On the Nature of Things | Forum

Typhoon wrote:Virtual Tour | Wendelstein Plasma Fusion Physics Machine

Very impressive. Not just the technology, but also the intelligence, patience, funding, and the persistence necessary to build. No doubt tens of millions of man-hours needed to manufacture the components.

It is like looking at a modern automobile and being impressed, and then realizing the really impressive technology is the production equipment required to manufacture the car.

Final product is the tip of the iceberg. Lots of cultural appropriation necessary.

Quartz | A scientist captured a photo of a single atom

Simple Minded wrote:

Typhoon wrote:Virtual Tour | Wendelstein Plasma Fusion Physics Machine

Very impressive. Not just the technology, but also the intelligence, patience, funding, and the persistence necessary to build. No doubt tens of millions of man-hours needed to manufacture the components.

It is like looking at a modern automobile and being impressed, and then realizing the really impressive technology is the production equipment required to manufacture the car.

Final product is the tip of the iceberg. Lots of cultural appropriation necessary.

Indeed. I'm reminded of Milton Friedman's observation of the challenge of manufacturing something as simple as a lead [graphite] pencil from scratch.

Typhoon wrote:
Indeed. I'm reminded of Milton Friedman's observation of the challenge of manufacturing something as simple as a lead [graphite] pencil from scratch.

that's why I cringe when I hear SJW's or politicians talking about means of production/distribution or what is fair, or what something should cost. Left to their own devices, their lifespan would be measured in days.

As per Parodite's post on micro-aggressions, on one side of the divide you have the dude in Costa Rica mixing concrete in the wheelbarrow..... and on the other side of the divide you have "intellectuals" talking about how unfair it all is and that they don't need the deplorables who actually make stuff that enables their privileged lifestyles.

Simple Minded wrote:

Typhoon wrote:
Indeed. I'm reminded of Milton Friedman's observation of the challenge of manufacturing something as simple as a lead [graphite] pencil from scratch.

that's why I cringe when I hear SJW's or politicians talking about means of production/distribution or what is fair, or what something should cost. Left to their own devices, their lifespan would be measured in days.

Or environmental activists protesting fossil fuels while wearing the latest in synthetic outdoor wear manufactured from nat gas as a feedstock.

Simple Minded wrote: As per Parodite's post on micro-aggressions, on one side of the divide you have the dude in Costa Rica mixing concrete in the wheelbarrow..... and on the other side of the divide you have "intellectuals" talking about how unfair it all is and that they don't need the deplorables who actually make stuff that enables their privileged lifestyles.

It is remarkable how many of the chattering classes have no understanding whatsoever of the infrastructure of the industrial society in which they live:
what it took to achieve and what it takes to maintain it.

Reminds one of the Eloi and Morlochs of H. G. Wells, The Time Machine.

Agreed. I like the analogy of the Eloi and Morlochs. I need to re-read that classic.

Amazing what belief systems ignorance can lead one to adopt.

Two weeks ago I got into a discussion with a couple of New Age, touchy feely friends who believe in Climate Change. The look on my face must have said it all, since one replied "You think it's BS don't you?" I responded with "Of course, it's BS, just due to the claimed accuracy of measurement. Not only do the "scientists" claim they can measure the Earth temperature to 0.1 degree now, with modern technology, but they claim they can also retroactively do the same for thousands of years in the past." They frowned.

Then I asked my usual question of have they ever used a thermometer that can measure to within 0.1 degree. Answer was, of course, no (the answer always is "no" from the True Believers). So I suggested they buy one and then try to measure the temperature of even the smallest room in their house accurately to 0.1 degree over the relatively short time period of one hour. They looked puzzled (they always do).

Naturally, they immediately turned the topic of the conversation to Western civilization privilege, Western abuse of the environment, and the unfairness of wealth inequality both in the US and world wide. Their intent was that those were supporting data points for the argument that Climate Change is valid science.

Amusing. It never fails. The belief in "Climate Change" is synonymous to the belief of "Life is unfair." In my experience of talking to the True Believers, the two belief systems can't be separated. I think most politicians use a similar thought process to rationalize their meddling.

Funny how often some try to use "science" to support their personal prejudices....... It's a damn shame "physics" doesn't give a damn about our feelings.

RIKEN | At tremendous precision, the proton and antiproton still seem identical

A new super-precise measurement from the RIKEN-led BASE collaboration has placed new constraints on the difference between matter and antimatter, as part of the quest to discover why our Universe is almost only composed of matter. Using a novel two-particle measurement method, the group measured the magnetic moment of the antiproton at a precision 350 times higher than any previous measurement. The result, published in Nature, shows that the magnetic moments of the proton and antiproton are tremendously close, meaning that so-called CPT asymmetry--a key factor in the lack of antimatter--must be very small if it exists at all. CPT symmetry refers to the idea that if particles change in two of three properties--charge, parity, and time--must also change in the third, and is critical in understanding the imbalance between matter and antimatter.

