Is hell exothermic or endothermic?

An excerpt from this site.

Dr. Schambaugh, of the University of Oklahoma School of Chemical Engineering, Final Exam question for May of 1997.

Dr. Schambaugh is known for asking questions such as "why do airplanes fly?" on his final exams. His one and only final exam question in May 1997 for his Momentum, Heat and Mass Transfer II class was the following:

"Is hell exothermic or endothermic? Support your answer with proof."

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:

"First, We postulate that if souls exist, then they must have some mass. If they do, then a mole of souls can also have a mass. So, at what rate are souls moving into hell and at what rate are souls leaving? I think we can safely assume that once a soul gets to hell, it will not leave.

Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for souls entering hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, then you will go to hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all people and souls go to hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in hell to increase exponentially.

Now, we look at the rate of change in volume in hell. Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in hell to stay the same, the ratio of the mass of souls and volume needs to stay constant. Two options exist:

1. If hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter hell, then the temperature and pressure in hell will increase until all hell breaks loose.

2. If hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until hell freezes over.

The student got the only A.

Britney's "Hold It Against Me" Without Autotune

Just like any bored human being on a Saturday afternoon, I turned to my computer for company. After doing the usual routine of checking e-mails, logging on to social networks, and reading whatever news comes up online, I ended up on PerezHilton.com, more specifically on a write-up about Britney Spears. Perez posted a version of Britney's Hold It Against Me without autotune.

I was very, very curious how it sounds. Listen to it below.



To be honest, I did not know what to expect. But it was interesting to hear that she doesn't really sound that bad. Well, yes, her vocals isn't as powerful but it was decent enough for me. And I think I like this better than the album version. This is refreshing to hear and it actually sounds clean. There aren't any disturbing sounds like those distorted vocals and echoes. Well done, Britney!

Link to Perez Hilton write-up.

Welcoming Myself on Google+

I've just started using Google+ (pronounced are Google Plus) yesterday. I don't know much about it yet. I'm just starting and trying out the features. But here are some of my initial impressions:

1. It looks very easy to navigate. Everything you need, you can easily see on the interface.
2. The "circles" are very interesting. It's like the "groups" but cooler and easier. It's an easy drag-and-drop process.
3. I like that when you post a status or share something, you will be asked who you'd like to share it with. This way you won't have to set general restrictions by going over the "Settings" or anything. I think that's too tiresome, especially if you have a lot of friends to go over.
4. So far my only problem is the "invitation" process. I am confused on how to invite friends.
5. I still haven't tried the chat feature but one friend told me the experience is quite better than that of Facebook's.

That's it for now! I'll have to explore it some more.

How to Post Your Tweets on Facebook

This afternoon, while watching the Azkals game against Sri Lanka, I was also tweeting the whole time. One friend asked me how I was able to post my tweets on Facebook. That's where I got the idea of making a tutorial on how to post your tweets on Facebook.

First of all, you have to have a Twitter account. If you don't, you'll have to sign up on Twitter. Once you have a Twitter account setup, you're ready to connect to Facebook.

1. Sign in to your Facebook account.
2. On the search box on the upper part of the Facebook page, search for the Twitter application or you can just access it here.
3. On the Twitter App page, click the "Sign in with twitter" button.

4. You will be redirected to a page where you will be asked to connect your Twitter and Facebook accounts.
5. If you are logged in to your Twitter account while setting up the connection, you will just have to confirm by choosing "Allow."
6. If you are not logged in to your Twitter account, you will be asked to enter your login information, and then confirm the authorization by choosing "Allow."

7. You will be redirected to another page where you will be asked to grant Twitter permission. Click the "Allow" button.

That's it! You're done. You can start sending tweets to be automatically posted on your Facebook wall.

Amazing Bike Bus

Saw this while browsing the Internet.

Ain't it great?

Read more about it here.

Science Misconceptions

While researching for a topic, I saw this blog post about the most annoying misconception about your field. This would be an interesting topic. I think I'm gonna write about it some time.

Bills, Bills, Bills (What a Grown Up Thing To Do!)

"The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is one of my favorite books. I read it for the first time when I was still in high school. As a teenager then, I feel that I can relate to the Little Prince. He has a lot of inspiring thoughts, and I found myself agreeing to most if not all of them.

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eyes." - The Little Prince

Now, almost a decade later and being a "grown-up" myself, I feel that I can now see the other side of what the Little Prince was talking about. I am technically a grown-up after all. My age says so. But then, age is just a number. (pauses for a while)

Right.

A number.

I guess I really am a grown-up since I'm fussing about numbers.

According to the Little Prince, grown-ups like numbers.When you tell them about a new friend, they only ever ask about figures. They don't ask "What is he like?" "What games does he like best?" Instead, grown-ups ask "How old is he?" "How many siblings does he have?" "How much does his father make?" It is only then that they think they know him.

Thinking about it, I kinda agree. Being a grown-up and all, I won't deny that all I've been thinking about and most of what I do every single day are related to numbers.

A few days ago while having lunch with my friends and officemates, we suddenly started talking about banking and paying bills. We ended up labeling the act of "paying bills" as a "grown-up thing to do." Indeed, the Little Prince is right! Growing up entails having to pay the bills. It's all about numbers, numbers, and more numbers. Well, as a kid I thought grown-ups aren't aware of it, but I guess I was wrong. The truth is that grown-ups, including me, are very much aware. It's just that we don't have a choice. It has to be addressed whether we like it or not.

On Discovering More than 300 New Species in Luzon

As a writer, there are a number of Websites that I have bookmarked and go to when I need new materials and sources for writing. I was browsing the science news on Science Daily when I saw this headline "More Than 300 New Species Discovered in the Philippines." I had to read twice to make sure that it was an international news. There was an overwhelming and satisfying feeling that came upon me while I read the article. It's not every day that scientific reports are made about the Philippines. Being a Filipino and a science major, I can say that I have an idea how significant this news is.

The Philippines is a beautiful country. I used to think that it is a paradise. If only we could look past the negativity and misshapen values, it is a beautiful place to live in.

Here are some of the newly discovered species.

Colorful seapen that emerges only at night
(Photo credit: Gary Williams, California Academy of Sciences)

New species of barnacle (Photo credit: Terry Gosliner,
California Academy of Sciences)

Read the article on
Science Daily
San Francisco Chronicle