Science

[Rían]

Usually it's just referred to as the virgin birth. Catholics might have a special name for it, though - you'll have to ask Gwai. I think the extra-Biblical concept of Mary being conceived without a sin nature was given a special name ("immaculate conception") because it was a concept unique (as far as I know) to the Catholic church. It's certainly not mentioned in the Bible. I'd really be surprised if it IS the same phrase for both things in Dutch, because the two things are very different!

[Earniel]

Virgin birth, funny, considering that phrase had been staring me in the face for a while.

As for the Dutch language thing, I did say 'as far as I know'. Possibly there a proper term of it, possibly there's not, the old lady that taught us cathechesis was kind and well-meaning woman but not the sharpest tool in the shed... But this really should be continued in the theology thread.

[Rían]

Yes.

Very interesting thing about those lizards!!

[rohirrim TR]

Thats nothing check this out!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1965

[Earniel]

Now that is quite spectacular, although I'm thinking much will still depend on what atmosphere the planet has and whether there's water. The other conditions are looking good.

[Jonathan]

That's a major discovery. "Gliese 581c" is the first earth-like exoplanet that has been discovered and it also circulates at a distance from its sun that would probably be ideal for life. Whether the planet supports life or even liquid water, an atmosphere or a solid rock surface like the earth are very questions that we look forward to finding an answer to, but the greatest sensation so far is that this discovery of a small, potentially earth-like planet shows that earth-like planets are probably common in the universe.

I remember when the first exoplanet was found in 1995. About time they actually found a planet that ressembles to the earth

[Rían]

I like the phrase "Goldilocks zone" Took me a minute to figure out the reference, but it's a good one!

[sisterandcousinandaunt]

Originally Posted by Jonathan

I remember when the first exoplanet was found in 1995.

1995, my ear. You skip one of the most poetic phrases in modern science. "Barnard's star has a dark companion." It's like music.

[trolls' bane]

I would hate to change the discussion from Komodo dragons, but what do you all think of the Alcubierre metric? Could we really create bubbles that could propel an object at FTL speeds?

[Nautipus]

Um... I think I'll have a go at resurecting this thread.

I study Marine Zoology, specifically invertebrates and even more specifically cephalopods. I really love biology and am hoping to pursue a career in behavioral biology, with a degree in photography. Watcha think?

[GrayMouser]

Originally Posted by Nautipus

Um... I think I'll have a go at resurecting this thread.

I study Marine Zoology, specifically invertebrates and even more specifically cephalopods. I really love biology and am hoping to pursue a career in behavioral biology, with a degree in photography. Watcha think?

Go for it- the world needs more squid pictures. I live near some nice reefs, and do a bit of diving now and then.

You should check out with PZMeyers at Scienceblogs- he runs regular Friday cephalopodblogging pictures; also lots of pictures from old movies/pulp mags on the subject of the multi-tentacled.

[Ingwe]

Originally Posted by trolls' bane

I would hate to change the discussion from Komodo dragons, but what do you all think of the Alcubierre metric? Could we really create bubbles that could propel an object at FTL speeds?

With the technology we have now, probably not, but I imagine that someday soon we may be able to access such a dimension where FTL is achievable. In normal space and time, FTL would violate general relativity, but with the bubble method, it wouldn't violate it at all.

Constants are just that - constant in our own universe. Pi will always be 3.1415... at least in our own dimension / membrane / domain. That constant, along with the speed of light in the vacuum of space, can change from dimension to dimension, membrane to membrane (aka brane). One rule of physics in our space and time doesn't leave out having different rules in other dimensions, and it's in these other dimensions we'll have to look if we want to get to planets such as Gliese 581c.

Hyperspace (or so it's called) was proved mathematically quite recently, only several years back. It's just that there's no technology for it (technology being the application or product of science and mathematics being one of its languages).

It is even possible that a particle accelerator could be made into a cascading weapon that can turn the entire earth into an explosive substance which in turn would cause its annihilation. Some parts of science seem pretty scary, but I'm pretty sure that won't happen. It is even possible, in theory, to create a reaction through particle accelerators to destroy as much as a galactic super cluster, but that's extremely far-fetched even in science fiction!

