Hockenbrizzle

But even if the graphs are mislabeled, the numbers don't agree with the statement. The 2010 data for prevalence of obese men shows an increase from 27% to 29%... without error bars given. In what world does that translate to "over 4 times more likely to be classified as morbidly obese"?

Hi folks,

I am a bit confused about a citation given in this opinion piece and ask for your help. In paragraph 5, the author mentions the effect of manual labor and cites an article published in the International Journal of Surgery Oncology. In this article they state that:

"Adults working in unskilled manual profession are over 4 times more likely to be classified as morbidly obese compared with those in professional employments",

and they show a graph to support this. However, the graph seems to show the opposite. I looks like males who perform manual labor have a lower prevalence of obesity than those of non-manual labor. Am I reading this wrong?

I would guess it's more like environmental temperature leads to behavioral changes that then affect the average energy expenditure.

In addition to the other comment suggesting yoga for back pain, I might recommend you see a physiotherapist. You want not only stretching but also strengthening and it's difficult to figure this stuff out yourself. In my case, I found out I had no idea how to correctly activate my transversus abdominis, which is a muscle that should be active during all waking hours to support the spine.

For a textbook where the author does a brilliant job of introducing a complex topic:

Spacetime and Geometry an Introduction to General Relativity by Sean Carroll.

Also the textbooks by David Griffiths and Gill Strang mentioned in other comments.

I didn't learn electronics with this book, but I really wish I did. I used it to give tutorials for an undergraduate electronics course for physics students and it was immensely useful and well organized.

You could also check out Sean Carroll's Spacetime and Geometry. It's my favorite textbook.

Supplement with the second half of Wald's book for exploring some concepts

Sugar is common for curing meats like bacon. I don't know if it plays a role in pulling out the water like salt does, but I know some use it to offset the strong saltiness. I think it also provides for some bacteria which help preserve the meat.

I guess an important point to make is how easy it is to consume a sugary drink. I can very easily sit down and drink a tall glass of orange juice but not so easily could I sit down and eat the six oranges that would be used to make that oj.

I believe he was often very silent about political or ethical matters of the "The Gadget". In contrast to other physicists at the time, like Oppenheimer and Szilard.

Hey great work. Electron beam technology has quite an interesting history and has been used for many applications.

I work at an atomic physics research institute and am currently building an electron beam ion trap. We use a compressed electron beam to ionize atoms into a highly charged state and then use these ions to observe things like electronic structure of the atom and quantum electrodynamic effects. We have an electron gun that can be biased up to 60 kV and we have a 7 Tesla superconducting coil combined with some einzel lenses to guide and compress the electron beam into the trapping area where we ionize the atoms.

I've never thought to bring my work home with me but this would be a really really cool project to undertake. Thanks for sharing.

Can anybody comment on how well food is regulated in Canada? Since moving from the US to the EU I've definitely noticed a difference in food quality. I'll soon be moving to Quebec so I would be interested to hear if Canada is more like the US or EU in this respect.

Good point, although I didn't mean to lionize the father.

I don't think it matters if the father was left, right or center. Whatever the basis, he made a decision that will ultimately benefit society (which is the main goal, right?). Whatever the political stance, we are a society. Meaning the basic idea, which is that everyone contributes so that the whole benefits, should be of utmost importance.

If I could recommend an interesting film to watch, go see Michael Moore's Where to Invade Next. You don't have to watch the whole thing, but try to find the part where they talk about the Norwegian prison system. And then look for the part where a father who lost his son during a massacre of about 60 children explains his thoughts. It's absolutely heartbreaking to watch. He explains that he doesn't want the criminal to suffer and rot in prison. Instead, he want's the rehabilitation center to help the man so that he can ultimately become a benefit to society. I can't even begin to understand how difficult it would be to say that after such a loss, but I think he was correct in doing so.

My belief is that the society failed to correctly educate the man who eventually became a criminal. I don't think people are born with such desires.

This can't be the correct way of thinking of the prison system. A person should not be sent to prison for the sole purpose of suffering for the crime which they committed. There is a reason people call a prison a correctional facility. The point is to correct the problems in their character that caused them to commit such a crime. If you isolate them from the world it's no wonder they would eventually commit a crime again. Because they have no idea how to fit into society. And then we just have another person to take care of while they don't do anything to contribute to society.

This almost implies that some people are born with a lack of self control? You can't just simplify it like that.

