Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Posted
No disrespect but that's a rubbish analogy to light passing through sodium metal. The light passes through your thumb because your thumb is made of material which is not entirely opaque - it has nothing to do with it being a solid (diamond is also a solid but is not impermeable to light). If you had a thumb made of sodum metal (God forbid!) I doubt you'd see any light passing through it. It would also be very interesting when you came to wash your hands...

 

Myth Busted!

 

It was't supposed to be a serious analogy to light through sodium. Just an aside whilst on the topic of tunneling: it's

Not quite the same thing,[/Quote] but as light generally is not perceived to pass through your fingers otherwise you'd see through them, it's just a way to show nothing is entirely opaque (especially at the quantum level), even sodium. It's just extremely unlikely that a photon will pass through solid metal.

 

Close your eyes and face bright sunlight, and it's possible to see objects coming towards you, though not very well. Please note, i'm not arguing that seeing light through your finger or your eyelids is proof of QM tunneling. Perhaps i should leave my examples for the school kids!

 

If your skin was a thin layer of sodium atoms, then some forms of light would easily pass through. Lining your suitcase with sodium sheets also wouldn't be great against a powerful enough X-Ray machine (Though maybe a burst from aforementioned 'soft laser' could do some damage. Protecting either from any moisture would be the real challenge though ;)

 

To put an IT spin on this topic, with regard to optical computing, check this article:

Light through a blocked hole? Plasmonics is the answer - physics-math - 11 February 2011 - New Scientist

Posted
Fact #20: Shall be redone when the maths can be properly worked out!

 

Fact #44 - I was lost in this thread about 3 pages ago!

 

ah yeah, that fact #20 was a bit hard to get your head around. :p

Posted
somebody is clearly unaware of my capabilities ;)

 

I can vouch for the veracity of these claims. Check the BETT threads for picture proof.

His ears are massive :p

  • Thanks 1
Posted
Fact #41: The smallest county in England is the Isle of Wight. However, it is only the smallest county for half a year due to tides. The other half of the year Rutland is the small county.

 

41a; Rutland have their own telecommunication company Rutland Telecom

Posted
Fact #42: Uzbekistan and Liechtenstein are the only countries that are double landlocked. This means one must go through another landlocked country before reaching one with a coastline. Bedfordshire is the only double landlocked SHIRE in the UK (Northamptonshire would be included except it shares 19 yards of its border with Lincolnshire, and West Midlands is not officially a SHIRE and therefore is not included either), and Kansas and Nebraska are the only double land locked states.
Posted

Fact #44: Odds of very unusual accidents:

  • 1 in 48 million — Being burned alive whilst you sleep.
  • 1 in 30 million — Being murdered.
  • 1 in 120 million — Choking to death.
  • 1 in 20 billion — Death by tea cosy.
  • 1 in 257,000 — Dying today.

Posted
Fact #43: A lethal dose of chocolate for a human is about 22 pounds (10.0 kg) to be consumed in less than 1 hour

Wow, I could so see someone doing that too!

Northern Conference? I'll bring the chocolate you bring the tiger?

 

I sense a competition brewing. Couldn't you do it at the Microsoft conference?

 

I wonder what the odds of are dying from choking on a tea-cosy whilst in bed asleep?

Today?

 

1 in 64.8 Septillian (22 0's after the number)

 

?? really, are you sure? have you verified that number?

Posted
I wonder what the odds of are dying from choking on a tea-cosy whilst in bed asleep?

 

So what are the odds of someone choking you to death today with a burning tea-cosy while you sleep?

Posted
I multiplied all of the odds for those happening. No guarantee of that being the odds, just an estimate.

 

I was thinking more of the zeros, not the reality of the odds ;)

Posted (edited)
1 in 64.8 Septillian (22 0's after the number)

 

Isn't it 24 0s? As they always go in multiples of three, i.e. million = 6 0s, billion = 9, trillion = 12, quadrillion = 15, pentillion = 18, hexillion = 21, so septillion = 24

 

/smartassness

Edited by vikpaw
language

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...