Talk:955: Neutrinos

2024-05-25T19:42:39Z

172.69.23.79: clarification

When the news about the neutrino speed thing first came out, all these people I knew were asking if everything they knew was wrong because of the new discovery, and panning me for not believing the word of god that is the scientific journal. I don't know how these people get through life blindly believing everything that they're told. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]]

: It actually isn't too hard to live like that. Fortunately for me, though, I didn't have all these people I know asking if everything they knew was wrong. Inversion? --[[User:Quicksilver|Quicksilver]] ([[User talk:Quicksilver|talk]]) 18:34, 17 August 2013 (UTC)

"...arguing with people and preaching caution is futile. Cueball realizes that it is more satisfying and profitable to place bets with them instead." Does anyone else notice the similarity between this sentiment and mortgage security? Instead of preaching caution in lending and trying to convince people that they shouldn't be taking on loans, hedge funds were created - much more satisfying and profitable. Sorry if this has nothing to do with the comic, it was just an observation that struck me. -naginalf[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.40|108.162.216.40]] 19:58, 11 March 2014 (UTC) {{unsigned ip|108.162.216.40}}

The discussion on this page is incorrect. Relativity does not say that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light, it says that objects with mass cannot travel at the speed of light. Massive objects can either travel below or above the speed of light. {{unsigned ip|108.162.237.183}}
:Not as I read the wiki page on this: {{w|Speed_of_light#Upper_limit_on_speeds|Upper limit on speeds}}. Maybe if you could have negative mass could you travel faster than c. But according to the page, nothing with zero mass or any finite (positive) mass can move faster than c. And yes if it has mass, then the speed will have to be sharply smaller than c. (But can get as close to c as you like by pouring in more energy).--[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:15, 30 September 2015 (UTC)
It is actually that you can't accelerate to the speed of light if you're already going faster you won't automatically have a immeasurable speed that is almost C you will keep going at that speed theoretically. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.72|108.162.246.72]] 07:38, 22 September 2016 (UTC)

Cueball mentions Galileo. Is it because he went against the then-consensus on scientific knowledge and was punished, and others are accusing Cueball (and other "thought police") of attempting to do the same thing? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.210.196|108.162.210.196]] 11:35, 12 November 2016 (UTC)

Could someone explain to me why a GPS wouldn’t work if relativity didn’t exist? {{unsigned ip|162.158.186.156}}

:[http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast162/Unit5/gps.html This is a good read.] [[Special:Contributions/172.69.210.28|172.69.210.28]] 06:43, 13 September 2018 (UTC)

::It is a good read. To summarize the main points of that article:
::* GPS satellites contain {{w|atomic clock}}s to keep time, and they broadcast their current time. A GPS receiver measures the amount of ''time'' it took for the signals to arrive from the satellites' known positions, using ''{{w|trilateration}}'' to determine the receiver's position. (This is different from ''{{w|triangulation}}'', which determines position by measuring ''angles''.)
::* GPS satellites orbit at a speed of 14,000 km/h relative to Earth's surface. One effect of this is {{w|Time dilation#Velocity time dilation|velocity time dilation}}: time passes ''slower'' for GPS satellites than it does near Earth's surface, drifting 7 microseconds ''behind'', every day.
::* GPS satellites orbit at an altitude of 20,000 km, which is far enough away from Earth's mass that {{w|spacetime}} curvature is different there. One effect of this is {{w|Time dilation#Gravitational time dilation|gravitational time dilation}}: time passes ''faster'' for GPS satellites than it does near Earth's surface, drifting 45 microseconds ''ahead'', every day.
::* Combining those, time passes faster for GPS satellites, by a net 38 ''microseconds'' (10-6) every day, relative to near Earth's surface.
::* But GPS precision depends on ''nanosecond''-range accuracy (10-9), so 38,000 nanoseconds drift would cause GPS precision to accumulate an ''additional 10 km of error every day''. GPS would still ''function'' – the satellites would still transmit, and the receivers would still calculate a position – but that position could be out by miles and miles; so if the purpose of GPS is to provide a reasonably precise position, then by that standard, GPS wouldn't ''work''.
::* {{w|Albert Einstein}}'s theories of {{w|special relativity}} and {{w|general relativity}} enable GPS to predict ''velocity time dilation'' and ''gravitational time dilation'' (respectively), and thereby compensate for the error so that GPS can ''work''!
::[[User:Yfmcpxpj|Yfmcpxpj]] ([[User talk:Yfmcpxpj|talk]]) 21:58, 5 September 2020 (UTC)
:::I'm sorry, but to me, your summary seems to make it sound like relativity is a problem that we are correcting for, rather than enabling anything. If relativity didn't exist, we wouldn't need to correct for velocity and gravitational time dilation. Mind you, that's only what I get from your summary, haven't actually read the article.--[[Special:Contributions/172.68.94.150|172.68.94.150]] 22:35, 24 March 2023 (UTC)
::::If Einstein's theories of relativity weren't correct, then we wouldn't have been able to use them to calculate how much correction is needed for GPS satellites to account for velocity and gravitational time dilation, but we did, and GPS does work, hence those theories relativity are supported.

