MigL

Philosophy that ignores science is a Lewis Carroll 'rabbit hole'. And you know what they say of people who assume ...

Even what you consider moderate to highly 'plausible', is not. Never mind that last one concerning 'consciousness'.

I'm not well versed enough in QFT to know whether those fields have coefficients in the same way. Or they may be just defined as 1, as is the index of refraction. Keep in mind that permeability refers to the magnetic field and permittivity to the electric, and, since both have units, with a suitable choice they could both be set to 1.

True. All the fascist labelled states, Franco's Nationalists in Spain, Mussolini's Fascists in Italy, Hitler's National Socialists, and even Peron's Argentina, as well as Stalin's communists in Russia, Pol Pot's Communists in Cambodia and Mao Zedong's Communists in China used the same 'actions'. They were better classified as strong dictatorships where dissention is not tolerated, and results in death. The labels have no meaning because, even when you have a popular uprising to protest oppression by the wealthy few, as in the French Revolution, it soon descends into murdering chaos. It seems we humans only know one method. Instead of discussion to gain consensus, we choose to silence opposing ideas; in the extreme cases, mentioned above, by eliminating the people with the opposing ideas.

Those coefficients define ease or effort for radiation to pass through that medium ( or lack thereof ). For example, when we say the index of refraction of free space is 1, as opposed to glass at 1.5, is n=1 a property of space ? Or is it a lack of that property.

Why does everyone think there is a need to 'harmonize' Quantum Mechanics with General Relativity ? The two models are well suited to each of their areas of applicability. But there is no doubt that the universe is probabilistic in nature. This non-determinism is 'smoothed out' by large numbers to make it virtually deterministic at larger scales. We are currently at 18-19th century levels of understanding with the two models as we were with Newtonian particle dynamics of gases, and Thermodynamic theory of gases. It took Statistical Thermodynamics to bridge the gap, and give us a more inclusive view of Gas Theory. The large numbers of Statistical Thermodynamics 'smooth out' the transition between the two models; yet the two models also remain valid in their respective applications, and are still used. Some day we may have a model which bridges the gap between QFT and GR, incorporating the most fundamental ideas of both, but that won't mean current QFT and GR cease to be valid where applicable. I am certain, however, that whatever theory manages to bridge the divide, will not, in any way, mention consciousness ...

Don't know what Dima is on about, and I don't particularly care. But "The West is turning Fascist" ?? That's when labels stop having any meaning. You'll recall that Fascists and Communists ( which Russia still claims to be ) are ideologically opposed, and the eastern part of WW2 was fought about those ideological differences. And the reason, given by V Putin, for invading the Ukraine, and liberating its people from the oppressive Nazi fascists. Similarly, it seems that those we label fascists, like D Trump and his brown shirts ( who march on the Capital ) are V Putin ass-kissers and sympathizers. D Trump has said numerous times how much he admires V Putin, and how he'd allow him to have Europe if the Europeans don't pay their bills. This isn't a case of Nazis, Fascists, or Communists. Its despots, Democracies, and wanna-be despots who are willing to throw away our Democracy for personal gain.

What Mordred said. And present your ideas here for discussion, not through a pdf .

His epitaph " he changed Cosmology and particle Physics, 50 years before anyone else realized it "

I don't know ... The left and right sides of my face are always swapped in the mirror. Maybe 'handsomeness' has chirality 😄 .

Real let down. Couldn't even see the sun through the clouds. But it did get real dark at 3:15. I didn't think it would get that dark ( cars needed headlights, streetlights came on ) because I'm off at the western edge of the swept path which was going directly over Buffalo, NY. Cloudy/overcast until 3:45, then the Sun came out , and been clear and sunny the rest of the afternoon. Almost like it was done on purpose ...

Rooms are going for up to $800 in Niagara Falls. Sky is gray and overcast with occasional drizzle at noon. Not much chance of clearing up for 3 pm. Some people are in for a huge, and expensive, let down. You know, you can see an eclipse every day; all you need is a cardboard cut-out of a circle the same apparent size as the Sun, and hold it in front of your eyes ... ( might not work for you guys with binocular vision unless you hold it far away; 'luckily', I only see with one eye )

The interval is simply a distance, in the space-time co-ordinate system, calculated using the Pythagorean Theorem. Now you might ask "how is the temporal dimension converted to a distance". It is multiplied by a 'conversion' factor c , and because it must be orthogonal to the three spatial dimensions, we make it imaginary. IOW, the temporal distance is ict, such that when we square all the distances, using the Pythagorean Theorem to find the length of the hypotenuse ( aka distance between end points ), the temporal distance squared is always of the opposite sign as the spatial distances. The path taken by the sword, on the other hand, could be any one of the infinite number of squiggly lines/curves between the two endpoints. The only constraint on them is that they have to lie within the light cone for massive objects like swords. Don't overthink things.

