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TanMath
TanMath
12:01 AM
@KyleKanos did you look at this question? and what has happened to @MarkMitchison ?
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
I did not look at the question. According to his profile, he was last on PSE about 11 hours ago, past that is beyond my ken
 
TanMath
TanMath
@KyleKanos does he come to chat anymore, his name doesn't show up when I try to mention him..
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
Then he's not been here in 2 days
I don't pay attention to the ins & outs of chat members
 
TanMath
TanMath
@KyleKanos he would probably be the best person to answer this question of mine
 
 
1 hour later…
vzn
vzn
1:24 AM
@JiK hi is your masters thesis online? & what do you mean "great future behind him"?
 
 
1 hour later…
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
2:35 AM
So a company I applied to (data mining) is testing me to see if I really know how to do the job. Kinda smart on them b/c it weeds out all the people who know nothing.
That is, people like me who claim to know shit but don't really.
So this test is like a practical for me: learn everything in the next 13 days and claim experience on that :D
 
skill patrol
skill patrol
Good luck :-)
 
0celo7
0celo7
2:59 AM
@KyleKanos Don't you think this is anticipated?
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
@skillpatrol Thanks
@0celo7 Possibly. But there's a part 2 to the test
Can't do 2 w/o 1
So even if I fool them into letting me take 2, it's possible that it's more complex and requires someone who's had loads more experience than I
 
0celo7
0celo7
@ACuriousMind I see that didn't render on PC properly. No, that's not the d'Alembertian of a revolver.
@KyleKanos Loads? More like any at all, right?
I must sleep now, night.
 
skill patrol
skill patrol
Later pal.
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
@0celo7 Yes :D
 
 
1 hour later…
skill patrol
skill patrol
4:13 AM
 
 
3 hours later…
JokelaTurbine
JokelaTurbine
7:27 AM
Sirs, I wan't point out this question; physics.stackexchange.com/questions/190414/…
 
yuggib
yuggib
@DanielSank If you type " git difftool --tool-help" you see a list of available tools. If meld is there and you want it to be used globally, type "git config --global diff.tool meld" and should work
 
 
2 hours later…
ACuriousMind
ACuriousMind
9:32 AM
@0celo7 It renders properly for me.
 
0celo7
0celo7
9:47 AM
@ACuriousMind using Yosemite
one moment
oh
It renders on Windows now
@KyleKanos He responded.
 
ACuriousMind
ACuriousMind
@0celo7 What am I supposed to do with that?
 
0celo7
0celo7
10:08 AM
@ACuriousMind Is there a kernel of truth in what he says?
 
ACuriousMind
ACuriousMind
@0celo7 As always, I have difficulty parsing it. It seems 12262 is saying the wavefunction of the particle in its own frame is $\exp(\mathrm{i}\frac{E}{\hbar}\tau)$ and gets its energy in another frame by claiming he can just take the time derivative w.r.t. the proper time of that frame. I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way.
 
skill patrol
skill patrol
@ACuriousMind This is sad :(
2
 
ACuriousMind
ACuriousMind
@skillpatrol That has been that way for months.
 
skill patrol
skill patrol
she was back on june 11
@ACuriousMind perhaps, I should ask her to come back the chat?
 
ACuriousMind
ACuriousMind
10:23 AM
@skillpatrol No, she was pretty clear on not wanting to talk to us anymore.
 
skill patrol
skill patrol
I missed all this...
...a bit too sensitive anyway.
@ACuriousMind thanks for the info
 
 
2 hours later…
skill patrol
skill patrol
11:59 AM
@ACuriousMind Are you all caught up from the time you had to take off?
 
ACuriousMind
ACuriousMind
@skillpatrol Yes
 
skill patrol
skill patrol
cool
 
JiK
JiK
12:29 PM
I'd say physics.stackexchange.com/questions/192285/… is not about physics and belongs probably to stats.SE, but apparently there's no flag for that: "belongs to another SE site" gives only meta and math as options.
 
ACuriousMind
ACuriousMind
@JiK Only the most frequent migration paths are available there, use a custom close reason
If you feel strongly about it being migrated, click flagafter that and use a custom flag to tell the mods to migrate.
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
12:53 PM
Eh, not sure that Stats would be the appropriate place for that. Either us or Math really, maybe Computational Science
 
JiK
JiK
@KyleKanos Stats has a tag for importance sampling. If questions like that are not the purpose of that tag, I don't know what is. stats.stackexchange.com/tags/importance-sampling/info
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
I don't think Stats is appropriate, even with that tag, because the question is ultimately about numerical integration and not the sampling a population
I personally think it's fine here (for now), but if you feel strongly enough you can flag it for migration.
 
