The problem is that there simply aren’t enough physical goods in the world to satisfy the demands of all the money and other paper wealth that exists. What would happen if everyone decided to get rid of money and other paper wealth and exchange it for cars, houses and other goods? There aren’t enough goods to satisfy all the money and paper wealth that exists. This means that much of the “wealth” represented by all this paper is non-existent. Plain and simple.

Hence the system is bound to collapse, because it is essentially a Ponzi scheme, and Ponzi schemes cannot last forever, because sooner or later an “investor” makes a claim that the Ponzi scheme cannot satisfy...

First, all over the world, temperatures have been dropping in a way wholly unpredicted by all those computer models which have been used as the main drivers of the scare. Last winter, as temperatures plummeted, many parts of the world had snowfalls on a scale not seen for decades. This winter, with the whole of Canada and half the US under snow, looks likely to be even worse. After several years flatlining, global temperatures have dropped sharply enough to cancel out much of their net rise in the 20th century.

In the emails, these UN-funded scientists talk about deleting data under FOIA request, faking data for journals such as Nature, conspiring to keep opposing science out of peer-reviewed journals (which they controlled the editorial boards), using "tricks" to "hide the cooling [period]" etc.

Before electronic hand held calculators, the slide rule was widely used in Engineering, Science and Commerce for rapidly performing calculations involving multiplication and division which have to be accurate to not more than three or four decimal places. It can also be used for such operations as involution (raising to a power) and evolution (extraction of a root) and for calculations with trigonometric functions (sine, cosine, tangent, cotangent).

Da Vinci’s fascination with the sea spurred many designs for aquatic exploration. His diving suit was made of leather, connected to a snorkel made of cane and a bell that floated at the surface. Proving the artist was also practical, the suit included a pouch the diver could urinate in.

How does a rainbow form? Is levitation possible? Do time machines exist? What does 'quantum' mean? What is the maximum force value found in nature? Is 'empty space' really empty? Is the universe a set? Which problems in physics are still unsolved?

This site publishes a free physics textbook that tells the story of how it became possible, after 2500 years of exploration, to answer such questions. The book is written to be entertaining, surprising and challenging on every page. With little mathematics, the text explores the most fascinating parts of mechanics, thermodynamics, special and general relativity, electrodynamics, quantum theory and modern attempts at unification. The essence of these fields is summarized in the most simple terms: it is shown how they are based on the notions of minimum entropy, maximum speed, maximum force, minimum change of charge and minimum action.

Once upon a time, the mantra for scientific success was "Think big." Nowadays, it's all about the ongoing mission to make things really, really small. Here, a look at the latest in Lilliputian developments.

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Why settle for the standard stereo or a GPS unit when you can have an in-car PC running off your car's battery to guide the way, watch the engine, and download tunes?

An accurate, real-time planetarium viewable through your browser — and all made in Flash.

This project is an evolving work in progress, permanently under development. There aren't any planets or constellation lines at the moment, but it's on my wishlist.