What is the newest installment of 'Random Thoughts' on Physics Forums?

[WWGD]

They call it Truter in Bern.

Too bad. I can't eat non-Hamiltonian foods!

 

[fresh_42]

How do you distinguish a physicist from a mathematician?

Easy. You simply say 'Noether'. If he thinks of groups he is a physicist, and if he thinks of rings he is a mathematician.

 

[Borg]

How do you distinguish a physicist from a mathematician?

Easy. You simply say 'Noether'. If he thinks of groups he is a physicist, and if he thinks of rings he is a mathematician.

And if he thinks of neither, he's neither.

 

[WWGD]

And if he thinks of neither, he's neither.

Neither Noethet nor any Oether.

 

[fresh_42]

Neither Noethet nor any Oether.

I wonder how you pronounce Noether. I would have expected you to call her Emmy instead.

 

[DrGreg]

I wonder how you pronounce Noether. I would have expected you to call her Emmy instead.

I have to confess that, until maybe a year or two ago I had assumed (never having heard anyone say the name, and not knowing any German) that the pronunciation was something like "noy-ther". I now believe it's more like "ner-ter".

 

[fresh_42]

I have to confess that, until maybe a year or two ago I had assumed (never having heard anyone say the name, and not knowing any German) that the pronunciation was something like "noy-ther". I now believe it's more like "ner-ter".

The "ö" as in Schrödinger, Noether, or Gödel is difficult for native English speakers. Wiki solves it this way: Oedipus UK: /ˈiːdɪpəs/, US: /ˈɛdə-/ , but I doubt that it comes close. It is a bit like in "urgent", "surf", or "turn". The difficulty is, that the rolling tongue of the American pronunciation should be removed, i.e. without "r" after the "u", which is apparently even more difficult than it is for us to pronounce the "th" correctly.

 

[WWGD]

Id been working with the likes of geometric topology where her name does not pop up very often.

 

[Keith_McClary]

I wonder how you pronounce Noether.

 

[fresh_42]

Sabine can hardly be called a valid reference.

Btw. French and Hungarian have an "ö", too. How do you manage to pronounce Richelieu or Erdös.

 

[nsaspook]

https://apnews.com/article/bagram-afghanistan-airfield-us-troops-f3614828364f567593251aaaa167e623

US left Afghan airfield at night, didn’t tell new commander

“In one night, they lost all the goodwill of 20 years by leaving the way they did, in the night, without telling the Afghan soldiers who were outside patrolling the area,” said Afghan soldier Naematullah, who asked that only his one name be used.

Within 20 minutes of the U.S.’s silent departure on Friday, the electricity was shut down and the base was plunged into darkness, said Raouf, the soldier of 10 years who has also served in Taliban strongholds of Helmand and Kandahar provinces.

The sudden darkness was like a signal to the looters, he said. They entered from the north, smashing through the first barrier, ransacking buildings, loading anything that was not nailed down into trucks.

Predicted by the Onion 10 years ago.

https://www.theonion.com/u-s-quietly-slips-out-of-afghanistan-in-dead-of-night-1819572778

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN—In what officials said was the "only way" to move on from what has become a "sad and unpleasant" situation, all 100,000 U.S. military and intelligence personnel crept out of their barracks in the dead of night Sunday and quietly slipped out of Afghanistan.

U.S. commanders explained their sudden pullout in a short, handwritten note left behind at Bagram Airfield, their largest base of operations in the country.

"By the time you read this, we will be gone," the note to the nation of Afghanistan read in part. "We regret any pain this may cause you, but this was something we needed to do. We couldn't go on like this forever."

 

[Keith_McClary]

US left Afghan airfield at night, didn’t tell new commander

That will give them more time for other countries.

 

[WWGD]

That will give them more time for other countries.

Well, if there is a better option to ward of the likes of Russia, Iran , China, etc?

 

[fresh_42]

I recently learned why German is indeed not as easy as I always thought it was:

 

[WWGD]

I recently learned why German is indeed not as easy as I always thought it was:

View attachment 285608

 

[ergospherical]

$\longrightarrow$
Outrageously lucky to get a pen but definitely deserved to get a goal...

 

[WWGD]

$\longrightarrow$
Outrageously lucky to get a pen but definitely deserved to get a goal...

Can't wait to see Qatar 2022 playing with masks.

 

[fresh_42]

I think I will measure my future encounters with doctors either in kg or in number of pages per dozen.