Not related; except by the two end points/events. One is a separation, the other, a path dependent length. Reduce it to two dimensions to make it clearer. Going around, for example, a circle has the same start and end points so separation of the two points is zero; but the path length travelled is definitely non-zero ( for any R other than R=0 ).

The interval is the space-time distance between two events. The path-history of the sword is its worldline. Not necessarily the same.

Goats ??? I was thinking sacrificing virgins ...

Did not know that about Selenic acid. Thanks John.

Yeah. The people on the planet Lagash thought it was just the rantings of conspiracy theorists also ... Nightfall (Asimov novelette and novel) - Wikipedia

As the accurate measurement of the speed of gravitational waves, 5 years ago, ruled out any Modified Newtonian Dynamics theories that also require Dark Matter, and these results rule out MOND theories that don't require the addition of Dark Matter effects, I would think the last nail has been driven into the coffin of M Milgrom's theory.

Pure gold is resistant to all acids, except a mixture of Hydrochloric and Nitric, called Aqua Regia. I would think any mixture, or alloy, of gold would have its 'impurities' affected by other acids, so that might be a simple test ? sand off a few grains, and drop some readily available Hydrochloric or Sulfuric acid on them; see if you get any bubbling action.

Not sure about all of Europe, but Southern Europe, Italy in particular, is what I'm most familiar with, and house/building construction is mostly concrete/stone. In North America, at least for homes, it is mostly wood/insulation. One thing I found is that in the Summer's 35o temps, North American homes are brutally hot without air-conditioning, while Italian homes, with thick concrete walls, are actually quite comfortable. Then again, it could simply be the difference in humidity. I haven't much experience with European winters, but Southern Europe sees very mild winters, so a lot of places get by with fireplaces as opposed to central heating. ( however, that stone/concrete construction is a real bitch during an earthquake )

Was supposed to be clear skies in the Niagara Region allowing for three to four minutes viewing time, and the city of Niagara Falls has practically called a state of emergency due to the number of eclipse chasers/tourists expected. But now we're looking at better than even odds for cloudy skies. Then again, not like the weather forecasters haven't been wrong before. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Quote from Jurassic Park "Life will find a way ". The thing about life is that it adapts. Not to color of the parent star, but to the wavelength of highest intensity in the star's spectrum. Our sun, for example, emits a skewed bell shaped distribution of radiation, rising rapidly in the long wavelength region, peaking in the visible light wavelength, and trailing off gradually in the short wavelength region. It is no wonder that life on this planet evolved such that our eyes are most sensitive to visible light wavelengths, and that plants make use of the more abundant energy source at those same wavelengths. The skewed bell shaped intensity curve is called the characteristic black body radiation curve for the temperature of the emitting surface. For a blue/white star like Spica, the peak of its curve may be in the ultraviolet range, so life ( ? ) on a planet orbiting Spica, would not be adapting to a particular color, or chemical process, but would need to adapt to extreme amounts of UV radiation. Similarly, life on a planet orbiting a blue star like Rigel might have to adapt to even shorter wavelengths, not only UV, but also some amounts of x-rays, which would necessitate totally different chemical processes, as x-rays can ionize loosely bound electrons.

The Quantum Mechanical charge carriers in a semiconductor behave in non-deterministic ways, and we can model that with probability amplitude distributions. The transistors in the CPU and memory of the computer/phone you are posting with are essentially macroscopic and can be modelled with deterministic circuit theory. Both models, non-deterministic describing quantum particles, and deterministic describing circuit elements, give results accurate enough that the approx. 100 Billion transistors comprising CPU and memory of your device, run totally deterministic programs. Every single time ... no probability about it. Sometimes, even I find it amazing. So where is the contradiction ???

For myself, faith and religion, are not offensive ( as it may be to Moon ), because, although they lack any existential evidence, some people have a 'need' for them The delusion of faith, or religion, gives them peace of mind and relieves their fear of the unknown. I see no need to take a crutch away from an emotional cripple. So, while I have no need for it, I tolerate it. But when it starts getting 'in your face' with ridiculous garbage like 'revealed faith', most sensible people, and R Dawkins certainly is one, will push back. My respect for him has gone up even further. And by the way, didn't you guys ( Exchemist, Moon, Charon and JC ) read ... the OP only respects Physicists 😄😄 .