Newsgroup sci.physics 204849

Directory

Subject: Re: Science cannot disprove creation -- From: "Michael D. Painter"
Subject: Re: Early 1950's SF film "The Magnetic Monster" and Thermodynamics. -- From: gfp@sarnoff.com
Subject: Re: Questions about Engeneering Physics -- From: gfp@sarnoff.com
Subject: basic functional integ. qu -- From: jnfr@visi.com (John Fisher)
Subject: Re: what Newton thought -- From: mls@panix.com (Michael L. Siemon)
Subject: Re: A photon - what is it really ? -- From: johnson@mintaka.sdsu.edu (Lloyd Johnson)
Subject: Re: A photon - what is it really ? -- From: johnson@mintaka.sdsu.edu (Lloyd Johnson)
Subject: Re: When will the U.S. finally go metric? -- From: jjohnson@astroatc.uucp (Joe Johnson)
Subject: Re: Questions about Engeneering Physics -- From: Robert Dorman
Subject: Re: Questions about Engeneering Physics -- From: Robert Dorman
Subject: Re: probability is relativistic -- From: jqb@netcom.com (Jim Balter)
Subject: Re: probability is relativistic -- From: jqb@netcom.com (Jim Balter)
Subject: Re: faster than light travel -- From: Christopher Michael Jones
Subject: Re: Need Help with Collision Problem -- From: tony richards
Subject: Re: Question? -- From: tony richards
Subject: Re: Can Science Say If God Exists? -- From: mrjones@yoss.canweb.net (Jones)
Subject: Re: Can Science Say If God Exists? -- From: mrjones@yoss.canweb.net (Jones)
Subject: Re: Can Science Say If God Exists? -- From: mrjones@yoss.canweb.net (Jones)
Subject: Re: Can Science Say If God Exists? -- From: mrjones@yoss.canweb.net (Jones)
Subject: Looking for a book on x-ray -- From: Georg Gutermuth
Subject: Re: You can tell you've been doing too much Physics when... -- From: Simon Read
Subject: Re: When will the U.S. finally go metric? -- From: baynes@ukpsshp1.serigate.philips.nl (Stephen Baynes)
Subject: Re: Vietmath War: A mathematics career is equal to the Vietnam War -- From: rakehell@cats.ucsc.edu (Jesse Matonak)
Subject: Re: Anti-Gravity Device? -- From: "S. Smith / R. Bourgeois"
Subject: Re: Vietmath War: Uncommon Valor, 1993 -- From: rakehell@cats.ucsc.edu (Jesse Matonak)
Subject: Re: When will the U.S. finally go metric? -- From: pausch@electra.saaf.se (Paul Schlyter)
Subject: Re: When will the U.S. finally go metric? -- From: pausch@electra.saaf.se (Paul Schlyter)
Subject: Re: What is the Cause of Time Dilation? -- From: savainl@pacificnet.net (Louis Savain)
Subject: Re: A photon - what is it really ? -- From: tony richards
Subject: Re: momentum times distance = ? -- From: tony richards
Subject: Re: INFINITE ATOM -- From: "David Byrden"
Subject: Re: When will the U.S. finally go metric? -- From: pausch@electra.saaf.se (Paul Schlyter)
Subject: Re: When will the U.S. finally go metric? -- From: pausch@electra.saaf.se (Paul Schlyter)
Subject: Re: Using C for number-crunching (was: Numerical solution to Schrodinger's Eq) -- From: Konrad Hinsen
Subject: Re: probability is relativistic -- From: chris@bayes.agric.za (Christopher Gordon)
Subject: Patrick Fleming; Celtic Crackpot of 1996 (wasThe Sagnac Effect) -- From: "David Byrden"
Subject: Re: Collisions -- From: checker@netcom.com (Chris Hecker)
Subject: Re: "Essential" reality (was: When did Nietzsche wimp out?) -- From: +@+.+ (G*rd*n)
Subject: Re: How Much Math? (Was: Re: How much to invest in such a writer?) -- From: patrick@gryphon.psych.ox.ac.uk (Patrick Juola)
Subject: Re: why a plane mirror reverse left to right not up to down -- From: Mike Lepore

Articles

Subject: Re: Science cannot disprove creation
From: "Michael D. Painter"
Date: 27 Oct 1996 20:06:12 GMT
Douglas Tricarico  wrote in article
<5506vu$lsn@dfw-ixnews12.ix.netcom.com>...
> In <54r55h$hcd@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU> michael@amo (Michael
> Courtney) writes: 
> >
> >One of the basic assumptions of science is that the laws of nature are
> 
> >constant.  Any miracle or supernatural event requires that these laws
> be
> >broken at some point in space and time.  Yet the beginning point of
> science
> >is that the laws are constant.  So claiming that science disproves a
> >reported miracle (such as the Biblical account of creation) is a
> circular
> >argument, because it is a mere restatement of the assumption.  You
> cannot
> >begin by assuming that miracles never happen and reach a valid
> conclucion
> >in which some reported miracle did not happen.
> >
> >--
> >Michael Courtney, Ph. D. 
> >michael@amo.mit.edu  
> 
> 
> I suppose if you reproduced the miracle in the lab you'd have to
> rewrite your theories.  Until then, why change?
That's true and Science does not go there. It may indeed have been a
miracle.
Without any proof the fact that the entire universe was created last
Thursday by Queen Maeve ( a cat) has as much validity as any other,
including the christian bible.
The truth is that my dog Cecil did it all. Only the dyslexic have seen this
so far.
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Subject: Re: Early 1950's SF film "The Magnetic Monster" and Thermodynamics.
From: gfp@sarnoff.com
Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 22:16:42 GMT
jac@ibms48.scri.fsu.edu (Jim Carr) wrote:
>gfp@sarnoff.com writes:
>>
>>This is a movie I saw on tv many times as a kid. 
> I only saw it once, on Ch. 9 out of Windsor, Ontario, in the mid-70s 
> after the second date with the young woman I married.  Do I have to 
> add that she is a trekkie?  Anyway, thanks to this article, we will 
> soon have it on videotape from Sinister Cinema.  
>>After some 30 years., it's still fun to watch (one of the principle
>>players walks around with a pipe trying to look  like Oppenheimer).
> The hero is a professor at "State University" (even though it 
> seems to be set mostly in Canada), who boldly pushes the Deltatron 
> past its limits (mucho sparking) and saves the planet.  
>>A lone (mad?) scientist, accidently creates an atom of a superheavy
>>element that is radioactive , but in reverse.......
> I am sure it is a magnetic monopole.  A very hungry monopole. 
> My recollection is that it was created in a regular old experiment 
> after something was bombarded with X MeV deuterons for N hours. 
> Pion condensates were being muttered about at the time, with a 
> local columnist wondering if the new heavy ion machine might 
> destroy the city if it made one (how he got his hands on the 
> proposal we will never know), so it was semi-plausible. 
>>It draws in electric charge (energy) constantly, converts it to mass,
>>and doubles its size every eleven hours. (I won't say what happens if
>>it doesnt get fed on time.). 
> Doesn't it want all of that energy during a short time when it 
> does its doubling thing?  Once they reach the capacity of the 
> north american grid, they *know* they are in trouble.  And how 
> do they know?  Here is the good part: theoretical calculations 
> on the MANIAC at Los Alamos!  
>>So is this absolutely impossible, or not?
> Absurdly funny, yes.  The film of the sparkler run in reverse does 
> suggest a little entropy problem, but they left enough details vague 
> that it could work out OK globally. 
