Idea Definition and 811 Threads

I was sitting in my recliner when I was struck by a thought. That sometimes happens. Is the reason that plate tectonics exist is because we have the moon? It's conceded by most that the moon's construction was the crash of a proto-planet into Earth. It's contents are principally the same as...

Hello, I stumbled onto this site because I was looking about how to become a physicist some how and really I need some advice what is a smart move for me. Right now I am in high school taking all of my classes and staying along with what I want to do. I always had an interest in science ever...

Today nail salons have spa chairs and I want to start a company that makes entertainment system that could be mounted to those spa chairs. The system consists of a 7" to 10" touch screen LCD and a mini computer. With this system and user friendly software, the users can surf the web, play video...

I know someone in school who I would consider extremely bright and who would make a good scientist...except for one tiny problem. If a superior says he's wrong (even though he's not), he will accept it and continue on. He really won't try to defend it and will make excuses on why the superior...

Citation to string has crashed--any idea why? Citations to a paper are a rough indicator of its value in the eyes of other experts. When we are sampling stringy papers it indicates value/usefulness/importance as judged by other string researchers. Measured this way, the perceived value of...

First of all, I'm sorry if this is posted in the wrong sub-topic but I didn't know which would be correct. Anyway, so we're having this horrible lightning storm here at my house, and it got me thinking about the power that a lightning strike contains. Would it be feasible to have a...

This is a confusing topic. What does it mean to be degenerate? How does this apply to atomic orbitals versus molecular orbitals? Can you point me to a good reference book on the subject?

...for the addicts among us? I remember back in the early nineties there were what was called "pick-ups", or caffeine pills supposedly used by students, in order to ingest a lot of caffeine. Do such pills still exist? Has anyone thought of adding caffeine to orange juice or any other...

I have a chemistry posterboard project coming up, and, to not waste time and actually learn something, I want it to be something related to quantum physics. Does anyone have any idea what it could be about so that it still has some 10th grade chemistry in it? Or no chance? D=

Hi this is my 2nd post so pls be kind guys. Let me know of any other cool cosmology forums out there as they seem hard to find with google. So to my idea! Instead of waiting for some hyper-drive to be invented (I read of pushing spaceships with lasers?) how about we use our own star, the...

I've only recently started teaching myself Calculus, so you'll have to forgive me if I'm trying to do something silly or impossible. This has been bugging me for a few days, so I figured it's high time I ask someone. Since we can write \int_{a}^b f(x) as \int_{a}^b\ e^\ln(f(x)) would it be...

A problem with pc's is noise. One solution is slower CPU's made with today's chip technology so they need no cooling fans. Coupled with power supply fans designed for minimum noise. But someone suggested converting any high-spec contemporary PC into a very quiet one by replacing the power...

Hi, I'm trying to achieve neutral buoyancy with a sounding balloon (a large latex balloon). Is there a certain weight/helium ratio that will make it afloat at 10km/20km etc (tyhe balloon bursting altitude is ~38km) One idea that I had was to attach another balloon, which is mostly empty...

Hiiii... Friends I am engineering student I want to build up my career in Robotics. my stream is computer science... can anybody suggest my how to start ? about books which i should read which could benefit me?...

Hello i am an Electrical Engineering undergraduate student at Iowa State University. My purpose here in this thread is to ask anybody interested in my idea, I am asking an educated contribution on how to control a single pin with electromagnetic waves. Lets go by parts, the model i am trying...

Could the big bang be the point at which centrifugal force overcomes gravity? The fact that galaxies collide leads me to believe that the universe may be spinning, which may support the idea. All comments and ideas appreciated. Thanks, Hool

This may be a little crazy of an idea, and I am posting it just for fun, so don't take it too seriously. What if the universe was not expanding, but instead we along with all other objects are shrinking?

What is the idea behind renormalization group ?? i believe you begin with an action S[\phi] =\int d^{4}x L(\phi , \partial _{\mu} \phi ) then you expand the fields into its Fourier components upto a propagator.. \phi (x) =C \int_{ \Lambda}d^{4}x e^{i \vec p \vec x} + c.c but...

new? electric car idea...! Hey guys, I don't have any formal education in engineering (yet :D) but i think i have had a reasonable (and original??) idea for powering electric cars and I was wondering if it could possibly work. Here goes... My idea is to have some sort of magnets in an...

Four years ago, during a thunderstorm in the middle of the night, I heard transformers around our house blowing - pretty normal in our neighborhood, during a storm. Then I saw a bright light flash outside the window, and heard our electric garage door open. I woke up my husband, thinking maybe...

Hi Im currently doing an HND in chemical engineering and everyone in my class has to do a project of their own choice. Iv been doing a bit of reading on shear thickening fluids and their application to kevlar to increase its strength against ballistics. The STF is made up of silica particles...

A friend of mine . kind of savant genius ,but this time he has gone too far . he's got this wacko idea . he's all set to try and patent . I am trying to help him out by getting some "real" physicists to tell him he's got his head on backward heres what he thinks that if someone were to have a...

What do you guys think about living in an RV at a young age (meaning, not retirement)? Right off, I could see the benefits: You own where you live, but it doesn't cost as much as a house. Your home is mobile. You can take more things with you when you travel (by road). You can go on...

