TonyMcC

This question has quite recently been explored in a thread by Steevey. "Why can't there be magnetic monopoles"

The control definitely says "frequency in Hz" and in an oscilloscope the X trace travels across the tube face at a given speed. Thus the trace lenth indicates time. Under the circumstances I am sure the program is faulty.

I have read through this thread and can't really see what point is being made. Certainly if you could go back to the early universe and predict that TonyMcC would come into existence in 1937 the odds against you being correct would be huge. I am happy with the idea that the laws of science allow for certain random actions to occur and the odds might even be infinite. But whatever the imagined odds, I am here. The odds are immaterial because no forecast was ever made. Starting from today, I might forecast that someone called Billy Blogs would be born in 9, Acacia Avenue in a village called Whatnonsense in 15632 and trigger events that will cause the unverse to collapse. I don't know what the odds against this are - and I don't see it has any bearing on whether I shall enjoy an afterlife or whether I am presently on one of several consecutive lives.

Made a silly slip in my post - I don't seem to be able to edit it. You obviously didn't spot it! The power you put into turning it will always be GREATER than the power you get from it.

To put it at its simplest, the more power you take from an alternator the harder it is to turn. The power you put into turning it will always be less than the power got from it. By the way, an alternator provides a.c. voltage so you couldn't use it connected directly to a d.c. motor - you would have to rectify its output first - another small source of lost power.

There are several recorded instances of people forced to leave aircraft in flight who have survived. http://www.greenharbor.com/fffolder/ffallers.html Additionally if you could somehow convert downward speed into horizontal speed just above a forgiving surface you would have a fair chance of survival. Racing motorcyclists often "come off" their bikes at this sort of speed and sometimes even get up and walk away. If an aircraft such as a Hercules flew at minimum speed a few feet above a smooth surface, perhaps carpeted in snow or wet to reduce friction, and you jumped out of the back you would have a fair chance of survival. I don't recommend it though and even in my younger days I certainly would not have volunteered! By the way, the case of Sgt. Nicholas Alkemade is particularly well documented as he was denied membership of the "Caterpillar Club" because he did not use a parachute.

That is one question - You are not allowed another question. Knowing which guard lies doesn't help you.

I think an image on the retina must be 2D. We get an impression of the 3rd dimension through binocular vision. A person with only one eye would have to make distance judgments using apparent size. The focussing of his one eye would also help in determining distance, particularly of nearby objects. Also if you are moving then parallax will give clues about distance. I don't see that there is some automatic link between moving and seeing. You can observe without moving and also move without looking. You decide if you want to move and your brain uses all available inputs in making the final decision.(IMO)

Steevey - Souds a bit like you are making a fixed earth the centre of a rotating universe. Even a Galileo would have to think about that.

Just wondering how you would know about the taste - lol.

What do we mean by time travel? Do we mean "I would like to be in this place in (say) 100 years from now?" If so, where will "this place" actually be in an expanding universe where everything including this world is constantly moving?

When I am asleep and dream I never know I am dreaming. For example if I am afraid in my dream and snap awake I remain afraid until I have worked out "it was only a dream".

I think you need to look into something which is very relevant to today's lifestyles. Perhaps you could look into personal transport and how it might be developed in view of today's views on global warming. You would probably consider vehicles powered by petrol, diesel, electric battery and hybrid versions combining a couple of those. You would probably look into streamlining, effect of vehicle weight, design of tyres and any other factors you can think of. You might consider what we do when the oil runs out. Anyway - best of luck.

How about a simple, almost non mathematical, look at the problem. Imagine a large number of people and each spins a coin. About half will get a "head". Record the number and tell them to drop out. Those left spin again and half of them get a "head". Record this number and tell them to drop out. It would seem that if you continue in this way until nobody is left you can make the required calculation. However, consider the case of an infinite number of people. You could expect one person to never get a"head". This will prevent you being able to make the required calculation (in my non mathematical opinion).

What you say is true. However for all practical purposes the capacitor is usually assumed to be fully charged after 5CR seconds.

