Oh Dear. TNT is hurt because I implied he is no Einstein or Euler. Galu is quoting me and changing the subject again. Let's be honest, this thread could do with some improvement.,,
It's like the wretched multi-way forum, forever stuck at Noobie or Windbag level. All the good people have deserted it. How it is.
Don't get me onto the extremely uninspiring Lounge in general... it is broken and formulaic and dull, IMO.
You see, to make progress, a critical faculty is required. And a certain enjoyment, understanding, and though people are naturally lazy, some hard work.
One of my many diverse hobbies, in which I try to make the World a better place is gardening:
Surely more practical than Penrose tilings? Plants need light, water and nutrients, which many people don't understand.
Also careful selection of plants, here the ever-ready Geraniums, Petunias and Lobelia which will go all summer.
Incredibly, someone in this house bought a conifer as a house plant. It was dying and they chucked it out into my patch. It is now thriving outdoors in a bigger pot.
I also like fruit trees like plums and apples and raspberries to improve the urban wilderness. The strawberries are always a magnet for passing kids, and they can have some with pleasure.
They learn they don't grow in shops. 🤣
I find Physics in general absolutely fascinating. Astronomy too, being the start point for most mathematics and science.
Professor Shankar of Yale is a great hero of mine. This is laugh out loud funny and profound too:
Quantum Mechanics for a mixed audience. A good selection of his wisdom here:
https://campuspress.yale.edu/rshankar/
I am working through some of his lectures just to remind myself of what Physics is at top graduate level. This is a treat.
Here's some fascinating maths about the difference between Algebraic numbers and Transcendental ones beautifully explained.
You see, what is weird is that Algebra, which is what we use all the time, is only a tiny part of mathematical reality. The Transcendentals are infinitely more common.
I make no claims to be particularly good at any of these things, distinctly second rate really, but hope to be ADEQUATE. Which is all most of us can do.
It's like the wretched multi-way forum, forever stuck at Noobie or Windbag level. All the good people have deserted it. How it is.
Don't get me onto the extremely uninspiring Lounge in general... it is broken and formulaic and dull, IMO.
You see, to make progress, a critical faculty is required. And a certain enjoyment, understanding, and though people are naturally lazy, some hard work.
One of my many diverse hobbies, in which I try to make the World a better place is gardening:
Surely more practical than Penrose tilings? Plants need light, water and nutrients, which many people don't understand.
Also careful selection of plants, here the ever-ready Geraniums, Petunias and Lobelia which will go all summer.
Incredibly, someone in this house bought a conifer as a house plant. It was dying and they chucked it out into my patch. It is now thriving outdoors in a bigger pot.
I also like fruit trees like plums and apples and raspberries to improve the urban wilderness. The strawberries are always a magnet for passing kids, and they can have some with pleasure.
They learn they don't grow in shops. 🤣
I find Physics in general absolutely fascinating. Astronomy too, being the start point for most mathematics and science.
Professor Shankar of Yale is a great hero of mine. This is laugh out loud funny and profound too:
Quantum Mechanics for a mixed audience. A good selection of his wisdom here:
https://campuspress.yale.edu/rshankar/
I am working through some of his lectures just to remind myself of what Physics is at top graduate level. This is a treat.
Here's some fascinating maths about the difference between Algebraic numbers and Transcendental ones beautifully explained.
You see, what is weird is that Algebra, which is what we use all the time, is only a tiny part of mathematical reality. The Transcendentals are infinitely more common.
I make no claims to be particularly good at any of these things, distinctly second rate really, but hope to be ADEQUATE. Which is all most of us can do.
I can't be hurt if it's true - which it is - I'm just "jiving"... sorry for that.
Now gardening, that's serious - and always fair and sincere.
//
Let's look at the contents of your last post:
- Quality of forums
- Gardening
- Quantum mechanics
- Algebraic & transcendental numbers
I'm happy to report that I start a volunteer job at the Einstein Telescope Education Center near my home town in the south of the Netherlands.
Our local museum has set up an Einstein Telescope Education Center where I will do tours and lectures.
Check out https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7333860275172913155/.
Exciting! Maybe I will be the first to know where gravity comes from in a decade or so 😎
Jan
Our local museum has set up an Einstein Telescope Education Center where I will do tours and lectures.
Check out https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7333860275172913155/.
Exciting! Maybe I will be the first to know where gravity comes from in a decade or so 😎
Jan
I read that construction of the Einstein Telescope (ET) is due to begin 2027/28 with observational activity commencing 2035.
So, it looks like you have a few years of happiness and excitement ahead, Jan!
The ET will be able to observe a volume of the universe 1,000 times larger than that which can be studied with current gravitational wave detectors.
The design would appear to be that of a triangular-shaped interferometer built on a single site.
