nik

Oh, I see you have Caribbean. Forget that one.

I could really be wrong, but aren't there more, Ross Sea, Weddell sea, Carribean, Mediterranean, Galilee, etc.?

I think someone needs to hand out Chill Pills. Nothing has gone into effect yet and it's being discussed.

 

Geesh!

Uh..... yeah....... can you explain that to me one more time please?

(Just kidding.)

Do you know what the "Moses Effect" is VBG. You're a vicitm of it right now.

OK, nik, try this one, The Origins of Intellect, Piaget's Theory, by John L. Phillips, Jr. I guarantee it'll give you a severe case of the bends

You know, I've heard of that book, but have never read it. I assume you've read it? Did you like it? I understand it's tough stuff.

what can a 13 year old kid do to you??

I could say something creative here, but I'll let it go.

I like your persistence, Borg.

Persistence....... it's a cardinal attribute of many great scientists.

No, not really, it's just that there are some infiltrators from the suburbs B)  :(  B) I live in the city and you know,  They mix and mingle.  But it's fun, anyway B)  B)

Well, you can really meet new and exciting people that way!

Yes, in the middle of the night when nobody else is out.  I also like to run.  I get up before the sun rises and run so that I can be alone, clear the head, and watch the sun.  Good time to meditate.

 

 

 

If I walked around in some of the areas here in the middle of the night I'd better be wearing an Invisibilty Cloak and carrying an AK-47 B) nik

Yowsers! You live in a tough neighborhood or something?

Yes, in the middle of the night when nobody else is out. I also like to run. I get up before the sun rises and run so that I can be alone, clear the head, and watch the sun. Good time to meditate.

Aw, why not? With compliments like that, who can resist? You've got the PM.

People who know me may find it surprising that my answer is, "Yes."

Are there really only 13? I can think of several in Asia alone, not to mention the several in the Antarctic region.

Another interesting question: Can you name the seas on the moon?

Do you know that Voltaire drank 50 cups per day? He lived to be over 80 years old.

I think when one believes it impossible to function without coffee, then he or she has probably had too much, or is addicted. I'm up to about 5-8 cups per day, have been trying to quit for years, and usually feel like I need it to stay awake. Long work weeks don't help too much.

It's also a performance enhancer. I can shave as much as 15 seconds per mile off my running pace if I have a nice strong espresso before going.

What do you think of THAT?

WHERE???

I must know!!!

Anonimity is a nice thing about these boards, it allows one to be themselves without worryin what others think. If I tell you, I would be giving away a huge amount of information about myself. There is a very good chance that you could infer who I am.

Let me think on't, and maybe I'll PM you.

Nik, where do you work??

At Stanford or fermilab???

Nope. Fine guess, though.

I disagree, nik, I think it's immeasurable. That's just my opinion.

 

The distance light travels in one year, yes, a Parsec is X 3 B)

well that's not true according to some models of the universe...

according to the Big Bang theory, the universe will stop expanding and will finally start contracting causing Big Crunch....

I just heard a pretty good talk a few days ago arguing that the universe will not only continue to expand, but accelerate (omega>1 for you cosmologists, or rather, non-zero lambda). I was always skeptical, but now, I don't dismiss the idea anyway.

True enough.  So the answer is that if we have a particle that enters a medium at

a speed apparently faster than that of light in that medium, information transfer across that medium is limited to c/n.

I'm sorry, this probably isn't a topic for the limited mind of a 16 year old, but I' like it. However, I can't remember what n is.

You're never to young to be inquisitive. The greatest physicist I've ever met were those with a youthful curiousity. My old sensei used to enjoy practical jokes becuase of his youthful nature.

 

n = the index of refraction of a medium. The ratio of cohent propagation of light in that medium to that in vacuo. On a fundamental level...... later.....

Did you know that some items have complex n (i.e. n= A + iB)?

corretion: "....The ratio of cohent propagation velocity of light in vacuo to that of light (of the same frequency) in the medium for which n is defined. ..."

Note: n depends on frequency - a "dispersion relation"

True enough.  So the answer is that if we have a particle that enters a medium at

a speed apparently faster than that of light in that medium, information transfer across that medium is limited to c/n.

I'm sorry, this probably isn't a topic for the limited mind of a 16 year old, but I' like it. However, I can't remember what n is.

You're never to young to be inquisitive. The greatest physicist I've ever met were those with a youthful curiousity. My old sensei used to enjoy practical jokes becuase of his youthful nature.

n = the index of refraction of a medium. The ratio of cohent propagation of light in that medium to that in vacuo. On a fundamental level...... later.....

Did you know that some items have complex n (i.e. n= A + iB)?

Baryons...

Nice...

Yeah, the baryon asymmetry of the universe, though simple in it's explanation is just one of those beautiful aspects of science that astound me.

umm....... yes, in a way. V is just velocity.... how fast something is going. In

physics, we sometimes just like to say v is some multiple of c. So if I say v=0.7c,

I mean that the velocity is equal to the speed of light times 0.7 - or 70% the speed of light.

Well, remember, c is just a number..... Velocity is a vector. It has both a magnitude (the number, in the case of velocity, sometimes called speed) and a direction (e.g., north). For example, I can say I'm driving 50mph north.

I can also say I'm driving in the OPPOSITE direction (south, right?) For this,

I can say I'm driving -50mph (or 50mph south). We can define coordinates such that a positive value is motion away, and a negative value is motion towards a reference point. That's all the negative means - two different direction.

Hmmmmmm........ I assume that saving the planet will in some way violate G.O.#1? Well...... gotta do it. My career for their lives.

Ok this may be a really stupid question but what is c?

Not a stupid Q at all. Took humanity about 300 years to figure that out. c is the symbol conventionally used for the velocity of light in vacuo. It's a constant.

2.99*10^8 m/s. Pretty dang fast.

Yep. There's a text book that every grad student in my career has heard of and gone pale. It's called "Classical Electrodymics" by J.D. Jackson. It's a decent book, but incredibly hard. When I was grad school, after we passed that class, people made T-Shirts that said, "I survived Jackson '9x" I had a chance to meet the author one day, and he signed my copy for me. I've got a lot of respect for the man who could force me to stay up to the wee hours of the morning and push my sanity to the edge of the envelope and then haul it back in again and go back and do it the next day.

When does fiction cross the line in to being obviously impossible? I mean I'll buy some of it, but when does it get ridiculous?

I always ask myself: When does NON-FICTION cross the line into being obviously impossible? I mean I'll buy some of it, but when does it get ridiculous?