iglak

that dimention thing was not about special relativity. it was about space-time, which is linked to general relativity, but is mostly seperate. and about that dimention thing, the jell-o (or sheet, or whatever) is just a simplification designed to help beginners understand (and it doesn't work because it just brings up more questions about that subject). space time isn't actually bent like that, and there isn't actually a "downward" force that would pull down the sheet at that point, and let "planets" roll in. a better example would probably be if you had the same jell-o, but in a closed, airtight container so that the jell-o is touching all walls. then you could stick the "planet" (a tennis ball or something) inside the jell-o (still inside the airtight container). at this point, the jell-o will be thicker around the "planet", and will thin out the farther away from the "planet" you get (ending up at about the same thin-nes as before the planet was there). i don't know exactly how that relates to gravity, but it is better than using a 2D sheet. oh, and just like the book said, you would not be able to see another dimention, you would only be able to see in your 3 dimentions. is the thing you read flatland? if it is, then it was wrong in the sense that, at the end of the book, the square was pulled out of his 2D plane by the sphere and could automatically see another dimention. he would, in reality, still only be able to see in 2D. also, he would never be able to go back to his 2D plane, since it is supposed to be infinitely thin, allowing for an infinite possibility of error when putting him back. but yes, it is quite interesting to think about it and try to understand what another dimention would be like, or if there is one that we just don't know about. P.S. i can't do any better at explaining special relativity (VM was the one who i learned from too), you'll just have to think about it and try to connect it to other scenarios, and think about the examples VM gave of special relativity (and ask questions of course). P.P.S "acceration" and "acperating" are supposed to be "acceleration" and "accelerating", as you probably figured out from reading the rest of VM's post

as you can see apollo... everyone makes fun of everyone. just like in South Park!

[deep demon voice] when the nineth sign is fulfilled, the end of the world will come. satan will rise again as the blood of the two canadians known as Terrance and Phillip touches the soil.[/deep demon voice] ...i voted no although technically, the sun will "explode" (jurn into a red giant) in something like 6 billion years. at which point it will actually take about a year for it to noticably affect our planet, and either 100 or 1000 (i forgot which) years to engulf our planet. and in something like 13 billion years, the andromeda galaxy is supposed to "collide" (mix with) the milky way, possibly affecting some solar systems a tiny bit, but unlikely that any planets/stars/black holes will actually collide (well, considering how many planets/stars/black holes there are, a few are bound to collide) and i suppose it's always possible that some lunatic will blow up the surface of the world, when powerful enough bombs are made, but i bet that by that time genetic engineering will be in constant use, making people smart enough to see this coming. then there might possibly be some new virus epidemic that kills everyone during and past puberty... (TV show, "Jeremiah" on showtime) or something similar. but what is the most likely scenerio is that there will be a mass fear of the end of the world, everyone will panic, and everyone will kill themselves except trained martial artists... and budhists... who will have learned to control their unconscious fear, and would have seen this coming ten years away. (martial artists are cool)

ah, okay. so spaceships lose those big fuel tanks once they are empty, and at that point they've passed that speed by a bit. so then, you don't need to actually be going that fast, just at that point you can start cooasting, and you will keep going farther away from earth. i get it. so, is that speed the escape velocity from ground level, or somewhere high above it (where the spaceships generally run out of fuel)?

why can't we escape the earth's gravitational pull at a velocity less than 11km/s? what causes escape velocity? P.S. on "Myth Busters" (a TV show on Tech TV), they found out that terminal velocity for a penny is approximately 74 mph (because of all of the air resistance), which is not enough to pucture skin, break bones, or tear muscles... just an interesting little tidbit....

but that's a little different from a plasma ball, isn't it?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! ... skeletor... haha. anyway, i would say that i am a skeptic, but only because that is just a picture of a guy walking out of a doorway. now, if i could see the video, i might not be skeptical anymore.

COOL! wait, is that good or bad? (please be good, please be good...)

yeah, but some people wouldn't have the common sense to be able to survive without it. so, i agree with sayo, with a little extra devil's advocate in that the people that can't live without machines will probably all win darwin awards and make the world a better place.... :owned:

but do they really intercept? (like VM asked) just because neptune becomes the outer-most planet for a while doesn't mean the orbits intercept (especially since pluto's orbit is slanted a bit)

AP = Advanced Placement yeah... i passed AP Calc, but not by too much. many people dropped out, and my teacher didn't like it because that meant that they got the benifits of the knowledge, but no loss from a bad grade... i have no idea, sorry.

i think one day, far in the future, it WILL come back and bite us in the *AHEM*. and when that day comes, only those capable of understanding martial arts (not necessarily using) will live.