Great Fun-the raw material for the experiment is "serene-ium"! The
"Maniac" is an IBM card sorter!   Look for the companion film
"GOG"-MGM/UA may be relasing them, for real, in color 'scope and 3d
soon, if people ask for them.  Lets hope!!!! jerry pulice
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Subject: Re: Questions about Engeneering Physics
From: gfp@sarnoff.com
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 00:30:37 GMT
jamcorp@world.std.com (Jonathan Priluck) wrote:
>In article <326FA834.617B@ornl.gov>, C. Wayne Parker  wrote:
>>Slither (Jack) wrote:
>>> 
>>> I am a college freshman considering a major in Engeneering Physics.  I
>>> have decided it would be a good idea to research this further:  Is
>>> anyone out there involved in this profession?  Does anyone have any
>>> advice as to whether this is a 'good move'?   How is the job 
My BS is in Engineering Science, MS in EE, and I don't regret it for
a moment. 
I was advised at an early age that to "do" pure physics as a
profession, I would have to go thru for a PHD, and would most likely
end up teaching (doctor means "teacher"). I really wanted to be a
"phyisicist", growing up during the cold war, but don't regret
becoming an EE at all. 
I only "job-shop"-a less pretentious term for "consult", and am very
pleased with the lack of politics I have to put up with. Tenure and
department politics are probably far worse than any industrial
political process, as engineering is a meritocracy. (it is also very
Darwinian). Sort of forces you to keep current.
Learning is a life long process, and what you learn does not have to
apply exactly to how you earn your living. Good Luck! jerry pulice.
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Subject: basic functional integ. qu
From: jnfr@visi.com (John Fisher)
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 06:15:53 GMT
 I've been trying to learn something about functional integrals. I ran
across this in C. Stevens "The Six Core Theories of Modern Physics"'
....The functional integral is analogous to an ordinary one: the value
of the integral is found by taking the value of the functional F[f]
for
each possible function f in a space of functions,weighting this value
by a "length" Df in function space,and adding them all up....
My question is how this length is defined. In particular,I'm thinking
of functions defined between 0 and 1 with integration of the function
between 0,1 as the functional. Any help?  Thanks ahead.
                                     jnfr@visi.com
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Subject: Re: what Newton thought
From: mls@panix.com (Michael L. Siemon)
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 02:50:03 -0400
In article <551bk4$p11@ssbunews.ih.lucent.com>, lew@ihgp167e.ih.att.com
(-Mammel,L.H.) wrote:
+I feel pretty sure that Newton's philosphy, as well as his
+physics, held sway until 1900.  Note that Einstein admitted
+to being influenced by Mach, but not Michelson-Morley.
Ummm, as I read the _scholia_ in Newton's _Principia_, there is
a hint of belief in absolute space and time, but a *practical*
admission that we cannot get there from what we have presented
to us in the data, which *only* support relative quantities.
This is quite independent of late 19th or early 20th century
reworkings of the issue.
What, exactly, Mr. Mammel, do *you* contend to be Newton's
"philosophy" on these matters -- and can you cite Newton to
exhibit your point? I suspect that I can quote _Principia_ to
undermine any very plausible absolutism you might attempt to
extract from it.
That Einstein was not (or may not have been) influenced by
Michaelson-Morely is neither here nor there.  Yes, he *was*
influenced by Mach. So? Are you claiming that Mach was not
influenced by Newton? :-)  I see a substantial philosophical
similarity of Mach's position with some of the _scholia_ on
motion in the _Principia_.  Do you disagree?  If so, why?
Michael "hypotheses non fingere" Siemon.
-- 
Michael L. Siemon                             mls@panix.com        
        "sempiternal, though sodden towards sundown."
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Subject: Re: A photon - what is it really ?
From: johnson@mintaka.sdsu.edu (Lloyd Johnson)
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 07:17:45 GMT
Keith Stein  wrote:
>        So Lloyd you really thought that 'c' applied EVERYWHERE !
No.  Maybe you should read what I said instead of what you think I
said.
http://michele.gcccd.cc.ca.us/~ljohnson/johnson.html
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Subject: Re: A photon - what is it really ?
From: johnson@mintaka.sdsu.edu (Lloyd Johnson)
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 07:27:24 GMT
>That there is a difference can more easily be shown with a Michelson
>white light interferometer. And yes, it has been done ... its an undergraduate
>optics lab experiment.
This is exactly what I was asking.  Who was the first to insert glass,
water, or whatever in the path and compare color fringes?
Does sound of different frequencies also travel at different
velocities?  Is this wave behavior unique to light?
http://michele.gcccd.cc.ca.us/~ljohnson/johnson.html
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Subject: Re: When will the U.S. finally go metric?
From: jjohnson@astroatc.uucp (Joe Johnson)
Date: Fri, 25 Oct 1996 15:01:02 GMT
In article <326E4732.5E97@dowco.com>, Jim Quail   wrote:
>There is no system better than the imperial system, inherited from
>feudal England, when it comes to measuring a flat Earth.  I assume that
>is why the US government has retained it.
But we couldn't resist "improving" the imperial system! Consider the
difference between the US and imperial gallons... :-)
joe
-- 
--------
jjohnson%astroatc.uucp@cs.wisc.edu | Weil nicht Wirklichkeit wird, was man
{...}!uwvax!astroatc!jjohnson      | nicht vorher gedacht hat. - Christa Wolf
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Subject: Re: Questions about Engeneering Physics
From: Robert Dorman
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 01:02:06 -0800
gfp@sarnoff.com wrote:
> 
> jamcorp@world.std.com (Jonathan Priluck) wrote:
> 
> >In article <326FA834.617B@ornl.gov>, C. Wayne Parker  wrote:
> >>Slither (Jack) wrote:
> >>>
> >>> I am a college freshman considering a major in Engeneering Physics.  I
> >>> have decided it would be a good idea to research this further:  Is
> >>> anyone out there involved in this profession?  Does anyone have any
> >>> advice as to whether this is a 'good move'?   How is the job
> 
> My BS is in Engineering Science, MS in EE, and I don't regret it for
> a moment.
> 
> I was advised at an early age that to "do" pure physics as a
> profession, I would have to go thru for a PHD, and would most likely
> end up teaching (doctor means "teacher"). I really wanted to be a
> "phyisicist", growing up during the cold war, but don't regret
> becoming an EE at all.
> 
> I only "job-shop"-a less pretentious term for "consult", and am very
> pleased with the lack of politics I have to put up with. Tenure and
> department politics are probably far worse than any industrial
> political process, as engineering is a meritocracy. (it is also very
> Darwinian). Sort of forces you to keep current.
> 
> Learning is a life long process, and what you learn does not have to
> apply exactly to how you earn your living. Good Luck! jerry pulice.
I have a BE in Engineering Science from SUNY at Stony Brook ('70).
I've worked an an EE both "direct" (some people call this "permanant"
employment; ain't no such thing!) and as a "shopper"
(consultant/independant contractor/job-shopper).  There's nothing wrong
with the field you've chosen. It's all up to you.  My advice would be:
	1. Be real good at it.
	2. Don't count on "job security"
	3. Personality and self esteem ave very important. You will
	   get knocked down plenty of times so if you don't already
	   feel real good about yourself, fix it.
	4. Be a team player, not a loner
	5. Don't come accross as a flake; even if you have to pretend,
	   act as mainstream and conventional as possible. There are
	   alot of "characters" in the field, but when downsizing time comes...
	6. Document everything you do, even if you're not told to.  Keep
	   copies (non-classified, of course) at home. Cover Your Ass!
	7. While you're still in school, make contacts and keep notes
	   on those people you may need help from later in your career.
	8. Start saving a portion of your salary from your first paycheck on,
as            "unemployment insurance." You will probably need it.
	9. When you interview for a job, remember, what you see is what you
get.  Don't            rely on promises of salary increases, promotions,
expanding business,            fast-track opportunities, etc.  You've
got to be able to live with the            situation just as it is when
you walk in the door, because in all 	              likelyhood, that's
the way it's going to stay (or get worse).