JiK
JiK
The question is about choosing a good distribution function for the importance sampling.
 
Bosoneando
Bosoneando
1:33 PM
@gonenc Yes, I knew the comic, and that post is a clear example of that kind of people :D
 
gonenc
gonenc
1:50 PM
@Bosoneando did it really ping you?
 
Bosoneando
Bosoneando
Yes, it did
 
gonenc
gonenc
@Bosoneando nice :) i had doubts whether it would ping you. experiment succeeded!
 
ACuriousMind
ACuriousMind
@gonenc Chat pings are possible if the user you want to ping has been in chat the last two days at least once. So don't go thinking you can ping everyone now ;)
 
gonenc
gonenc
@ACuriousMind you caught me :P the weird thing was that the autocomplete, you know the thing that pops out when you start typing a username after an @ sign, didn't show Bosoneando's name. i had to copy and paste the username
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@ACuriousMind Sigh If only @all worked
 
0celo7
0celo7
2:16 PM
I wish I had a 24/7 ping line to ACM's brain. Would make adjusting to PC much easier.
 
0celo7
0celo7
2:39 PM
@skillpatrol I still don't know why she left.
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
Why has this question gained so much popularity when it is a textbook example of an off-topic engineering question?
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@0celo7 She took criticism very personally. A downvote on an answer which simply didn't answer the question, was unclear, or contained errors lead to rants in the chat room. It's her own decision to leave rather than learn the ropes of the community or try to change them. Don't worry about it.
She also constantly asked the mods to remove down votes on her answers as they were completely intolerable, etc. In any case, let this be a lesson that a community is just that and has its own style and rules.
 
0celo7
0celo7
@DanielSank I knew about that, but I imagine there was some cumulative event. No?
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@0celo7 Oh I have no idea about anything more than that.
She was combative from the start. All I'm saying is that there was a pattern, etc.
@0celo7 The gun pointing at head icon... maybe we shouldn't do that.
I lived with a suicidal individual once. Not only does this bring back extremely unpleasant memories, but it might have ill effects on some people.
In fact, I'll as far as to ask a mod to please remove it from the star list. Nothing against @0celo7, I just think it's not great to have a gun pointing at a head on the starred chat list.
@Qmechanic
 
Qmechanic
Qmechanic
@DanielSank : Done.
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
2:54 PM
@Qmechanic I appreciate that. I also realize that asking the whole chat room to change something on my account is presumptuous and not always a good idea.
I came across an interesting equation in the study of random processes that I think comes up in QFT. I'd like to ask one of the QFTers here for some perspective.
The problem is that of "first transit".
We have a random walk going around on some graph of connected points.
There is a particular point (or set of points) which end the process. In other words, they are "sink points" for the random walk.
The problem is to find the mean number of steps taken before hitting a sink point.
Here's what I found:
Let the probability of landing on a particular point $f$ after having started on point $i$ and taking $n$ steps be $p_{fi}(n)$.
Let the probability of landing on a particular point $f$ for the first time after having started on point $i$ and taking $n$ steps be $q_{fi}(n)$.
Then define the transforms $P_{fi}(z) = \sum_n p_{fi}(n) z^n$ and
$Q_{fi}(z) = \sum_n q_{fi}(n)z^n$.
It turns out that $Q_{fi}(z) = P_{fi}(z) / P_{ii}(z)$!
This looks suspiciously like something having to do with self-energy.
Is it?
 
0celo7
0celo7
3:11 PM
@DanielSank I didn't star my own thing. It was meant in context for ACM.
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@0celo7 Never said you did.
Oops, I meant $Q_{fi}(z) = P_{fi}(z) / P_{ff}(z)$.
 
Physics Meta
Physics Meta
3:27 PM
0
Q: What to do when an answer suggests something dangerous?

steveverrillI have seen several dangerous suggestions on Physics and Chemistry Stack Exchange, and normally what happens when this is pointed out, is that the suggestor thanks people for their concern about safety. This question asks how to test a robot under a simulated depth of 40ft of water. Several answ...

discussion
 
David Z
David Z
Very cool: visualization of falling into a black hole
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@DavidZ is this in my proper time?
 
