MigL

Two examples... Iraq under Saddam Hussein was way more stable than in today's 'democracy'. Yugoslavia under Tito, lasted 50 yrs, and then broke up within two yrs when he died.

Personally, I have a lot of respect for people who advocate for the ethical treatment of animals. They've been able to convince a lot of super-models to get naked. I've never been able to convince a single one !

Any inflammation of the lining of the lungs, whether due to corrosive agents ( acid reflux, acidic vapours, etc. ) or irritants ( asbestos, coal dust, silicon, etc. ), will lead to the formation of scar tissue, or a 'thickening' of the lining. This effect decreases the lung's ability to pass O2 and CO2 in and out, leading to fluid build-up in the lungs ( pneumonia ). Once the symptoms become noticeable it is usually too late, as too much scar tissue has already formed, and the only short term remedy is massive amounts of steroids ( to inhibit scar tissue formation ). A ventilator can usually force O2 into the lungs, through the thickened membranes and into the blood, but there is no way to force the cO2 out through the thickened membranes, and death occurs through CO2 poisoning. Sometimes this is mis-diagnosed as heart failure ( due to a heart attack ) and the wrong treatment prescribed at a time when the steroid therapy may have still bought some time. My late father died of this.

Mordred is still right... All observers will measure the speed of light to be c, in their own frame. If you're going to measure it from a different frame, your results may vary. AFAIK, the speed of light doesn't change due to gravitational fields. Its wavelength, and therefore frequency, does. A BH is not black because light stops, but because its wavelength becomes infinite climbing out of the BH's gravitational well ( as predicted by gravitational time dilation ). I'll have to read up on the Shapiro time delay, Spyman.

Information, to the rest of us, refers to the collective properties of a system. What does it mean to you ? ( this applies to your other thread also )

Do you understand the difference between velocity and speed, tar ? Momentum is mass x velocity, while kinetic energy is 1/2 mass x speed squared. As swansont and studio have stated, a mass can bounce off a wall, or a pendulum can swing in the opposite direction, and have a negative momentum ( opposite direction ) while retaining the same ( nearly ) kinetic energy.

My impression was that the agreement was to facilitate movement across the common borders of member nations. As England and Ireland are islands, they have no borders common to any other nation. Does Schengen even apply to them ?

I concede that Germany wasn't the best example; maybe Russia under Stalin would have been better. Germany was originally used for familiarity reasons. Most people know of Germany's rebuilding in a 20 year span to again threaten the major powers of the world. Not too many are familiar with Stalin's 5yr modernization plans and their effects on the Ukraine.

Wasn't one of them also quite crazy ? Or am I thinking of someone else ( Boltzman perhaps )

The fact that looking at a distance is looking into the past provides proof that 'mass getting smaller' is not an accurate description. As others have stated, there would be changes ( to fundamental forces and constants such as c and G ) that would be noted in observations. The fact that there is no outside edge to the universe or anything for it to expand into, is also not an accurate description. The separation between things is increasing and that is perfectly consistent with a possibly infinite universe and observation. After all, an infinite number line going from 0 to infinity in units of 1, can easily expand by increasing the separation to units of 2. It is still infinite but hasn't expanded 'into' anything.

I really don't know what went on 'behind the scenes'. And I've had run-ins with xyzt before, myself. But was a ban really necessary ? Would a suspension not have sufficed ? He was a very good resource on GR. Ang judging by the posts made today that 'MAY WIN A NOBEL PRIZE', maybe his attitude is justified sometimes.

Ahh, but the resentment of the German people, to the reparations imposed on them, was what Hitler exploited to advance his agenda which was, if not initially war, the retaking of all German speaking lands, and punishing the French and Russians ( not necessarily the English, whom Hitler may have actually favoured, as indicated by the Dunkirk pause or hesitation ). The war machine then fueled the economy in the 30s. Similarily with Stalin, his 5 yr plans were paid for with the lives of Ukranians, from which he took grain so that they starved to death by the millions, and used it to pay for modernization, bringing a largely agricultural nation at the beginning of his 'rule', to one that could challenge any western power in terms of technology by the end. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I approve of the methods, or that the end justifies the means. I abhor what these people ( and Mao ) did. But the fact remains that its easier to get things done ( whether good or bad ), if you don't give a damn about people and you can't be voted out of office. That was the only point I was trying to make.

