off topic The Science Thread

[wjag]

The amount of space exploration happening world-wide is astounding...  Every day seemingly provides some new information and discovery. There are at least five satellites orbiting Mars alone + one rover.  Crazy amount of discovery taking place.

 

• 2001 Mars Odyssey, launched 2001 April 7, USA, active
• Mars Express, launched 2003 June 2, European Space Agency (launched by Russia), active
• Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched 2005 August 12, USA, active
• Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) or Mangalyaan, launched 2013 November 5, India, active
• Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN), launched 2013 November 18, USA, active

[IKnowPhysics]

 

The amount of space exploration happening world-wide is astounding...  Every day seemingly provides some new information and discovery. There are at least five satellites orbiting Mars alone + one rover.  Crazy amount of discovery taking place.

 

• 2001 Mars Odyssey, launched 2001 April 7, USA, active
• Mars Express, launched 2003 June 2, European Space Agency (launched by Russia), active
• Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, launched 2005 August 12, USA, active
• Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) or Mangalyaan, launched 2013 November 5, India, active
• Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN), launched 2013 November 18, USA, active

 

 

We have to be the first to colonize so we can mine all of the Turbidium to help the war effort here on Earth.

[Weave]

They actually sent out the invasion crew about a thousand years ago.  We won't be able to see them coming until it is too late.

 

Hey, at least its not in my lifetime.

[LastPommerFan]

so.... they don't know we are here yet.   :ph34r:

 

If they were to look at us now, they would be seeing Mohammad's reign over the Arabs.

[shrader]

If they were to look at us now, they would be seeing Mohammad's reign over the Arabs.

 

I like to think that they have advanced technology that we can't even dream of.  Thanks to that, they'll be waiting on Weave's couch when he gets home tonight, ready to conquer his house first.

[LastPommerFan]

I like to think that they have advanced technology that we can't even dream of.  Thanks to that, they'll be waiting on Weave's couch when he gets home tonight, ready to conquer his house first.

 

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for this image.

[shrader]

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for this image.

 

They're raiding his whiskey supply as we speak.

[Weave]

GAT DAMMIT I'M RUNNING HOME NOW!

[Taro T]

Granted this is the science thread and not the sci fi thread, but why, if in Star Trek, they could travel faster than light didn't they ever go faster than light away from Earth and turn their sensors, detectors, and telescopes back towards Earth and study it's history?

 

They could have seen the 1st people in Africa, and the 1st civilization in Mesopotamia, the dinosaurs, and whatever event (asteroid colliding w/ Earth?) that caused their extinction.

 

Instead of learning about our own history and truly understanding ourselves, they simply flew around the galaxy predating on green women. ;) Not much enlightenment attained over the next 400 or so years. :)

[WildCard]

Granted this is the science thread and not the sci fi thread, but why, if in Star Trek, they could travel faster than light didn't they ever go faster than light away from Earth and turn their sensors, detectors, and telescopes back towards Earth and study it's history?

 

They could have seen the 1st people in Africa, and the 1st civilization in Mesopotamia, the dinosaurs, and whatever event (asteroid colliding w/ Earth?) that caused their extinction.

 

Instead of learning about our own history and truly understanding ourselves, they simply flew around the galaxy predating on green women. ;) Not much enlightenment attained over the next 400 or so years. :)

To be fair those green women knew what they were signing up for when they accepted Kirk's invitation

[spndnchz]

They're already here. You just can't see them. :unsure:

[Taro T]

They're already here. You just can't see them. :unsure:

The green women? :unsure:

 

If that's the case, that sucks.

[MattPie]

Granted this is the science thread and not the sci fi thread, but why, if in Star Trek, they could travel faster than light didn't they ever go faster than light away from Earth and turn their sensors, detectors, and telescopes back towards Earth and study it's history?

 

They could have seen the 1st people in Africa, and the 1st civilization in Mesopotamia, the dinosaurs, and whatever event (asteroid colliding w/ Earth?) that caused their extinction.

 

Instead of learning about our own history and truly understanding ourselves, they simply flew around the galaxy predating on green women. ;) Not much enlightenment attained over the next 400 or so years. :)

To be fair those green women knew what they were signing up for when they accepted Kirk's invitation

 

Given the course of this conversation, I feel the need to post something.

[darksabre]

So apparently an independent lab in Germany confirmed the EM Drive might be a real thing, essentially breaking physics as we know it.

 

https://hacked.com/scientists-confirm-impossible-em-drive-propulsion/

[IKnowPhysics]

So apparently an independent lab in Germany confirmed the EM Drive might be a real thing, essentially breaking physics as we know it.

