/sci/ - Science & Math

pic related

Carbonic anhydrase has a turnover rate of 1.64 x 10^6 molecules per second

>99% of an atom consists of empty space

We only use 10% of our brains.

We can measure the distance to nearby galaxies by observing the period of variable stars.

In a Universe so hostile and indifferent, I am alive.

>>4993257
Wrong.
>>4993227
You and 7 billion other people in the world. Not counting animals and plants.

That position and momentum cannot be precisely simultaneously measured.

>>4993244
We can also measure the distance to distant galaxies by observing the lightcurves produced by type 1a supernovae, and by observing the redshift of emission lines in the galaxy's spectra.

Recent studies suggest that 10% of all solar systems have planets. Estimates also suggest there are 300,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in the known universe...

...which means there are 30,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars with planets around them, all with the potential for life.

If the odds of a solar system containing planets capable of sustaining life were one in a billion, the universe is so huge that would still leave 300 trillion candidates for life.

It is extremely likely that planets capable of sustaining life are much more common than one in a billion.

Its fairly impossible to look at these numbers and assume that earth is the only place with life in the universe.

>>4993281
Only on quantum scales

>>4993283

See, I don't find that amazing, Those things are big. I have no problem with measuring them. It's the fact that we can deduce the brightness change of individual stars in a fucking galaxy hundreds of thousands of light years away that puts me in awe of modern technology.

>>4993280
So, are you questioning the fact that we are alive, or that it is astounding, or that ... or ...

>>4993285
This is awesome, but sasd in the sense that as likely as there is other life throughout the universe, it is also extremely likely that it is physically impossible to ever communicate or travel between these places with life.

So we're just a universe of completely isolated islands existing at the same time. How depressing.... what a waste.

There is no intrinsic meaning in the universe.

symmetries imply conserved quantities

e^{i\tau} = 1

The sheer fucking magnitude of the observable universe and god knows how much further beyond that. What really turns me on are the unfathomable voids between galaxy structures.

>>4993227
This is bullshit

>>4993331
Tau fag. Also, this isn't even astounding, it's a trivial identity that runs straight from the axioms.

>>4993190
I assume you've seen this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D05ej8u-gU

There's no one thing.

But one of the first things was the realization how little we can really sense.

Considering our eyes alone, the night sky is blazing with energies above and below the frequencies we can see. The spheres of influence of other planets in the system are so immense that no one could mistake them for stars if we could perceive them.

Sometimes I use what little clues there are to imagine what is really there and overlay that with my vision.

>>4993323
If life for us humans has a purpose, its for us to preserve life and have kids so life can continue on.

your genes are using you to copy themselves

>>4993346

Like thinking of the trillions of neutrinos that are in fact constantly streaming through your body.

>>4993357
That's a part of it.

The most astounding thing I can really think of is how lucky I really am.

>Billions of years ago big bang
>4.54 billion years ago the earth was created
>newly formed planet forms causes microbials to form
>These microbials have loads of sex
>form bigger organisms
>those organism evolve
>the descendants of these organisms are our ancestors
>These are my ancestors
>Because of the luck of 1 little sperm, and the fact that my ancestors met and mated I am here
>The fact that my parents met in a city of millions of people and found "true love" then had sex on the precise date 9 months before I was born and my little spermling self (well half of me anyway) made its way through, and was the man on top I am here.

I am the luckiest sperm there is in my own opinion. I mean duh, there are 6.9 billion others that made it. But I feel proud because I was pitted against millions of others, and I overcame.


I cannot into biology so sorry if I sound like a bumbling retard.

Every electron in the universe could be in fact one single one jumping through time

I like this thread. Please contribute more.

>>4993879
Fun thought experiment: When you have a child, are you producing a new entity, or are they actually still you? Its YOUR cells that replicated, just like they always do inside your body. Technically, we could all be part of only one actual organism. We're all the same person.

The most astounding fact to me is that Tyson is followed by so many mindless individuals that have no interest in science but only immerse themselves in it because it makes them seem intelligent. I can't believe that my friends actually follow that guy around. He isn't even a scientist he's a god damn curator for a museum. His videos don't even offer any insight in how anything works.

"Wer made of liek... stars mang. Shit son, pass the bong. Nature and shit, humanity, social mumbo jumbo."

At least Sagan was a scientist.

Maybe not the most astounding, but certainly mind blowing when I first read it:

Magnetism is nothing more than a relativistic effect of electricity / E&M was relativistically correct before einstein published his shit on relativity.

>>4993960
The most astounding fact about your post is that you take exception to people being interested in science for whatever reason instead of immersing themselves in soap operas and reality-tv.

Fortunately the era of science as the territory of some kind of elite never was and still isn't.

