In today's news...

[OAMP]

Re: In today's news...

It's probably because the news doesn't fully understand that, but I'd say that while this is amazing, that's probably something that happens with *all* matter, just that we've been able to do it water because of practical engineering concerns. While not quite the same thing, we've already started to run up against a hard limit for nanotechnology, because if we make transistors any smaller electrons quantum tunnel past the switch, heh.

 

[super_slicer]

Re: In today's news...

Aren't there any materials that resist quantum tunneling? Coat the buggers with some of that.

Apologies, I really know next to nothing about physics at that level, but it seems like a relatively simple solution being that we can test for quantum tunneling.

 

[XSI]

Re: In today's news...

TTIP leaked

Again

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And once again everything the 'conspiracy theorists' said about it is true, it is an awful thing that will pretty much destroy the economy and make it so governments no longer are allowed to make laws that would even slightly annoy a corporation

 

[Rule 34]

Re: In today's news...

One step closer to Shadowrun, only without the orcs or cyberzombies.

 

[OAMP]

Re: In today's news...

Aren't there any materials that resist quantum tunneling? Coat the buggers with some of that.

Apologies, I really know next to nothing about physics at that level, but it seems like a relatively simple solution being that we can test for quantum tunneling.

Well, I'll also admit that I've never heard of anything like that, so it could just exist and I've not heard of it, but I do know a lot about physics and I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that. Quantum tunneling isn't really based on materials, but based on distance. You know how we use the "cloud" model of electrons now, right? Basically, in the case I mentioned, the materials being used are so small they're thinner than a typical electron's "range". For all intents and purposes, electrons move around in that range by magic teleportation. Theoretically speaking, they can teleport anywhere in the universe, it's just mathematically improbable they do it to anywhere other than this very tiny area. I had a large metaphor typed out, but basically, if you want a material to resist quantum tunneling, you make it thicker, which is just kind of the opposite of what nanotech is supposed to do. What's going on currently is we've found the limit where making it thinner causes problems.

 

[AceofWind]

Re: In today's news...

The Hulkster isn't satisfied yet, he's going after gawker again only this time he's suing them for leaking court documents about the racist remarks he made in the sex video to the National Enquirer.

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[XSI]

Re: In today's news...

At some point

They should probably just give Gawker to the guy
Because at this rate they're going to have to sell to pay for it all anyway

 

[MrMe]

Re: In today's news...

“I mean, I’d rather if she was going to f–k some n—-r, I’d rather have her marry an 8-foot-tall n—-r worth a hundred million dollars! Like a basketball player! I guess we’re all a little racist. F—ing n—-r,” Hogan said, according to a transcript of the recording.


I fail to see what was wrong with his comment.

 

[Lurker_01]

Re: In today's news...

Italian court rules food theft 'not a crime' if hungry

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[Hopeyouguess62]

Re: In today's news...

Italian court rules food theft 'not a crime' if hungry

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I've got mixed feelings about this, but ultimately I applaud the Italian court for this judgment. It "reminds everyone that in a civilised country not even the worst of men should starve," which is a wonderful way for a legal system to look at it.

On the other hand, I do have to wonder how much money was spent in the legal proceedings to arrive at this decision, regarding the theft of approximately five euros worth of grocery goods. That money could have gone a very long way towards alleviating the larger problem of starvation and homelessness, rather than excusing one of the symptoms.

 

[Lurker_01]

Re: In today's news...

I've got mixed feelings about this, but ultimately I applaud the Italian court for this judgment. It "reminds everyone that in a civilised country not even the worst of men should starve," which is a wonderful way for a legal system to look at it.

On the other hand, I do have to wonder how much money was spent in the legal proceedings to arrive at this decision, regarding the theft of approximately five euros worth of grocery goods. That money could have gone a very long way towards alleviating the larger problem of starvation and homelessness, rather than excusing one of the symptoms.

I guess that would fix the issue of 1 bakery that got bankrupt because it didn't pay taxes for all the food that anyway would get wasted and given it to the homeless at the end of the day, but unfortunately this decision is only curing the symptoms and i think it will be used in wrong way... for one i already expect the market to increase the price of food just to cope with the stealing loses, etc.

