Recent content by Karl G.

  1. K

    Are Christoffel Symbols Considered Tensors?

    Oh ... thought they were
  2. K

    Were some of Einstein's thought experiments carried out later?

    In fact, highly precise atomic clocks were carried arounfd in planes, and time dilationof SR was confirmed. Gravitational photon redshift was also confirmed. That's all I can think of...
  3. K

    Are Christoffel Symbols Considered Tensors?

    I'm sort of confused about Christofel symbols being called tensors. I thought that to be considered a tensor, the tensor had to obey the standard component transformation law. For example...
  4. K

    A baffling quote from Einstein, badly requiring explanation

    I was surprised to learn that Newtonian theory predicts light being curved by gravity; the most famous confirmation of GR is light deflection, and to learn classical, Newtonian gravitational fields could deflect light came as something of a shock. (Although I am fully aware that GR predicts the...
  5. K

    News Is the World really headed for another Dark Age?

    Interesting, but I don't think the decline of Rome can solely be attributed to lead pipes ... did you know, however, that Czar Ivan the Terrible's homicidal mood swings were probably caused by mercury poisoning? Ivan sufferred from terrible arthritis, and many of the drugs prescribed to him were...
  6. K

    News Is Polygamy a Crime in Canada?

    I wish I could criticize the whole mess ... but I live in Texas, where Gov. Perry wants sodomy to be illegal. http://www.sodomylaws.org/usa/usnews52.htm
  7. K

    News Jindal - Another one bites the dust?

    Of course, Jindal promotes teaching a 'balanced' version of creationism and evolution in the classroom. See the Scientific American.
  8. K

    Living Forever: Is Immortality Ethically Possible?

    Has anybody ever heard of quantum immortality? I won't try to explain it; here's the wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_immortality
  9. K

    News Is the World really headed for another Dark Age?

    True, but I'd rather live in impoverished Appalachia than be a peasant in Ancient Rome.
  10. K

    Who is your favorite physicist and why?

    Hmmm... I can't choose between Schrodinger and his womanizing or Dirac and his taciturn nature.
  11. K

    News Is the World really headed for another Dark Age?

    Agreed! I'm tired of hearing 'our society is going to collapse' rhetoric. Compared to the times of the Roman Empire (even compared to the early 1900's!), we are infinitely better off today. Life expectancies have skyrocketed. Income has drastically risen. Crime has fallen. Etc!
  12. K

    The Big Rock Paradox: Stephen Hawking's Thought-Experiment

    Liars aren't paradoxical. People who admit that they are liars are paradoxical.
  13. K

    News Is the World really headed for another Dark Age?

    While this continues to be a hot topic of debate among historians, the Roman Empire 'fell' for many reasons. (I put qoutes around fell because Rome really didn't collapse overnight- even well into the 1000's, many of its institutions still existed. To be precise, Rome experienced a decline...
  14. K

    The Big Rock Paradox: Stephen Hawking's Thought-Experiment

    But since it CAN'T, it isn't omnipotent.
  15. K

    The Big Rock Paradox: Stephen Hawking's Thought-Experiment

    The fact that 'omnipotent' is paradoxical means it can't exist.
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