Random Philosophy/Physics 2

penguinita · Postby **penguinita** » Thu Dec 04, 2003 7:12 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: (Burning Sheep Productions @ Dec 4 2003, 05:37 PM)</td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> say 5 seconds equalled 5cm  </td></tr></table>  a rambeling oftopic: 'a foot is a nanosecond' was the rule i was taught in (special) relitivity. it actually referest ot the spead of light, but since the heavyside-loarenze unit (or is it convention, i've forgotten) has the spead of light =1 (and that's much nicer than letting c=3*10^8, let me tell you. it sertainly makes the calculations easier), distance and time both had the same units.

dobbs · Postby **dobbs** » Thu Dec 04, 2003 7:28 pm

I think some people confuse the <a href='http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant/' target='_blank'>10+ dimensional spacetime</a> use of "alternate universes" with the more specific uses of Hollywood ("Hollywood" being a general analogy to Science Fiction). That's not to say quantum/string physics precludes the SciFi use - I'm no authority in either case. I'm curious about the idea of projecting, to slip into a little linear algebra, those 10+ dimensions from a different vector. Wouldn't that "look" like an alternate universe, albeit a difficult to recognise one? I still don't understand how a dimension can be "wrapped-up in itself".

norsenerd · Postby **norsenerd** » Thu Dec 04, 2003 7:47 pm

I'm confused by most of what you said doobs.

Softpaw · Postby **Softpaw** » Thu Dec 04, 2003 8:15 pm

Read the book Timeline by Michael Chricton, it explains a lot of this stuff.

Henohenomoheji · Postby **Henohenomoheji** » Thu Dec 04, 2003 9:59 pm

Dark Matter does exist! i know ir does, i fought it! You have to find all the crystal shards/rainbow drops/whatever to open the stage where you fight it. then you get some special weapon that you can't get anywhere else, and only works for that level... kind of a bummer, really. after that, you can see the real endings.

dobbs · Postby **dobbs** » Thu Dec 04, 2003 10:32 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: </td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> I'm confused by most of what you said doobs.</td></tr></table>  I get that a lot.

Zylo · Postby **Zylo** » Thu Dec 04, 2003 11:33 pm

Are any of you guys in college or do your schools offer quantum physics courses or what? I'm really curious about the theories of dark matter, black holes, string theory, and all that stuff, but my high school doesn't teach this stuff...that and I'm too lazy to research it all on my own; I have enough to do. I do believe in the string theory (or what I know of it), that states (if my memory serves correct) that our universe is only a small part of a continuum(sp?) of universes (universi?). Perhaps dark matter is the effects of the other parts of the universal continuum that exert small influence on out universe, but are ultimately part of a separate dimension.

norsenerd · Postby **norsenerd** » Thu Dec 04, 2003 11:42 pm

I am in colege. Indiana University. I'm a math and physics major but I havn't takes quatum mechanics yet. I do get more exposure to it though then I did in high school. I independantly study cosmology because IU has no cosmologist on staff for one. If I go into physics reasearch it's most likly going to be in cosmology.

Zylo · Postby **Zylo** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 12:01 am

I still want to know...would the plural for 'universe' be 'universi'? Universes sounds weird.

norsenerd · Postby **norsenerd** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 1:39 am

Most people use Universes.

penguinita · Postby **penguinita** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 6:24 am

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: (Ozymandias_the_great @ Dec 5 2003, 09:33 AM)</td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> Are any of you guys in college or do your schools offer quantum physics courses or what? I'm really curious about the theories of dark matter, black holes, string theory, and all that stuff, but my high school doesn't teach this stuff...that and I'm too lazy to research it all on my own; I have enough to do.  </td></tr></table>  i actually do know of one high school which offers quantum- which is really unusual. i took quantum in college - but not a high-level course. from what i know (and i'm not an expert) to really get into what you mentioned you'll need an advanced course or two or many. not just in qunatum, but probably general relitivity also. (and you'll need to take all the courses which are the prerequisits for those) before i started college, i was interested in alot of what you named- black holes especially. but then i found out how mcuh math and physics (which at that level are basically the same thing <img src='http://definecynical.mancubus.net/forum ... s/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' />) that requires and i decided it wasn't for me. i still maintain an amature's interest in it tho. i dont' want to be discouraging or anything- persue whatever you find fun, and all will be well.

norsenerd · Postby **norsenerd** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 6:29 am

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: </td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> math and physics (which at that level are basically the same thing wink.gif)</td></tr></table>  No they're not!! They're diferent thigns at any level. Very diferent thigns.

penguinita · Postby **penguinita** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 7:10 am

i politely disagree. eg- newton invented calculus b/c he needed it to do his physics. the two are woven together very strongly. no i take that back- b/c with math there are things for which the practical aplication has not yet discovered; while on the other hand, you cannot do highlevel physics without highlevel math. physics is based on math, and all other sciences are based on physics (especaly if you go deep enough). and all of what i've written is jsut my opionoin, i'm trying to perswade you, not tell you off. (just trying to get the tone of voice correct via this soundless medium)

Burning Sheep Productions · Postby **Burning Sheep Productions** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 8:06 am

Auch, umm, whatever you said about my theory Ozymandias (I can spell it!) I hardly comprehended. I still don't see whats wrong with a few of your quotes but I'm sure you know more than me. Oh! And on the note of infinity: Why isn't infinity treated as a normal number? 0 is, infinity is just the opposite. You know: 0*x = 0; x/0 = inf; inf*x = inf; x/inf = 0; I still don't get why it isn't used and stuff. It's the same sorta thing as 0. And what I've heard about white holes is that they're the other end of a worm hole connected between a black hole and a white hole, the black hole in the inlet and the white hole is the outlet, expelling all the light, energy and matter that a black hole eats up. But that could be completely wrong.

penguinita · Postby **penguinita** » Fri Dec 05, 2003 11:57 am

funny things happen at infinity. (eg: inf +1 = inf, inf + inf = inf, and inf/inf can equal 2, 1, undefined, 0, infiinty etc. if you want, i can give examples, but it'll take me a few minutes to come up w/ good ones) its been too long since i hurd a rigorious mathematical explination of why infinity is strange, so i cannot repeat it for you. altho you might try making hte substitution 1/w=z so as z-> infinity, w->0, which puts it in terms your happier about. EDIT:  <table border='0' align='center' width='95%' ><tr><td class='quotetop'>Quote: (Burning Sheep Productions @ Dec 5 2003, 06:06 PM)</td></tr><tr><td class='quotebody'> Oh! And on the note of infinity: Why isn't infinity treated as a normal number? ... I still don't get why it isn't used and stuff. It's the same sorta thing as 0. </td></tr></table>  for one thing, infinity isn't a number per se. if you take any number, and add some nonzero constant to it, you'll get a new number. if you take infinity, and add a nonzero constant, you'll end up with infinity still. i guess i dont fully understand the second half of your statement. infinity is used in math all the time.

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