Summarizing thread and adding my own.
>You are made of star dust - elements made from supernovas
>Both atoms and the universe are +99% empty space
>You generate your weight in ATP every day.
>We can measure vast distances using variable stars
>One cannot measure position and momentum of particles in quantum systems.
>In quantum systems particles can phase through walls, potentials, reaction wells etc.
>Due to the size of the observable universe life is (probably) probably inevitable
>Trillions of neutrinos flow through your body every second
>The brain has more than one hundred billion neurons and three hundred trillion connections
>Every time you think your brain rewires itself
>Neutron stars have the same density of a Boeing 747 in the volume of a grain of sand.
>'Matter' (me, you, chairs, stars, galaxies, black holes) etc makes up 4% of the gravity of the observable universe, the other 96% is currently undescribed dark matter and energy.

>Humans have walked on the moon
>The Voyagers are leaving the heliosphere (edge of solar system)
>We generate energy by splitting atoms
>Humans have deduced quantum mechanics, relativity, mathematics, how the universe began, expanded, cooled and evolved us
>Humans have built computers, space ships, medicine, skyscrapers and other mega structures
>It is better to be alive today than any other time in all of history and it's getting better

>In this strange universe, the mechanisms exist for 'you' to be self aware

There is something deep, wonderful and transcending about learning, exploring and building - I can't wait to see what else we do.

>>4993976
This reminds me... everything you are, everything you can interact with and everything you know, is held together by electromagnetism.

Only 17% of the "stuff" that exists in the universe is affected by electromagnetism. Inside you, around you, everywhere... exists the other 80%... dark mattery/dark energy. We know its there because it has gravity... but you cant interact or perceive it in any other way.

There could potentially be an entire other civilization existing in the same exact place you are standing right now... and we would never know each other exist, because they arent bound by electromagnetism. They follow some other unknown rules of physics.

Kind of fascinating, sorry if anything I said was improperly explained.. but its basically true.

>>4993190
consciousness

Covering the Mojave or Sahara or Kalahari (.etc) deserts in less then 15% efficient solar panels could power the world and end energy problems forever.

But we don't do it.

You can hold the amount of thorium needed to produce your lifetime energy consumption in your hand. The same applies to uranium with fast reactors.

>>4994126
We can't transport the electricity, that's why

>>4994126

Implying no night, or high capacity storage tech we dont have.

>>4994136
right, but i mean come on why aren't we funding it then?

>>4994135
wat
literally wat, the ammount of nuclear substance assumes so many things, so many bad numbers (2%,) assumes Uranium costs are fixed, and assumes only solid wastes (how do you get rid of liquid wastes), and there is no proven Thorium reactor that isn't simulation data.

why.txt

Graham's Number is easily the single most mind blowing thing I've ever come across. More than Banach-Tarski paradox, more than the Cantor Set.

See the picture.

Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham's_number


Too bad I accidently made a thread already. Oh well here you go.

>>4994179
Graham's number plus one

>>4994202
Graham's number to the power of Graham's number!

>>4993412
o baby

>>4994146
Source on what's happening in this gif?

>>4993257
This.. but lately I've been thinking that maybe the only reason I'm alive is because I'm so insignificant no one even bothers to kill me. Think bacteria, they are alive too. But oh well, at least I can fantasize about being a beautiful and unique snowflake in a world of horror and cruelty.

>>4994214
>>4994202
Obviously it isn't the "biggest" number ever, it's just notable for being useful in an actual proof, and it blows my mind because it took me quite a while to even comprehend just how big it is. Read the wikipedia article. Hell, I wasted about an hour reading about it when I had homework to do, it was totally worth it.

>>4994135
B-b-b-b-but

The greenfags told me each nuclear reactor produces 20 tonnes of waste a year

Read that the estimated size of the universe in comparison to the observable universe may actually be the same as comparing the diameter of our sun to a helium atom as opposed to the 10% that was thought to be at one point.

>>4994126
Donate to deserttec, hope that africa is willing to sell the energy.

That we just might be a computer algorithem set to see results. A computer simulation. They found such proof in something tiny that resembles perfectly comp code.
I know thats not sciencey enough for the board, so just youtube strange computer code found in superstring theroy

Grahams number is nowhere near the largest number ever used in a serious mathematical proof.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruskal%27s_tree_theorem

TREE(3) is (much) greater, even, than Graham's number to the power of itself. Of course, there's also TREE(4), TREE(5), and so on, but it's hard to say that these numbers are significant.

My personal favorite number is the 5th Ramsey number.

>>4994275
>shifting electricity dependence to MENA countries

Yeah, because it isn't bad enough that we're already totally dependent on them for oil. Besides, I'm not holding out any hopes for sufficiently stable countries in the region that the scheme can ever be implemented.

Many if not all natural processes are fractal.

