C-ship: The Dilation of Time
Time in the moving system will be observed by a stationary observer to be running slower by the factor: Which is the reciprocal of the equation for the Lorentz contraction. As with the Lorentz contraction, effects are negligible for small velocities, increase asymptotically as velocity approaches the speed of light. The following table illustrates how insignificant the effect of time dilation are for velocities as great as half the speed of light, but how dramatic it becomes as you draw ever closer to the speed of light. At the velocities people currently travel the effect of time dilation is small, but measurable with accurate instruments. You don't even have to go into orbit to measure time dilation. You'll see dilation of time in action when we embark on a mission to fly through the Lattice. Onward to The Doppler Shift Backward to The Lorentz Contraction Up to C-ship
CSI | Is the Brain a Quantum Device?
Reality Check Victor Stenger Skeptical Briefs Volume 18.1, March 2008 In 1989, the eminent Oxford mathematician and cosmologist Roger Penrose published a bestselling tome called The Emperor’s New Mind that was packed with wonderful material on physics, mathematics, and computers. Penrose’s main thesis was that the human brain is not a computer and must operate in some way that cannot be replicated on any computer no matter how powerful. Penrose was met with considerable skepticism, especially in the artificial intelligence community, which he was basically attempting to put out of business, and also among physicists who could not see what quantum gravity could possibly have to do with a large, hot structure such as the brain. Penrose then teamed up with anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff in proposing a model for how quantum mechanics operates in the brain. Hameroff was one of the subjects interviewed in the 2004 independent documentary film What the Bleep Do We Know?
Quantum Approaches to Consciousness
1. Introduction The problem of how mind and matter are related to each other has many facets, and it can be approached from many different starting points. Of course, the historically leading disciplines in this respect are philosophy and psychology, which were later joined by behavioral science, cognitive science and neuroscience. In addition, the physics of complex systems and quantum physics have played stimulating roles in the discussion from their beginnings. As regards the issue of complexity, this is quite evident: the brain is one of the most complex systems we know. The original motivation in the early 20th century for relating quantum theory to consciousness was essentially philosophical. Quantum theory introduced an element of randomness standing out against the previous deterministic worldview, in which randomness, if it occurred at all, simply indicated our ignorance of a more detailed description (as in statistical physics). 2. [ma] [me] 3. 3.1 Neuronal Assemblies 4. 5.
Centre of the Lightcone
Challenge Cottoned on? Then you've understood the crux of special relativity, and you can now go away and figure out all the mathematics of Lorentz transformations. Just like Einstein. that both observers consider themselves to be at the centre of the lightcone, and that distances perpendicular to the direction of motion remain unchanged, as illustrated above. [An alternative version of the second condition is that a Lorentz transformation at velocity followed by a Lorentz transformation at velocity − should yield the unit transformation. Note that the postulate of the existence of globally inertial frames implies that Lorentz transformations are linear, that straight lines (4-vectors) in one inertial spacetime frame transform into straight lines in other inertial frames. A solution to this problem is given in the next section but two, Construction of the Lorentz Transformation.
Food, Inc. - Interview With Director Robert Kenner . NOW on PBS
Week of 3.5.10 Behind the food we love—Secrets that giant food companies don't want you to know. Americans have a longstanding love affair with food—the modern supermarket has, on average, 47,000 products. But do we really know what goes into making the products we so eagerly consume? This week, David Brancaccio talks with Robert Kenner, director of the Oscar-nominated documentary "Food, Inc.," which takes a hard look at the secretive and surprising journey food takes on the way from processing plants to our dinner tables. The two discuss why contemporary food processing secrets are so closely guarded, their impact on our health, and another surprising fact: how consumers are actually empowered to make a difference. Find out why you'll never look at dinner the same way. This show was originally broadcast on June 5, 2009 In the News BBC: Chicken into Nuggets Boston Globe: Demand and prices rise for organic food, but supply falls Forbes: Wal-Mart milk to be hormone-free What's that, Kenner?