	10. If you are job shopping, update your resume the day you start work
and let             the shops know you'll probably be available in a few
weeks (you probably             will! although some of my assignments
lasted over a year, 3 months is             typical, but companies often
get $queezed money-wise and can their 	                shoppers to cut
costs, making the directs work overtime to pick up the            
slack.
	11. Remember, if you're a direct engineer, you probably won't get
overtime pay             (you are 'exempt') so count on working long
hours gratis.
	12. If you can, get a backup field like business or accounting.	 I'm
going after             an accounting degree now, because I havn't found
any engineering around here             and I don't want to move.  Not
every company needs an engineer, but most               need an
accountant. Plus, it helps in your engineering if you end up being
a             cont-account manager on a project.
        13. Don't badmouth anybody, no matter how much a jerk they are;
the walls have             ears and word gets around.
Sorry for the lengthly reply and ataching my reply to a reply; I didn't
have the original message.  Best wishes.
--Bob
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Subject: Re: Questions about Engeneering Physics
From: Robert Dorman
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 01:02:06 -0800
gfp@sarnoff.com wrote:
> 
> jamcorp@world.std.com (Jonathan Priluck) wrote:
> 
> >In article <326FA834.617B@ornl.gov>, C. Wayne Parker  wrote:
> >>Slither (Jack) wrote:
> >>>
> >>> I am a college freshman considering a major in Engeneering Physics.  I
> >>> have decided it would be a good idea to research this further:  Is
> >>> anyone out there involved in this profession?  Does anyone have any
> >>> advice as to whether this is a 'good move'?   How is the job
> 
> My BS is in Engineering Science, MS in EE, and I don't regret it for
> a moment.
> 
> I was advised at an early age that to "do" pure physics as a
> profession, I would have to go thru for a PHD, and would most likely
> end up teaching (doctor means "teacher"). I really wanted to be a
> "phyisicist", growing up during the cold war, but don't regret
> becoming an EE at all.
> 
> I only "job-shop"-a less pretentious term for "consult", and am very
> pleased with the lack of politics I have to put up with. Tenure and
> department politics are probably far worse than any industrial
> political process, as engineering is a meritocracy. (it is also very
> Darwinian). Sort of forces you to keep current.
> 
> Learning is a life long process, and what you learn does not have to
> apply exactly to how you earn your living. Good Luck! jerry pulice.
I have a BE in Engineering Science from SUNY at Stony Brook ('70).
I've worked an an EE both "direct" (some people call this "permanant"
employment; ain't no such thing!) and as a "shopper"
(consultant/independant contractor/job-shopper).  There's nothing wrong
with the field you've chosen. It's all up to you.  My advice would be:
	1. Be real good at it.
	2. Don't count on "job security"
	3. Personality and self esteem ave very important. You will
	   get knocked down plenty of times so if you don't already
	   feel real good about yourself, fix it.
	4. Be a team player, not a loner
	5. Don't come accross as a flake; even if you have to pretend,
	   act as mainstream and conventional as possible. There are
	   alot of "characters" in the field, but when downsizing time comes...
	6. Document everything you do, even if you're not told to.  Keep
	   copies (non-classified, of course) at home. Cover Your Ass!
	7. While you're still in school, make contacts and keep notes
	   on those people you may need help from later in your career.
	8. Start saving a portion of your salary from your first paycheck on,
as            "unemployment insurance." You will probably need it.
	9. When you interview for a job, remember, what you see is what you
get.  Don't            rely on promises of salary increases, promotions,
expanding business,            fast-track opportunities, etc.  You've
got to be able to live with the            situation just as it is when
you walk in the door, because in all 	              likelyhood, that's
the way it's going to stay (or get worse).
	10. If you are job shopping, update your resume the day you start work
and let             the shops know you'll probably be available in a few
weeks (you probably             will! although some of my assignments
lasted over a year, 3 months is             typical, but companies often
get $queezed money-wise and can their 	                shoppers to cut
costs, making the directs work overtime to pick up the            
slack.
	11. Remember, if you're a direct engineer, you probably won't get
overtime pay             (you are 'exempt') so count on working long
hours gratis.
	12. If you can, get a backup field like business or accounting.	 I'm
going after             an accounting degree now, because I havn't found
any engineering around here             and I don't want to move.  Not
every company needs an engineer, but most               need an
accountant. Plus, it helps in your engineering if you end up being
a             cont-account manager on a project.
        13. Don't badmouth anybody, no matter how much a jerk they are;
the walls have             ears and word gets around.
Sorry for the lengthly reply and ataching my reply to a reply; I didn't
have the original message.  Best wishes.
--Bob
Return to Top
Subject: Re: probability is relativistic
From: jqb@netcom.com (Jim Balter)
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 08:44:08 GMT
In article <3273E65A.7C45@clickable.com>,
Christopher McKinstry   wrote:
>Klaus Kassner wrote:
>
>> Why do you think it takes more time to write "9" than "1"? Also it does
>> not take more time to write "pi", i.e. to indicate a number with infinitely many
>> digits than 1. So your idea is not very well-founded.
>
>write 100 1s then write 100 9's... time yourself on each and divide by
>100... you will see writing a 1 is much faster than writing a 9...
>
>pi is not a random number.
So give us a random number, oh wise one.
-- 

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Subject: Re: probability is relativistic
From: jqb@netcom.com (Jim Balter)
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 08:47:44 GMT
In article <3273EAF5.232D@clickable.com>,
Christopher McKinstry   wrote:
>Klaus Kassner suggested that picking pi as your random number would
>violate my assertion that probability is relative...
>
>pi is a symbol... not a number...
Ah, so a number is a numeral, which isn't a symbol; digits aren't symbols.
How interesting.
>however when you write it out, you
When you write it out in base pi, say ....
>again see the relativistic effect... faster people write out more,
>slower people write out less... i would have a better chance of guessing
>what a slow person wrote than i would a fast person. RR is just confined
>to the linear srting that is pi... the effect is the same.
I feel so enlightened.
-- 

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Subject: Re: faster than light travel
From: Christopher Michael Jones
Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 22:34:36 -0800
On Sun, 27 Oct 1996, jsnodgrass wrote:
> Faster than light travel is not possible in a closed system. If you
> consider looking at a particle from 1000000000 miles away, it is
> conceivable to go faster than light, but if you look at it from 50ft
> away at all times, it is not possible. Look, this rule of light isn't
> only a rule for light, it is a property of space. If we want to
> understand this universe, we need to look at space with relativity in
> mind.
> 
Oh, so I suppose you understand the way the universe works better
than all those scientists that write papers for peer reviewed 
journals.  I suppose it gives you a warm cuddly feeling in your 
belly to know how smart you are doesn't it :-)
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Subject: Re: Need Help with Collision Problem
From: tony richards
Date: 28 Oct 1996 08:59:12 GMT
use conservation of energy before and after the collision
use conservtion  of momentum before and after the collision.
Show us that you have tried SOMETHING before asking blanket questions.
Why do you want to know the general solution?
-- 
Tony Richards            'I think, therefore I am confused'
Rutherford Appleton Lab  '
UK                       '
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Subject: Re: Question?
From: tony richards
Date: 28 Oct 1996 09:13:12 GMT
>Murrian Family wrote:
>> 
>> If you are on a train going the speed of light and you are in the back of
>> one of the cars. While the train is going the speed of light you walk to
>> the front of the car. Are you moving faster than the speed of light? Is it
>> possible to walk from the back to the front of a train car going the speed
>> of light? I think no for the second. Quite a bit of G-Force.
>
You are moving at some speed Vrel relative to the train.
The train is moving at Vtrain=C.
