Answers to questions without google (or any other search en)

[RowntreesCabana]

I thought it might be an interesting concept to place questions that you'd genuinely like answers to here, but answers can only be given by posters without referencing the internet or any other media. The answers can come from your head alone. Think of this thread as a dystopian future, where there is no electricity, all books have been burnt and you have a class of children thirsty for your knowledge.

• Questions can be on any topic but should be structured to encourage factual answers.
• Answers should be short, concise and be fact based as much as possible, refraining from philosophising
• No referencing allowed, not for dates, spell checking, formulas etc
• If you don't know what the answer is for sure based on experience, give the answer that you think is correct.

I'll start with two questions:

1. If brains are all made of the same matter, what makes one person more intelligent than the next, even if they've shared exactly the same experiences?

2. How can I purify pond water so that I can safely drink it?

Edited by RowntreesCabana on Monday 14th October 17:14

Edited by RowntreesCabana on Monday 14th October 17:14

[C0ffin D0dger]

2 is easy. Light fire, get heat proof vessel full of pond water, boil it up, catch / condense the steam, drink the resulting water.

Though you can pretty much drink any water if you can boil it for a few minutes. Kills all the nasty stuff but if it's contaminated with other stuff then you might have problems.

Edited by C0ffin D0dger on Monday 14th October 17:28

[Baldchap]

RowntreesCabana said:

I thought it might be an interesting concept to place questions that you'd genuinely like answers to here, but answers can only be given by posters without referencing the internet or any other media. The answers can come from your head alone. Think of this thread as a dystopian future, where there is no electricity, all books have been burnt and you have a class of children thirsty for your knowledge.

• Questions can be on any topic but should be structured to encourage factual answers.
• Answers should be short, concise and be fact based as much as possible, refraining from philosophising
• No referencing allowed, not for dates, spell checking, formulas etc
• If you don't know what the answer is for sure based on experience, give the answer that you think is correct.

I'll start with two questions:

1. If brains are all made of the same matter, what makes one person more intelligent than the next, even if they've shared exactly the same experiences?

2. How can I purify pond water so that I can safely drink it?

Edited by RowntreesCabana on Monday 14th October 17:14

Edited by RowntreesCabana on Monday 14th October 17:14

Randomly, I got involved with a Severn Trent Water exhibition showing kids how to purify water without fancy chemicals or equipment...

So for 2:. Essentially get a slowly decreasing size of stones, then sand, then porous paper or similar and filter away. Assumes no chemicals.

The far easier method is to add a small amount of chlorine. We drank gritty brown filth whilst climbing Kili and it didn't kill us thanks to chlorine tablets. Tasted disgusting.

For a more pleasant experience, a combination of the two.

[Purity14]

C0ffin D0dger said:

2 is easy. Light fire, get heat proof vessel full of pond water, boil it up, catch / condense the steam, drink the resulting water.

Though you can pretty much drink any water if you can boil it for a few minutes. Kills all the nasty stuff but if it's contaminated with other stuff then you might have problems.

Edited by C0ffin D0dger on Monday 14th October 17:28

You cannot drink distilled water alone, you need to suppliment with salts, sea salt is free, or just put some salt water in with your distilled water.

Otherwise you will dehydrate!

[sc0tt]

Fill pond with evian initially.

[Baldchap]

And I think 1: is all about nerve cells forming paths somehow. The more connections between cells, the more memories (or thoughts, or intelligence - whatever that really means).

Presumably repeated action causes these connections to form because revision or practice makes things memorable.

[Cotty]

RowntreesCabana said:

2. How can I purify pond water so that I can safely drink it?

You can buy a Life Straw to drink the pond water, it will filter the water as you go.

[RowntreesCabana]

Baldchap said:

Randomly, I got involved with a Severn Trent Water exhibition showing kids how to purify water without fancy chemicals or equipment...

So for 2:. Essentially get a slowly decreasing size of stones, then sand, then porous paper or similar and filter away. Assumes no chemicals.

The far easier method is to add a small amount of chlorine. We drank gritty brown filth whilst climbing Kili and it didn't kill us thanks to chlorine tablets. Tasted disgusting.

For a more pleasant experience, a combination of the two.

Interesting, what ratio of chlorine per litre to give an idea? Would a few drops of bleach do a similar thing?

[RowntreesCabana]

Cotty said:

You can buy a Life Straw to drink the pond water, it will filter the water as you go.

I've seen these, not sure I'd be brave enough though