MigL

Eise, is it just a coincidence, or does every discussion you're involved in, devolve into a discussion about definitions and semantics ? Just kidding; I do find it humorous though.

The odds against are probably even higher because advanced civilizations may only last for a comparative 'instant' compared to the age of the universe. The universe is large in extent and time. The mistake you're making, however, is that you only consider life as WE know it.

Everything is interconnected. Assume a tree falls in the forest today and there is absolutely no observer or listener, no matter what the distance. Sound being a series of pressure pulses means there would be other effects which would be noticeable tomorrow, when all the observers/listeners have come back. Tomorrow you may find a larger than expected amount of fallen leaves in the immediate vicinity which have been knocked down by the pressure pulses. If we had a better handle on chaos theory, tomorrow, you may find that a storm developed North-East of that location due to the pressure pulse disturbance. Tomorrow you may find that a lot of the wildlife has left the area or become skittish due to the loud noise. Etc. Etc.

A 'hidden variable' is something which changes and affects the outcome of experiments, but which is not accounted for by our Quantum Mechanical model or understanding. I don't think you've shown that any such thing exists. And no, that's not what Einstein was talking about.

A very non-sensical question. Like asking 'what would physics be like if physical laws ceased to exist ?'. You cannot set up a non-physical situation and ask what results physics predicts. Everything is interconnected. Would the weak force cease to exist if the EM force suddenly disappeared ? We only see them as separate or decoupled at low energies, but above 125 GeV they are one and the same. Similarily, some think that all four forces may be decoupled low temperature remnants of one force at Planck scale energies. Would removing one low temp aspect, such as gravity, also remove the other three forces ? And once you have removed the fields comprising these forces, what of the quantum particles ( bosons and fermions ) resulting from these fields ? In other words, what's left ?

NASA only releases CGImages to the general public, since the 'real' photographs show the aliens and their spaceships.

Nice statistics in your post #305 Tenoz. So poor peple are less likely to vote regardless of race. Maybe because they are working two jobs or loitering in the streets. It doesn't matter. It gives others opportunity to set oppressive agenda. Thanks for proving my point. Sorry typing on my phone. At a party but could not resist answering Happy New Year

So let me get this straight... If black Americans ( or hispanics or any other disadvantaged demographic ) had the opportunities that others have, if young people could get employment, or their parents had gainful employment so as to be able to send their kids to school and get an education, don't you think that would alleviate a lot of the discrimination ? You guys seem to see only racial discrimination against black Americans; I'm saying there is discrimination against every disadvantaged group of people, whether hispanic , middle eastern, SE asian or any other illegal immigrant. The common denominator is their unfortunate lot in life. THAT is what needs to change.

So... 1 - You don't know. 2 - There may be other factors involved. 3 - you don't understand. Come-on, I know you can do better. Police officers spend the better part of their day just driving around, not chasing criminals or making traffic stops. If a cop is driving around, people standing about without a purpose are likely to get his attention. While its true that 'streetwalker' prostitutes may have been molested as kids, they would also not have finished an education, and would be stuck in menial jobs, if they could find one in today's economy. It is usually a series of causes, not a single one, that leads to that lot in life. And as for street gangs, maybe there are none in sunny SoCal, but in any other inner city, a group of males hanging out in front of an apt. building, in the middle of the day, usually draws police attention. And sure, you gave a breakdown of property crimes by offence. Nice statistics. Now see if you can find how many of those crimes were committed by people with a steady income. I'd wager its a very small minority.

Thanks for the link. And thanks for not reprimanding me for not doing the search myself.

Oh, you don't need much knowledge of a subject to play Devil's advocate, you just need to get the ball rolling until others take over. Lets assume there was a cover-up to hide the 'real' assassin. The first criteria would be who stands to gain from the assassination, and that the truth NOT be known ? This rules out the Mob, as they like to 'send a message'. One could make the same argument against Cuba/Russia and other foreign interests. That leaves domestic players such as the CIA/secret service, disgruntled citizens, husbands of all the women he slept with...

While all you say is true, please address my three examples. If you watch any episode of 'Cops', you'll see the amount of attention these three examples get. Do affluent people commit B+E as much as disadvantaged people ? Do affluent people prostitute themselves as much as the disadvantaged ( other than in Hollywood ) ? Do the affluent join social clubs or street gangs ? If you're going to commit petty theft, or stand around on a street corner ( as a prostitute or in a gang ), you are going to draw police attention. It really is that simple. I would guess that the answer is not to turn a blind eye to the petty theft or hangin' out on the street corner in the interest of 'fairness' or 'equality', but to give these people gainful employment and make them a part of an inclusive society. ( notice that the above could apply to any race or color, even to 'white' people, and it often did, early in the last century to Italians, Irish and other Europeans )

Hmm...cheese sandwich !

