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New Theories / Re: Universal Utopia? What's The Universal Terminal Goal?
« on: 18/01/2025 17:26:14 »Wrong. There is no objective in evolution.There is. It's to be better at survival.
An outcome is not an objective.
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An outcome is not an objective.
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New Theories / Re: what is temperature?
« on: 18/01/2025 13:28:00 »
I am well aware of the absorption spectrum of water, as should be anyone with an interest in meterorology and climate change. Unfortunately the makers of infrared heat lamps do not share your profound knowledge!
Transparency does not imply zero attenuation at all frequencies, just usefully low values at important points on the spectrum.
Transparency does not imply zero attenuation at all frequencies, just usefully low values at important points on the spectrum.
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That CAN'T be true! / Re: What is Learning
« on: 18/01/2025 10:52:07 »I want to learn to love the smell of equations in the morning. I want to smell something when I read a paper on braided quantum groups.The purpose of teaching is to short-circuit the process of learning the hard way.
What distinguishes humans from other animals is that we record anything that is too trivial to remember* so we have a huge amount of "possibly useful" knowledge to pass on to the next generation, an even greater amount of vaguely entertaining nonsense like philosophy and economics, and tons of really dangerous drivel like religion.
The process of learning really needs to begin with deciding what, from this great pile of information and opinion, might be useful or amusing. A national curriculum presents the consensus of potential employers and various parasites as to what they think it would benefit them for you to know, plus just enough intellectual bread and circuses to stop you questioning their authority and thank them for introducing you to art and music.
So how can we inculcate instead a sense of wonder, exploration, and delight in knowing? In my case, it all happened by being taught backwards, or at least being introduced to practical applications at a very early stage in the learning process. The most spectacular was a 5-minute exposition of Bernouilli's Theorem followed by a 30 minute ride in a glider "to see if it actually works". From then on the classroom sessions on aerodynamics, thermodynamics, meteorology.....were unforgettable glimpses of how to make it work better, always backed up by practical demonstrations and a debrief to see if I had understood what we had done and apply the knowledge to a different circumstance.
Many if not most UK universities used to be technical colleges. Given the depressing rates of graduate unemployment and underemployment, I am now advocating that all undergraduates should spend at least the first six months of whatever course they have signed up for, learning a practical trade. At that point I suspect a fair number will opt to become plumbers or whatever and pursue a course that discusses hydraulics and metallurgy, with real enthusiasm, and those who choose to stick with Eng Lit will at least be able to build decent scenery when they become assistant stage managers or band roadies (BA).
Anyone opting for Theology or Politics in my new university will have to spend the foundation course working in refugee camps and field hospitals.
*nobody forgets how to eat, breathe and defecate.
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Just Chat! / Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« on: 17/01/2025 23:54:32 »
Except in China, where coal consumption continues to increase, and probably in the USA for the next 4 years where the incoming Diktator is scrapping environmental protection in order to Make America Gay Again, or whatever his slogan might be.
Trains and ships burn oil because it is more efficient than coal (or wind!) But that decision was made a century ago. Henson's coal-powered Aerial Steam Carriage flew in 1848, a century after the Montgolfier brothers demonstrated their wood-fired balloon.
And today's electric cars burn gas because there isn't enough wind (average of 7 GW in the UK this week) or solar (0.3GW) to keep the lights on. The new nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point will never repay the fossil energy cost of its construction.
Trains and ships burn oil because it is more efficient than coal (or wind!) But that decision was made a century ago. Henson's coal-powered Aerial Steam Carriage flew in 1848, a century after the Montgolfier brothers demonstrated their wood-fired balloon.
And today's electric cars burn gas because there isn't enough wind (average of 7 GW in the UK this week) or solar (0.3GW) to keep the lights on. The new nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point will never repay the fossil energy cost of its construction.
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New Theories / Re: what is temperature?
« on: 17/01/2025 23:47:37 »These videos show that energy transfer by radiation can be passed through material as well as being absorbed.Good heavens! Whatever will those crazy scientists discover next? Are air, water and glass transparent? Can x-rays pass through the human body?
Truly it is a privilege to live in the 21st century when, thanks to the miracle of the internet, we can be amazed by what our parents considered to be bloody obvious.
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Just Chat! / Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« on: 16/01/2025 11:01:00 »
And the last three are not.
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New Theories / Re: How do we measure the energy of a photon?
« on: 16/01/2025 10:59:42 »
I sometimes think that "The Matrix" has done as much harm to rational thought as 2000 years of Papal authority.
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Just Chat! / Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« on: 15/01/2025 12:16:10 »
Spain (or Hawaii, or Norway, for that matter) is not China. China is opening new coal-fired stations every year. Trump is determined to support the US coal and oil industries.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/302233/china-power-generation-by-source/ is interesting and shows the huge dependence of China on coal.
210GW installed renewable capacity will supply about 5% of China's current demand for electricity. And if they replace ICEs with BEVs, that demand will more than double. Plus, of course, the energy (mostly coal and gas) required to build all those BEVs.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/302233/china-power-generation-by-source/ is interesting and shows the huge dependence of China on coal.
210GW installed renewable capacity will supply about 5% of China's current demand for electricity. And if they replace ICEs with BEVs, that demand will more than double. Plus, of course, the energy (mostly coal and gas) required to build all those BEVs.
