Welcome to Science

[Mr. Jon Donnis]

Lol, you noob, READ THE FIRST POST AGAIN.

The very first line is what you need. hahahaha

By Dr Phil Plait
www.badastronomy.com

I know a place where the Sun never sets.

It’s a mountain, and it’s on the Moon. It sticks up so high that even as the Moon spins, it’s in perpetual daylight. Radiation from the Sun pours down on there day and night, 24 hours a day—well, the Moon’s day is actually about 4 weeks long, so the sunlight pours down there 708 hours a day.

I know a place where the Sun never shines. It’s at the bottom of the ocean. A crack in the crust there exudes nasty chemicals and heats the water to the boiling point. This would kill a human instantly, but there are creatures there, bacteria, that thrive. They eat the sulfur from the vent, and excrete sulfuric acid.

I know a place where the temperature is 15 million degrees, and the pressure would crush you to a microscopic dot. That place is the core of the Sun.

I know a place where the magnetic fields would rip you apart, atom by atom: the surface of a neutron star, a magnetar.

I know a place where life began billions of years ago. That place is here, the Earth.

I know these places because I’m a scientist.

SO now I have answered your post, maybe just maybe your majesty would like to answer mine?

Or is that beyond you?

[Meercat]

Errrm..... maggied..... Jon was quoting someone who IS a scientist.

(Jon, for heavens sake dont, and I mean DONT start quoting bits out the Bible, you'll end up having to justify why you're the son of God next....)

[Mr. Jon Donnis]

Dr Phil Plait is a legend in my books.

As for the bible, well I like to quote it, it has some bloody good stuf fin tehre inbetween all of the nonsense

[lowrider]

Well i don't know, but i suspect that it may be of more value to aid a noobie on " how to use the board" then taking the piss.
Quoting etc.
But it is an interesting point that i THINK she was raising.
What gives Jon or anyone on here to quote knowledgeably on anything paranormal.
At best it is the guess/opinion of a lay person.
If i am wrong i am sure maggied will correct me.
Often things are said on here by Jon and others with a taint of certainty.
Which is wrong.

[abcde]

maggied said:

I am someone who applies a logical methodology to questions - I sometimes call myself a professional problem solver - but let me remind you all of the definition of what science is all about
sci•ence (s ns)
n.
1.
a. The observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena.

In other words: if there's something tangible that needs explaining, science can investigate it.

Can you provide an example of tangible evidence for paranormal phenomena?

You seem keen not to rule things out if they haven't been disproven. Are you aware of the error in reasoning that such thinking involves?

[exile]

I just found these rules for internet woo-woos:

www.watchingyou.com/woowoo.html

;D ;D

[star]

Hahahahaha!
Loving it! ;D ;D ;D ;D xxx

[abcde]

exile said:

I just found these rules for internet woo-woos:

www.watchingyou.com/woowoo.html

;D ;D

That's a great piece.

I particularly like point 40. How many times do people who believe in nonsense claim to be skeptics because they 'haven't proved it false'? ;D

[lowrider]

[Mr. Jon Donnis]

I have to say that in the last day I have seen people on here fill nearly ever requirement on that list

[imapotato]

I fall under the "drink heavily" rule

[hellyp]

Woah, why did this thread fizzle out? I was just getting interested.

[ps]

abcde said:

maggied said:

I am someone who applies a logical methodology to questions - I sometimes call myself a professional problem solver - but let me remind you all of the definition of what science is all about
sci•ence (s ns)
n.
1.
a. The observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena.

In other words: if there's something tangible that needs explaining, science can investigate it.

Can you provide an example of tangible evidence for paranormal phenomena?

You seem keen not to rule things out if they haven't been disproven. Are you aware of the error in reasoning that such thinking involves?

Of course we can't provide an example of tangible evidence for paranormal phenomena, if we could it would no longer be paranormal. I can provide you with tangible evidence for events whose occurence is currently inexplicable and that is very best I can offer - Remember that old saying "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence". How come you don't apply the same criteria to Quantum Physicists who also have no current means of proving many things that they believe to exist.
Observe, Hypothesise, test, evaluate, re-test, define - or in otherwords Science.

[ps]

drpl said:

However, I'm not sure about stp's statements about Quantum Physic[ists]. I'm a bit out of touch with the field, but many things that have been speculated in quantum physics can be proved; either hypothesised and then proved, or for providing a solution to a recognised problem.

Sorry Paul I should have been a bit more specific - mutiple dimensionalities and the 'Spooky Effect' were amongst several concepts what I was pointing at. The fact that these concepts are accepted although currently unproven and used a basis for new research. Maybe if a few Psychologists adopted some of this approach we may move things on a little in our own field of interest.
On the subject of Quantum Tunnelling, have you seen those great new Quantum Tunnelling cables and beads that Maplin sell, they are so much fub to play around with!

[vickix1185]

Woah, this thread makes my head spin! Science is only as good as the human behind it, so any science I do for example, is a load of rubbish because I don't know what I'm talking about. If we could remove all human error from science then maybe, just maybe we'd get proof of the paranormal, one way or the other.

[Deleted]

vickix1185 said:

If we could remove all human error from science then maybe, just maybe we'd get proof of the paranormal, one way or the other.

The only way to remove human error would be to remove all humans...

[bigjohn]

vickix1185 said:

If we could remove all human error from science then maybe, just maybe we'd get proof of the paranormal, one way or the other.

You won't get proof of the paranormal if you remove all human error if the paranormal doesn't exist. And if the paranormal doesn't exist we'll never have proof that it doesn't.

Then again, what if (belief in) the paranormal is actually due to human error?

That would predict that the more we remove human error (as in doing controlled, scientific experiments) the less of the paranormal we'd actually see.

There's one to think about.

[vickix1185]

Ouch, that's made my head hurt lol OK, maybe that was a fairly stupid thing to say, but I am a natural blonde What's this Quantum Tunnelling about? And please...simple version lol

[bigjohn]

I think it's worth pointing out, for clarity, that quantum tunnelling works at the subatomic level.

The tennis ball example is used for analogy.

Quantum effects do not occur at the macroscopic level.

I just wanted to point that out as 'appealing to quantum mechanics' is a popular way of defending an idea that doesn't really work.

[vickix1185]

drpl said:

A simple example might be this: if you threw 1000 tennis balls at a brick wall, a few of them might actually emerge on the other side.

That explanation may not be truly scientific, but for my "simple and new to all this" brain, it doesn't make my head hurt. Thanks Paul!

Vicki.