An inertial observer observes you moving at speed V where
V=(Vrel+Vtrain)/(1+Vrel*Vtrain/(C*C))
This is the Special Relativity theory of velocity addition observation.
You can make Vrel=C as well as making Vtrain=C and still come up with V=C
If Vrel is less than C, you still get V less than C.
No problems there.
-- 
Tony Richards            'I think, therefore I am confused'
Rutherford Appleton Lab  '
UK                       '
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Subject: Re: Can Science Say If God Exists?
From: mrjones@yoss.canweb.net (Jones)
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 07:10:40 GMT
On Sun, 27 Oct 1996 11:54:01 GMT, soliver@capecod.net (Suzane Oliver)
typed something like:
>On Sun, 27 Oct 1996 02:09:15 -0700, jsnodgrass  wrote:
>
>>-Einstein said GOD exists...
>
>1)  Exact quotes and refrences please.
>
>2) What did Einstein mean by 'god'
>
>3) So what? Why do you believe what Einstein said anyway??
Lets not get anal here, Einstein was a jew and it was because of his
belief in god that he could not reconcile things like quantum theory.
This should not be news to anyone who knows anything about the man.
As to what he meant, probably not what you would like and...
so what? Well I think the original poster was relying on his rep as
the greatest thinker of our time as support for belief in god. 
I thought it was rather clear, if not convinicing, so I hope you were
being sarcastic.
Can anyone say: Duh?
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Subject: Re: Can Science Say If God Exists?
From: mrjones@yoss.canweb.net (Jones)
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 07:12:35 GMT
On 27 Oct 1996 17:17:02 GMT, attila1@ix.netcom.com(Libertarius) typed
something like:
>In <327326BB.EFE@mho.net> jsnodgrass  writes: 
>>
>>Einstein said GOD exists...
>
>    The young Einstein said Santa Claus exists.
references?
I hope you can support this, being he was a jew.
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Subject: Re: Can Science Say If God Exists?
From: mrjones@yoss.canweb.net (Jones)
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 07:14:32 GMT
On 27 Oct 1996 21:08:29 GMT, rpjday@mercury.interpath.com (Robert Day
- Security Info Group) typed something like:
>jsnodgrass (jsnodgrass@mho.net) wrote:
>: Einstein said GOD exists...
>
>I will personally send you a certified cheque for $100 if you can give
>me a legitimate reference where Einstein expresses unconditional belief
>in the Christian God.
>
Since he wasnt a christian, that would seem a frivolous offer.
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Subject: Re: Can Science Say If God Exists?
From: mrjones@yoss.canweb.net (Jones)
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 07:16:46 GMT
On 27 Oct 1996 22:42:02 GMT, redsox3@ibm.net   (Wayne Delia) typed
something like:
>In <327326BB.EFE@mho.net>, jsnodgrass  writes:
>>Einstein said GOD exists...
>
>Maybe so, but Pope John Paul II said that GOD doesn't exist.
>
>Debating an issue with "made up quotes" is fun, but it doesn't lead to
>any meaningful conclusions.
>
Made up quotes?...
Didnt see any quotes in that post,
 You know he was a jew, right?.
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Subject: Looking for a book on x-ray
From: Georg Gutermuth
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 10:17:48 +0100
Hello out there!
Perhaps someone can help me with my problem.
I am looking for literature on x-ray. To be more precise, a formular
describing the form of an artificially produced x-ray spectrum as well
as a formular for the interaction cross section of x-ray with matter
(photo-effect, compton-effect and e+/e- production)
Thank you very much in advance
C.U. on the net
Georg Gutermuth
---------------------------------------------------------------
                       Georg Gutermuth
Mail: ggutermu@mp-sun1.informatik.uni-mannheim.de
---------------------------------------------------------------
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Subject: Re: You can tell you've been doing too much Physics when...
From: Simon Read
Date: 28 Oct 96 09:32:27 GMT
A D Stribblehill  wrote:
>Well, I then said that it was surprising that the timings were the same
>condidering that they were both at different potentials...
Surely only one of them is different... the other one is the same.
Simon
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Subject: Re: When will the U.S. finally go metric?
From: baynes@ukpsshp1.serigate.philips.nl (Stephen Baynes)
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 09:55:56 GMT
Stan Bischof (stanb@sr.hp.com) wrote:
: Chris Mills (Gel6036@port.ac.uk) wrote:
: :  
: : You Yanks don't speakor write proper English (eg you spell metre 
: : as meter and litre as liter) so stop preaching to the world when YOU 
: : can't get things right.  (This is not a flame it is just something I feel
: : VERY strongly about)
: No flame intended either, but the "re" spellings are _French_ not English.
: Check the etymology.
The Oxford Paperback Dictionary gives Metre as the correct (British) English
spelling. It does list "Meter" as the American English usage.
The -re spellings are, as you say, derived from the French spelling but have 
been accepted as the correct British English so they are also English.
But then English is full of varient spellings including 'Britishisms' such
as -ise so I don't think one more makes much difference.
--
Stephen Baynes                              Stephen.Baynes@soton.sc.philips.com
Philips Semiconductors Ltd                  [SERI baynes@ukpsshp1]
Southampton                                 +44 (01703) 316431
United Kingdom                              My views are my own.
 Are you using ISO8859-1? Do you see © as copyright, ÷ as division and ½ as 1/2?
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Subject: Re: Vietmath War: A mathematics career is equal to the Vietnam War
From: rakehell@cats.ucsc.edu (Jesse Matonak)
Date: 28 Oct 1996 10:30:36 GMT
In article <53p0pa$d8n@dartvax.dartmouth.edu>,
Archimedes Plutonium  wrote:
>we all know that math can be very difficult. But what they do not know,
>"mathematics community". It consists of many specialized experts in
>some minutae of mathematics and it is these fat-cats who control the
>math journals. If you brown nose them they may publish your work.
>
>  But if your work involves any changes to the status quo, you are in
>for frustration. Like the character in PLATOON said " Hell is the
>impossibility of reason."
>
See "grapes, sour."  
>people. Math is as close to being religion as any subject can be. And
>
Nope, religion is as close to being religion as any subject cam be.
Think, if you can, before you post these things.  
> A Cantor diagonal proof of uncountable Reals would have never made it
>in physics, it would have been laughed out of town.
As opposed to the intellectual rigor and diamond clarity of say, 
renormalization?  If you want to assume the reals are countable, go ahead.
For me, the assumption that R is non-denumerable is better art.  
>
>  Why anyone would make math a career when physics or biology or
>chemistry or engineering offer less pain and exponentially more reward.
"Imaginary universes are so much more beautiful than this stupidly-
constructed 'real' one..."  -- G. H. Hardy
-- Jesse Matonak
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Subject: Re: Anti-Gravity Device?
From: "S. Smith / R. Bourgeois"
Date: Sun, 27 Oct 1996 09:13:03 -0800
Sorry for budding in like this in the middle of a thread...with a naive
question on top of that!
On the comment that we can't cancel gravity because it is always an
attractive force....   If gravity is a wave, then by definition, can't
you cancel any wave's effect by synchronizing it with a 180deg out of
phase parallel wave?  They do it with sound!  Theoretically then, isn't
it possible with gravity?  An "Anti-gravity" beam like in the Jetsons!!!
:)
Thanks,
Ray
-------
Peter Diehr wrote:
> 
> nervous wrote:
> >
> > So, anti-gravity...is it good or is it bad?
> >
> 
> In the ordinary sense, it just isn't possible ... that's because
> gravity always attracts.
> 
> > Remember that Ytrium-Barium stuff that dreams were made of?  You
> > know...cold fusion?
> 
> You're thinking of high-temperature superconductors.
> 
> > Well, the first time I ever laid me eyes on it, it was
> > being demonstrated in my 1st year physics class (quite a while ago....).
