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  #1  
Old 08-25-2012, 11:24 AM
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Default Drive by science

I think we need a Miscellany thread for science stuff we come across. This is it.

Harvard makes distortion-free lens from gold and silicon, aims for the perfect image (or signal) -- Engadget
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Old 08-25-2012, 04:03 PM
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Default Re: Drive by science

Quote:
Originally Posted by LadyShea View Post
I think we need a Miscellany thread for science stuff we come across. This is it.

Harvard makes distortion-free lens from gold and silicon, aims for the perfect image (or signal) -- Engadget
Wouldn't it be cool if the micro antennas could be altered in situ to produce a completely solid state zoom lens?
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  #3  
Old 08-26-2012, 08:02 PM
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Default Re: Drive by science

Hey, it's an example of phased-array optics.
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Old 08-27-2012, 06:12 PM
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Default Re: Drive by science

Whoa, didn't see this coming at all. I assumed the opposite.

Pediatrics group says circumcision's benefits outweigh risks amid U.S. decline in procedure
Quote:
The health benefits from male circumcision outweigh the risks, says the American Academy of Pediatrics in its latest guidelines on the controversial procedure published Monday.
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Old 08-29-2012, 10:12 PM
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Default Re: Drive by science

This is more about science reporting than science proper, but it's still good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QdD96OZFzA#!

(He also has a cool story about the time he robbed a bank, but it's not very sciencey.)
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Old 08-30-2012, 09:30 AM
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Default Re: Drive by science

Quote:
Originally Posted by LadyShea View Post
Whoa, didn't see this coming at all. I assumed the opposite.

Pediatrics group says circumcision's benefits outweigh risks amid U.S. decline in procedure
Quote:
The health benefits from male circumcision outweigh the risks, says the American Academy of Pediatrics in its latest guidelines on the controversial procedure published Monday.
Are you serious? Membership in that group is, I guess, the thing that's most strongly correlated with making money off the ritual. Hence the information content of their statement is close to zero. I would put them in the category of every other group that's about to lose an existing source of income and trying to prevent that. In terms of bias, that's where the most aggressive lobby groups are to be found.

[eta: never mind. That was probably sarcasm failure on my part.]
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  #7  
Old 09-18-2012, 06:10 PM
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Default Re: Drive by science

Dark Energy Camera: Sizing up the universe in pictures - latimes.com
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Old 09-18-2012, 08:06 PM
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http://m.
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Old 09-18-2012, 08:48 PM
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Default Re: Drive by science


:kirk:

'Warp drive' may be more feasible than thought, scientists say | Fox News
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  #10  
Old 09-18-2012, 09:06 PM
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Default Re: Drive by science


Fuck Yeah Fluid Dynamics Tumblr
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  #11  
Old 09-23-2012, 07:12 AM
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Default Re: Drive by science

I wanted to share a video I came across on YouTube of Neil DeGrasse Tyson giving a lecture during Beyond Belief 2006.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson - Greatest Sermon Ever - YouTube

It almost comes across as a sermon. His passion for the sciences is both palpable and infectious. I wish I had heard of him 15 to 20 years ago.
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Old 09-26-2012, 11:08 PM
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Default Re: Drive by science

There might be a very cool comet in our future. :)

http://www.astronomynow.com/news/n12...yVuJI.facebook
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  #13  
Old 09-30-2012, 10:32 PM
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Old 09-30-2012, 11:24 PM
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Default Re: Drive by science

I'm no physicist or anything...

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Old 09-30-2012, 11:33 PM
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Default Re: Drive by science

I read the explanation when I first saw the video. I'm no rememberator, but I call it explosive rebound. Some portion of the explosive force pushed downward through the can, hitting the solid floor beneath and then reflecting enough of the remaining energy back into the can causing it to lift off the ground like it did.

I'm sure we have a scientist on staff who can tell me how wrong I am.
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  #16  
Old 10-02-2012, 05:43 PM
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Default Re: Drive by science

Half of Great Barrer Reef lost in past 3 decades - CBS News
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Old 10-03-2012, 04:58 PM
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Sad Re: Drive by science

That really sucks. The article depressed me a little.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Linked Article
The experts agree that doing nothing is not an option at this point. "The problem is entirely soluble, and coral reefs can be saved through concerted effort over this and the following two or three generations," said Kaufman. "There is absolutely no excuse for failure to do this, and if we do fail our generation will forever be remembered for unimaginable, unforgivable stupidity and sloth."
If that happens, then truer words were never spoken. I can't help but think our last few generations have done a damn good job of fucking over the planet.
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Old 10-10-2012, 07:40 PM
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Default Re: Drive by science

Is lightspeed really a limit? • The Register
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Old 10-15-2012, 08:25 PM
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Default Re: Drive by science


:user:

Physicists May Have Evidence Universe Is A Computer Simulation
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  #20  
Old 10-15-2012, 09:14 PM
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Default Re: Drive by science

Yeah, that's the sort of thing that can make you a little crazy, if you think about it too much.

It's something that computer scientists like to point out. The basic idea, as I understand it, goes like this:
  1. A sufficiently sophisticated computer could run a simulation of the Universe.
  2. There are potentially lots of computers out there running simulated Universes.
  3. There is only one real Universe.
  4. Therefore it is more probable that we are living in a computer-simulated Universe than that we're living in the real one.
  5. Sleepless nights ensue.
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Old 10-16-2012, 02:02 AM
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Default Re: Drive by science

It is interesting to note that it wouldn't take that many qbits to compute the universe. On the order of a thousand. It's almost recursive in that it appears the universe is basically quantum and quantum computers of modest size could in theory compute the universe.
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Old 10-16-2012, 03:17 AM
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Default Re: Drive by science

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Lone Ranger View Post
Yeah, that's the sort of thing that can make you a little crazy, if you think about it too much.

It's something that computer scientists like to point out. The basic idea, as I understand it, goes like this:
  1. A sufficiently sophisticated computer could run a simulation of the Universe.
  2. There are potentially lots of computers out there running simulated Universes.
  3. There is only one real Universe.
  4. Therefore it is more probable that we are living in a computer-simulated Universe than that we're living in the real one.
  5. Sleepless nights ensue.
Right, it is Nick Bostrom's simulation argument.
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Old 10-16-2012, 06:43 AM
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Default Re: Drive by science

Quote:
Originally Posted by naturalist.atheist View Post
It is interesting to note that it wouldn't take that many qbits to compute the universe. On the order of a thousand. It's almost recursive in that it appears the universe is basically quantum and quantum computers of modest size could in theory compute the universe.
No, quantum computers of modest size can simulate quantum systems of modest size. So maybe, maybe you could simulate a classical version of the universe (of course there is no such thing) but you can't get most of the answers out (you only get to measure once). To simulate a universe of qubits, you need a universe of qubits. Or more time. What you can get rid of is the exponential slowdown, which is huge.
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Old 10-17-2012, 06:34 PM
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Default Re: Drive by science

Okay, while we're at it (and after 5 hours of C++ template metaprogramming insanity), let's pose another question: If we were simulated by a computer, how would we find out what its characteristics are? We would have to measure it in some way, but until we do that, every possible computer of sufficient power that exists somewhere in spacetime and happens to be coded with our program is simulating us.

They may have trouble isolating it to maintain coherence. I imagine it is orbited by black holes that suck all the incoming particles and information off that could disturb the measurement.

BTW, who wants a C++ course?
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  #25  
Old 10-18-2012, 04:46 PM
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Default Re: Drive by science

Maybe black holes are what happened when the Programmer divided by 0.
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