06 FEB 2015 by ideonexus
The One-Electron Universe
I
received a telephone call one day at the graduate college at
Princeton from Professor Wheeler, in which he said, "Feynman, I
know why all electrons have the same charge and the same mass"
"Why?" "Because, they are all the same electron!" And, then he
explained on the telephone, "suppose that the world lines which
we were ordinarily considering before in time and space - instead
of only going up in time were a tremendous knot, and then, when
we cut through the knot, by the pl... 1 
notes
notes29 MAY 2014 by ideonexus
Cosmic Gall
Neutrinos, they are very small.
They have no charge and have no mass
And do not interact at all.
The earth is just a silly ball
To them, through which they simply pass.
Like dustmaids down a drafty hall
Or photons through a sheet of glass.
They snub the most exquisite gas,
Ignore the most substantial wall,
Cold shoulder steel and sounding brass.
Insult the stallion in his stall,
And, scorning barriers of class.
Infiltrate you and me. Like tall
And painless guillotines, they fall ...
1 Neutrinos wonderful or crass?
15 NOV 2013 by ideonexus
Beliefs are Like the Charge in a Battery
Inculcating a belief is like charging a battery. The battery is thenceforward disposed to give a spark or shock, when suitably approached, as long as the charge lasts; similarly the believer is disposed to respond in characteristic ways, when suitably approached, as long as the belief lasts. The belief, like the charge, may last long or briefly. Some beliefs, like the one about Hannibal, we shall probably retain while we live. Some, like our belief in the dependability of our neighborhood cob...Folksonomies: belief reinforcement
Folksonomies: belief reinforcement
1 notes
notesSome reinforce with use (charging), while others vanish from the mind because they do not recharge.
17 JUN 2013 by ideonexus
The Strategy of Releasing All Data
The response many organizations adopted then
(and continue to pursue AF) is to provide overwhelming
amounts of data to the public. This
provided a two-fold defense. First, it allowed immediate
deniability to any charge of withholding data.
Second, the sheer volume of data available meant
that almost any argument could be made or refuted
with selective referencing and correlation to other
publicly available information. This is a rapid, cheap
response that puts the onus back on the accuser to
... 1 notes
notesInteresting idea: be completely transparent, releasing so much data that any hypothesis can be cherry-picked from it, then hire spin-doctors to do just that.
23 MAR 2012 by ideonexus
Measuring the Intent in a Child's Smile
It is well-known that those who have charge of young infants, that it is difficult to feel sure when certain movements about their mouths are really expressive; that is when they really smile. Hence I carefully watched my own infants. One of them at the age of forty-five days, and being in a happy frame of mind, smiled... I observed the same thing on the following day: but on the third day the child was not quite well and there was no trace of a smile, and this renders it probable that the pr... 1 notes
notesDarwin describes his methodology for determining if his infant's smile was intentional.
12 DEC 2011 by ideonexus
Implications of M-Theory
Whether M-theory exists as a single formulation or only as a network, we do know some of its properties. First, M-theory has eleven space-time dimensions, not ten. String theorists had long suspected that the prediction often dimensions might have to be adjusted, and recent work showed that one dimension had indeed been overlooked. Also, M-theory can contain not just vibrating strings but also point particles, two-dimensional membranes. three-dimensional blobs, and other objects that are more...Folksonomies: quantum physics m-theory
Folksonomies: quantum physics m-theory
1 notes
notesM-Theory allows for multiple Universes and 11 dimensions.
12 DEC 2011 by ideonexus
QED Explained
Feynman's graphical method provides a way of visualizing each term in the sum over histories. Those pictures, called Feynman diagrams, are one of the most important tools of modern physics. In QED the sum over all possible histories can be represented as a sum over Feynman diagrams like those below, which represent some of the ways it is possible for two electrons to scatter off each other through the electromagnetic force. In these diagrams the solid lines represent the electrons and the wav... 1 notes
notesA good description of the Feynman Diagrams from QED and how the infinite possibilities must be accounted for in mathematics dealing with them.
07 SEP 2011 by ideonexus
A Young Professor Plank
There is a story that once, not long after he came to Berlin, Planck forgot which room had been assigned to him for a lecture and stopped at the entrance office of the university to find out. Please tell me, he asked the elderly man in charge, 'In which room does Professor Planck lecture today?' The old man patted him on the shoulder 'Don't go there, young fellow,' he said 'You are much too young to understand the lectures of our learned Professor Planck'. 1 notes
notesAn amusing anecdote.
