DailyDirt: Measuring Really Small Stuff

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Science has made a lot of progress, and most of that progress has been based on increasingly accurate measurements. Scientists have access to better and better tools that allow them to see ever smaller bits of matter. Here are some recent discoveries and some nifty new equipment that might help us see how more stuff works. By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.
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Filed Under: fermi national accelerator laboratory, large hadron collider, laser, lhc, slac, tevatron


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  • identicon
    Joseph, 7 Apr 2011 @ 5:56pm

    Mathematicians, Physicists and Engineers Disagree

    I heard this:

    In the high school gym, all the girls in the class were lined up against one wall, and all the boys against the opposite wall. Then, every ten seconds, they walked toward each other until they were half the previous distance apart. A mathematician, a physicist, and an engineer were asked, "When will the girls and boys meet?"

    The mathematician said: "Never."

    The physicist said: "Eventually, they will come to a point where they would be required to move less than 1.616252(81)×1035 meters closer together. From the uncertainty principle, we know we cannot measure position more accurately than that. So either they will not move at all, or they will superimpose at that point."

    The engineer said: "Well... in about two minutes, they'll be close enough for all practical purposes."

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Michael Ho (profile), 7 Apr 2011 @ 7:01pm

      Re: Mathematicians, Physicists and Engineers Disagree

      And the high school gym teacher says the answer is: "After school, around 4pm, under the bleachers..."

      link to this | view in chronology ]

      • identicon
        Pixelation, 7 Apr 2011 @ 10:21pm

        Re: Re: Mathematicians, Physicists and Engineers Disagree

        The sex ed teacher says, "They've all met before".

        link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 7 Apr 2011 @ 7:52pm

    “scientists never prove anything, they only disprove things”

    Can you prove that?

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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