MigL

Not to be confrontational, but I am one who thinks it is endless. We build models of reality to explain its workings and processes. The models approach, but never quite reach, reality; if they did, we would build reality itself, and be God. And I firmly believe there is no, nor can there be, God. So enjoy the journey; there is no end.

Some of the topics you choose for referendums indicate you are part of the uneducated and brainwashed problem that is Trump supporters. The abortion issue had been decided for years, and everyone was happy with it, until D Trump decided to make an issue of it again, by letting some really backward states make their own decisions. As for the rest, the average American doesn't care about 'gender diversity' or cryptocurrencies. These are non-issues that Trump uses to to stir up hatred and division for maintaining his power base, and to embezzle money out of them. Ukraine might be the only valid referendum question, but Trump wouldn't like the answer. Everybody would side with helping Ukraine against his buddy Vlad, so he'll never ask. And they would certainly have something to say about his aggression and wars against Venezuela and Iran.

Thanks.

I agree, and that's what I've been claiming. But what is 'special' about Xenon ? If the particular electron luminescence effect needs the full outer orbital of the noble gases, why not one with a lighter nucleus, which would experience a greater recoil, such as Neon, Argon, or Krypton ? ( I discounted Helium because of Quantum effects when liquified )

Either people have real short memories, and conveniently forgot 2016-20, or, they are willing to 'suffer' themselves under an incompetent authoritarian Government, just to make sure their neighbors ( and people they don't like ) suffer also.

OH-Oh! Next thing you know Germany will be signing the Molotov-Ribbentrop II Pact with Russia ...

Still ... It would be interesting to know why WIMPs are expected to recoil Xenon nucleii ( even if in extremely rare cases ). There are too many such detection experiments for it to be a WAG, and 'hope for the best'.

How would that work? I'm not at all a valid authority on the weak force, and am just making some ( educated ? ) guesses. The weak force interacts with the quarks in protons/neutrons by the exchange of W+/- and Z bosons. These are massive 90 GeV bosons, with a limited 10-24 sec lifetime ( because of HUP ) and limited range ( because of c ), so, heavier than a proton but with a range less than a proton diameter. The interaction is governed by QuantumFlavorDynamics, and exchanges the flavor of the quarks, and various types of neutrinos are always involved. The one type of momentum transfer I am aware of, occurs with neutrinos "The second type is called the "neutral-current interaction" because the weakly interacting fermions form a current with total electric charge of zero. It is responsible for the (rare) deflection of neutrinos." From Weak interaction - Wikipedia Whether this mechanism could account for the recoil of a Xenon nucleus is the question. There do seem to be results to a google search of "momentum transfer via the weak interaction" but I don't have time to slog through them.

Gibbon had an 'enlightenment' sensibility. Here is a 'modern' interpretation of the causes for the fall of the Roman Empire. All the same facts are presented with the timeline of events as most other publications, but the 'root cause' ( other than the fact complex systems require multiple failure paths ) is the modern economic sensibility of currency devaluation, inflation, and no longer being able to fund the 'system'. All in all, an interesting watch.

You mean 'jail gruel' ? Maybe he's seen how much crap and corruption D Trump can get away with, and plans to emulate him.

I wish I could still read as much as I used to. ( one 200 pg science fiction novel per night; forget the school work ) These days I need to hold the book in one hand and the magnifying glass in the other, so I prefer the computer screen. Only problem is, I read, fall asleep, drop the laptop, then have to get another.

Valid point. But I find the facts presented are essentially the same, and Gibbon does present a lot of facts. Interpretations change over time, as sensibilities go in and out of fashion, or different biases evolve. You can't go wrong if you stick to the facts. And you have to admit Gibbon is a lot more accurate, in fact and interpretation, than Gees' one hour of research on Wikipedia.

Sorry @exchemist Didn't really clue in as to what you were asking. As far as I know there is no repulsion or attraction, as with EM forces, and I would assume the interaction involved is the weak, as WIMPs must interact via the weak interaction. There is obviously an 'exchange force' because momentum is transferred ( similarly to a collision of billiard balls ). It is this momentum transfer, and resultant recoil of the nucleus, which leads to the electron effects and their electroluminescence ( which is detected )

Not as far as I know; it is more of a collision, producing a recoil of the xenon nucleus. "WIMPs would be expected to interact exclusively with the liquid xenon nuclei, resulting in nuclear recoils that would appear very similar to neutron collisions. In order to single out WIMP interactions, neutron events must be minimized, through shielding and ultra-quiet building materials." From Large Underground Xenon experiment - Wikipedia

The process of detection is based on the direct hit and recoil of a WIMP with the Xenon atomic nucleus. These events are exceedingly rare, and so, require very large amounts of pure liquified Xenon. IOW, what Swansont said.

