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1:50 AM
@DavidZ I'm not sure that I believe that this fine a detail will be evident to all our users.
 
 
1 hour later…
user54412
3:09 AM
0
Q: is an electron gun dangerous?

user41046Is an electron gun dangerous & what would be the repercussions to human tissue? If i were to do a DIY electron gun and put my hand in the beam would I regret it?

 
user54412
did we ever fully resolve whether we allow these direct "will this harm me" questions?
 
user54412
 
4:53 AM
@ChrisWhite I don't think we ever made an official policy on it, but my unofficial policy has always been no, they shouldn't be allowed.
Maybe it's time we worked that out.
-1
Q: Modelling a Water Rocket. Requires Some Validation and Help. ( WARNING : Extremely Long but Interesting Post )

22134484Good day people of math.stackexchange.com This is a pet project that I plan to use to convince my Prof that I would rather try something similar to this than to do the prescribed project. Task The modelling of a Water Rocket's flight profile for a set of predefined variables. Assumpt...

This is why I want to be able to close homework-like questions unilaterally...
 
user54412
I've dealt out 24 downvotes in the last 6 days, whereas for the 568 previous days I only gave out 251 downvotes
 
user54412
this is all because this week I'm reviewing every question posted to the site, checking for homework
 
@ChrisWhite wow
@DavidZ It's a cross post. We can just delete it ;-)
 
user54412
+1 on math, -2 on physics - that says something about quality control I like to think
 
@ChrisWhite know what generators (python) are?
I just used them in the mostest awesomest way, in JavaScript
 
user54412
5:06 AM
@ManishEarth never used them myself
 
Imagine using them for async
 
user54412
honestly, my python scripts are as imperative as most people's C code - none of this OO confusion
2
 
@ChrisWhite async != OO
 
user54412
maybe not, but everything is OO, imperative, or functional in my world, and generators themselves certainly aren't imperative or functional :P
 
generators are pretty functional
 
5:10 AM
@ChrisWhite pretty functional, yes
And when you use them in an async language like JavaScript (where nesting callbacks is common), you get beauty
 
user54412
I could be persuaded that way, perhaps, but given that I learned functional programming from mathematicians, if I can't do category theory with it, I don't think of it as functional
 
hah
 
user54412
@ManishEarth So is this another open source thing you're working on?
 
@ChrisWhite No, part of the same open source thing. The firefox browser code uses bleeding-edge javascript, so a lot of cool new features, and you see them being put together in beautiful ways. I just wrote a piece of code that would have involved nesting callbacks ~5 levels deep, but I managed to write it as a generator and now there are no callbacks :D
I'm really fond of async, but writing stuff procedurally in it can be a pain and nesting stuff gets ugly. Which is why I like this use of generators.
@DavidZ oh, btw, we can still mod message about homework, yes?
 
@ManishEarth yeah, the experiment we're doing is only about voting to close, it doesn't affect what happens after the questions are closed
 
5:17 AM
alright, potters off to send a million mod messages
 
Sorry I haven't dealt with all those. I have a very busy week.
 
No probs. It's usually me who sends those out anyway :)
 
Cool. I guess it's good because I'm usually the one closing homework questions and I can take the week off :-P
 
lol
-4
Q: can neutrons possible have a garage

Miguel Guerreroneutrons are now a declare as neutral in a atom so they carry no garage I try to related this structures to magnets. an found that I would make the same function but a another negative magnet would need to be place in other for function as well as glue to keep both negative and positive one negat...

wut
 
user54412
someone (i.e. google) needs to make a reverse-translator
 
user54412
5:24 AM
give it a word and a mistranslation of that word, and ask what language was being used
 
user54412
I know the python docs suggest using Monty Python references, but do you really want your software suite to be called SPAM?
 
haha
 
5:39 AM
@ChrisWhite Yes. You do.
(I mean honestly, I've seen worse)
 
@ChrisWhite But it seems function in the opposite with spam
 
5:55 AM
0
Q: Policy on closing/holding/duplicate questions of the type "why positve and negative charges attract"

anna vExample this question was closed as duplicate. It is a duplicate as a question and when one goes to the link one finds a good answer in fairly theoretical terms, the first part not really geared towards the level of the question, and certainly not of the question made duplicate. In addition it...

 
 
7 hours later…
12:48 PM
@ManishEarth?
 
