The Factory Floor - 2018-06-25

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10:27 AM

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A: Sandbox for Proposed Questions

What are the effects of a planet having an atmosphere with 1.5 times more oxygen than Earth? Info: I'm currently toying with giving my world's atmosphere with much higher levels of oxygen than ours. There are a few reasons for this; It could allow for larger creatures "Fire-breathing" carnivo...

3 hours later…

1:33 PM

@FoxElemental How does one rage edit a question? Also, who and which question?

@AndyD273 A user was going through many of their questions, deleting the text, and replacing it with something like ".............................................................".

2:09 PM

Ah, weird.

Ajnatorix Zersolar

why do they put "......." instead of just deleting it?

@AjnatorixZersolar To make a statement maybe? Like censoring it with a black marker, where you can tell something was removed, but can't see the words.

Which is also silly because people can see the edit history

@AjnatorixZersolar Users can't delete their questions under certain conditions (e.g. if there are upvoted answers).

@HDE226868 That too, but why replace with ... instead of just removing the offending text

Definitely not rational. I'm really curious what text they were trying to cover up.

Do things like that get rolled back automatically?

@AndyD273 It's possible the system won't let you just delete the whole body, so they had to put some characters in.

They literally removed the whole body - not just a sentence or paragraph.

2:26 PM

Ah, so another person with QIID who wanted to amputate a question from their profile, found they couldn't, and decided to mangle it beyond recognition instead.

2:39 PM

Saw todays XKCD, and got to wondering. If you had an iron cannon ball and a magnet, is it possible to throw/shoot the magnet at just the right speed so that it orbits the cannonball, without crashing to the surface or flying off to the far wall...

With just one extra line, he could have anticipated the 2003 film The Core, but some things are too audacious for even the greatest visionaries.

done in a vacuum, of course

@AndyD273 as a physicist I'll answer you: yes, under the following premise:
the magnet is started in a position and with an angular rotation that keeps one end always face the canonball, so that the relative orientation of the magnet to the surface of the cannonball remains unchanged throughout the course. This orientation would be through the center of the ball. The problem should - if we put our point of reference on the **magnet** instead of the cannonball, look like a spinning cannonball keeping its distance to the static magnet. You know, just like earth raises overhead when standing o…

2:57 PM

@Trish So it could work if the magnet is tidally locked... That makes sense. The magnetic field around the side of the magnet would be different from the poles, and so the pull toward the surface would be different...

I wonder what that would look like... Probably a lot like a helium atom. one little electron zipping around the proton really really fast.

Um. Maybe my opinion? But this has popped up like 5 times in the review queue for new answers/users. Think it might need protection or something. @HDE226868 what's the standard protocol for a question that is attracting tons of attention but not actually spam answers?

3:24 PM

I believe it can be protected so that you have to have a small amount of rep before answering.

Seems that one has been closed and opened a couple times.

Morning all. What'd I miss?

@James Lots. Or depending on how you look at it, very little

31 answers. Lots of new users

@FoxElemental Protection might be called for, but there aren't many deleted answers yet. Just a couple from a user that were in gibberish.

@HDE226868 Oh, So it really is only for spam

No, it can be for questions getting a lot of crappy answers, too.

I'm just not sure it's reached that point yet.

3:35 PM

Also, you missed this (disclaimer: that's one of my own)

@HDE226868 Yes, while many are similar none are "bad," except for 1 or 2

hold on BRB

4:00 PM

@AndyD273 if the magnet was tidally locked and the cannonball of perfect eqully magnetic properties along all directions the magnetic field flows through it. It wouldn't at all look like a helium atom - where we have not Magnetic field B pulling but an electric field E that is always homogenous, even or rather because the electron has spin

4:11 PM

@Trish Are electrons monopoles?

Ah, electric charge, not magnetic monopoles.

4:36 PM

@AndyD273 there is no such thing as a magnetic monopole, but there are electric monopoles. Electric charge.

@Trish Yeah, I tried to correct it after I asked it and then thought about it a minute, but it was too late.

I'm back

NP, Electric and magnetic stuff is funny: F=q*(E+v/c x B)

the x is not a variable but crossproduct there

because v and B are a vector and a vectorfield, E is a vector field.

