What is the newest installment of 'Random Thoughts' on Physics Forums?
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Ask a follow-up in this thread, or start your own.
11,071 replies · 682K views
Physics news on Phys.org
Science Advisor
- 3,766
- 2,215
Have you trying googling something like "why do suddenly find things too sweet?". Some potential causes sound serious enough (e.g., diabetes) that checking with your doctor seems justified.WWGD said:Weird that I'm suddenly finding food items I often eat without any major issue, to be overly sweet.
Hamiltonian
- 296
- 193
Some folks these days can barely hold a conversation without looking at their phone every minute. Many will literally start scrolling Instagram while you are talking to them.
Science Advisor
Homework Helper
- 7,865
- 13,180
I've made it a point to spend 10-15 min daily just sitting, doing nothing, just forcing myself to slow down..Hamiltonian said:Some folks these days can barely hold a conversation without looking at their phone every minute. Many will literally start scrolling Instagram while you are talking to them.![]()
Science Advisor
Gold Member
- 4,458
- 3,265
Yes. I can't forget the time while walking in a shopping mall, a teen age girl, while looking down at her phone and walking toward me, ran into me.Hamiltonian said:Some folks these days can barely hold a conversation without looking at their phone every minute. Many will literally start scrolling Instagram while you are talking to them.![]()
pinball1970
Gold Member
2025 Award
- 3,862
- 6,197
In terms of culture change, Radio, TV, NET, Cell and NET + phone for me not a good move.dlgoff said:Yes. I can't forget the time while walking in a shopping mall, a teen age girl, while looking down at her phone and walking toward me, ran into me.
Net plus phone that is
pinball1970
Gold Member
2025 Award
- 3,862
- 6,197
It crossed my mind during Ukraine early doors. This may not end well so let's meet kind of thing.WWGD said:Hey, how about we meet at the café, so we can look at our phones and ignore each other?
The invite would have been ...
Hey guys we will probably be vaporised next week. Fancy a beer and a piece of pie?
Pick a city
Science Advisor
Homework Helper
- 7,865
- 13,180
Don't get your hopes down. It seems apinball1970 said:It crossed my mind during Ukraine early doors. This may not end well so let's meet kind of thing.
The invite would have been ...
Hey guys we will probably be vaporised next week. Fancy a beer and a piece of pie?
Pick a city
Don't despair, I read about a black hole headed towards Earth ( general direction) . It appeared to be a few hundreds of thousands light years away, but of course, we're seeing it at the time the pic was taken, not at this moment.pinball1970 said:It crossed my mind during Ukraine early doors. This may not end well so let's meet kind of thing.bc
The invite would have been ...
Hey guys we will probably be vaporised next week. Fancy a beer and a piece of pie?
Pick a city
Science Advisor
- 3,766
- 2,215
Ha! I love it when that happens. I'm quite tall, hence I tend to be invisible to small people. Their face literally bounces off my lower chest and sometimes they almost fall backwards. From the look on their face, they seem not to understand immediately what's happened.dlgoff said:I can't forget the time while walking in a shopping mall, a teen age girl, while looking down at her phone and walking toward me, ran into me.
Little kids are even more fun. If I'm walking with a full shopping bag I make sure to raise the bag so that its (timber-strengthened) bottom is at their face level. I stand still as they strike it (so no one can claim that I walked into them).
(Am I a bad person?)
pinball1970
Gold Member
2025 Award
- 3,862
- 6,197
No they learn life lessons that way. Them getting a boo boo from your bag is better than them walking into the road under a truck.strangerep said:Ha! I love it when that happens. I'm quite tall, hence I tend to be invisible to small people. Their face literally bounces off my lower chest and sometimes they almost fall backwards. From the look on their face, they seem not to understand immediately what's happened.
Little kids are even more fun. If I'm walking with a full shopping bag I make sure to raise the bag so that its (timber-strengthened) bottom is at their face level. I stand still as they strike it (so no one can claim that I walked into them).
(Am I a bad person?)
pinball1970
Gold Member
2025 Award
- 3,862
- 6,197
At least a black hole will not be our fault.WWGD said:Don't get your hopes down. It seems a
Don't despair, I read about a black hole headed towards Earth ( general direction) . It appeared to be a few hundreds of thousands light years away, but of course, we're seeing it at the time the pic was taken, not at this moment.
