ramon

You might try slowly tearing the rockwool out from one of them and see how that goes. I have found that once it was wet I could pull out rockwool from some psychotria leaf cuttings I took. Not sure about growing cacti in rockwool but please tell us how they go

Whilst harvesting some tobacco seeds today I noticed that the seed capsules have a sticky feel to them and have a resinous smell similar to pine. This led me to wonder what a smoke made purely from these parts of the tobacco plant would be like. Has anybody tried smoking just the seed capsules.

Patience Pillso it will come maybe the fact it is being sent internationally is slowing it down. But in all the years this site has been going I have not heard of one person complain that they did not finally receive their order

the leaves don't have the same resin on them. Figured it would be similar to smoking the leaf but thinking that it might be more pleasant due to the nice smelling resin

How do you get lophs to form pups? Do you have to cut a bit off them? There is one variety which forms pups very readily this feature of forming many pups is known as caespitosa ( not sure about spelling )

Plants of the gods mentions that the tea was made with Toasted herb

Being fortunate enough to have received a sample of this mythic herb recently ( Thanks to all involved for the sample ) I decided that smoking was the only way I was going to be able to try this herb and also share it around. First taste. Rolled into into a joint with a slim filter. The taste wasn't all that great but soon found it better to take only half puffs instead of big drags. within 30 minutes I was feeling a pleasant drowsy heaviness in my body. Based upon this one experience so far I would say it is well suited for when one wants to veg out at the end of a long day [ 10. August 2004, 10:48: Message edited by: Ramon ]

It is Lime But that is not lime the fruit. But lime powder which is made I think from burning Coral reef.

I know that if I was aboard a plane and there was a chance that a "Hypocritic Old Wanker Arbitrarily Retrogressing Democracy" was onboard. I would definately want the pilot to turn around and let me out.

The multiverse theory has spawned another - that our universe is a simulation, writes Paul Davies. If you've ever thought life was actually a dream, take comfort. Some pretty distinguished scientists may agree with you. Philosophers have long questioned whether there is in fact a real world out there, or whether "reality" is just a figment of our imagination. Then along came the quantum physicists, who unveiled an Alice-in-Wonderland realm of atomic uncertainty, where particles can be waves and solid objects dissolve away into ghostly patterns of quantum energy. Now cosmologists have got in on the act, suggesting that what we perceive as the universe might in fact be nothing more than a gigantic simulation. The story behind this bizarre suggestion began with a vexatious question: why is the universe so bio-friendly? Cosmologists have long been perplexed by the fact that the laws of nature seem to be cunningly concocted to enable life to emerge. Take the element carbon, the vital stuff that is the basis of all life. It wasn't made in the big bang that gave birth to the universe. Instead, carbon has been cooked in the innards of giant stars, which then exploded and spewed soot around the universe. The process that generates carbon is a delicate nuclear reaction. It turns out that the whole chain of events is a damned close run thing, to paraphrase Lord Wellington. If the force that holds atomic nuclei together were just a tiny bit stronger or a tiny bit weaker, the reaction wouldn't work properly and life may never have happened. The late British astronomer Fred Hoyle was so struck by the coincidence that the nuclear force possessed just the right strength to make beings like Fred Hoyle, he proclaimed the universe to be "a put-up job". Since this sounds a bit too much like divine providence, cosmologists have been scrambling to find a scientific answer to the conundrum of cosmic bio-friendliness. The one they have come up with is multiple universes, or "the multiverse". This theory says that what we have been calling "the universe" is nothing of the sort. Rather, it is an infinitesimal fragment of a much grander and more elaborate system in which our cosmic region, vast though it is, represents but a single bubble of space amid a countless number of other bubbles, or pocket universes. Things get interesting when the multiverse theory is combined with ideas from sub-atomic particle physics. Evidence is mounting that what physicists took to be God-given unshakeable laws may be more like local by-laws, valid in our particular cosmic patch, but different in other pocket universes. Travel a trillion light years beyond the Andromeda galaxy, and you might find yourself in a universe where gravity is a bit stronger or electrons a bit heavier. The vast majority of these other universes will not have the necessary fine-tuned coincidences needed for life to emerge; they are sterile and so go unseen. Only in Goldilocks universes like ours where things have fallen out just right, purely by accident, will sentient beings arise to be amazed at how ingeniously bio-friendly their universe is. It's a pretty neat idea, and very popular with scientists. But it carries a bizarre implication. Because the total number of pocket universes is unlimited, there are bound to be at least some that are not only inhabited, but populated by advanced civilisations - technological communities with enough computer power to create artificial consciousness. Indeed, some computer scientists think our technology may be on the verge of achieving thinking machines. It is but a small step from creating artificial minds in a machine, to simulating entire virtual worlds for the simulated beings to inhabit. This scenario has become familiar since it was popularised in The Matrix movies. Now some scientists are suggesting it should be taken seriously. "We may be a simulation ... creations of some supreme, or super-being," muses Britain's astronomer royal, Sir Martin Rees, a staunch advocate of the multiverse theory. He wonders whether the entire physical universe might be an exercise in virtual reality, so that "we're in the matrix rather than the physics itself". Is there any justification for believing this wacky idea? You bet, says Nick Bostrom, a philosopher at Oxford University, who even has a website devoted to the topic ( http://www.simulation-argument.com). "Because their computers are so powerful, they could run a great many simulations," he writes in The Philosophical Quarterly. So if there exist civilisations with cosmic simulating ability, then the fake universes they create would rapidly proliferate to outnumber the real ones. After all, virtual reality is a lot cheaper than the real thing. So by simple statistics, a random observer like you or me is most probably a simulated being in a fake world. And viewed from inside the matrix, we could never tell the difference. Or could we? John Barrow, a colleague of Martin Rees at Cambridge University, wonders whether the simulators would go to the trouble and expense of making the virtual reality foolproof. Perhaps if we look closely enough we might catch the scenery wobbling. He even suggests that a glitch in our simulated cosmic history may have already been discovered, by John Webb at the University of NSW. Webb has analysed the light from distant quasars, and found that something funny happened about 6 billion years ago - a minute shift in the speed of light. Could this be the simulators taking their eye off the ball? I have to confess to being partly responsible for this mischief. Last year I wrote an item for The New York Times, saying that once the multiverse genie was let out of the bottle, Matrix-like scenarios inexorably follow. My conclusion was that perhaps we should retain a healthy scepticism for the multiverse concept until this was sorted out. But far from being a dampener on the theory, it only served to boost enthusiasm for it. Where will it all end? Badly, perhaps. Now the simulators know we are on to them, and the game is up, they may lose interest and decide to hit the delete button. For your own sake, don't believe a word that I have written. Paul Davies is professor of natural philosophy at Macquarie University's Australian Centre for Astrobiology. His latest book is How to Build a Time Machine. Taken from Sydney morning herald http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/21/...0089219062.html [ 22. July 2004, 10:48: Message edited by: Ramon ]

