SCIENCE!!!

[lukeb28]

I just want to start a thread for the discussion of science chat.

Here are a few things before we get started:

- If you don't have a question and cannot contribute, don't bother pressing the post button.

- Theories should be loosely backed up by fact. We don't need somebody posting that a moon of Jupiter is made of cheese.

- Please make reference to credible sites for basic knowledge and people. Not everyone knows that so and so did this important thing.

- Try to keep things in layman's terms so that others might grasp blinding intellect. If a word has more than 15 letters or has "ology" in it, you should provide some extra explaining.

That's it really. Just make sure you are contributing and referencing facts.

[Torezu]

Ooh! A science thread! (I fixed your somewhat atrocious spelling and grammar.)

[lukeb28]

Ooh! A science thread! (I fixed your somewhat atrocious spelling and grammar.)

Ya, no spell check on this old computer .

Anyways I'll kick it off.

Dark matter. What is it?

[Torezu]

[mostly unsupported hypothesis]

My working personal theory is that dark matter/energy doesn't really exist. There's a perceived difference between gravitational effects on galaxies and amount of matter in those galaxies, and that's the origin of the dark matter theory. I think that difference is the interaction between baryonic ("normal matter") gravity, or what we register as "normal" gravity, and anti-baryonic ("antimatter") gravity, or what we register as anti-gravity. The reason we can't see the matter that's interacting is that anti-matter is actually reverse-time matter, hence the annihilation when they come in contact with each other (which happens in extreme-energy situations).

[/mostly unsupported hypothesis]

[lukeb28]

So you think that the additional gravity we observe in other galaxys is really the gravitationaly difference between anti-matter and matter?

[TheBytemaster]

[mostly unsupported hypothesis]

My working personal theory is that dark matter/energy doesn't really exist. There's a perceived difference between gravitational effects on galaxies and amount of matter in those galaxies, and that's the origin of the dark matter theory. I think that difference is the interaction between baryonic ("normal matter") gravity, or what we register as "normal" gravity, and anti-baryonic ("antimatter") gravity, or what we register as anti-gravity. The reason we can't see the matter that's interacting is that anti-matter is actually reverse-time matter, hence the annihilation when they come in contact with each other (which happens in extreme-energy situations).

[/mostly unsupported hypothesis]

[random Idea]

Reverse-time matter, eh? I wonder if reverse-time matter has reverse gravity as well. Maybe that's why it hardly ever interacts with regular matter?

[/random idea]

EDIT: Ninja'd

[Neowulf]

Dark matter:

I once read an interesting theory about using circular lasers (basically make em curve into a circle, like an orbit) to create a localized point of immense gravity, so much that time breaks down. It was theorized as a way to do time travel.

The biggest flaw in the idea is with time shut down in the center, you cannot possibly pick your exit. Anything that enters would exit simultaneously at all possible instances. Anything you put in would become the steady low level radiation the thing gave out. Or it would just store up and explode out when the field shuts down, like a black hole that suddenly lost it's gravity.

The second biggest flaw is it's not really effective time travel. The earliest moment of exit for anything entering would be when the singularity was created, and the latest when it shuts down.

But what if it didn't? What if extreme points of gravity could affect matter at different points of a timeline? It might not be possible to detect, but what if that time hole idea could leave an impression that traversed time/space and had an effect outside of it's operation window?

Well then you'd have to look at the most extreme case of single point extreme gravity. The universe before the big bang.

Gravity messes with time as it affects space, so theoretically it could affect space across time. And if true, then the infinite gravity pull of the entire universe compressed into a single point could leave an impression felt across the entirety of space/time.

Or: It's a variable added to the simulation we exist in to throw a discrepancy between observation and "reality" as a whole, just so everything looks pretty and to mess with our heads.

[Lethosos]

I've always felt that it was a reflection of local space/time without matter in the way. I mean, there's simply nothing there, so you're seeing the void (or our universe's brane) out beyond the edge of known space/time.

[Captain Scar]

What happens when a perfect sphere is made?

I know this by the way, just confirming the answer though.

[TheBytemaster]

What happens when a perfect sphere is made?

I know this by the way, just confirming the answer though.

You will have a perfect sphere?

You will have somehow crushed all subatomic particles into a paste that can be formed into a sphere?

You will have a black hole?

[Captain Scar]

You will have a point of infinite density?

I have learned this from a friend who has not explained it to me, but I think it has to do with the perfect curve of the sphere which is in question.

[Lethosos]

Point of note: Soap bubbles are, technically, perfect spheres thanks to some inherent laws of physics that forces them into a spherical shape. Only because they interact with the nearest surface do they deform.

