Outrider

On 11/26/2017 at 6:10 AM, 3____344340095e33-2 said:

I want to see papers and journal articles on the nature of reality.  Otherwise all this research into space and time travel is merely research into how the sim works

Well you certainly have spent an inordinate amount of time critiquing others posts and very little discussing the articles that were asked for and were given.

Heres another. 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-we-living-in-a-computer-simulation/

Quote

And there are other reasons to think we might be virtual. For instance, the more we learn about the universe, the more it appears to be based on mathematical laws. Perhaps that is not a given, but a function of the nature of the universe we are living in. “If I were a character in a computer game, I would also discover eventually that the rules seemed completely rigid and mathematical,” said Max Tegmark, a cosmologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). “That just reflects the computer code in which it was written.”

Please let us know what you think.

Oh and just for fun heres a flash fiction story on the subject.

Everyone please read its really short and more interesting (so far) than this thread. 

http://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/virtual-reality/philip-apps/the-no-sick-box

Just now, Strange said:

Good catch.

They are not stellar either.

So that makes 4 errors in the first sentence. No point reading any further.

Well I can't call you wrong. And I didn't read most of it for the reason you stated.

6 minutes ago, generalrelativity said:

LIGO stellar electromagnetic gravitational waves 

As Strange said they are still not electromagnetic. We wouldn't need LIGO if they were.

BTW the waves are not LIGO either.

On 11/28/2017 at 7:51 PM, rangerx said:

Jared is next.

I think he probably will do some time. Trump will probably not although it does look like impeachment looms.

One would think Trump insulated himself well enough to stay out of prison but he continues to suprise me. The other day he went after Joe Scarborough for no reason at all. Now Joe is claiming someone in Trump's inner circle said Trump has dementia. Which would explain some things.

Rut roh it's getting hot up in the White House. 

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/12/01/us/politics/michael-flynn-guilty-russia-investigation.html?referer=http://www.google.com/

Quote

 

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, pleaded guilty on Friday to lying to the F.B.I. about conversations with the Russian ambassador last December during the presidential transition.

The plea by Mr. Flynn, who appeared in federal court in Washington, brings the special counsel investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election into Mr. Trump’s inner circle.

 

7 hours ago, 3____344340095e33-2 said:

I want to see papers and journal articles on the nature of reality.  Otherwise all this research into space and time travel is merely research into how the sim works.

Here LMGTFY.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulation_hypothesis

BTW this is a very old idea some Mayan texts indicate that they thought we exist in the dreams of gods. And in the 3rd century BC Zhuangzi Zhou wondered if he was a man who dreamed of being a butterfly or a butterfly who dreamed of being a man.

Also Houman Owhadi, Tom Campbell, Joe Sauvageau and David Watkinson have proposed some experiments. 

https://arxiv.org/abs/1703.00058

Quote

Can the theory that reality is a simulation be tested? We investigate this question based on the assumption that if the system performing the simulation is finite (i.e. has limited resources), then to achieve low computational complexity, such a system would, as in a video game, render content (reality) only at the moment that information becomes available for observation by a player and not at the moment of detection by a machine (that would be part of the simulation and whose detection would also be part of the internal computation performed by the Virtual Reality server before rendering content to the player). Guided by this principle we describe conceptual wave/particle duality experiments aimed at testing the simulation theory.

As for me? Much like the question of free will I can't see what difference it makes so its just easiest to assume reality is real.

Read the first link first its a pretty comprehensive overview on the subject. 

The Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is) is planning to build a probe to chase down Oumuamua and make some closeup observations. According to the i4is website they are a dedicated team of volunteers, committed to the vision of seeing interstellar flight achieved in the very near future.

