Posted November 5, 2007 Ok, this is a thread for all the geeks and nerds, and just casual scientists. It's for posting of articles, asking questions, discussions, or just wanting to know more about what you did in school today. For discussion of biology, chemistry, physics, geography, and good old fashioned mathematics. Oh, and relevant XKCD cartoons are always welcome. :wink: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 5, 2007 Anti matter. Someone give me some sort of explanation that doesn't sound like a sell-out, plz. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 5, 2007 Chemistry got more awesome now we're doing A2. A few weeks ago we were handling 18M Sulphuric Acid (nasty stuff). Today we determined the melting point of the aspirin we made. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 5, 2007 Anti matter. Someone give me some sort of explanation that doesn't sound like a sell-out, plz. Most particles (bar the likes of, say, a photon) have a mass and charge. An antiparticle has the same mass, but opposite charge. Antimatter is where matter is made of antiparticles as apposed to regular particles. Yeah, that's a bit of a sell-out, I'll admit... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 5, 2007 i've always thought it was a bit of a sell-out :P but hey, can't disprove it, so... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 5, 2007 i've always thought it was a bit of a sell-out :P but hey, can't disprove it, so... Considering they make tiny amounts of antimatter at CERN, it's a bit late to disprove it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 5, 2007 Considering they make tiny amounts of antimatter at CERN, it's a bit late to disprove it. Evolutionists claim to be able to disprove Carbon dating, despite it being a tried and tested method! The claim that, due to lava from the 1995 Mount St.Helen's eruption being carbon dated as being several thousand years old, despite (at the time of dating) having only been on the Earth's surface for 7 years. This works because, as you know, when a volcano erupts, the lava comes into being, from no where. Wait a sec... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 5, 2007 Considering they make tiny amounts of antimatter at CERN, it's a bit late to disprove it. I was at CERN a few years ago ^^ And since I know someone who works there I went to see things only staff can, like them working on the particle accelarator Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 5, 2007 Currently reading Big Bang by Simon Singh. It's really good, so far about the history of astronomy - getting onto reletivity. Also, Fermat's Last Theorum by the same author is my favorite book ever. It's completely inspired by Maths side. Can't wait to do some more advanced maths - at the moment it's a bit dull. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 5, 2007 Creationism, someone care to explain what's so scientific about it that they want to teach it at schools? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 5, 2007 hmm antimatter, nice fun one there and I'm bored. Basically there are 12 basic particles and their antimatter equivalents, these are: quarks (which interact via strong, weak, electromagnetic and gravitational forces): up quark - anti up quark down quark - anti down quark charmed quark - anti down quark strange quark - anti strange quark top quark - anti top quark bottom quark - anti bottom quark leptons(which interact via weak, electromagnetic and gravitational forces): electron - positron electron neutrino - electron antineutrino muon - anti muon muon neutrino - muon antineutrino tau - anti tau tau neutrino - tau antineutrino The antiparticle equivalents have the same mass but the opposite sign for other properties, such as charge, strangeness, charm etc. Basically when a particle interacts with its anti particle equivalent they annihilate (to form 2 or more photons). Occasionally you get weird things like charmonium where the particle-antiparticle pairs orbit each other. Anyway, things like protons, neutrons, lambda particles, sigma particles etc (baryons) are made out of three quarks, each of the same nature (either particle or anti particle). A neutron for example is made from two down and one up quark. A proton is made from a down quark and two up quarks. An antiproton is made of a antidown quark and two anti up particles. It has the same mass as a proton but a charge of -1 (e - same as an electron). Mesons consist of a antiquark and quark and inclued things like a pion (pi+ is made of up quark and an antidown quark. pi- made of an antiup quark and a down quark.) Not only do antiparticles annihilate in pairs they are also created in pairs from high enough energy photons. so you have a vacuum and electron-positron pairs can randomly from if high energy photons are around. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 5, 2007 Creationism, someone care to explain what's so scientific about it that they want to teach it at schools? They don't teach creationism, they teach Intelligent Design (which is creationism in a cheap tuxedo). It's not science at all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 5, 2007 hmm antimatter, nice fun one there and I'm bored. I just bought 6000 Large Antimatter Cahregs on EVE Online. Those things are powerful at short range. quarks (which interact via strong, weak, electromagnetic and gravitational forces): up quark - anti up quark down quark - anti down quark charmed quark - anti down quark strange quark - anti strange quark top quark - anti top quark bottom quark - anti bottom quark As in the Quark gun from Half Life 1? tau - anti tau tau neutrino - tau antineutrino Tau Cannon? HL1? Hmm, science is crap. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 5, 2007 Chemistry got more awesome now we're doing A2. A few weeks ago we were handling 18M Sulphuric Acid (nasty stuff). Today we determined the melting point of the aspirin we made. Yet instead of doing the practical we just talked about video games and made you arm wrestle mark *good times* Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 5, 2007 Intelligent design is not science by definition. The whole idea is that any scientific theory should be able to be disproved. You have to be able to test it by using predictions it makes. You can never fully prove a theory, just prove that its the best guess we have for a set of observables at this time. Intelligent design however can never be disproved, because God did it. You cannot make predictions from it, and the answer to any problems with it, is God designed it that way and did it for a reason, mysterious or not. It's not science in the slightest. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 5, 2007 how do people stand on chimaras? bit controversial but the end resutls could be most benifitial. for those not in the know a chimera, in science terms, is an organism that contains the genetic information of anouther anmal. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 5, 2007 For some nice chemistry, have a look at 4f atomic orbitals. As for chimeras, I think that research into that area could be very fruitful indeed. This doesn't necessarily mean that it should be given the go ahead though, but I think that the sorts of experiments being proposed at the moment are probably acceptable. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 5, 2007 i read in the new sciencist this month about the 2 headed dog thats a chimera i supose?, but isn't a chimera what that whole thing about mixing human and cow genes was a few months ago? i didn't read much into it simply because i agreed with the move to do so Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 5, 2007 i read in the new sciencist this month about the 2 headed dog thats a chimera i supose?, but isn't a chimera what that whole thing about mixing human and cow genes was a few months ago? i didn't read much into it simply because i agreed with the move to do so A chimera is where you have two or more populations of cells that are genetically different from one another - you can even get chimeras as a result of blood vessels connecting fraternal twins. So in fact, the 2 headed dog would be unlikely to be a chimera as it would be a form of identical (rather than frateral - the genetic information would be the same) siamese twin, i.e. all the cells would have the same genetic information. However, the controversial ones are those containing genetic information from two (or more) different animals, such as when embryonic cells of one animal are implanted into those of another. Such experiments have actually been going on for quite a while, but it's when human cells or DNA is involved (such as in the incident a few months ago) that you get more people questioning whether the experiments are ethical. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 5, 2007 Currently reading Big Bang by Simon Singh. It's really good, so far about the history of astronomy - getting onto reletivity. Also, Fermat's Last Theorum by the same author is my favorite book ever. It's completely inspired by Maths side. Can't wait to do some more advanced maths - at the moment it's a bit dull. I read Fermat's a couple of months ago, twas brilliant! It really helped me appreciate the beauty of Maths and the struggles of intellectuals. When I get round to it, I'll start reading The Code Book by him, supposed to be just as good. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 5, 2007 hmm antimatter, nice fun one there and I'm bored. Basically there are 12 basic particles and their antimatter equivalents, these are: quarks (which interact via strong, weak, electromagnetic and gravitational forces): up quark - anti up quark down quark - anti down quark charmed quark - anti down quark strange quark - anti strange quark top quark - anti top quark bottom quark - anti bottom quark leptons(which interact via weak, electromagnetic and gravitational forces): electron - positron electron neutrino - electron antineutrino muon - anti muon muon neutrino - muon antineutrino tau - anti tau tau neutrino - tau antineutrino The antiparticle equivalents have the same mass but the opposite sign for other properties, such as charge, strangeness, charm etc. Basically when a particle interacts with its anti particle equivalent they annihilate (to form 2 or more photons). Occasionally you get weird things like charmonium where the particle-antiparticle pairs orbit each other. Anyway, things like protons, neutrons, lambda particles, sigma particles etc (baryons) are made out of three quarks, each of the same nature (either particle or anti particle). A neutron for example is made from two down and one up quark. A proton is made from a down quark and two up quarks. An antiproton is made of a antidown quark and two anti up particles. It has the same mass as a proton but a charge of -1 (e - same as an electron). Mesons consist of a antiquark and quark and inclued things like a pion (pi+ is made of up quark and an antidown quark. pi- made of an antiup quark and a down quark.) Not only do antiparticles annihilate in pairs they are also created in pairs from high enough energy photons. so you have a vacuum and electron-positron pairs can randomly from if high energy photons are around. Im doing all this quarks bollocks right this very module. Also on another note - if you put a cat in a box you dont know if its dead or alive therefore it could be both Addition - The only reason this quarks business is about is because a group of nutters thought that neutrons and protons etc cannot be fundamental (have nothing else making them up). + the list of quarks will keep growing ( what kind of name is 'top' or 'strange' for a particle) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 6, 2007 Fucking kidneys.. Yes, a -very- valuable organ as without them we wouldn't piss, excrete drugs, maintain our acid/bade balance, rid ourselves of waste, etc.. but they ruin my fucking weekends! Had to learn the anatomy, histology and the physiology of how they make piss; how and which hormones effect them; the pathology of a few nephropathies and renal failure. And add to that: the pharmacology of diuretics and testing methods = I've had no weekend and I'm tired. Boo. And wow, first post on about two weeks.. go me! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 6, 2007 I have to do an ecryption program in SCHEME. It's due wednesday. I have no idea what to do. lol Programming is a science too! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 6, 2007 Actually I think there pretty sure the list of quarks ends there. There was some such theory that thought it would that has been right about other things. Plus there's a nice symmetry having 6 fermions, 6 quarks, both divided into 3 "families". oh and the box thing, the pi0 is composed of which is a superposition of those two states. That whole quantum/nuclear stuff actually makes a decent amount of sense eventually if you just accept a few "interesting rules". PS: i know i asked last year, but would it be possible to add in a bit of mathematical equation writing stuff into this here comment writer please? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted November 6, 2007 I have to do an ecryption program in SCHEME. It's due wednesday. I have no idea what to do. lolProgramming is a science too! What's course are you taking? And what class is that? Would you care to elaborate a bit on SCHEME? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
