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Search: Posts Made By: Tim Thompson
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 27th June 2013, 11:43 AM
Replies: 146
Views: 7,591
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Going to Mars

Contamination of mars by terrestrial organisms is a serious risk, and should be guarded against until we have good reason to believe that there is no native Martian life. Surely there are several...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 26th June 2013, 01:02 AM
Replies: 2,104
Views: 221,004
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Electric & Magnetic Fields

I asked because the issue of what Farsight really means seems to be clouded by Farsight's own words, for example …

On 19 June ...

On 21 June ...



The first is certainly a clear enough...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 23rd June 2013, 12:47 PM
Replies: 2,104
Views: 221,004
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Maxwell? (4)

I never said, nor did I ever imply, any such thing. That is entirely your own faulty interpretation.

You are then one who repeatedly claims that you have Maxwell "on your side", which can only...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 22nd June 2013, 12:23 PM
Replies: 2,104
Views: 221,004
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Maxwell? (3)

I did my own research, and posted it. Rather then deal with it, you choose to splutter. Fair enough.

We now know that, as a matter of documented fact, Maxwell never agreed or claimed, either...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 21st June 2013, 11:18 AM
Replies: 2,104
Views: 221,004
Posted By Tim Thompson
Question Maxwell? (2)

As I asked …




And Farsight answered …
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 20th June 2013, 05:36 PM
Replies: 2,104
Views: 221,004
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Maxwell?

That answer was backed up by an Einstein reference. And whilst I'm "supremely alone" here on JREF, I'm not elsewhere. And I've got Minkowski and Maxwell on my side too.
[/QUOTE]


Reference: A...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 19th June 2013, 01:13 PM
Replies: 2,104
Views: 221,004
Posted By Tim Thompson
Interesting. I would have thought the two were...

Interesting. I would have thought the two were necessarily related. So what would be an example of a "field" in physics that is not a "field" in the mathematical sense that I portrayed?
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 19th June 2013, 09:33 AM
Replies: 2,104
Views: 221,004
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Not surprised, though when I started my own...

Not surprised, though when I started my own thread last night I didn't realize this one existed and was already devoted to the same idea.


[/quote]


Well, that is an answer to the question,...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 18th June 2013, 10:18 PM
Replies: 2,104
Views: 221,004
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Farsight's Claim: The Electromagnetic Field is not a Field

Well, I confess the language here has me a bit baffled. Certainly I have never run across the serious claim that the electromagnetic field is not a field, especially from someone who calls it a...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 14th May 2013, 08:08 PM
Replies: 43
Views: 3,549
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Alternative Cosmologies

All scientific theories are "unprovable", if by "provable" you mean to imply the logical certainty of a mathematical proof. In the empirical sciences, all "proof" is really just a test for...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 25th February 2013, 10:48 AM
Replies: 112
Views: 3,440
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Comments on an expanding universe V

Certainly the observable universe must be finite & unbounded, as it appears to have a beginning in the "big bang", and has existed since then for a finite time. However, the unobservable universe...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 24th February 2013, 10:14 PM
Replies: 112
Views: 3,440
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Comments on an expanding universe IV

Yes & No. The difference is that religious "faith" trusts the unknowable, while scientific "faith" trusts the knowable. Your "faith" is simply a replacement for studying science for yourself, so as...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 24th February 2013, 01:52 AM
Replies: 112
Views: 3,440
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Comments on an expanding universe III

In classical electromagnetism, light behaves as if it were a wave; its detailed physical structure is more complicated than that, but phenomenologically it is a wave. No, a wave does not necessarily...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 23rd February 2013, 07:11 PM
Replies: 112
Views: 3,440
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Comments on an expanding universe II

No, light does not require anything other than "empty Newtonian space" to propagate quite nicely. But the dynamic nature of space-time alters the propagation of light, specifically causing the...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 23rd February 2013, 04:05 PM
Replies: 112
Views: 3,440
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Comments on an expanding universe

This must be first understood: One of the great lessons of 20th century physics, perhaps the single greatest lesson of them all, is that at scales of space & time that are far removed from common...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 26th August 2012, 10:17 PM
Replies: 3,632
Views: 440,724
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Calculating probabilities

Please show your calculation.
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 24th August 2012, 06:05 PM
Replies: 110
Views: 7,017
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Black Holes (again)

I voted with the 94.94% (75/79): "This thread is rubbish, black holes are proven".





Well, first you have to learn to spell Schwarzschild correctly. But more to the point, you are getting...
Forum: Social Issues & Current Events 24th August 2012, 04:19 PM
Replies: 544
Views: 35,370
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Sitting with an unaccompanied minor ...