So, it looks like you have a few years of happiness and excitement ahead, Jan!
The ET will be able to observe a volume of the universe 1,000 times larger than that which can be studied with current gravitational wave detectors.
The design would appear to be that of a triangular-shaped interferometer built on a single site.
That's interesting, I don't recall reading of the Einstein Telescope, nor that there was going to be a third gravitational telescope on Earth. I'd heard that LISA, the one in outer space, had been finally approved in the last year or two, after being proposed but not funded about ten years earlier. It'll also be a few years before going online.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_Interferometer_Space_Antenna
Ahh ok, so the two are complementary, with ET smack in the middle of the audio frequency band!
I wonder what the budget for LISA would be. Maybe not even very much.
Jan
I wonder what the budget for LISA would be. Maybe not even very much.
Jan
Yes, the two types of observatories will complement one another, similar to how radio, optical, x-ray, etc. observatories complement one another.
In other words, ET and LISA will be used to observe different phenomena.
For example, LISA will be able to observe stellar mass black holes inspiralling into supermassive black holes. Such events produce gravitational waves that have wavelengths larger than Earth itself, making them unobservable by ground based detectors. Scientists hope that LISA may answer questions like, "How did the massive black holes at the centres of galaxies form and grow?".
Regarding the budget for LISA, I have not yet uncovered any figures, but the costs will be shared by the European Space Agency (ESA), NASA and a collection of European National space agencies.
For example, a team from Glasgow University has developed a core element of LISA's laser measurement system with funding from the UK Space Agency, which has also funded the development of a LISA Data Centre in the UK. Each of the three spacecraft will include two optical benches built in the lab at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh.
LISA FAQ: https://lisa.nasa.gov/faq.html
In other words, ET and LISA will be used to observe different phenomena.
For example, LISA will be able to observe stellar mass black holes inspiralling into supermassive black holes. Such events produce gravitational waves that have wavelengths larger than Earth itself, making them unobservable by ground based detectors. Scientists hope that LISA may answer questions like, "How did the massive black holes at the centres of galaxies form and grow?".
Regarding the budget for LISA, I have not yet uncovered any figures, but the costs will be shared by the European Space Agency (ESA), NASA and a collection of European National space agencies.
For example, a team from Glasgow University has developed a core element of LISA's laser measurement system with funding from the UK Space Agency, which has also funded the development of a LISA Data Centre in the UK. Each of the three spacecraft will include two optical benches built in the lab at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh.
LISA FAQ: https://lisa.nasa.gov/faq.html
I actually watched both of the above videos last night.
The first was a touch 'click bait' as it didn't refer to the overdue T Coronae Borealis nova as one may have been led to believe.
The new theory described in the second seemed to offer a degree of mathematical correctness, but some highly debatable physics.
The first was a touch 'click bait' as it didn't refer to the overdue T Coronae Borealis nova as one may have been led to believe.
The new theory described in the second seemed to offer a degree of mathematical correctness, but some highly debatable physics.
The nova mentioned in benb's video, although worthy of note, is of the common type and therefore less interesting than the rare recurrent type represented by T Coronae Borealis. I read that there are only 10 Galactic recurrent novae known to date, and that recurrent novae are likely to be progenitors of Type 1a supernovae.
Regarding TNT's video, it is suggested that when matter collapses due to gravity inside a black hole, it doesn’t always end in a point of infinite density known as a gravitational singularity. Instead, it can become very dense and then bounce back, creating a new, expanding universe. According to the theory, our universe’s edge is the black hole's event horizon which forms a boundary that blocks us from seeing what lies beyond.
Regarding TNT's video, it is suggested that when matter collapses due to gravity inside a black hole, it doesn’t always end in a point of infinite density known as a gravitational singularity. Instead, it can become very dense and then bounce back, creating a new, expanding universe. According to the theory, our universe’s edge is the black hole's event horizon which forms a boundary that blocks us from seeing what lies beyond.
Is it too much to ask that people explain why we should spend time on a dull Anton Petrov Nova video when posting it? This is a discussion forum after all.
https://theskylive.com/articles/2025/06/nova-v462-in-lupus
I would have photographed it last night if it was visible in Portsmouth (51 degrees latitude) when snapping Scorpio in the South after midnight. Alas V462 Lupi Nova (magnitude 6 or so) is at declination -41 degrees in Lupus, so just below the horizon.
Lowest I can pick up is Shaula in Scorpio in the murk of the horizon. TNT will barely see Antares up near Stockholm.
I also got a nice snap of T CrB iin its pre-Nova state to compare when the real thing comes along. Dead Centre, around magnitude 10.5:
The latest guess is it might go off in November if the 200 day elliptical star orbit plays a part. That will be awkwardly placed but just doable IMO.
