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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Why can you not exceed the speed of light?

« on: 01/10/2008 00:23:48 »

Why the focus on the infinitely large E? With constant energy, I would suspect that smaller masses would achieve the same effect.
I'm way out of my league here and this is a very simplistic approach. But, if you rearrange the equation, you get c=sqrt(E/m). Given that c is a constant, the ratio of E/m must be constant. Therefore, one must conclude that at infinitely small mass, energy must be equally small (something like zero)? Perhaps in this realm of the unbelievably tiny, energy and mass are so much alike that they are actually entangled. What happens if that entangled state were disrupted? Would E still = mc^2?
Just a random thought......

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General Science / Re: Do you believe that UFOs are real?

« on: 03/09/2008 23:18:29 »

The way you ask the question gives away your position. You chose the word believe. This implies that you have no data. If you had data, you should be able to produce the evidence and others should be able to verify your results or come to the same conclusions. In this case, the answer is obvious.

Regarding the larger questions:
1. Is it possible that life exists elsewhere in the universe? I would suggest that given the enormous number of stars and planets the probability is quite high. Thus, my answer is based solely on a statistical argument.
2. Is it possible that earth has been visited (within the past few thousand years) by beings from another world? I would again, refer to the observational data (the vast distances between the stars and our current understanding of the laws of the universe). Based on this data, I would suggest that the probability is extremely low.

I would discourage anyone from using the word "believe" or similar term to express a conclusion or to put forth a scientific argument. The term is founded in philosophy and carries personal biases into the discussion. Thus, any conclusions based on "belief" are subject to scrutiny.

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Question of the Week / Re: QotW - 08.07.27 - Drinking Water that Dinosaurs Drank?

« on: 26/07/2008 02:31:04 »

Extremely unlikely. Water reacts in numerous ways in nature. It reacts with rocks and other materials to form oxide, hydroxides, etc. It also is consumed in biological systems and is incorporated into the living tissue in various molecular forms or excreted in some form back into nature. The odds of the exact H atoms recombining with the exact same O atom is extremely remote.

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General Science / How does Ammonium Sulphamate kill tree roots?

« on: 26/07/2008 02:16:29 »

This link pretty much sums it up -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium_sulfamate