Sounds impossible to me. The fastest thing ever built by man is the Voyager 1 and it is travelling at 17 km/s. Oumuamua is moving at 44 km/s and it already has a large head start. 

https://i4is.org/i4is-announces-project-lyra-mission-a2017-u1-interstellar-asteroid/

Quote

i4is is happy to announce a new project: Project Lyra. Lyra is the star constellation from which the interstellar asteroid  A/2017 U1 came from. According to current information, the object is smaller than 400m  in diameter and is currently travelling at 44km/s with respect to the sun, much faster than any human-made object to date. What can be more exciting than chasing this object with a spacecraft and making observations from a close distance? What secrets are hidden on this visitor from our galaxy? The velocity of the object makes it challenging to reach but this challenge might lead to new, innovative mission concepts.

I really enjoyed the articles. I like how Cornell ranks theirs beginner, intermediate and advanced. 

But how could you forget xkcd?

https://what-if.xkcd.com/49/

He mostly focused on the positives.

Quote

 

Reduced risk of solar flares.

Improved satellite service.

Better astronomy.

Stable dust.

Reduced infrastructure costs.

Safer children.

Safer combat pilots.

Safer parsnip.

 

Quote

 

In conclusion, if the Sun went out, we would see a variety of benefits across many areas of our lives.

Are there any downsides to this scenario?

We would all freeze and die.

 

On 11/23/2017 at 4:42 PM, pzkpfw said:

(Edit: I once read, but can't quickly find a reference, that any star unaided-visible is pretty much within the milky way, which is only about 100,000 light years across.)

Maybe you learned that from Phil Plait. He has a really good article on "stars that you see that don't exist anymore."

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/08/13/are_the_stars_you_see_in_the_sky_already_dead.html
 

Quote

 

I can think of very few exceptions, though Eta Carinae fits the bill. It’s on the edge of exploding; in the 1840s it underwent a massive paroxysm that was just short of a supernova event. It may not go off for another 50,000 years, but it might tonight. And at a distance of less than 10,000 light-years, those are not terrible odds that, in a sense, it’s already gone and we just don’t know it yet.

I’d wager this aphorism about stars being already dead is wrong even with a decent telescope; the Milky Way is 100,000 light-years across, and only a few stars in it have a shorter lifespan than that.

No matter how you look at it, the idea that all, or even most, or even a lot, of the stars you can see in the sky are already dead is simply wrong. It sounds true, and kinda sorta fits with things you might think you know, but in the end the facts will win.

 

A couple of more. I can never really get enough lol.

So the first vid explains why the Milky Way might reside in a cosmic void. And the second one is a different take on the vid Mordred posted. 

I would see a doctor too.

Have you lived in the same place all these thirty years? 

Wikihow has a pretty good page on how to get rid of spiders and keep them gone.

https://www.wikihow.com/Kill-Spiders

I particularly liked these suggestions. 

Quote

 

Use natural deterrents in your home and yard. Natural spider repellants are easy to make, use, and will ensure that your home stays spider free, so you won't have to worry about killing them or moving them elsewhere.

Add 3-5 drops of an essential oil like tea tree, peppermint, or lemon to a quart of water to clean your house with. These are harmless to people and pets, but create an undesirable scent for insects and spiders.

Plant eucalyptus and spread horse chestnuts. Many people believe that eucalyptus is a natural spider replant, and some studies have shown that saponin--a naturally-occurring chemical found in horse chestnuts--repels spiders.

 

Very cool. Thanks Strange!

I shall now attempt to embed a youtube video. It has some animations of Oumuamua plus a few words from Paul Choda who is manager for NASA's center for NEO studies and Kelly Fast (nice name for an astrophysicist) who is program manager. Paul says "we have been waiting for the discovery of an interstellar object for decades."

Ok that was a lot easier than I thought it would be. 

19 hours ago, Mordred said:

Well this particular image doesn't show the DM distribution. The image came from the Millennium simulation.

http://www.illustris-project.org/

The simulation also show the DM distribution and tests the metalicity ratios.

Wow thats crazy awesome! Thanks so much for turning me on to this. I watched on my phone but will definitely watch on tv later. 