@Trish You can use MathJax in chat: meta.stackexchange.com/a/220976/274942.

$$\mathbf{F}=q(\mathbf{E}+\mathbf{v}\times\mathbf{B})$$

And really starting to regret asking this because people are using not-so-costructive comments in the comments section. AAAAARGH!

4:43 PM

@HDE226868 seemingly not XD

Yes, I've tried here

$\mathbb{\tiny{Doesn't\space work}}$

case in point^

@Trish The extensions can be fickle, but ChatJax works. You have to install it as a bookmarklet.

user image

@HDE226868 well, chat isn't the place for math usually but quoting Lorentz was shortenign the stuff MUCH more than trying to explain it

Certainly.

using Fat for vectors and vector fields though is somewhat unorthodox in (my university's) physics (department) - you usually use a vector arrow above, or an underline.

4:48 PM

Yeah. I had a math teacher who was a big fan of using bold for vectors when talking about things like normal vectors; I've kinda used both over the years. Physics people seem to be more arrow fans, especially when writing by hand.

One of the things I recently found most interesting is that the operation of division isn't actually an operation on the set of Q (division isn't an operation in the set of rational numbers or fractions)

@FoxElemental Are you talking about this in the context of group theory?

Um, no idea what that is

I mean

@HDE226868 the problem with bolding vectors is, that it sometimes gets overread if the formal is just vectors. If there is no reference for a scalar (q in the above case) it might be jsut a typeset thing that bolds the formula, and thus lead to odd conclusions. Mathematicans seem to cope with that because they always include some +c in many formulas (at least those they show us physicist), and one prof that was new was mean and used bolding in one class...

The definition of division in Q:

when r,s, are in Q, and s does not equal 0, then

4:55 PM

@Trish That's a good point.

r divided by s = (div s) times r

and the definition of (div s) is

when s is in Q and does not equal zero

=multiplicative inverse of s

@HDE226868 vector physics sometimes has not a single scalar in it after we start to ditch mass... or we use dm/dt and do rocket science....

therefore r/s=r div s=r times (div s)=reversing due to commutativity of Q

Which is why, eg, r/s divided by m/n= r/s times n/m

Did that come out jumbled?

5:12 PM

Honestly, the proof said it better

1 hour later…

6:25 PM

Does anyone know of anywhere that I can find a list of fictional planets orbiting real stars?

@Ash like Exo planets that authors have made up?

There is this list:

Planets in science fiction

Planets in science fiction are fictional planets that appear in various media of the science fiction genre as story-settings or depicted locations. == History == Before Galileo turned his telescope to the heavens, the planets of the Solar System were not recognized as worlds, or places where a person could potentially set foot; they were visible to observers merely as bright points of light, distinguishable from stars only by their motion. In the system of Claudius Ptolemy (fl. c. 150), the Alexandrian astronomer whose works were the basis of all European astronomy throughout the Middle Ages and...

But not all the stars may be real

@AndyD273 Yeah kind of, like Wil McCarthy has Sorrow around Barnard's Star and Heinlein mentions Iskander around Proxima as someone's homeworld. Wikipedia has a couple of catalogs of fictional treatments of real stars and of fictional planets but I'm wondering if there's a cross-checked list of fictional planets that orbit real cataloged stars.

@Ash May I ask why you want such a list?

user image

2

Google is being silly today...

6:43 PM

@Gryphon 70% idle curiosity 30% I read a piece of sci-fi many years ago where they named a lot of places on Mars after famous SF/F writers and I always thought it would be cool to do something similar, in this case naming planets after their Sci-fi counterparts since I'm using real star systems.

@Ash Interesting idea. Is that for a world you're building?

@FoxElemental or, as I use it "Division by a fraction is multiplication with the upside down of the fraction", unless I start cracking open the "^-1" flask and just multiply it out...

"Yep

Hi yall

@Ash Aurora could be start, but trying to sieve out the REAL ones in its vast, huge, at times randomly generated universe... aurora2.pentarch.org

I'm really trying not to look at the comments on my question on acid-cows . . . I mean, I said I didn't want to discuss the premise and whether it was reasonable or not. DON'T ARGUE, people!

AND another one

*sobs*

6:56 PM

@FoxElemental Maybe if, in future, you first wrote a question for the premise, so you could redirect any arguers to it, that would work better? This does seem like a problem you're running into fairly frequently.