> > Anywho, I noticed that the little piece of whatever that was used to
> > 'float' above the Ytrium-Barium cake, once started spinning (with the aid
> > of the professors pencil), it only spun.....
> >
> 
> The floating was due to magnetic repulsion. It's called the Meisner effect.
> 
> > Ahhhhh, never mind....
> >
> 
> OK.
> 
> > I don't think that anti-gravity is the key for any kind of intergalactic
> > propulsion system....
> >
> 
> OK.
> 
> > Let's talk about why witnesses report that UFOs have a wobbly trajectory
> > and how a friend of mine (while in Nepal) witnessed a Vedas meditate then
> > rise above the ground and have this same 'wobbly' look to him.  Could it be
> > that UFOs and my friends swami-dude were utilizing the same quantum
> > consciousness?  Sorta like UFOs and the Ghadi-guy were in our Universe and
> > another one (a higher one) at the same time?
> >
> 
> Seems very unlikely to me. Of course, if they were both inhaling, who knows?
> 
> Best Regards, Peter
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Subject: Re: Vietmath War: Uncommon Valor, 1993
From: rakehell@cats.ucsc.edu (Jesse Matonak)
Date: 28 Oct 1996 11:00:09 GMT
Mathematics is _not_ about precision.
Math can be used precisely, but if it "about" anything it is about art.
(That is to say, it _is_ an art.)
You, Archimedes Plutonium, are a pseudo-intellectual crank.  Instead of 
answering reasonable questions about your supposedly beautiful theories, 
you reesort to asking irrelevant questions, clouding the issue with 
*inane and incorrect* physical arguments, and pissing and moaning about 
how persecuted you are.
Here are some more questions to duck:
- if mathematics is a subset of physics, must every object in math 
have physical properties?   If not, why not?
- What makes you assume that physics is free of intellectual controversy?
(Have you ever _seen_ a proton?)
- Why is it that I cannot find in print anywhere, including on USENET or 
the web, your "proofs?"
- Jesse Matonak
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   _not_ a pseudonym, poltroon
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Subject: Re: When will the U.S. finally go metric?
From: pausch@electra.saaf.se (Paul Schlyter)
Date: 28 Oct 1996 10:58:03 +0100
In article ,
Anthony Potts   wrote:
> You may thyink that the British and US citizens sometimes feel slightly
> antagonistic towards each other, but this is as nothing compared to the
> British national sport of French baiting.
And this is perhaps the real reason why the public in England and the
U.S. has refused to go metric: the metric system originated in France....
C'mon guys, you can't have everything!  You already won the battle of
the Prime Meridian - why not let the French win the battle of the
system of units?  Fair is fair, isn't it?
-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Schlyter,  Swedish Amateur Astronomer's Society (SAAF)
Grev Turegatan 40,  S-114 38 Stockholm,  SWEDEN
e-mail:  pausch@saaf.se        psr@home.ausys.se
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Subject: Re: When will the U.S. finally go metric?
From: pausch@electra.saaf.se (Paul Schlyter)
Date: 28 Oct 1996 10:58:42 +0100
In article <326FD940.2497@elec.canterbury.ac.nz>,
Cosmik Debris   wrote:
> Bill Arnett wrote:
> 
>> Maybe the USA should make a deal with the rest of the world:  we'll go
>> metric if you'll learn to speak English.  (This is only half joking; I
>> think both would be big wins for the world as a whole.)
> 
> The US went metric in 1974 remember?
...but you'd never believe that when you speak to e.g. aviators or
carpenters...
> And Americans certainly don't speak English.
If you're going to be THAT picky, then WHO are speaking English?  Good
proper English - who?  Ok, you'll of course find some conservative
minority in England who does it, but apart from them?
-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Schlyter,  Swedish Amateur Astronomer's Society (SAAF)
Grev Turegatan 40,  S-114 38 Stockholm,  SWEDEN
e-mail:  pausch@saaf.se        psr@home.ausys.se
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Subject: Re: What is the Cause of Time Dilation?
From: savainl@pacificnet.net (Louis Savain)
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 04:50:50 GMT
In article <5505ut$c9j@eri.erinet.com>, kenseto@erinet.com (Ken Seto)
wrote:
[I just have to respond to Ken Seto's post before my temporary absence
from usenet.  If I can squeeze in the time I may be able to contribute
sporadically in the next few weeks.]
>savainl@pacificnet.net (Louis Savain) wrote:
>
>>In article <54tfsp$4qa@eri.erinet.com>, kenseto@erinet.com (Ken Seto)
>>wrote:
>
>>>savainl@pacificnet.net (Louis Savain) wrote:
>>>
>>>>In article <54ooj3$7fk_005@pm0-61.hal-pc.org>, charliew@hal-pc.org
>>>>(charliew) wrote:
>>>
>>>>>In article <326f17a7.261166@news.pacificnet.net>,
>>>>>   savainl@pacificnet.net (Louis Savain) wrote:
>[...]
>>>
>>>Time dilation is the result of a different definition for a second  in
>>>different inertial frames. In other words, the duration of a second is
>>>different in different frames by definition. Einstein did that to
>>>maintain the constancy of the speed of light in all frames. What about
>>>the slowed clocks? Why are they seem to tick slower? The answer to
>>>these questions are as follows:
>
>>  Ken even though I agree with you that time dilation is a direct
>>consequence of making the speed of light constant mathematically, I
>>don't think that Einstein just decided to do that our of the blue.  I
>>would bet money that somehow Einstein got wind of the MM null result
>>before submitting his paper for review.  Does anyone here know whether
>>or not the SRT paper was submitted before of after the MM experiment?
>
>It was based on Maxwell's physics and the null result of the  MMX.
>Maxwell's physics implies that the measured speed of light (E-M waves)
>is a constant c in all the directions as measured (Mu and epsilon are
>measured quantities) in the various Labs on earth. This does not mean
>that the measured light-speed has the same constant value in different
>inertial frames. However, that was  Einstein's interpretation of
>Maxwell's physics.
  Not a bad interpretation on the part of Einstein, I would say,
considering that there is really no such thing as an "earth frame".
The earth is constantly moving from one frame to another and MMX gives
the same result regardless of the time of year.  Are you saying that
this is negligible?  I don't think it is.
>As to the null result of the MMX, I had a long discussion on this with
>Brian Jones under the thread "Constancy of the Speed of Light--Purely
>Mathematical?" In so far as I know he finally agreed with my
>explanation. The explanation for the MMX null result is as follows:
>
>The underlying processes of the MMX:
>The MMX  was performed in an enclosed Lab and therefore all the
>apparatuses in the Lab can be considered to be in the same inertial
>frame. This means that all the apparatuses in the MMX  Lab had the
>same absolute motion. Now consider a light pulse that was generated
>from a source within the Lab, it was speed toward the target at an
>absolute speed of Ca. By the time it reached the old location of the
>target, the target had already moved to a new location. Therefore, it
>took the light pulse a little longer to reach the target and thus the
>speed of light as measured by the target was c  which had a smaller
>value than Ca and c was the measured light-speed of the Lab frame. 
  Ken this makes no sense, IMO.  Sorry.  How do you know the target is
not moving toward the light beam?
>The above underlying processes imply that all the material systems
>within an inertial frame are in a state of receding motion from all
>the light pulses that are generated within the same frame.  In other
>words, there is no c+v situations within the MMX apparatus. This
>description is true in all the directions. 
  In all directions?  You're kidding me?  I can't see how Brian Jones
could agree with this.  I know I don't.  What you are doing is making
an absolutely untestable assumption that, regardless of the absolute
velocity of the measuring equipment and the lab, the target is always
receding from the light beam.
