Recent content by Keln

I am wanting to know, basically, if I arrive at a physical distance of whatever you like, at t=1 second, after I made the decision to go there at t=0 seconds, regardless of my speed, how that violates causality. Speed is a ratio of d/t, which I noted. However, the "speed limit" of light is...

I've never understood the problem with a violation of causality. Obviously we are talking about in the context of FTL travel, probably one of the most asked about topics there is. Everyone wants it to be a thing. While I see the benefits of it, I don't care about if it could be possible or not...

I have the wonderful privilege of being the one user and conveniently described subject matter expert over the operation of my employer's FT/IR Spectrometer, one Bruker Optics Tensor 27 hunk of plastic, metal, and rather toxic pieces parts. For reasons only known to the Department of Energy...

The media continues to portray this as faster-than-light transmission of information, which seems wrong to me. This isn't my field and I have a very slippery grasp of the basics of QM as it is, so please forgive me if I'm mistaken in my thinking. My understanding of entanglement and measurable...

I am having a tough time getting my head around this. I get that traveling faster then c in itself has an effect on the the flow of time from the reference of external observation and the person doing it (isn't actual FTL velocity causing backwards time?). But in a "warp bubble" for lack of a...

Ok, as an example, why is there such a thing as a vein of gold or silver? I'm not talking about different elements reacting, but the same elements, not chemically bonded, just in the same geographical location. Uranium-235 is formed from the decay of Protactinium-235(-B), Neptunium-235 (EC)...

I've often wondered, but have never found a solid explanation for, why the chemical elements are found together in nature? Why aren't atoms all in a somewhat homogenous mix? Why are X atoms found with other X atoms? And why are isotopes found together, such as Uranium 235 and the far more...

I read a little bit about General Atomics EM2 reactor in the December issue of Nuclear News that someone had brought to work recently. I haven't had a chance to read all of the article and I am curious about this reactor design. Are any of you involved in it? It claims to be able to run for 30...

That sort of creeps into the central point of why I am asking my question. If a computer can be built that can simulate a physical brain, does it then cease to be limited by its programming and is now sentient? How far can programming actually go? Can it really simulate thinking? Can a machine...

Your link merely goes to the front page for that site. I use that site occasionally for FTIR spectra searches, but it is a bit wonky sometimes. Can you post an image of the spectra?

Well said. Humans are social creatures, and our learning process is not isolated from that fact.

Thanks for the replies. The idea about testing inputs for flawed logic makes sense. Bad data can be filtered and ignored. I don't suppose a computer/robot could be programmed to recognize a paradox as such, since that seems to require abstract thinking and the ability to consider something...

Computer science and software engineering aren't my fields but I think it's pretty universal among the sciences, and pretty much everything else we endeavor to learn, that asking for help is absolutely vital to increasing our personal understanding of something. It does not mean you are...

Simple question: Can a computer be taught to recognize a paradox? This assumes the computer has no cognizant reasoning or "self awareness". It is a plot device used in a lot of science fiction, that the intrepid "flawed" human hero defeats the computer or robot with a simple paradox making it...

For the purposes of this discussion, I suppose both Neanderthals and Denisovans count. Both had tool use and possibly fire. So, that meets the criteria I set forth.