Why on earth would we assume that any currently unanswered question about physical existence would eventually turn out to be caused by God?

Why ‘Everything Has a Cause’ Is a Terrible Justification for God’s Existence
Greta Christina, AlterNet
Sat, 27 Feb 2010 08:00:01 GMT

I totally and categorically agree.  There are probably, in my way of thinking, a certain number of occurrences that happened every single second throughout the entire world that we humans live and that are in fact, as a result of whatever power there is beyond this world.  But when you are talking about actions set in motion as a result of our own personal choices, there is no way that anyone could sit there and say that those are in fact caused by the creator or some power beyond this.  Because when you do, you immediately impeach your own right of free will, which any, so-called, creator gave or bestowed upon us.  And so as a result, I totally agree that when people are saying that everything is as a result of God or the creator.  They are actually refusing to take responsibility over their own personal free will and the choices that result of their exercise of that free will.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nuclear Fission is an amazing process. With a fuel that is inert (even enriched uranium won’t burn in a flame), the input of a single neutron can cause the release of more energy than tonnes of explosive.

How does a single neutron do this? A single neutron initiates a reaction which causes the release of more neutrons, each of which can initiate further reactions. This process is called  a chain reaction, as the individual events in the reaction are caused by previous events.

You can envision a chain reaction as a snowball rolling down a mountain, picking up more and more snow until an avalanche is unleashed.  You can model how a single change can cause a cascading sequence of events by playing this game (Can you beat my top score of 1170? Provide a screen shot if you expect me to believe you!).

So what does a chain reaction look like? Well, because of the size of the particles involved, the speed and energy of the reactions, we can’t actually see the individual events (fissions). If you want to see what it looks like, check the Tsar Bomba update on the Boomology post. We can theorise what they look like from what we know how they work, and we have various simulations:

Read the rest of this entry »

Old artworks are often very dirty and there are many examples of art being damaged by sloppy restoration. Here are 2 ways art can be restored:

Physicists have applied the same laser techniques commonly used for tattoo removal to clean several famous works of art, including wall paintings. “It’s a very effective method. If you use a scalpel you have no way of ensuring discrimination between the encrustation layer and the original surface underneath.” Says Dr Siano of the Restoration School of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence. See this link for more detail: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8534969.stm

The Chemical makeup of the original paint is closely linked to the colour. If a perfect restoration is to be achieved, the paint must match. Catherine Higget, who tests the samples in the Gallery’s Science Department explains:

“We do get involved in trying to find original recipes, and then trying to follow them in the lab as much as we can. Since a lot of them seem to involve manure and horrible things like that, we spend a lot of time trying to find a slightly more attractive way of doing it. But to work out how these things are really going to age, you really have to have the true material.”

See this link for details: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3598936.stm

wave mechanicss On The Way To Trestles

With the tragic 8.8 earthquake in Chile generating a tsunami that traveled across the Pacific, the question arises again — “Just what is a tsunami (Japanese for ‘harbor wave mechanics’)?”  We add “How will it affect Trestles?”

The news cams and looky-loo’s run down to the beach looking for a Mav size set to wash away all the local fish taco stands, but are sorely disappointed when they find out the tsunami passed by without even a splash.  That’s because while tsunamis are wave mechanicss from a physics theory standpoint, they don’t behave like the wave mechanicss most people are used to seeing in news photos and movies like Big Wednesday.

Ocean wave mechanicss range in velocity, wave mechanicslength and frequency from wind chop to twice-a-day tides.  Tsunamis fit in the ocean wave mechanics spectrum somewhere between surf beat and tides.   So, they behave more like a big surge.

