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From New Scientist It's nice to know we haven't got this ol' universe figured out just yet don't you think? |
13 things that do not make sense.
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Shadrach 1,878 posts
Seen 2 years ago
Registered 19 years ago -
1) How people believe things they read in tabloid newspapers -
That was a really fascinating read - cheers, Shadrach!
/goes off to solve the mystery of the 'coffee always running out just before I get to the pot' -
It makes perfect sense so long as you accept the Giant Space Badgers just made it that way! \o/
/Sacrifices mushrooms at the altar -
Lutz 48,870 posts
Seen 4 years ago
Registered 18 years agoInteresting reading. .gif)
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bloke 1,490 posts
Seen 1 year ago
Registered 17 years agoThere was an excellent 45 mins on the subject of Dark Matter in "In Our Time" on R4 yesterday.
You can listen again to it, if you click through on the R4 website - well worth it if you're at all interested. -
sam_spade 15,745 posts
Seen 2 hours ago
Registered 20 years agoI'll just reprint what I posted on another forum...
2 The horizon problem
That may not seem surprising until you consider that the two edges are nearly 28 billion light years apart and our universe is only 14 billion years old.
Err, I may have got this mixed up and will gladly take any correction. If something explodes and the matter travels unimpeded in each and every direction, say 14 billion years at light speed one way and then 14 billion years at light speed the opposite way then the two edges are going to be 28 billion light years apart. So where's the 'not-makey-senseness' -
bloke 1,490 posts
Seen 1 year ago
Registered 17 years agoHyoushi wrote:
Shadrach wrote:
Heh, yes. And the fact that mankind persist in believing that we should be able to figure it all out is our greatest weakness and stupidity.
From New Scientist
It's nice to know we haven't got this ol' universe figured out just yet don't you think?
That's odd, because I find that kind of intellectual optimism the single brightest hope for our mad ol' species.gif)
The cleverest people understand that such comprehension may not be possible - but apart from trying to figure it all out and being nice to small children, what else is there?
Edited by bloke at 10:31:47 18-03-2005 -
The problem isn't the 'size', Sam - it's the heat. Read it again. -
bloke 1,490 posts
Seen 1 year ago
Registered 17 years agosam_spade wrote:
I'll just reprint what I posted on another forum...
2 The horizon problem
That may not seem surprising until you consider that the two edges are nearly 28 billion light years apart and our universe is only 14 billion years old.
Err, I may have got this mixed up and will gladly take any correction. If something explodes and the matter travels unimpeded in each and every direction, say 14 billion years at light speed one way and then 14 billion years at light speed the opposite way then the two edges are going to be 28 billion light years apart. So where's the 'not-makey-senseness'
Can I suggest that you have a go posting that on the NS website and report back with the results -
sam_spade 15,745 posts
Seen 2 hours ago
Registered 20 years agoBlerk wrote:
The problem isn't the 'size', Sam - it's the heat. Read it again.
Ah, right.
So they are saying why isn't it hotter at the core than at the edges. How do they know the edge of the universe isn't colder than the core, do they know where the core of the universe is? -
It's right here. Under my desk.
/kicks core -
MrWorf 64,193 posts
Seen 23 hours ago
Registered 20 years agoHow do they how old the universe is? Maybe they're wrong, The was a time when we thought we we're the ceetre of the universe and the only planet to support live too,,, -
ssuellid 19,142 posts
Seen 1 day ago
Registered 20 years agoRazz wrote:
How do they how old the universe is? Maybe they're wrong, The was a time when we thought we we're the ceetre of the universe and the only planet to support live too,,,
Just theories. As you say in a couple of hundred years the natives will probably be laughing about our generations theories as well. -
Er.. unless I missed something we still are the only planet that supports life, aren't we?
That we know about, anyway. -
sam_spade wrote:
They can read the temperature fromt he radio activity. Hence finding the universal background radiation.
