Royston

Indeed, there's images circulating of Prigozhin meeting with Yevkurov, the talks clearly didn't go well, and now Wagner are on Moscow's doorstep. The petty infighting that has led to this, is deeply embarrassing for Putin.

That's the fun bit though isn't it ? I.E I guess the next stage is to decipher the maths...all the information is there, it just needs to be decoded.

Thought this was fascinating. An AI program developed at Columbia University observes video footage and calculates the dynamics of the system from the ground up i.e it creates variables to model the system. Although the researchers understand some of the variables that have been implemented e.g angular calculations for a pendulum, the rest remains a mystery, it works, but they don't know why it works. https://scitechdaily.com/artificial-intelligence-discovers-alternative-physics/

Today I learned, after a seagull knocked some off my roof, that the humble Lichen is a composite organism. It is a symbiotic relationship between cyanobacteria and fungi. Nearly 6% of the Earth is covered in Lichen, which is testament to, if you get along, you'll be successful. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lichen

What does Benoit B. Mandelbrot's middle initial stand for ? Benoit B. Mandelbrot

juangra, and questionposter, firstly, apologies for the rude post, it does nothing to bolster my arguments, and I really should know better than to post when I'm cranky. There's nothing worse than a hypocrite. juangra, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree, that reality is solely described as particles. I only chose to vote waves and particles, because that's as far as my understanding takes me, and I realise it's far more complicated than that. I think the correct answer is that it is something more abstract, and I've already checked this elsewhere, with other people in the field (I guess you could argue that's an appeal to authority) but I feel they are trustworthy sources. I don't really wish to discuss the matter with you any further, thanks.

You've completed glossed over terms such as basic, and could be considered, there's only so much you can cover in a few sentences. I was setting the scene for a discussion. juangra, personally I couldn't care less what you think, you come across as an educated crank, and your attitude sucks. You've already been banned from the physics forums, and people like you make it hard for others to learn. I may get a mod warning for that, but it needed to be said. I've stuck you on my ignore list...along with questionposter, who ONCE AGAIN, has the temerity to lecture an expert with nonsensical drivel. Sorry for the outburst, but I really wanted to have a decent discussion about the subject, not have it polluted with this guff.

That's absolutely fascinating, thanks. One of our tutors said pretty much the same thing, he then went on to use QED as an example, he had to keep it basic as we're studying an undergrad course. I guess quantum field theory can be reduced back down to more basic formalisms depending on the circumstances, analogous to the correspondence principle. So I guess the outcome of certain experiments can be viewed as a special case of QFT. I realise there are a number of quantum field theories, that seem to deal with particular problems, so I may be over simplifying here, but I'm hoping I'm on the right track. Blimey, well I'll stick with basic QM for the time being, I'm actually just studying this out of interest i.e I have enough credits to obtain my degree already, but I'm absolutely hooked on the subject. I'm going to vote waves and particles, because that's as far as my understanding goes for the time being (regardless of whether it's correct). It seems unfair to vote 'something more abstract', when I don't understand that level of physics.

This follows on from the thread 'what makes an electron orbit', but it's ten pages long (and counting) and gets a bit awry half way through. So I decided to start a new thread, and include a poll, where you can cast your vote, and include your reasoning to back it up. I've kept the description simple to just waves and particles, so it allows anyone to explain what they mean by (for instance) a particle. Note, that I have not studied QFT, so I'll only provide a basic description from what I've been told, and then I'll provide a few examples to the whole wave-particle duality conundrum. It would be nice to hear a few expert opinions, as I know there's a few on here who have studied QFT. It would be doubly nice if they could provide some information, that could bridge the gap of understanding, for anyone who has not studied QFT. Classically, a particle could generally be considered as a zero dimensional point, it can have properties such as mass, but point-like keeps the maths simple, and is ample for describing macroscopic behaviour. In basic QM, the state of a system is described by a wave-function, which is the most complete description of that system. The wave function is not measurable, so is acted on by an operator, an observable is associated with that operator. The outcomes of the observable are dictated by it's eigenvalues. If the observable is position, then the act of measurement collapses the wave function, and what is detected is a particle. Taylor's diffraction experiment, or Young's double slit experiment, are good examples of this. In basic QFT, (sticking to QED) particles can be considered as quantized excitations of a field. The number of particles are not fixed, and the use of operators (lowering and raising) create and destroy particles in that field. Applying QED to say a Mach Zehnder interferometer, still requires a wave and particle description. The above definitions are probably far from perfect. However, some experiments still require a wave-particle duality interpretation, where as others do not, perhaps say a bubble chamber experiment. Are there more abstract definitions of a particle that could do away with the wave-particle interpretation in some experiments ? Any corrections are welcome, but I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on the matter (no pun intended).

