Large Hardon Collider

[Restrat]

Close.... flowing water!

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011...ars_Water.html

[Woozie]

Hmm, the article doesn't say whether or not the alien life that clearly exists on Mars is hostile towards humans.

[Eliseos]

Close.... flowing water!

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2011...ars_Water.html

Hot.

Now we'll see Congress cut the Mars rover funding because it doesn't produce anything of value.

[Chun Liroy]

I am back from my thread hiatus~! Just wanted to say I fucking love Through The Wormhole, it has so many interesting concepts, especially the last episode about different life forms, considering I'm a bio major

So this following summer, once I get my shit together for this coming school year, I want to do an internship at a hospital closeby. I assume the earlier I show interest, the better chance I have of getting one. Are there some typical requirements to be able to internship there? Other than networking and starting to get a foot in the door (and I assume a resume booster), is there anything I would most likely be able to take away from it, or will it probably be general grunt work (i.e. pushing people around). Thanks in advance D:

[Ferion]

I honestly don't know anything by direct experience, but it seems like the norm now for getting any kind of job is networking. You could start by just going to the hospital and start asking some questions and showing interest. Honestly the best people to ask about this would probably be career services at your school.

[Eliseos]

Fox Orders 13-Episode Sequel To Carl Sagan's 'Cosmos' Docu-Series With Seth MacFarlane Producing For 2013 Launch

After recently signing on to reboot one classic TV show, Hanna-Barbera's The Flintstones, Seth MacFarlane is taking on another iconic TV series, Carl Sagan's Cosmos: A Personal Voyage. Fox has greenlighted Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey, a 13-part docu-series from Family Guy creator MacFarlane and late Sagan's original collaborators – his widow, writer/producer Ann Druyan and astrophysicist Steven Soter. Envisioned as a successor to the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning original 13-part program, which was hosted by Sagan, the new Cosmos series will be hosted by renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. Underscoring MacFarlane's commercial appeal, Cosmos will air on Fox in primetime, something pretty unprecedented these days for a science documentary series on commercial American television. (The original series aired on PBS.) Fox will air Cosmos: A Personal Voyage in 2013, which is also when the network will launch MacFarlane's Flintstones reboot. National Geographic Channel, which will co-produce Cosmos, will air a same-night encore of the episodes following their broadcast on Fox. The project is being done outside of MacFarlane's overall deal with 20th Century fox TV. “Never more than at this moment in the modern era have we needed a profound reminder of the colossally important and exciting role that science, space exploration and the human quest for knowledge must continue to play in our development as a species,” MacFarlane said. “We should be vigorously exploring the solar system by now, and who better to inspire us to get there than Ann Druyan, Steven Soter, Neil deGrasse Tyson and, of course, Carl Sagan.”

A self-professed geek, MacFarlane hit it off with Druyan after the two met at a function some time ago. When she shared with him the idea for a new Cosmos series, MacFarlane immediately sparked to it and set up a meeting with Peter Rice, entertainment chairman of Fox where MacFarlane has 3 series on the air, Family Guy, The Cleveland Show and American Dad. That happened about a year ago, and after lengthy negotiations, Fox just closed all deals for the project to go forward. In September 2010, MacFarlane and Druyan appeared together on HBO's Real Time With Bill Maher where they shared their concern about the growing anti-science sentiment in American society, something Druyan attributed to "the failure of public education," which has "compartmentalized science to 20-40 boring minutes a week, maybe thought by a gym teacher." That is a far cry from the way her late husband taught about science. “Carl believed that science belongs to all of us,” Druyan said now in reference to the Fox series. “He wanted to convey the thrill of its cosmic perspective to the widest possible audience. I wish I could tell Carl what Seth’s leadership on this new Cosmos has made possible. Besides, I know how much they would have liked each other.”
According to the producers, the new series will tell "the story of how human beings began to comprehend the laws of nature and find our place in space and time. It will take viewers to other worlds and travel across the universe for a vision of the cosmos on the grandest scale. The most profound scientific concepts will be presented with stunning clarity, uniting skepticism and wonder, and weaving rigorous science with the emotional and spiritual into a transcendent experience."


Carl Sagan’s original series Cosmos, which was first broadcast in 1980, remains the most successful American public television series of all time and has been seen by an estimated 700 million viewers around the world. One of the signature features of the 1980s series were the groundbreaking for its time visual effects, which allowed Sagan to walk through space. The new series is expected to employ the latest special effects, though it is unclear if it will incorporate another signature element of the original, the catchy music by Vangelis. Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey will be produced by Druyan's Cosmos Studios. Ann Druyan, Seth MacFarlane and Cosmos Studios president Mitchell Cannold will executive produce along with Allan Butler of National Geographic Channel.

