[-] qantravon@startrek.website 4 points 1 week ago

At this rate, Bronze Age 2: (non) Electric Boogaloo

[-] qantravon@startrek.website 4 points 3 weeks ago

You have 2 apples. I give you 2 more. How many apples do you have? Unless you redefine what the numbers or the operators mean, then you now have 4 apples. That's a truth that is evident in the world and can be verified. That's what a fact is.

He didn't suggest we could never determine the age of the moon. He said that science refines it's methods and gathers new information, and so we may change our estimate of its age based on new evidence.

[-] qantravon@startrek.website 3 points 3 weeks ago

Only if you completely redefine some aspect of the equation. You'd have to define "5" to actually mean "4" or change the meaning of "+" or "=" in some way that changes the operation. 2+2=4 isn't just an abstract statement, it's based on the way the physical world works. If you have 2 apples, and then I give you 2 more, you don't suddenly have 5 apples because we all decided 2+2=5.

Orwell's meaning in 1984 wasn't about belief changing the world, it was about the power of brainwashing and how fascism demands obedience.

[-] qantravon@startrek.website 11 points 3 weeks ago

...you mean phones?

[-] qantravon@startrek.website 7 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Basically, physics says that nothing, not even information can actually travel faster than the speed of light. It's a universal limit that shows up when you do the math on relativity. This concept is called "causality".

Because of this, FTL communication is probably impossible. Quantum entanglement seems like it could provide a loophole, but it doesn't actually work that way. To actually use quantum entanglement for communication, it actually needs a confirmation message, which would have to be delivered by a different means (every quantum message needs a non-quantum confirmation). That confirmation would be bound by the speed of light, thus preserving causality.

This is a very very rough description based on my memory, so some details may be a little off, but it should cover the gist. This article goes into more detail:

https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/quantum-entanglement-faster-than-light/

Edit: After reading, the answer is more that attempting to impart information onto the entangled particles to send a message necessarily breaks the entanglement and thus does not transmit the information to the other side. Entangling the particles makes their states related to each other, but only at the time of entanglement, and anything that changes either particle (including measuring it) will break the entanglement going forward.

[-] qantravon@startrek.website 6 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Except, it is mostly scat/jibberish! Just in Finnish! Most of the song is nonsense lyrics.

[-] qantravon@startrek.website 3 points 1 month ago

Yeah, I think in terms of a regularly scheduled passenger transport, something like a runabout or even larger could be considered a "shuttle" by civilian standards.

[-] qantravon@startrek.website 4 points 1 month ago

I like exercise that is also something else and isn't purely exercise for its own sake. Things like hiking, where I get to see scenery and animals, or biking, which serves as a mode of transportation. Currently, I do renaissance fencing, which is fun and social in its own right, and I get to master a skill.

[-] qantravon@startrek.website 42 points 1 month ago

"The length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of ⁠1/299792458⁠ of a second, where the second is defined by a hyperfine transition frequency of caesium."

This is the actual definition, but it's also pretty weird.

[-] qantravon@startrek.website 1 points 1 month ago

That spot was self-service when I got there, people were just taking turns taking pictures for people.

[-] qantravon@startrek.website 2 points 1 month ago

I know the VIP tickets got semi-private guided tours, I wonder if they got extra time for photos as part of that.

[-] qantravon@startrek.website 6 points 1 month ago

I went a few weeks ago, it was an awesome experience! My biggest disappointment was simply that the experience was so rushed and we didn't get enough time to appreciate being on the bridge.

I was wearing a Voyager uniform with Captain's pips, and one of the actors said "Glad to have you aboard, Captain," which absolutely made my night.

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qantravon

joined 1 month ago