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pleco
SFN Addict

USA
2998 Posts

Posted - 07/13/2006 :  08:35:35  Show Profile  Visit pleco's Homepage Send pleco a Private Message
quote:
Recent research has found evidence that the value of certain fundamental parameters, such as the speed of light or the invisible glue that holds nuclei together, may have been different in the past.

"There is absolutely no reason these constants should be constant," says astronomer Michael Murphy of the University of Cambridge. "These are famous numbers in physics, but we have no real reason for why they are what they are."

The observed differences are small — roughly a few parts in a million — but the implications are huge: The laws of physics would have to be rewritten, not to mention we might need to make room for six more spatial dimensions than the three that we are used to.


Very interesting!

However, I can't wait until the YECers take this information and spew out their predictable garbage...

by Filthy
The neo-con methane machine will soon be running at full fart.

Edited by - pleco on 07/13/2006 08:35:59

furshur
SFN Regular

USA
1536 Posts

Posted - 07/13/2006 :  08:50:08   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send furshur a Private Message
quote:
The observed differences are small — roughly a few parts in a million — but the implications are huge: The laws of physics would have to be rewritten, not to mention we might need to make room for six more spatial dimensions than the three that we are used to.

He meant 4 dimensions.

The implications are huge - maybe the atomic nuclei will just fall apart before the heat death of the universe. Well there not the huge for me - I don't expect to see this happen next week...



If I knew then what I know now then I would know more now than I know.
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist

USA
4955 Posts

Posted - 07/13/2006 :  08:54:39   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Cuneiformist a Private Message
Maybe this is the key to Michael's "Big Slam"!
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BigPapaSmurf
SFN Die Hard

3192 Posts

Posted - 07/13/2006 :  10:27:30   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send BigPapaSmurf a Private Message
Just as soon as he rectifies the whole rewriting nearly every major astronmical idea of the last century without evidence fiasco.

"...things I have neither seen nor experienced nor heard tell of from anybody else; things, what is more, that do not in fact exist and could not ever exist at all. So my readers must not believe a word I say." -Lucian on his book True History

"...They accept such things on faith alone, without any evidence. So if a fraudulent and cunning person who knows how to take advantage of a situation comes among them, he can make himself rich in a short time." -Lucian critical of early Christians c.166 AD From his book, De Morte Peregrini
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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26020 Posts

Posted - 07/13/2006 :  11:58:54   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by furshur

He meant 4 dimensions.
Actually, he's talking about spacial dimensions, not time dimensions, so his 3 and 10 (with regard to String Theory) are correct.

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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Chippewa
SFN Regular

USA
1496 Posts

Posted - 07/13/2006 :  12:17:33   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Chippewa's Homepage Send Chippewa a Private Message
Difficult to even approach in terms of how it would be posited or framed, not to mention what kind of math and predictions it would try to make, but a Theory of the Value of Constants might be an interesting concept.

Diversity, independence, innovation and imagination are progressive concepts ultimately alien to the conservative mind.

"TAX AND SPEND" IS GOOD! (TAX: Wealthy corporations who won't go poor even after taxes. SPEND: On public works programs, education, the environment, improvements.)
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furshur
SFN Regular

USA
1536 Posts

Posted - 07/13/2006 :  12:41:40   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send furshur a Private Message
quote:
quote:

Originally posted by furshur
He meant 4 dimensions.

Actually, he's talking about spacial dimensions, not time dimensions, so his 3 and 10 (with regard to String Theory) are correct.

Oops, I was taking into account dark energy and acceleration in the Z axis when I said 4 dimensions.
Since these do not appear to be taken into account in this article, I stand corrected.


If I knew then what I know now then I would know more now than I know.
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Dave W.
Info Junkie

USA
26020 Posts

Posted - 07/13/2006 :  13:18:08   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Dave W.'s Homepage Send Dave W. a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by furshur

Oops, I was taking into account dark energy and acceleration in the Z axis when I said 4 dimensions.
Then you should have said 5 dimensions. Sheesh!
quote:
Since these do not appear to be taken into account in this article, I stand corrected.
Actually, since those aren't taken into account in that article, its conclusions are hopelessly unreliable, no matter how many dimensions are posited.

- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too.
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Cuneiformist
The Imperfectionist

USA
4955 Posts

Posted - 07/13/2006 :  13:47:47   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Cuneiformist a Private Message
My question is, where do the little gnomes fit into this description of the universe?
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pleco
SFN Addict

USA
2998 Posts

Posted - 07/13/2006 :  14:01:49   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit pleco's Homepage Send pleco a Private Message
The Underpants Gnomes?

by Filthy
The neo-con methane machine will soon be running at full fart.
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Ricky
SFN Die Hard

USA
4907 Posts

Posted - 07/13/2006 :  16:33:02   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Ricky an AOL message Send Ricky a Private Message
Maybe it's just me, and maybe it's just because I'm speaking out of my ass and really have no idea what I'm talking about, but it always seemed to me that like the call for more dimensions is comparable to the call for more epicycles in Ptolemaic cosmology.

As for the article itself, has it been accepted by any journals?

Why continue? Because we must. Because we have the call. Because it is nobler to fight for rationality without winning than to give up in the face of continued defeats. Because whatever true progress humanity makes is through the rationality of the occasional individual and because any one individual we may win for the cause may do more for humanity than a hundred thousand who hug their superstitions to their breast.
- Isaac Asimov
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HalfMooner
Dingaling

Philippines
15831 Posts

Posted - 07/13/2006 :  16:49:21   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send HalfMooner a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Ricky

Maybe it's just me, and maybe it's just because I'm speaking out of my ass and really have no idea what I'm talking about, but it always seemed to me that like the call for more dimensions is comparable to the call for more epicycles in Ptolemaic cosmology.

As for the article itself, has it been accepted by any journals?

That's my layman's "common sense" gut reaction, too. But I realize that "common sense" does not always accurately describe the real world. Yet maybe, given just a few more epicycles to smooth things out, Ptolemy would be back in vogue.


Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive.
Edited by - HalfMooner on 07/13/2006 16:52:29
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woolytoad
Skeptic Friend

313 Posts

Posted - 07/13/2006 :  18:13:07   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send woolytoad a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Ricky

Maybe it's just me, and maybe it's just because I'm speaking out of my ass and really have no idea what I'm talking about, but it always seemed to me that like the call for more dimensions is comparable to the call for more epicycles in Ptolemaic cosmology.

As for the article itself, has it been accepted by any journals?



This is not new and is a valid branch of research.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&articleID=0005BFE6-2965-128A-A96583414B7F0000&pageNumber=1&catID=2
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Siberia
SFN Addict

Brazil
2322 Posts

Posted - 07/14/2006 :  07:56:18   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Visit Siberia's Homepage  Send Siberia an AOL message  Send Siberia a Yahoo! Message Send Siberia a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by pleco

The Underpants Gnomes?


Thanks for making me almost ruin my keyboard with squirted soda...

"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa

"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend

Sweden
9687 Posts

Posted - 07/17/2006 :  13:46:20   [Permalink]  Show Profile  Send Dr. Mabuse an ICQ Message Send Dr. Mabuse a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Ricky
...comparable to the call for more epicycles in Ptolemaic cosmology.

Well, the Ptolemaic system with deference and epicycle was used for about 1000 years with good accuracy. They made predictions that spanned over decades with little need for corrections. Even long after Galileo, time table predictions for the planets were made using the Ptolemaic system.

Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3

"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse

Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder.
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