So the coldest place in the universe is only 5000 light years away? That's just around the corner in our sector of the galactic disk. The rest of the universe extends 10 to 20 billion light years in all other directions, so how do they know THIS particular place is the coldest in the universe? They couldn't have measured the temperature everywhere else... and it's likely there is some other nebula, somewhere, that is slightly colder.
One KILOGRAM per YEAR ?!? Your estimate is very low, I believe the earth gathers many TONS per DAY, all in cosmic dust and micrometeorites. And even at that rate, that represents a very very tiny percentage of the earth's total mass.
> Just because a particular number's
> representation is infinite, doesn't mean
> you can find any finite substring within
> its representation.
You're absolutely right. And I don't remember if "all integers can be found in Pi" is really a proven theorem or just a conjecture. I thought it was true, but I really don't know. I really wonder if it's been proven, now.
Any number with a finite representation (like the examples you gave), you will find in Pi. However, you won't find "e", as its representation is infinite too. If you think about it, you'll see why.
They aren't, I think. State superposition doesn't have to happen only at the atomic level, whole macroscopic objects (such as a roll of film, or a cat) can also be in superposition. Often I think of Shroedinger's cat being in two macroscopic quantum states is a consequence of whether the geiger counter detected a radiation emission or not, a atomic-scale event that trickled down to all the other atoms of the box until two distinct universes coexisted simultaneously inside it. Your scenario with the cameras seem perfectly valid to me.
Now, as to whether the cat itself is an observer and can make the superposition collapse... do physicists know? What does QM say about that?
This works out only if you are in a close, observer-less environment when you take the pictures. If you are present in the room (and even if you are not looking at the coin) then some information about the "head-tail" decision will leak to you and the negatives will choose the state accordingly before you even start to separate your cameras by a few light year.
There is of course a whole problem in the definition of an "observer". Noone knows what it is supposed to be.
I was disappointed with the DVD version too. At least they should have included BOTH the Original Version and the Director's Cut! It's not like they need to encode two full length versions of the video, only an alternate audio track and some splicing of a few scenes that are different. DVDs were meant to do exactly that!
By the way, in the PC game Homeworld, one of the levels is called the "Tanhauser Gate"...:-)
The story is called "Victory Unintentional". It just happens to be one of my favorite Isaac Asimov short story. (Yes, the big guy wrote it). I think it's quite funny. I read it when I was a teenager, it was my first attempt at reading some fiction in english (I'm french canadian, or rather Quebecois as we say), and I remember having some trouble understanding it. But I went at it slowly, methodically, and eventually I was very, very proud when I realized: Hey, this part here is a joke!:-)
I've been using this small perl script as an interactive shell for years. I wrote that because I found I often needed to do a quick on-liner computation and did not want to have to create a new file with the necessary perl code in it.
Distilled water is NOT good. What you need is natural/mineral water. Unless you have a source of minerals (calcium/sodium/etc) that you can add to it, drinking distilled water will take away these same minerals from your body. Buy bottled water instead.
I can confirm most of this (I'm from Montreal, but now I live in Menlo Park, CA (part of Silicon Valley). I don't exactly agree with two things, however:
1) You can get a very nice two bedroom appartement on the Plateau for $600CDN/mo; for $800 you get a luxurious one and for $1000/mo you get an Amazing Appartment.:-) I lived on the Plateau for 6 years, I miss it a lot. Silicon valley's social life sucks in comparison.
2) It is NOT true that the only school you can send your children to are in French; with 25% of the population speaking english, there are many many english-speaking schools, including two major universities. School boards have been reorganised in the past few years, the administrative division is based on language (there's a school board for French schools and another one for English schools).
It has nothing to do with the language. The real reason the contest isn't valid in Quebec has something to do with the fact that in order for it to be legal, it would have to be 'registered' with the government, which would then take a cut on the prize. This is true of all contests where the winner gets something that has a monetary value.
I know this is vague, but I'm not a lawyer, that's just (more or less) what I understand of that law.
What's in a name? Nitroglycerine and prozac. Nice combination of words. Poetic too. I'm sure Humpty Dumpty would come up with one interesting explanation for this "portmanteau" (sic) word (see chapter VI of Through the Looking Glass)...
You are absolutely right; I used the words "couln't possibly" but that was too strong. English is not my first language, that's my only excuse (any other french canadians on/.?) It is also true that since there are few women geeks around, my 'feeling' was biased. However, I would NEVER say that women are less creative or have lesser technical abilities than men (at the risk of sounding inconsistent, I often believe it's the other way around, in fact, but don't get on my case for saying that too!).
AY2K is excellent. Hope Nitrozac can keep us entertained forever (what a contract!), or at least until december 31st.
Having read all of the After Y2K strips, I feel it couldn't possibly be the work of a woman. I have known many women geeks, but none of them could write stories with that kind of depth and tech humor. I don't want to sound sexist or stereotypical, however, it's just a feeling. Of course I might be completely wrong, and if Nitrozac is really a woman, she would surely be a great person to meet! Geekdom definately needs more women like that.
Slashdot Mirror
So the coldest place in the universe is only 5000 light years away? That's just around the corner in our sector of the galactic disk. The rest of the universe extends 10 to 20 billion light years in all other directions, so how do they know THIS particular place is the coldest in the universe? They couldn't have measured the temperature everywhere else... and it's likely there is some other nebula, somewhere, that is slightly colder.
> Wouldn't we have to throw them a dictionary first?
:-)
If the dictionary weighs exactly one kilogram, we could kiil two birds with one stone...
