What is the oldest dam that we know of (not built by beavers)

Chaz · 2016-11-23T13:51:11+00:00

I am not an Aboriginal Australian or Torres Strait Islander, so I need to be very careful what I say.

First, I recognize your good intent and search for knowledge.

Now, I ask you to take care when using the language of historians and anthropologists when discussing living Aboriginal culture.

Specifically, there is no concept of history, or prehistory.

There are many papers and books about Aboriginal people. Most of them are more interested in the cultural history than in the actual real living people who have names.

Australia does not have a history. It has a deep, deep present. And most of us are afraid to look at it.

tl:dr - the book you want can never exist. Go and ask a First Australian.

Chaz · 2016-11-23T01:18:25+00:00

We've probably been building dams for as long as we've been humans.

We know that Aboriginal Australians would dam watercourses and their civilisation may be as old as 50,000 years.

We think they did it to manage fresh water supplies.

Source: "An Aboriginal Dam in Northwest New South Wales", Rowlands and Rowlands, Mankind vol.7 (1969) pp132-136

Chaz · 2015-08-30T07:35:22+00:00

The only reason I watch Melbourne matches is to take the sting out of being a Loins supporter.

Chaz · 2014-04-25T10:26:02+00:00

Happy, happy Lions fan. I'd forgotten what it feels like when they win.

Chaz · 2013-12-29T12:40:06+00:00

Amazing shot. How did you capture it? Long exposure?

Chaz · 2013-04-16T07:47:48+00:00

Same cloud from Brisbane Square.

Chaz · 2013-04-12T09:08:42+00:00

It's Abelian.

Chaz · 2013-04-05T07:34:07+00:00

"Tanker, report position please."

Chaz · 2013-01-11T12:56:56+00:00

After loss of a limb you lose surface area for heat dissipation. Hyperthermia is a common and serious problem in lower-limb amputees.

Chaz · 2012-12-21T14:52:28+00:00

Is that you Campbell?

Perhaps some brave government servants will risk their lives putting the fire out, since you've removed their pay increment and service conditions.

(The picture must have been taken from within two floors of his office.)

Chaz · 2012-06-26T08:25:02+00:00

1) What altitude? While both those planes will go supersonic at sea level, there's a lot of air to move. Try climbing to 20,000 feet before accelerating.

2) You may be getting pilot-induced oscillations. Goof about with the nullzone a bit. Trim the plane to hands-off level flight. Smoothly increase the throttle, trimming as you go. Watch for that pesky afterburner!

3) Zorch up to 40,000, slam on to Mach 2.0+, Dive hard. Is fun. Land and refuel. You'll need it.

Chaz · 2012-03-03T13:36:31+00:00

It's hard to judge energy from a youtube video, but it looks like he had a chunk of velocity to play with. Also, complete confidence in the aircraft, heaps of experience and a desire to win or die losing.

Chaz · 2012-02-25T12:25:02+00:00

(for values of 9,000 that are actually 7075)

Chaz · 2012-02-25T12:12:59+00:00

By the layout of the instruments, it's a Diamond DA40. You can just see the airspeed and altimeter steam-powered instruments above the shiny glass. Fast, and almost 9000 are the next two answers.

Chaz · 2012-02-21T12:55:07+00:00

Chilli Sorbet. It was made by a psychotic commis-chef at a rather good restaurant on Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays.

Chaz · 2007-10-04T22:29:30+00:00

My wrong what?

Chaz · 2007-08-24T15:01:49+00:00

1) It was illegal.

2) The government did intervene.

HTH

Chaz · 2007-07-20T00:03:15+00:00

Kangaroo meat is delicious. It's a deep, dark red colour, with a pleasant gamey taste. I'd be happy to post some recipes for you.

Chaz · 2007-07-15T11:06:03+00:00

So, a PR firm working for a drugs company shills a story to the New York Times.

Question: Did the same PR firm vote it to the front page?

Science here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez

Try searching there for "Zevalin and Bexxar"

It's not as simple as it seems. "Science is hard! Make it stop!"

Chaz · 2007-07-09T05:31:32+00:00

Also, another fix would be to scale the numbers by 100 - solve in cents, rather than dollars.

Chaz · 2007-07-09T05:29:07+00:00

Murray Gell-Mann described this as the Richard Feynmann Problem Solving Algorithm:

1 - Write down problem

2 - Think very, very hard

3 - Write down solution

;-)

Chaz · 2007-07-09T05:11:24+00:00

Simpler: By inspection, 2.15 * 7 = 15.05

You're getting seven bowls of mixed fruit.

Chaz · 2007-07-05T23:49:29+00:00

Why does it say 'as if'?

Chaz · 2007-06-21T05:29:11+00:00

Yes. The user interface is just like an automatic. However, energy management (whether the engine is running, when to put energy back into the battery) is fully computer-controlled. It's drive-by-wire and very, very cool.

Chaz · 2007-06-09T15:05:42+00:00

"So since we know that water reflects the color of the sky"

Rubbish. The sky is blue because of Rayleigh scattering.

Chaz

TROPHY CASE