I supposed going into it would be unpleasant though, it would strip off hot ionized gas from the sun? Vaporizing the Earth in the process?
Be nice to imagine a future without possible vaporization.
- 20,819
- 28,466
What a great relief. I thought I had to nail a sign at my head reading: medium rare.BillTre said:I don't think I'll be sticking around long enough to get vaporized in that manner.
- 1,098
- 1,385
40 degrees on monday here in the uk. thankfully in the lab we will be working with liquid helium. for making gelato, probably.
Science Advisor
Homework Helper
- 7,865
- 13,180
Thank you, I'm aware of both the Cantor Set and The Mandelbrot Set. But, are all Fractals recursive, or can they be obtained by recursion?fresh_42 said:More famous is the Mandelbrot set (here: apple men).
- 20,819
- 28,466
Fractals are defined by self-similarity, not by recursions, but isn't this already a recursion?WWGD said:Thank you, I'm aware of both the Cantor Set and The Mandelbrot Set. But, are all Fractals recursive, or can they be obtained by recursion?
https://arxiv.org/abs/1010.4474
Science Advisor
Homework Helper
- 7,865
- 13,180
I'm kind of confused on whether the defining property is self-similarity or having non-Integer Hausdorff Dimension. Pretty sure all Fractals have non-Integer Hausdorff dimensions, but self-similarity may not imply fractal. A standard circle or square would be such ( counter) example.fresh_42 said:Fractals are defined by self-similarity, not by recursions, but isn't this already a recursion?
https://arxiv.org/abs/1010.4474
Science Advisor
Homework Helper
- 7,865
- 13,180
I guess UK has made a full transition to Metric. Otherwise something seriously wrong there, at least in Cambford.ergospherical said:40 degrees on monday here in the uk. thankfully in the lab we will be working with liquid helium. for making gelato, probably.
- 20,819
- 28,466
I assume 40°C in the lab, 40°K for the helium. Both SI units.WWGD said:I guess UK has made a full transition to Metric. Otherwise something seriously wrong there, at least in Cambford.
Jarvis323
- 1,247
- 988
Anything which can be computed using recursion can be computed without recursion and visa versa. So the question boils down to asking wether all fractals are computable.WWGD said:Thank you, I'm aware of both the Cantor Set and The Mandelbrot Set. But, are all Fractals recursive, or can they be obtained by recursion?
I don't know if the definition of a fractal is clear enough to answer. If we are talking about an instance of a fractal then yes, in a trivial way, you can multiply an uncomputable real number with each coordinate value.
Besides a trivial example like that, and if we factor out all of those kinds of non-essential factors like noise, I'm not sure. How about a fractal which switches between two rules periodically as it recurses, but uses an uncomputable sequence to determine if it will switch or not at the start of each period? Then it is morphing unredictably between different fractals. Is that a fractal?
Science Advisor
Homework Helper
- 7,865
- 13,180
Formally, a fractal is a Topological space with Fractional Hausdorff dimension. It is a space that cannot quite be qualified as being n-dimensional, for n a Natural number.Jarvis323 said:Anything which can be computed using recursion can be computed without recursion and visa versa. So the question boils down to asking wether all fractals are computable.
I don't know if the definition of a fractal is clear enough to answer. If we are talking about an instance of a fractal then yes, in a trivial way, you can multiply an uncomputable real number with each coordinate value.
Besides a trivial example like that, and if we factor out all of those kinds of non-essential factors like noise, I'm not sure. How about a fractal which switches between two rules periodically as it recurses, but uses an uncomputable sequence to determine if it will switch or not at the start of each period? Then it is morphing unredictably between different fractals. Is that a fractal?
Similar threads
Random thoughts: computers, Internet, security and privacy
- Sophia
- · Replies 78 ·
- Computing and Technology
- Replies
- 78
Engineering Second thoughts on physics PhD-Engineering masters/PhD or job?
- DJeffs
- · Replies 15 ·
- STEM Career Guidance
- Replies
- 15
High School My random thoughts about the sun, black holes, and gravity.
- Cait
- · Replies 1 ·
- Astronomy, Astrophysics, Cosmology
- Replies
- 1
- Replies
- 2