i would agree... but my cat doesn't like it when the cat up the road enters our yard, and he always begs and whines for a piece of whatever we are eating, no matter what it is... and we all know that war for terratory happens quite a bit among other animals. we just have excess greed... and arrogance, a lot of arrogance... and fear of loss of status too, way too much fear of loss of status (as opposed to fear of pain)... and when we panick, we like killing, not a good thing....

actually, we think without languages a lot, just not consciously (or at least i do). when given two choices, you make an initial choice without language, then you might think about what you chose with language. or when you can't decide you think, "oh god, which one do i want?" but that is just translating your non-lingual thoughts (emotions, specifically "ugh, wah?" ) into words. so, what i am trying to say is, we think in emotions and words, some think more one way than the other, and often our emotions are translated into words for us to use.

uhh... if someone could have figured out the basic things i was missing, i probably would have gotten a 4 instead of a 3 on the AP test (out of 5). it might have been the theory behind it, or it might have just been lack of practice. i think my teacher explained most of the theory behind most of it, but didn't start from the basics, just assumed we knew the basics (which we probably did, but he should have glanced over them).

read this (clicky) from THE BEST SITE EVAR!!!!!!!!!11 (besides SFN) now, from your post on plasma, i think you mean plasma displays (clicky) , the two are different

i very much agree. there are some basic things i was missing in that class, and i still don't have any idea what they are, but i got the major ideas, and at least i passed

it honestly doesn't matter. i took AP Calculus in highschool last year, and i had a Ti-89. it made almost no difference, if any. in the homework, you have to show your work. in the multiple choice part of the AP test, you can't use a calculator for part of it, and another part you have to use a calculator. but in the part that you have to use a calculator, the questions are complex enough that you can't just punch in the numbers without knowing what you are doing. in the long answer questions, you can use a calculator, but again, it is so complex that it makes little difference. and since you have to show your work in the long answers, you can't use the calculator to skip small parts without knowing what those parts are. using any calculator helps you learn more than hinders it. i think that if you know how to use the calculator to answer the problems, you know how to answer the problems without one.

i'd bet that biting nails is genetic, and was a way too keep them from getting too long. i pick my nose, but that's because i have allergies, and my nose gets stuffed up to the point that the mucus hardens and irritates if i don't pick it once in a while. on a side note: i never had a nosebleed.

we have flying cars already (clicky), i just want them available. and it would be extremely easy to make the flying laws, and have everything work out, but i doubt DMV will be smart enough. at a scifi convention i went to last year, i learned that a company is working on a changable atom. i don't remember the name, but they basically feed electrons into one point, and do something special that makes the electrons clump together, simulating an atom. a different number of electrons changes the properties of the atom thing. they talked about the future having PDAs the size of credit cards completely made of these atoms. it would be able to do basically anything (that a credit card sized thing can do). nanobots would be awesome. if we could just get some replicators going....

Science of mind is what brings that which cannot be named, because structure hinders the studier from comprehending the mind in it's true state, as opposed to a bag of satsumas.5 kilos and assorted nuts and bolts which only hinders Anna Kournikova from showing her true fiendish, but perfectly shaped flask containing Ethyl Alcohol. Therefore, the only reason Weetabix lacks a certain resonance is because MUTANT TUNA FISH have taken over ScienceForums the natural mating habits of the admins breakfast cerial(s) are directly proportional to American PI. Now the evidence of this radical statement : fafalone the great is a Cerial Killer, and YT will now be castrated for spelling serial wrong. But what NavajoEverclear doesn't know is that the plan to kill his cerial

where did "bling bling" come from? you know, like rap culture meaning "expensive jewlery". i ask because a few days ago i was at a friend's house for a magic card mini-tournament. this friend collects old video game systems and old video games. one of the video games i the original "Mario" for the original "Nintendo". I was looking through my deck while people were playing mario next to me. then one of my friends was talking, and she mentioned bling bling. a second later, mario jumped and collected two coins, making the high pitched "bling bling" sound. so i thought, "bling bling? i wonder if... nah, couldn't be!" what do you think?

thanks... although it's highly :offtopic: actually, nothing in my sig is 100% oxymoronic, if you think about it.

ingredients: carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, carmel color, vanilla extract, natural and artificial flavors, phosphoric acid, sodium benzate (preserves freshness), honey essence, acacia sassafras extreact.

no, convection currents can happen in many places. when something gets hot, it expands and becomes less dense. if it is less dense than it's surroundings, it will rise. as it rises, it will cool down. as it cools down, it will be pushed out of the way by the other hot bits that came up after it. it, and the rest of the material, will then start to fall to fill the space that the rising bits left behind. if you have heat directed at one spot in something, lets say water, then the water will rise up above that point, and fall down to the side of it. then it will go back to that point. this circular motion is a convection current.