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New Theories / Re: Solving the puzzle of wave-particle duality, solution of this problem

« Last post by alancalverd on Today at 21:05:56 »

And the issue of wave-particle duality itself is probably the largest and most difficult issue in physics.

No, it's perfectly straightforward, just very badly explained. The word "duality" is what causes confusion. Stuff happens, with absolute consistency, but you need two different mathematical models to predict it.

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New Theories / Re: Solving the puzzle of wave-particle duality, solution of this problem

« Last post by Bored chemist on Today at 20:23:01 »

The explanation of wave-particle duality presented in the first post may perhaps be considered not entirely satisfactory

Yes; because it doesn't explain wave-particle duality.

This can probably be seen as a step towards the final solution.

Yes; that step concludes when you realise it's tosh and you stop wasting time on it and do something useful instead.

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Question of the Week / Re: QotW - 23.12.08 What are black holes made of?

« Last post by evan_au on Today at 20:14:13 »

Mass and/or energy (any kind): but concentrated into such a small radius that the escape velocity exceeds the speed of light.

The most common way that black holes form today is when a massive star (>10 times the mass of the Sun) explodes as a supernova. The remnant left behind will be a black hole.

Less massive stars can form a dense neutron star; if two neutron stars later collide, they could also turn into a black hole.

The James Webb Space Telescope has revealed large active galaxies, soon after the Big Bang. These are believed to have supermassive black holes at the centre. Theoreticians are inventing new mechanisms that would allow these supermassive black holes to form in the hot, dense early universe, without first forming stars.

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New Theories / Re: Solving the puzzle of wave-particle duality, solution of this problem

« Last post by cpu68 on Today at 20:03:57 »

The explanation of wave-particle duality presented in the first post may perhaps be considered not entirely satisfactory. This can probably be seen as a step towards the final solution. And the issue of wave-particle duality itself is probably the largest and most difficult issue in physics. In my solution, however, I draw attention to the perhaps important fact that the wave phenomenon appears in motion.

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Science Experiments / Re: How does induction heater work?

« Last post by Origin on Today at 18:50:53 »

Yep, good video and a nice way to end the thread.

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Just Chat! / Re: Is there a universal moral standard?

« Last post by alancalverd on Today at 16:54:11 »

When someone just died, we usually only talk about their good things.

Not if "we" are antisemites.

And as Shakespeare put it

The evil that men do lives after them
The good is oft interred with their bones.

The intellectually puny are unable to challenge or insult anyone alive, but you can't libel the dead and they don't fight back, so any journalist or politician can gain airtime and money by claiming that the deceased was flawed. 100% hindsight can be seriously astigmatic.

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Just Chat! / Re: Is there a universal moral standard?

« Last post by alancalverd on Today at 16:44:30 »

How would you compare war crimes?

Same as any other crime. Has the guy broken the rules, how often, and with what effect?

The problem is Stalin's Dictum: "One death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic." So you court-martial the private soldier who mistakenly shot an unarmed suspect (crime) and promote the general who organised the destruction of a city (strategic target).

Much the same applies in politics. You can order the early deaths of 60,000 care home residents and keep your pension, but under no circumstances can you pinch your researcher's bum or look at rude pictures on an official phone.

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New Theories / Re: How close are we from building a virtual universe?

« Last post by alancalverd on Today at 16:37:47 »

What's important is that relevant/significant parts are preserved in the synthesized data, while irrelevant/misleading parts are discarded.

In other words, it's a sim, not a synth.

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Chemistry / Re: Are there gel-like and solid-like materials with high diffusivity?

« Last post by alancalverd on Today at 16:35:35 »

The answer is "probably not", though you can use mercury to extract some metals from mixtures. However you can separate solute from solvent in small quantities by chromatography - the solvent diffuses more quickly than the solute and leaves behind an increasing concentration of solute.

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Chemistry / Re: Are there gel-like and solid-like materials with high diffusivity?

« Last post by Bored chemist on Today at 12:23:51 »

Thanks but I think you confuse absorption with diffusion?

Nope, I understand the difference.