Physics: String theory

[blowflyii]

How many people believe in this. Are protons and neutrons not particles at all. Are they shaped by frequency?

[teklord310]

I don't buy it. That goes against loads of scientific research and discoveries. Who knows, maybe it is a new discovery but I don't buy it. Where can I read about it?

[heretic909]

Is this about that thing they showed on PBS a while back about how the universe is made up of threads? It caught my interest and I went to their website to read more about it, but I'm still not convinced yet.

[djmissbliss]

You guys should check out

http://www.techtv.com/bigthinkers/features/story/0,23008,3333508,00.html

for an article on Michio Kaku and string theory. Firstly, TechTV is the fucking BOMB, secondly, this was a really interesting show if they re-air it or if you can view it in their achives you should check it out. Michio Kaku built an atom smasher in his basement when he was in high school. 'Nuff said, the guy is a genius.

Cara

[CRACKHEAD]

string theory rules.... i read how it explains there are like 10 dimensions... its nuts. a lot of it kinda makes sense. Its too bad that they can't really see these string because they are too small.. i read some book about it actually and it sounded pretty convincing!!! i believe!!!

[JonStephen]

Well, it could be considering that electrons were originally thought of as particles as well. The dominant theory now is that they are waves. Who's to say that protons and neutrons arn't waves as well.

This is also coming from the same guy who believes the theory that the four forces are actually one force just acting differently.

Geesh, I really feel like a nerd now.

[dialectics]

i'm down with string theory.

First off - i think they have proven for it to work that there are 11 dimensions instead of 10.

The populist book on String Theory is "Elegant Universe" by Greene, who is one of the foremost researchers in that area. I read through it about 2 years ago and thought it was a good introduction, but it left out so many details and fine points that you really don't get a feel for what's going on. Kaku discusses its beginnings in "Hyperspace", which is tied with "Brief History of Time" for best pop physics book ever written.

I think that it makes sense - that all matter is made up of infinitely small packets of vibrating energy. It certainly would explain a lot, and really puts another twist on how small we really are. Not only are we just one of 100 trillion trillion dots on the universal radar screen, we can't even perceive all of the dimensions.

Its like Kaku's "carp pool" in the introduction to hyperspace. Scientists are suffering from reverse Cassanda syndrome - not knowing the future but having everyone believe them.

Rob

[thehacker]

quantum physics kicks my ass.

at stevens tech, i opted for a honors course in physics.

instead of teaching us high-level statics and some dynamics,

the prof. glossed over those basics in two weeks and spent

the rest of the semester convincing us that the heisenberg

uncertainty principle dictates that at any given moment,

it is quite possible for a human being to simply

diffract Through a wall...

[perfecto25]

i like brownies.

[bonk]

I don't know much about physics, hell, I failed my high school physics regents exam, but in my extremely humble opinion I believe nothing really exists. There is really nothing concrete as a particle or Lucretius's idea of the atom. We'll continually find smaller particles as technology advances, point being that there'll never be an end. So I guess the string theory makes sense to me, although I don't really understand the theory in detail.

[phuturephunk]

Originally posted by thehacker

quantum physics kicks my ass.

at stevens tech, i opted for a honors course in physics.

instead of teaching us high-level statics and some dynamics,

the prof. glossed over those basics in two weeks and spent

the rest of the semester convincing us that the heisenberg

uncertainty principle dictates that at any given moment,

it is quite possible for a human being to simply

diffract Through a wall...

Oh how true. . . Quantumn Physics is wild. . . One word of caution: If you read a book on it, be prepared to go around for SEVERAL weeks afterwards thinking that nothing in this universe fully exists unless it's observed by your own two eyes . . .

[phuturephunk]

AND . . just for shits and giggles. . I'll post the cat in the box experiment that Schrodinger came up with:

Here goes . .

Here's what's needed to perform the experiment:

A Box that can fully be sealed so that the experimenter CANNOT Tell what going on inside

A Timer of some kind

A Geiger counter with a shutter (as in camera shutter . .)

A Piece of radioactive material

A vial of some kind of potent poison

A contraption that will break the vial of poison when triggered by the geiger counter

A cat

The Experiment Setup:

Place the vial of poison, the radioactive material, the geiger counter and the contraption in the box. . . Set the gieger counter so that it will open the shutter for JUST a long enough time that there is a 50% chance that it will read positive for radiation. If the counter reads positive, it breaks the vial of poison, else, do nothing . . Finally place the cat in the box and connect the timer to the geiger counter and set it to go off a couple minutes later. .