All the fuss yesterday was about the splendid new Vera C. Rubin telescope. She who discovered Dark Matter in Galaxies from rotation speeds.
CNN did a more than adequate reportage:
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/23/science/vera-rubin-observatory-first-images
There is an official first-light video, but frankly it was mostly tedious back-slapping and little data. The whole thing is up against it with Starlink and Bluebird satellites ruining a third of the costly images.
It is such a monster for picking up satellites that the US Department of Defense redacts images for 80 hours because it picks up spy satellites! By which time they have moved, you follow? 🤣
One of Rubin's early images was the Lagoon Nebula M8, Trifid Nebula M20 and Star Cluster M21. This is a similar telescopic image to give you the picture:
Naturally I have been out and about snapping this splendid region in Sagittarius too with the system7 Nikon:
My efforts to identify these objects was not helped by the woeful Messier map provided by theskylive's otherwise useful charts:
I have emailed Iacopo with some helpful suggestions for improvement in this area. I am sure it must be a computer glitch or importing inaccurate locations, because he does good work generally.
But really, I wonder if I can believe ANYTHING on the Internet these days! 🙄
https://theskylive.com/articles/2025/06/nova-v462-in-lupus
I would have photographed it last night if it was visible in Portsmouth (51 degrees latitude) when snapping Scorpio in the South after midnight. Alas V462 Lupi Nova (magnitude 6 or so) is at declination -41 degrees in Lupus, so just below the horizon.
Lowest I can pick up is Shaula in Scorpio in the murk of the horizon. TNT will barely see Antares up near Stockholm.
I also got a nice snap of T CrB iin its pre-Nova state to compare when the real thing comes along. Dead Centre, around magnitude 10.5:
The latest guess is it might go off in November if the 200 day elliptical star orbit plays a part. That will be awkwardly placed but just doable IMO.
All the fuss yesterday was about the splendid new Vera C. Rubin telescope. She who discovered Dark Matter in Galaxies from rotation speeds.
CNN did a more than adequate reportage:
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/23/science/vera-rubin-observatory-first-images
There is an official first-light video, but frankly it was mostly tedious back-slapping and little data. The whole thing is up against it with Starlink and Bluebird satellites ruining a third of the costly images.
It is such a monster for picking up satellites that the US Department of Defense redacts images for 80 hours because it picks up spy satellites! By which time they have moved, you follow? 🤣
One of Rubin's early images was the Lagoon Nebula M8, Trifid Nebula M20 and Star Cluster M21. This is a similar telescopic image to give you the picture:
Naturally I have been out and about snapping this splendid region in Sagittarius too with the system7 Nikon:
My efforts to identify these objects was not helped by the woeful Messier map provided by theskylive's otherwise useful charts:
I have emailed Iacopo with some helpful suggestions for improvement in this area. I am sure it must be a computer glitch or importing inaccurate locations, because he does good work generally.
But really, I wonder if I can believe ANYTHING on the Internet these days! 🙄
Yes, stunning first images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory!
Above, a huge cluster of galaxies including spiral galaxies in the vast Virgo cluster, which is about 100 billion times the size of the Milky Way.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj3rmjjgx6xo
Quote accompanying the "tedious" video: "Rubin will create the ultimate movie of the night sky, repeatedly scanning the sky for a decade to create an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition, time-lapse record of our Universe across space and over time. The resulting dataset, called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), will be the largest ever amassed for optical astronomy."
Above, a huge cluster of galaxies including spiral galaxies in the vast Virgo cluster, which is about 100 billion times the size of the Milky Way.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj3rmjjgx6xo
Quote accompanying the "tedious" video: "Rubin will create the ultimate movie of the night sky, repeatedly scanning the sky for a decade to create an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition, time-lapse record of our Universe across space and over time. The resulting dataset, called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), will be the largest ever amassed for optical astronomy."
https://www.quantamagazine.org/is-g...ng-long-shot-idea-gets-another-look-20250613/
"High order means low entropy. But the system’s natural tendency is to maximize entropy."
I'm thinking that perhaps the systems most natural state, and what the system is always trying to come back to, is minimal entropy i.e. perfect order - one that exists only just before a big bang. Here is when the most order exists and it is the only state that the system comes back to - all other in-between-states are all different in every aspect at every moment but the state-before-BB is identical, even if short.
As usual, you heard it here first ;-D
//
"High order means low entropy. But the system’s natural tendency is to maximize entropy."
I'm thinking that perhaps the systems most natural state, and what the system is always trying to come back to, is minimal entropy i.e. perfect order - one that exists only just before a big bang. Here is when the most order exists and it is the only state that the system comes back to - all other in-between-states are all different in every aspect at every moment but the state-before-BB is identical, even if short.
As usual, you heard it here first ;-D
//