David Z
David Z
I would think so, but I'm not sure
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
3:47 PM
@DanielSank Only when you're the one watching it. :-P
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@JimsBond Har har. :-)
@DavidZ Was your post saying that safety considerations are off topic motivated by SE policy and fear of legal action?
 
David Z
David Z
Nobody who works for SE had any input on that post, if that's what you mean
and if you didn't, I'd say probably not
so... basically, no
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
Ok, then I'm leaving my comments there :-)
There's too much anti-experimental policy around here, and I think not addressing safety considerations is yet another example.
"What safety considerations are important in use of a TiSapp laser" is a question for experimental physicists and few other people.
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
That 40ft water question is an engineering question anyway.
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
The site is called "Physics", not "Theoretical Physics".
@JimsBond Yeah, I'm not talking about that.
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
3:55 PM
@DanielSank Well, then advocating safety in our answers is a great thing and a good way to fit in some humour too.
 
David Z
David Z
@DanielSank maybe I should clarify: it's not motivated by fear of legal action, it's motivated by the fact that people should not be taking safety advice from strangers on the internet and it would be irresponsible for us to encourage that by providing it
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@JimsBond Indeed. Yet there's a meta post about this which was used as a reference in closing a (much better) recent question about safety, and that meta post's accepted answer says "don't talk about safety".
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@DavidZ "Don't take safety advice from strangers" sounds like safety advice from a stranger
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@DavidZ I really, really disagree with that.
@DavidZ How is no safety information better than some safety information?
It's only bad to give safety info if the asker takes missing information as a go-ahead to do something wrong.
If I'm asking for safety info I'm already thinking about safety, which means I'm worried about my well being trying to be defensive.
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
saying "remember to be careful and not hurt yourself" should be fine in all cases
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
3:58 PM
I can see the argument the other way too though...
If I ask "what level OD glasses do I need for XYZ laser" and someone gives the wrong answer, that could be bad.
 
David Z
David Z
@DanielSank not necessarily. If you're asking for safety info you might be trying to absolve yourself of responsibility.
Untrustworthy safety advice is worse than no safety advice.
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@DavidZ Well let's think about this practically. Suppose I ask the laser glasses question and nobody answers.
Then I learn nothing. Now suppose I ask and someone posts an excerpt from an authoritative source and tells me that I should read that source.
Isn't that better?
I worked in a laser lab as an undergrad and nobody in the lab every told me anything about safety.
 
David Z
David Z
Yes, but how can you ensure that all answers are based on authoritative sources? Who gets to decide what counts as authoritative?
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
I'd rather have been able to submit my worries to a pool of experts than go along idiotically possibly damaging myself, as I did.
@DavidZ Uh, if nothing is authoritative then how is taking advice from strangers even a problem?
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@DanielSank Our laser labs require us to attend a laser safety training course to work there. What sketchy back alley laser lab was this?
 
gonenc
gonenc
4:01 PM
@DavidZ what are those red grid-like looking thingies inside the blackhole?
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@DavidZ In reality there are authoritative sources like OSHA. If someone links to that or posts an excerpt, I up vote. If they just post some random opinion, I down vote.
@JimsBond Yale University. Not kidding.
@JimsBond I won't name the PI.
 
David Z
David Z
What about when someone asks us to calculate how long of a bungee cord they can use to jump into a 200 foot canyon? What's the authoritative source for that? (And do you really think we should be answering that question?)
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@DavidZ I personally wouldn't answer that, but does that mean it should be blanket off-topic to ask about lab safety?
Also, lab safety and bunjee jumping seem different...
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@DanielSank we also had to take eye tests before we started working in case of an accident so that they had a basis to check for damages. Remind me not to work for Yale
 
David Z
David Z
I think the two examples are off topic for the same reason
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
4:04 PM
@JimsBond This was one professor. I doubt it reflected university policy.
@DavidZ Which is?
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@DavidZ That's off-topic as homework-like
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@JimsBond LOL, nice.
 
David Z
David Z
@DanielSank exactly what I said above: that it's irresponsible to encourage accepting unverified safety advice
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@DavidZ You just said "who gets to decide what's authoritative". So what is "trusted" advice to you?
 
David Z
David Z
Trusted advice is advice that comes from a source that I've personally convinced myself is legitimate
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
4:08 PM
Ok...
 
