Gravity Wave Fallout
Well, not literally fallout. That’s from a different kind of physics.
But ScottO, troubled minion, has been having no luck getting to sleep due to all this gravity wave talk. Indeed, ever hungry for science that even the Czar can understand, he asked the Czar to explain his further understanding.
| O Most Excellent and Illustrious Czar, This lowly minion admittedly does not understand science as well as Your Magnitude, as evidenced by your timely and helpful virus avoidance tips for the latest virus that happens to be in the headlines. (Odd how the same tips seem to apply to almost any virus, but that’s beside the point.) However, one (this one, anyway) cannot help but wonder if there was perhaps just a bit of confirmation bias built into the experiments used to detect gravity waves? It’s certainly understandable. Physicists who admire Einstein and have noted that nearly all his other predictions have been confirmed would only want to make sure to confirm one more. Might they have designed an experiment that would be subject to false positives? Would there be enough skeptics on the team to minimize or eliminate this tendency? Eh, what difference does it make? It isn’t like the Earth is sailing right into the path of a gravity tsunami, and will soon (geologically speaking) have the North Pole at the south end, and vice versa. Oh, and the Google Image results for Britta make me want to obtain such a filter post haste. In miniondom, |
Glad you asked, because you know, the Czar knew Albert Einstein quite well and we hung out every so often. Maybe once every two years, but whatevs, as he would say. In German.
Einstein was good at predicting things all based off a handful of math. He was the sort of fellow who could scribble a brief equation, stare at it, and mutter “You know what this means?” He’d then spend an hour reciting all sorts of implications. Some of which could be tested. Some not right away.
For example, it was reasonably well understood that the sun’s gravity could cause light rays to bend slightly as they went past it. Einstein realized that his formula could predict the exact amount, which indeed took four years and a perfectly situated solar eclipse to test. And the figures were exact.
It’s not that physicists test broad applications of Einstein’s theories: it’s that his theories provide extremely accurate details of what your tests will reveal. It’s not confirmation bias if your test matches up with his predictions: it’s either a binary “yes, it did” or “no, it didn’t.” And he’s been very successful with the first group, and astonishingly empty in the second group.
Too bad Einstein’s social and political beliefs weren’t as well structured as his scientific ones. He was sort of a moron when he argued with us about the military, Eisenhower, and education.
A gravity wave would make your weight fluctuate, but not flip the Earth over. Interestingly, and more troublesome, is the notion that the Earth’s magnetic poles could flip any day now, reversing how all sorts of handy home gadgets work. Seriously: it’s happened a few times in Earth’s history, and the process is, frankly, not understood. That’ll be a lot more fun than global climate change.
Where’s our funding for that, Democrats? Or do you insist on living in ignorance?
Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.