Recent content by ACG

That's my current occupation. I was big on software for maybe 10 years and that's what my degree is in. My interests have changed a lot since then though, and meteorology/weather has always been a hobby.

My degree is in math with computer science (theoretical CS for the most part with a strong math background) with a minor in earth, atmospheric, and planetary science. I have a master's in computer science.

I have a software engineering degree but I'm thinking of changing careers. What additional training do I need? Where do I begin? Do I have to go back to school? Should I get involved with some weather forecasting group (at least amateur weather forecasting)?

Statistics? Why statistics? My actual degree from MIT is actually math with computer science (so I've got a strong math background).

Hi! I was wondering what the best way would be for me to transition into a career in meteorology. I have a minor in earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences from MIT (and would have probably become a meteorologist had I realized MIT had a degree in it!). My actual degree is in software...

Here's a bit of a hint. When you expand (x+1)^2, what do you get?

Hi! There's got to be something wrong with the following method to take photographs of the area inside a supermassive black hole, but I can't figure it out. 1. Lower your spacecraft to just outside the event horizon. 2. Extend a uniform steel bar with cameras embedded in it...

Another thing to keep in mind is the fact that the "signal" that the rod is being spun has to propagate down the length of the rod. There are actually two things to keep in mind here: the speed that the end of the rod is moving at and the speed at which the signal is propagating down the end of...

Hi! I'm sure this has been done before, but here goes. Superman is flying through the vacuum of space and stumbles across a rod 100,000 kilometers long. This rod is of nonzero mass and is narrow enough for him to hold in his hand. It is infinitely rigid, with an infinitely high shear...

But is it possible that there are certain laws of physics which dark matter does not obey simply because of the way it works? Perhaps it obeys some of the laws (gravitational, for example), but not others (such as the c limit). I'm not even sure we know enough about dark matter to rule out...

Hi! I'm sure this has been done before, but is it possible for dark matter to travel faster than light (at least some candidates for dark matter)? We know that ordinary matter is limited by the speed of light, but what about dark matter? For all we know, dark matter may not use c-limited...

Hi! I'm not sure whom I should talk to about this, but here goes. My girlfriend and I got a bunch of Painted Lady butterfly caterpillars (second instar at the time) from a conservatory the day after Valentine's Day. According to what I've read on the Internet, the butterflies should live...

Correct. However, as you know they're far from independent. If game 11 is a loss (50% chance) then there's no way for the set of games ranging from 2 to 11 to be the start of an 11-game streak. That dosen't sound like it will work. ACG

Hi! The Red Sox just finished an 11-game winning streak, which made me wonder. Do most teams experience winning streaks this long over the course of a season? What is the expected value of the length of the longest winning streak for a .500 team over the course of a season? In...

A spacecraft creates two entangled particles. One of them falls into a black hole, past the event horizon. Inside the black hole, the entangled particle interacts with a piece of matter (and if all else fails the singularity). This forces a measurement on it. Does the wave function...