David Z
David Z
Assuming I'm the one asking for it, that is
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
So isn't it up the asker to decide that for him/herself?
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@DavidZ Basically just me then?
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
If I ask Physics.SE for advice on laser safety haven't I obviously decided that I'm going to take that advice at whatever level of confidence I think is appropriate?
 
David Z
David Z
No, not obviously.
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
4:09 PM
Uh, wut?
 
David Z
David Z
It's possible - I would say probable - that you've decided you're going to take that advice as gospel.
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
That.... is weird.
Ok, let's run with that. Suppose a user who will take the word of Physics.SE as gospel asks that question.
 
David Z
David Z
It's the same reason you get all the not-a-lawyer disclaimers, and prohibitions on medical advice on sites where that's relevant. People have a tendency to believe whatever they read on the internet without properly checking it.
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
Is that person better off in whatever ignorant state they were in before asking?
 
David Z
David Z
Yes, I would say so.
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
4:11 PM
Could you kindly explain how?
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
Frankly, a question should be able to be answered regardless of safety concerns. When accommodating for safety, a safety margin should be used. It is never a good idea to use the limits of what is possible. If someone (other than a safety advisory) says lasers should be safe with a given type of goggles, you should at least use gogles one level of safety higher
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
Isn't that person more likely to be told "Go to the OSHA site" if they ask here than if they put their head in a bag?
@JimsBond "One level of safety higher" sounds kind of arbitrary. Just saying...
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
If we gave an answer saying that 30ft of cord is technically the max length to use for bungee jumping 200ft, you should only use at most a 20ft cord
@DanielSank for goggles, it's not arbitrary
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@JimsBond Where does that 30% margin come from?
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@DanielSank engineering estimate
 
David Z
David Z
4:13 PM
@DanielSank Before asking, they knew that they didn't know how to safely use a laser (for example). After asking, they think they know how to safely use a laser.
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@DavidZ And yet I used a laser for two years with zero idea about safety. Is that good?
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
what class of laser?
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
Wouldn't I have been better off if I could have asked someone outside my lab for some advice? Maybe they would have said "here's a link to the OSHA site on laser safety" and I would have learned something.
Instead, I engaged in ignorant behavior.
@JimsBond I don't remember.
 
David Z
David Z
Or maybe they would have told you to wear the wrong kind of googles and you would have burned your eye out. :-P
 
JokelaTurbine
JokelaTurbine
Henry Ford answered all the "safety" questions; "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.” -So as you, see it's a personal issue, and can't by answered by other.
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
4:14 PM
probably a 2 or 3a if you didn't have to know any safety
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@JimsBond Some IR thing, which in retrospect scares me.
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@DanielSank do you remember the power output?
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@DavidZ If experimentalists weren't all shoved out of this site there'd be enough of us to down-vote wrong answers like that :-)
@JimsBond I do not.
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
I used to work with a 3a and got blasted in the eyes quite often. Not enough to cause damage, though
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
This was a long time ago.
@JimsBond It was strong enough to use as an optical tweezer...
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
4:16 PM
3b or 4 should require laser safety training
 
David Z
David Z
@DanielSank yeah, but I'm thinking of the cases where the OP looks at the first answer before anyone gets to vote on it and runs with it.
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@DavidZ That could be bad, I agree.
Seems like hosting questions about safety would do more good than harm though.
 
David Z
David Z
For some random procedural question, it's not a big deal if they get wrong info. But when safety issues are at stake, it's extra-important not to give people the impression that they know what they're doing when they don't.
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@DavidZ Agreed. Again, I think offering information and a forum for discussion is better than refusing to offer any information.
Refusal of information does not make people more safe. It makes them less safe.
If a grad student has to do an experiment, he/she is going to do it without any safety considerations unless they are forced upon that student.
This is really common, unfortunately.
I can see this isn't going to change anyone's mind though, so I'll shut up.
Thanks for the discussion.
 
David Z
David Z
@DanielSank I still don't agree with that in all cases. Usually, yes, but not for safety advice.
@DanielSank It was enlightening.
It might be worth bringing this up on meta. I don't think we've ever had a full-fledged discussion about it.
 
Gaurav
Gaurav
4:22 PM
@KyleKanos @0celo7 In that case I take back that outburst. :) Perhaps I didn't read the rest of the thread, or I'm just used to seeing members abusing moderation in a bigoted manner and leaving the site in a fit.
 
David Z
David Z
@gonenc sorry, missed your question: that's supposed to be the event horizon, I think. Not quite sure how that works out in practice.
 
