Recent content by Dynamos

Here is a YouTube video with Michio Kaku talking a bit about it. Check out the second comment, by "Neonrabbit". If you think orbital mechanics is challenging now, try doing it through time!

What did Michio Kaku say about it? Was it just a thought experiment based on time slowing down as you approach the speed of light (i.e. like the one about a twin who travels off somewhere at the speed of light, returns to find that his sibling and the world has aged 10 years, but he himself...

I think that this thread should be "sticky-ed", or at least linked to Zz's main faq-type thread ("So you want to be a physicist"). Either way, thanks for info, ZapperZ.

What about applied plasma physics (eg. plasma confinement) for nuclear fusion applications? That would require a strong bg in EM.

Say, what do people here think about this report from a few years ago? http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear_power/nuclear_power_risk/nuclear_proliferation_and_terrorism/nuclear-reprocessing.html Thus far I have only come across the benefits of nuclear reprocessing. Also, it seems like a challenge...

Yeah, but that can only be a temporary solution given that the source of the drain is not being addressed. It's like getting ppl to buy your stock when you know you're going under. Sooner or later ppl will find out, and raise heck.

Over the past couple of years I have seen ads on PBS and Discovery Channel (or those types of channels) by the ACS promoting "American Chemistry" as a proud tradition that young ppl interested in science should pursue. What are they (ACS) up to if what most ppl here are saying is true? How...

Thanks for the responses everyone. I think I like radio propagation in plasma environments (ie the ionosphere), the medical use, and space propulsion best. However, my concerns about fusion tech (60 yrs of being "on the cusp") may also apply to plasma propulsion. (Correct me if I am wrong!)

Yeah, I never thought of that. I guess that there are also industrial applications of plasma technology.

Will do. Thanks. I'll still keep an eye on what's going on with fusion energy too.

That is what I feared. Thanks. I suppose one could earn one's living teaching math/physics, while doing plasma research on the side then?

This is also informative.

Oh, thanks. I knew about the reprocessing ban in the US. I guess I just saw different terms (trasmutation vs reprocessing) in different contexts/places, and didn't recognize that they were basically the same thing. My bad.

Changing the spent fuel into an isotope that is less radioactive, or that is radioactive for a fraction of the time it would have been otherwise. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_transmutation

If you specialize in semiconductors or photonics (eg. lasers), you will have to study QM.