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  2. Profile of Rincewind
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Topics - Rincewind

Pages: [1]
1
Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Is the body size of a species related to the size of a group of that species?
« on: 18/11/2008 05:36:04 »
Hi,

this is a question based on a memory of a biology teacher back when I was at school.

I'm pretty sure she said one day that there is a linear relationship between the body mass of individuals in a species and the average size of a group of that species.

As I remember, she put a graph up on the OHP with average body size on one axis and average group size on the other and there were several points plotted each representing a mammalian species, I think.

Although it was a line of best fit and the points were not all very close to the line, there did seem to be a relationship using the points that were plotted.

It was important because humans apparently fall at about 130 individuals per group given our body mass, which seemed like a nice social group to me, and it was this incident that convinced me that this is a true and natural (albeit flexible) fact.

However thinking about it, I'm not sure if it is.  I've had a search on the internet and don't seem to be able to find any research on this fairly simple relationship.

Can any biologist out there help?

2
Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Specific Question about Relative Time
« on: 06/11/2008 17:44:04 »
This is a question about general relativity for something I'm writing.  I think I get it but relativity's a bit of a brain bender.

The situation is this.  If one craft leaves the Earth and approaches light speed, then another craft leaves in the same manner, approaching the same speed and then they arrive one after the other at their destination, would they have experienced the same amount of time ie would any age gap between the two pilots remin the same?  I think they would have but confirmation would be nice.

I also need to know, but I think it's simply the twins paradox, if the first pilot turned around and came back (if the second couldn't foolow for whatever reason) would the age gap between them be significantly different (ie the one who never left would be much older or even dead) than when the first pilot left, given he reached near light speeed before turning around?  I think it would but again, best to make sure.

Cheers guys

3
General Science / Jellyfish
« on: 28/01/2006 23:12:20 »
If anyone knows, can you tell me about jellyfish - specifically about their not knowing their fronts from their behinds.

Andy

4
Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Wimps
« on: 28/01/2006 22:14:08 »
Okay, I'm sure someone has thought of this already, but wimps would make qualititive differences like those we currently explain with dark matter, I dunno about qualitative.

Are WIMPs easier to accelerate than normal matter?

5
Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / What's the definition of a Dimension?
« on: 22/01/2006 21:59:55 »
I know what the four macro ones we see are, I just don't know exactly what a dimension is.

Could we treat electrical charge as a dimension, say, or magnetic charge?

6
Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / EM and gravity
« on: 13/01/2006 00:25:57 »
We all know light can be affected by gravity.  Does this mean that a ray of light has a gravitational attraction on massive bodies?  

And does this in turn mean that heat (internal kinetic energy) increases a body's gravitational field, as well as relative velocity?

 
I was just wondering if the effect of various forms of energy (EM, heat, kinetic) on gravity has been tested much, and if anyone could point me in the direction of any resources, or even take a shot at explaining it in your own words.

7
Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Is Relativity Wrong?
« on: 01/10/2005 15:23:15 »
I think the generally accepted interpretation of relativity says that when you go faster your time slows down.  So, for example, the astronauts who went to the moon and back are slightly younger than other peeps who were born at the same time but stayed on Earth.

I was thinking, if a ship and some light left a planet then the ship came back, having aged less than the people on the planet, wouldn't the distance the light had travelled have to be different as well?  Either that or it would have to have travelled at a different velocity for those on the planet and those on the ship, right?

Am I making some kind of basic error here?

Pages: [1]
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