 

[WWGD]

I think I will measure my future encounters with doctors either in kg or in number of pages per dozen.

Quoting Nostradamus?

 

[WWGD]

Still hearing about the whole " living in the moment" thing. Seems no one asks: If it's so beneficial, why don't more people do it naturally?

 

[ergospherical]

Still hearing about the whole " living in the moment" thing. Seems no one asks: If it's so beneficial, why don't more people do it naturally?

Technology & internet...?

(It's a bit like asking why some people don't eat healthily: because they're addicted to artificial foods pumped full of sugars, salt, etc.)

 

[WWGD]

Not sure. My opinion, based on little research is that automation is necessary during a busy life. So maybe I am agreeing with you.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Still hearing about the whole " living in the moment" thing. Seems no one asks: If it's so beneficial, why don't more people do it naturally?

If High-Intensity Interval Training is so beneficial, why don't more people do it naturally?

“If you are depressed you are living in the past.​

If you are anxious you are living in the future.​

If you are at peace you are living in the present.”​

― Lao Tzu

 

[WWGD]

If High-Intensity Interval Training is so beneficial, why don't more people do it naturally?

“If you are depressed you are living in the past.​

If you are anxious you are living in the future.​

If you are at peace you are living in the present.”​

― Lao Tzu

I personally was not even aware of interval training. But I read about the whole " living in the moment" thing all the time. I was not questioning the validity of doing it; just thought it was a question worth asking/answering.

 

[ergospherical]

But one could make a strong case that most things nowadays that are beneficial for you actually don't come naturally.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I personally was not even aware of interval training. But I read about the whole " living in the moment" thing all the time. I was not questioning the validity of doing it; just thought it was a question worth asking/answering.

But the point is the same: There are plenty of things we should do that we often don't. Living in the moment requires practice. It is in our nature to plan, worry, and regret; to relive past events and then stress over them while thinking of what we should have done or said, and to worry about future events that may or may not ever happen.

As for living in the past, it is called "running the tape". Many of us tend to run the events of the day over and over like running and watching an old video tape over and over. And while there is a certain amount of contemplation and review that is appropriate and necessary for success in life, most of the time this is unproductive. We are just stressing. In the same sense, there is no value in stressing over something you cannot change. And while we can and should plan for the future, there is no value in stressing over things that haven't even happened yet and may not ever happen.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Oh and btw, HIIT [High-Intensity Interval Training] is an incredibly effective method of training! Everyone from Olympians to heart patients are doing it now.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Talk about running the tape, while trying to recall the dumbest things I have ever done, a number of incidents of extremely fast driving came to mind; in addition to one episode of very bad judgement. Nothing bad ever happened but that was pure luck. Just thinking about two of those events and what could have happened, still causes me to stress as if it just happened. And those took place around 40 years ago.

 

[WWGD]

But the point is the same: There are plenty of things we should do that we often don't. Living in the moment requires practice. It is in our nature to plan, worry, and regret; to relive past events and then stress over them while thinking of what we should have done or said, and to worry about future events that may or may not ever happen.

As for living in the past, it is called "running the tape". Many of us tend to run the events of the day over and over like running and watching an old video tape over and over. And while there is a certain amount of contemplation and review that is appropriate and necessary for success in life, most of the time this is unproductive. We are just stressing. In the same sense, there is no value in stressing over something you cannot change. And while we can and should plan for the future, there is no value in stressing over things that haven't even happened yet and may not ever happen.

True. Still, don't want to turn this into class warfare, but this is usually proposed by/to those well-heeled for whom paying rent, etc is not a major issue. Easier to live in the present under those terms.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

True. Still, don't want to turn this into class warfare, but this is usually proposed by/to those well-heeled for whom paying rent, etc is not a major issue. Easier to live in the present under those terms.

Nope, it got me through the worst of times; when I lost EVERYTHING. In fact I learned these coping skills because I needed to. It was that or put a gun to my head and pull the trigger.

 

[fresh_42]

Nothing bad ever happened but that was pure luck.

Ever got single-sided into aquaplaning at 110 mph?

The interesting thing I experienced, I mean except pure luck, was that time was incredibly slow during the incident. It felt like a little eternity, although it was at most 100 m which isn't much at this speed. You are pretty quick very alerted and awake. I wished my brain would always work on this level as it did within this short period of time.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

True. Still, don't want to turn this into class warfare, but this is usually proposed by/to those well-heeled for whom paying rent, etc is not a major issue. Easier to live in the present under those terms.

