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

[Klystron]

I wish to write a random thought. I am determined to write a random thought. If writing random thoughts is determined, is it still random?

(Read one too many "Is random real?" threads. ;-)

 

[BillTre]

The can be a random aspect to a preplanned event.

 

[Borg]

Instagram sounds like a dating site for impatient seniors.

 

[fresh_42]

Experimental physics ... (Louis Dick $\dagger$ @CERN)

 

[Jarvis323]

Perseverance touchdown is live streaming right now in case anyone didn't know.

 

[Lisa!]

What is the use of the last option of PF editor on the left?

 

[DrGreg]

What is the use of the last option of PF editor on the left?View attachment 278927

 

[fresh_42]

Anybody else watching Stephen on tv right now?

 

[nuuskur]

So, there's this thing called "zero knowledge proof", which essentially seeks to prove some statement about a secret to be true..without giving up that secret..

But if the secret was a methodology for providing zero knowledge proofs, is it possible to do this in a "positive knowledge" manner? Allegedly any provably true statement has a zero knowledge proof, as well ... my head hurts..

 

[KingGambit]

I recently watch Genius on NatGeo,
It's season 1: Einstein. I think I spot a few mistakes there.
1. When this astronomer, Freudlund, if I spell correctly, says
"The orbit of Mercury is not like the orbit of seven other planets"
Now, Pluto is not a planet since 2006 if I'm not mistaken. Since Neil Degrasse Tyson demotes it. But in 1910s, it's STILL a planet wasn't it?
2. Late in the movie, there's a Truman speech after America dropped the atomic bomb.
"... the force from which the Sun draws its power has been loosed"
I think Sun uses fusion power, while Little Boy and Fat Man used fission, right?
Too bad NatGeo made a few mistakes there. I love that channel.

 

[epenguin]

"But in 1910s, it's STILL a planet wasn't it?" (Pluto).

Not sure you can say that, it hadn't been discovered.

 

[fresh_42]

The new world amuses me. IRS thinks I am an US-American abroad, the British government informs me as their citizen what had changed since Brexit, and I am flooded with Swedish spam since I once searched for a contact to the police of Malmö.

 

[nuuskur]

Conclusion: you are up for grabs. Mathematicians are a hot commodity, too, you know..

 

[fresh_42]

Hollywood! If they fake a foreign journey, they raise a couple of flags at the scene and that's it. This hurts on so many levels! Firstly, nobody else in the world is so obsessed with flags. You usually do not see any abroad. Secondly, the flags cannot change climate, plants, people's look on the street, or architecture. Please do not raise foreign flags, it is embarrassing. LA will never look like Romania, regardless how many flags are raised in a scene.

 

[WWGD]

Experimental physics ... (Louis Dick $\dagger$ @CERN)View attachment 278282

Only guy that can make my apartment look neat by comparison.

 

[WWGD]

I never changed my user settings but somehow I am not receiving notifications for RT, other threads I follow , like I used to get.

 

[WWGD]

I didn't want to embarrass this guy undergrad friend of mine who was talking to other undergrads telling them " No, by just plain mathematics, half the results* are below average". Seriously, guy, I know of a person that has 6 fingers in one hand. That means that some 99.997...% of the population has less than Edit:5.00473 or whatever fingers.

*In any distribution.

 

[Klystron]

I never changed my user settings but somehow I am not receiving notifications for RT, other threads I follow , like I used to get.

I noticed the same issue a while ago. Watched threads stopped sending notifications of new posts. Unwatching then reinstating watch sometimes helps. Perhaps we should send feedback to @Greg Bernhardt.

A related question concerns an easy way to edit and remove old 'watches'. Visiting each forum and deleting watches seems too much like (IT) work. Not a complaint as much as 'Hey, I am retired!".

 

[WWGD]

So, there's this thing called "zero knowledge proof", which essentially seeks to prove some statement about a secret to be true..without giving up that secret..

But if the secret was a methodology for providing zero knowledge proofs, is it possible to do this in a "positive knowledge" manner? Allegedly any provably true statement has a zero knowledge proof, as well ... my head hurts..

"Zero knowledge proofs". Riemann Hypothesis?

 

[Keith_McClary]

There are 6000 naked eye visible stars, and the Moon covers 1/2000 of the celestial sphere, so the Moon only covers ~3 stars.

 

[OmCheeto]

There are 6000 naked eye visible stars, and the Moon covers 1/2000 of the celestial sphere, so the Moon only covers ~3 stars.

My maths says the moon covers 1/200,000 of the celestial sphere, and will occult an eye visible star only once a month.

 

[Keith_McClary]

My maths says the moon covers 1/200,000 of the celestial sphere, and will occult an eye visible star only once a month.

Right. I looked it up but forgot to convert from percent.

 

[OmCheeto]

Right. I looked it up but forgot to convert from percent.

Now we need a third person to point out where I went wrong with my occultation count. According to Lunar Occultations dot Com, an average of 7 will occur each month this year.

 

[Keith_McClary]

7 will occur each month this year.

... somewhere on Earth, but fewer at a fixed location.

 

[DennisN]

Recently there has been activity at the Fagradalsfjall volcano on Iceland.

It's quite amazing to be able to see it live here on a live feed on youtube:

 

[fresh_42]

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/iceland-earthquakes-18000-in-a-week-significance.1000553/

 

[fresh_42]

I have a running interesting experiment: When I watch a tv show I often ask myself whether an actor from show A is the same as in show B, or where do I know someone from? Of course I don't mean the famous ones. Voices are useless as American tv shows are dubbed over here. Varying outlook, roles or simply time make it also difficult to decide. But there is one property which never changes and which is well suited for an identification: body language! It is surprising how reliable it is.

This means in return that we reveal more information through body language than we do with our outfits. It's also something to keep in mind on a platform which doesn't exchange body language.

 

[BillTre]

But there is one property which never changes and which is well suited for an identification: body language!

That's interesting.
I have heard impressionists in podcasts say that they often assume the posture of people they are trying to imitate. They claim this helps them get the impression right.

 

[nuuskur]

math cranks are making me ..cranky

 

[Klystron]

They say poverty promotes purity. I must be very pure.