Christian Smorra, first-author of the study adds, "By upgrading the experiment with several new technical innovations, we feel that some further improvement can still be made, and in the future, following the CERN upgrade expected to finish in 2021, we will be able to achieve an at least ten-fold improvement."

Nature | A parts-per-billion measurement of the antiproton magnetic moment

Absract. Precise comparisons of the fundamental properties of matter–antimatter conjugates provide sensitive tests of charge–parity–time (CPT) invariance 1, which is an important symmetry that rests on basic assumptions of the standard model of particle physics. Experiments on mesons 2, leptons 3,4 and baryons 5,6 have compared different properties of matter–antimatter conjugates with fractional uncertainties at the parts-per-billion level or better. One specific quantity, however, has so far only been known to a fractional uncertainty at the parts-per-million level 7,8: the magnetic moment of the antiproton, . The extraordinary difficulty in measuring with high precision is caused by its intrinsic smallness; for example, it is 660 times smaller than the magnetic moment of the positron 3. Here we report a high-precision measurement of in units of the nuclear magneton μN with a fractional precision of 1.5 parts per billion (68% confidence level). . . .

Science | Weird quantum particles {skyrmions] simulated in droplet of ultracold gas

Oddly, the discovery, reported in Science Advances, could yield insight into ball lighting, a rare and controversial electrical phenomenon that supposedly forms balls of electricity meters across that can float through walls and suddenly discharge like dynamite. One theory holds that ball lighting, like skyrmions, may be held together by electromagnetically knotted fields that are surprisingly stable.

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More on the diamond battery.

[A beta particle is an election emitted during radioactive decay.]

Ethan Siegel | Five Years After The Higgs, What Else Has The LHC Found?

It's now just over five years since the two major collaborations at the Large Hadron Collider — CMS and ATLAS — jointly announced the discovery of a new particle with never-before-seen properties: the Higgs boson. It was the first fundamental scalar particle ever discovered, the first particle with spin = 0, the first particle with a rest energy of 126 GeV, and the last predicted, missing particle from the Standard Model of particle physics. With the discovery of the Higgs boson, that Standard Model was finally completed. All the other particles and antiparticles had previously given way to direct detection, and with the Higgs, we've now found every particle that we can predict ought to exist. Yet there are a huge number of unsolved mysteries in physics, and over five years later, the LHC has shown us no new hints of what's next. Here's a recap of what the LHC has and hasn't found, and what it means for what's next.

I guess now that there are sex robots we need diamond battery rings too.

Hubble [telescope] finds an Einstein Ring

A big open question is why is more matter than antimatter exists in the universe.

Quanta Mag | Neutrinos Suggest Solution to Mystery of Universe’s Existence

Updated results from a Japanese neutrino experiment continue to reveal an inconsistency in the way that matter and antimatter behave.

This video isnt that great - the narrator is quite clumsy and doesnt really know how to construct an argument.

however!

this is the first example ive ever seen of quantum physics concepts being demonstrable in the kitchen via polarised light and cheap sunglasses, which is pretty nifty.

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Universal entanglement is a possible solution in understanding the fabric of space time

To the point at 1:09:53

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Backreaction | New results confirm old anomaly in neutrino data

The details for the curious: https://arxiv.org/abs/1805.12028

Typhoon wrote:Backreaction | New results confirm old anomaly in neutrino data

The details for the curious: https://arxiv.org/abs/1805.12028

Science | Reports of sterile neutrino’s resurrection may be greatly exaggerated

Typhoon wrote:More on the diamond battery.

[A beta particle is an election emitted during radioactive decay.]

More progress re nuclear - diamond battery

MIPT | Prototype nuclear battery packs 10 times more power

A well written press-release, btw.

Typhoon wrote:

Typhoon wrote:More on the diamond battery.

[A beta particle is an election emitted during radioactive decay.]

More progress re nuclear - diamond battery

MIPT | Prototype nuclear battery packs 10 times more power

A well written press-release, btw.

Sure but will it start my personal nuclear reactor on a cold winter's day

It is an interesting concept but I don't think it will be widely adopted any time soon given the negativity surrounding nuclear power.

https://www.wired.com/story/the-peculia ... of-nature/

The Peculiar Math That Could Underlie the Laws of Nature

Doc wrote:https://www.wired.com/story/the-peculia ... of-nature/

The Peculiar Math That Could Underlie the Laws of Nature

1/14

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11/14
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Very interesting work. Thanks for posting it.