NDT up in this bitch.

[Tagus]

I am back from my thread hiatus~! Just wanted to say I fucking love Through The Wormhole, it has so many interesting concepts, especially the last episode about different life forms, considering I'm a bio major

So this following summer, once I get my shit together for this coming school year, I want to do an internship at a hospital closeby. I assume the earlier I show interest, the better chance I have of getting one. Are there some typical requirements to be able to internship there? Other than networking and starting to get a foot in the door (and I assume a resume booster), is there anything I would most likely be able to take away from it, or will it probably be general grunt work (i.e. pushing people around). Thanks in advance D:

Not physics related, but I just wanted to say that I think almost every single career that's hospital-related has become a niche specialty that you need specific 2-4 year certification for. I was a bio major for about a year because it's cool to study, but it's kind of rough out there to actually find a job. You're probably going to have to go into something specific. I know that's kind of a vague way to shoot a hole in a dream, but it's the truth. I mean, think about it... Lawyers go to school to practice law (although most of the lawyers I know can't find a job), Doctors go to school to practice medicine, Pharmacists go to school to practice pharmacy. Biologists go to school to... practice Biology? I'm not sure what that means beyond fucking bitches, but good luck after college with a broke-ass job at Enterprise Rent-A-Car (which, coincidentally, is the number 1 employer of new college grads for a variety of reasons, one of which being the fact that many college majors provide unemployable skill sets and focus on knowledge like the biological effect of lake michigan's shrinking size). Bio is kind of like the new psychology... it's fun to learn about but in the end it won't get you anywhere, unless you get good grades and get into grad school with a specific goal. I've been pretty much telling everyone that when in doubt (i.e., you are not going into med school/nursing straight out of the blocks), get your ass in pharmacy school as quickly as possible and don't look back. In 5 years you'll be making 100k a year minimum, and pretty much be able to call the shots about where you want to end up, be it hospital, retail, nuclear, etc. Other than that, the nuc med techs I talk to (including the lead techs for their departments), all hype up Ultrasound as what they wish they would have done, but I don't know if that is even a four year degree or what.

Edit: That's the shit your school won't tell you, because they want your money.

[Tyche]

Bio opens up a lot of possibilities in grad work, but I don't think I would major in it without the intentions of expanding upon it. Getting an intern/externship at a hospital isn't easy, especially around here. It's incredibly competitive among those who are attending school for the certifications that Tagus alluded to. What exactly are you wanting to do? As Tagus said, almost every position in the hospital has some sort of certification that goes with it, even jobs as menial as a CNA and lab tech.

With that said, I have a friend who majored in microbiology and she works for a company that makes baby formula. There are jobs out there, but it would probably be much harder to find them than if you had

[Chun Liroy]

Im on my phone right now so ill give you a short summary. I intend on going into the biotechnology field or genetics. I don't have the patience for the kind of people that a doctor would have to deal with. That said, I believed that either working in a hospital or attaining some sort of internship there would help out in some way (networking mainly). Even if its just pushing people around the hospital. I know a friend who is also going to be a college junior this past year got a really nice internship at a chemical plant. So I was looking to get some background info about this. That said, I know the difficulties about the field and what expectations to have, but you aren't going to persuade me

[Restrat]

You should look at finding a research position at a medical school with someone doing genetics research. A doctor isn't going to help you get into grad school, but a researcher with a good letter saying "they know how to do research" will guarantee it.

[Plow]

So... earth has rings! ...

Antiproton rings lol...

And not exactly rings like saturn, but like floating donuts that aren't actually around us.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14405122

There's a pretty cool pdf at the bottom about using antimatter as a fuel for future spacecraft as well.

[Cruzizzle]

I need some math help. I have a series of points like this:



I'm writing a program to draw in lines from a series of given points. In this example there should be 3 lines, a horizontal, an arc, and a sloped line.

The horizontal is easy, 0 slope between the two points.

The problem I need help with is determining the end/tangent point of the arc. Obviously I can just look at it and see where that tangent point is, but I need to do this mathematically so that a program can be given a series of points and figure it out.

[Kaylia]

I'm not sure I understand your question. If you could draw the line you're looking for on the graphics, it would probably help me.

Either way, if you want to find where the series converges (asymptote) from a limited set, you will need to know the equation that generated these points. Otherwise, you have to guess what form the equation might takes, but there is always the rist that you guess it wrong (it could be a polynomial when you thought it was 1/n²)

If you have to guess it, you could always try to make a projection based on the last 5-6 slopes, and find out where the delta y would converge based on this.

[Cruzizzle]

Here's a simplified question.