>Now consider the MMX
>apparatus: The two mirrors at the end of each arm act as light
>sources. The light rays that are reflected from the two mirrors will
>travel an equal distance toward the silvered mirror that will
>recombine them. The silvered mirror is in a state of receding motion
>from both the light rays at the same rate and therefore, both light
>rays will arrive at the silvered mirror in phase and thus there is no
>phase shift showed up in the interferometer. Thus we have the null
>result of the MMX.
  I'm sorry.  I can't buy this explanation at all.  According to your
logic, regardless of the absolute direction of the laboratory, the
target is always moving away from the source.  You actually believe
this is logical?  This is total hogwash, Ken.  I apologize for being
so blunt but I can't side with this.  No sir!  Otherwise my
credibility and my continued progressive participation in this
discussion would be in jeopardy.  Maybe you have something else in
mind that did not properly translate into words.
>[...]
>
>>>2.  If you want to compare the passage of time using  clocks  you must
>>>use one frame as standard and reset all clocks in the other frames
>>>according to this standard.
>
>>  How do you know that this standard time is not slow compared to your
>>absolute time?
>Standard time is set. Once it is set it becomes the standard for
>background time. So it is meaningless to say that it is slowed
>compared to absolute time (background time).
  Ahuh?  If the standard clock is moving absolutely (we have no idea
whether it is or not), it certainly cannot be the same time as
"absolute time".  The absolute motion of the clock used for standard
time will certainly affect the ticking rate of the clock and the
result should be a discrepancy between it and "absolute time".  Should
not absolute time be the time of non-moving frame?
>[...]
>See the explanation for the MMX.
>[...]
>See the explanation for the MMX.
  Sorry Ken.  Your explanation is seriously lacking, IMO.
Best regards,
Louis Savain
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Subject: Re: A photon - what is it really ?
From: tony richards
Date: 28 Oct 1996 10:48:48 GMT
laradex3@sj.znet.com (Larry Adams) wrote:
>
>A photon is the combination of two spin
>waves of opposite helicity within matter
>undergoing magnetic resonance.
>
>L.A.
>
BS
-- 
Tony Richards            'I think, therefore I am confused'
Rutherford Appleton Lab  '
UK                       '
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Subject: Re: momentum times distance = ?
From: tony richards
Date: 28 Oct 1996 11:01:04 GMT
checker@netcom.com (Chris Hecker) wrote:
snip
work, so I can say F * delta-r and get virtual work.  In an impulsive
>equation, what's p * delta-r, or put another way, what has dimensions of
>momentum times distance?
>
Action has dimensions momentum * distance
It also has dimensions energy * time, the same units as planck's constant h, the quantum of 
action,since energy has same dimensions as mass * velocity * velocity (kinetic energy?)
and so energy * time has dimensions mass * velocity * velocity * time
but mass*velocity is momentum and velocity * time = distance,
so energy*time=momentum*distance (dimensionally speaking)
-- 
Tony Richards            'I think, therefore I am confused'
Rutherford Appleton Lab  '
UK                       '
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Subject: Re: INFINITE ATOM
From: "David Byrden"
Date: 28 Oct 1996 11:43:14 GMT
jsnodgrass  wrote in article <32732B95.1827@mho.net>...
> Conclusion: As we explore at the atomic level, at some point the atom
> repeats itself. 
 
> Any comments/questions?
>
	How about; you're just making this up as you go along!
						David
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Subject: Re: When will the U.S. finally go metric?
From: pausch@electra.saaf.se (Paul Schlyter)
Date: 28 Oct 1996 12:20:53 +0100
In article ,
Bill Arnett  wrote:
> English, despite its multitudinous faults, is probably the most
> widely spoken language at the present time
Depends on how you define "most widely spoken".  The language spoken
by the largest number of people is Chinese.  On the other hand
Chinese contains many spoken dialects, some so widely different (more
different than e.g. English and Russian) that people speaking them
cannot communicate through the spoken word -- however they all share
the same written language so at least they can write to each other...
If you know Chinese, English, Spanish, and Russian, then I believe
you can communcate with more than 90% of the world's population (this
assumes that e.g. by speaking Spanish you can communicate with
someone speaking French or Italian).
-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Schlyter,  Swedish Amateur Astronomer's Society (SAAF)
Grev Turegatan 40,  S-114 38 Stockholm,  SWEDEN
e-mail:  pausch@saaf.se        psr@home.ausys.se
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Subject: Re: When will the U.S. finally go metric?
From: pausch@electra.saaf.se (Paul Schlyter)
Date: 28 Oct 1996 12:22:11 +0100
In article <326E72E5.918@flory.mit.edu>,
Peter Mott   wrote:
> My opposition to the adaptation of the metric system in the US stems
> from cultural and language-based concerns.  Take the unit "mile"
> for example.  I can think of a tremendous number of English stories, 
> poems, songs, etc. that use this unit, while can think of none that
> use the unit "kilometer."  To change to the metric system is to turn
> our backs on this literary history.  If need be, I can convert
> one unit to another, but I favor the word "mile" (an elegant word
> that has been in English use for at least 1000 years) over "kilometer" 
> (a cumbersome word that has been around only about 100 years).
You can keep your mile, but make it somewhat different in length,
for instance 1.6000 km, or even 1.5000 km, instead of 1.609344 km.
Here in Sweden we also have a "mile" (called "mil" in our language).
Originally it was 36000 (Swedish) feet = 10.689 km, but after Sweden
went metric 100+ years ago, it was changed to 10.000 km.  Yes, we
too still use the "mile", both in poetry and literature as well as in
everyday language, although nowadays we do use this "metric mile".
The difference in length between our "metric mile" and our
"traditional mile" is insignificant for these uses.  You too can do
the same, with a "mile" adapted to the metric system.
There have been several different miles. In ancient Rome one mile was
1000 "doublesteps" = 1.480 km (the very word "mile" originated from
the Latin "mille", which means "thousand").  The English mile is, as
we know, 1760 years = 1.609344 km.  The Swedish mile was 10.689 km but
is now 10.000 km.  Then we have the nautical mile = 1.852 km, and the
"geographical mile" = 1/15 degree at the equator = 7.420 km.  And
there's even a different English mile: the "London mile" = 1.524 km.
So you can keep your mile, with a somewhat modified length, to be used
in poetry and literature, even though you go metric.
> Secondly, the money required to change everything is astounding.
> Every milling machine, every wrench and drill bit set in every tool 
> kit, every calibrated machine tool will need to be changed.
Granted, and one should obviously not throw away all machines at
once. Instead one should, during a transition period, replace them
with new machines having metric capabilities. After some 50 or so
years nobody will be missing this old system of units and the old
machines anymore. Yes, this will have a cost, but different countries
insisting on using different units of measure also costs a lot of
money. In the long run, this cost will be greater.
> Along with these, there are the mental changes that need to be made:
> how many auto mechanics can look at a nut and estimate 9/16", and how 
> many can estimate 13 mm?  How many Americans know how to dress when 
> the guy on the radio says 45 F, and how many know how to dress when
> the radio announcer says 32 C?  These mental barriers need to be
> figured into the investment necessary to change to metric.
This is a matter of habit and education. If these mental barriers are
so profound, how do you guys manage to go abroad to metric countries?
Again a transition period is of course needed: young people should be
educated with the new system, and after about one generation very few
will be missing the old system.
Remember that you're not alone with these difficulties. All metric
countries once went through a similar conversion period, requiring
exchange of equipment as well as mental re-training.
> I enjoy seeing Europeans first come to the US, and hear their worries
> about dealing with this backward unit system we have here--gallons,
> miles, pounds.  Then after about three weeks, they generally say
> "well, it all fits together a lot better than I expected."
And you will say the same after having lived in a metric country for
a few weeks.  It's not THAT hard to re-learn...
