1

The Environment / Can oil be synthesised from CO2?

« on: 20/04/2012 06:26:30 »

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/03/29/the-greens-worst-nightmare-a-co2-to-oil-process/

If we would be able to make oil from CO₂ using only bacteria and sunlight, wouldn't that make all cars zero emission vehicles?
What are those greenies complaining about?

2

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / How come Andromeda is moving towards us?

« on: 05/04/2012 09:21:48 »

What explains the fact that all galaxies are moving away from us... except one?
I thought I read somewhere else on this forum that everything's moving away from each other with a speed greater than escape velocity, yet somehow, that didn't work for Milky Way & Andromeda?

3

New Theories / Could redshift be "Photon fatigue" instead of expanding universe?

« on: 03/04/2012 08:15:49 »

Hi,

We're basing the fact that the universe is expanding mostly on the observed redshift of light from distant sources, but couldn't it be that this is an observational error, and that we actually live in a static universe (or a universe with a big bang but not accelerating expansion) where redshift is explained by some sort of "photon fatigue"?

A higher frequency indicates a more energetic photon, so if the photon would somehow lose some energy on it's way from the distant source to our optical instruments, it would be redshifted no?
And the accelerated expansion due to more redshift from more distant light sources could just be explained by the fact that the photon lost more energy because it traveled a longer distance?

Maybe the energy loss of the photon could be attributed to some sort of wave interference from the cosmic microwave background radiation?

4

Chemistry / Is there a catalyst for shortening half life of radioactive waste?

« on: 02/04/2012 10:28:12 »

As I understand, most research into the field of nuclear waste is done in "storage thereof".
Shouldn't we be looking at discovering catalysts that could rapidly degrade Uranium/Plutonium all the way to Lead?
Would such a catalyst exist and how would it look like or what would it require to be able to do in order to shorten the half life of nuclear waste?

5

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Is mass a gravitational monopole?

« on: 27/03/2012 08:28:33 »

Hi,

We're all familiar with magnets and their magnetic field, with all field lines leaving the N-pole and going to the S-pole.
And we all know that magnetic monopoles only exist in theory at the moment.
But isn't every massive particle behaving like a gravitational monopole then?

6

Technology / What does "more torque" do to a car's performance?

« on: 23/03/2012 14:35:02 »

Hi,

Next week, i'll be "eco-chipping" my car. I'll have experts rewrite my motor management software to make it more fuel efficient, with a 5-10% increase in range with a full gastank by optimizing valve timings in the 1500 - 2500 rpm range. They will also make my acceleration pedal feel more like the "old mechanical systems" instead of the current "drive by wire", and they will also increase my torque from 350 to 400 Nm, but my BHP/kW will remain the same (since increasing BHP without informing the taxation authorities is illegal here).

So my question is: "What performance differences can I expect with this Torque increase while my maximum Power stays the same?"

7

That CAN'T be true! / The frog and the cooker

« on: 19/01/2012 06:27:06 »

Yesterday, a professor doing research in stress levels explained something about the buildup of stress in humans and made an analogy to the "Frog and Cooker" experiment.

Apparently, frogs can only detect temperature differences of minimum 3 degrees C, which implies the following:
If you throw a frog in a cooker with boiling water, he would do anything to escape before dying.
But if you throw a frog in a cooker with room temperature water, heat the water 2,5 degrees C, then wait a while, then cool it 1 degree C, then wait a while, then heat the water again with 2,5 degrees C and so on and so on, the frog would not try to escape even when the water gets lethally hot.

Weird huh!

8

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Does the Higgs boson complete the Standard Model?

« on: 15/12/2011 05:54:01 »

CERN was in the news again the other day with the announcements of the ATLAS and CMS group, both indicating that there are hints to the fact that the Higgs-boson is real. The news also let some local physics professor say some words about it and he stated that the Higgs-boson is the "final piece of the puzzle".

Is this true?
Or did he completely forgot about the graviton, which is also still hypothetical at the moment?
Or is the graviton not part of the Standard Model?

9

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / What's up with Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle?

« on: 09/12/2011 12:37:48 »

So, I'm aware that Heisenberg's uncertainty principle implies that it is impossible to simultaneously measure the present position while also determining the future motion of a particle.

But does the particle have both qualities simultaneously, and is it just our inability that prevents us from measuring both simultaneously?

10

General Science / Which doom will occur first?

« on: 29/11/2011 09:13:04 »

We are all aware of the whole bundle of Damocles' swords hanging over our heads, but which one will fall first?
If you're not too lazy, please also motivate your choice.

EDIT: Whoops, should've been posted in General Science :/

11

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / What would a camcorder traveling at speed of light record?

« on: 04/11/2011 10:54:51 »

Hi,

As far as my understanding of general relativity goes, if you travel at speed of light, time stands still.
So if you hit the "Record" button on a camcorder traveling at speed of light, it would not start filming?

But on the other hand, general relativity also states that the camcorder could say it was standing still and all the rest of the universe was passing by at the speed of light.
In this case, if you hit the "Record" button, it should start filming since time does not stand still when your speed is 0.

What am i missing here?

12

Just Chat! / What if we lived forever?

« on: 03/11/2011 12:48:59 »

Hi,
I'm proposing a thought experiment here:

What would be the consequence if in the future, through a whole series of revolutionary medical breakthroughs, humans would no longer die of old age or diseases but only die in accidents or by murder/suicide?