 

[Hopeyouguess62]

Re: In today's news...

I guess that would fix the issue of 1 bakery that got bankrupt because it didn't pay taxes for all the food that anyway would get wasted and given it to the homeless at the end of the day, but unfortunately this decision is only curing the symptoms and i think it will be used in wrong way... for one i already expect the market to increase the price of food just to cope with the stealing loses, etc.

It's possible, but I doubt it. The people who will read about this case are mostly not homeless, and this decision will have little impact on their own moral choices. I imagine that internet piracy makes up a much larger percentage of theft than homeless starvation theft, for example.

Hopefully, though, this spurs the Italian government (and others) to look more closely at ways in which they can assist the homeless in not only eating daily, but also in finding shelter and gainful employment.

 

[Chibichibi]

Re: In today's news...

if you're paying attention to american politics, Cruz dropped out of the race and goo riddance. He was just as bad as Trump, but didn't have the..... whatever it is that Trump has that makes the ignorant flee to him.

And eurgh, I don't want to vote for Hillary but if it keeps Trump out of the white house... (Still feelin the Bern, over here.)

What amuses me, is that people who have always voted repub are voting blue in the general election this year.... because of trump.

 

[Lurker_01]

Re: In today's news...

The water has probably 4 or 5 phases by now, but our education is lagging behind, if anything we still have a lot to learn.
The Fourth Phase of Water

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year 2014

 

[super_slicer]

Re: In today's news...

if you're paying attention to american politics, Cruz dropped out of the race and goo riddance. He was just as bad as Trump, but didn't have the..... whatever it is that Trump has that makes the ignorant flee to him.

And eurgh, I don't want to vote for Hillary but if it keeps Trump out of the white house... (Still feelin the Bern, over here.)

What amuses me, is that people who have always voted repub are voting blue in the general election this year.... because of trump.

While I can't say you're wrong for wanting anyone BUT Trump to be president, that IS the mentality that pushes out candidates like Bernie.

Well, I'll also admit that I've never heard of anything like that, so it could just exist and I've not heard of it, but I do know a lot about physics and I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that. Quantum tunneling isn't really based on materials, but based on distance. You know how we use the "cloud" model of electrons now, right? Basically, in the case I mentioned, the materials being used are so small they're thinner than a typical electron's "range". For all intents and purposes, electrons move around in that range by magic teleportation. Theoretically speaking, they can teleport anywhere in the universe, it's just mathematically improbable they do it to anywhere other than this very tiny area. I had a large metaphor typed out, but basically, if you want a material to resist quantum tunneling, you make it thicker, which is just kind of the opposite of what nanotech is supposed to do. What's going on currently is we've found the limit where making it thinner causes problems.

Oh my, I seem to have grossly misinterpreted the term "quantum tunneling", which I just attempted to rectify. Unfortunately the wiki article suggests that the material is being traveled through. Which contradicts what you've said, I think, so I'm going to assume that they're wrong or just phrasing it improperly (because fuck you, we're going to use words as descriptors and then italics them as if that's a universal sign that the word means : ?).

The uniformity of a circular pattern seems to suggest that the distance traveled is a result of a factor that was applied equally to all the water. Could it be that electrons have access to some extra-dimensional space which they travel through when magically teleporting (I just can't imagine the shortest distance between two points being a *poof*, instead of a straight line)? And if so, is it then possible that the energy from the pressure being applied to the water molecules allowed the electrons to drag the rest of the molecule through aforementioned extra-dimensional space?

 

[Chibichibi]

Re: In today's news...

Oh, believe me. I voted for Bernie. I still want people to vote for him. But I'm prepared should the worst happen. I'm not gonna not vote if he doesn't get it

 

[XSI]

Re: In today's news...

The entire US political system seems like a scam to me, always having to pick 'the lesser evil' instead of being able to vote in someone good

But then I personally can't really tell the difference between Trump's policies and Hillary's anyway.
Except that Trump wants to build a wall on the border with Mexico, which, granted, Israel has shown is a great way to stop people from moving over a border and to control who enters the country, so it would work very well

Not a clue why Hillary hasn't been indicted over those emails yet either. No way that's not going to be brought up if she's on the ballot

 

[Crawdaddy]

Re: In today's news...