Gaurav
Gaurav
@JimsBond :)
 
gonenc
gonenc
@DavidZ i think the event horizon is the red region on the "map" and upon passing the horizon the gridy thing interfere with the vision.
is it a physical effect or just a feature of the person who created the animation?
 
David Z
David Z
AFAIK the grid is not physical
as in, you wouldn't literally see a grid if you fell into a black hole
 
gonenc
gonenc
@DavidZ thanks for the clarification :)
 
Gaurav
Gaurav
4:27 PM
That moment of jealousy when a high rep member writes a simple answer and still gets more upvotes than a low rep member writing answers that wrack his brain.

http://physics.stackexchange.com/a/192311/57075
 
David Z
David Z
It's true, high-rep answerers tend to get more upvotes. Part of that is because they learn the tricks of writing a good answer through experience, and part is because of simple correlation (you don't get high rep without having the skills required to write good answers), and part is because people tend to vote up high-rep users' answers more readily
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@DavidZ Someone tried to, and it was insta-closed.
 
David Z
David Z
oh, right :-P
Well, the question I closed as a duplicate (if that's what you meant) seemed like it was asked because the poster didn't know whether we had any relevant policies. In that case I think it's covered by the earlier questions.
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@DavidZ Soooooo, maybe.... un-insta-close?
@DavidZ Ok, so how, exactly, do I need to word this to avoid the insta-close?
 
David Z
David Z
Something like "Our current policy on safety advice appears to be [...including links]. But [reason why that might not be appropriate]" and so on.
Basically I wouldn't close a question that wanted to reevaluate the safety policy, and was clear that it was looking for a reevaluation in light of new information.
Though I would note that I was kind of on the fence about marking that one question as a duplicate anyway.
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
4:38 PM
@DavidZ Got it.
 
David Z
David Z
I'm also going to sleep soon so I won't be insta-closing anything for a while :-P
 
JokelaTurbine
JokelaTurbine
How should I approach with this question; physics.stackexchange.com/questions/190414/… -should I delete it or make a new one? I don't feel like spamming too much around. The bending of light in this case -should be- really interesting. If some one would just look the pics with more accuracy, there is shades and stuff enough to tell the story. And, Yes, I've read the meta.
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@DavidZ Hahaha, POST WHILE MODS SLEEP!
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@Gaurav It comes with practice. You have to know how to communicate the ideas in a way that answers the question, is easy to understand, anticipates the follow-up questions, and doesn't give more than the readers can handle
 
David Z
David Z
@JokelaTurbine don't delete and repost, just edit.
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
4:41 PM
You also have to learn how to say things that can't be picked apart by technicalities
I also teach first-year students and do a lot of tutoring. Answering beginner questions comes naturally to me at this point.
 
JokelaTurbine
JokelaTurbine
I have edited it allready x-times. I feel editing more would remove the core.
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@JokelaTurbine That's ok.
Just work it to a good question. Don't worry too much about how it started.
 
David Z
David Z
Yeah... I would point out, though, that one thing we don't like is when people make a bunch of small edits in quick succession. Each time you want to edit a question, go through it and fix everything that needs to be fixed. As long as you do that, don't worry about editing a bunch of times.
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@Gaurav It's also about picking your battles. I only answer questions these days when I know I know the answer and I know how to effectively explain it. That confidence gets communicated in how you answer it. It's at the point where I usually won't answer a question if I don't think I could write an answer worth at least 5 votes. (It may not get 5 votes, but that's not my problem, I just need to be able to put what I think is 5 votes worth of quality into it).
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
@JimsBond I voted to close it but two other people have voted to leave it open for unknown reasons. It's off-topic, IMO.
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
4:47 PM
@KyleKanos I agree. Probably another case of "but look how popular it is!"
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
We got the "Teach my 6 y/o world is round" closed, despite its HNQ status
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@KyleKanos Are questions about effective pedagogy off topic?
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@KyleKanos Score one for the good guys!
@DanielSank that depends. In most cases, probably. But I could see how a properly asked question could be on topic
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@JimsBond Interesting. I didn't know that in most cases pedagogy questions were off topic.
What magic sauce makes it "properly asked"?
 