From birth, everything we process with our senses adds to our understanding of the world and our ability to navigate it. If Nestle has enough money to flood the market with information supporting themselves, how can you expect people to make the right choices? And remember, not everyone has the fortune of growing up in a balanced environment that allows them to evolve a rational way of thinking, so they aren't just gonna jump on HN and start doing some research.

You can't just take the first order approximation. You gotta do the full expansion, man.

I like this answer. I am only 25, but I have made some recent decisions in life that have lead me to being more focused on exploring the world than my career. I guess, at some point, I thought to myself "What am I going to teach my future kids?", and that's when I realized that I needed to get out in the world, learn some languages, play some music, and do some crazy shit. Best idea I've had so far. Thanks for reminding me.

This is why I start my showers luke-warm and then go cold. My hair is medium-long and really thick and I just cant seem to make any progress washing it if the water is too cold.

Yes, sorry my comment was extremely useless. I did read the article but did not see the image showing Rudy Pauls the farmer, my mistake.

My comment was very off topic, so I won't try and clarify it here.

Man this is so frustrating because I have a family member who is like this. I would really like to help them, but they just don't seem to get it.

I think the problem is that these people want instant results. That's not how the body works. If you want to become a runner, you start running often and because you love it. You don't force yourself to start doing intense, one-and-done sessions in an attempt to get to your goal and then go back to your old lifestyle once you achieve it. You have to learn to play the long game and be patient.

I really believe that if these folks worked on a farm for several years, it would do much more to help them with their weight problems than these TV shows do.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know Obama's stance on this particular part of the legislation? He was just in Hanover and was asked about this by the public, but avoided giving a clear answer. Are there any records of him explaining why he actually might think this is a good thing?

I agree, sort of,

I think we should get rid of standardized testing. If we are to instill creative problem solving, etc to our kids, how do we achieve that by making every kid take the same damn test?

I also think we should get rid of school ratings. Fundamentally, a society is a group of people that band together and solve each others problems to benefit as a whole. Education is one of the basic requirements that should be provided to new members of society so that they can contribute to the problem solving. So then why make school ratings? Every school should offer the same quality of education, no matter where.

Sure, charter schools will likely bring new methods of teaching that get rid of standardized testing, but it won't fix the problem of school ratings and the competitiveness that comes with it...

If anyone is interested in a such a farmer, I would recommend looking up Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms. He really counters the general stereotype that farmers are dumb people, which they certainly are not.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Salatin

I always listen to music while I work. If I am learning new things or editing a manuscript, I turn the volume quite low and only play music that I am very familiar with. Here are some albums/sets I listen to most often:

Rodrigo Amarante - Cavalo

Townes Van Zandt - Townes Van Zandt

Solomun Boiler Room DJ Set (YouTube)

Nightmares on Wax Boiler Room DJ Set (YouTube)

I would pay $10/month to lease a handheld 'gun' that would terraform mars. But it must be handheld. I'm not lugging around a dang suitcase with me on my mission to populate mars.

Or, you could build a Transmogrifier. But that's not my idea, that's the idea of Mr Bill Watterson.

That's a great advertisement.

I've just moved to Germany from the US about one year ago. So far it's made me realize how under-developed the US society is. As I learn more about how Germany operates, I constantly have those, "that makes so much more sense", moments. Of course this isn't always true, but in general I feel that they are just doing things a little better here.

I agree that society has to change how we view jobs that don't require education from a university. It makes no sense that we should value an engineer from a tech company more than a farmer that provides our food.

Also, I find that people in Germany are more aware of what role they play in society and how it operates.

+1. Just bought a racing bike for a 250km cycling marathon through the Alps in June. A bit scared, but so stoked for it.

When I was studying, I went to two schools, one using semester system and one using quarter system.

With the semester system I had plenty of time to read the material and really explore the mathematics behind what I was learning. With the quarter system I was so busy running around and catching up in different classes that I never really had the time available to sit down and do that. It sucked. I think the quarter system kind of 'beat' the interest out of me because now it is hard to get back into that state of mind.

semester > quarter :(

A question about learning French in Québec:

I'll soon be moving to Québec to start graduate studies at McGill. I've spent the past year living in Germany and have gotten the language down quite well because people are very friendly and willing to help. I haven't taken any German lessons, just going out for a Stammtisch and having some liquid courage really washes away the trepidation of making a blunder and you learn from your mistakes.

I would like to learn French while in Québec. Are the Québec people just as inviting as the Germans when it comes to a foreigner trying to learn their language?