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[Ivan Seeking]

Brain teaser: If you are driving with a helium balloon in your car and hit the accelerator, which way does the balloon go and why.

 

[jack action]

Brain teaser: If you are driving with a helium balloon in your car and hit the accelerator, which way does the balloon go and why.

With an air-filled balloon, the balloon will go backward, like any normal object. But with a helium-filled balloon, it will go forward during acceleration.

Why? Because of Zephaniah 1:8 :

And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD'S sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel.

It is clear that God hates people with strange apparel. And who wears strange apparel? Clowns. And what do clowns love? Helium-filled balloons. So God hates helium-filled balloons.

And that is why you should never trust helium-filled balloons.

Context: This is a real argument I read somewhere on a Neo-Christian forum, years ago, that was refuting a physics experiment involving a balloon whose result did not agree with what they were trying to prove. I love it so much and I always wanted to use it somewhere. Thank you for this opportunity!

 

[WWGD]

I believe it's now Zephania 1:8: + $2.99 S&H, btw.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

With an air-filled balloon, the balloon will go backward, like any normal object. But with a helium-filled balloon, it will go forward during acceleration.

Why? Because of Zephaniah 1:8 :

It is clear that God hates people with strange apparel. And who wears strange apparel? Clowns. And what do clowns love? Helium-filled balloons. So God hates helium-filled balloons.

And that is why you should never trust helium-filled balloons.

Context: This is a real argument I read somewhere on a Neo-Christian forum, years ago, that was refuting a physics experiment involving a balloon whose result did not agree with what they were trying to prove. I love it so much and I always wanted to use it somewhere. Thank you for this opportunity!

So you don't know why.

 

[Swamp Thing]

So you don't know why.

TL;DR : YDK

 

[Ivan Seeking]

TL;DR : YDK

So you don't know.

 

[jack action]

So you don't know why.

I always do - like every first poster on PF - a thorough web search: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=car+balloon+acceleration

"Knowing" is soooo 20th century!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I always do - like every first poster on PF - a thorough web search: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=car+balloon+acceleration

"Knowing" is soooo 20th century!

It wasn't an appeal to magic knowledge or search skills. It is a fun little mental exercise for those who don't already know the answer.

 

[Ibix]

Brain teaser: If you are driving with a helium balloon in your car and hit the accelerator, which way does the balloon go and why.

I saw somebody on the bus once with a helium balloon. I spent the whole journey watching it doing its thing with my physics brain going "Yeah, totally normal" and my common sense brain going "Argh! Argh! Witchcraft!" It was an interesting clash.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I saw somebody on the bus once with a helium balloon. I spent the whole journey watching it doing its thing with my physics brain going "Yeah, totally normal" and my common sense brain going "Argh! Argh! Witchcraft!" It was an interesting clash.

The one that completely violates my expectation instinctively, is the following. It is simple math but intuitively a non-compute for me.

Wrap a cord tightly around the earth at the equator [ignore all the practical issues]. Now add one foot to the length of the cord. What is the uniform gap formed between the cord and the earth if the cord is now pulled tight?

What is the radius of a circle having a one-foot circumference?

Too funny! Once I see a mathematical answer it usually makes perfect sense in the real world. But this one not so much.

 

[Ibix]

Too funny! Once I see a mathematical answer it usually makes perfect sense in the real world. But this one not so much.

You mean because the answer is about 4.8cm, independent of the radius of the Earth? You wrap a string around anything circular (the Earth, the Moon, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, a toilet roll), add a foot to the length of the string and you'll have a 4.8cm radial gap between your circular thing and your expanded circular string. Yeah, I agree it's one where you intuitively expect the gap to decrease as the size of the circular thing increases.

 

[Mayhem]

The most reason to pay attention in ODE/PDE classes is to know if your lecturer means t when he writes x and vice versa.
The rigor of a mathematician's reasoning is inversely related to the rigor of their handwriting.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

You mean because the answer is about 4.8cm, independent of the radius of the Earth? You wrap a string around anything circular (the Earth, the Moon, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, a toilet roll), add a foot to the length of the string and you'll have a 4.8cm radial gap between your circular thing and your expanded circular string. Yeah, I agree it's one where you intuitively expect the gap to decrease as the size of the circular thing increases.

It always seemed like there should be a way to view the problem intuitively where it becomes obvious that the radius of C = 1 is simply added to the C_x radius. But I don't see it.
.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

My favorite mind tweak from the world of classical physics, comes from the calculation for the retarded potential of a charge in motion. What is so strange is that even though everything is derived using the [delayed by the speed of light] retarded potential, which comes from where the charge was a moment ago, the electric field vector for an observer, points to or from where the charge actually is now [if the acceleration is 0...]

https://people.nscl.msu.edu/~witek/Classes/PHY432/Potentials and Fields/Potentials2.pdf

I realize there are problems with the conservation laws if this wasn't true, but it was never clear to me intuitively why we get such an elegant solution.

 

[pinball1970]

One is heavier than the other. Then I get stuck!