I have two intersecting lines and I want to put a circle between them and I need to find the tangent points.

[Cruzizzle]

Ok so I can figure intersection point easy enough with slope-intercept. Then if I bisect those two lines and run a line to the center point of the circle I can draw lines from tangent at 90 deg from my line to the center, then I can trig out the lengths and angles.

Now to figure out how to get x,y coordinates of that tangent point with length and angle from intercept point.

[Eliseos]

Doesn't it depend on the size of the circle you want?

[Cruzizzle]

Well yeah, I'm not looking for a specific answer I'm looking for the exact formula/logic to use in a program to calculate and locate the points.

I'm writing a program to automate the creation and release of manufacturing drawings for a product, drawing the geometry is only about 1/3 of the work, and it's getting so complicated from a programming standpoint that I may just say screw it and do all the other programming needed for this project and leave the geometry for last.

[Kaylia]

Here's a simplified question.

I have two intersecting lines and I want to put a circle between them and I need to find the tangent points.

Hopefully, this post will answer your question.

There is two pieces of information you need to know to solve the problem
#1 The radius of the ball (radius change the point of contact)
#2 The angle between both line ( wider angle also change the point of contact)

And if you want spatial coordinate, you will also need to set
#3 0,0 point
#4 two axis

This is the absolute minimum you need to solve the problem. If you got that (or anything equivalent), you can use basic trigonometry to find the 2 points you're looking for.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...-trig6.svg.png

If you want to find a tan point (which is essentially what you want here), you will have to find the length of the tan lines (which is given by r* tan(theta).

To find theta, you need to know the angle at E (which is the angle between both line/2), and the angle at A (90degree).
Theta=180-90degree-(angle between both line/2).

Once you obtain the length of A, all you need to do is convert it into x and y value that match the one from your system using pythagora or sines/cos equation.

[edit]
I will write a more complete example at home if you still need help.

[Cruzizzle]

Great Success! Thanks!

(defun gettang ( /  )

(setq m1 (getslope));ph
(setq m2 (getslope));ph

(setq r (getreal "\nRadius...:"));ph

(setq angi (atan (/ (- m2 m1) (+ 1 (* m2 m1)))));angle at intersection in radians
(setq angid (* angi (/ 180 3.14159265)));ref only
(setq ctrL (/ r (sin (/ angi 2))));distance from intersection to radius center
(setq tl (sqrt (- (* ctrl ctrL) (* r r))));distance from intersection to tangent

(setq ang1 (atan m1));angle of line1 with respct to x-axis in radians
(setq ang1d (* ang1 (/ 180 3.14159265)));ref only
(setq ang2 (atan m2));angle of line2 with respect to x-axis in radians
(setq ang2d (* ang2 (/ 180 3.14159265)));ref only

;pt1 and pt2 are any point on lines m1 m2 respectively
(setq pt1 (getpoint "\nPoint on Line 1..."));ph
(setq pt2 (getpoint "\nPoint on Line 2..."));ph

(setq b1 (- (cadr pt1) (* m1 (car pt1))));y1 intercept
(setq b2 (- (cadr pt2) (* m2 (car pt2))));y2 intercept

(setq xi (/ (- b2 b1) (- m1 m2)));x coordinate at intersection
(setq yi (+ (* m1 xi) b1));y coordinate at intersection

(setq x1d (* (cos ang1) tl));delta x line 1
(setq y1d (* (sin ang1) tl));delta y line 1

(setq x2d (* (cos ang2) tl));delta x line 2
(setq y2d (* (sin ang2) tl));delta y line 2

(setq xt1 (- xi x1d));x coord line 1
(setq yt1 (- yi y1d));y coord line 1

(setq xt2 (- xi x2d));x coord line 2
(setq yt2 (- yi y2d));y coord line 2

(setq tanpts (list (list xt1 yt1) (list xt2 yt2)))

)

[WahiGuard]

I am thinking about studying Astronomy(with minor is music) Since it seems most of you guys do astronomy or cosmology, Would I be at a disadvantage from not taking Calc in high school? I was only allowed to take up to PreCalc. I feel like I could work hard enough to understand the mathematics(even I wasn`t that great at it in high school) if I really love the subject of Astrophysics and the the Cosmos(which I do) Should I just work my way through multiple math classes, then transfer to a college that offers astrophysics or astronomy( del uni`s dont)

Has anyone known where the application of the math actually hindered a person from pursuing a career in this field?

Oh and for context I graduated in high last year did a semester of music(love it) But I still think of doing Astronomy about everyday. Highest math I took in high school was precalc and honors physics(the math was basic algebra)

Thanks in advance for any advice or comments.