@Gryphon but my premise is already set . . . and yes, it is a problem. And what would I ask about? Viability? But that's "impossible" due to those commenters

@FoxElemental I suppose so. You can always just ignore that. I always find that's an effective tactic to deal with people who I don't want to talk to.

@FoxElemental Additionally, I was talking about a hypothetical future case.

Oh, yeah. Good points

@FoxElemental Just ignore them, or, if the comments are really annoying you, ask a mod to go and clean them up. I don't think they'd mind, and the comments are technically not on topic, although I'd say that they are fairly relevant, given that calling the premise into question is a type of answer that is often valid.

@Gryphon Thanks. I will.

7:06 PM

@FoxElemental Always happy to help someone talk through a problem. If you have another question that you think people might not like the premise of, however, I'd suggest asking a reality-check question about the premise first (assuming such a question can stand on its own as a good and valid question). You might get interesting insights, and it serves as a useful place to direct such commenters.

And then note in the follow-up that even if the previous premise was impossible I'm still using (perhaps only part of) it?

@FoxElemental If the premise is impossible, why are you still using it?

I mean, obviously for this question, the premise involves magic, and a question about it wouldn't have worked

Um . . because it's written into the story? Because I'm handwaving it? Perhaps cause I'm going to adress it later?

I guess handwaving it always works. Sorry if that sounded critical, it wasn't meant to. I'm just a very hard-science/hard-magic sort of person, so anything that involves large amounts of handwaving doesn't immediately enter my brain.

Oh, no. I'm very science-oriented as well. And I'm building a very complex magic system on my own, + a conlang. It's just that that drives me to ask about, eg, "how could bees produce firehoney" when it's just a product my protagonist likes on her toast.

7:10 PM

Hi

Hello FreezePhoenix

Just rebuild my RaspPi

Playing Hangman while I wait for it to boot up.

Ah I give up

@Gryphon Yeah my major ongoing project at the moment, the one I keep asking the questions about unpredictable FTL.

@Ash Which questions? I'm afraid I don't tend to look at who posts questions, so I'm not sure which questions you're referring to.

Lol

7:14 PM

@FreezePhoenix What's so funny?

That you don't look at who posts questions

I try to keep my voting, comments, etc., as unbiased as possible. Additionally, my memory is terrible, so I also forget who posts what. I do have a general feel for what kind of questions and answers people post, but I can't typically name a specific question they've posted.

@Gryphon This is the latest on the Worldbuilding SE and this one on the Writing Stack is also part of it. Oops sorry this is the latest one on here

Well, looks like you're in a better place then most users @Gryphon

@Ash I don't remember that Worldbuilding question. I must have missed it, thanks for giving me a chance to read it. Seems like an interesting FTL concept.

@FreezePhoenix In what way?

7:19 PM

What are some other SE sites (besides SFF, Conlang, and Writing) that are useful as relevant sites/resources to WB? Asking for this.

@Gryphon The fact that you are unbiased

@Ash I just finished reading that Worldbuilding question. That is a fascinating and ingenious way of handling FTL, and makes for some very interesting strategic decisions. Good luck on developing the world, and I hope to read any stories that may come out of it.

@FreezePhoenix Emphasis on try and as possible. I'm certainly not perfect.

@Gryphon :) Still better then most

@FreezePhoenix I'm sure most of the regular users on the site try to be unbiased as well.

2

afk for 1 hr

7:35 PM

@FreezePhoenix Once again, I'm not perfect. For example, I upvoted the question Ash linked, despite knowing Ash wrote it. I feel that I would have upvoted it regardless, given that I consider it to be a fantastic question, but that's probably what I would think whether I would have upvoted it without that information or not, so I can't be sure that I wasn't unconsciously influenced in any way. I try, but I still do upvote questions when I know who posted them.

8:14 PM

Hey, all. We're having our third moderator election; question collection starts today, and you can nominate yourself in one week. The election itself starts on July 9th, and runs until July 17th. For more information, see meta. There should be an election chat room created soon for all election-y talk, which I hope people will use.

11

Extra details: This is our third election (our others were in February 2016 and February 2017). Two spots are available. In the past, we've seen a number of candidates, and I expect a large set this time around, too. For more information about past elections, and the process in general, check out the election tag on meta. Also, see Grace Note's meta post (which I linked above).