Homework Statement A block of 10kg is on a plane elevated 35 degrees. if it starts at rest at the bottom of the 10m ramp, and the coefficient of kinetic friction is .15, what is the force need to push the block up the entire ramp in 8.0s. Homework Equations The Attempt at a...

any idea what this is? Found this on stumble upon. Hope the link works. If anyone knows what this is... http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=806lnnegr8

I'm really putting some effort into understanding the core idea behind determinants. For a 2x2 matrix, I obviously saw how to derive the formula for the determinant (using AA^-1=I). The question is, how did they define the |A| for higher order matrices? I'm reading a textbook on linear algebra...

Hi all in here, Do you have any idea why concrete is weak when tested in tension and list the steps that can be taken to overcome this? and why might a welded stainless steel structure fail from corrosion?

Uncertainty principle is a quite revolutionary concept and go hand in hand with the so-called probabilistic picture of the quantum particle. What is worrying me for last a few days if there has been any attempt---theoretically or, experimentally to check the position and momentum uncertainty...

I need to create an AI project for a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and I'd welcome some ideas. Thanks!

I have a desktop that I was foced to run a system recovery on. After the recovery was completed, pressing keys would do nothing. The mouse works, so I can navigate around, but I cannot type anything. Anyone know where I might start? I have two keyboards (USB and serial port) and neither are...

Hey! This is for a 4th year undergrad project in Applied Molec Bio. I need an idea for a molecular biology-based, laboratory research plan. It needs to be an "original" idea but I'm having trouble of picking one... I will not actually be performing any experiments. It will contain...

I had this idea a while ago but having just finished reading an article about the recent increase in college-aged entrepreneurs, I was inspired. At present, I am a freshman math major at a small state college in Vermont. I plan to transfer into a competitive Economics/Mechanical Engineering...

Hi guys, I had an idea the other day about riding gravity into the smaller 5th dimension and then jumping out of it back to normal space time as a way of FTL travel. Now i don't know if this is the right place to ask questions like this but what would the feasibility/problems be like for such...

Well, first off my question is -Would it be possible to perfectly replicate the big bang digitally?- im asking this question for an idea i came up with only 5 minutes ago My idea: If you perfectly replicate the Big Bang down to the last atom, everything that happened in it would happen...

Idea for a high speed "craft"...would this work? Note: since I am not a physicist, I can't be certain how foolish I might sound if the following hypothetical device would not be physically possible (or economically useful, for that matter), but I'm a curious sort of fellow, so I'd appreciate...

This came to me last night in a dream. I was wondering if anyone here can validate whether or not this idea is realistic or just nothing more than a dream? It may not be new but I haven't seen it anywhere else. I put together a simple drawing to explain it. See the link below. If anyone else has...

I get the urge to crack my neck once everyday to relieve the stiffness. The urge is even stronger after I put in some good hours of reading or computer related activities. And man does it feel good! But I fear that there may be some medical implications to this. Like maybe tearing something...

I think I have a great idea for a business. This "idea" is not a physical product. It is a service that I think will help consumers save time and increase sale for retailers. This service will use barcode scanner or RFID reader. Is it possible to patent/protect a service?

Here is a little animation of an idea I have, It's a wheel that spins continuously and is powered by magnets. Here's the link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNBVQBVOJMw" The description of the video will explain my idea. Please tell if this would work in real life.

Im a computer science major and my major requires me to take 2 semesters of physics with calculus, anyone know the best way to get around studying the material and passing the classes.

And I'd like to write it and do the work on my own. It's a project that would probably take me a few months. I'm wondering : What are the best places to check to make sure no one has done anything like it? Article searches I mean. I currently do not have access to the search engines that are...

Lyman Page is a senior observational cosmologist who publishes in good company like with Charles Bennett, Joanna Dunkley, David Spergel and Ned Wright. He and an associate have a new idea about getting information from the CMB http://arxiv.org/abs/0706.3908 to me it seems conceptually novel...

I read in New Scientist that some physicists believe that retrocausality may not only exist, but that life may somehow be able affect the past to enable its own creation. Taking this along with the idea with daughter universes which can break off our own universe, is it possible that there can...

Is it necessary to have a patent so it doesn't get stolen as you try to sell it? How does selling an idea actually work?

Has anyone ever heard of this: http://www.frogstar.com/fault/index.asp I thought it would be interesting to play here on PF, but I'm not sure how it would work with multiple players. Any ideas?

I'm having some trouble understanding the idea of coherence. Consider the phrase: "a coherent superposition of states." Here I understand the coherence to refer to the states being coupled to each other and capable of interfering, due to a perturbing field. How does this relate to...

The following table shows brand preferences against gender on the basis of a random sample of size 100 from population. It is intended to examine possible association between gender and brand preferences. Brand A Brand B Men 30 20 Women 20 30 At 5% level of significance will you...

Hey people, Had an idea about a device for nuclear fusion. Now I figure its too much mess and too many people will have to be envolved anyway to get a patent or something, even if it was a realistic idea - as remote as that chance may be, so if it works remember I thought about it so I could...

Hey people, Had an idea about a device for nuclear fusion. Now I figure its too much mess and too many people will have to be envolved anyway to get a patent or something, even if it was a realistic idea - as remote as that chance may be, so if it works remember I thought about it so I could...

Hi to everyone, For a while (which is only a few weeks) I have been thinking about a solar power plant with additional features. Here is a brief outline. Take an arid area close to the sea (Sahara, Saudia Arabia, parts of Australia etc.) Focus sunlight via computer controlled mirrors to a...