Gaurav
Gaurav
@JimsBond Very well. I've wrote "simple answer" in my previous comment, and 'simple' is not necessarily 'easy', is it ? :)
 
JokelaTurbine
JokelaTurbine
5:01 PM
@David Z Yes, it's (small editing) annoys to me too. But this is the question I came here for, and I have my own opinions about what it must have to get a through answer. It's pretty annoying to try to define "everything needed"; despite my ~140 reputation, I've been here only 2 weeks.
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@Gaurav At first? No. Simple is not easy. With practice, writing simple answers becomes second nature
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@JimsBond Writing simple answers which don't hide really important details is really hard in my experience.
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
@DanielSank I don't know that there's anything "conclusive" about pedagogy questions, but they'd likely be opinion based
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@DanielSank True. But it must be easier now than when you first tried to do it. And over time, that keeps getting easier
 
Gaurav
Gaurav
To be honest, I'm guilty of being hypocritical. Whenever I see an answer by a high rep member, I tend to upvote it, irrespective of its content. Somehow it seems credible and of good quality just because it's from a high rep member.
 
David Z
David Z
5:05 PM
@JokelaTurbine for an example of what not to do, see this
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@DanielSank Magnets. Other than that, I don't know because I've never seen a good on-topic one
@Gaurav That helps get the highly-voted answers too
 
JokelaTurbine
JokelaTurbine
@ David Z :-) well, yes. that why I am asking here.
 
Gaurav
Gaurav
@JimsBond That's different. When an answer already highly upvoted is seen by other users, they tend to upvote it because they think it's of high quality since it has a lot of upvotes. It is independent of whether the answer-er is high rep or not.
 
DanielSank
DanielSank
@JimsBond Ok cool. I will use magnets in my next pedagogy question.
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@Gaurav Sorry, I meant that is another thing that helps high-rep users get highly-voted answers
@DanielSank Meatballs might work too. Not enough physics makes use of meatballs
2
 
Gaurav
Gaurav
5:15 PM
Indeed, but the highest voted answers are not by frequently visiting members of high rep. Perhaps the 'already highly upvoted' part plays a greater role, other than that its content is too good. This has no backing of data, of course.
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
Now I am beginning to suspect that we changed the topic slightly without my realizing of it
Only 60 more rep and I'll finally be able to protect questions.
And, of course, @KyleKanos is being a real asymptote about it
Always being ~1000 rep higher
 
Gaurav
Gaurav
Also perhaps any collection of data that is suitable to support such a correlation will give inconclusive results.
 
0celo7
0celo7
@JimsBond Maybe I'm really dumb, but no one has convincingly explained to me why that's a thing.
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@0celo7 protecting questions?
 
0celo7
0celo7
yes
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
5:20 PM
@0celo7 hold please
 
0celo7
0celo7
I'm having frozen yogurt for the first time ever right now. This stuff is amazing.
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
@0celo7 To prevent bad answers
 
0celo7
0celo7
@KyleKanos Why would there be bad answers?
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
9
Q: Is gravity a force and if so what is its opposite?

Jonathan.For every force there is an equal force in the opposite direction on another body, correct? So when the Suns gravity acts on Earth where is the opposite and equal force? I also have the same question for centripetal force in a planets orbit.

gravity newtonian-gravity
Imagine how many answers of "I don't believe gravity exists"
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
From low-rep users who either are uneducated in physics & make idiotic answers or did some google search and wanted to write "thanks"
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
5:22 PM
Or "Gravity is from God"
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
One of those answers is this:
> due to the wavelengths of the sun and the power of the sweg hipster divide by 3 x mx420# the @earths centre the amount of gravity equals 7.2 = #uwotm9iwllrequ
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
Or "My theory says gravity is a part of the EM force"
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
> yolo swag yolo sawgger sweg hipster lad ma9 m8 m10 5ever you'll wreck me
^ that's another
 
0celo7
0celo7
@JimsBond Kaluza and Klein post here???
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
Protecting questions keeps that from happening
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
5:23 PM
Very good reason to have Protect!
> It is clear that the best way to cool down a cup of tea, will be with teaspoons of liquid nitrogen.
A deleted answer to the Cooling Tea question
Someone even offered using $Fx=mv^2/2$ with $v=\sqrt{2GM/R}$ as a solution to cooling the Tea
Then concluded with,
> Assuming no annoying non conservative forces, the cup and container should leave the Earth's Gravitational Field, and into cold vacuum. The cold vacuum would cause the coffee to cool down. Hence, effective cooling with only a spoon.
Dude has 2k rep on the site :/
 
0celo7
0celo7
@KyleKanos Seems plausible.
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
The point is that protecting old and popular questions keeps the site clean a lot better than user moderation does. And with only 10 earned rep needed to overcome it, it's not a big obstacle on posts anyway
 
0celo7
0celo7
What happens if we put the tea into a cold vacuum?
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
It'll freeze?
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@0celo7 Iced tea?
 