 
1 hour later…
2:01 PM
0
Q: Realistically, are atmospheric physics questions on topic and acceptable?

AmaterasuI have very serious doubts from my experience here (albeit, limited). Two things that I have rightly or wrongly observed from the responses (and lack thereof) to my questions: The answer I got was only provided when I offered the bounty - without the bounty, I am sure it never would have been a...

 
 
1 hour later…
3:11 PM
@DavidZ A wag once commented on the number of software project code named "AMBER" noting that the stuff is fossilized and full of bugs.
I blame Zelazny.
 
 
1 hour later…
4:28 PM
Hello?
 
 
2 hours later…
6:33 PM
0
Q: Are physicists and physics teachers interested in the Math Teaching and Pedagogy Stackexchange?

Brian RushtonThere is a new proposal for a Math Teaching and Pedagogy Stackexchange that is registering 200 users for a private beta. Is this something that physicists would be interested in participating in? I ask because much of advanced mathematics is found in physics courses, some of which is never reall...

 
7:20 PM
Hmm... Interesting one :D
I wonder what would happen if someone VTC'd it as OT...
Understanding SE engine takes my whole life away! :P
@dmckee Somewhat belated congratulations! :D
 
 
1 hour later…
8:34 PM
Dear Physics.SE participants,

if there are any mathematical physicists among you, would you please be so kind to come over and share your perspective on the question "Which are the best journals for letters in mathematics (bordering with mathematical physics)?" over at academia.SE?

The link to the question is http://academia.stackexchange.com/q/17094/ . Many thanks in advance.
 
8:51 PM
Maybe it's just me, but I find the whole notion of a space elevator absolutely ridiculous
 
9:14 PM
@tpg2114 Obviously not only you. In order to have fixed length space elevator to a point near Earth, the only choice at Earth is to build it at equator and the choice of space orbit is the geosynchronous, other orbit can create great strain on system. Also, if it is broken, it likely needs to built from scratch. The efficiency is also not justified, if it run at 100m/s, it takes a week to reach geosynchronous orbit...
 
It's just insane... Plus making sure it's anchored for wind, storms, hurricanes... airline traffic clears it
 
9:42 PM
8
Trolling

Proposed Q&A site for this site is for any part of Trolling. For those who want to prevent trolling, design systems that discourage trolling, or for people who want to successfully troll others.

Currently in definition.

Lol
 
Can somebody help me?
If you have a hollow conductor, with a charge placed in the vicinity outside, what does the charge on the inner wall look like?
 
@Anthony What is the geometry of the conductor? Otherwise you'll have to solve a PDE.
 
A sphere ;)
A sphere, with a hole cut out of the center.
 
Now that I think about it, wouldn't you need to know the where the carge is placed?
REALLY crappy sketch
 
10:06 PM
Shouldn't the charge on the inner surface be zero?
After all, there is no electric field inside the conductor
 
@BrianBi no, charge conservation
 
@ManishEarth Had to ask you. "Sir" is frequently used in India, right?
 
yes
teachers, seniors, etc
 
It sounds so stange to me.
 
@ManishEarth charge that builds up on one side of the outer surface is balanced by charge of the opposite sign on the other side
 
10:11 PM
@BrianBi oh wait didn't notice the exact situation
 
@BrianBi Yes, I was wrong
 
10:36 PM
@ManishEarth in regards to my recent flag and questions, have found a solution to the bounty question...but there is little point in me continuing here
 
the wasted and seemingly useless bounty question physics.stackexchange.com/questions/98944/…
but better detail in my meta question here meta.physics.stackexchange.com/questions/5519/… (ironically fared better than my main questions)
 
@Amaterasu if you found a solution, why not self-answer :)
 
it's not a full answer, but a lead - but I really do not see the point as my questions are generally not even worth the time to research
but anyway, see you all around
 
10:53 PM
@Amaterasu I feel like you're trying to get us to A) encourage you to stay or B) feel bad that your questions didn't get answered. It's unfortunate that you don't feel like you can contribute here (as in you feel your questions aren't good or interesting) but your decision to participate or not is entirely yours
Somebody may come along and answer your questions and that's cool. Or they may not -- most of my questions never really got satisfactory answers. But your participation is your own to decide
 
@tpg2114 you are incorrect in your assumption - both of them. Thank you very much for that.
 

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