rob was here.

I have been somewhat bothered lately about light.

It triggered in me when I watched some Richard Feynman lectures (freely available here) recently about the subject. Through my own research and as well as a class on electromagnetism that I took whilst in University, I think have a fairly good appreciation of light (though not necessarily the nuances of the mechanical details). Yet, there is a part that I've not been able to find a satisfying answer.

The speed of light is 299,792,458 meters per second. For your reference, this is not far from 11 million times faster than I drive to work on the outter ring. The speed of light is the maximum limit (unattainable asymptote) that anything with mass can go.

Why this number? Why not 299,792,459 meters per second? or 299,792,457? or any other number?

This same question really applies to any physical constant, but light really brightly illuminates this puzzle. (ha)

At first I was thinking that this is something that is derived akin to how we get geometric ratio such as pi.

But physical constants don't seem to be derived, they simply are, and that's bothersome because nobody seems to know why.

Labels: Random

While I toil and wait for the latest episode of battlestar galactica to finish downloading to my computation and memory storage machine, here are some select and appreciated quotes I have recently read through various books and sources.

"Don't complain, just work harder." -- Randy Pausch (computer scientist) from The Last Lecture

"Fashion, by the way, is a commerce masquerading as hip." -- Randy Pausch (computer scientist) from The Last Lecture

"The idea is to withhold belief until there is compelling evidence, and if the universe does not comply with our predispositions then we have the wrenching obligation to accommodate to the way the universe really is." -- Carl Sagan (astronomer) on his religious views during his final interview.

"Reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled." -- Richard Feynman (physicist) on his analysis of the Challenger disaster and the quality of NASA's management

Labels: Random

I have noticed, through the aquatic experiences of my life, that fish either range from appearing a deep meloncholly to outright expressions of dread. This, in turn, usually makes me feel rather sad when I have to spend any amount of time with fish. You may have noticed that I usually avoid fish parties or luncheons, and that I instead spend my time with the birds. Let me tell you, people usually scoff at things that are for the birds, but it's diametrically better than things that are for the fish. Here are some examples of fish that send me scurring for the prozak.

Labels: Random

Don't ask about how I stumbled across this, but I've finally learned how to fold my t-shirts like a pro:

Labels: Random

Today, as I sat, I wondered about the word Gladiator. I supposed that it meant One who Gladiates. Then I wondered if gladiate is a word. Even though firefox spell checker is underlining it with a squiggly red line, dictionary.com and answers.com are both telling me it is an adjective for sword-shaped. So I assume a gladiator means One who is Sword-Shaped.

When I got home, I walked down the street to get the mail. Looking at the stars, I wondered if all the stars visible to the naked eye in our skies are within our Milky Way Galaxy (I always assumed they were). Dictionary.com didn't provide me with an answer for that, so I still wonder it.

Labels: Random