Large Hardon Collider

[Eliseos]

I'm intrigued by the fact that physics is getting possibly yet another wrench in the gears to screw their models up. I always love it when it happens, since you always find even more cool things you can do from those things. Quantum mechanics only came about from a small issue with older models after all, and look at how much we've learned and created from that one small issue. But... can a core of a star really rotate that much slower than the exterior? I suppose it could be possible, considering the sheer size of our star, or any star for that matter, but still.

Creationists are going to use this as "evidence" that carbon dating is the tool of the devil.

Also, about the sun's rotation, there is so much we don't understand about even our own star that it is certainly possible that the outside spins that much faster than its core.

[Eliseos]

We dead chols. The movie 2012 is based on actual future events.

Melbourne, Aug 26 (ANI): Astronomers are predicting that a massive solar storm, much bigger in potential than the one that caused spectacular light shows on Earth earlier this month, is to strike our planet in 2012 with a force of 100 million hydrogen bombs.
Several US media outlets have reported that NASA was warning the massive flare this month was just a precursor to a massive solar storm building that had the potential to wipe out the entire planet's power grid.


Despite its rebuttal, NASA's been watching out for this storm since 2006 and reports from the US this week claim the storms could hit on that most Hollywood of disaster dates - 2012.


Similar storms back in 1859 and 1921 caused worldwide chaos, wiping out telegraph wires on a massive scale. The 2012 storm has the potential to be even more disruptive.
"The general consensus among general astronomers (and certainly solar astronomers) is that this coming Solar maximum (2012 but possibly later into 2013) will be the most violent in 100 years," News.com.au quoted astronomy lecturer and columnist Dave Reneke as saying.


"A bold statement and one taken seriously by those it will affect most, namely airline companies, communications companies and anyone working with modern GPS systems.
"They can even trip circuit breakers and knock out orbiting satellites, as has already been done this year," added Reneke.
No one really knows what effect the 2012-2013 Solar Max will have on today's digital-reliant society.


Dr Richard Fisher, director of NASA's Heliophysics division, told Reneke the super storm would hit like "a bolt of lightning", causing catastrophic consequences for the world's health, emergency services and national security unless precautions are taken.
NASA said that a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences found that if a similar storm occurred today, it could cause "1 to 2 trillion dollars in damages to society's high-tech infrastructure and require four to 10 years for complete recovery".


The reason for the concern comes as the sun enters a phase known as Solar Cycle 24.
Most experts agree, although those who put the date of Solar Max in 2012 are getting the most press.


They claim satellites will be aged by 50 years, rendering GPS even more useless than ever, and the blast will have the equivalent energy of 100 million hydrogen bombs.
"We know it is coming but we don't know how bad it is going to be," Fisher told Reneke.
"Systems will just not work. The flares change the magnetic field on the Earth and it's rapid, just like a lightning bolt. That's the solar effect," he added.
The findings are published in the most recent issue of Australasian Science. (ANI)

http://in.news.yahoo.com/139/2010082...arth-in_1.html

[Azull]

Havent some of the largest known solar storms hit the earth closer to solar min then solar max? I thought just the frequency of the storms uped during solar max.. not really their power.

Its all guess work anyways. They have predicted a very strong storm since 2006. If they predict it every year they are bound to be right sooner or later.

[Mizango]

Its all guess work anyways. They have predicted a very strong storm since 2006. If they predict it every year they are bound to be right sooner or later.

It worked for Nostradamus. Who cares if youre wrong 2 million times, all you have to do is correctly predict famine or war in a place tbd later and BAM! Immortality.

[Eliseos]

But 2012 bro!!!11

[Mizango]

f3@r

[Max™]

A devastating Solar Max™, huh... for some reason I'm ok with this.

[Max™]

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/exoplanets.png

[Gadritan]

SOLAR ACTIVITY: On Sept. 4th around 1600 UT, a magnetic filament erupted, hurling a bright coronal mass ejection (CME) off the sun's northwestern limb. Today's edition of http://spaceweather.com features a close-up view of the blast from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. The CME is not expected to hit Earth. Nevertheless, auroras are possible in the nights ahead. A solar wind stream flowing from a coronal hole is heading our way, due to arrive on Sept. 5th or 6th. NOAA forecasters estimate a 50% chance of high-latitude geomagnetic activity when the solar wind hits. With the approach of northern autumn, Arctic nights are getting dark again--dark enough to see the Northern Lights. People in Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia should keep an eye on the night sky this weekend.

http://spaceweather.com/

[Eliseos]

Always make me wish I lived a few degrees north The last CME a couple weeks ago, I would have had to be around Green Bay to see aurora, which is ridiculous for how south those were.

[Eliseos]

Ok, homework question time. Doing a problem in Griffith's QM book (1.11) and it's about probability density. The problem itself states:

The needle on a broken speedometer is free to swing and bounces perfectly off the pins at either end, so that if you give it a flick it is equally likely to come to rest at any angle between 0 and π.
a) What is the probability density ρ(θ)?

I know that

http://latex.codecogs.com/gif.latex?...ho%20%28x%29dx

and I have
http://latex.codecogs.com/gif.latex?...%7D%7B%5Cpi%7D

then
http://latex.codecogs.com/gif.latex?...Cpi%7D%20=%201

but this density obviously won't work for intervals of +- infinity. I guess my question is, is this good enough since we know that the function is zero everywhere except between 0 and π?

