quote: Original post by CrankDude

How about considering the fact that seperated land masses that sit by each other have "interlocking" features? Like when the earth''s plate moved and such and the continents divided, and the land ripped apart, you can still see how many pieces fit together. I had an idea about generating land by considering how the continents divide, which would form oceans and such, also considering erosion and other factors. Just let the program start with a big blob of land and let it calculate what it would be in x thousands of years.

Dude, I was trying to simulate tectonic uplift, which is essentially two plates crunching together. In the ''island'' picture, all the terrain is eroded equally and considered the same age. What I wanted to add was the uplift part, so that certain ridges, etc. continue to rise and impart their ''youngish'' features. As for the plates shifting and moving apart, I hadn''t looked into that.

Forensic Medicine and FBI profiling.

Man, I love this stuff! I kid you not, if I could go back and relive my life, I would seriously consider entering the field of crime scene analysis or profiling of suspects.

It''s fascinating how they can extract a fiber from a victim''s clothing, put it underneath a microscope, and determine that it was a Dupont fiber manufactured in a small run say, 6 years ago. From there, they''ll determine what products it was used in. Putting this together in combination with profiling, they are able to narrow their search of suspects from often millions to hundreds.

Patricia Cornwell examines these ideas in detail with her fictional character Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Medical Examiner of Richmond, Virginia. These are great books. Her novels will take you into creepy crime scenes and the autopsy room. Basically for mature readers, as I doubt young teenagers would enjoy them.

They should be read in order:
Post Mortem
Body of Evidence
All That Remains
Cruel and Unusual
The Body Farm
Potter''s Field