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Just Chat! / Re: What are your thoughts on this famous poem?

« on: 11/11/2014 17:42:08 »

Have a go! Pretty please. Just a sentence...or two.

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Just Chat! / What are your thoughts on this famous poem?

« on: 11/11/2014 15:30:07 »

Robert Frost (1874–1963).  Mountain Interval.  1920.
 
1. The Road Not Taken
 
 
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,   
And sorry I could not travel both   
And be one traveler, long I stood   
And looked down one as far as I could   
To where it bent in the undergrowth;           5
 
Then took the other, as just as fair,   
And having perhaps the better claim,   
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;   
Though as for that the passing there   
Had worn them really about the same,           10
 
And both that morning equally lay   
In leaves no step had trodden black.   
Oh, I kept the first for another day!   
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,   
I doubted if I should ever come back.           15
 
I shall be telling this with a sigh   
Somewhere ages and ages hence:   
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—   
I took the one less traveled by,   
And that has made all the difference.           20
 


What do you think the poem is about? I am interested to see how people (who aren't literary enthusiasts) read and analyse poetry.

23

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Fun maths problems

« on: 10/11/2014 19:40:42 »

The Puzzle:


Find a 10-digit number where the first digit is how many zeros in the number, the second digit is how many 1s in the number etc. until the tenth digit which is how many 9s in the number.

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Fun maths problems

« on: 10/11/2014 18:08:03 »

I take it you're a mathematician []. Those equations were easy enough to follow, thank you.

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Famous Scientists, Doctors and Inventors / Who invented soap? What did ancient humans use? Was it safe/Did it work?

« on: 10/11/2014 16:55:36 »

I wouldn't mind trying more natural sources to clean with  []

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Fun maths problems

« on: 10/11/2014 16:41:18 »

For non-mathemticians like me who like puzzles:

The Puzzle:


There are 2 trees in a garden (tree "A" and "B") and on the both trees are some birds.

The birds of tree A say to the birds of tree B that if one of you comes to our tree, then our population will be the double of yours.

Then the birds of tree B tell to the birds of tree A that if one of you comes here, then our population will be equal to that of yours.

Now answer: How many birds in each tree?

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General Science / Re: Intelligent, or good-looking

« on: 10/11/2014 16:29:10 »

Self-portrait of a Purcell fan, perhaps?

  [] you could be right.

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General Science / Re: Intelligent, or good-looking

« on: 09/11/2014 21:51:47 »

 I picked those faces that "looked intelligent" and 9 times out of 10 it turned out that I had picked a woman with a higher degree or major professional qualification,

I think it would be pretty easy to pick an intelligent woman from their profile picture, you just follow this guide:
No bleached hair unless not noticeably bleached i.e they look Scandinavian
No hair extensions unless tasteful or not noticeably fake
No excessive make-up or jewellery
An interesting or subtle sense of style in their clothing choice
Hair looks natural in colour and length
No silly or appeasing expressions
No solicitous or overly sexual expression
No indicator of following any kind of fad or fashion e.g. posing with a sedated tiger/parachute jump photo and/or doing the duck face etc.

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General Science / Re: Intelligent, or good-looking

« on: 09/11/2014 21:38:14 »

The only contemporary I ever envied in this world was Elizabeth Jones, who was unable to receive her PhD in person as she was booked to appear in the Miss Universe finals on the same day.

It's funny, though, when most people hear about something like that, their reflexive reaction is "That's not fair!" because it seems that people should not be endowed with more than their share of remarkable qualities.

I don't, I just think why would an academic be interested in something like that? Maybe her PhD is in business or something not exactly, 'academic.' I would be less trusting of an academic who got involved with a competition like that, buy if they truly were competent in their field then it would just be an enigma to me.

30

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Why do some lottery combinations seem impossible?

« on: 09/11/2014 21:27:50 »

3 - it makes no difference whether the numbers have come up before or are randomly generated. Intuitively, one feels it should make a difference, just as one feels that after tossing a coin 10 heads in a row you're more likely to get tails. Intuition is wrong about this.

My mind can't accept this, not at the moment anyway. And I think that if all the mathematicians here weren't under the gaze of their colleagues, academic supervisors, and potential academic funders then you would all go for Number 2. But you don't want to be seen as woolly-headed and led by your instinct rather than your rationality. In the same way I am sure many scientists wouldn't want to admit their secret agnosticism or prayers to god.

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Why do some lottery combinations seem impossible?

« on: 09/11/2014 21:25:56 »

3 - it makes no difference whether the numbers have come up before or are randomly generated. Intuitively, one feels it should make a difference, just as one feels that after tossing a coin 10 heads in a row you're more likely to get tails. Intuition is wrong about this.

