has been extremely responsive to community feedback, unlike here.
As a side effect(of the above statement), the community has a large influence in the shaping and direction that SN takes...again, not like here.

Just some suggestions....:-)

Thanks for the info, I'll check into it.

Serious question here...

Where do you find drivers for modern hardware that works in Win98?

My problem trying to do this very thing has been finding graphics drivers for Win98. None of the so called 'generic drivers' have worked for me, and the only two solutions I have reached is:
1) run some *nix distro + WINE for a few
2) keep one of my retired boxes that I can run Win98 on that I have/can find drivers for(I don't have the space for this)

If I could find a working 'generic' SVGA driver to run Win98 in VirtualBox on my current PC(Linux/Win7 dual-boot), I would be a very happy camper. It is something I have tried to get working off and on for some years now.

BTW, a cross-platform option would be sweet!

I have always thought that I was just missing some knowledge about VM's, but having looked for a while, it is either hard to do, or the knowledge is well hidden,IMHO.

State law insists that all traffic remain in the right-hand lane unless passing, or turning left. That has been in effect for decades, but suddenly now it is an issue?

Not to pick on Oklahoma(I live in Stillwater, OK), this is nationwide, because everyone knows 'the 'fast lane' is faster.

It's a sad fact, but that is how it is nowadays.

The 'correct responce' would have been:
1.) get vehicle make/model/description
2.) any vehicle ID numbers(dump truck, corp. vehicle, etc.)
3.) Lic tag #
4. ) Give info to Insurance agent
5.)????Profit? ;-)Yeah, that's it. *former PA resident

Every politician is the correct answer, nowadays.

You are forgetting 'Lobby' influence, and how cheap the congresscritters can be bought by 'special influence' groups.

Yes, it's a conflict of interest, but who cares.

The only thing that seems to matter is how much 'mileage' you can get out of your agenda....FSCK right or wrong.

It's the 'new way', get used to it, or fight it....your choice.

I choose to 'fight'.

Your comment gets my vote for the most insightful one presented.

The whole issue strikes me as:
"You should remove your wife's panties before you drop her off on the corner to turn tricks."

Well , yes, I guess that would make it easier for her to turn tricks, but why am I having my wife turn tricks in the first place?!?!?

This whole subject seems to be begging the question.

Where the 8,000 came from, was the original poster saying that it was 500 billion years old, with mass extinctions every 62 million, which equaled 130 events. The 8,000 was a sarcastic comment regarding the incorrect maths.

I fully understand the current known facts, and the maths.

I was just curious where the 500 billion number came from that 'MichaelDavidCrawford' was making sarcastic replies to.

Start with this comment to clear up your confusion.

Why 500 billion? Where does that number come from?

That's what started this whole mess...that linked(above) comment. 'wjcofkc' is the one that provided the 500 billion number, 'MichaelDavidCrawford' commented sarcastically about the 8,000 events to point out the math error, and then I joined in trying to find out where 'wjofkc' was getting the 500 billion number from, then you tried correcting me without knowing what started this(my guess).

Nothing more than the natural confusion when entering an ongooing conversation without the context of the 'root' of the conversation. Happens to me all the time! :-)

If I remember correctly, the beta was not going 'live' until the end of March, or beginning of April.

I for one, was hoping it was an elaborate April Fools joke on /.'s part.

You have to admit, this one would go down in history as bigger than the year we were subjected to 'OMG...PONIES!!!'

I don't really expect /. beta to be an April Fool, unfortuneately.

Yeah, I feel 'sucker-punched' by this as well.

All of those lying, conniving scoundrals that call themselves scientists have been trying to convince me for years that the universe was only 14 1/2 billion years old.

Man, I feel old now....

Hey wait, maybe this explains the universe expanding....it's trying to catch up with the new info. Yeah, that's gotta be it. ;-)

I think you need to recheck your math.

500 billion divided by 62 million equals 8,064.5, so I don't understand where the 130 number is coming from.

Even if you were thinking 'million' as you typed billion, 130 still makes no sense, as 500 million divided by 62 million equals 8.

Best current estimates on the age of the universe are much smaller than 500 billion, more like 14-15 billion.

Where does the 500 billion come from?

BTW, other than the maths, you made an interesting comment. :-)

That's HOW I keep track of my blood pressure, you insensitive clod!

All lame jokes aside, the volume and pitch of my tinnitus changes with my BP changes.

If it's louder than normal, and higher pitched than normal, it's usually a sign I have forgotten to take my BP med.'s.

How very true, but I had two similar experiences recently.

Several years ago(2-3?), ZZ Top was in town for a show.
Myself, the wife, and stepdaughter all went.
The two gals had a great time, and enjoyed the show.
Me? Well, I spent approximately 3/4 the show trying to figure out what I was hearing, occasional clear bits would shine through the muddy noise, and I could ID the song.

I just chalked it up to some weird mixing and/or accoustic envoirment.(outdoors)

Then later that same year, Ozzie Osbourne was playing close by.
I treated my stepdaughter to the concert for her birthday.
This show was indoors, and again the very same thing happened.

I guess my dodgey hearing had detereriated more than I had realized, and I came to the regretful conclusion that live shows are not worth it anymore fore me. ;-(