Ordinary wind-driven wave mechanicss, like the ones breaking yesterday at Snapper Rocks, range from about 5 to 15 seconds in period between wave mechanicss.  Surf beat varies greatly, but it is the more correct term for what surfers call “sets.”  When I was a kid, the old pro’s on the beach would say that every 9th wave mechanics was a big one.  That was a wild guess.  Surf beat frequency and period actually depend on a lot of variables, like wave mechanics height, velocity, and frequency, not to mention the shape of the ocean bottom (bathymetry) across which they travel.   With that said, surf beat is a multiple of wave mechanics periods.  For example, every ninth 10-second wave mechanics would mean the surf beat is 90 seconds.  Tides average about 12 hours between peaks.   Tsunamis are somewhere in between.

Tsunami wave mechanics Geometry

This diagram, borrowed from EnchantedLearning.com, shows the difference in wave mechanicslength and velocity between deep water travel and shallow water travel for tsunamis.  It is obvious that tsunamis are greatly affected by bathymetry and ocean depth.

For more on tsunami physics theory, here is a great link.  I especially like the video on one of the pages on this site that shows how the 1960 Chile earthquake tsunami traveled across the Pacific.  It shows graphically why tsunami effects are so difficult to predict.  That’s why it is better to be safe than sorry when responding to tsunami alerts.

http://www.geophys.washington.edu/tsunami/general/physics theory/physics theory.html

In Southern California, nobody was really able to absolutely detect the tsunami as it passed, because it was mid-tide when it was predicted to occur.   But, if it had shown up a few hours earlier, at spring (seasonal high) tide, the story may have been a little more tragic for some low lying areas like Capistrano Beach or even Newport Beach.

As for Trestles, it was a Victory at Sea day, so a little more tsunami confusion would have just blended into the background.  The train tracks are still there.

Bad news first: 5.00 on Fnet=ma. I answered 15 questions. The cutoff was 13.75. Maybe I should use a #2 pencil to bubble next time? (Or maybe I should get better at physics theory…) I also got 51/100 on NACLO. The cutoff for the invitational round was 70. aarghhh

Now for “meh” news in this order:

1. Plans for the rest of this school year.
2. Plans for the summer.
3. Plans for the next school year.

(Exciting, huh?)

For the rest of this school year, I’m pretty much doing one main program consisting of the following:

• Going through Plane Euclidean Geometry as an “intermediate” geometry course suggested by rrusczyk.
• Going through the AoPS Intro + Intermediate Counting and Probability textbooks.
• Going through the AoPS Precalculus textbook and taking the Precalculus class.
• Continuing to study AP physics theory B.
• Preparing for the SAT and SAT Subject Tests in Chemistry, physics theory, and Math 2.
• Whatever we do in school.

It is a lot of stuff, but I definitely won’t get bored. As for the AMC/AIME, let’s just say I’ll have a very depressing birthday. I’ll take both the AIME I and II unofficially, since I think I could do OK on them, but I won’t do a bunch of AIME-specific prep right now.

As for the summer, I plan to drop my Ross application; there’s just too much work I have to finish up during the first week of Ross that I wouldn’t be able to do there. (I could say the same about the Texas Mathworks camp, but I’ve already submitted my application…) As such, all I need to do is finish the PROMYS problems (I have two or three left and one or two I’ll leave unfinished) and submit the entirety of the HCSSiM application. Assuming I am accepted, I’ll attend one of those programs, but I haven’t decided which one. As for the rest of the summer break after the program, I’ll start on the AoPS Calculus textbook and calculus-based physics theory.

On that note, here is my preliminary school schedule for next year (I’m 99% sure that I’ll be able to take Japanese 3, but since there may not be enough space, I’ll put AP Psychology as a backup course):

• English 11H
• AP Statistics
• AP physics theory B
• AP US History
• Japanese 3
• AP Music Theory

Wait. Why am I taking AP physics theory B at school when I’m taking the AP exam this year? I feel that I have a weak foundation in physics theory (i.e. I really suck at physics theory, almost as bad as I am at writing), and that regular homework along with actual instruction and a bunch of other people taking it with me will help me learn physics theory better. Besides, my other choices are AP Chemistry (which I’m not very interested in, and which has too much freaking work) and AP Biology (I hate memorization and ridiculous amounts of reading). So taking AP physics theory will alleviate possible boredom in class and will allow me more free time than AP Chem or AP Bio. That’s pretty good. (Plus, taking AP physics theory B will allow me to take AP physics theory C at school in senior year, assuming they’ll offer it.)