A virgin girl is on the phone and asks her boyfriend to come over and have dinner with her parents. Since this is such a big event, the girl announces to her boyfriend that after dinner, she would like to go out and make love for the first time. Well, the boy is ecstatic, but he has never had sex before, so he takes a trip to the pharmacist to get some condoms. He tells the pharmacist it's his first time and the pharmacist helps the boy for about an hour. He tells the boy everything there is to know about condoms and sex. At the register, the pharmacist asks the boy how many condoms he'd like to buy, a 3-pack, 10-pack, or family pack. The boy insists on the family pack because he thinks he will be rather busy, it being his first time and all. That night, the boy shows up at the girl's parents house and meets his girlfriend at the door. "Oh, I'm so excited for you to meet my parents, come on in!" The boy goes inside and is taken to the dinner table where the girl's parents are seated. The boy quickly offers to say grace and bows his head. A minute passes, and the boy is still deep in prayer, with his head down. 10 minutes pass, and still no movement from the boy. Finally, after 20 minutes with his head down, the girlfriend leans over and whispers to the boyfriend, "I had no idea you were this religious." The boy turns, and whispers back, "I had no idea your father was a pharmacist."

Spores are released from the gills, which are found underneath the cap (the top of the mushroom.) It's possible something decomposed in a spiral shape, hence the mushrooms growing in a spiral. You need to give a little more information, i.e what country, and what colour are the gills (you'll need a magnifying glass), I'm guessing from your description they're mushrooms.

Just so you know, it's a joke from Shaun of the Dead.

What's green and smells of pork ? Kermits fingers.

oh dear So Insane Alien, Norman Alber and Death are about to walk into a bar, Norm say's 'why are you here Death?' Death replies 'well you see that 50ft ball of tumbleweed coming this way...'

Hi Dave, which course are you studying, I've completed S103, S151 and I'm a couple of weeks into MST121.

Check the announcements forum.

No, you obviously havn't studied history...see what the Romans were up to, and say we're more liberal.

Perhaps you should start another thread, this one's for the experts...which I'm clearly not either, but it won't stop me reading and researching the terminology used and trying to get a slight understanding of the subjects raised...that also can be fun. I think Severian deserves a break from advising people like me all the time.

Hello I'm Snail, thought it was time I disclosed a bit more info about myself. I live in a caravan, am covered in slime and am a hermaphodite...I actually live in a nice three bedroom house with my mates, by the beach and am purely here for learning and seeing if any of my ideas aren't completely bonkers. I love travel, though havn't for nearly a year now due to financial constraints...sigh, only 161 countries to go ! My passion is music, particularly using synths and samplers...played the guitar from an early age...and yes I can shred, and am starting a production company in a couple of months. I'm also an avid festival goer. I love the sciences although am clearly not an expert in any particular field...I try to be as logical as possible, and love hearing about any cutting edge technology or new discoveries. I've got a dull day job, but it's made up for with other pursuits and yes I do own some giant african land snails (if you were wondering about the name.) I was actually quite useless at science at school, and am really a creative person (good at illustration / music et.c) but I'm trying to change that (the science bit that is.) A lot of the introductions are very non-descript, so I thought I'd waffle a bit...I think it's better to know a bit of background to the person you're replying to. cheers Snail

Oldies but goodies... What did the accountant do when he was constipated ? He worked it out with a pencil. Why did Nivea Cream ? Cause Max Factor. What's the difference between a dead prostitute and a ferrari ? I havn't got a ferrari in my garage.