Through the Wormhole with TypeC Members

[Antimony]

Theories? Questions? General information to share? I think it would be a good idea to have a thread dedicated to these things, especially since I am getting sick of posting scientific questions under their own threads. Of course, if needed, I can do that, but I'd like to see how something like this goes.

Some of my biggest questions are:
Is the universe really infinite? Is there something outside of nothing? Or is there nothing out side of nothing? But nothing is space! Nothing is something!

Are there extra dimensions? If so, how would we prove this?

Wormholes?

What happens if I fill my microwave with aluminum foil?


You guys see where I head with this thread.

 

[CuriousFeeling]

Someone said wormhole? I'm going in!

Some of my own questions:

What exists beyond the universe? It it just a vacuum of nothingness, or is there something beyond it? Another universe?

How can a human being who perceives things in 3-D perceive the 4th dimension?

If quarks make up subatomic particles, what makes up quarks?

Do other animals other than humans find enjoyment in music? What type of neurological pathways does a musical stimulus follow in human beings? Why do some people find enjoyment in some pieces of music whereas others don't?

How does a digital keyboard work? How does its circuitry differ from an analog synthesizer?

What would the waveforms of different sounds look like on an oscilloscope?

What biological mechanisms/ biochemical reactions happen when two people are in love?

And on a not so serious note:
When will someone invent a sonic screwdriver?

 

[knight]

im thinking its the outer-verse, outside the universe(guess)
I think humans see things in 2-d but we live in 3-d (correct me if Im wrong,) and 4-d see`s in 3-d

quarks? gonna have to look into that, I got the time.


you got me on the other questions.

 

[Antimony]

im thinking its the outer-verse, outside the universe(guess)
I think humans see things in 2-d but we live in 3-d (correct me if Im wrong,) and 4-d see`s in 3-d

I do believe animals enjoy music. Mine seem to enjoy tv.

Also, on a serious note: I will so invent a sonic screwdriver. Oh, and we don't perceive things in 2d to the best of my knowledge. I heard one story about a women who was born cross or cockeyed or something, and she perceived the world in 2d until she finally trained herself to see 3d.

And quarks are made of SUBquarks, duh!

 

[Lady_X]

i wonder if we really do astral project in our sleep and visit other planes of existence....and if that's what death is like all the time

 

[CuriousFeeling]

When human beings listen to music, the auditory stimulus enters the auditory canal and follows a pathway toward the auditory nerve, sending a signal to the brain over in the regions to the side of the brain. Because of the close proximity of the auditory region of the brain to that which processes language and speech, it can be hypothesized that such auditory stimuli get interpreted by the brain much like that of speech and language. So a piece of music, the tonalities of the notes, for instance if it is a major key, will get interpreted as something that is happy, much like a human being's speech when they are happy sounds elated and elevated. But furthermore, auditory stimuli can route itself to the seat of emotional memory in the brain, the hippocampus, and this is where we end up interpreting such stimuli as being related to a previous emotional memory, or in encoding emotional memory at the instant the song is being heard. Additionally, the stimulus' signal can route itself to the pleasure centers of the brain, including ones for food, drink, and sex. This type of routing of the stimulus is likely the reason why some people experience intense emotional pleasure while listening to a piece of music, what will be known as the "shivers up the spine" effect. Sometimes a piece of music, when it hits these pleasure centers ends up making the pieces even more addictive and why some people would end up listening to the piece more often to achieve the same shivers up the spine sensation. After prolonged exposure to this stimulus, the effect wears off.

So, it could be that human beings invented music as a method to communicate with each other.

 

[Fluffywolf]

edit: double post, seem to be unable to delete it myself for some reason.

 

[Fluffywolf]

Is the universe really infinite? Is there something outside of nothing? Or is there nothing out side of nothing? But nothing is space! Nothing is something!

I believe space is infinite, but there is a limit to how far matter in this space reaches. For example, I believe there is an object that is furthest away from the planet and beyond that it's just completely empty but for the infinitely reducing, but never hitting zero, magnetic forces.

Are there extra dimensions? If so, how would we prove this?