The one that completely violates my expectation instinctively, is the following. It is simple math but intuitively a non-compute for me.

Wrap a cord tightly around the earth at the equator [ignore all the practical issues]. Now add one foot to the length of the cord. What is the uniform gap formed between the cord and the earth if the cord is now pulled tight?

What is the radius of a circle having a one-foot circumference?

Too funny! Once I see a mathematical answer it usually makes perfect sense in the real world. But this one not so much.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

One is heavier than the other. Then I get stuck!

I'm not sure what you mean. Are you referring to the balloon problem?

 

[pinball1970]

I'm not sure what you mean. Are you referring to the balloon problem?

Yes. I had to watch the YouTube explanation.

 

[Mayhem]

The Li-ion battery on my main laptop is pregnant and my backup PC sounds like a Geiger counter riding a motor cycle.
Great start to my thesis writing!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I had forgotten about this! Our names [my ex and I] went on a CD sent to Mars on one of the Rovers.

 

[Borg]

My wife and I have our names on Perseverance. It's pretty interesting to think about how there will be a record of us on Mars for probably a very long time.

 

[Mayhem]

My wife and I have our names on Perseverance. It's pretty interesting to think about how there will be a record of us on Mars for probably a very long time.

Sub(extra?)terranean Martians in 100 years: the descendants of our invaders must be punished for the sins of their ancestors.

 

[Borg]

Sub(extra?)terranean Martians in 100 years: the descendants of our invaders must be punished for the sins of their ancestors.

They can punish me instead - as long as they bring me back to life first.

 

[pinball1970]

I had forgotten about this! Our names [my ex and I] went on a CD sent to Mars on one of the Rovers.

View attachment 321841

Sorry that was supposed to be "wow" not "funny" the emojis look similar when it is early!

 

[jack action]

Sorry that was supposed to be "wow" not "funny" the emojis look similar when it is early!

Just change it. PF allows you to change your mind.

 

[pinball1970]

Just change it. PF allows you to change your mind.

Yes, Just in case Ivan read it before I changed it.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

My wife and I have our names on Perseverance. It's pretty interesting to think about how there will be a record of us on Mars for probably a very long time.

Maybe one day they will be retrieved.

 

[WWGD]

What do you do when you're hungry but not too much so? Have a half a Halvah.

 

[Borg]

Upcoming job interviews within my company... I'm really good at what I do but interviewing isn't one of those things.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Upcoming job interviews within my company... I'm really good at what I do but interviewing isn't one of those things.

I just did something I've never done before and wasn't sure how I did. But the boss just called to pat me on the back, so I guess I did okay.

 

[Mayhem]

I have started my undergraduate project in QM and I have concluded that electrons do not want to be studied.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I have started my undergraduate project in QM and I have concluded that electrons do not want to be studied.

They are generally very negative.

 

[Mayhem]

They are generally very negative.

That's really the only thing you can say for certain about electrons.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

That's really the only thing you can say for certain about electrons.

Electrons all look the same to me.

 

[WWGD]

That's really the only thing you can say for certain about electrons.

Though not sure where electrons come into play in Quality Management.

 

[fresh_42]

Though not sure where electrons come into play in Quality Management.

Some of them come overweight and in disguise but are actually just lousy show-offs.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Some of them come overweight and in disguise but are actually just lousy show-offs.

The rebels come with negative mass...

 

[Rive]

Excellent weather. We have officially started the gardening season. Mid-February, why not?
Nothing really serious, just moving some dirt around and cutting back the bushes.

Muscle pain (that's expected).

Sunburn. Now, that's totally unexpected

 

[fresh_42]

Valentine's Day in AZ?

Stupidity corrected halftime score: KC 10 - PE 7

 

[dlgoff]

Heck of a Super Bowl game KC 35 Philadelphia 35. 4:14 left in the game.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Oh man! It's too soon for this; especially with Travolta doing it. My heart still breaks every time I think about Olivia Newton John.

 

[dlgoff]

KC Chiefs win the Super Bowl. Folks are shooting off fireworks around here.

 

[kyphysics]

"Chat GPT" and "Bard" are two very unappealing names for a natural language A.I. chatbot.

Why not Einstein...Newton...etc?

 

[Rive]

Why not Einstein...Newton...etc?

Would feel a bit like blasphemy. I would rather go with unappealing.

Also, all those complaining students... You can imagine

 

[jack action]

Why not Einstein...Newton...etc?

Because it would feel stupid to ask Einstein to write a hip-hop song in the style of Shakespeare.

It's an AI language model and has nothing to do with science.

 

[Mayhem]

"Chat GPT" and "Bard" are two very unappealing names for a natural language A.I. chatbot.

Why not Einstein...Newton...etc?

Reserve the good names for later. Once we get something like ChatGPT hooked up with Wolfram-Alpha + a super computer, we can think about using the good names. Imagine being able to draw a molecule and simply prompting "will this [do what we predict it will]?" and getting an answer in the time it takes to make a cup of coffee.

