How long is a piece of string?

[Shagrat]

I'm getting a headache already.....

Horizon on BBC2 (in the UK) are trying to answer the above question....

We've already had, it has no length until you measure it, it can actually be infinite, your string is in 2 places at the same time....


science is seriously confusing

 

[Edmond]

Is it not equidistant from the centre to either end...............

 

[Jeros]

In algebra terms

L = Total length
l = length

L = l

 

[CorNokZ]

In simple terms

string = string

 

[Shagrat]

Well no, because apparently string isnt flat, its bumpy, so you'd have to measure around the curves to get an exact measurement, but of course those curves have curves as well.

so L is actually L x 4/3 x 4/3 x 4/3 infinitely because each of the curves adds a 1/3 to the total length of the measurement.

well thats what the mathematician said, I got a bit hazy when he asked the physicist the answer and she started firing 1 proton of light at a block with 2 slits in and proved that a single proton goes through both holes at the same time...

 

[old.Tohtori]

Well it all ends at sub-atomic particle bumps, so it's not infinite, just very very long

 

[Nate]

If they pulled it hard enough would it have no curves and be flat? Or would it break before that!?

 

[faw]

Unfortunately, physics has a way of making problems much more complicated than they really are. This is just another example of such a problem.

 

[Sparx]

last night i ate a red candle

 

[Calaen]

oh my, I had that one up may ass!!

 

[Ingafgrinn Macabre]

Well no, because apparently string isnt flat, its bumpy, so you'd have to measure around the curves to get an exact measurement, but of course those curves have curves as well.

so L is actually L x 4/3 x 4/3 x 4/3 infinitely because each of the curves adds a 1/3 to the total length of the measurement.

well thats what the mathematician said, I got a bit hazy when he asked the physicist the answer and she started firing 1 proton of light at a block with 2 slits in and proved that a single proton goes through both holes at the same time...

Sounds like a mandelbrot then. Also, about the photons, yeah, that's a fun detail that gets very complicated, very fast. Light is funny like that. There's a related research attempting to prove/debunk time travel and/or FTL with that phenomenon. Don't have the research paper at hand, but when I find the info, I'll post it somewhere around here. Now, it's bedtime

 

[Dahakon]

They missed out the coolest bit of Younge's two slit experiment though, the same thing happens with electrons, they are the same type of particle as photos, and if you put a volt meter across the slits to see which on it goes through, you get a reading across one slit, not on the other and the interference pattern disappears!

Basically, the universe makes no sense.

 

[Moriath]

Sounds like a mandelbrot then. Also, about the photons, yeah, that's a fun detail that gets very complicated, very fast. Light is funny like that. There's a related research attempting to prove/debunk time travel and/or FTL with that phenomenon. Don't have the research paper at hand, but when I find the info, I'll post it somewhere around here. Now, it's bedtime

mandelbrot was all about fractals and so was some of this program

 

[Zenith.UK]

I'm SO glad Schroedinger's Cat got a mention.
Superposition of quantum states is one of the few things about QED that I've managed to get my head around.

It's also the premise behind half of what happens on "Fringe". There is a bald-headed Observer in each and every episode. By an event being witnessed, it makes it "real".

I enjoyed the show. Alan Davies needs a speech therapist though.

 

[Thadius]

The more important question is;

Spoiler

Who actually gives a fuck? Shouldnt these scientists be doing something useful, like finding a cure for cancer or trying to stop global warming?

 

[Lethul]

depends on the amount of chars in the string

 

[Raven]

The more important question is;

Spoiler

Who actually gives a fuck? Shouldnt these scientists be doing something useful, like finding a cure for cancer or trying to stop global warming?

You do realise that both those things will come from this research indirectly? right?

 

[Ctuchik]

Unfortunately, physics has a way of making problems much more complicated than they really are. This is just another example of such a problem.

its basically the science version of the falling tree in the forest....

a retarded question noone really cares about.

 

[Zenith.UK]

The more important question is;

Spoiler

Who actually gives a fuck? Shouldnt these scientists be doing something useful, like finding a cure for cancer or trying to stop global warming?

I don't know why you're using spoiler tags, but here ya go.

Spoiler

They touched on Quantum Electrodynamics which is the science of measuring and quantifying electron configurations and interactions on the smallest scale. It's basically working out exactly how atoms bond together. For the chemists out there, I'm talking about covalent and ionic bonding and the Van Der Walls force.

Cancer research tends to lean towards increasingly exotic proteins and molecules as cures for specific cancers. One of the important things in testing a new molecule is determining it's protein folding. You can tell what amino acids make up the protein and even what sequence they're in, but the final shape of the molecule is down to the "tightness" or "looseness" of atomic bonds. A bit tight here, a bit loose there, a sulphur cross-bond there and you have a uniquely shaped molecule that might perform the one specific action needed to prevent a cancer cell multiplying.

So it isn't a direct contribution, but understanding electron interactions indirectly helps all pharmceutical research.

In case you haven't worked it out, I used to work in a laboratory that makes immunoassay diagnostic tests. Understanding how antibodies bond to antigens is crucial in understanding how these medical test kits work.

 

[Lamp]

Thought it was an interesting programme (I just wish they could have picked someone else to front it other than Alan "Oh look at me I'm stupid" Davies)

Loved the quantum physics section.

 

[Moriath]

i still think the physics teacher would be my worst nightmare as a teacher so over enthusiastic and dotty

 

[Lamp]

She was not as annyoing at that American bloke's laugh. The guy with the poney tail. Seth something or other.

 

[tris-]

bloudy hell thad. couldnt you say that about anybody?
why arnt you training to be a doctor?

 

[Ezteq]

its string, who cares how long it is as long as its not in a granny knot I can cope with it no matter how freeking long it is!

 

[Jiggs]

Twice as long as half of it.