Funny question. There are more than one dimensions as we have assigned them to it so. Putting a name to a dimension is just giving a name to a more intricate depth of science. Dimensions are often mistaken for entirely different planes of existance. However, from a single perspective, the 3rd dimension and the notion of time (4th) is as far as we can deduce, beyond that is not something we can observe or see for ourselves, however, there may be tests divised that can explain further dimensions in better detail by showing us certain results otherwise unpredictable without the existence of more dimensions. Like a "This should be true, so there must be something else going on." kind of way.

Wormholes?

Make for great science fiction stories, one of my favorite tv shows, farscape, is all about them! But scientifically, I'd say the name is misrepresenting itself. If a wormhole is nothing more than a shortcut through space time, there isn't actually going to be a visible hole or whatever, but more of an intricate design to use the relativity theory to ones advantage in order to travel somewhere without losing much time yourself as compared to the rest of the universe.

Still, great sci-fi material.

What happens if I fill my microwave with aluminum foil?

Nothing. *innocently whistles*

No seriously, the tin foil can cause fire. Because the microwaves (or radiowaves) are traveling through the thin layer of the tin foil and the sheer force with how it does can be too much for the foil to handle and burst into flames.

Mostly metal in microwaves just serve as a mirror to the waves, for example heating up something inside a tin can is impossible, but also not very dangerous because the tin can will be strong enough to withstand the microwaves, still, it's useless to use your microwave on something that isn't going to heat up. Tin foil just acts a bit differently due to it's thinness.



And making a time machine is out of the question using a microwave.

 

[funkadelik]

Would it be possible to engineer some kind of "God"? Either by accident or on purpose? Could AI technology ever get that good/naturally evolve to become that good or is that merely sci-fi speculation? Is it scientifically possible?

Is it scientifically possible for people to evolve/mutate to have superpowers (a la X-men)?

If two men want to have a baby together is it possible to take the genes of one and the genes of the other and create life? Could we turn the genes of one into a viable egg that could be fertilized by the other's sperm? That way they don't have to fight over who get's to be the baby's genetic/"blood" father.

 

[Fluffywolf]

Would it be possible to engineer some kind of "God"? Either by accident or on purpose? Could AI technology ever get that good/naturally evolve to become that good or is that merely sci-fi speculation? Is it scientifically possible?

Obviously depends on your definition. If God means an allknowing being, that is always everywhere, hears everyones thoughts and prayers and apparantly must live a few dimensions up from us. Then no. If God means a computer that can process all information the universe throws at it, then yes.

Is it scientifically possible for people to evolve/mutate to have superpowers (a la X-men)?

Evolve? No. Unless you count underwater breathing a superpower and the global warming finally engulfs the planet in nothing but water and sees like what happened to that Kevin Costner dude in that water movie, then yes, it's not unthinkable we could adapt to slowly changing environments.

Mutate through means of gene therapy and such? That holds more potential.


If two men want to have a baby together is it possible to take the genes of one and the genes of the other and create life? Could we turn the genes of one into a viable egg that could be fertilized by the other's sperm? That way they don't have to fight over who get's to be the baby's genetic/"blood" father.

There can be a mix of both dads into the sperm genes, but there'll always also need to be a female egg present. Unless you grow the egg in a laboratory but I think there are laws against human cloning or creating human life that way.

 

[Anew Leaf]

I wonder:

If all the lights in the universe are actually out but the memo just hasn't arrived here yet.

What it would really look like to see Jupiter up close and personal.

What it would be like to be a star all swirling and glowy.

If there really are multiverses.

 

[entropie]

Boldly go were no one has gone before

 

[erm]

I wonder:

If all the lights in the universe are actually out but the memo just hasn't arrived here yet.

What it would really look like to see Jupiter up close and personal.

What it would be like to be a star all swirling and glowy.

If there really are multiverses.

You need to play video games. They show you all this stuff already.

Better yet, play video games whilst high.

 

[Anew Leaf]

You need to play video games. They show you all this stuff already.

Better yet, play video games whilst high.

I used to play video games but I don't anymore. (No time or inclination.)

Never gotten high with no intention to in the future. (I think we can all agree that I am weird enough on my own. Also I am lazy. Plus it's gross.)

 

[erm]

I used to play video games but I don't anymore. (No time or inclination.)

Never gotten high with no intention to in the future. (I think we can all agree that I am weird enough on my own. Also I am lazy. Plus it's gross.)