The entire US political system seems like a scam to me, always having to pick 'the lesser evil' instead of being able to vote in someone good

Well, right now it's about nominating a political candidate within the parties, which is why there are these super-delegates and all that. But in the general election the system is based around first-past-the-post (aka "winner takes it all"), which is a system that very much creates an environment towards a two-party system, because voting for a third candidate will usually split votes, so you end up voting *against* someone rather than *for* someone.

But then I personally can't really tell the difference between Trump's policies and Hillary's anyway.

Aside from the media stunts with muslim registries, bombing families of terrorists, and border walls, the Trump campaign have very few concrete policies. There are some, like increasing inner city employment.

Except that Trump wants to build a wall on the border with Mexico, which, granted, Israel has shown is a great way to stop people from moving over a border and to control who enters the country, so it would work very well

Israel is a tiny, very densely populated country. All its border barriers combine to about 1100 kilometers (Gaza wall + West bank wall + Egypt wall) The US-Mexico border is three times that length, and it is largely sparsely populated and a lot of it is desert wilderness. I guess what I'm saying, it would be very difficult to extrapolate from Israel to US-Mexico.

 

[OAMP]

Re: In today's news...

Oh my, I seem to have grossly misinterpreted the term "quantum tunneling", which I just attempted to rectify. Unfortunately the wiki article suggests that the material is being traveled through. Which contradicts what you've said, I think, so I'm going to assume that they're wrong or just phrasing it improperly (because fuck you, we're going to use words as descriptors and then italics them as if that's a universal sign that the word means : ?).

The uniformity of a circular pattern seems to suggest that the distance traveled is a result of a factor that was applied equally to all the water. Could it be that electrons have access to some extra-dimensional space which they travel through when magically teleporting (I just can't imagine the shortest distance between two points being a *poof*, instead of a straight line)? And if so, is it then possible that the energy from the pressure being applied to the water molecules allowed the electrons to drag the rest of the molecule through aforementioned extra-dimensional space?

The problem is at this level we actually do sometimes need to argue about what words mean. Words are just constructs for our ideas, after all, and as such it really doesn't matter what combinations of sounds we use for something, but when it comes to advanced science it also means sometimes we're a serious loss just because more accurate words haven't been "invented" yet.

To address the question at hand, though, there are likely two things going on. When addressing quantum things, as crazy crazy crazy as it sounds, sometimes distance actually doesn't matter. Sometimes the shortest path really is a poof, but that also fails to catch the fact that there really isn't a "path" involved. It just exists one way one moment and another way the next moment. Location is simply a property of existence. There really isn't any "travel" involved.

That said, exerting physical pressure on something could theoretically cause additional quantum tunneling. At the quantum level things don't sit still, they vibrate, for lack of a better word. Things are teleporting all the time, it's just that it's not worth mentioning because the change in location is too small to affect literally anything we know, except these few very very specific cases. Granted, this is again me talking without a source, but I imagine what's happening is the pressure moves the lead water molecules very slightly closer to the material, so very slightly that we probably can't even appreciably measure it. However, the difference is small enough that while the water wouldn't normally teleport to the other side because it's out of range, it's moved just enough that a very tiny bit of it's range is on the other side of the material. Therefore, statistically speaking, eventually the molecule will decide it's on the other side.

It's easier to grasp if you don't think of matter as an object, but as a field of probabilities.

 

[super_slicer]

Re: In today's news...

It just seems so... 'timey-wimey'. I can't say it's wrong because alot of people smarter than me spent alot of time on it. So maybe I've just reached the limit of my intellect. I never was good at them there letter-maths anyway! Thanks for taking the time to explain though.

In less important news:

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Just grabbed a link for what I already knew, and yes even a single point of damage stagger/stuns/makes it so your character isn't under your direct control, even while wearing the heaviest, thickest armors in the game. Really quite a shame as I always preferred a more methodical, careful approach to combat that the souls series offered. Now it's more of a dodge until you die or get an opening simulator. Still a great game, nothing's ever going to live up to the original dark souls for me though.