Pages

Jump to bottom

5 comments

1 lostlakehiker  Mon, Mar 17, 2014 8:31:12am

Of course there are gravity waves. The existence of electromagnetic radiation is a necessary emergent feature of the internal logic of static electricity plus special relativity. The exact same logic, word for word but with “charge” replaced by “mass”, implies that there must be gravity waves.

On top of this, if one runs the numbers on what the theory says about closely orbiting pairs of neutron stars, one gets gravitational synchrotron radiation, a twin to the EM radiation given off by particle accelerators.

That implies a loss of energy from the system, and one can calculate how much and how fast and what that would do to the orbital period. The calculations very nicely match observation, and nothing else has been suggested that would account for the observed changes in orbital period. So that’s a natural experiment whose result tends to confirm the existence of gravity waves.

Still, if they’ve found it, more direct evidence of gravity waves would be nice. Logic alone isn’t infallible in physics and while even “circumstantial” evidence is strong, eyewitness evidence is nice to have too. It would be a handsome achievement to bring such evidence to the table.

2 Chrysicat  Mon, Mar 17, 2014 8:42:39am

re: #1 lostlakehiker

Does all this mean we may be able to generate gravity-without-mass? Our future interplanetary travelers would appreciate that…

3 palmerskiss  Mon, Mar 17, 2014 11:23:05am

Michelle bachmann disagrees newyorker.com

4 Rocky-in-Connecticut  Mon, Mar 17, 2014 12:09:24pm

re: #3 palmerskiss

That was satire. Rep. Bachmann said no such thing.

Relating to today’s news, a US Physics team now states that the gravitational wave observations released today are consistent with the expansion during the first trillionths of a second of the Big Bang.

The Big Bang is no longer just a “theory”. According to these most recent experiments, the Big Bang is a fact as strong as the sky is blue and apples fall from trees. This should be the final nail in the Genesis Mythology, but it won’t be.

5 Skip Intro  Mon, Mar 17, 2014 12:53:02pm

Meanwhile, back in Idiot America,

Wyoming first state to block new science standards

Why?

“[The standards] handle global warming as settled science,” said Rep. Matt Teeters, a Republican from Lingle who was one of the footnote’s authors. “There’s all kind of social implications involved in that that I don’t think would be good for Wyoming.”

Teeters said teaching global warming as fact would wreck Wyoming’s economy, as the state is the nation’s largest energy exporter, and cause other unwanted political ramifications.

Micheli, the state board of education chairman, agreed.

“I don’t accept, personally, that [climate change] is a fact,” Micheli said. “[The standards are] very prejudiced in my opinion against fossil-fuel development.”

See, in Idiot America, my opinion, based on who pays me, trumps any so-called science.

trib.com?


This page has been archived.
Comments are closed.

Jump to top

Create a PageThis is the LGF Pages posting bookmarklet. To use it, drag this button to your browser's bookmark bar, and title it 'LGF Pages' (or whatever you like). Then browse to a site you want to post, select some text on the page to use for a quote, click the bookmarklet, and the Pages posting window will appear with the title, text, and any embedded video or audio files already filled in, ready to go.
Or... you can just click this button to open the Pages posting window right away.
Last updated: 2023-04-04 11:11 am PDT
LGF User's Guide RSS Feeds

Help support Little Green Footballs!

Subscribe now for ad-free access!Register and sign in to a free LGF account before subscribing, and your ad-free access will be automatically enabled.

Donate with
PayPal
Cash.app
Recent PagesClick to refresh
Why Did More Than 1,000 People Die After Police Subdued Them With Force That Isn’t Meant to Kill? An investigation led by The Associated Press has found that, over a decade, more than 1,000 people died after police subdued them through physical holds, stun guns, body blows and other force not intended to be lethal. More: Why ...
Cheechako
Yesterday
Views: 43 • Comments: 0 • Rating: 0
A Closer Look at the Eastman State Bar DecisionTaking a few minutes away from work things to read through the Eastman decision. As I'm sure many of you know, Eastman was my law school con law professor. I knew him pretty well because I was also running in ...
KGxvi
Yesterday
Views: 98 • Comments: 1 • Rating: 1