> Frankly, "dark matter" is like "magnetic monopoles". It works in mathematical models, but hasn't shown up in experiments and is not a *necessary* to explain how things work. Simpler models are powerful and elegant enough to cover the existing structure.
I am breaking my usual rule of not responding to anonymous cowards, but the quoted statement is wrong at several levels and I am feeling masochistic this morning.
The idea of dark matter does not come from mathematical models, it comes from observations. The standard model of particle physics does not predict dark matter. Dark matter was detected in experiments (or observations if one wants to be pedantic). There is no theoretical basis for dark matter, but there is a large body of evidence, from many different types of observations, supporting the idea that dark matter is a real part of the Universe. At present there are no theoretical alternatives to dark matter than can reproduce what we observe in the sky. Unless the past 80 years of observations are wrong then dark matter is necessary to explain what we see. There are no simpler models. Many have been tried, including small- and large-scale changes to gravity, and none have been able to reproduce what we actually observe.
Dark matter is not simply a measurement error. There are too many independent observations that all point to the existence of dark matter. Not only that, they all point to the same amount of dark matter and require that similar properties for dark matter. Measurement errors do not always work in the same direction across vastly different types of measurements. Bib Bang nucleosynthesis and the COBE/WMAP/Planck observations are completely different from galactic rotation curve and cluster velocity dispersion measurements, and yet they all predict consistent amounts of missing mass. Stray planets and low density clouds of cold gas are not enough to close the gap. Even if they did work for galactic rotation curves they would not be able to explain the results of the cosmic background radiation observations.
Ahh, never mind. Now I see the problem with the quoted sentence. The lesson here is probably that one should comment on other people's grammar before having their morning coffee.
>> "That's opened up a tremendous opportunity for women and other people that have been left out of the conversation" > Bad grammar aside, I'm surprised someone thinks there's a diversity problem on TV. It overcompensated back in the 70's and never returned.
There is no obvious bad grammar in the quoted sentence. The missing period appears to be a cut-and-paste error. The use of that instead of who is an unconventional, but correct, usage that dates back to at least Chaucer's time.
Actually, it's the Lord's Resistance Army (a Christian terrorist group) that currently holds the title for kidnapping and raping pre-teen and young teens in Africa. Boo Haram is just a wannabe in comparison.
North Korea is on the boundary between two time zones, so adopting a half-hour offset puts the country's time about as close as possible to Solar time. For a nation where the electric grid is unreliable and most people only have power for a few hours a day this is a smart thing to do. North Korea has just adopted a natural timezone for a pre-industrial society.
If you don't have many pleasures in life then I suppose that driving may be one of them. Driving through the Italian alps in an R8 Coupe can be a pleasure, but for most people driving is usually a tedious chore.
I do not recall that ever happening, but there are enough obscure settings in OS X (or any other operating system) that it does not surprise me that it can happen.
You do realize that underneath the glitzy guis both Mac OS X and linux are essentially the same. In many cases one can change a few lines in a Makefile and the same software package will run on both.
> Sure the backend layer of OSX is unix, but the window manager they put on it is a toy.
Actually, it is not a toy. The Mac window manager is top notch. Don't confuse the operating system or windowing system with Apple's various gui-based software packages that work on top of them.
Slashdot Mirror
I was not referring to the way that the original poster used the term begging the question.
> The funny part is, he was begging the question, but you used it wrong irregardless.
It always makes my day when a grammar nazi makes a grammatical error when trying to correct someone else's grammar.
We use it as a test to identify people pretending go be Canadian: ask them to spell Saskatchewan.
> They say that one of the most exciting phrases to hear in science is not "eureka!" but "that's funny."
Who is the "they" who said this?
Isaac Asimov
Please stop making sense. I much prefer to be outraged. Thank-you.
Innovation is so much easier when one has decades of tax-payer funded research to draw upon.
> No real programmer uses these stupid script kiddie languages.
No real programmer makes silly statements like that.
Freedom of meaningless choice.
> Frankly, "dark matter" is like "magnetic monopoles". It works in mathematical models, but hasn't shown up in experiments and is not a *necessary* to explain how things work. Simpler models are powerful and elegant enough to cover the existing structure.
I am breaking my usual rule of not responding to anonymous cowards, but the quoted statement is wrong at several levels and I am feeling masochistic this morning.
The idea of dark matter does not come from mathematical models, it comes from observations. The standard model of particle physics does not predict dark matter. Dark matter was detected in experiments (or observations if one wants to be pedantic). There is no theoretical basis for dark matter, but there is a large body of evidence, from many different types of observations, supporting the idea that dark matter is a real part of the Universe. At present there are no theoretical alternatives to dark matter than can reproduce what we observe in the sky. Unless the past 80 years of observations are wrong then dark matter is necessary to explain what we see. There are no simpler models. Many have been tried, including small- and large-scale changes to gravity, and none have been able to reproduce what we actually observe.
Dark matter is not simply a measurement error. There are too many independent observations that all point to the existence of dark matter. Not only that, they all point to the same amount of dark matter and require that similar properties for dark matter. Measurement errors do not always work in the same direction across vastly different types of measurements. Bib Bang nucleosynthesis and the COBE/WMAP/Planck observations are completely different from galactic rotation curve and cluster velocity dispersion measurements, and yet they all predict consistent amounts of missing mass. Stray planets and low density clouds of cold gas are not enough to close the gap. Even if they did work for galactic rotation curves they would not be able to explain the results of the cosmic background radiation observations.
Ahh, never mind. Now I see the problem with the quoted sentence. The lesson here is probably that one should comment on other people's grammar before having their morning coffee.
>> "That's opened up a tremendous opportunity for women and other people that have been left out of the conversation"
> Bad grammar aside, I'm surprised someone thinks there's a diversity problem on TV. It overcompensated back in the 70's and never returned.
There is no obvious bad grammar in the quoted sentence. The missing period appears to be a cut-and-paste error. The use of that instead of who is an unconventional, but correct, usage that dates back to at least Chaucer's time.
The best spies are those who listen.
So facebook's digital assistant is going to be called M. Will it have a license to kill?
Obviously aliens.
The Lord's Resistance Army is Christian in the same way that ISIL and Boko Haram are Muslim.
Actually, it's the Lord's Resistance Army (a Christian terrorist group) that currently holds the title for kidnapping and raping pre-teen and young teens in Africa. Boo Haram is just a wannabe in comparison.
They already know that.
Don't suggest this to Stephen Harper. He may actually do it.
North Korea is on the boundary between two time zones, so adopting a half-hour offset puts the country's time about as close as possible to Solar time. For a nation where the electric grid is unreliable and most people only have power for a few hours a day this is a smart thing to do. North Korea has just adopted a natural timezone for a pre-industrial society.
If you don't have many pleasures in life then I suppose that driving may be one of them. Driving through the Italian alps in an R8 Coupe can be a pleasure, but for most people driving is usually a tedious chore.
Feeling a little insecure are we?
> As a non-American I have no idea how big Rhode Island is.
Rhode Island is about half the size of Prince Edward Island, or about the same size as the island of Fyn.
I do not recall that ever happening, but there are enough obscure settings in OS X (or any other operating system) that it does not surprise me that it can happen.
You do realize that underneath the glitzy guis both Mac OS X and linux are essentially the same. In many cases one can change a few lines in a Makefile and the same software package will run on both.
> Sure the backend layer of OSX is unix, but the window manager they put on it is a toy.
Actually, it is not a toy. The Mac window manager is top notch. Don't confuse the operating system or windowing system with Apple's various gui-based software packages that work on top of them.