There is some truth in that. The vacuum left by the fall of Rome was filled by 'fundamental' Christianity. But some would argue that the Roman Empire never actually fell. The Germanic tribes that invaded and sacked, took up Roman institutions, civilization and culture; essentially becoming 'Roman' themselves. For a better understanding read E Gibbon's 'The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'; it is 6 volumes, so it will take time, but it is worth the read if you're interested in that time period. Not quite. The Muslims ( and Byzantines )took great care in preserving, translating, and expanding on, Greek writing and thinking. Much more so than other peoples. See here Greek contributions to the Islamic world - Wikipedia

You post stuff you haven't seen/read 😮 .

Simple answer assuming differing inertial frames ( with no accelerated motion ). Everything he observes, in his inertial frame, would be exactly as if he were at rest. Anything he observes, outside of his frame, would be subject to Lorentz Transforms.

If you look back at my posts, you may notice that I mentioned 'dark ages' in the context of written records. Because written and read words were exclusive to the religious clergy, the general population were left in the 'dark'. "Significantly, Baronius termed the age 'dark' because of the paucity of written records. The "lack of writers" he referred to may be illustrated by comparing the number of volumes in Migne's Patrologia Latina containing the work of Latin writers from the 10th century (the heart of the age he called 'dark') with the number containing the work of writers from the preceding and succeeding centuries. A minority of these writers were historians." From Dark Ages (historiography) - Wikipedia The above link includes a graph, and chart, of the number of manuscripts per century, and the numbers start to take off during the 14th century, as I've previously mentioned. I'm not claiming a lack of culture and civilization, and calling the era the Dark Ages may be out of fashion, but it is very applicable in the context of the read and written word. Never.

Ages are 'relative'. Compared to periods that came before, and came after, they were relatively 'dark'. But I could call them the Middle Ages, If I'm hurting anyone's sensibilities. ( any 1200 year old members of this forum ? )

Congratulations to your wife.

No they were not. The classical era included ancient Greece and Rome. With the fall of Rome, a lot of know-how was lost, and led directly to the Middle, or Dark, Ages; perhaps due to the fact that only religious people read, and copied, the old manuscripts, nothing to do with the fall of Rome. Muslims, however, seem to have retained the knowledge of the ancient Greeks, and the slow re-introduction into Europe led to the re-birth ( Renaissance ) in the mid 1300s. So your typical D Trump supporter can either choose to educate himself, or believe Trump's lies. This is sometimes made difficult by the fact that despots control information ( if not TVs and internet, then newspapers and public 'stumping' ), but this happens gradually. Do people not recognize Trump's attempts to control 'news' and elections ? Did the Chinese not realize Mao Zedong's purges of academics were meant to stifle opposing thought ? Did people not recognize Hitler and Mussolini's election tactics ( black/brown shirts ), Kristallnacht, and speeches ( blaming all their woes on Jews and the Treaty of Versailles ) were attempts at control, violent persuasion and spin ? Did V Lenin's supporters believe his speeches that the Revolution was good for the Russian people, while conveniently ignoring the 10 million people who died in the Revolution and subsequent Civil War of 2022 ? When people choose to ignore the 'reality' around them, in favor of increasing their personal gain/power ( thinking bad things will only happen to others, not themselves ), that sounds like a decision to me.

An early, and very accurate, account of landed property, and resources in labor force and livestock ( a kind of 'dry' historical survey ), was the Domesday Book of 1086, completed by request of William the Conqueror. Record keeping in the British Isles goes back a long way.

Makes the case for electing politicians that cannot be bought, and/or putting strict limits on political party financing contributions/influencing.

That could come in handy. Temember the time that giant alien artifact/intelligence came calling with whale 'sounds', and we had to go back in time, to bring back a whale ( as they had become extinct ), in a large transparent aluminum tank, in a Klingon spaceship ? Oh wait ... that was 1986's Star Trek; The Voyage Home ...