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Physiology & Medicine / Re: Acclimating to temperature: how do we get used to the temperature?
« on: 15/01/2025 12:06:55 »
....up to a point!
I recall an exchange on another forum where a woman asked how long it would take for her to acclimatise to having moved from Florida to Maine. One reply was "Never. Look in the shop windows - are they selling bikinis or fur coats?"
I recall an exchange on another forum where a woman asked how long it would take for her to acclimatise to having moved from Florida to Maine. One reply was "Never. Look in the shop windows - are they selling bikinis or fur coats?"
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New Theories / Re: Universal Utopia? What's The Universal Terminal Goal?
« on: 15/01/2025 09:31:54 »evolution's implicit optimization objective.Wrong. There is no objective in evolution.
Evolution happens at random, and competition tends towards optimisation in any particular ecological (or economic) niche, by elimination of the less successful.
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Just Chat! / Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« on: 14/01/2025 23:03:55 »You don't seem to follow news that coal power plants are dying.Not in China. And from now on, not in the USA either.
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Technology / Re: Does cold weather damage the batteries used in an EV?
« on: 13/01/2025 16:20:33 »Q: If electric cars are not good in extreme cold, then why do people keep buying Teslas in Canada?So given the choice, he sticks with ICE!
A: As the owner of two gasoline-powered pick-ups and the driver of a diesel at work, questions like this always make me laugh.
The problem of diesel turning to glue should have been solved years ago: JETA1 is essentially similar to diesel and works down to -40 C all day every day. Preheating diesel isn't beyond the wit of man, and as 40% of the energy of fossil fuel appears as heat once the engine is running, you can do a lot to reflow the exhaust over the catalytic converter if you need to.
The power required to heat the cabin is exactly the same regardless of the source, but as I pointed out in reply #1, it is "free" with an ICE but reduces the range of a BEV.
AFAIK Antarctic scientists use properly specified ICE vehicles with no real problems, and most Scandinavians seem to get around OK on ICE snowmobiles. There's much to be said in favor of aircooled engines at low temperatures, though aircooled diesels haven't found much favor in the light aviation business.
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Just Chat! / Re: The Office
« on: 13/01/2025 13:24:11 »
Early in my induction to the Civil Service I was taught that the most important note you can make on a file cover is "not for me".
But there is an old story of a file that was returned with a note "This was not intended for you. Please erase your initials and initial the erasure"
But there is an old story of a file that was returned with a note "This was not intended for you. Please erase your initials and initial the erasure"
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New Theories / Re: How close are we from building a virtual universe?
« on: 13/01/2025 10:22:04 »
Same old question: if an autonomous vehicle kills someone, who is liable?
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Just Chat! / Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« on: 12/01/2025 15:54:02 »EV Curve Futurist reveals date that internal combusion will DIE in ChinaAnd the electric vehicles will be fuelled by coal, as at present. This makes sense as China has very little native oil, lots of coal, and a strong political incentive to energy independence.
Whilst the Nazis produced ersatz petroleum from coal, it is probably more efficient overall to use electricity as the intermediate, especially as useful idiots in the West are paying for the essential R&D for BEV transport.
Unfortunately as the Thatcher government destroyed the UK coal industry, this option is not available here.
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Just Chat! / Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« on: 12/01/2025 15:49:04 »Our decisions in the past contributes to the hardships that we have to face now. Likewise, our decisions today will contribute to the hardships that we will have to face in the future.I don't think the decision to make Norway mountainous was a human one. However I agree that the decision to overpopulate the UK was.
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Just Chat! / Re: Where do I get my confidence to challenge established theories?
« on: 12/01/2025 15:39:34 »People need some break from routine activities.Such as kneeling before a parasite every 7 days?
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New Theories / Re: Where does quantization of energy of electromagnetic radiation come from?
« on: 12/01/2025 15:27:14 »
As I have said many times. Wherever did you get the idea that it might be?
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Technology / Re: Does cold weather damage the batteries used in an EV?
« on: 12/01/2025 15:10:56 »
The perceived difference in risk is due to the fact that ICEs don't spontaneously combust. The usual point of unintentional ignition occurs when a poorly-maintained vehicle has been running fast and hot, the fuel line comes adrift or the carburettor (remember those?) floods, and a backfire on overrun blows flames out of the air intake.
However well-maintained a BEV may be, early lithium batteries gradually developed in an internal short circuit and self-immolated entirely at random. The problem was occasionally reported in phones and computers but really hit the headlines when Boeing Dreamliners became a fire hazard. I think the problem has been largely eliminated, but the fact remains that a burning BEV is very difficult to extinguish and almost impossible to salvage, which is one reason that insurance premiums have doubled in the last few years.
However well-maintained a BEV may be, early lithium batteries gradually developed in an internal short circuit and self-immolated entirely at random. The problem was occasionally reported in phones and computers but really hit the headlines when Boeing Dreamliners became a fire hazard. I think the problem has been largely eliminated, but the fact remains that a burning BEV is very difficult to extinguish and almost impossible to salvage, which is one reason that insurance premiums have doubled in the last few years.
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Just Chat! / Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« on: 11/01/2025 18:12:03 »Have you compared the situation with Norway?No comparison is relevant. Norway has 5 million people and 45 GW installed hydroelectric capacity to power almost everything. The UK is mostly flat and contains 70,000,000 people in about the same area.