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* Posts by KitN

3 publicly visible posts • joined 12 May 2012

Qubits turn into time travellers

KitN

Is this tantamount to saying tachyons are real?

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Earth bathed in high-energy radiation from colossal mystery blast

KitN
Mushroom

Terrestrial origin

What about an event on Earth rather than in space?

During the brief era of nuclear bomb testing, we raised the C-14 level massively (see http://www.radiocarbon.com/carbon-dating-bomb-carbon.htm ). I'm not saying someone detonated a nuke in 774 - though a mushroom cloud might well have been interpreted as a "red crucifix" at that time:) - but a terrestrial event would not need to be of cosmic scale energy to affect our atmosphere.

If it were an Earth event, the effect would vary a lot more over area & time than if it bathed the earth uniformly from space, and that would show up as differing spikes in the C-14 in tree rings - one way to test the idea.

Another point though: if most ring surveys are averaged over 5-10 years, might there not be other single year spikes we aren't aware of? Maybe they are common, in which case this data wouldn't indicate an anomaly at all.

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'Fake Carla Bruni' Twitter account spreads Thatcher death rumour

KitN

Regarding the 'benefits' of privatization (& therefore Thatcher's program) to IT versus the horrors of publicly owned BT, GPO, etc...

Many improvements, like faster service, not having to share lines, massive choice of phones, less dropped calls - as well as cheaper prices - are due to advances in technology, not privatization.

High prices, long waiting times, and arrogant attitudes (like demanding £140 deposits) were the result of monopoly, not state ownership. And it was state capitalism, not socialism.

Private companies behave just as badly when they have a monopoly. Remember when the iPhone first came out? In UK it was exclusive to O2 for a couple of years, so they could charge upfront fees *and* you paid more for fewer minutes.

Originally the iPhone distribution monopoly was meant to last till 2011! That would have held back the iPhone's spread, and therefore put less pressure on rivals to develop iPhone killers. Smart phones would be far less common today.

Even with competition, it's taken years for mobile phone prices to come down, and there's still a long way to go, especially for overseas calls/texts & roaming.

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