Look at it this way. If you don't have the money to pay the rent, there are a finite number of actions that you might take to remedy the situation. Stay focused on that. Whether you manage it or end up living in your friend's garage, stressing over it won't change a thing. That only detracts from your ability to think clearly about a solution. It hinders your ability to fix or best manage the problem. In fact it is common for people to stress themselves to a point where they freeze and do nothing. They get caught in an endlessly looping tape.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Something else I have learned along the way: Happiness is a choice.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Something else I have learned along the way: Happiness is a choice.

 

[WWGD]

I read yesterday a perfectly clear explanation for why there is no permanent human settlement in the South Pole, unlike the case of the North Pole. Today I completely forgot what I read. Maybe I need more caffeine.

 

[DrGreg]

I read yesterday a perfectly clear explanation for why there is no permanent human settlement in the South Pole, unlike the case of the North Pole. Today I completely forgot what I read. Maybe I need more caffeine.

I think you may have forgotten another detail as well. (Clue: highlighted in bold above.)

 

[WWGD]

I think you may have forgotten another detail as well. (Clue: highlighted in bold above.)

Are you being Northist? EDIT: Otherwise my knowledge of science in this regard is pretty limited, and it may just be my ignorance.

 

[fresh_42]

I think there are several permanent inhabited stations in Antarctica, e.g. Amundsen-Scott, Neumayer, and probably more rum by other countries. It should be the North pole where are none. Who wants to live on an ice shelf?

 

[WWGD]

I think there are several permanent inhabited stations in Antarctica, e.g. Amundsen-Scott, Neumayer, and probably more rum by other countries. It should be the North pole where are none. Who wants to live on an ice shelf?

You do need ( at least) Rum . But both seem like ice shelves. Edit: I meant with "Native" populations, not teams of Scientists.

 

[WWGD]

Ok, this may be the (valid) technicality brought about in a previous post: It is the Artic and Antarctic circles; the poles are just points , i.e., 0 -D , while Arctic/Antarctic circles are regions.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Branson is expected to go to space tomorrow.

Bezos is expected to follow in eight days.

Elon Musk has been living in space for a very long time already.

 

[Keith_McClary]

Elon Musk has been living in space for a very long time already.

He was actually in the car. The guy you've seen since is a double.

 

[WWGD]

He was actually in the car. The guy you've seen since is a double.

That's manufactured by another one of his companies.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

My company works closely with Blue Origin. Hoping to get some of that action. Grrrrrr!

A vendor of mine, a master machinist, was working closely with Bezos. In fact Bezos and his wife came out to his place one day. He made most of the parts for Jeff's 10,000-year clock. I told him to be sure to let me know when it works.

 

[WWGD]

People keep asking me physics questions when they see me in coffee shops doing Math. " Why are there no large scale rectangular features in nature", i.e., why is nature fractal at large scales? Don't know. That's why I do non-physics. I just blurt out somethinf like " prolly has to see with gravity".

 

[Ivan Seeking]

It appears that Death Valley hit 130 degrees F on Friday.

"Yes it was hot" responded one climate change denier, "but it's a dry heat".

 

[WWGD]

It appears that Death Valley hit 130 degrees F on Friday.

"Yes it was hot" responded one climate change denier, "but it's a dry heat".

Wonder if that means more bush fires? Never heard of dry cold weather in the same context, i.e., not being so bad.

 

[fresh_42]

Wonder if that means more bush fires? Never heard of dry cold weather in the same context, i.e., not being so bad.

Here it comes: dry cold weather is by far more pleasant than wet cold weather!

I flew from an area with about $\pm 1°C$ where it was rainy, and cold - I call it rheumatism weather - to an area with about $\sim -10°C$ where it was snowy, and the climate was continental (dry) rather than oceanic (wet). You bet, that I felt the colder climate far less to be cold than the rainy area significantly warmer.

 

[WWGD]

Here it comes: dry cold weather is by far more pleasant than wet cold weather!

I flew from an area with about $\pm 1°C$ where it was rainy, and cold - I call it rheumatism weather - to an area with about $\sim -10°C$ where it was snowy, and the climate was continental (dry) rather than oceanic (wet). You bet, that I felt the colder climate far less to be cold than the rainy area significantly warmer.

It just seems the weather is pleasant while the snow lasts. But that's just out of casual observation.

 

[fresh_42]

It just seems the weather is pleasant while the snow lasts. But that's just out of casual observation.

To make it short: 0°C in NYC are far worse than -15°C in Minneapolis.