-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Schlyter,  Swedish Amateur Astronomer's Society (SAAF)
Grev Turegatan 40,  S-114 38 Stockholm,  SWEDEN
e-mail:  pausch@saaf.se        psr@home.ausys.se
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Subject: Re: Using C for number-crunching (was: Numerical solution to Schrodinger's Eq)
From: Konrad Hinsen
Date: 28 Oct 1996 12:55:51 +0000
wayne@cs.toronto.edu (Wayne Hayes) writes:
> Hmmm, as long as I stick to arrays (not pointers, but arrays), and
> scalars, I can't think of a case where aliasing would be more of a
> problem in C than FORTRAN.  Can you give an example?
Arrays are just pointer constants in C, so you can't avoid them when
e.g. calling subroutines. A trivial aliasing example in C is
void copy(double *a, double *b, int n)
{
   int i;
   for (i = 0; i < n; i++)
       *a++ = *b++;
}
A C compiler must assume that a and b might point to partly overlapping
memory spaces. A Fortran compiler may assume that they don't (and I am
sure many Fortran programmers are not aware of the consequences of this
fact).
-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Konrad Hinsen                          | E-Mail: hinsen@ibs.ibs.fr
Laboratoire de Dynamique Moleculaire   | Tel.: +33-76.88.99.28
Institut de Biologie Structurale       | Fax:  +33-76.88.54.94
41, av. des Martyrs                    | Deutsch/Esperanto/English/
38027 Grenoble Cedex 1, France         | Nederlands/Francais
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Subject: Re: probability is relativistic
From: chris@bayes.agric.za (Christopher Gordon)
Date: 28 Oct 1996 11:34:09 GMT
>> Christopher McKinstry (chris@clickable.com) wrote:
>> > I believe probability is relativistic.
>> 
>> >  Here’s a simple experiment you can try at home to demonstrate
>> > probability changing with speed:
>> 
>> > 1)  Let "V" the maximum number of digits you can write per second.
>> > 2)  In "T" seconds, write down a random number in decimal form.
>> 
>> > Now, the maximum number you could have written is "9" repeated VT times.
>> > This is your Reality Radius "RR". The fact you even have one proves
>> > probability behaves relativistically.
>> 
>> > Consider, as V decreases, there comes a point at which the only number
>> > you have time to write is "1".
>
If you consider probability to depend on prior information, as many do,
then the situations are not directly comparable as you have different
prior information in each case. ie. Different V. Ofcourse if you dont know how 
fast the person is traveling the the best thing you can do is treat speed as a 
nuisance parameter and integrate it out, but then you need  a 
reasonable prior pdf for speed.
-- 
Christopher Gordon                                      
Remote Sensing, Institute for Soil, Climate and Water,
Private Bag X79, Pretoria 0001, South Africa.            
Tel. 27-12 326 4205, Fax 27-12 323 1157,                
Email: c_gordon@igkw2.agric.za 
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Subject: Patrick Fleming; Celtic Crackpot of 1996 (wasThe Sagnac Effect)
From: "David Byrden"
Date: 28 Oct 1996 12:14:24 GMT
Patrick Fleming  wrote in article
<54r71f$3l7@nuacht.iol.ie>...
> An explanation of the Sagnac effect based on the Coriolis acceleration
> and the de Broglie/Bohm interpretation of quantum mechanics
	Ahh, an Irishman stands up with an "explanation" of the Sagnac effect! 
An effect which is perfectly unremarkable, and easily explained through
standard 
relativity. An effect that does not NEED to be explained.
	This is fascinating, becase only a year ago we had ANOTHER Irishman, 
Dr. A. Kelly, telling us "how the Sagnac effect worked" and claiming that
Einstein was 
wrong. As I pointed out to him privately, and later to everyone on this
forum, Dr. Kelly 
had first misunderstood Relativity, and then he had failed to correctly
analyse the 
geometry of the Sagnac experiment itself. 
	So is this another Celtic Crackpot? What's going on in Ireland that makes 
people so desperate to put their names in the physics books? Here goes...

> I wish to put forward an explanation based on the Coriolis effect and
> the de Broglie/Bohm interpretation of quantum mechanics. The Coriolis
> acceleration acts on a body (mass) rotating  on a disc, in a
> tangential direction. The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum
> mechanics describes particles as either a particle or a wave depending
> on the mode of observation. The de Broglie/Bohm model states that all
> particles are accompanied by a wave.
	I repeat, Sagnac's effect is perfectly well explained by standard 
Relativity. Let's see where Mr. Fleming is taking us...
> As points on the circumference of the spinning disc are accelerating
> it is not appropriate to analyse the system in the context of special
> relativity. 
	Not true! Special relativity does describe acceleration in the
absence of gravity. Don't you know this?

 > A particle on the rotating disc is therefore subjected to two
> accelerations, centrifugal (rw^2) and Coriolis (2vw) where:
> 
> r = the radius of the disc;
> w = the angular velocity of the frame relative to an inertial
> (constant velocity) frame;
> v = the velocity of the particle relative to the rotating frame.
	Stop me if I'm wrong, but don't Coriolis accelerations appear only 
if you pretend that the rotating frame is a fixed frame?
> If the tangential velocity of the disc is v1 and the velocity of the
> particle is v then, when the particle and the disc are moving in the
> same direction, the velocity of the particle is v1+v relative to an
> observer on the disc. When the particle and disc are moving in
> opposite directions the velocity of the particle is v1-v. Therefore
> the magnitudes of the Coriolis accelerations acting on the particles
> are different.
	YOU GOT YOUR SUBTRACTION AND ADDITION THE WRONG 
WAY AROUND!
>  In General Relativity clocks tick more slowly the stronger the
> gravitational field. The effect is known as gravitational time
> dilation, as distinct from special relativity time dilation.
> Therefore, the two different accelerations will result in two
> different time dilations, and produce an interference pattern.
	JESUS! Even Dr Kelly didn't make THIS stupid mistake! 
	Dr. Kelly CORRECTLY showed that the relativistic effects
in the Sagnac effect would be extremely small when compared to the 
interference effect. You're merely stating WITHOUT ANY FIGURES 
that the relativistic effects are the explanation!
> As the effect is produced on all particles, photons, neutrons,
> electrons etc, and since it is mass that acceleration operates on, one
> questions the alleged zero rest mass of the photon. Bass et al (1955)
> and Goldhaber et al (1971) suggested a rest mass for the photon. This
> has been endorsed by Vigier (1996). 
	This is a digression from what you're supposed to be talking about.
> Chiao et al (1995), in two photon interference experiments, clearly
> brought out the non-local character of the quantum world. A
> consequence of this non-locality (instantaneous influence between
> particles) is an absolute space and time frame. 
	Oh no it's not.
> It seems therefore
> that the rotating disc and the laboratory are in the same space-time
> frame. Similar effects are seen aboard the disc and in the laboratory.
> It is of interest to note that when the experiment is carried out on
> the surface of the earth (which, of course, can be considered as
> rotating disc at a particular latitude) the same effect is noted.
> Michelson et al (1925) carried out an experiment on the effect of the
> earth’s rotation on the velocity of light. They recorded the
> difference in time taken for the light signals to travel clockwise and
> anti-clockwise. They got a fringe effect on an interferometer,
> indicating a time difference.  Saburi et al (1976) sent
> electromagnetic signals around the Earth between standard clock
> stations. The results showed that the signals travelled slower
> eastwards than westwards. One predicts that if the tests were done in
> a north-south direction, with the particles not being affected by the
> Coriolis acceleration, one would not see a time difference or fringe
> effect.
	Hmmm. I get a strange sense of deja vu...
> The above analysis, if correct, indicates the non-zero mass of the
> photon and the validity of the de Broglie/Bohm interpretation of
> quantum mechanics.
