Recent content by paw

And I think it will be made worse by supplying false rationalizations to fuel the consumerism. Without the rationalizations people might make better choices.

Exactly. Cost is usually a good way to gauge how 'green' something is. Granite is expensive because it takes a lot of energy to cut and polish. Cheaper, man made stone is a better choice from an environmental POV. Now, I understand why people like expensive things. I do too. Unfortunately...

You clearly missed my point. There are many genuinely useful things we can do for the environment and you've mentioned a few. However, there are many choices that aren't justified from an environmental point of view and I mentioned a few. I was hoping for some intelligent discussion about...

A truly tragic loss. Too bad his message was heard but not really adopted. "Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try"

On a recent reality show a young couple wanted to purchase a second home in the pacific northwest as a getaway. They claimed to be strong environmentalists and wanted a 'green' home. So what is wrong with this picture? I mean they can afford it so why not? Well there's nothing wrong with...

I think 'smell of space' is a contraction of 'smell of the myriad technological systems and materials needed to keep fragile organic organisms alive inside an aluminum can in low Earth orbit'. It's a lot easier to say. It definitely doesn't refer to the 'smell' of the vacuum of space which by...

Very nice. The animation is particularly well suited to this problem.

That's the whole point. Without reference to anything outside the ship he cannot say anything about his state of motion. If he can't say anything about his state of motion he can't say anything about the behaviour of his clocks. Yes. Again that's my point. He has no way to say anything about...

I've spent time reading, and developed an interest in, Tolkein's LOR. That doesn't mean I believe in Hobbits.

Good. We're making some progress. You agree the astronaut in a closed ship cannot know anything about his state of motion before the acceleration. Not his speed nor his direction. Keep this in mind. He does not! He only knows his state of motion is different than it was before. It could be...

Whether you realize it or not, this statement makes it appear you believe there is some sort of absolute motion. I think that misunderstanding is at the heart of your inability to accept the many correct interpertations you have been given by JesseM, DS et al. To demonstrate how this...

This spacetime diagram might help. It's in the Zulu frame of reference. Zulu sees the small rocket fired at the first event, the small rocket arrives at Zulu at the second event and the big rocket arrives at the third event. The big rocket is traveling 0.4c. The small rocket is fired at 0.4c...

As far as it goes yes. Let's look at the light first. Assuming the flashes were simultaneous in B's frame then the observer will see the light from C before the light from A. As for the bullets, if the bullets are traveling at v<=V then the bullet fired from A will never reach the observer...

You've obviously never worked in a pesticide manufacturing plant.

LOL! Also, there's millions of people that die from lead every year... but not from lead poisoning.