Part two is on tonight

Postulate 5 would be the one closest to my view of reality

A search on bhang might be what you are looking for. [ 24. July 2004, 10:55: Message edited by: Ramon ]

http://www.cactus-mall.com/ccc/ is a good place to start learning about caring for your cacti

Most important things is to avoid over watering in winter. In Brisbane they continue to grow through the winter so they can take some water but in Sydney they are very likely to be dormant over winter so you should avoid over watering

The web site is back up This web site is sorely needed

Where is the best place to buy mate in Australia and also is there one brand which is better then the others

Essentially the new government of Iraq will be able to ask the coallition of the Willing ( Killing ) to leave. But as the new governemt will be 100% reliant on the coallition don't see that happening soon.

It would seem that a void that is full of emotions and attachments Is not really the void.

Have seen at Bunnings and some of the other large hardware / nurseries mini greenhouses for sale for around $20. Habe also seen the same thing at one hydro shop

Eating spuds could lighten SAD winter blues May 15, 2004 Eating steamed potatoes could be more effective than anti-depressant drugs in treating winter depression, new research has found. Winter depression, also known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is believed to develop from a lack of bright light during the winter months. Bright light changes the chemicals in the brain but how this occurs and its effects are still being studied. Serotonin, dubbed the happy hormone, and other nutrients such as folate are generally deficient in people who suffer depression. The Australian Centre of Neuropsycotherapy has found that steam cooked potatoes could provide greater use of serotonin for treating the disorder than taking anti-depressants. Steam cooking potatoes resulted in the highest retention of amino acids compared to other cooking methods studied. The centre found nutritional factors played a key role in the onset of depression, and eating more foods containing necessary vitamins could ease symptoms. Advertisement Advertisement The centre's director Rod Markham said the best time to eat steamed potatoes was three hours after a protein dinner to make the best use of tryptophan which can boost serotonin levels. "If people exercise, have enough bright light exposure during the day and have a good social network and nutrition intake, they could actually perhaps, if not totally, give up anti-depressants such as Prozac," he said. A range of factors contribute to depression including child abuse and poverty. "Factors contributing to different types of mental depression is irrational thinking, ... cold winters, possible child abuse, feelings of alienation from others, poverty, genetics, pregnancy, deficiencies in nutrients and the utilisation of these nutrients such as tryptophan and folate," Mr Markham said. "Cognitive behaviour therapy is also very useful when combined with bright light or sunlight therapy, some exercise and nutrition." Eating more complex carbohydrates like potatoes, broccoli, pasta and brown rice could boost serotonin activity in the brain. Depressed people also often lack folic acid and should eat more asparagus, beetroot, avocado, cabbage, beans, lentils and oranges. Magnesium, contained in spinach, chocolate, oysters and some nuts, could also ease symptoms of depression by acting as a muscle relaxant, the centre said. Depression is currently the fifth leading cause of death and disability, according to World Health Organisation figures. It is often genetic and affects about twice as many women as men. whole article cut and pasted from Sydney morning herald

Anybody had any experience with cooking or eating the bulbils of the Dioscorea bulbifera (Page 120 of T. Low Wild Food Plants of Australia )

dont you just want to kick him in the face every time you see him no? must be just me...you know how some people just rub u up the wrong way No it not just you. I think that Downer really believes that he is so much better then all the rest of us and that his attempt at clever language tricks us all. He reminds me for some reason of a little pig. Having said that Howard has to be the worst as he is responsible for the whole sorry lot

The only problem is that the alkaloids probably wont smell much like chocolate. On a similar vein and I am aware that using the Simpsom as a source of information is likely to be unwise, but a recent episode mentioned that Theobroma Cacao was first smoked by the aztects wrapped in tobacco leaves. Anybody heard of this

What is the best way to prune Khat to keep it a productive shrub