In science, nothing is considered to be absolutely impossible. That's one major trap for even the facts we know of. To us, time has definition to it. The stuff around us has substance and we can measure its mass and properties. However, it's also possible that if you can't go around the rules, you can change the rules themselves. Studies such as that into matter and antimatter reactions has had some success (but very marginal). Particle accelerators can create two trillionths of a gram of antimatter every year given current technology, but it obviously exists for almost the smallest fraction of a second before it's annihilated by its anti-particles. Its effects have been measured though. And if it could be created in much larger quantities, it could one day used for propulsion for ships going into deep space.

It's not just the idea that you have to have a lot of power to make a ship go "fast" to achieve FTL travel, it's also the idea that you have to access a different dimension altogether. We won't be able to do that until we have the "Theory of Unification" figured out. That theory would be able to connect all four forces (nuclear strong, nuclear weak, gravitation, and electromagnetism) together into a set of equations. Even figuring out that theory -mathematically- has met with marginal results thus far, but progress is being made nonetheless. To develop an application for a theory or principal that complex is quite mind-boggling to say the least.

The first FTL flights will be unmanned, obviously. The first flights will also probably be suicide missions for the crafts or objects sent to that speed.

One thing that must be considered deals with the following example:
* First warp flight take 1 *
Captain: "Report!"
Lieutenant: "We have achieved a relative speed of 1.5 times the speed of light."
Captain: "Excellent. The first test is successful. Drop out of warp."
Lieutenant: "Uh..."
Captain: "What's the problem?"
Lieutenant: "I wasn't properly briefed on how to actually get out of warp."
Captain: "Um...I wasn't either. Get the technical manual out."
Lieutenant: "Warp field manual: Chapter 1: Test test test!"
Captain: "Drat! This is going to take a while!"
* 3 years later *
Lieutenant: "Ah yes! Found it!"
Captain: "Great, now I can get home to shave my 3-foot-long beard! Bring us out of warp!"
Lieutenant: "Aye sir, bringing us out of warp!"
* They end up somewhere where they don't know where they are. *
Captain: "Bring up the star charts and bring us home!"
Lieutenant: "Star charts in this region are quite...interesting."
Captain: "Enlighten me."
Lieutenant: "Well, if we went 1.5 times the speed of light, we should only be 4.5 light years from home, but this dimension we were in had some weird laws of physics."
Captain: "Explain."
Lieutenant: "If I'm correct on this, we're 75,000 light years from where we originally were. We're on the other side of the galaxy."
* Cue ominous music. *
Captain: "Well this is a zinger! Get us back home."
Lieutenant: "We used up our supply of antimatter. This ship was only designed to make one short trip. It was supposed to take only a few months to get back home after dropping out of warp."
Captain: "Tactical, attack the nearest ship, if there are any, and let's steal, erm I mean borrow their antimatter."
Lieutenant: "We don't have weapons."
Captain: "Oh. That's...not...good."
* Cue even MORE ominous music, this time add more drums and bass to symbolize the Captain's heart figuratively falling to his stomach in panic. *

Quite literally, it may be as hard to get out of warp as it is to go TO warp. Both ends of it would require accessing a different dimension. It would probably be just as hard to access our dimension from the [hyperspace] dimension as it would be for us to access hyperspace in the first place. So the point is, also bring enough antimatter and matter for more than one trip. Chances are, you'll need it!

In my third college physics class, my professor said that the general view of science is that nothing is impossible, it's just that the likelihood for some things happening are astronomically and unimaginably remote. One thing that I brought up in response to that statement was "well if anything is possible, does that mean it's also possible that there's something that's impossible?" It was meant more as comic relief as that's the kind of hell I put professors through just to stump them. It was also more of a philosophical response than anything, or a mere play on words and semantics. Either way, her response to that was, "yeah, I suppose THAT'S even possible!" That was after about 10 seconds of thinking of an answer to it.

