breaking the speed of light article on howstuffworks.com

BUT I AM 14, NOT 41!!!!!!! sheesh no one believes me here

Reminds me of the HP212 pulse generator (if i remembered the number correctly). One thyratron turned on, making the output go positive by discharging a cable into the load. A second thyratron would be triggered at a varied time afterwards (contolled by the pulse width control on the front panel). That thyratron (if i remember correctly) discharged a second cable, creating an opposite polarity pulse. An alternate possibility was the second thyratron was used to short out the ouput. In any event, one could have a unit where the second thyratron would trigger before the first. I presume some idiot would then say that the resulting output pulse would have a negative length? What one saw on the scope at low amplitudes, was the triggering pulses to the thyratrons.

" And guess what? The third law of thermodynamics guarantees that all electronics will get warmer."

The trouble with that is that they aren't even getting into thermodynamics yet (I can decode the latin roots of that I think - temperature change?)

on

real

the

reality,

As i remember it, the characteristics of a tahcyon (FTL photon) or other FTL item was: The more the friction it encountered, the faster it would go, and its limiting velocity was on the low end, or C. Had to put more energy into the tachyon to slow it down closer to the speed of light. That is to say, no matter which "side" of C one was talking about, more energy had to be used to get the object to travel closer to C. Symmetrical equation.

Yup!

Do not get too bored..electronics gets involved in measuring a lot of things, from controlling the temperature of something (room, veggies, drugs) to detecting gluons, pions; navigation, communications satellites, und so weider. And guess what? The third law of thermodynamics guarantees that all electronics will get warmer. Maybe even hot. Where and how can that heat be transported elsewhere? Heat pipes are rather efficient: why? How do they work? Convection and conduction are also useful mechanisms; how do you design a home for energy efficiency, but allow air exchange so the poor tenants do not get sick? How does one get rid of that heat in a satellite; how does one get the heat from various electronic packages inside that satellite to the surface? Yes, the basic concept of heat flow is boring, but...the techniques involved can get a little esoteric - and the calculations rather involved and even into major useage of 3D calculus.

Ah, so I should have only specified one edge delay and let everyone guess the other?

IOW, *nonsense*!

Computer modeling in that field is still in its infancy. Someone with the right background and training could *visualize* scenarios, and make mental changes to "home in" to predictions of (say) tornadoes, rain, etc a lot faster and more accurately than any computer modeling that will be available even in 10 years. Example: Nicola Tesla had a full electromechanical laboratory in his head; he would design a motor or a generator with certain materials and specifications, then put it into use and thereby see what speeds would destroy it (and why). Then change the design based on that experience and try again. The results of these visualizations mimicked exactly what would happen if the motor or generator had been actually built.

Level Sensitive Scan Design.

More detail:

Agreed! I was being generous, so that I didn't offend any Democrats ;-)

...Jim Thompson

Start simple; push a bullet, a rocket, a photon. *Special* theory of relativity predicts that one must use more end more energy to make that move faster, as it approaches the speed of light. *DISCONNECT* Be G*D and know of two galaxies on "opposite" sides of the expanding universe. Us dirtbags (err..Earthlings) have learned that galaxies move faster the further away they are (from us and presumably from the center of the universe AKA "big bang"). So, those two chosen galaxies could easily be moving away from each other at (say) 10*C. The how of that did not violate *special* theory at any time during their life, and certainly can never do so. *GENERAL* theory comes into play, and basically states that there can be absolutely *NO* communication between them. So a dirtbag on one would (and could) never know that the other galaxy existed, or where (unless G*D gave that information to her/him).

And rightly so! One simply cannot find enough energy to accelerate any particle to

PAN for Linux is quite Gravity-like. There are tons of others (I've tried KNode too, but didn't like it's "online" reading)

Yep, and as you pointed out, free servers. ...and at least one *good* one.

If i remember correctly, the term is "del" and i never learned those operators. I am guessing they are 3D vector operators used in a form of calculus (could be very wrong). There are other "nasty" mathematical things: dirac function, theoretical derivation of shear and torque come to mind.

Thanks for the ref! Seems my wild guess was not too far off..

Sorry to repeat; the difference is in what the *special* theory of relativity correctly predicts, and what the *general* therory states concerning !different! frames of reference.

I soak them overnight or, if I forgot, cover them with water, bring to a quick boil, and then let them sit for an hour or so. Then pour off the water. That removes the indigestable sugars that feed certain ill-mannered intestinal bacteria. Doesn't seem to hurt the flavor of the beans.

We love fresh cranberry beans, which don't seem to need this treatment. They're hard to find, though, sometimes available in late fall.

Wow. The women and children work all the time, and the men get off their butts every four years.

Basmati is good, but lately we're into chinese jasmine rice. $2.80 for a 5-pound bag at the little Chinese store around the corner, the place with the ducks hanging in the window.

John

Yup. Nice place with quite decent coffee. ;-) WiFi hotspot too, IIRC.

Do you rehydrate dried beans?

Apparently the saffron market is in upheaval at the moment:

I try to be polite to any particle that's not an absolute boson.

John