As for the OP, I agree that forcing the man to change seats, in the absence of a good reason to do so, is (or should be) unacceptable). Many years ago I flew back from Seattle to Ontario...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 21st August 2012, 12:57 PM
Replies: 712
Views: 48,905
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb On the matter of Clowe, et al., 2006

I submit for the reader's consideration, the following quote, an please especially note the highlighted portion:



You said, "The flaw in this argument is this assumption that all the ordinary...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 29th July 2012, 12:26 AM
Replies: 712
Views: 48,905
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Gödel's incompleteness theorems and empirical science IV

I already tried that line of inquiry on July 8 ...




And the response was as follows ...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 22nd July 2012, 11:02 PM
Replies: 712
Views: 48,905
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Language Discovered

No! ... Humans evolved with language as well as other behaviors and characteristics, ...
[/QUOTE]


FYI, see the book The Symbolic Species: The Co-evolution of Language and the Brain...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 22nd July 2012, 10:45 PM
Replies: 28
Views: 2,000
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb A redshift 2.18 spiral galaxy

I know most people probably don't want to hear this (or in our case, see this), and I have said it before, BUT ... you just can't trust press releases, news articles or stories designed for "popular"...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 15th July 2012, 11:46 AM
Replies: 282
Views: 26,756
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb What kind of science is cosmology?

The thread seems to wander without real purpose, as there is very little in the way of concrete assertion to respond to. First, allow me to resurrect my own post from page 1, which seems to have...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 12th July 2012, 10:29 PM
Replies: 712
Views: 48,905
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Infinity & Infinite Temperature Redux

That is certainly not true. You simply need to remember that infinity is a limit, not a number.




And this is certainly a fiction of at least one human mind. I suggest you study the...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 12th July 2012, 11:13 AM
Replies: 712
Views: 48,905
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Gödel's incompleteness theorems and empirical science III

It's just this kind of cryptic post that frustrates people. I already know what perturbation theory is, and so no doubt do others reading this. It is one thing to argue that perturbation theory is...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 11th July 2012, 12:40 PM
Replies: 712
Views: 48,905
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Gödel's incompleteness theorems and empirical science II

From July 8 ...





You clearly say that the applicability of Gödel's theorems to "certain disciplines" is a fact. I don't think that is true outside of the narrow confines of pure...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 8th July 2012, 07:30 PM
Replies: 712
Views: 48,905
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Gödel's incompleteness theorems and empirical science

Says Stephan Wolfram (A New Kind of Science, page 782) (http://www.wolframscience.com/nksonline/page-782-text?firstview=1) ...

"But this all changed in 1931 when Gödel's Theorem showed that at...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 19th June 2012, 09:14 PM
Replies: 282
Views: 26,756
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Lerner & CMB & LCDM Cosmology

I disagree with this assumption. In fact, surely the opposite must be true; astronomical observations & the interpretation thereof, in the context of physical cosmology, will produce knowledge that...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 13th June 2012, 03:51 PM
Replies: 156
Views: 8,943
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb How much bang would the big bang bang if the big bang could bang big?

Sol is on the money, but we need to keep in mind just what the bang of big bang fame really is supposed to be.




The quote above is the first part of the first paragraph of chapter 10,...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 12th June 2012, 10:36 PM
Replies: 156
Views: 8,943
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Finite but Unbounded

This is how I have always interpreted and explained the concept of "finite & unbounded", though not in such formal language. I think this is in fact what is commonly meant.

As I see it, the...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 10th June 2012, 04:27 PM
Replies: 251
Views: 90,042
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb EU Peer Review Exercise ...

I resurrect this thread to draw your attention to Bridgman's Dealing with Creationism in Astronomy Blog (http://dealingwithcreationisminastronomy.blogspot.com/) (which it seems will migrate soon to...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 7th June 2012, 04:29 PM
Replies: 70
Views: 5,391
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Venus Transit from MWO

I spent transit day at Mount Wilson Observatory (http://www.mtwilson.edu/), where a sizable number of telescopes were set up, and Astronomers Without Borders...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 30th April 2012, 05:23 PM
Replies: 394
Views: 20,283
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb The Great Lesson of 20th Century Physics

In my opinion, the single greatest, over-riding lesson of 20th century physics is that on scales of space and time far removed from our normal experience, the universe does not behave consistent with...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 5th April 2012, 10:48 PM
Replies: 7,494
Views: 670,636
Posted By Tim Thompson
Question Archived Posts?

W.D. Clinger has kindly offered to archive my posts on the same site (or so I assume) as his are archived. Having them all in one place, his and mine, makes sense to me, and saves me the work that...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 1st April 2012, 10:38 AM
Replies: 3
Views: 3,067
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Why is the sky blue?