[lukeb28]

Point of note: Soap bubbles are, technically, perfect spheres thanks to some inherent laws of physics that forces them into a spherical shape. Only because they interact with the nearest surface do they deform.

The force of gravity also drags it I to an egg like shape. Form a bubble on the iss without touching it and keep air flow from it an hey presto! Perfect sphere!

[Lethosos]

Yeah, gravity is such a drag, lol.

Physics of the Impossible is a fun read if you're interested in how possible science-fiction tropes are in the real world.

[Dled]

Point of note: Soap bubbles are, technically, perfect spheres thanks to some inherent laws of physics that forces them into a spherical shape. Only because they interact with the nearest surface do they deform.

Except that the edges of the atoms that make up the bubble would mean that on an atomic level, it is not spherical.

[Lethosos]

I did say "technically". No one mentioned atomic nubs sticking out of the surface.

But if we went by atomic surface, buckministerfullerine aka buckyballs would be a perfect sphere.

[Viktor_Berg]

Not really. First of all, the design of the molecule itself is not spherical, second, a perfect sphere assumes an infinite amount of points, while the buckyball has only 60 atoms in it. Finally, the atoms themselves are neither smooth, nor spherical.

Neither are subatomic particles, for that matter. Maybe quarks are? Who knows.

[okamikk]

Not really. First of all, the design of the molecule itself is not spherical, second, a perfect sphere assumes an infinite amount of points, while the buckyball has only 60 atoms in it. Finally, the atoms themselves are neither smooth, nor spherical.

Neither are subatomic particles, for that matter. Maybe quarks are? Who knows.

neutrinos.

and the thing that makes soap bubbles try to be spherical is that a sphere has the highest volume:surface area ratio, and since it's the same atmosphere inside and out, pretty mych, of the bubble, the equal pressure causes the shape.

[Michael Page]

As this is a science topic and I love providing my own theories with solutions to inefficient situations. I would like to present levitation with electrons. The fact is stated that because of the negative charge of electrons nothing except for very rare situations will ever "touch". Thus being my proposition would be to harness electrons and and to at points fire them out in coulombs (groups of electrons). And because of the space in between the ground and your feet the electrons will have space to rebound due to electronic versus magnetic field resistance to similar charges. Because they bounce off if the ground and as for the most unpredictable some will go back up while others are lost to the angle of contact with the ground or other electrons just to rebound off the bottom of your "shoe" and send its own momentum considering it will have both mass (although small) and velocity. This process would repeat and because the momentum and magnetic repulsion force of the electrons you would potentially levitate. In shorter terms momentum + the magnetic repulsion force = height. Energy conversion is lost as well as light and sound so the time would not be as long. And of course you have to consider entropy as everything is moving towards its equilibrium your electrons would soon reach the same speed so you could potentially have a consistent height. The next theory I have is that of black holes and white holes. Consider a black hole and the theory of white holes being the opposite end of the spectrum. Now going the speed of light you could possible match the speed at which things are gravitated towards the center or near the event horizon since you are speeding fast enough for control you could time it to the point where the white hole releases the matter through its end to complete the theory of wormholes. And with that you have instantaneous transportation to another part of the universe. And with that I conclude my entire two theories.

[Lethosos]

Black holes? White holes? SPACE GODZILLA!

I'm gone. :D

[lukeb28]

Black holes are the most fascinating part of the universe. They are created in the violence of a super nova and live on as a constant disaster never ending. Nothing can satisfy the hunger of one and the more it consumes, the more powerful it is. One of the coolest things is the time dilation their awesome gravity creates. Orbit a black hole close enough and it will slow your passage in time similar to traveling at near light speed. They also slowly shrink as tiny subatomic particles pop in and out of space. These particles are always made in two's and are opposite in every way. When these pop in at the event horizon the antimatter particle falls in destroying some matter in the core with it while the other partical escapes as radiation. This stuff is just way too cool!!

[okamikk]

well... they're really kinda hot, and not cool at all.

it comes with theoretically infinite density an' all.

being extremely hot...

[TheBytemaster]

well... they're really kinda hot, and not cool at all.

it comes with theoretically infinite density an' all.

being extremely hot...

And being a perfect sphere. And utterly flipping the tables on time-space as we know it. And stuff. Let me go read my book on string theory for a while and I'll come back in here with a doozy.

[Xylord]

I read somewhere that a neutron star was so massive that despite its size (Which is still pretty tiny for an astral object) it had a surface smoother than the curve of a new billiard ball.

[lukeb28]

Neuron stars are failed black holes pretty much. Their parent star supernova'ed but was just shy of the required mass. They also emit a nasty amount of neutron radiation from their poles. Their poles also switch very rapidly turning these neutron beams into a spiral. Any planet unfortunate enough to be hit by one of these beams would be instantly sterilized of any life.