Search results

  1. U

    understanding probability theory... Infinite monkey theorem

    You only need either an infinite number of monkeys, or infinite time. Using both is a waste. Infinite monkeys will produce <whatever> instantly.
  2. U

    Where are we in the universe?

    Erm. The center of a spherical universe? The center doesnt exist. In balloon-notation, where is the cetner of the surface of the balloon? Anyway; the universe doesnt look closed to me. Flat at best.
  3. U

    Relative position of the Earth

    Though the ecliptic is used to impose an arbitary up/down. Does the 'galactic ecliptic' and the regular kind line up at all?
  4. U

    Which color is the fastest?

    You got that one inverted Mokmo. Incidentally. Red light has a longer wavelength. And things moving towards you are blue shifted.
  5. U

    Philadelphia Experiment

    No. Its a big load of bollocks thought up by someone on the verge of insanity.
  6. U

    Can global warming effect Mars?

    "Concerning the atomic energy from Earth's core, I think "nuclear reaction" has the wrong connotation. Nuclear decay would be more accurate, as far as my understanding of it goes." I agree, for the most part. But Forumers might find this interesting; there does exist one natural 'nuclear...
  7. U

    If we can speed up light

    You can change the speed of light, but c is a constant. (hopefully)
  8. U

    recommended reading of non-fiction?

    Ahhh... feel the Feynman love. Greene writes well imo, but all of his diagrams in The Elegant Universe sucked. Might have been improved in later editions. Not maths or physics, but if you have never done a proper course in evolution, it is absolutly *essential* that you read at least...
  9. U

    Pouring ice

    Perhaps it lacked nucleation sites? And only when it hit some stuff in the galls could it crystallise?
  10. U

    Artificial Gravity

    No, then. A gravitationl field is a gravitational field, and you cant fake it. No more than you can with any field. There is no magical source of gravity, and certainly no currently identifiable way of producing a negative gravitationl field.
  11. U

    Idea about gravity and space travel

    The 'speed of time' concept is a strange one. All objects travel at lightspeed through spacetime, in thier rest frame... methinks. As one speeds up towards c, time 'slows' and it takes you progressivly less local time to get anywhere; if you are going at 99% c, itll take.... about 1/10th of a...
  12. U

    physics/chemistry/math in university...your stories/experience/advice?

    If you are going to do physics, you *have* to love mathematics. Popular physics is very exciting and interesting, but it has ah heck all to do with degree physics. Does the sound of complex number integration excite you? Tensor theory? Legendre polynomials? It doesnt me. Which is why my...
  13. U

    Why do we age?

    Rather than talking about mechanisms etc, ill go for a different tack. We age because it is advantageous to do so. Not aging is a constant stuggle against entropy, and hence difficult- and there is no advantage to doing so. It takes 12 or so years to get to the point at which one can...
  14. U

    Artificial Gravity

    Microgravity, surely, is defined as the situation in which objects act as though there is no gravitational field present? ie an inertial frame of constant acceleration like an elevator in freefall? If you could 'exclude' the field, then that would not be microgravity, but actually no gravity at...
  15. U

    Artificial Gravity

    Bah. Force fascists. Centrifugal is just as valid within its frame of reference as centripital is within its. It does exist. Just not *really*. A stationary chamber (relative to the Earth) clearly cannot ever experience microgravity since its not in an inertial frame. Which is what...
  16. U

    Artificial Gravity

    No. You cant 'prduce' a force from nothing. You cant have 'artificial' gravity any more than 'artificial' force. And centrifugal acceleration is not in any way shape or form artificial gravity. Its barely a force at all. Energy and mass, the equivalence of which we all have heard of...
  17. U

    Space Shuttle Return To Flight

    Doesnt a tether just use KE already generated, ie a power converter, not a source? In which case is it going to be vastly more efficient of simple than a fuel cell?
  18. U

    Question about supernova

    Phonons are hardly entirely divorced from matter, are they? They remain a property of the matter, despite being quasiparticles, and it is the matter than tranmits the energy.
  19. U

    Question about supernova

    Under what circumstances is it anything other than radiation and matter that tranmits energy? :) With something like a supernova, it depends on the total flux through your body. The bigger you are, the better (asuming you are also made of a perfect conductor) since vol obviously scales...
  20. U

    Question about supernova

    Well, in a perfect vacuum with isotropic radiation, its just an inverse square. The only thing that could possibly survive the centre of a supernova is... a big lump of neutronium. AKA a neutron star. Weird question. The majority of the energy is given off in the form of neutinos, I believe...
  21. U

    Question about supernova

    Im not entirely sure what you are asking. Different things are going to change phase at different temperatures, for sure. And nuclear processes can get more common with higher temp. The matter itself isnt going to go anywhere though- disintegration into individual molecules, atoms, particles...
  22. U

    How much $ would it cost to retire to space??