Professor Arjun Berera from the University of Edinburgh’s School of Physics and Astronomy has authored a paper suggesting that life on earth may have been seeded by cosmic dust streams. And not only that but Earth may be seeding other planets in the same way.

A link to the abstract.

https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.01895

So apparently we are stardust transported by cosmic dust.

Heres an article on the paper.

http://www.astronomy.com/news/2017/11/life-in-dust
 

Quote

 

Interplanetary dust — a combination of debris from ancient asteroid collisions, active comets, and interstellar dust — is pervasive throughout the solar system. Roughly 220,000 pounds (100,000 kilograms) of space dust fall onto Earth every day. And in interplanetary space, streams of cosmic dust can travel together at speeds of up to 44 miles per second (70 kilometers per second). 

The researchers found that as these streams of dust graze Earth, they collide with organic particles found in the upper atmosphere. These small particles, which are trapped about 93 miles (150 km) or higher in Earth’s atmosphere, are then knocked out with enough force to escape Earth’s gravity altogether. Once the particles are free from the bounds of Earth, the powerful dust flows can pick up and carry the microscopic hitchhikers off through interplanetary space.

Since some bacteria, plants, and even small animals — known as tardigrades — can survive in space, it is possible that these organisms could also get caught in the dust conveyor belt and hitch a ride to another planet. The same mechanism outlined in the study also allows for distant planets within the same solar system to exchange atmospheric particles with one another. 

 

Now click on the link above and go look at the picture of a tardigrade. Please!

On 11/21/2017 at 1:04 PM, Moontanman said:

Did anyone else think "Rendezvous with Rama" when they first saw this?  

Not me but...

On 11/22/2017 at 7:00 PM, Moontanman said:

What! I am the only one who reads classic Arthur C. Clarke? 

...somebody did

http://www.astronomy.com/news/2017/11/interstellar-asteroid-is-a-quarter-mile-long-red-beast

Quote

 

Corey S. Powell, an editor at OMNI and Aeon, compared that shape to Rama from Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendevouz with Rama, while Eric Betz of our sister publication Discover magazine likened it to the alien probe from Star Trek IV: oblong and rocky. (`Oumuamua probably wasn’t an alien probe, though, and it definitely wasn’t looking for whales.)  
 

New illustrations of interstellar asteroid Oumuamua are not going to do anything to dissuade those who think it should have been named 'Rama' instead. https://t.co/6fexQcMGHkpic.twitter.com/vekr57Y88K

— Corey S. Powell (@coreyspowell) November 20, 2017

 

BTW if you go to the link there are some cool visuals from Kitt Peak and Gemini Observatory. 

@studiot said 

Quote

 

Leylines are just examples of coincidence that have been glorified as having some paranormal significance.

I like the following demonstration:

 

Take a sheet of plain white paper.

Randomly sprinkle on some black pepper.

Take a ruler and observe lots of leylines where the pepperdust particles have fallen.

Draw the lines in.

Shake the pepperdust off and resprinkle

Observe

1) New leylines emerge

2) Many particles fall on the original leylines you drew in 'reinforcing' them

 

A special twist on this if you looked up Wiki on the subject.

Leylines gurus don't realise that all maps distort the true shape of the land in some fashion.

And this distortion is different for different map projections so straight lines on one projection are not sraight on another.

Yet the gurus somehow cheerfully draw in the same straight lines on these different maps.

 

@sci-man let us know how the experiment turns out.

Heres a more recent article suggesting the fossils are closer to 32,000 years old.

https://phys.org/news/2017-09-dating-neanderthal-vindija-cave-older.html

Quote

Initial testing suggested the remains were approximately 28,000 to 29,000 years old. More recent tests have put them at 32,000 to 34,000 years old. Both time frames coincide with the arrival of modern humans into the area, keeping alive the theory that the two groups mixed, both physically and socially. But now, using what is being described as a more accurate technique, the group with this new effort has found that the remains are older than thought.

