@alan fraser said:

All the water and all the air. I'm not sure whether the air is represented as-is, ie a sliding scale of density, or whether it's all been compressed to 1 atmosphere. Either way, it weighs 5140 trillion tons.

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=total+water+on+Earth

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=homosphere+volume

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth

The average mass of the atmosphere is about 5 quadrillion (5×1015) tonnes or 1/1,200,000 the mass of Earth. According to the American National Center for Atmospheric Research, "The total mean mass of the atmosphere is 5.1480×1018 kg with an annual range due to water vapor of 1.2 or 1.5×1015 kg depending on whether surface pressure or water vapor data are used; somewhat smaller than the previous estimate. The mean mass of water vapor is estimated as 1.27×1016 kg and the dry air mass as 5.1352 ±0.0003×1018 kg."

@notareal said:

.... Now humanity can be compared as a global force to a major geological processes.

5.1×10^20 J total world annual energy consumption
1.5×10^22 J total energy from the Sun that strikes the face of the Earth each day
4.0×10^22 J estimated total energy released by the magnitude 9.1-9.3 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake
5.5×10^24 J total energy from the Sun that strikes the face of the Earth each year = 10.000 x total world annual energy consumption

Humanity is really tiny tiny global force ...

wheeeeezzz ...

[flash=640,480:3501oy45]http://www.youtube.com/v/zm2CqHktBxE?version=3&amp[/flash:3501oy45]

[flash=600,400:1o1ror3w]http://www.youtube.com/v/6lZks_VZyX8?version=3&hl=en_US&amp[/flash:1o1ror3w]

[flash=600,400:1u308aif]http://www.youtube.com/v/sr3MgFpm5Vk?version=3&hl=en_US&amp[/flash:1u308aif]

You're welcome. It was a refreshing (google) hunt ... and the chair is really nice (good to know it)

Hah ....

skp model download

http://www.jakobwagner.dk/2/Furniture/11/1/
http://www.bonluxat.com/a/jakob-wagner-ray-lounge-chair.html

You could try to ask architects of the house ...

http://www.wingardhs.se
http://www.archdaily.com/8941/villann-wingardh/

Tatra 903 (futuretro concept) - designer Mike Jelinek

Aero 50 Dynamik (1939)

This is interesting..
http://www.hdrlabs.com/tutorials/downloads_files/How_To_Shoot_Chrome_Ball.pdf
http://www.ruffstuffcg.com/journal/making-mirrored-ball-and-panoramic-hdr-images-part-1.html

Tangoooo

[flash=600,400:17lgm9da]http://www.youtube.com/v/slHQ0M66NV0?version=3&amp[/flash:17lgm9da]

[flash=600,400:3l43bwv9]http://www.youtube.com/v/vN8MiGx0uiI?version=3&amp[/flash:3l43bwv9]
" Royal Blue" is on the right
"Coronation Scot" is on the left

Czechoslovak streamlined steam locomotive 386.001

Our masspoduced streamlined Albatros jet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_L-39_Albatros
history
This one belongs to Mr Elon Musk

http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2007/06/tatra-car-other-aerodynamic-marvels.html

[flash=600,400:3ualqlrp]http://www.youtube.com/v/hdxYXpPhhjY?version=3&amp[/flash:3ualqlrp]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-child_policy

@tig said:

If you were to go 'off-center' so as to link specific places, then you'll start to 'scrape' down the walls of the tunnel as you fall further in, as the Earth's center of gravity will exert an uneven pull off to the side nearest the 'core'.

... and don't forget about conservation of angular momentum.
If the tunnel is not collinear with Earth axis of rotation, any object falling through the tunnel will be inevitably pushed against wall of the tunnel.
This effect will be strongest in a tunnel perpendicular to the equator.

@roger said:

It seems like this debate has become the ultimate source of renewable energy and could easily replace petroleum, coal and other forms of stored solar/nuclear energy. The only down side is that it is all heat and no light, but free energy is free energy and the fact it does not die proves it is renewable. I think, like Elvis, God has left the building. Unfortunately so has Christoper Hutchins (or is it Hitchens?).

Its well known that architects are believers because both the phrases "god is in the details" and "The devil is in the details" originated with Architects.

Yeah, I know I capitalized Architects and not god. However, it is because when I
was small and someone referred to the "Creator," I thought they were talking about an architect.

--Roger

[flash=500,350:1xwop91m]http://www.youtube.com/v/kRH3zcHEN5w?version=3&hl=cs_CZ&amp[/flash:1xwop91m]

"Should the State have the power to license child births?"

No.

[flash=600,400:1653kuhc]http://www.youtube.com/v/G8kCOsfM15c?version=3&amp[/flash:1653kuhc]