Recent content by rod_worth

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    Why is string theory on the verge of collapse?

    My more emotionally-driven analogy is that it's like a modern theory of epicycles; just modify it until it works! :wink:
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    How the energy generated by nuclear fussion is extracted?

    This is what ITER is designed to achieve; break-even. If they can achieve this and/or surpass it, then commercial fusion 'will be' viable in the not too distant future. ITER groundbreaking has just started, and the plant is not expected to go online until sometime in 2016. I'm still a little...
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    Is Entropic Gravity the Future of Physics?

    Here's my two-cents worth of emotional analogy: String Theory is the modern equivalent of epicycles; modify it until it works. :biggrin:
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    Can Matter Fall Into a Black Hole & Become Energy?

    Looking back at my other posts, I can see why the "100% efficiency" wasn't clear; I assumed that's what we were talking about. In response to: I must say that the purpose of my clarification-question has served its purpose; you've made me realize something that I had previously not...
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    Is Entropic Gravity the Future of Physics?

    In Verlinde's paper, he does not 'do away with gravity' in the sense that there "is no gravity" as you stated. He simply realizes what it 'truly' is, if you will, and states on page 9, "-the origin of gravity: it is an entropic force!" Here is a quick summary of how he gets from temperature...
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    Can Matter Fall Into a Black Hole & Become Energy?

    Are we "turning [energy] into energy" or "turning matter into [radiation]"? The issue of being mindful on how we make statements such as this was pointed out earlier as it is a point-of-clarification with respect to answering the questions as they were 'intended' to be asked. I only point this...
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    Can Matter Fall Into a Black Hole & Become Energy?

    Let me end this debate by just saying "No". There will become a point where your Uranium will either become degenerate which will 'stop the crush', the electrons will begin to 'fuse' (if you will) to the protons forming neutrons (as in the formation of a neutron star) which will 'stop the...
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    Is Entropic Gravity the Future of Physics?

    I just watched a lecture by Raphael Bousso from UC Berkeley on "The World as a Hologram" on YouTube, and the answer to my own question is 'yes'. Black hole entropy apparently tells us much about the structure of nature, and these arguments are not based on string theory; it's based on...
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    Is Entropic Gravity the Future of Physics?

    I've read Verlinde's paper "On the Origin of Gravity and the Laws of Newton". The first 23 pages are on how to derive Newton and Einstein's equations of gravity "as an entropic force caused by a change in the amount of information associated with the positions of bodies of matter." In the last...
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    Can Matter Fall Into a Black Hole & Become Energy?

    I'm going to rephrase your question as a physicist would interpret it, and then ask yourself if it makes any sense: "Can the 'energy' that falls into a black hole be crushed so hard that it is converted to energy? Matter 'is' energy; no converting needed. I'm guessing what you probably...
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    Noob question: If you travel as fast as light, time freezes so

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but the relativistic Doppler effect as v -> c, would be: f = (lim v->c)f0*sqrt([1+B]/[1-B]) which would be a frequency approaching infinity. I wouldn't be concerned about being 'pelted' by 'frequency' as much as I would the infinite amount of energy associated with...
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    Noob question: If you travel as fast as light, time freezes so

    I'm going to guess that Dmitry67 is probably messing with you because he knows you'll correct him each time; he's probably trying to see how long you'll go before you stop. I don't know him/her, but as I said, that's my guess. As for the initial question concerning 'time freezing', I'd like to...
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    Why is the speed of light independent of a frame of reference?

    Back when Michelson and Morley conducted their experiments it wasn't 'completely' known whether or not the speed of light was truly constant, or if it could vary a little, which is what their experiment would have told them if this was true. Their 'null' result needed an explanation. 'Part' of...
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