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General Science / What is with the Moon?

« on: 04/11/2019 13:05:44 »

Good morning. I am posting this question to this site and this group of people because you are some of the smartest people, like me, with whom I have communicated. :-)
Now, I know the Earth revolves around the Sun and because it does so and because of its "tilt", the position of the Sun in the sky changes throughout the year. I believe that the Moon revolves around the Earth but its journey around the planet is generally stable and on the same "plane" regardless of the time of year. How, then, does its position in the sky change throughout the year? Example: In Summer the Moon rises over my swimming pool but by Winter the Moon is now rising over my neighbor's house, approximately a 30+ degree change in the sky. If the Moon is, say, revolving around the equator and does not change that revolution, how is it changing position in the sky?
I realize there may be an easy answer to this but my old brain cells just can't picture it.
Thanks, in advance, for your explanations and for not making me feel like too much of a fool with your answers. :-)

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General Science / Are dreams real?

« on: 20/09/2019 13:00:43 »

Hello, it’s been a while but here we go.

The discussion has been made about a “Multiverse”, the idea that there exist an infinite number of Universes, each different from the other. Some feel that they occur each time people make a decision, such as when they have to choose to turn left or right at an intersection.

Another idea is “quantum superposition”, the idea that one particle can be in two places at the same time.

Finally, my point. Is it possible, given the above, that “dreams” are actually the “mind” visiting these different universes? Dreams are sometime ridiculous but since infinite universes means infinite possibilities, everything should be possible.

Any thoughts?

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General Science / Which way did it go, George?

« on: 06/08/2019 21:46:30 »

Here is a question that I wished they had investigated on the old “Myth Busters” show.
Scenario: I am in a very fast vehicle heading due west. The vehicle is traveling in excess of 200 miles per hour. I place a device capable of expelling a projectile, at approximately 1200 feet per second, out the passenger window pointed due North, a ninety degree angle to my direction of travel. I expel the projectile.
Now, disregarding the wind, gravity, planetary rotation, Martian intervention, etc., will the projectile follow a true path to the North or will it curve toward the west due to the motion of the vehicle?

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General Science / What if it was possible to stop time?

« on: 31/07/2019 20:02:19 »

I don't know how many of you are "Futurama" fans but I want to reference the final episode, "Meanwhile".
Fry and Leela essentially stop time within the entire Universe, except for themselves. Now, thought experiment.
What would actually have happened if they had actually stopped time? Would they have been able to walk on the ocean? Would they have been able to move things and people? I have my own thoughts but I will wait for some feedback before voicing same. "The ball is in your park".

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New Theories / Why the heck are we going to Mars?

« on: 27/07/2019 12:57:34 »

Consider.
Fifty years ago we set foot on the Moon and then, nothing. We set up a "Space Station", when we already had an orbiting "space station" three days away.
We will spend enormous amounts of money and endanger many lives to go to Mars when anything we are going to do on Mars could be tried on the Moon. Go to the Moon, set up underground areas in the caves, try all the things that you may use on Mars there first. The Moon is closer so should there be a problem at least attempts could be made to rescue the astronauts, on Mars they are essentially dead men/women walking.
Just my two cents worth.

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New Theories / The Universal Brain

« on: 25/07/2019 11:38:01 »

I have watched some science programs and there is one that brings up this idea. There has been a "mapping" of the visible Universe. When shown as a whole there are clumps and strings connecting the entire picture. I also watch show on medical science. In one there was a scan of the electrical activity of the human brain. When comparing both it is very strange but they seem eerily similar.
(quick examples)

neurons-440660__340.jpg (62.5 kB . 480x340 - viewed 952 times)
glossary_universe_map.jpg (129.22 kB . 640x600 - viewed 949 times)

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General Science / Wouldn't Earth moving through space be a big problem for time travel?

« on: 20/07/2019 01:51:47 »

I enjoyed "The Time Machine" movies, the original and the remake. However, I began to think about how this might work in the real Universe.
Let's say I sit in my machine, in my study and look out my picture window at a store across the street. Now in the movie, as I move forward in time I watch the world move before my eyes. Here is the problem. The Earth is moving, rapidly in space as is the Solar System, the Galaxy, our "Cluster", etc.
As I push the time lever on my machine, rather than watching the world move outside my window, I would be immediately moved a great distance, since the "space" where my machine is sitting (it's x,y,z,c) would remain stationary as the rest of the Universe speeds away from me. If I am very unfortunate, by the time I stop my machine I will be sitting in the cold darkness of space. Also, regardless of how long I continue there will probably be no chance that I would luck into settling in a habitable spot on any planet ever.
I believe I will stick to using history books for my time travel, much safer.

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Just Chat! / An eternal quandary

« on: 18/07/2019 20:57:27 »

Bear with me but..
"How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood?"
Any ideas?

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New Theories / Is the Universe really ~14 billion years old?

« on: 16/07/2019 14:45:28 »

Here is a quick thought. Our universe is three (four with time) dimensional. According to what I have heard, with our present telescopes, we are able to see about 14 billion light years in every direction. Thought experiment. Let's say I am standing on the Earth and I look eastward (just because I had to choose some direction). I now see light from 14 billion light years away. Now, say I see my "twin" standing on a planet that far away. He is looking west and seeing me. OK, my twin now turns 180 degrees and is now looking "east" not west" and he sees his "twin" standing on a planet 14 billion light years away. From my twins perspective that makes the universe at least 28 billion light years across, since he is the only one who can see me and his twin. Has this idea not suggested at least a doubling of the Universe's age? Your thoughts?

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New Theories / Was there really a Big Bang?

« on: 14/07/2019 15:31:06 »

Here is my thought. They say that everything in the Universe is flying away from everything else in the Universe (I will probably discuss the Andromeda Collision at a later time) and that the speed is accelerating. My thought is this. Consider a balloon as the Universe. I blow air into it a a specific point and it expands. The harder and faster I blow the faster the expansion occurs. Is it possible that rather than a Big Bang we have a present "Big Leak"? A place where energy and matter are still flowing into our Universe from, perhaps, a higher dimension?
I began thinking of this when I thought about a supposed "singularity". Taking our present Universe, regardless of how much you compress matter or remove the "space" between atoms, and the like, the result still takes up a very large area. So I believe a singularity is not possible, at least within this Universe. Therefore, a "leak" makes more sense to me. Just my thoughts and opinions.