The Chat Thread

[Opus106]

So they ended up discovering that boson particle after all (and are trying to find out whether it is a Higgs boson or not)... 
hmm. After this major problem has (almost) been solved, I wonder how many problems that leaves physicists to tackle in order to understand the universe?...

(Mind you, the physicists were careful not to use the D-word in this context throughout their seminar. )

To answer your question: Quite a bit, even at the fundamental level. The two most popular are of course the members of the Dark Side which straddle both particle physics and cosmology. And we still don't know whether, once the properties of this particle has been pinned down with some confidence, new physics will emerge from it. But apart from the issue that usually appear in the papers, there are many unsolved problems (conceptual and technical/mathematical) in other sub-fields of physics.

[eyeresist]

Let's call them what they are: barbarians.

'Blasphemer' dragged from police station and beaten to death

Thousands of people dragged a Pakistani man accused of desecrating Islam's holy book from a police station in central Pakistan, beat him to death and then set his body on fire, a police official said.

The incident highlighted the highly charged nature of Pakistan's blasphemy laws, under which anyone found guilty of insulting Islam's Prophet or the Koran can be sentenced to death.

Sometimes, however, people take the matter into their own hands.

A senior police officer, Mohammed Azhar Gujar, said in the incident on Tuesday in Bahawalpur, a city in a deeply conservative part of central Pakistan, attackers stormed a police station where the man was being interrogated.

Gujar said the victim seemed to be mentally unstable. He was arrested after residents said he threw pages of the Koran into the street.

While the man was being questioned, some people started making announcements over mosque loudspeakers, urging residents to go to the police station and punish him.

Within hours, thousands gathered outside and demanded the man be handed over to them. Gujar said police tried to protect him, but the mob turned violent.

They burned several police vehicles and wounded seven officers before grabbing the man and dragging him into the street, where he was beaten to death and his body set on fire.

Gujar said the mob also attacked the house of an area police chief and burned his furniture and possessions.

[DavidRoss]

Let's call them what they are: barbarians.

I thought you favored political correctness that tolerates or approves everything except for Christianity, capitalism, and limited government?   

[eyeresist]

I thought you favored political correctness that tolerates or approves everything except for Christianity, capitalism, and limited government?

No idea why you thought that. I try to have my own opinions on everything. (For things I know nothing about, I try to have no opinion at all.) Try it some time.

[ibanezmonster]

(Mind you, the physicists were careful not to use the D-word in this context throughout their seminar. )

To answer your question: Quite a bit, even at the fundamental level. The two most popular are of course the members of the Dark Side which straddle both particle physics and cosmology. And we still don't know whether, once the properties of this particle has been pinned down with some confidence, new physics will emerge from it. But apart from the issue that usually appear in the papers, there are many unsolved problems (conceptual and technical/mathematical) in other sub-fields of physics.

Yeah, some of things that are undiscovered have surprised me. Gravity?  Though once you realize the technical difficulties of proving that something like a graviton exists, I can understand why. 
As long as they keep on making different theories, just maybe they'll be able to test some of them out and hopefully have success... (unless it's time travel, then screw them- after watching Steins;Gate, I'll never be able to look at CERN the same way again)

[PaulR]

So I just got back to Bowling Green about an hour ago, and found that it was 100 degrees within my apartment.  It is now down to 88.

[eyeresist]

As long as they keep on making different theories, just maybe they'll be able to test some of them out and hopefully have success... (unless it's time travel, then screw them- after watching Steins;Gate, I'll never be able to look at CERN the same way again)

I'm currently watching Ghost Hound

[ibanezmonster]

So, I was driving to the gas station just down the road from where I live (~3 minutes away, basically the closest business to my house- I also have a friend that works here), and I notice a ton of cop cars, the news van, and a ton of black people walking around outside.

What happened was some guy had been stalking a woman that was a manager at the Discount Auto Parts store right next to it, and in the morning, he shot and killed her, shot another employee who is now in the hospital, and was later shot to death by the cops. The woman was 56, but in her photo, she looked much younger. She actually had reported stalking yesterday and scheduled to meet the police to identify him in a lineup this afternoon, but she had to work and he killed her before she could do that. One guy who was interviewed said she was a very nice woman, too.

http://www.cfnews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/cfn/2012/7/11/police_investigating.html

[Karl Henning]

That's awful, lad.

[ibanezmonster]

That's awful, lad.

Yeah, and now I'm remembering that the last time I went to that shop, I'm almost completely sure that was the lady rang up my purchase. At least this sort of thing is not very common in my area and that it was only one crazy guy. Old people are usually way less violent. Unlike Chicago, with 1 or 2 murders each day. 

[Karl Henning]

And that's a downturn from the 30s . . . .

[ibanezmonster]

And that's a downturn from the 30s . . . .

Is it?

[Opus106]

XKCD's creator, Randall Munroe, has brought out a new website called 'What if?'. In it he answers "hypothetical questions with physics, every Tuesday." It's only 3 instalements old and quite fun. Beyond the regular geeks, if you know a child (is "young person" the politically correct term?) interested in the sciences, he or she will likely enjoy and learn something from this, especially in terms of making quantitative estimates and such.

http://what-if.xkcd.com/

The questions so far have been:

• What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90% the speed of light?
  
• What if everyone who took the SAT guessed on every multiple-choice question? How many perfect scores would there be?
  
• How much Force power can Yoda output?
  

Questions can also be submitted.

[Ataraxia]

Bored. 

[Elgarian]

Bored. 

Then you need Sita Sings the Blues. See the whole movie here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QkYOqI3jSM&feature=watch-now-button&wide=1

[Ataraxia]

Oh, that's what I need. 

Thanks.

[Elgarian]

Oh, that's what I need. 

Thanks.

Just wait till you find yourself watching it for the fourth time over within a week, and realising it's snuck into your top ten favourite films of all time list. That's what happened to me. I jest not, O Dave of The Inner Shed.

[Ataraxia]

Just wait till you find yourself watching it for the fourth time over within a week, and realising it's snuck into your top ten favourite films of all time list. That's what happened to me. I jest not, O Dave of The Inner Shed.

I will check it out, sir. Is it available on DVD?

[Elgarian]

I will check it out, sir. Is it available on DVD?

It's available (legally) for free here: choose the direct download option - you get a 4GB file which will burn itself onto DVD and make a running copy.

http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/wiki/index.php?title=SitaSites

If you want to see the most violent bit, it's here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_Z5GOgsiV4&feature=related

[ibanezmonster]

Today I visited some Disney resorts with my friend.

Here's what they look like:

Polynesian (inside)


Polynesian (outside)


Wilderness Lodge (inside)



The Wilderness Lodge has the coolest interior ever to just sit back and take some type of mobile device to play video games or something. It's all free to visit, too. Just walk around without paying and pretend to be a guest at the hotel and no one will ever notice.