- Would it become illegal to have children?
- Would crime rates go up or down?
- What would happen to the value of money?
- What would happen to the concept of religions?
...

13

General Science / What is the logic of the Fahrenheit temperature scale?

« on: 04/12/2009 12:19:11 »

Hi all,

Since i'm eurotrash, i've been raised with the Celcius temperature scale, which is very logic to myself []

At 0 water freezes, at 100 water boils.

But what's the logic of the Fahrenheit scale?
What happens at 0°F and 100°F?

14

Just Chat! / What will the near future have in store for us?

« on: 03/12/2009 12:28:58 »

Hi,

In this topic, I'll ask my fellow posters what scientific breakthroughs and their consequence will become reality in our own life time according to them.

I'll start (I'm currently 26, so still lots of time ahead of me):

I think that in my lifetime car technology will advance to a level that cars will be driven 100% automatically, communicate with each other and fixed traffic structures (ie traffic lights) and thus solving traffic jam problems due to optimal flow of traffic across the available roads and greatly reduce power consumption of vehicles.

I also think that near the end of my lifetime (estimated around 2070 []), mankind will have found a cure for all known diseases, and will be able to develop cures for newly arising diseases in a matter of weeks.

And last, I believe robots will be common household helpers, able to do all non-creative chores around the house (ie, do laundry, ironing, sweeping and cooking established recipes, but no experimental cooking)


What else do you think will become reality before you pass away.

15

Technology / How do stubbs work (the firefighting gun)?

« on: 29/11/2009 17:52:57 »

Hi all,

I just saw a documentary about firefighting where they shot stuff at the fire with a gun (they called it 'stubbs'), but I wonder how it works, because the stubbs they shot were about the size of a fingernail...

16

Technology / What's keeping us from storing lightning?

« on: 25/11/2009 10:53:45 »

What technical difficulties still need to be overcome to store electrical energy straight from lightning?

We can already control the place where lightning will strike by simply building a big lightning rod, but why can't we store it yet?

Aren't there mechanisms like oversized capacitors or something we can use to convert the massive amount of electricity on a short period of time to a more constant rate of electricity over a longer period of time?

17

Physiology & Medicine / Why do i get goose bumps when I sneeze?

« on: 11/09/2009 13:43:10 »

I always get goose bumps for a short period of time right after sneezing, even in mid summer when it's hot outside..

How come?

18

New Theories / New hypothesis on the acceleration of expansion of the universe

« on: 03/09/2009 07:44:41 »

What do we know?
We know that in the very early stage of our Universe, matter did not exist and the Universe was filled with radiation. Only later, when the Universe expanded and started cooling, matter was created out of this radiation.

Standing hypothesis:
Right now, scientists believe that dark matter (which is proven to exist) would slow down expansion of the universe, and that dark energy (not yet proven to exist) is accelerating the expansion of the universe.

My hypothesis:
What if there is no dark energy? What if the acceleration of expansion is merely an effect of a Universe-wide conversion of matter back into radiation (like stars use matter to create light and heat), without a countering conversion of radiation into matter (because the Universe is too cold for that)?
This would continuously lower the total mass of our Universe, and therefore constantly lowering gravitational pull. Combined with conservation of expansion momentum, this might explain the acceleration of expansion of the universe.

And eventually, the Universe will be a very big place, void of matter, but filled with radiation at a much lower density than the big bang, unable to create matter anew.

Could this hypothesis withstand our current understanding of the universe?

19

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / How come the CBR Map is an ellipse and not a circle?

« on: 03/09/2009 07:07:13 »

Look here for the WMAP of 2008 of the Cosmic Background Radiation.

I've always wondered why the image is elliptic and not circular.
And how should i interpret this 2D representation of the 3D universe? (an image is a snapshot, so let's forget about the 4th Dimension for now)

20

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Are these M-theory assumptions correct?

« on: 01/09/2009 10:21:18 »

Hi there,
I've watched the 3 part mini series "The Elegant Universe" hosted by Brian Greene yesterday and i think I have a better understanding about the M-theory now. So I want to make some assumptions to further improve my insights.

1. The speed of light
So, according to M-theory we're all living on a brane in 11 dimensions, and all elementary particles except gravitons are in fact open end vibrating energy strings which have their ends anchored in the brane. Except gravitons... so photons are also attached to this brane.
So can i assume that c is the maximum speed at which a string can move around on this brane?

2. The sharing of gravitons
For long, physicist didn't know why gravity is so much weaker than EM, strong and weak nuclear forces, but M-theory proposes this is because gravity is diluted not only across our brane, but all the other branes out there. Combined with the possibility that our brane is not a smooth sheet but can fold in the 11 dimension..
Even though the effect of all the gravitons combined, what we call gravity, cannot travel faster than ligt, Can i assume a single 'graviton string' could go faster than the speed of light by taking shortcuts from one spot on our brane to another?

3. Why not more?
The nature of the elementary particles is supposed to be determined by the nature of vibration of the string.
So can i assume that, if we ever have the possibility to modulate these frequencies, we can create new particles?

4. Why not visit our neighbors?
If we could modulate string frequencies, could we 'detach' ourselves from our brane and 'attach' ourselves to other branes?
So can I assume that, if we ever have a full understanding of strings, we could visit parallel universes? Or travel faster than light by reattaching strings on our own brane but far far, really far away from our starting point?