EDIT: Sorry about LateX looking terrible for those of us with the black forum skin.

EDIT 2: Ok I'm dumb and forgot to realize that ρ(θ) = 0 when not in the range 0 to π so the integral would also be zero on those other ranges.

[Eliseos]

Some things we may take for granted might not actually be true:

ScienceDaily (Sep. 9, 2010) — A team of astrophysicists based in Australia and England has uncovered evidence that the laws of physics are different in different parts of the universe.

The team -- from the University of New South Wales, Swinburne University of Technology and the University of Cambridge -- has submitted a report of the discovery for publication in the journal Physical Review Letters. A preliminary version of the paper is currently under peer review.

The report describes how one of the supposed fundamental constants of Nature appears not to be constant after all. Instead, this 'magic number' known as the fine-structure constant -- 'alpha' for short -- appears to vary throughout the universe.
"After measuring alpha in around 300 distant galaxies, a consistency emerged: this magic number, which tells us the strength of electromagnetism, is not the same everywhere as it is here on Earth, and seems to vary continuously along a preferred axis through the universe," Professor John Webb from the University of New South Wales said.

"The implications for our current understanding of science are profound. If the laws of physics turn out to be merely 'local by-laws', it might be that whilst our observable part of the universe favours the existence of life and human beings, other far more distant regions may exist where different laws preclude the formation of life, at least as we know it."

"If our results are correct, clearly we shall need new physical theories to satisfactorily describe them."

The researchers' conclusions are based on new measurements taken with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, along with their previous measurements from the world's largest optical telescopes at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii.

Mr Julian King from the University of New South Wales explained how, after combining the two sets of measurements, the new result 'struck' them. "The Keck telescopes and the VLT are in different hemispheres -- they look in different directions through the universe. Looking to the north with Keck we see, on average, a smaller alpha in distant galaxies, but when looking south with the VLT we see a larger alpha."

"It varies by only a tiny amount -- about one part in 100,000 -- over most of the observable universe, but it's possible that much larger variations could occur beyond our observable horizon," Mr King said.

The discovery will force scientists to rethink their understanding of Nature's laws. "The fine structure constant, and other fundamental constants, are absolutely central to our current theory of physics. If they really do vary, we'll need a better, deeper theory," Dr Michael Murphy from Swinburne University said.

"While a 'varying constant' would shake our understanding of the world around us extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. What we're finding is extraordinary, no doubt about that."
"It's one of the biggest questions of modern science -- are the laws of physics the same everywhere in the universe and throughout its entire history? We're determined to answer this burning question one way or the other."

Other researchers involved in the research are Professor Victor Flambaum and PhD student Matthew Bainbridge from the University of New South Wales, and Professor Bob Carswell at the University of Cambridge (UK).

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0909004112.htm

[Kaylia]

Some things we may take for granted might not actually be true:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0909004112.htm

I hate how they worded it. It's not the law that change, it's our model that doesn't cover reality properly.


Either way, I really hope they are right about this. It would open up so many new possibilities of research.

[Psion]

Uh, just one problem. if the laws of physics really are different in different parts of the universe... What would happen if our galaxy went to one of those other parts? <.<; Would the local laws change to match our galaxy, or would ours chance to match it (and potentially kill everything in it... or maybe we'll all gain magic powers >_>), or would they remain the same, and our laws apply only to our galaxy, but if you wander too far away from it you're fucked?

That's even assuming you can reach one of those other parts of the universe, of course. <.<

[Kaylia]

Uh, just one problem. if the laws of physics really are different in different parts of the universe... What would happen if our galaxy went to one of those other parts? <.<; Would the local laws change to match our galaxy, or would ours chance to match it (and potentially kill everything in it... or maybe we'll all gain magic powers >_>), or would they remain the same, and our laws apply only to our galaxy, but if you wander too far away from it you're fucked?

That's even assuming you can reach one of those other parts of the universe, of course. <.<

We would need to determine the cause of this variation to answer the question. Is it caused localy by the amount of matter/dark matter? Is it some sort of structure specific to the universe (ie: closer to the center)?

I dont think life would be affected by a change of 1 part per 100000. There is definitively a point where it would, but most reaction are stable enough to survive such change. Considering there is still stars in these part of the universe, it probably doesnt change much to the nuclear fusion as well. I'm just taking a wild guess here though...I might be completely wrong.

[Max™]

Wonder if this is related to Lorentz violation at the smallest spacetime scales... interesting stuff.

[Tyche]

A guy on a photography forum I frequent posted a few of his videos with setup. A 5D mkII attached to a retracting dolly and 500-1000-frame timelapse photography. Compiled into a 1080p video...Guy who shot this has another video of a behind the scenes setup. It's quite disgusting. He's sponsored by Canon though, so he's not really out anything.

[Pirian]

Stars during the day always get me

[miokomioko]

It's not really "day" though... Exposures are so long that the ambient or moonlight looks bright enough to be from a sun.

Where have I seen that video from before? I feel like it was in Baraka. (A-fuckin-mazing cinematography and a bunch of cool slow-panning time-lapse shit in there)

[BerenTebogo]

Have some money left from FAFSA return and wanted to look into personal telescopes. I know there was a big discussion here a while back that I don't feel like sifting through. Want something that can go with a laptop or camera if possible.

Any suggestions? Links if you can please!