[The Gaffer]

Originally Posted by Nautipus

Um... I think I'll have a go at resurecting this thread.

I study Marine Zoology, specifically invertebrates and even more specifically cephalopods. I really love biology and am hoping to pursue a career in behavioral biology, with a degree in photography. Watcha think?

Aha, your avatar finally resolves itself: blue-ringed octopus.

Go for it I say!

A mate had the same idea (marine biology, not cephalopods) and ended up in Spitsbergen studying how crabs walk. Lots of opportunities to travel the world and get hammered with people who share your obsession.

We need basic science!

(Don't expect to get rich, though..)

[Nautipus]

Originally Posted by The Gaffer

Aha, your avatar finally resolves itself: blue-ringed octopus.

Go for it I say!

A mate had the same idea (marine biology, not cephalopods) and ended up in Spitsbergen studying how crabs walk. Lots of opportunities to travel the world and get hammered with people who share your obsession.

We need basic science!

(Don't expect to get rich, though..)

HaHa!

congrats to your mate!

I really dont expect to get rich, but hopefully I'll be able to do some stuff for National Geographic. My real hope is to become a field biologist, and spend my time studying the animals in their natural habitat. I've been diving with lots of animals, including several species of sharks, and the experiences just keep getting better. Maybe someday, when I start doing the underwater videography that I like to do but cant afford, I'll post some of the things I've done.

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by Nautipus in Venting thread

Seriously, do you know any more about Big Bang? I'm curious now and would like to be able to expand on my knowledge, so if you know a site, or a a wellspring of information on the topic, could you point me in the right direction?

May I suggest Nasa for starters, since they're among the guys doing the studies: Big Bang It's too late for me to dig up anything else today.

[Nautipus]

That was pretty interesting, and they didnt give an opinion on what came before the Big Bang (of course, they are a huge company in the public eye, so they have to be careful ) Which is far different from other Big Bang advocates I've talked to.

I'll have to look more into this dark matter and dark energy stuff.

[Earniel]

Erm, what do they have to be careful about?

[Nautipus]

It was just a joke.

[trolls' bane]

Originally Posted by Ingwe

With the technology we have now, probably not, but I imagine that someday soon we may be able to access such a dimension where FTL is achievable. In normal space and time, FTL would violate general relativity, but with the bubble method, it wouldn't violate it at all.

Constants are just that - constant in our own universe. Pi will always be 3.1415... at least in our own dimension / membrane / domain. That constant, along with the speed of light in the vacuum of space, can change from dimension to dimension, membrane to membrane (aka brane). One rule of physics in our space and time doesn't leave out having different rules in other dimensions, and it's in these other dimensions we'll have to look if we want to get to planets such as Gliese 581c.

Hyperspace (or so it's called) was proved mathematically quite recently, only several years back. It's just that there's no technology for it (technology being the application or product of science and mathematics being one of its languages).

It is even possible that a particle accelerator could be made into a cascading weapon that can turn the entire earth into an explosive substance which in turn would cause its annihilation. Some parts of science seem pretty scary, but I'm pretty sure that won't happen. It is even possible, in theory, to create a reaction through particle accelerators to destroy as much as a galactic super cluster, but that's extremely far-fetched even in science fiction!

In science, nothing is considered to be absolutely impossible. That's one major trap for even the facts we know of. To us, time has definition to it. The stuff around us has substance and we can measure its mass and properties. However, it's also possible that if you can't go around the rules, you can change the rules themselves. Studies such as that into matter and antimatter reactions has had some success (but very marginal). Particle accelerators can create two trillionths of a gram of antimatter every year given current technology, but it obviously exists for almost the smallest fraction of a second before it's annihilated by its anti-particles. Its effects have been measured though. And if it could be created in much larger quantities, it could one day used for propulsion for ships going into deep space.

