@coirbidh: Looks like you answered my question.

The composition of moon rocks and dust has been analyzed to death, hasn't it? They know exactly what's in it, and how much. So instead of a using a perfumist to match a scent to the astronaut's memories, why not build the real thing from the original recipe? Now that's something I would buy.

@Don Nguyen: Orbital formations and electron energies have a lot to do with it also. I remember reading that because of its size and some other differences, silicon isn't really able to participate in the variety of covalent bonding patterns as easily as carbon can, making it unlikely to fit into our biochemistry.

@njdevil misses the old days: Without reading the original study itself (just the magazine reports), I'm assuming that the original organism in the lake also incorporated arsenic into its structure to some partial degree. Then by changing the nutrients, they were able to selectively drive it toward a…

@FlameCell: Archaea has the same nucleic acid structure, the kind with phosphorus, as everything else living on earth (except this new thing).

@wrenchmonkey: "Whereas sugar cane nets about 8 times as much energy as is consumed by the process."

@DWOHIO: Not accusing any particular people, but it's long been known that sociopaths are some of the most manipulative people you could ever meet. Even knowing they are mentally ill, you can still find yourself charmed.

@das7002: I agree with a lot of what you say. However, I'm glad surgical residents don't adhere to your educational philosophy. There are some things that just require didactic teaching, and still make the world a better place.

@halopower67: We would have also accepted Golden Age Dolly.

@Thangka: Or pretty much anything with a lot of pitch/oils. And didn't they just do a steel wool thing on this very site?

@jupiterthunder: Though rarely used by English speakers, chevon is the separate term for the meat you get from goats.

@Arggh! there goes a...snake a snake!: To reply to your philosophical thought, I'd say that there is no substantial reason to feel that we are "beating nature." The only ones who feel that we stand outside of nature for some reason are ourselves, and that is more because of our own perspective than any real-world…

How much do I have to put in if I want to bike from Minny to New York?

My top-loader is only a few years old. It will fill with the door open, and then it won't start the actual wash cycle until you close it. If you open it at any time during the cycle (wash or spin), it will pause. However, it takes a while for the spin cycle to come to a stop. And it has no locking mechanism.

God, that is awesome.

I've heard a legend that some have been able to go 40mph using nothing but gears.

I'm trying to estimate the g-forces these guys are taking in comparison to their cars. From the acceleration numbers I can find, the initial takeoff is similar to an F1 car, but the rest of the ride is probably a touch more leisurely. Also, since a lot of the curves in f1 are flat, the forces there are purely lateral,…

@anderlan: There are more steps than that. But your brain should be grown by now, so no need to worry.

@Renee Cousins: Never heard the term "bible sacker."

@robert_rapplean: While it doesn't undermine your calculations, it's still important (or maybe just impressive) to point out the fact that a year's worth of Xboxes can't build themselves out of chicken nuggets and milk.