Wordie: Atom: Comments

Comment by reesetee, about 1 year ago

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 15:26:19 +0000

I would never. Even though I like spotted owls. :-)

Comment by slumry, about 1 year ago

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:19:15 +0000

They still use axes to chop wood, of course. As for logging, I would assume there is still a minor role for the axe.

However, since *most* of the trees have been cut down, there is less need for logging equipment of any sort. It is a touchy subject in these parts. And don't say "spotted owl" to a logger unless you are prepared for unpleasantness!

Comment by reesetee, about 1 year ago

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:08:57 +0000

Thanks for the warning, slumry. Next time I go west, I'll remember that. Never cross a person wielding an axe....

Wait--I don't suppose they still use those, do they?

Comment by slumry, about 1 year ago

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 11:54:19 +0000

Scary thought--those pronky WMDs. Let's hope they are phantoms.;-)

Comment by slumry, about 1 year ago

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 11:52:19 +0000

Yes, I have always liked the word lumberjack, but they are a breed apart from loggers. You have to trust me on this one. ;-)

Comment by uselessness, about 1 year ago

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 11:48:20 +0000

I think that might be the problem!
WMDs pronk.

Comment by reesetee, about 1 year ago

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 11:46:59 +0000

Oh, but lumberjack sounds so pronky.

Comment by slumry, about 1 year ago

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 11:36:36 +0000

Indeed, you would not want to get crosswise with the man with the axe. And out west, that would mean calling him a logger rather than a lumberjack. It is a regional thing. They get testy about that.

Comment by oroboros, about 1 year ago

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 11:33:41 +0000

Well, it would seem that even a dull axe would at some point have a "leading" atom that would make it atom v. atom. Didn't Zeno of Elea say something about lumberjacks? Can't remember...

Comment by reesetee, about 1 year ago

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 11:28:47 +0000

That would have to be one incredibly sharp axe, with an edge you wouldn't even be able to see. Funny, I always thought about that too.

And you'd really, really want to be nice to the lumberjack.

Comment by uselessness, about 1 year ago

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 11:18:06 +0000

Incidentally, I who know very little about this stuff have always wondered if that could be theoretically possible -- if your axe was sharp enough and if you could hit the atom precisely. I don't suppose it is, but just IMAGINE what could happen if an innocent lumberjack inadvertently wielded the power of nuclear holocaust. ;-)

Comment by slumry, about 1 year ago

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 10:39:54 +0000

By the time I was 5 years old, my oldest brother had a degree in physics. My mother liked to make the joke that "I was taught in school that you could not split an atom; now my son does it." Hence, I always envisioned atoms to be something you could put on a chopping block and split with an axe.