    Hahaha. Thats a good one. Cut out most of the redundancy in the life support etc. Launch from some African country that doesnt care. Hahaha. Space elevators, as I always say, are a bloody stupid idea.
  23. U

    Long second toe

    Firstly, there is the problem of defining a gene at all- what exactly do you mean by it? In general, any one coding section that corresponds with a particular protien is going to be responsible for every trait in your body, to some extent. Given that embrygenesis is a chaotic system to some...
  24. U

    FASTEST SUPER COMPUTER

    No; USA Yes, IBM. Fast. Why am I replying? Its not as though there is anything you cant find out at top500... boredom. Surely.
  25. U

    How much $ would it cost to retire to space??

    No. You would have to design it to be fully functional after at least 25 years (im assuming you are getting top notch medical care when your 80). ISS + shuttle flights are about that expensive, and ISS aint big, nice or long term enough. Maybe in 50 years time.
  26. U

    Beating the lottery

    The smaller prizes dont really increase. And the prize fund is a single plot.
  27. U

    how are we going to get into space cheaply in the future?

    Hmm. Height can only really be that big an advantage because it allows lower frictional losses. I mean that change in energy from sea level to 40,000ft isnt that big.
  28. U

    Beating the lottery

    Well, I may have strange ideas about the utility of various things (like computers) but unlike the lottery, I am not exchanging something for less of the same back. I dont have to hand over a 7800GTX to get a X700 Pro. If the lottery gave out varied and interesting prizes, instead of money, id...
  29. U

    Beating the lottery

    But random is a lot more *random* than most people think. I very much doubt there is a systematic bias in lottery machines. The system of 49 balls all being blown/paddled about is far too chaotic to actually predict anything. imo. Im going to Vegas in September, and I am trying to find the...
  30. U

    Human eye "resolution"

    Yeah. Supposedly, the time spent observing an osilliscope trace should be factored into error calculations. ie the brain does a superposition of multiple images to get a better average.
  31. U

    Beating the lottery

    Tax of the *stupid* Just cause your poor doesnt mean you play the lottery...
  32. U

    Human eye "resolution"

    Is that a function of the rod/cone density, or diffraction through the pupil? I mean, I dont *see* diffracted images, but they must be there at some distance.
  33. U

    how are we going to get into space cheaply in the future?

    We are just about seeing flying cars. If the regulatory system was in place... Anyway. Considering the tiny tiny scale of space launch (in energy terms) I really dont think its a problem. re ion engines, surely journeys outside of the solar system are going to be quicker than the...
  34. U

    Beating the lottery

    Unless, of course, there is a strage lottery in which you can take advantage of pervious bad luck due to a rollover. If the prize is made up of 50% of ticket sales (UK national lottery, I think), then if fewer people buy the rollover tickets than the original non-rollover, you have a positive...
  35. U

    Calculus Geniuses Needed

    Teach you for buying them new; there is no way books lose 70% of their value each year if you buy 2nd hand in the 1st place. I made a small profit from my haul.
  36. U

    Energy Sources

    I was not aware of any solar production of antimatter; however, it is worth noting a few things already mentioned; it is not generally an energy source, but a storage method. However easy it is to collect solar antimatter, its probably easier to build a freaking Dyson sphere (google) which will...
  37. U

    Beating the lottery

    The problem with rollovers, though, is that the rollover week tends to see much higher sales that usual. Hence the expectation/ticket ignoring multiple winners can be 200%, but the expectation taking it into consideration can be less than 100%. In the UK lottery, a £20m jackpot implies a sale of...
  38. U

    Please explain what we mean by "Light years away"

    I wonder what the effect of having a telescope that is so large that the path difference between various bits of it was on the order of the period of change of the object being observed. Heh. I only wonder since I was formulating an argument based around a collecting mirror the size of a galaxy...
  39. U

    Predict the Real World interms of FSAA, AF and SM :P

    But even the smallest concivable things cannot be infinitely small, given uncertainty.