February 21, 2004

The blunder that might not be
posted by Gyan 20 years ago
  • Idiots. Einstein is ALWAYS right.
  • Nah. Get ol' Bertie a little liquored up and he'd swear tomatoes were vegetables and not, as we all know, a fruit.
  • No Reg Req Link to Google news link. It's on the top of the page now. Search Google News for "Einstein" as time passes. The WaPo is getting sneaky, can't link to the original article without registration. Unless I have the wrong article, in which case, oops
  • The cosmological constant is an extra term in Einstein's equations of general relativity which physically represents the possibility that there is a density and pressure associated with "empty" space. The inclusion of this vacuum energy term can greatly effect cosmological theories. ed: There is a force that is the opposite of gravity (mass repelling mass) that does not diminish over distance In other words: The sun and moon pull the tides on our earth proportional to their mass and distance. Distant galaxies push away from us, and us them, equal to our proportional mass, regardless the distance. I'm not kidding. Try the Mushrooms, I'll be here all week.
  • I've never really subscribed to the theory of dark energy. It sounds too much like bad science to me. I mean, I'd never pretend to begin to understand any of it, but this idea that scientists are proposing that there's some kind of mysterious force which goes against everything we've ever previously encountered, and is impossible to detect... For that kind of crazy shit, you need proof, not theories.
  • the thing that blows my mind is that einstein started coming up with all of this stuff when he was 19. i once saw a letter he wrote to an uncle, outlining the basics of his theory. it was for sale in a store in las vegas. (it would have been cool to take home a chunk of history like that, but i didn't have $3 million in cash at the moment...) how many of us have done anything this good by the time we turned 20? i sure as heck didn't.
  • Mr. frogs: While I share your perpetual amazement, I think this would have been a remarkable discovery, the capstone of a career, for even a well-established top-notch physicist. There is a reason why the word Einstein is considered synonymous with genius. And yes I had a stroke of genius, but my brilliant discoveries were RIPPED OFF by an IMPOSTER!!
  • Will ye LISTEN to yersel' laddie? I've never really subscribed to the theory of dark energy. ...some kind of mysterious force which goes against everything we've ever previously encountered, and is impossible to detect.... *cue dramatic music* *evil laugh* *mumbles* Something, something ...oh. LAZ-ARS! CUT! Lemme study that script again.
  • frogs Not to belittle Einstein, but not at 19. His SR paper was released at 21. GR paper at 31-32 (in which the cosmo-constant is proposed). There's still hope for you.