MigL

I haven't seen LISP referenced since the 80s either. At that time I also used the Atari ST, and learned Forth on it.

If in a long orbit about each other, any energy loss would be small, as it would be via gravitational waves. On long enough time scales they would eventually merge. IIRC, the limit for electron degeneracy, after which collapse to a neutron star is mandatory, is approx. 2.3 solar masses. While BHs have various collapse points ranging from 4 to 10 solar masses. Depending on which one eventually turns out to be correct, if the lower, then a resulting BH is assured. However, if the limit for BH formation is the upper, 10 solar masses, then two small neutron stars will not necessarily result in a BH.

I learned English in 6 months ( in 1968/9 ). I studied French for 6 years ( Gr 7-Gr12 ) and I still can't carry on a conversation, although I can read it and understand it if spoken slowly enough. I suppose the difference is that I needed to use English every day; French, not so much. Incidentally I still do basic math functions ( +, -, *, / ) in my head, using my native Italian. ( so I guess learning new languages really messed up my brain )

I'm not sure I understand what the problem is. On a regular graph, is there a requirement that X and Y must share the same units ? Or can they simply be related by a constant of proportionality; in this case ... c ?

watch out for Joigus. He says he is a liar, and then, tells you he's lying. Next thing you know, smoke is coming out of your ears.

No, I guess that would undermine my whole argument.

Neutron stars don't have an extended radius around them from which gravitational escape is impossible, like Black Holes do. Unless by 'close' you mean close enough to exert some 'drag' on each other, and lose some energy ( such as via gravitational waves ), there will be no capture or merging. Not sure what you mean by gravity cancelling, but where two neutron stars are close enough for mass to spiral from one to the other, neither will de-collapse to white dwarf. Rather they will lose energy fairly quickly, due to gravitational wave emission, spiral in to each other and, depending on mass, either form a larger neutron star, or a Black Hole.

Yes, I asked Kathleen Stocks 😁 . You've never done root-cause analysis, have you ? I wonder, if the suicide rates among disenfranchised, disgraced, fired, or forced to quit professors is higher than in the general population, are we going to assume it's because they are oppressed, and we should grant them more freedom to say whatever they want, and socially force others to agree with them.

Mind you, these would be definitions of a Physicist ... Objective - properties inherent in the object being observed Subjective - properties perceived by the observer of an object Now I don't deny that everyone has the right to proclaim their subjective view of themselves, and the world around them; If you feel like a 'Ze', you should be able to say so. But the operative word is 'everyone', trans people, gay people, straight people, even MAGA people. Yet society strongly pressures, to the point of ostracization and job loss ( if not law ), people who don't think you are a 'Ze' from voicing their subjective view of the world around them. Do we ALL have that right or not ? Are we only giving that right to people who yell loudest ? Is that the kind of society we want/need ? We are, in effect, taking the right to their subjective opinion from those people who disagree with 'political correctness' ,as applied by the rest of society. All to make up for past wrongs, oppression, and coddling of people with agendas or mental issues. Incidentally, suicide in the general population is regarded as a mental issue. Yet in Trans individuals, suicide is seen as a result of ongoing oppression.

Hey, I didn't realize this discussion was going to be catered.

Do you really expect evidence for this nonsense, Beecee ?

If it wasn't for the laughing face emojis, it would ALL be unsupported garbage. How are we supposed to discuss this, by waving our hands back at you ?

Mechanical drve platters are typically made of aluminum, or glass for 2 1/2 in laptop drive. The magnetic medium used to coat the platters, and store information, used to be a Cobalt alloy. I haven't used mechanical drives in the last decade, so I don't really know what current magnetic medium is used.

Except that tectonic plate motion has been measured, and verified by experimental evidence. Planetary expansion has not been measured, or experimentally verified. And although 'pushed' by one of the best artists to draw Batman comics ( how is that for expertise ), is pure nonsense. Finding extremely large Black Holes could mean that they have always been that large, and formed by a mechanism we don't know of, yet. The expansion of the universe, since the recombination era ( before which stellar BHs could not have formed ), is estimated at 1040 times. If that were the bause of the claimed BH expansion, it would put an upper limit on how much they could have expanded. Yet there is observational evidence of many bilion solar mass BHs. This suggests there are other mechanisms for BH formation.

I appreciate the sentiment, but ... Thank you for finally focusing on the REAL problem… reminding us all to ignore the pursuit of respect and acceptance for transgender pronouns and to instead direct our energies toward the REAL victims in all of this… those poor souls who refuse that acceptance and respect of pronouns and force transgenders individuals into inaccurate binary buckets. You’re a hero sir for standing up so passionately for them. You argue as a person who never considers the possibility that his opinion might be wrong. As a result, you never feel the need to examine, and understand other opinions. You immediately feel the need to label those holding such opinions as bad people, deserving of what they get. Meanwhile, you have simply misunderstood what their opinion actually is. I am not putting anyone in buckets, nor victimizing anyone. My position is that what I think, and what I say, is up to me, and not anyone else. If that right is taken away from people, how can they voice their identity ?

Why the need for so many labels ? ( and more importantly, will anyone be offended if I don't use the proper label ? 😁 ) I am a simple scientist; until there is evidence for something, I don't have a need to 'imagine' that something is real. Some others find great confort in 'imagining' something for which there is no evidence. To each their own.

It is not just single quantum particles that, when fired one at a time, will merge all those detection dots into an interference pattern. You can have multiple single quantum particle detection experiments, all over the country, separated by hundreds of miles, and when you overlay all those single particle detection dots, you get an interference pattern. When I first learned of that, I found it amazing. Yet some people still claim quantum particles MUST be either a particle or a wave.

Thank you INow. I didn't realize you held me in such high esteem. Or should I go see a doctor to diagnose my reading comprehension problems ? 😄 😄

Is 'cancel culture' really a thing ? As Phi explained, it is basically about making a choice. The bigger problem, which transforms a simple thing like making a choice, into something dangerous is social media culture. It is social media, the biggest 'social engineering' experiment of the last 20 years that is weaponizing something we all do as a matter of fact. It eems like social media amplifies all the worst elements of a society. The more controversial your views, the more exposure those views get.

The difference is that only one side tries to shut the other side's opinions down with claims of ignorance, bigotism, shutting down lectures/talks, and getting the opposing opinion fired. So which one is extreme ???

Not at all. But you did mention that the 'adversarial system' works best, and I provided some examples where it didn't. Would you be happier with the American Civil War ?

With how many victims ? ( but we both know this is off topic. Revolutions are never a good way to solve society's problems )

You haven't been playing with a full deck for a while. Did you read Zap's post, where he made comparisons to M McConnell and Supreme Court nominations ? Or are your blinders on all the time ?

But you've already made up your mind that any I name, have lost their jobs for being ignorant bigots, not just for being labelled ignorant bigots. That is your problem; that you misinterpret a different opinion as being ignorant and bigoted. People are allowed to have their own personal opinion, not one foisted on them by someone else. IOW, you get to see reality as you observe it yourself, not what someone else wants you to see. ( for the 37th time )

OK Zap, I can make an absurd comparison too ... The French Revolution, the October ( actually November ) Revolution of the Bolsheviks and the Nazi 'night of broken glass', involved all of those things. How did the 'adversarial system' work out for those societies ?