So they are saying why isn't it hotter at the core than at the edges. How do they know the edge of the universe isn't colder than the core, do they know where the core of the universe is?
Also, the universe is apparently expanding uniformly, so from our point of view, we're it. After all, we can only see as far as the light which has travelled back to us. -
MrWorf 64,193 posts
Seen 23 hours ago
Registered 20 years agossuellid wrote:
Razz wrote:
How do they how old the universe is? Maybe they're wrong, The was a time when we thought we we're the ceetre of the universe and the only planet to support live too,,,
Just theories. As you say in a couple of hundred years the natives will probably be laughing about our generations theories as well.
omg.. I think that was my worst spelled post ever. I haven#t had my coffee yet...
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bloke 1,490 posts
Seen 1 year ago
Registered 17 years agoHyoushi wrote:
bloke wrote:
Well... the sorting out of our local problems maybe? The asking of the questions creates the need and longing for answers. Lack of these answers makes people grab for easy solutions, such as religion. And then it's all down hill from there.
Hyoushi wrote:
Shadrach wrote:
Heh, yes. And the fact that mankind persist in believing that we should be able to figure it all out is our greatest weakness and stupidity.
From New Scientist
It's nice to know we haven't got this ol' universe figured out just yet don't you think?
That's odd, because I find that kind of intellectual optimism the single brightest hope for our mad ol' species
The cleverest people understand that such comprehension may not be possible - but apart from trying to figure it all out and being nice to small children, what else is there?
Whaa???
"No easy answers to difficult interesting questions = the need to invent the tooth fairy" (my entirely unfair interpretation of your arguement) is a bit of a leap isn't it?
And "being nice to small children" covers 95% of the local stuff anyway.gif)
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unwashed 1,857 posts
Seen 14 years ago
Registered 18 years agoMy personal favourites are the Pioneer and Viking conundrums.
Pioneer because looking at it from a my point of view I can see some scientist sitting on some plans that the probes were actual made to, rather than the plans everyone else was told they were made to and realising it's his fault because of some extra exhaust he put in, or some tech wired something up wrong...
Viking, because wouldn't it be cool to know that actually Earth isn't the be all and end all? That there's a lot more out there for us to find and visit...
I also like the kuiper cliff problem simply because it's mad, but must be ultimately solveable. -
mrharvest 5,718 posts
Seen 3 weeks ago
Registered 18 years agoThe Pioneer problem could be anything. One of the early satellites dropped out of orbit because there was a reel-to-reel deck turning aboard and that affected the trajectory. Imagine a 200 gram tape reel turning a 200 kilo satellite? -
unwashed 1,857 posts
Seen 14 years ago
Registered 18 years agoPrecisely, but it just shows, the smallest things can have a huge effect.
/Shows to bosses
/Bosses still insist on last minute changes...
Plus ca change -
Sniffer 328 posts
Seen 9 years ago
Registered 17 years agoThe Chewbacca Defence.
That DOES-NOT-MAKE-SENSE!
Geddit?
No?
Oh... -
Item no. 14: women ;0) -
terminalterror 18,932 posts
Seen 2 weeks ago
Registered 20 years agoVery interesting read.
Shows how far science has come from Newton's time, where one man could invent calculus and optics, discover gravity and many other things, all in his spare time in between trying to turn lead into gold.
Nowadays, it requires a lifetime of study to come even close to understanding just one specific area. I doubt there will ever be a Newton or an Einstein again (a physicist that the public could name) as if anyone manages to solve any of those problems, even physicists won't understand it fully.
One of my lectures told us that if anyone claims they fully understand quantum mechanics, they have got it wrong.
Physics is a great subject, but it does make my head hurt sometimes, and I'm only a first year undergraduate, the hardest stuff we've done so far is special relativity, it gets a lot more mind bending. -
Great post there Shadrach - thanks. A great read for a sunny Friday afternoon.
As for dark matter: I have some of that growing at the back of my fridge.
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