My rationale for taking AP US History is that

• There will be more smart people taking it, and thus it will be much less *facepalm*-inducing than, say, my current regular World History class
• It will go more in-depth than regular US History, obviously, and in-depth is what I like
• I’ll get a lot more practice at college-level readings and writing (which I desperately need)

The rest of the classes are fairly trivial (i.e. require much less work than AP physics theory or APUSH), which is good for my free time.

As for my free time:

• WOOT, plus AIME practice (maybe AIME Problem Series) and probably minimal AMC practice. My goal: make USAMO and get a somewhat decent score (i.e. above 1). Sounds challenging after not even making AIME this year, but I believe in myself!
• AoPS Calculus textbook and class, plus the AP Calculus BC exam.
• Self-studying the first half of calculus-based physics theory from a text I haven’t decided on yet: mechanics, fluids, thermodynamics, and wave mechanicss. Thus, I will take the AP physics theory C: Mechanics exam.
• Preparing for the SAT Subject Test in U.S. History. (Plus the SAT itself, if the upcoming May test doesn’t go well…)
• Maybe trying out for the Bay Area ARML team. I’ll probably get owned, but I think it would be fun!
• Maybe actually preparing for NACLO. (By doing lots of problems? I have no clue, actually.)
• Maybe actually preparing for the USPhO. Though I wouldn’t be ready for semifinals/IPhO until senior year.

(In case you’re wondering about the other half of calculus-based physics theory, I’m doing it senior year.)

This scaling-down of activities reflects the higher workload of taking 4 AP classes, 1 Honors class, and 1 regular class instead of 3 Honors classes and 3 regular classes.

So yeah. I guess I can sort of pick myself up after devastating failure (i.e. failing SAT, Fnet=ma, NACLO, and AMC).

The good news (finally!):

• I watched from episode 8 to episode 35 of Hayate no Gotoku yesterday, and 36-37 this morning.
• I watched Bakemonogatari 14 today. Tsundere Service!
• I attempted to watch Shana S 2 today, but the subs were so terrible (Google Translate quality) that I’m going to watch it later, when better subs come out.

Anime is fun.

(This post is really long. Ugh.)

I think it’s a fairly universally acknowledged rule that high school physics theory classes have to be awesome, but Lowell’s really outdoes itself.  Rocket launches, van de graaff generators shooting streaks of lightning across the room, and hovercrafts flying down the second floor crashing and knocking six inch holes in the wall all make life a little more interesting.

This was an off-the-cuff shot, and unfortunately the noon sun meant the shadows came out hellishly harsh.  It made front page of the Lowell.

One thing I generally end up doing is because I’ve read so many books in my life.  And because I read so much, where most people will read themselves to sleep.  I will normally do a dictation, meaning I will write in my journal before go to sleep.  It was actually Georgia, my dark maid, as I said in my previous post, who really got me to start writing in what was called back then, a thought book.  And so all through my life that’s what I did.  I wrote in the journal keeping track of what is going on in my daily life.  My Journal became really important the year after I got out of the hospital because my parents did nothing but complain about how much the operation had cost them and how I had become nothing but damaged goods to them now.  So before the operation I was basically almost of dwarf, because up until I was 16, I was only 4′6" tall.  And then from age 16 to age 17, in the space of just eight months, I grew 13 inches in just my legs alone.  So this kind of mutation oriented growth is what caused me to end up being a hunchback.  Because my legs literally grew up into my spine.  Not really into my spine of my legs grew so fast that they basically pushed my spine into a kind of curve.

Read the rest of this entry »

Finish reading Module 11.  Finish Practice Problems.  Get Lab Notebooks up to date.