One KILOGRAM per YEAR ?!? Your estimate is very low, I believe the earth gathers many TONS per DAY, all in cosmic dust and micrometeorites. And even at that rate, that represents a very very tiny percentage of the earth's total mass.
> I don't believe 'P' is one of the bases used in > DNA (CGAT), but it may be used in RNA.
:-) DNA is made up of "A",
Almost but not quite.
"C", "G" and "T"s, while RNA is made up of "A",
"C", "G" and "U"s.
> Just because a particular number's
> representation is infinite, doesn't mean
> you can find any finite substring within
> its representation.
You're absolutely right. And I don't remember if "all integers can be found in Pi" is really a proven theorem or just a conjecture. I thought it was true, but I really don't know. I really wonder if it's been proven, now.
Any number with a finite representation (like the examples you gave), you will find in Pi. However, you won't find "e", as its representation is infinite too. If you think about it, you'll see why.
They aren't, I think. State superposition doesn't have to happen only at the atomic level, whole macroscopic objects (such as a roll of film, or a cat) can also be in superposition. Often I think of Shroedinger's cat being in two macroscopic quantum states is a consequence of whether the geiger counter detected a radiation emission or not, a atomic-scale event that trickled down to all the other atoms of the box until two distinct universes coexisted simultaneously inside it. Your scenario with the cameras seem perfectly valid to me.
Now, as to whether the cat itself is an observer and can make the superposition collapse... do physicists know? What does QM say about that?
(IANA physicist btw)
This works out only if you are in a close, observer-less environment when you take the pictures. If you are present in the room (and even if you are not looking at the coin) then some information about the "head-tail" decision will leak to you and the negatives will choose the state accordingly before you even start to separate your cameras by a few light year.
There is of course a whole problem in the definition of an "observer". Noone knows what it is supposed to be.
> PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong on any of :)
> this! If I'm an idiot, I need to know so
> I don't do it again.
I wish more people would end their posts
with a comment like this one (and BELIEVE it
too).
You were basically correct, as far as I
know (but then maybe *I* am an idiot!).
I was disappointed with the DVD version too.
:-)
At least they should have included BOTH the
Original Version and the Director's Cut! It's
not like they need to encode two full length
versions of the video, only an alternate audio
track and some splicing of a few scenes that
are different. DVDs were meant to do exactly
that!
By the way, in the PC game Homeworld, one of
the levels is called the "Tanhauser Gate"...
The story is called "Victory Unintentional". :-)
It just happens to be one of my favorite
Isaac Asimov short story. (Yes, the big
guy wrote it). I think it's quite funny.
I read it when I was a teenager, it was
my first attempt at reading some fiction in
english (I'm french canadian, or rather
Quebecois as we say), and I remember having
some trouble understanding it. But I went
at it slowly, methodically, and eventually
I was very, very proud when I realized: Hey,
this part here is a joke!
This 'shell' has one internal variable, "PROMPT"
> [...] so long as he isn't allowed to use it to cut off my air supply.
... or block the sun:
"For millions of years man has tried to destroy the sun. I will do the next best thing: I will blot it out!" -- C. M. Burns
Distilled water is NOT good. What you need is
natural/mineral water. Unless you have a source
of minerals (calcium/sodium/etc) that you can
add to it, drinking distilled water will take
away these same minerals from your body. Buy
bottled water instead.
I can confirm most of this (I'm from Montreal, but now I live in Menlo Park, CA (part of Silicon Valley). I don't exactly agree with two things, however:
:-) I lived on the Plateau for 6 years, I miss it a lot. Silicon valley's social life sucks in comparison.
1) You can get a very nice two bedroom appartement on the Plateau for $600CDN/mo; for $800 you get a luxurious one and for $1000/mo you get an Amazing Appartment.
2) It is NOT true that the only school you can send your children to are in French; with 25% of the population speaking english, there are many many english-speaking schools, including two major universities. School boards have been reorganised in the past few years, the administrative division is based on language (there's a school board for French schools and another one for English schools).
It has nothing to do with the language. The real reason the contest isn't valid in Quebec has something to do with the fact that in order for it to be legal, it would have to be 'registered' with the government, which would then take a cut on the prize. This is true of all contests where the winner gets something that has a monetary value.
I know this is vague, but I'm not a lawyer, that's just (more or less) what I understand of that law.
What's in a name? Nitroglycerine and prozac. Nice combination of words. Poetic too. I'm sure Humpty Dumpty would come up with one interesting explanation for this "portmanteau" (sic) word (see chapter VI of Through the Looking Glass)...
You are absolutely right; I used the words "couln't possibly" but that was too strong. English is not my first language, that's my only excuse (any other french canadians on /.?) It is also true that since there are few women geeks around, my 'feeling' was biased. However, I would NEVER say that women are less creative or have lesser technical abilities than men (at the risk of sounding inconsistent, I often believe it's the other way around, in fact, but don't get on my case for saying that too!).
AY2K is excellent. Hope Nitrozac can keep us entertained forever (what a contract!), or at least until december 31st.
Having read all of the After Y2K strips, I feel it couldn't possibly be the work of a woman. I have known many women geeks, but none of them could write stories with that kind of depth and tech humor. I don't want to sound sexist or stereotypical, however, it's just a feeling. Of course I might be completely wrong, and if Nitrozac is really a woman, she would surely be a great person to meet! Geekdom definately needs more women like that.
Another site with cool maps is http://www.geog.ucl.ac.uk/ca sa/martin/atlas/atlas.html .