Home science tools seem to have a good selection. 

https://www.homesciencetools.com/chemistry/chemistry-kits/

Bad news indeed if it happens. 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-internet-exclusive/exclusive-u-s-agency-to-vote-to-repeal-net-neutrality-rules-fcc-chief-idUSKBN1DL21A

Quote

 

FCC chief Ajit Pai, a Republican appointed by President Donald Trump in January, said the commission will vote at a Dec. 14 meeting on his plan to rescind the so-called net neutrality rules championed by Democratic former President Barack Obama that treated internet service providers like public utilities.

The rules barred broadband providers from blocking or slowing down access to content or charging consumers more for certain content. They were intended to ensure a free and open internet, give consumers equal access to web content and prevent broadband service providers from favoring their own content.

The action marks a victory for big internet service providers such as AT&T Inc, Comcast Corp and Verizon Communications Inc that opposed the rules and gives them sweeping powers to decide what web content consumers can get and at what price.

 

Interesting and some nice pics as well.

I think I have observed a similar phenomenon just not as dramatic. I spend a week at the same condo in Destin Florida every summer for the past 25 of them. Sometimes it is very shallow many meters into the ocean and sometimes it drops off very quickly. 

1 hour ago, dimreepr said:

So, nothing legitimate can be learned from this news? Shit happens.

Yep thats why when it was spotted dozens of observatories turned their telescopes on it.

1 hour ago, Outrider said:

Carl Sagan ignited my interest many years ago with his series of books chronicling the adventures of the pioneer probes almost thirty years ago.

Should be voyager probes.

2 minutes ago, Strange said:

Thanks. (I have had a few negative reactions to my answers recently so it is reassuring to know I can still be useful occasionally!)

 

Your welcome. I'll probably have a little more to say and possibly more questions after I think about your article a little more.

Honestly, with regard to the two threads I think you are referencing, after page three or four I don't know why you bothered.

Carl Sagan ignited my interest many years ago with his series of books chronicling the adventures of the pioneer probes almost thirty years ago. I am still very much hooked. As I don't have the formal training I rely on people like you to explain the finer details of the amazing discoveries being made these days.

Thanks for the replies they really help.

34 minutes ago, Strange said:

There is no matter involved in a merger of "just" two black holes and so nothing to generate Em radiation. But if there is an accretion disk, then that could be affected in such a way as to generate radiation; but even this might require more than our current theories to explain it (I really don't know).

Ok I guess we are just going to have to wait for more observations. 

18 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

This post looks like a joke and if so, it's way over my head, I googled it and found nothing, please explain.

To add to what Prometheus said the prefix xeno means foreign. 

8 minutes ago, Prometheus said:

Obviously the Kuiper belt is too porous, we need to build it higher.

And make the moon pay for it.

Well I read the article and it was a good read but I don't think it really addressed why black hole mergers might not have an EM component. In fact the article states that several researchers feel that there was one but their findings cannot be confirmed. 

He concludes with four bullet points that the evidence seems to suggest that if black hole mergers do have an EM component , it's one that's:

• incredibly weak,
• that occurs mostly at lower energies,
• that doesn't have a bright optical or radio or gamma-ray component,
• and that occurs with an offset to the actual emission of gravitational waves.

He also dosent get into the why of the offset. I dont understand that either.

The article left me with another question. Sorry. I'll repost your link to (hopefully) avoid confusion. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2017/06/08/newest-ligo-signal-raises-a-huge-question-do-merging-black-holes-emit-light/#680a220147d9

Quote

According to our best models of physics, merging black holes aren't supposed to emit any light at all. A massive singularity surrounded by an event horizon might emit gravitational waves, due to the changing curvature of space time as it orbits an inspirals with another giant mass, in line with General Relativity's predictions. Because that gravitational energy, emitted as radiation, needs to come from somewhere, the final black hole post-merger is about two solar masses lighter than the sum of the originals that created it. This is completely in line with the other two mergers LIGO observed: where around 5% of the original masses were converted into pure energy, in the form of gravitational radiation.

Did he just say something came out of a black hole?