Gravitational Blackhole stuff?

can someone name me one thing, that has proven a good thing to mankind, that has come from space travel/exploration.

How about the Velcro holding your kecks up ??

😀

How about the Velcro holding your kecks up ??

No, that’s attributed to NASA but it wasn’t their invention.

If it wasn’t for quantum mechanics, the Edinburgh defence would never have existed.

How about the Velcro holding your kecks up ??

That’s a disappointing myth, apparently. Bit like Teflon. So trousers and fry-ups are out.

Smartphone camera technology apparently, though.

I was watching some Brian Cox thing on the BBC last night and he quoted a stat that the UK spends more on ring tones than research into nuclear fusion.

Nuclear fusion could one day provide ample clean energy for everyone on the planet, and the longer it takes us to get to that point the more we will mess up the planet by burning fossil fuels.

It seems a tad short sighted that we aren’t spending more on research, but given attitudes like ton’s are commonly held it’s easy to see why.

I shared a flat with one of the LIGO Hanford scientists for a short time. Rides a BMC road bike in the sunshine and plays with Lasers all day.

I’m with Ton on this.

I see minor benefits in the realisation of a single goal, like Space Travel. All the spin off revolutionary and evolutionary engineering and biomechanics, botanics and shit..

But honestly..

You think finding Gravitational Waves was something New?

So you think we didnt know light moves in waves, so too sound and now we’re being told Gravity does too? And you think logically this is a new finding, like we’ve never considered it or thought it existed before?

If you think some of us are unimpressed by this and think we’re luddites, you can’t be farther from the truth, some of us think.. Yeah, well logically I could have told you that, might not be able to prove it n shit, but like yeah…annnnnd?

I’d like someone to show WHAT benefit this has to Humans, now.

You can’t link to a NASA webpage and say “fill yer boots” because all dat shit was done here on earth with human thought and application..

Also if someone says “space travel innit” then like Wow… how exciting.. Whilst his may happen in 50-100 years time for humans, as is the appetite isn’t there for us to leave this planet and go habitat Mars or Venus. We don’t take the time or spend the sheer amount of money on something like that and it won’t change anytime soon.

So, whilst I think Science a good thing I think the money should be spent on earth, making this planet a better place for humanity and all that lives here, rather than spunk the $’s on some glorified Nobel Prize quest.. for sure thats all this will lead to.

They ought to get proper jobs.

and have a 😯 yourself for thinking we’re in the minority or consider us as being thick.

The big project that does seem to be a financial black hole (ho!ho!) is the ITER project.

I recon at some point the car-park attendant will turn up one morning and find everyone has done a runner leaving a note on the gate: “Nous tres sorry but vous is dead right, it will never arbeit. Scusa “.

consider us as being thick.

err I am thick…but I do like good vfm…which I do not think space stuff is.

It seems a tad short sighted that we aren’t spending more on research, but given attitudes like ton’s are commonly held it’s easy to see why.

It’s ok, somebody’s spending loads on it. I’m sure they will be happy to share once it’s finished.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/clean-energy-hotter-sun-nuclear-fusion-test-china-hits-90m-fahrenheit-102-seconds-1542996

I think the money should be spent on earth, making this planet a better place for humanity and all that lives here

That’s just a bigger version of “we should spend money on our own people first instead of refugees”, and it’s equally fallacious. The reasons we’re not making the planet better for all humanity have little to do with a lack of money – especially not the relatively tiny amounts spent on pure science.

Besides, I know Jim Hough and he rides a Brompton, so he’s all right 😀

err I am thick…but I do like good vfm…which I do not think space stuff is.

If you know you’re thick, why do you believe in your own opinion on something you don’t understand? 🙂

So you think we didnt know light moves in waves

🙂

Quantum physics is soooooo pointless.

So you think we didnt know light moves in waves, so too sound and now we’re being told Gravity does too? And you think logically this is a new finding, like we’ve never considered it or thought it existed before?

Well Einstein considered it a hundred years ago. That’s why these devices eventually get built – to determine if theories or hypotheses hold up.

Anyway, in my book knowledge beats ignorance any day. Even if I don’t understand it.

…You think finding Gravitational Waves was something New?…

Understanding exactly how things work, not how you think they work is a good thing.

For a long time people thought it was moving protons in a material that created current.

Are you so short sighted that you can’t see the potential benefits?

What if we work out a way to actually create a gravitational wave cheaply?

You could have flying cars. FLYING CARS. Who doesn’t want that?

bikebouy – Member

But honestly..

You think finding Gravitational Waves was something New?

So you think we didnt know light moves in waves, so too sound and now we’re being told Gravity does too? And you think logically this is a new finding, like we’ve never considered it or thought it existed before?

Good try, but you’ve got it a bit arse about face there chap.

Einstein predicted these waves back in 1915, point is that only now have we been able to develop the technology to prove that he (and General Relativity) were right.

Just because it was done in a lab here doesn’t make it a/ of no value and b/ not a spin off from the space race.

Good science usually requires a theory / hypothesis and then experimentation to prove the theory and make it manifest. Occasionally people find things out that they didn’t expect. Sometimes those things have higher value than what they expected.