 

https://hacked.com/scientists-confirm-impossible-em-drive-propulsion/

 

Still skeptical, especially since the report (released directly to media outlets, ahem) only makes inference to data.  I'll wait to see the peer-reviewed data and wait for my colleagues return from that AIAA conference in Orlando.

[Samson's Flow]

Still skeptical, especially since the report (released directly to media outlets, ahem) only makes inference to data.  I'll wait to see the peer-reviewed data and wait for my colleagues return from that AIAA conference in Orlando.

Skeptical but intrigued. Stuff like this is incredibly interesting and sensationalist for the media to report, but without proven data and proof of function, it's just Star Trek fiction at this point.

[nobody]

Still skeptical, especially since the report (released directly to media outlets, ahem) only makes inference to data.  I'll wait to see the peer-reviewed data and wait for my colleagues return from that AIAA conference in Orlando.

 

 

Are they coming back in that vehicle propelled by cold fusion?

[TrueBlueGED]

I'm not about to say this thing is real, but I fully expect us at some point to discover our laws of physics were wrong about something. Or maybe, more accurately, our laws oversimplified something and we eventually discover a work around. A bending of the laws, if you will.

[Samson's Flow]

I'm not about to say this thing is real, but I fully expect us at some point to discover our laws of physics were wrong about something. Or maybe, more accurately, our laws oversimplified something and we eventually discover a work around. A bending of the laws, if you will.

Much like the smartest people in the world were fairly certain for a while that the Earth was the center of the universe. It is inevitable that modern science is wrong on quite a few things that are accepted as fact at this point in time.

 

People x number of years from now will look back in amazement at the theories and things we currently think are scientifically accepted in 2015.

[LastPommerFan]

Less than 100 years ago, respected scientists thought that the Universe was static, that the continents were generally stable and had remained in their current positions since the earth's beginnings, and that the earth was between 20 and 40 million years old.

 

100 years from now I fully expect most of Einstein's theories and all of Newtons to be found to be largely in error.

[IKnowPhysics]

Much like the smartest people in the world were fairly certain for a while that the Earth was the center of the universe. It is inevitable that modern science is wrong on quite a few things that are accepted as fact at this point in time.

 

 

That's a little bit of an exaggeration, especially because of the religious influences on geocentrism.  But it's true that we'll continue to develop our understanding of the physical universe.

 

Instead, it'll be more about finding the limits of our models as we examine new regimes of space, time, and energy.  For instance, we figured out the math, kinematics, behind how everyday objects move and how celestial objects move, but we found out that kinematics failed to describe what happened at very, very small spacial scales (think atoms versus bowling balls and planets).  So we adjusted the model, adding some new (at the time) math, and called it quantum mechanics.

 

As we explored higher and higher in energy (in particle colliders), we've needed to develop new math models and ways to think about how all of the forces and particles are related.  But the most widely-accepted model doesn't attempt to describe everything, so we accept that there is more exploring and math to do to create and vet new or expanded models.

Edited July 27, 2015 by IKnowPhysics

[LastPommerFan]

 

 

 

That's a little bit of an exaggeration, especially because of the religious influences on geocentrism.  But it's true that we'll continue to develop our understanding of the physical universe.

 

Instead, it'll be more about finding the limits of our models as we examine new regimes of space, time, and energy.  For instance, we figured out the math, kinematics, behind how everyday objects move and how celestial objects move, but we found out that kinematics failed to describe what happened at very, very small spacial scales (think atoms versus bowling balls and planets).  So we adjusted the model, adding some new (at the time) math, and called it quantum mechanics.

 

As we explored higher and higher in energy (in particle colliders), we've needed to develop new math models and ways to think about how all of the forces and particles are related.  But the most widely-accepted model doesn't attempt to describe everything, so we accept that there is more exploring and math to do to create and vet new or expanded models.

 

 

I missed the n-body problem being solved  ;)

[IKnowPhysics]

Ask yo mama.   :lol:

 

We can figure the n-body problem numerically AND analytically, but the analytic answer is really, really, really inelegant and difficult (like the power series solution, blech).  So much so that we just examine it numerically for ease of characterization and understanding.

[Taro T]

Given the course of this conversation, I feel the need to post something.

Notice it's a 'red shirt' getting the warning. Kirk gets friggin' Batgirl. Just sayin.' ;)

[wjag]

No matter how much I try to comprehend the concept of the black hole, my feeble little brain can't do it.