	Analysis??? You wrote only two extremely trivial equations,
 and they were BOTH WRONG! The only "analysis" around here is the 
one you're overdue for....
> References
> 
> Anandan, J. 1981. Sagnac effect in relativistic and non relativistic
> physics. Physical Review D, Vol. 24, No. 2, 338-346
> 
> Chiao, R.Y., Kwiat, P.G., Steinberg, A.M., 1995. Quantum non-locality
> in two-photon experiments at Berkeley. Quantum Semiclass.Opt. 7
> 259-278.
> 
> Bass, L., Schroedinger, E., 1955, Must the photon mass be zero? Proc.
> Roy. Soc. 
> Vol. 232, 1-6.
> 
> Goldhaber, A.S., Nieto, M.M., 1971, Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial
> Limits on The Photon Mass, Rev. Mod. Phys.,Vol 43, No. 3, 277-296
> 
> Vigier, J.P., 1996, Relativistic interpretation (with non-zero photon
> mass) of the small aether drift velocity detected by Michelson-Morley
> and Miller. (to be published).
> 
> Selleri, F., 1996, Noninvariant one -way velocity of light. (to be
> published).
> 
> Post, E.J., 1967, Sagnac effect, Rev. Mod. Phys., Vol 39, No. 2.
> 
> Saburi, Y., Yamamoto, M., Harada, K., 1976, IEEE Trans, IM25 No. 4,
> 473-477
> 
> Michelson, A.,A., 1925, The effect of the earth’s rotation on the
> velocity of light, Astroph. J., Vol. LXI  No.3, 137-139.
	Oh, very good. If it has a proper list of references, it must be 
a valid scientific paper, eh? But tell me why you didn't refer to Dr.
Kelly's
rather amusing papers, since you LIFTED PASSAGES FROM THEM 
VERBATIM??
					David Byrden
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Subject: Re: Collisions
From: checker@netcom.com (Chris Hecker)
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 11:56:12 GMT
mjrust@erols.com (Mike Rust) writes:
>to another, more information is needed.  Conservation of kinetic energy (for 
>perfectly elastic collision) removes one more unknown, but what is the other 
>mathematical relationship?  Anyone know?
I'm not sure what you want to do with your collisions.  Are you doing
particle physics, or are you trying to write some code to produce an
animation of real world objects colliding, or what?  I know absolutely
nothing about particle physics, but if you want to do real world
objects (like a block of wood, a car, or an articulated body or that
sort of thing) colliding, then using conservation laws isn't going to
take you very far, or at least not easily.
I think the equations you want are the following:
1. Poisson's Hypothesis (or a variation of it).  This says the outgoing
velocity of the colliding point is proportional to its incoming velocity
by the "coefficient of restitution," which is a scalar that models all
the complicated compression and decompression that happens during a
collision.  The equation is:
vo dot n = -e * vi dot n      (1)
Where vi and vo are the incoming and outgoing velocities, respectively,
e is the coefficient of restitution (which is 0 for perfectly plastic
collisions, like a lump of clay hitting a table, and 1 for perfectly
elastic collisions, like a superball), and n is the normal vector of
the collision (the table's surface normal for a ball bouncing on a
table).
Since you want to know vo, you need another equation in 2D, or two more
in 3D, since Eq. 1 is a scalar equation.  If you want to assume the
collision is frictionless, then your life is easy because this means
there's no tangential impulse, so your components in the tangential
directions (perpendicular to n above) are the same outgoing as they are
incoming.
If you want to model friction, you'll need to do more work, depending on
how realistic you want to be.  Search the web for papers by Bhatt and
read Routh's dynamics book (availble from Dover).
If you want to model multiple simultaneous collision points you've got
even more work to do, especially if you want to do friction in this
setting.  Look for papers by Baraff and by Trinkle, both on the web.
I hope this helps.
Chris
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Subject: Re: "Essential" reality (was: When did Nietzsche wimp out?)
From: +@+.+ (G*rd*n)
Date: 28 Oct 1996 07:16:13 -0500
turpin@cs.utexas.edu (Russell Turpin) wrote:
| +There is no faith to which one
| +must leap, no metaphysical tenets that one must accept.
mls@panix.com (Michael L. Siemon):
| And it is precisely this point on which Gordon Fitch, for example,
| keeps trying to *pretend* into existence that which is evidently
| false. Scientists have *lots* of metaphysical tenets -- and these
| differ in wildly contradictory ways between scientists. And *it
| does not matter* ....
That's exactly what I said in a recent article, and
in several other articles over a period of ten years
or so.
My observations of scientism and its adherents have
had very little to do with science or scientists as
such.  Religious awe of Newton is not science, however
deserving the man, name, image, or institution may
be of it.
-- 
   }"{    G*rd*n   }"{  gcf @ panix.com  }"{
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Subject: Re: How Much Math? (Was: Re: How much to invest in such a writer?)
From: patrick@gryphon.psych.ox.ac.uk (Patrick Juola)
Date: 28 Oct 1996 10:57:38 GMT
In article <550148$4nu@panix2.panix.com> +@+.+ (G*rd*n) writes:
>| ...
>
>patrick@gryphon.psych.ox.ac.uk (Patrick Juola):
>| If you don't like the fact that 100m is "language", I can easily draw
>| two marks on the pavement and produce similar operational definitions for
>| time and the margin of error.  What it boils down to is that, intuitively,
>| you simply can't solve the "general" time/distance problem -- and physicists
>| can, to any desired degree of precision.
>
>Time to recall the beginning of this subthread.
>
>taboada@mtha.usc.edu (Mario Taboada):
>| >| >| >| 	More importantly, you need the calculus to properly formulate
>| >| >| >| concepts like instantaneous velocity and acceleration, without which
>| >| >| >| kinematics cannot be studied "exactly".  ...
>
>gcf@panix.com (G*rd*n) writes:
>| >| >| >What do you mean by "properly formulate"?  I drive my car
>| >| >| >around, intuiting instantaneous velocity and acceleration,
>| >| >| >without performing even informal thumbnail calculus.  Or
>| >| >| >does my nervous system do it sneakily out of sight of
>| >| >| >my consciousness?
>
>patrick@gryphon.psych.ox.ac.uk (Patrick Juola):
>| >| >| I'll bet you can't judge instantaneous velocity and acceleration
>| >| >| particularly accurately, let alone "exactly."  ...
>
>I think that will do.  You'll notice above two unquantified
>criteria, "properly" and "accurately."
It certainly helps your rhetoric, if not your truthfulness,
when you omit the paragraph where I suggested a set of
experimental quantitative bounds -- and then complain
about "unquantified criteria."
The nice thing about physics is that it gives answers to
any desired degree of accuracy.  Your "intuitions" do not.
	Patrick
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Subject: Re: why a plane mirror reverse left to right not up to down
From: Mike Lepore
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 07:25:24 -0500
J Mikes wrote:
> 
> I wasn't with the topic so I may repeat some ideas: IMO mirrors do NOT
> reverse anything, our mind represents the reversed image;. there is a
> good reason for left/right vs up/down: our eyes are positioned
> horizontally, not vertically. I propose a test for those who are licky
> possessors of a tw0-lens stereo-camera: take a picture into a mirror,
> then tirn tye camera 90 degrees to an up/down lens position and take the
> same picture. Will it be left/right, or up/down?    JM
That doesn't get at the question people are really asking.  
Even if you keep one eye open and one eye closed, a written
page seen in a mirror still looks backwards.
It's because people habitually turn the paper around in the
horizontal plane to make it face the mirror.  If you consciously
turn the paper in the vertical plane (half-somersault) to make
it face the mirror, then the writing will be upside down and
NOT backwards, e.g, the bump on the right side of the letter P 
will be in the right, but now on the bottom instead of on the top).
                                       Mike Lepore in New York
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