Sensei has no sense of humor.

As swansont and Janus have pointed out, Michel123456, the fact that galactic rotation doesn't abide by Kepler's rule is what has prompted investigation into the 'hidden massive halo' around the galaxy. So, Janus, when a large collection of stars, dust and gas, come together gravitationally, they form an irregular galaxy. As it keeps collapsing, conservation laws ensure its rotational speed increases and central density creates a massive, active black hole. This would be the elliptical stage. After several revolutions, the activity of the central black hole has subsided, and the 'traffic jams' that arise during the revolutions, have resulted in clearly delineated spiral arms where most of the stars, dust and gas are now located. This would be a 'mature' galaxy, and the spiral arms would get more and more pronounced with subsequent revolutions. It does make sense. However, I recall a type of galaxy called a 'barred' spiral, Where would such a beast fit in, and how would it arise ?

The other consideration is that mass is not the only factor in the curvature of space-time. Energy, although closely related to mass, is another factor. The quark/gluon binding energy that Timo spoke of is a good example. While the mass of an 'individual' quark is only a couple of percent of a proton/neutron mass, and IS due to Higgs interaction, the other >90% is due solely to the strong force binding energy. I'm not sure if I said it any differently than Timo .

I have come to consider quite a few people on this forum my friends. You are certainly one of them Ophiolite. And just like I have many friends who I may disagree with from time to time, as I'm sure you do, that is no reason to dissolve a friendship.. I respect your wish to leave, but hope you reconsider.

Wouldn't North Korea have tried something when "Team America" was released 4-5 yrs ago ? That certainly poked fun at them ( " F**k-you Hans Blix ! " ).

There are two long range fields, of which at least one, the EM field can be quantized. Quantum field theory demands quantum particles to act on and 'carry' it. If gravity is quantizable it will also add new quantum particles, as well as the scalar field responsible for Higgs particles. The vacuum is therefore awash with virtual particles, popping in and out of existence. Incidentally swansont, just this one time, Kramer may be onto something, as these virtual particles may provide Cosmological Constant ( anti-gravity ) and fuel inflation/expansion.

I don't think anyone has ever had the ba*ls to call swansont befuddled. Personally I agree with you 100%. The buildings were brought down by explosives. ( Several belly and wing tanks filled with JP-4 fuel, similar to kerosene, which fuels jet engines, exploded, or at least fire-balled in the interior of the buildings and weakened the central support structure. Is that what you meant ? )

Darn. I thought we could have another dust-up.

Crap movie. Maybe it was a publicity stunt to generate interest in a bad movie, that spiraled out of control; now they all look like idiots. Really ? North Korea hopes to destroy America by attacking Hollywood ?

Your reply is very telling Willie71, you immediately throw down the ignorant racist card. Lets take out the race factor altogether so it doesn't further inflame the discussion. What would your answer be to the question... " do socially and economically disadvantaged people bring police attention to themselves ?" I think you would have to answer yes. This may not be right and it may not be something they want to do, but it happens in larger numbers than the rest of the population. Their actions are dictated by need. An affluent person may be able to support their cocaine habit, but a street kid may have to do break-ins to buy crack. You or I may be able to feed our kids, but a jobless single mother may have turn to prostitution to make ends meet. If your father left when you were young, and your mother has to work two jobs to survive, and you dropped out of school, would you join a gang and 'loiter' to pass the time ? I can give more examples if needed. Unfortunately socially and economically disadvantaged people gravitate towards these and other kinds of activities more than the norm. and these are the kind of activities which draw police attention, whether justly or unjustly. So the question you should ask " is the black population of Ferguson and similar towns, affluent, or are they socially and economically disadvantaged ? Notice that I don't ask whether it is their own fault or the fault of society, nor whether the police attention is justified or not, but simply whether they fit into that demographic which draws police attention more than the population average. And would you consider this "bringing it on themselves" or allowed because of circumstances ? Keep in mind that we are looking to rectify the problem, not assign blame !

Geez, I know my vision is really bad, especially at night, but how many galaxies, far enough away to have a noticeable redshift, can you see with the naked eye, Dekan ?

There is anti-gravity at certain points between massive bodies ( like Earth and Moon ). Unfortunately as soon as you move away from that point, the anti part is gone, and you plummet back down.