One thing’s clear – we won’t find a cure for cancer by not looking for it; equally we won’t understand our universe by not experimenting on it. And there has to be facility for both.

knowledge beats ignorance any day. Even if I don’t understand it.

agree totally….but most of out knowledge came from bloke like Einstein/Galileo/Edison/Fleming/other great inventors…..who did not watch star wars and star trek.

agree totally….but most of out knowledge came from bloke like Einstein/Galileo/Edison/Fleming/other great inventors…..who did not watch star wars and star trek.

Newton believed in astrology and alchemy – that was the Star Trek of his day.

😆

Plus, Newton was the first to use the excuse of “my dog ate my homework” – so you see, practical applications 😀

ton – Member

agree totally….but most of out knowledge came from bloke like Einstein/Galileo/Edison/Fleming/other great inventors…..who did not watch star wars and star trek.

Hawking watches, and was in an episode of TNG.

Anyway, I’m going to spend the rest of my life searching for that parallel universe with me and Emma Watson.

Anyway, I’m going to spend the rest of my life searching for that parallel universe with me and Emma Watson.

Best euphemism for masturbating ever.

we’re all standing on the shoulders of giants.
if you want a more recent original thinker how about arthur c clarke? certainly a mixed bag as an individual, but he was the guy who put forward the idea of satellites circling the earth to provide communications, among other things.

you can bet steve jobs watched star trek, and look how ubiquitous tablet devices are.

has anyone ask JayZ`s opinion yet, he is possibly an expert

Anyway, I’m going to spend the rest of my life searching for that parallel universe with me and Emma Watson.

Given the same physical model there’s an equal chance of a reality in which you cop off with Ann Widdicombe!

Happy hunting.

For the people complaining about the finances of space exploration. It costs very little, NASA’s budget is currently 0.4% of the federal budget (for comparison defence is 17%) and has been shown to have at least a tenfold net benefit for every dollar spent.

we’ve got 2 choices really.

either, we engage in fundamental research, or we stand knee deep in our own feaces throwing rotten turnips at witches.

either, we engage in fundamental research, or we stand knee deep in our own feaces throwing rotten turnips at witches.

errmm I think most of the truly great scientific breakthroughs were well before 1957.

errmm I think most of the truly great scientific breakthroughs were well before 1957

What we’ve done so far will pale into insignificance compared to what Stephen H has planned.

He’s just really good at keeping secrets.

bikebouy – Member
I’m with Ton on this.

I see minor benefits in the realisation of a single goal, like Space Travel. All the spin off revolutionary and evolutionary engineering and biomechanics, botanics and shit..

wow just wow

errmm I think most of the truly great scientific breakthroughs were well before 1957.

Oh well, if that’s the case, we might as well all shut up shop and go home.

That’s it people, there’s no more advancements to make. Someone turn the lights off on the way out.

Oi, stop trying you…. You heard the man:there’s no more discoveries to be made. They all happened before 1957, so you may as well give it up.

Shame. It was nice while it lasted: all those technologies, the increase in knowledge and awareness of our environment, the cross borders collaborations, the will to discover and expand our understanding. All for nothing, because Ton, and a few others said so.

only now have we been able to develop the technology to prove that he (and General Relativity) were right.

Technology, which is developing at a stunning rate when you actually step back, look around you and see what’s going on!

The first part of this makes an interesting read:

http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/01/artificial-intelligence-revolution-1.html

errmm I think most of the truly great scientific breakthroughs were well before 1957.

Most of the great scientific breakthroughs were only considered great in hindsight, we don’t know what the confirmation of gravitational waves will mean for us yet, it’s just too soon. I’m sure there are physicists the world over that have ideas but these will only come to light at some point in the future.

Earlier you mentioned Galileo and there’s a good example of how trying to understand something for the sake of knowledge led eventually to a practical application. Galileo was the first person to discover that the swing of a pendulum kept even time, he recorded that and moved on. A hundred years later that seemingly useless bit of knowledge was used to create the first accurate timepiece. That all happened because Galileo saw a swinging chandelier and wondered about why it moved the way that it did.

The cost of this is actually pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things $620m = ~£430m = cost of ~14 miles of new UK motorway

Don’t get confused by the £ reference, I’m converting from $ to make it an easier comparison.

It’s a tiny percentage of what we spend decommissioning nuclear reactors.

There are endless comparisons but in terms of what nations spend on ‘stuff’, it is incredibly insignificant, but massively significant in terms of our understanding of the universe. If people didn’t study physics, you wouldn’t be looking at a computer screen now.

As far as I can tell, they’re trying to find a cure for gravity.

I know for sure Ton (and I) would benefit from that.

And if you think that knowledge is expensive…try ignorance.

errmm I think most of the truly great scientific breakthroughs were well before 1957.

What about dark energy and dark matter, and the fact that it was only in 1998 or so that we discovered that the expansion of the universe was actually accelerating? At the time everyone thought the expansion would continue but slow, stop, or there’d be a big crunch.

There was a fantastic Infinite Monkey Cage podcast a while back explaining all the current problems with General Relativiy. I couldn’t possible hope to explain it, but the consensus was that there is a huge amount still to learn, as Relativity is no longer good enough to explain all the observations in the universe. There were of the opinion that SpaceTime would be revealed to be an emergent property of something else.

Some things are not statistics or divisible.

There is nowhere in the universe where a giant turtle is swimming through space with elephants standing on its shell & nowhere are you are shagging (a conscious) Emma Watson

There is nowhere [where] you are shagging (a conscious) Emma Watson

Is my mind not in this Universe then?

Even better, I’m actually making a decent fist of it.