It's not just the idea that you have to have a lot of power to make a ship go "fast" to achieve FTL travel, it's also the idea that you have to access a different dimension altogether. We won't be able to do that until we have the "Theory of Unification" figured out. That theory would be able to connect all four forces (nuclear strong, nuclear weak, gravitation, and electromagnetism) together into a set of equations. Even figuring out that theory -mathematically- has met with marginal results thus far, but progress is being made nonetheless. To develop an application for a theory or principal that complex is quite mind-boggling to say the least.

The first FTL flights will be unmanned, obviously. The first flights will also probably be suicide missions for the crafts or objects sent to that speed.

One thing that must be considered deals with the following example:
* First warp flight take 1 *
Captain: "Report!"
Lieutenant: "We have achieved a relative speed of 1.5 times the speed of light."
Captain: "Excellent. The first test is successful. Drop out of warp."
Lieutenant: "Uh..."
Captain: "What's the problem?"
Lieutenant: "I wasn't properly briefed on how to actually get out of warp."
Captain: "Um...I wasn't either. Get the technical manual out."
Lieutenant: "Warp field manual: Chapter 1: Test test test!"
Captain: "Drat! This is going to take a while!"
* 3 years later *
Lieutenant: "Ah yes! Found it!"
Captain: "Great, now I can get home to shave my 3-foot-long beard! Bring us out of warp!"
Lieutenant: "Aye sir, bringing us out of warp!"
* They end up somewhere where they don't know where they are. *
Captain: "Bring up the star charts and bring us home!"
Lieutenant: "Star charts in this region are quite...interesting."
Captain: "Enlighten me."
Lieutenant: "Well, if we went 1.5 times the speed of light, we should only be 4.5 light years from home, but this dimension we were in had some weird laws of physics."
Captain: "Explain."
Lieutenant: "If I'm correct on this, we're 75,000 light years from where we originally were. We're on the other side of the galaxy."
* Cue ominous music. *
Captain: "Well this is a zinger! Get us back home."
Lieutenant: "We used up our supply of antimatter. This ship was only designed to make one short trip. It was supposed to take only a few months to get back home after dropping out of warp."
Captain: "Tactical, attack the nearest ship, if there are any, and let's steal, erm I mean borrow their antimatter."
Lieutenant: "We don't have weapons."
Captain: "Oh. That's...not...good."
* Cue even MORE ominous music, this time add more drums and bass to symbolize the Captain's heart figuratively falling to his stomach in panic. *

Quite literally, it may be as hard to get out of warp as it is to go TO warp. Both ends of it would require accessing a different dimension. It would probably be just as hard to access our dimension from the [hyperspace] dimension as it would be for us to access hyperspace in the first place. So the point is, also bring enough antimatter and matter for more than one trip. Chances are, you'll need it!

In my third college physics class, my professor said that the general view of science is that nothing is impossible, it's just that the likelihood for some things happening are astronomically and unimaginably remote. One thing that I brought up in response to that statement was "well if anything is possible, does that mean it's also possible that there's something that's impossible?" It was meant more as comic relief as that's the kind of hell I put professors through just to stump them. It was also more of a philosophical response than anything, or a mere play on words and semantics. Either way, her response to that was, "yeah, I suppose THAT'S even possible!" That was after about 10 seconds of thinking of an answer to it.

Amazing post! I'd respond longly, but this was a last minute check before bed. Great points I had not thought of, though.

[GrayMouser]

Originally Posted by Nautipus

HaHa!

congrats to your mate!

I really dont expect to get rich, but hopefully I'll be able to do some stuff for National Geographic. My real hope is to become a field biologist, and spend my time studying the animals in their natural habitat. I've been diving with lots of animals, including several species of sharks, and the experiences just keep getting better. Maybe someday, when I start doing the underwater videography that I like to do but cant afford, I'll post some of the things I've done.

One word of advice for anyone doing underwater research: specialize in warm-water phenomena.

No matter what the immediate temptations of research grants, interesting fields, or employment opportunities, sooner or later you're going to want to be on a tropical beach explaining your latest find to appreciative bikini-clad maidens, or appreciative bikini-trunk-clad lads (depending on your gender and/or preferences).