For the record - the entire purpose of using ML/AI would be to circumvent the issue of brute computation anyhow. IIRC a pharma company created an app where the goal is to fold proteins correctly, since apparently human intelligence is better at it than computers. Crazy huh.

 

[Borg]

You could always ask the AIs for some better names.

 

[Astronuc]

Close call - United Airlines plane taking off from Maui plunged to within 800 775 feet of the Pacific Ocean, flight data shows
https://www.yahoo.com/news/united-airlines-plane-taking-off-165658609.html

 

[Astronuc]

Train derailment in Ohio, near border with Pennsylvania, resulted in numerous tankcars leaking vinyl chloride, which caught fire, which cause production of HCl and phosgene gas. Video shows sparks and flames well before Ohio train derailment - 20 miles before actually.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/video-shows-sparks-flames-well-112900271.html

The video, obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, was taken by a security camera at an equipment plant in Salem, Ohio. What appears to be sparks and flames can be seen in the video under one of the train cars as it passes the plant. The National Transportation Safety Board referenced the video at a news conference last week.

Looking at the video, it looks like the lead truck under a covered hopper car has failed; it could be a bearing failure leading to collapse of the truck, a wheel failure, or an axle failure. Railroad have wayside or trackside detectors to monitor trains for bad equipment. Clearly, it failed in this case. NTSB is investigating.

From the wreckage, some covered hoppers were carrying plastic materials.




Update/edit: Following the train derailment and control release and burn of vinyl chloride, animals in the area started dying.

Days after a catastrophic train derailment prompted officials to conduct a "controlled release" of the toxic chemicals onboard, animals are dying at alarming rates in East Palestine, Ohio.

A woman in North Lima, roughly 11 miles away from the village of East Palestine, where the crash occurred, checked on her chicken coop on February 7 only to find her five hens and rooster laying lifeless, with no sign of a predator entering their enclosure.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/streams-fish-coop-chickens-skulk-041933924.html

Worried that the materials could explode, sending deadly shrapnel flying up to a mile through the air, officials conducted a "controlled release" of the chemicals and burnt them, sending a toxic cloud of black smoke into the air.

"This will allow the material to come out of the tank car," Scott Deutsch, a Norfolk Southern Railroad official, said on Monday, prior to the fire, according to WKYC. "It will go into a pit and trench that we have dug and set up for this operation. Inside that trench will be flares lining that trench that then will light off the material."

Breshears' chickens weren't the only fatalities locals are attributing to the burn. Taylor Holzer, an East Palestine resident who rescues foxes, told Newsweek all four of his animals are experiencing signs of chemical exposure. One rescue fox had such severe symptoms it died before it could receive treatment.

While the animal deaths initially alarmed residents, human health problems are also beginning to appear, even among residents who initially evacuated the area.

Chelsea Simpson, who lives near the site of the derailment, told The New Republic she has had a sore throat since the burn, and her 8-month-old baby has suffered respiratory issues that are being treated with a steroid. Simpson said her eyes were bloodshot and burning after visiting her home for just 10 minutes a few days ago, and she has yet to return.

Edit/update2: "About 50 cars, including 10 carrying hazardous materials, derailed Feb. 3 in the Ohio village of East Palestine. No one was injured in the derailment that investigators said was caused by a broken axle."
https://www.yahoo.com/news/lawsuit-seeks-medical-testing-toxic-215150758.html

Edit/update3: 'Bomb train' derailed. We are suffering pain of the hit. Call Biden, Gov. Dewine| Opinion
https://www.yahoo.com/news/bomb-train-derailed-suffering-pain-153009550.html

Edit/update4: https://www.yahoo.com/news/rural-ohio-facing-comparisons-chernobyl-005056522.html

Following the February 3 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, users on social media began sharing photos of an ominous black cloud hanging over the town — and fears that the disaster would become the new Chernobyl.

A fire engulfed a Norfolk Southern train after 50 of its 150 cars derailed. The train carried 10 cars full of hazardous materials, including vinyl chloride, a colorless gas used in the creation of the plastic PVC, which was released as a result of the derailment. In sunlight, it can be broken down into chemicals like formaldehyde.

Other flammable chemicals, like ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate, butyl acrylate, and isobutylene were also present in the cars and released into the environment, according to a list compiled by the EPA.

It's more like Bhopal.

Edit/update5: Some critics fault NS handling of the toxic spill and fire.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/rail-com...ohio-train-derailment-response-184948934.html

https://www.yahoo.com/news/dangerous-ohio-chemical-train-derailment-193220326.html

https://apnews.com/article/videos-d8daa6fc54fb4a8f86dec593ff48a7d2
Edit/update6: NS is being criticized and faulted for the derailment.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/railroads-self-inspect-track-cars-161855861.html
https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-administration-considering-penalties-ohio-162925488.html

 

[WWGD]

The rebels come with negative mass...

Priest had a bad week?

 

[WWGD]

Wonder what this says about Russia. Look at members of its air force. And notice it's a photo op by Putin, so these are likely not the worse.
And compare to the USAF