The experiment:

After you set the timer, place the cat in the box and seal it. . then wait until the amount of time set on the timer has elapsed so you KNOW that one OR the other outcomes has happed (e.g. the cat lived or died . .) . . Now here's the mindfuck part of it . . .

Without unsealing the box and checking what happened, is the cat alive or dead?

The answer: both . .

How bout them apples?. . . .

[guinevere]

NOOO! NOOOOO!

You confused me. Is the cat alive or dead?

Or is it either because you can't see it and therefore don't know, so it could be either?

What, is knowledge reality?

Tell me. Tell me!!!!!

Please explain it more thoroughly to me.

[phuturephunk]

Originally posted by guinevere

NOOO! NOOOOO!

You confused me. Is the cat alive or dead?

Or is it either because you can't see it and therefore don't know, so it could be either?

What, is knowledge reality?

Tell me. Tell me!!!!!

Please explain it more thoroughly to me.

. . exactly the effect it caused in me when I heard it the first time . . I can't explain the physics of it exactly (the long winded experiment takes a lightsource and 3 screens, one with a single hole, another with 2 and a third to project onto through the other two. It proves the theory because the interference projected does not abide by what classic physics says it should be . . ). . It all comes back to the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle which states:

As one comes closer to knowing the exact position of a particle ( a proton, neutron or electron. . ), one has less certainty in knowing it's momentum . . and vice versa. . .

Its one of those things that is seemingly inconsequential in the real world, but is VERY important with atomic physics. . and as we all know, atoms make up all matter in the universe. . therefore, it actually is important in the real world . .

Oh yeah, here's another one to ponder . .

Right now, the electrons in your body are travelling back in time at an incredible rate . . .if a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, it both DOES and DOES not make a sound . . For every event that happens, an infinite number of universes is created. . AND, if we take the theory that the universe is infinite in expanse, there is a 100 percent probability that somewhere out in the universe there's an almost exact copy of me (with blue skin) typing this very post on a board that looks identical . . . .

. . I'm such a geek .. . . Take another bong swat and breathe this all in . . You won't be right for weeks . . .

[vision]

Originally posted by djmissbliss

You guys should check out

http://www.techtv.com/bigthinkers/features/story/0,23008,3333508,00.html

for an article on Michio Kaku and string theory. Firstly, TechTV is the fucking BOMB, secondly, this was a really interesting show if they re-air it or if you can view it in their achives you should check it out. Michio Kaku built an atom smasher in his basement when he was in high school. 'Nuff said, the guy is a genius.

Cara

an atom smasher???you think thats cool?!?i was hangin with this dude after deep dish and he had this grinder that chopped up weed!!!in his nyc apt!!!!

its funny how things like quantum physics is in a bunch of sci fi books like orson scott card's 'ender's game' series

[dialectics]

Originally posted by phuturephunk

. . I'm such a geek .. . . Take another bong swat and breathe this all in . . You won't be right for weeks . . .

i'm all in favor of that

(it is, after all, how i spent most of college)

rob

[neptune1]

...can you explain to me why one cant travel faster than the speed of light? And hence time travel is impossible?

I forgot college physics:confused:

[Xpander]

Originally posted by phuturephunk

Oh yeah, here's another one to ponder . .

Right now, the electrons in your body are travelling back in time at an incredible rate . . .if a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, it both DOES and DOES not make a sound . . For every event that happens, an infinite number of universes is created. . AND, if we take the theory that the universe is infinite in expanse, there is a 100 percent probability that somewhere out in the universe there's an almost exact copy of me (with blue skin) typing this very post on a board that looks identical . . . .

. . I'm such a geek .. . . Take another bong swat and breathe this all in . . You won't be right for weeks . . .

At a glance, i do severely disagree with most of these....

but i'll save it for an actual discussion instead of net chatter

[blowflyii]

We will have to chat about this if you like.

[bkissa]

isn't it part of quantum theory that you can be in several locations at once? i've read how this relates to k..didn't understand it perfectly since im no scientist, but very interesting!

:eek:

[Xpander]

Originally posted by blowflyii

We will have to chat about this if you like.

I'm not a good physicist, so any points i can offer in light of all this is from a mostly philosophical point of view...

But we're supposed to be getting together....

CLUBPLANET

THINK TANK

Because sometimes, the only proper accompaniment for metaphysics is good Norwegian Drum & Bass...

soon....soon.....

Rob, your dorm? LOL

[dialectics]

haha ok sounds like a plan

let me just renew *ahem* my supplies and we can have a big night of beatmaking, metaphysics and and deep philisophical introspection.

rob

[echostar]

this sounds interesting....i wanna learn