Once you let go of the classic, deterministic interpretation of waves and particles ( contiguous or not ) at the quantum level, and accept that quantum particles ( definitely different from classical particles ) are governed by probability, as specified by the equations and theory, you realize that their behavior isn't 'strange' at all. It is our trying to re-interpret these quantum effects in terms of classical rules that is strange. But of course TV programming has to appeal to a wide audience, and so past and even current programs on the subject always stress this 'wow' factor, as it would be a fairly dry program otherwise, and only appeal to a few viewers ( just us nerds ).

Cut it out xyzt. You being nice to people just seems...weird !?!?

I'm surprised no-one has pointed this out yet, so allow me... Comparing speeds and times across differing frames of reference is a mistake every newcomer to relativity makes. I'm sure even xyzt confused frames when he first started studying the subject. It does not matter which of Bill or Bob is moving at near light speed, they are in different frames, and exactly thirty years will elapse for either/both, as measured in their OWN FRAME. What you are trying to do is determine the elapsed time in Bill's frame from Bob's frame. That can only be done once there is an acceleration involved, and both Bill and Bob are back together in the same frame. This applies to translational ( moving ) frames and gravitational frames. You would do well to take some of xyzt's advice, and pick up an introductory textbook on special relativity. The math is not very complex, and it should answer most of your questions. Just remember that there is no absolute or preferred frame, so you can always pick a frame where you are at 'rest' compared to everything else, so speeds and elapsed times will also be unique to your 'rest' frame and different from other frames.

I'm at work iNow, so I can't watch the video you posted. Sorry. I hope he announced some actions that will be taken to ensure these incidents don't happen again. The time for rousing speeches is past, actions need to be taken before more of these incidents tear the country apart

Constant volume pumps have similar inlets and outlets as they do not rely on the larger pressure of the larger diameter to move fluids at a higher speed in the lesser diameter. Think of a piston in a cylinder. With the inlet valve open, the cylinder fills up, then the inlet valve closes and the outlet valve opens. The upward motion of the piston then forces the fluid out, such that ( downstream of the outlet valve ) the fluid is at the same pressure a9 and hence volume ) as upstream of the inlet valve.

Haven't read the whole thread, just skimmed through it, but I believe its been mentioned several times ( by AJB or xyzt ) that 'now' is only defined ( extremely ) locally and is undefined globally. Even over relatively short distances, like Earth to moon, there is a problem with defining 'now'. In GR past present and future are 'fixed', and it is the 'window' of the present or the 'now' that translates forward along the time dimension. That extremely thin window is the only part of the time dimension that we can interact fully with.

Shhhhhh... Don't tell Mike Smith about this or we'll never hear the end of it.

Up until just a few years ago you needed to actually set a jumper on the board to enable 'flashing' of the ROM. Today, a soft switch is usually set in flash memory to enable writing. More convenient, but also more vulnerable.

You are such a 'Trekkie', Moontanman. It takes waaaay toooo looong to communicate with the federal government. And I imagine its the same in every other country. Can you imagine trying to get something done with a world government ? Or, even worse, getting your PassWorld Document renewed with the Galactic Government.

I'm sure she's a very lovely and understanding woman, Mordred. After all, she doesn't complain about you having you nose stuck in a book or computer screen all day, and not helping with the chores or cooking, does she ?

But isn't that the accepted use iNow ? For example, if I said... "I'm skeptical we will ever find a cure for cancer" or " I'm skeptical that string theory will lead to a unified theory" These are both 'gut' instincts and cannot be proven/disproven by me or others, and are both made from a position of ( admitted ) ignorance. The only difference is, that given evidence, I will change my mind about these 'gut' instincts. So maybe the problem is not skepticism, but stubbornness.

In the equation inch = X*centimeter where X=2.54 cm/in the units on either side of the equation are 'bananas' and 'umbrellas'. It is the proportionality constant, X, which makes them equivalent. I, and swansont, assure you that both the 'bananas' and 'umbrellas' are units of distance

I agree with ACG. Why would anyone ask dating advice from a bunch of nerds and geeks like us ? But seriously does 2 yrs make that much difference in maturity ? Are her interests that much more childish ( or you that much more mature ) ? Before you answer, remeber, we've read your posts ( joking ).