2929: Good and Bad Ideas

2024-05-07T06:50:57Z

172.69.23.79: added a long-winded explaination of double-male extension cords

{{comic
| number = 2929
| date = May 6, 2024
| title = Good and Bad Ideas
| image = good_and_bad_ideas_2x.png
| imagesize = 595x522px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = While it seemed like a fun prank at the time, I realize my prank fire extinguishers full of leaded gasoline were a mistake.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD- Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

This is a scatter plot comparing how good an idea sounds to how good the idea actually is. For example, leaded gasoline sounds like a good idea due to the anti-knocking effects, but is actually a bad idea due to lead toxicity. Fake prank fire extinguishers however sound bad and are bad as they can result in a dangerous situation in an emergency. Putting mold on infections sounds like a bad idea, but this could be referring to Penicillin, an antibiotic.

The title text combines leaded gasoline and a fake prank fire extinguisher into something that is worse than either. Not only is the fire extinguisher fake, it also releases flammable material onto the fire, and there is the additional lead toxicity.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Idea !! What it means !! How good it sounds !! How good it actually is !! Explanation
|-
|Leaded Gasoline||Adding tetraethyl lead to gasoline to increase performance||++||---||Lead is toxic. Burning the leaded gasoline in an engine releases the lead in the air. This is bad.
|-
|Bloodletting||Releasing "bad blood" from the veins||---||---||You need your blood.{{Citation needed}}
|-
|Asbestos||Mineral which does not burn and is good isolation||+++||---||Asbestos was used extensively. Sadly the microscopic fibers which make up asbestos greatly increase the risk of cancer when inhaled.
|-
|Extension cords with prongs on both ends||allows easy connection between 2 female connectors||0 (neutral)||---||Prongs on both ends would make it easier to plug the extension cord in on either side. But once plugged into an outlet, the other end becomes a serious shock hazard.
|-
|Stair Kayaking||||||||
|-
|Fake prank fire extinguishers||||||||
|-
|Always saying what you think||||||||
|-
|Replying to spammers||||||||
|-
|Solar cars||||||||
|-
|Heelies||||||||
|-
|Prequels||||||||
|-
|Transition Lenses||||||||
|-
|Cutting pizza in squares||||||||
|-
|Project Orion||Study by the U.S. government looking into nuclear pulse propulsion for spacecraft||---||-||Repeated nuclear explosions in order to move sounds bad for both the spacecraft and everything else. But there are ways to address a lot of the concerns, so it isn't as bad as it sounds.
|-
|Combo washer dryers||||||||
|-
|Cutting sandwiches diagonally||||||||
|-
|Diverging diamond interchanges||||||||
|-
|Toasting sandwiches||||||||
|-
|Crumple zones||||||||
|-
|Sliced bread||||||||
|-
|Pizza||||||||
|-
|Eating citrus fruit while at sea||||0 (neutral)||+++||The vitamin C present in citrus fruits prevents one from contracting {{w|Scurvy|scurvy}}.
|-
|Putting mold on infections||||||||
|-
|Wheels on luggage||||||||
|-
|Heat pumps||||||||
|-
|Laser eye surgery||||||||
|-
|Fecal transplants||||||||
|-
|}

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

{{comic discussion}}

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:955: Neutrinos

2929: Good and Bad Ideas