My mind can't accept this, not at the moment anyway. And I think that if all the mathematicians here weren't under the gaze of their colleagues, academic supervisors, and potential academic funders then you would all go for Number 2. But you don't want to be seen as woolly headed and led by your instinct rather than your rationality. In the same way I am sure many scientists wouldn't want to admit their secret agnosticism or prayers to god.

32

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Why do some lottery combinations seem impossible?

« on: 09/11/2014 20:21:43 »

Ok, if someone said they would buy you a lottery ticket for the next ten years, one each week. Would you prefer to choose a set of numbers that:
1. Had already been the winning numbers
2. Were randomly generated each week
3. You really wouldn't care whether it was 1 or 2 as the probability is the same (not because you just don't care about the lottery)

This is assuming you can imagine caring about the tiny chance you have of winning the lottery.

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Why do some lottery combinations seem impossible?

« on: 09/11/2014 20:10:50 »

Thing is, they're just numbers. You decide what particular combinations are significant to you (you seem to find simple sequences of adjacent numbers significant) and whether they count if they're jumbled (you seem to think not). A mathematician could probably find some kind of pattern in a lot more combinations than you can, and almost every combination could be significant to someone on the planet (birthdays, phone numbers, house numbers, etc).

Yes I was thinking that, that even in something like 7, 16, 21, 33, 39, 42...a mathematician might find a pattern in that.

34

Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Re: Am I right in thinking sexual reproduction began with communication?

« on: 09/11/2014 14:24:40 »

No-one knows, huh?

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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Why do some lottery combinations seem impossible?

« on: 09/11/2014 14:22:56 »

You are fixating on the order that the selection of numbers are presented in as if they mean something.  ₁ to X₄₉.

The numbers could come out of the draw like:

5, 2, 1, 4, 6, 3

The pattern is there once you re-arrange them, unless I'm missing what you're saying.

I think despite all your kind efforts, I just don't have the kind of mind that can accept this sort of thing. In my life, I am involved with art, literature and music and am very much led by my intuition. I do understood that certain things in the universe are counter-intuitive like Einstein's theory where time slows down when you approach the speed of light. Is that right? So I know I can be very wrong in some things, esp. science things.

36

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Why do some lottery combinations seem impossible?

« on: 08/11/2014 22:14:26 »

Ok thanks for the replies, even if I don't quite get it yet. And thank you for the asteroid equation  []

Another thought..if you look at all the lottery draws, more of the winning numbers have no pattern than do have a pattern. The Maryland draw was quite unusual but it's not the norm...so it seems it's more likely that the numbers wont be in a sequence than will be, if you look at all the draws that have happened. So therefore it is more likely that the winning numbers won't have any pattern.

37

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Re: Why do some lottery combinations seem impossible?

« on: 08/11/2014 12:20:36 »

I am basing my evidence on the fact that no strings of numbers like that have ever occurred in any lottery anywhere...am
I wrong? PmbPhy said they were special numbers...what does that mean? Can you explain?

And as for the same numbers that came up last week coming up the next week being the same...you've got to be kidding right? Is there an equal chance of those same numbers coming up again week after week?? This is why I hate probability. Real life doesn't work this way.

So let me ask you...what is the probability of 5, 12, 24, 37, 41, 46 coming up in consecutive weeks??? Is it more or less likely to see a completely different set of numbers coming up after the initial drawing of 5, 12, 24, 37, 41, 46?

What is the likelihood that that same set of numbers comes up every week until we finally get hit by a huge asteroid and the planet and our lottery machines are destroyed? You can't tell me its the same likelihood as having a mixed/more different drawing of numbers each week??

38

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Fun maths problems

« on: 07/11/2014 22:16:58 »

Hi, so in the book 'The curious case of the dog in the night-time,' I came across the puzzle about the three doors with the prize behind one door. You are supposed to choose two doors then you should change your initial choice after the first door you pick is a dud. Something like that I think...

Do you know any other maths problems or puzzles that a non-mathematician would enjoy and have a sort of 'fun' context?

39

Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Why do some lottery combinations seem impossible?

« on: 07/11/2014 22:09:40 »

If there is an equal chance of any number in the lottery being drawn then why do you never get a combination like 1,2,3,4,5,6 or 9, 12, 15, 18, 21. Even 1,2,3,4,12,36 would probably not happen.

Please don't explain with equations, I am not a mathematician.

40

Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution / Re: Am I right in thinking sexual reproduction began with communication?

« on: 04/11/2014 11:47:39 »

Why do they share DNA? Is it about communication or something else?