I've been a dragon.

U jelly?

 

[Anew Leaf]

I've been a dragon.

U jelly?

mmm, i am more like almond butter actually. a little nutty, and i tend to stick to walls.

i saw a dragon made out of clouds a few weeks ago! it was eating a tree in its mouth.

 

[erm]

mmm, i am more like almond butter actually. a little nutty, and i tend to stick to walls.

i saw a dragon made out of clouds a few weeks ago! it was eating a tree in its mouth.

That's cool

I was all like *woosh* *woosh* *boom*. Really enjoyed it.

 

[funkadelik]

Obviously depends on your definition. If God means an allknowing being, that is always everywhere, hears everyones thoughts and prayers and apparantly must live a few dimensions up from us. Then no. If God means a computer that can process all information the universe throws at it, then yes.

Right, yes...I definitely wasn't specific enough. But thank you for both sides of the God coin. I meant a computer that could process all information in the universe. And what makes you say yes, if you don't mind me asking? Would it be because we engineered it that way or because it evolved that way in a machine-like self-learning process? The former doesn't seem like a very plausible answer....at least I would think that it would be precedented on the engineer being able to answer all the questions in the universe himself (seems highly unlikely).

Evolve? No. Unless you count underwater breathing a superpower and the global warming finally engulfs the planet in nothing but water and sees like what happened to that Kevin Costner dude in that water movie, then yes, it's not unthinkable we could adapt to slowly changing environments.

Mutate through means of gene therapy and such? That holds more potential.

Hmmm...gene therapy *strokes chin evilly* Yes yesss...much potential.

I was thinking about this the other day and I wonder if humanity is gradually going to get thinner and thinner. Er, well, I guess what I mean is, I wonder if all the endomorphs will become a minority in the gene pool in the most developed countries. Since food is so plentiful and accessible to most people in developed nations and there's an obesity "epidemic" maybe we'll evolve to adapt to that eventually and body types that store fat easily (important in food scarce times) will not be important anymore.

It's a bit of a stretch of thinking, but I can't help but think "maybe."

There can be a mix of both dads into the sperm genes, but there'll always also need to be a female egg present. Unless you grow the egg in a laboratory but I think there are laws against human cloning or creating human life that way.

Ah ok. Cloning. Right. So could you use the genes of one person to create a gender specific sex cell (egg or sperm)? I guess if you can create an ear on a rat it wouldn't be a stretch to create and egg cell out of male DNA. But question: if the egg was a clone of the one man and the sperm had the genes of the other, would the baby be a true "clone"? It would still have mixed genetics.

 

[Fluffywolf]

Right, yes...I definitely wasn't specific enough. But thank you for both sides of the God coin. I meant a computer that could process all information in the universe. And what makes you say yes, if you don't mind me asking? Would it be because we engineered it that way or because it evolved that way in a machine-like self-learning process? The former doesn't seem like a very plausible answer....at least I would think that it would be precedented on the engineer being able to answer all the questions in the universe himself (seems highly unlikely).

I think that it is not impossible to know the force, energy, direction, mass, and even the intricities of life as well as full knowledge about the quantum world and everything else in the universe and have it all be processed in the ultimate simulator, and once that is done, we can use that similator to go back to the beginning of time itself! Heck, we can even have the simulator fast forward.

OH BUT WAIT A MOMENT FLUFFYWOLF! If you can see the future, you can change it, right? Yup! So, does that mean that you create a paradox or a parralel universe? Nope! But how does it work then? Right up until the simultion is observed, the computer can keep up easily, once it is observed, it seems difficult to understand, but really, it's just as simple as the past was for the simulation. You might not realize it but the computer also includes your and the computers actions within the simulation itself, and every time you observe the future, it will account for what you have seen and adjust the future accordingly, so whilest in the present moment, you can look into your future, the moment you stop observing that future in the simulation, that future is already gone. And if you would reobserve the simulation at another time, the future would be entirely different again! And again, the moment you stop observing, that future will be gone. And you will never truely be able to know the exact course of the future because of it. But you can see the futures that -could- have been, if you didn't open pandora's box. So, wait, Fluffy... There are more than one futures? No, just observations of possible ones, but there is always just the present moment, all futures seen have never existed nor came to pass. Oh, ok...