>>4994280
I always thought the universe is just a cellular automaton. Even Wolfram seems to think that, so it's not a completely stupid idea

What blows my mind the most, in a not good way, is Bostroms Simulation Argument. I try to avoid thinking about it.

>>4994303
It doesnt seem likely, but if you think about it, its not as out there as some theories.

>>4993412
It hurts my brain to think of this. I love it, it sounds profound, but I can't wrap my mind around it.

>>4993932
You were saying?

NGT is full of hot air

That Jesus loves me

>>4994378
Jesus is a nigger faggot. He fucks you mother in the ass regularly. This is not a contradiction.

>>4994385
So, you just missed a comma?

That the mash finale screwed up the US plumbing system for a while.
Why? Cause everyone used the bathroom at the same time as soon as it ended

>>4994391
Don't be silly.

>>4994397
>not knowing this
>being a ferret face
Pick 2

That because something exists, something must have always existed, and therefore infinity going backwards is a reality. The incomprehensible concept of infinity actually exists and happens in reality. After realizing this, anything becomes possible.

>>4994419
I can one day be harrison ford, bobby orr, and hawkeye all in one life?

How good chocolate milk is.
No really. Just think about that shit. Goddamn delicious. It blows me away.

>>4994135
They really should have used a healthier looking hand for a pro-thorium picture.

>>4993322
i am of the opinion that more intelligent life forms communicate using some kind of FLT, and that only the "lesser civilizations" rely on radio, so nobody in the galactic community bothers to use it

we're using smoke signals in the middle of new york city and wondering why nobody else is using them

>>4993960
"Astronomer Carl Sagan, who was a faculty member at Cornell University, tried to recruit Tyson to Cornell for undergraduate studies."

really?

>>4994288

This looks really cool, but wikipedia isn't making much sense to me. Where else can I read more about it?

>>4993285
Eh, in spite of this the universe is only approximately ~14 billion years old and life needs time to develop, a long time. If you assume life didn't exist anywhere in the first 4-6 billion years to allow time for the universe to develop to where it could support life that gives all potential life in the universe only 8-10 billion years to develop. Given that humanity took 4 billion from the creation of the Earth to where we are now I doubt any other life in the universe is significantly more intelligent than us, perhaps a bit more but I doubt anything exists out there capable of superluminal travel for instance.

>>4994466
>FLT

>>4994518
keep in mind how fast we developed after gaining sentience, and how fast we have developed only in the last century.

we went from farming to rockets in about 10,000 years, a very small period of time. chances are any intelligent life out there is already into the space-god phase

Grown men watch My Little Pony.

>>4994532

>>4994466
I am of the opinion that we are surrounded by hyperintelligent invisible pink unicorns who we also can not hear or touch.

The follow us constantly, making fun of the way we do everything.

>>4994549
I think when we die we zoom out, and were at a minor league hockey games arcade machine in heaven. Then "CONTINUE? 25..24.." shows up. Then you chug and finish your beer and ask the conehead guy for another. then bug your friend for a quarter cause you spent all yours on parking and get the quarter in with like 3 seconds left and then a "miracle" happens. Thats how your brought back.
Yupp. Thats what i think death is

>>4994562
This makes the most sence ever.

>>4994223

it's called an accordion chair.

Dont die :(

>The most astounding fact

Some of the atoms in your body has been in Cleopatra's boobs, some in Hitler's moustache, some in Carl Sagan's weed-filled lungs. The list goes on...

>>4994651
Thanks guy

>>4993932
You are half of your mother and half of your father, as far as I'm concerned.

I like to think of all the evolutionary possibilities.

I don't know about most astounding fact, but following Euclid's proof of the Pythagorean Theorem is fucking awesome.

>tfw geometry is the king of everything forever

A bunch of apes came down from the trees and split the atom.

Does that not sound ludicrous?

>>4994518
mind blown, you are right

>>4996593
Part of your brain was part of a dinosaur's dong.

I know it's been phrased a bunch of ways already, but it's pretty rad that we are part of an unbroken chain of metabolism over 3 billion years old.

Related to thread in many ways.

http://htwins.net/scale2/

>mfw the doctors are white

You are tge product of 3 billion years of evolution.
Start fucking acting like it.

>>4996902

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner. How frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity – in all this vastness – there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. The Earth is the only world known, so far, to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment, the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.

-Carl Sagan

From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any particular interest. But for us, it's different. Consider again that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

There are supermassive black holes in the universe that contains the combined mass of millions of stars, planets and particles and they suck up more mass at a rate per second than the total mass contained in our entire solar system X10.

>>4994179
If you think that number is big, you will shit your pants at large cardinals: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_cardinal

>90% of matter isn't real.

Took this myself

.... Also this one