Genecks - You have an awful lot to get over in 10 - 15 minutes. Keep it simple and keep it relevant to the experience of your audience. Ask them (get them to agree) that a train whistle apparently changes its pitch as it comes towards you, passes you and then travels away from you. Don't be afraid to make suitable noises EEEEEEEEOOOOOOO. Tell them this apparent change in pitch is known as Doppler shift and indicates whether the train is coming towards you or going away from you. Ask them (get them to agree) that if you shout across a valley you sometimes get an echo. The wider the valley, the longer it takes for the sound to cross the valley and return. So the time between the shout and the echo can be used to indicate distance. Get them to agree that if blindfolded in a room and someone talks to them the fact that they have two ears allows them to turn to face the talking person. Tell them the bat combines all three to good effect, but uses "Shouts" in a frequency above our hearing range. It emits short bursts of ultrasonic sound and listens to returning echoes. The time for the echo gives it range to target (insect?) and the pitch of the echo gives it target direction (basically moving nearer or further away). That coupled with large directional ears makes it an efficient hunter in the dark and allows it detect obstacles to be avoided (i.e make a mental "map" of its surroundings). If you can get that much over in 10 - 15 minutes you will have done well (imo).

Such a capacitor would withstand a very large voltage because of the thickness of the dielectric (and for the same reason have very small capacitance). However if the plastic dielectric failed you would probably find a small hole through it. Because of the thickness of the plastic, unless the foil sputtered and lined the hole, the capacitor would probably recover with air in the hole acting as dielectric.(imo)

First of all check the working voltage of the capacitor. If the voltage you are using to charge the capacitor is less than the working voltage you cannot over charge it. It will stop accepting charge when the voltage across the capacitor is the same as the applied voltage. If you use a voltage greater than the working voltage then the dielectric inside the capacitor may well fail. For some capacitors such as electrolytic capacitors this failure may be quite violent (explode). For others the dielectric will probably break down (flash over). In either case the capacitor will probably be ruined.

As long as we are not taking things too seriously, I would offer the following reason why the initial rock would not swing up and down for very long. I assume the earth's centre of gravity lies in the centre of the tube and that the rock will turn into viscous liquid due to heat as it passes through the earth. Call it the blob. However those parts of the blob off the centre line will experience a horizontal component of gravity due to being off centre. This is clearer if you consider the instant when the blob is in the centre of the earth. A piece of the blob that is off centre will experience a slightly stronger gravitational attraction toward the side of the tube nearest to it than it will toward the side furthest from it. Due to this horizontal component the blob will gradually become more disc shaped than spherical. This trend will continue until the disc comes into contact with the tube wall. Once this starts happening things will quite quickly result in a ring of molten rock in contact with the tube in the centre of the earth. SMF - I did say not really sure myself.

Drainage would be a problem if it was below the water table (which could be well above sea level).

SMF - Not really sure myself! Would we just be cooling the earth at a faster rate? How about the temperature of the molten rock changing as it moves to and fro causing it to expand and contract. Also being molten there may be convection currents inside it causing internal friction. Would these produce losses ? I don't really know - what do you think? Does this really apply to lumps of rock ( billions of atoms)? I thought this was only applicable to particles described in quantum physics. Would the oscillation you speak of be the same frequency as the original starting frequency?( apparently 1 cycle every 84 minutes)

I stand corrected. I knew the length of a day had increased and accepted what I found on the web.

What about radiating heat to atmoshere through the end caps of the evacuated tube? If a container of water sat on the end cap the water temperature would rise as the molten lump of rock came and went from it. This transfer of heat from the interior of the earth to atmosphere must (imo) involve losses. If you consider a development of this idea with a very wide hole and a huge lump of molten rock transferring enough heat to boil water you could use the steam to turn a turbine. This could only work for a relatively short time otherwise you would have a perpetual motion machine. Any other attempt to make the system do work for you is doomed to failure because it would damp out the oscillatory motion.

I would say none of the above. The best way, I feel, is to present your ideas face to face with those you wish to convince. This gives them the chance to question you. Obviously as part of your presentation you might use aids but personally I would advise against videos. It would be more effective to use a prepared slide show that can be easily interrupted to clear points that arise. If this sounds like suggesting something approaching a lecture there might be a reason for that! A forum such as this can work well as often you get quick and useful feedback from the other forum members.

Things can happen the other way round. If a nuclear explosion takes place a very strong electromagnetic pulse is generated which can knock out sensitive electronic equipment. This was a matter of some concern in the 1960's.