I don't see why Earth's sky should not always have been blue. The color comes from Rayleigh scattering (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayleigh_scattering), as you suggested, and that in turn depends...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 30th March 2012, 11:59 AM
Replies: 7,494
Views: 670,636
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Comments on Solar Silliness

About a month ago, I predicted that Mozina would choose to deliberately get himself banned ...




I confess some surprise that he did it quite so soon, but I do believe that he did it...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 21st March 2012, 11:52 PM
Replies: 76
Views: 14,258
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb JPL & Coppedge

I worked at JPL as a contractor from 1981-1984 and as a JPL direct employee from 1984 to 2008 when I was laid off due to budget constraints and simultaneously retired. I second billw's comment; I...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 17th March 2012, 10:41 PM
Replies: 7,494
Views: 670,636
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Magnetic Reconnection In Vacuo XVIII

You lost me. The two velocities (if I'm following you correctly) relate to the speed of light and the speed of the movement of the physical object in question, in this case the magnetic (or plasma...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 17th March 2012, 03:25 PM
Replies: 7,494
Views: 670,636
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Reconnection Rate Units

Nonsense. The reconnection rate is defined as a ratio of velocities, which means it is a unitless number (i.e., it has no units of measure, certainly not acceleration of anything).
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 17th March 2012, 03:08 PM
Replies: 7,494
Views: 670,636
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Magnetic Reconnection In Vacuo XVII

Huh? Didn't you read the grilling that Zeuzz got over that confusion? Magnetic fields propagate at the speed of light Tim. Plasma has various "velocities".
[/QUOTE]


I must have missed it....
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 17th March 2012, 02:45 PM
Replies: 7,494
Views: 670,636
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Frozen Flux Approximation Redux

Alfven did no such thing.


[/QUOTE]


As you have pointed out yourself, over a year ago, Alfven did not "diss" the frozen flux concept. Rather, he correctly points out that in many cases its...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 17th March 2012, 12:25 PM
Replies: 7,494
Views: 670,636
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Magnetic Reconnection In Vacuo XVI

Of course this is entirely true. After all, since MHD is a theory of plasma physics (not a theory of vacuum physics), it comes as no surprise that moving charged particles are involved.

However,...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 16th March 2012, 04:04 PM
Replies: 7,494
Views: 670,636
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Magnetic Reconnection In Vacuo XV

I'm sorry, but I just can't find anything to disagree with you about. Now if you would please explain all that to Clinger, we should get along famously. :)
[/QUOTE]


Is this not an explicit...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 15th March 2012, 10:47 PM
Replies: 7,494
Views: 670,636
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Magnetic Reconnection In Vacuo XIV

[/QUOTE]


I would like to point out that it is critical to look at figure 1.3, on page 103. The currents that generate the magnetic fields flow in a line perpendicular to the page in two marked...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 13th March 2012, 11:28 AM
Replies: 7,494
Views: 670,636
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Magnetic Reconnection In Vacuo XIII

You seem to care Tim. Their "full" version is based on resistive MHD theory!
[/QUOTE]


I don't care. But more to the point, you don't understand. The model presented in the paper is not based...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 11th March 2012, 11:47 AM
Replies: 50
Views: 2,146
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb The Second Coming of Elvis

I picked "other". The second coming of Elvis will signal the end of the universe after 7 days of musical tribulation. The reason for this is that Elvis's middle name is Aaron, and Aaron (brother of...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 10th March 2012, 06:16 PM
Replies: 7,494
Views: 670,636
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Magnetic Reconnection In Vacuo XII

You NEVER PROVIDED EVEN *TOY* math! I guess your "best" attempt to address the fact they used MHD THEORY in the end was based on THIS one paragraph:

You've utterly *IGNORED* the fact that they...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 10th March 2012, 04:29 PM
Replies: 7,494
Views: 670,636
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Circuits & E vs B (comments)

Ya, but note you still won't accept the mathematical legitimacy of the CIRCUIT orientation to these very same events Tim. You see one orientation B as always being superior (you're sort of Alfven's...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 10th March 2012, 03:46 PM
Replies: 7,494
Views: 670,636
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Magnetic Reconnection In Vacuo XI

Such statements, without clearly defining such things as reconnection rate, are nothing much more than theoretical hypostatized hyperbole.
[/QUOTE]


I disagree. I think you are making things...
Forum: Science, Mathematics, Medicine, and Technology 7th March 2012, 07:45 PM
Replies: 7,494
Views: 670,636
Posted By Tim Thompson
Lightbulb Magnetic Reconnection: In Plasma and In Vacuo

See my post Onel & Mann, Circuits, and Real Plasma Physics (http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=7066312#post7066312), dated 9 Aprl 2011, where I cleverly ignore the Onel...
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