I was thinking about this the other day and I wonder if humanity is gradually going to get thinner and thinner. Er, well, I guess what I mean is, I wonder if all the endomorphs will become a minority in the gene pool in the most developed countries. Since food is so plentiful and accessible to most people in developed nations and there's an obesity "epidemic" maybe we'll evolve to adapt to that eventually and body types that store fat easily (important in food scarce times) will not be important anymore.

It's a bit of a stretch of thinking, but I can't help but think "maybe."

I don't think it's that much of a stretch, but it's probably also not as simple as you make it sound. Unless we throw certain types of people with the sharks to help the process along. Obisity is not just behaviour though, for many people it's a genetic disorder. Genetic disorders don't really naturally dissappear unless they can be treated or those people don't procreate. Nature had always had his way with the weak and frail, but now with humans, nature is no longer in charge and those faults will not be weeded out anymore through evolution.

Ah ok. Cloning. Right. So could you use the genes of one person to create a gender specific sex cell (egg or sperm)? I guess if you can create an ear on a rat it wouldn't be a stretch to create and egg cell out of male DNA. But question: if the egg was a clone of the one man and the sperm had the genes of the other, would the baby be a true "clone"? It would still have mixed genetics.

I don't think it works that way, with chromosomes and shit, females have very specific genes that males don't have and vice versa. If you only took genes from two males, then obviously there would bo no female specific genes present in the offspring. With some luck it might be viable and develop into the ultamale of our species though.

 

[funkadelik]

I think that it is not impossible to know the force, energy, direction, mass, and even the intricities of life as well as full knowledge about the quantum world and everything else in the universe and have it all be processed in the ultimate simulator, and once that is done, we can use that similator to go back to the beginning of time itself! Heck, we can even have the simulator fast forward.

OH BUT WAIT A MOMENT FLUFFYWOLF! If you can see the future, you can change it, right? Yup! So, does that mean that you create a paradox or a parralel universe? Nope! But how does it work then? Right up until the simultion is observed, the computer can keep up easily, once it is observed, it seems difficult to understand, but really, it's just as simple as the past was for the simulation. You might not realize it but the computer also includes your and the computers actions within the simulation itself, and every time you observe the future, it will account for what you have seen and adjust the future accordingly, so whilest in the present moment, you can look into your future, the moment you stop observing that future in the simulation, that future is already gone. And if you would reobserve the simulation at another time, the future would be entirely different again! And again, the moment you stop observing, that future will be gone. And you will never truely be able to know the exact course of the future because of it. But you can see the futures that -could- have been, if you didn't open pandora's box. So, wait, Fluffy... There are more than one futures? No, just observations of possible ones, but there is always just the present moment, all futures seen have never existed nor came to pass. Oh, ok...

Ok, that makes a lot of sense. I'm still a little hung up on how the machine would be built in the first place, but it's workings seem to be pretty straightforward. So do you think YOU could be the one to build such a machine? How would we (as humanity) go about finding out all there is to know in the universe? What would the implications be of going back to the beginning of time (since you so nicely fleshed out the implications of seeing the future)? Would we be able to go back to alternate pasts or, once travelled, do the paths of the past become set in stone? If we went back into the past far enough could we jump-start evolution and rise of humanity in order to buy us increasingly more time against the universe eventually ending on us?

I don't think it's that much of a stretch, but it's probably also not as simple as you make it sound. Unless we throw certain types of people with the sharks to help the process along. Obisity is not just behaviour though, for many people it's a genetic disorder. Genetic disorders don't really naturally dissappear unless they can be treated or those people don't procreate. Nature had always had his way with the weak and frail, but now with humans, nature is no longer in charge and those faults will not be weeded out anymore through evolution.

What sort of things do you think WILL get weeded out through evolution?

I don't think it works that way, with chromosomes and shit, females have very specific genes that males don't have and vice versa. If you only took genes from two males, then obviously there would bo no female specific genes present in the offspring. With some luck it might be viable and develop into the ultamale of our species though.

This article says apparently it's something some scientists are looking into, but it's far from being perfect (and who knows, their funding might get cut entirely cause the nature of the project seems pretty controversial). Interesting!