0celo7
0celo7
5:27 PM
@JimsBond Exactly.
He solved the problem!
He deserves those 2k rep.
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
yes, ice-t came into existence when someone put a hot cup of earl grey into a cold vacuum
 
0celo7
0celo7
What if we put a cup of iced tea in a hot vacuum??
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
I always found it amusing that a hardcore rapper got popular with such a mundane name as Ice-T
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@0celo7 Mr. T?
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
5:31 PM
:D
 
tok3rat0r
tok3rat0r
Model T?
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
 
tok3rat0r
tok3rat0r
Bon.
 
0celo7
0celo7
@JimsBond ha
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
I filled in the "Jovi" bit :D
 
JiK
JiK
5:34 PM
Wouldn't Ice-T boil in vacuum?
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@JiK Solids don't boil; they melt or sublimate
 
JiK
JiK
I believe Ice-T is 70 % liquid water.
 
tok3rat0r
tok3rat0r
Ice-T is 90% liquid cool.
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
He's Ice, dawg
 
tok3rat0r
tok3rat0r
Not if your weather is anything like mine.
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
5:37 PM
@KyleKanos Not sure anymore if this is a physics chatroom or an offshoot of /b/
 
JiK
JiK
yo dawg we herd u liek ice so we putta ice in yo ice so you can ice ice baby
 
ACuriousMind
ACuriousMind
@JimsBond Why not both?
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
IDK what /b/ is (I suspect reddit?)
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@KyleKanos 4chan
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
Ah
Less clued in
I know more about reddit than 4chan, and I know nothing about reddit
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
5:39 PM
@JiK Is no one going to make this meme now? (looking at @KyleKanos, who can supposedly do this all day)
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
Meme generators not working
Keeps crashing
Oh well
 
0celo7
0celo7
@JimsBond Jim is a /b/tard?
 
Gaurav
Gaurav
a what ?
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@0celo7 NO!
 
0celo7
0celo7
@JimsBond You're really adamant about not being one. It's nothing to be ashamed of.
It would be nice to have a fellow tard in here.
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
5:50 PM
haven't been on /b/ in 8 years
 
0celo7
0celo7
About 18 hours for me.
Can't into modular arithmetic.
@JimsBond Why not?
@KyleKanos Reddit has an incredible amount of content. 4chan is more specialized, but there's a lot of stuff there too.
@KyleKanos Shouldn't you be studying data mining?
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
I'm trying
But I have to Google a lot about R
So I keep seeing that there's messages here & checking them
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@0celo7 because I realized I didn't like it
 
0celo7
0celo7
@JimsBond You realized you don't like good times with good people?
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@KyleKanos Why google stuff about R? Learn the basic syntax, set yourself up with a nice IDE, and then use the IDE to search for and familiarize yourself with any functions or whatnot you need
 
0celo7
0celo7
5:57 PM
@KyleKanos R?
@JimsBond Are you a programmer?
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
@JimsBond Most of what I'm doing is learning syntax
 
0celo7
0celo7
I thought you did theoretical stuff.
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
Well, learning how to use R is a little more than syntax
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@KyleKanos that makes sense
 
Kyle Kanos
Kyle Kanos
Data Frames are much more than matrices of information, there's all sorts of ways to get & manipulate data
R (programming language)
R is a programming language and software environment for statistical computing and graphics. The R language is widely used among statisticians and data miners for developing statistical software and data analysis. Polls, surveys of data miners, and studies of scholarly literature databases show that R's popularity has increased substantially in recent years. R is an implementation of the S programming language combined with lexical scoping semantics inspired by Scheme. S was created by John Chambers while at Bell Labs. There are some important differences, but much of the code written for S runs...
It's a pretty language for doing data analysis
 
0celo7
0celo7
5:59 PM
Can you code that Mandelbrot set?
 
Jims Bond
Jims Bond
@0celo7 theoretical physics deals a lot with programming in various languages. But I also have an engineering background. I've worked with so many languages on so many different types of projects that I can now basically learn all I need to work in a given language in about a week
 
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