Look kid, I read your "explanation" which was a hand wave that even my 8th graders wouldn't get away with for a drill. So I asked a serious question that I didn't think we be so far above your head. Which I answered before you asked your very clever question. You stepped right over Nuclea...

Deepcrush wrote:Where did you get the idea that only the AK47 changed the modern world???

From my explanation... Which I already wrote...

Oh, wait, you were trying to be smart. Ingenius.

Right. So nothing at all to do with its shape, engine signature and output, or shielding its internal workings? Oh, okay.

McAvoy wrote: even though it's not exactly a hard thing.

Which universities did you get your PhDs in material science, sensor systems, and Radar and Lidar operations from?

I agree that the F117 did not change the world. I am saying that it introduced stealth technology which, while even now still only feasible by world powers, is considered a class of its own and undoubtedly changed attitudes on warfare among those same powers. And I do not care about this apparant co...

No doubt to inlcude a weapon that even appears on a national flag. But the F117? Great idea, but what did it ever do that shook the world? The list is "weapons that changed the world," not "ideas that really impress us nerds." Well, I would say that to just include the AK is not...

As nukes didn't change the world after WW2 then it's fairly obvious they wouldn't be included. The biggest one to me seems fairly obvious: the AK-47. If the Nimitz were the first aircraft carrier, then it may have changed the world. The AK-47 black market and the massive consequences of such a cheap...

As I've been absent for so long (apologies - rather busy!), I thought I'd give an update... I've just finished the 3rd year of my degree in physics and am effectively qualified to bacherlor level. In my latest exams I managed the equivalent of a 1st, but thanks to my other ones I'm on an upper-secon...

Staplic's method is correct, although conservation of energy (neglecting friction assuming it doesn't come too near terminal velocity) is an easier way to do it; potential (mass x 9.81 x height) -> kinetic (0.5 x m x v^2). The difference is due to the fly wheel.

Union is 15-a-side, League is 13-a-side, Union is professional, League is amateur (in theory anyway - I'm not sure how much they stick to that rule these days). There are also some differences in the rules. In theory it's the exact opposite. The rugby football union banned anyone who had ever playe...

So just how is it different from plain old graphite? The day after it was announced my 'application of quantum physics' professor actually changed his entire lecture to discussing graphene. Its atomic structure means it is effectively 2 dimensional, giving it quite different (and outstanding) therm...

The production of it is actually unbelievably simple - almost comical. They would used sellotape on graphite (ie your pencil lead), and would just peel it off so there's a little bit of graphite on the tape. They'd then use more tape on that graphite, leaving a thinner layer on the new tape; and rep...

In case any of you didn't know, I attend this univesity doing this course, so as you may imagine it was a pretty hectic time when it was announced! Pretty strange thinking that I've unwittingly been in 'their' lab many times and have witnessed first hand how they acquired the most prestigious prize ...

The real competition starts soon, the 4 nations. Aus, England, France and New Zealand. However, in contrast (ish) to Seafort's post, I think sunnyside could well be talking about league, supposedly (from various twitter feeds) the NRL has been getting a fair bit of airtime on a few channels in the U...

Fusion power. I'm still not sure what area of physics I'm going to leaning towards for a career - if I don't get research then something like a BAE or a military contractor would be pretty damn cool - but if I do get research then it'd probably be in some sort of fusion, particle or astrophysics res...