I absolutely love these videos. They are in order. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgiXGELjbc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGK84Poeynk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vioZf4TjoUI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOLAGYmUQV0
This is a freaky take on science! I am a physics nut, so I can totally appreciate this. I've actually damaged people's minds talking to them about wormholes as a viable means of intergalactic transportation. I do believe it is possible! I think that the microscopic is even more fascinating than the macroscopic - quantum mechanics rules. And the potential of quantum tunneling... don't get me started! Actually my favorite fields (frontiers?) of physics are quantum dynamics (e.g. the consequences of non-localized interactions such as signaling faster than the speed of light), quantum philosophy (e.g. if no one is observing something then does it exist?) and quantum consciousness (the theory that the brain works by collapsing the wave function via actualization potential). I could talk science all day... But for the sake of others I won't.
Right on James! Science is pretty much amazing. I am a biology person by training, but I love listening to lectures about physics and the cosmos. I find it really neat that..basically, there is no such thing as a solid surface. ie, you can't ever "touch" anything, since the electrons on your chair, for instance, repel the electrons in your body...So you feel like you're touching the chair, but in fact you are not. Anyone recall from Calculus, theories on limits? The line always approaches zero, but never actually touches zero.. Equally intriguing to me is how much empty space there actually is in an atom..So, theoretically, it is possible to walk through walls. (Although, due to the number of atoms in your body and the number in the wall, the probability isn't terribly high..haha) I think it was Rutherford's gold foil experiment that "proved" that empty space idea.
Pretty cool! I LOVE science, so much, in fact, I spent two weeks at a chemistry camp doing what was basically a first year course of chemistry, with a significant portion of second year and a little bit of third year. Soooo much fun! We did a bit of quantum physics as it does relate to chemistry, as chemistry basically happens at a quantum scale and electrons especially behave in weird ways. In fact, I'm doing a biochemistry problem now and it's such a bitch.
We should start an EC "Science Club". Then I'd have a safe place where I could talk about utterly dorky things like wormholes and quantum electrodynamics and the grand unified theory without fear of being called names or fearing being beaten up in dark alleys by jocks. It's just too bad that science geeks are discriminated against - after all we are just people, right? Wait... ---------- Aahh! Quantum tunneling in action! You are right, according to quantum theory, there is a chance, albeit infinitessimally small, that if I run face-first into a brick wall, I will pass through it totally unscathed! Now you've got me wanting to try this experiment...
Quantum tunneling does not work with snow according to my experience. If it did my knees would not be so sore. A word of advice. If you go snowboarding don't fall and land on your knees. So it is known my obsession is with time. It is probably the most fundamental part of the universe yet we know so little about it. If someone can do it explain something to me, however basic, without using any words that relate to time.
That was a hard lesson in physics! I strongly subscribe to the theory that time is just another dimension of length, although we do not perceive it as such. I believe the 4 dimensions are "x, y, z and t". I also believe that time does not "move" any more than a road moves from A to B. It is us humans, in particular our brains, that simulate the movement of time. I've heard one theorist describe it as the essence of our free will; if we perceived time as just another direction, then we could move freely back and forth along it and cause/action would then have no meaning. My proof that time doesn't actually "tick"? Every single equation in physics (except for one - the second law of thermodynamics or entropy) is fully reversible in time (substitute "-t" for "t" in the equations and they still work). So I don't think time has a privileged place in the universe except in regards to us, the observers. To the rest of the universe it is just another dimension.
I agree with you. I started thinking of the three terms to describe time but I think one is simply an illusion created in our mind. There are only the things you have experienced (past) and the things you are about to experience (future). Saying that "presently" this is happening is foolish because once you say something like "It is snowing right now" it actually is something in the past you are commenting out. Or if you look at yourself in the mirror and think that is how I look right now what you should correctly say is that is what I looked like in the past. We will never experience "now" because "now" is an illusion we have created subconsciously. So if someone asks you what you look like right now your correct answer is "I don't know" the same goes if someone asks you what time it is. Light is the reason we can only see the past but that works for us because subconsciously our brain is aware of this difference. This calculation our brain does is made apparent everyday if you are aware of it. You can see an object on the table and pick it up but that is easy. The more interesting thing is our ability to catch something while it is moving. I know I don't know very much but the stuff I do know has me endlessly fascinated. This fascination is why I'm going to study physics professionally. It seems the more I learn the more I am in awe of the universe around me. Here is another cool video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU8PId_6xec
I have listened to these non-stop for months. Then go watch 'cosmos' with Carl Sagan, every time he said a line from one of the songs I burst into giggles...manly...
I have done that also. I think everyone should watch the cosmos series. There is so much good information in it that everyone should know. We are very fortunate that Carl Sagan walked this earth. He simultaneously was a student and a teacher and sadly that is rare.
I love this thread. The physics and math majors in me just sort of rejoiced at finding similarly interested people. The trouble with Quantum Tunneling is that as of now, there's just no way of making it probable for something macroscopic. That's not to say one of us won't figure it out in the near future though. Science geeks unite!!!
