Interesting Science Stuff Thread

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

They should be able to get ice breaker support. One of the ice breakers is with the Franklin Expedition, but not very close to Iqualuit.

[emperordaniel 1,281]

Regardless, check out this solar mass ejection. I wonder how many Earths would fit in there?

Here you go:

[Haljackey 17,272]

Awesome lecture about physics and the universe:

I took first year physics in university. It really opened up my world of understanding how things work and why the are that way.

In other news, the Higgs Boson was peer reviewed and is now a universally accepted theory: http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/135756-cerns-higgs-boson-discovery-passes-peer-review-becomes-actual-science

[hym 358]

In other news, the Higgs Boson was peer reviewed and is now a universally accepted theory: http://www.extremete...-actual-science

The article has been published in a peer reviewed journal, and that is all. It has not been conclusively proven to be the Higgs Boson particle. They are continuing to conduct research to determine the exact properties of what they discovered and whether it really is the Higgs Boson particle.

Also, for what it's worth, it is far from universally accepted. Aspects of Einstein's theory of relatively are still debated.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

One assumes that the reference is to General Relativity not the Special version which seems to have overwhelming verifications starting with the Michaelson-Moreley experiment. All the cosmological/physical interaction is speculation at best. Not everyone accepts the Quantum Theory either, but using it has produced a lot of interesting hardware, so there must be some merit there. I've always felt sorry for the cat.

For ordinary people like myself on the sidelines of this game, it is always hard to get one's head around some of the things these people talk about. Eleven dimensions, indeed! I'm strung out.

Meanwhile, instead of playing with last century's theory, has our stifling education system managed to pop out a new polymath for our century?

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Recently, there was some desire for a 3D printer to dump out images of the game. Well, here you go.

At $2200 before taxes, this is a little rich for my desktop, and the device looks like one of the old disk drives before we had cassettes (main frame ones, that is). I wonder what the operating cost for this beast is?

[Easy Bakes 253]

Very cool that.

I saw a laser wood burner a few days ago.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Still no colour. Now that would be a small miracle.

[Ocram's Razr 963]

They make color 3D printers of lower voxel resolution already.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Link? Example? What's a voxel?

[Ocram's Razr 963]

Here is the first thing I could find.

A voxel is a 3D version of a pixel.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Expensive. Especially for a game output.

So a new word enters the language. I see it is a portmanteau word (coined by Lewis Carroll) and not an acronym. Sounds like a good name for my next dog. "Here, Voxel. Good boy."

[Easy Bakes 253]

Curiosity Discovers Ancient Stream bed.

How Dry I Am

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

2012 Climate Affects Fall Colours.

Ever wonder where all that colour came from? Well, it is there all along.

[Duke87 1,070]

Someone made a robot that plays rock paper scissors and wins every time.

[astronelson 339]

Well, that's it. We've created a robot with the greatest human ability of them all. We've finally made a robot that can cheat at physical games.

[Easy Bakes 253]

looks very edited

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Yet another special purpose machine. What will happen when someone comes out with a generalized one? Anyone read Karel Čapek's R.U.R. lately? That's the play where the word 'robot' entered the English language. Robot in Czech means worker.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Nobel Prize in Physics.

The quantum computer may be on the horizon.

Tomatoes are really good for you.

Stroke prevention.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Mars has Cyclanos or Volcones.

The question is whether this rover is on Mars or down the rabbit hole? An interesting piece of igneous rock, but surely they could have found something more memorable to name after a deceased colleague? These guys are behaving like a six-year-old with a new toy. The guys at CERN are not nearly as excitable.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Space dive a Success

Felix Baumgartner recreates the Slim Pickens scene from Dr Strangelove .

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Slim did it without a suit. And Baumgartner didn't have a cowboy hat.

[Ocram's Razr 963]

That is still pretty cool. I wonder what this will contribute to research on supersonic travel?

--Ocram

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Not much I expect. He did it at an altitude where there is little resistance. At a lower altitude the buffeting might have ripped him up.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Dedicated amateur astronomers out look fancy programs.

A gas giant in a stable orbit with a double primary and a double companion. Probably fairly hot itself. And only 5,000 light years away. I wonder what it is like there now? We are seeing it as it was five millennia ago. Ancient Egypt's great kingdom would have been just starting up.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Dedicated amateur astronomers out look fancy programs.

A gas giant in a stable orbit with a double primary and a double companion. Probably fairly hot itself. And only 5,000 light years away. I wonder what it is like there now? We are seeing it as it was five millennia ago. Ancient Egypt's great kingdom would have been just starting up.

Probably exactly the same 5000 years is not a long time for a star.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Well, if you thought that was neat, try this. It is only around 4.3 light years away. Too bad this particular one has the climate of Mercury.

Automotive advance?

An embedded system like this must be at least as reliable as a cruise missile.

[Haljackey 17,272]

I am very happy we found at least one planet orbiting our next door neighbour.

This will probably be the first star system we visit so it's nice to know there's a planet we can make a pit stop on.... might make a huge difference for robotic and/or manned missions.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Well, if you thought that was neat, try this. It is only around 4.3 light years away. Too bad this particular one has the climate of Mercury.

Automotive advance?

An embedded system like this must be at least as reliable as a cruise missile.

Iv always wondered why they never looked at the closest stars 1st, no matter if their they right stellar type or not.

if we are going to make the trip to another star the 1st stop is alpha centauri anyway.

only an advance if its ultimately used for self driving cars.

to me all this technical "innovation" is just making cars cost more and break down more often.

the PCUs they use now already control too much of the cars ability function with out it this just adds more things to break.

how soon before someone come up with a virus that effects the cars computer, transferred when you plug your phone in.

  Edited October 17, 2012 by Easy Bakes  

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Pessimist. One has to postulate that car systems are bullet proof, despite proof to the contrary. The problem is that there are a million more cars for every aircraft, and aircraft get 100% maintenance. And even then, they have breakdowns occasionally in which many people die.

Embedded automotive systems are just computers, programmed by fallible people. I don't care if you program in Ada with all the assurance traps and routines you can think of, there will be an ID ten T error somewhere in there. In the end, removing the loose nut holding the steering wheel may indeed reduce the number of accidents but the count won't be zero.

If we ever visit the Centauri system, I most certainly hope they are not counting on a pit stop on a hot gas giant. Theory says if a star has one planet is probably has several.

  Edited October 17, 2012 by A Nonny Moose