Worldbuilding Meta

2

Q: 2018 Moderator Election Q&A - Question Collection

Worldbuilding Stack Exchange is newly scheduled for an election starting next week, July 2nd. In connection with that election, as we've done in previous elections, we will be hosting a Q&A here for candidates. This will be an opportunity for members of the community to pose questions to the cand...

discussion featured election

5

@Gryphon once again :) better than most

@HDE226868 Oh hi

8:29 PM

@HDE226868 If we have fewer than 10 candidates I will be surprised.

@HDE226868 I'm not quite sure I'm qualified to vote.

@FreezePhoenix I think you need 150 rep.

Not sure.

@HDE226868 Not talking about that but ok. At least now I don't have to worry about being able too.

Ah, I see what you meant. :-)

My bad.

Moderation in all things, including self-motivation.

9:06 PM

@JourneymanGeek hello, how do you do?

Journeyman Geek

Alright

9:20 PM

@James We had 19 the first time.

Mithrandir24601

9:33 PM

What's the general procedure here when someone answers a question with "no" with absolutely no explanation?

No explanation as in no explanation?

ask them nicely to fix itand flag it with NAN if they don't expand on .

Mithrandir24601

@FreezePhoenix nada. mēre daor

@Mithrandir24601 Flag as "not an answer"

@Mithrandir24601 Wow.

10:11 PM

hey there @Trish @Mithrandir24601 @FreezePhoenix @Bellerophon

Hey

what's up?

Programming, lurking in several rooms.

How about you?

not a whole lot

10:56 PM

@Mithrandir24601 Yeah, I just reviewed that (I'm assuming its the same one). No explanation, new user, probably never see them again. Sounds like a pretty typical bad answer, although this one is fairly unique in that there is literally no explanation.

11:27 PM

Hey @dot_Sp0T, are you planning on nominating yourself for the mod election?

11:40 PM

This is going to be interesting. I'm a relatively new user--only two months!--but I read a lot on meta.

And all our mods are just plain freaking awesome

(Not just saying that because @James and @HDE226868 are in here a lot)

Wait, we aren't losing any, are we? We're just getting new ones.

Nobody's being replaced.

Right?

Right

AFAIK

Likely to fill the void left behind when Serban resigned

Can one of the mods reassure us on this?

Oh my god. Wait . . . . *trembles in fear*

Because we're getting 2 new mods, and I really don't want any of our current mods to stop being mods, because they are all awesome.

11:43 PM

YES! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE US!

Once again, not just saying this because James and HDE are in here a lot.

Why thank-you for the star, FoxElemental.

It's something I want people to see

I think Pavel might make a good mod

Perhaps Mołot, as long as he didn't feel the need to diamond-close the way he currently closes. But he's a pretty fair/involved user

I don't know . . . we'll have to wait and see

Secespitus, Mołot, Pavel, and Renan would all have my vote . . .

Do you have any other names you'd at least expect to see nominated?

@FoxElemental Nah, James and Michael Kjorling were asked to join when Serban stepped down - they were runners-up in the 2017 election. So that hole was filled (and by excellent choices, I might add).

Oh. And yes

But you all won't step down?

@HDE226868 So none of the current mods are being replaced.

11:52 PM

Thank god (Says the atheist)

@FoxElemental One can tell you're an athiest by the small "g".

yes . . .

If I did it, it would be "Thank God!"

@Gryphon Or bad grammar...

@James Wait, what?

11:54 PM

well...is capitalizing a proper noun strictly speaking grammar?

:D

@James Well, names are capitalized.

Well, I usually use good grammar

@Gryphon People would, in general, like to feel . . . maybe slightly less stressed about flag-handling.

Ah

@HDE226868 Makes sense. I'm happy that none of you guys are being replaced.

11:57 PM

@FoxElemental The site has gotten really busy, which is good, but its been difficult to keep up with you all some days.

"You all"?

Kidding, kidding

@Gryphon I can't promise that anyone won't step down at some point after the election, once the new mods get up to speed. I'll just say that I don't have plans to leave, at the moment.

@HDE226868 That's good. You're an excellent mod, and I'd be sad to see you go.

2

And you too, James. Don't get jealous

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