Yeah I just watched that! What an ownage!

James wrote:Maybe Raging Paul could explain a bit, I don't know.

Haha if I wasn't so frazzled from exams maybe I could! I think what you meant by shadow, is that when you 'project' a shadow of a three dimensional object onto a surface, it becomes two dimensional. The only way we can really comprehend four dimensional objects is by considering the 'shadow' they would cast on our three dimensional surface. You have to get used to thinking like that if you use General Relativity theory, which is a model for a four-dimensional 'space-time'. The picture we see of the universe around us is effectively a three dimensional projection of the four dimensional spaectime, but unfortunately its not as simple as projecting four spatial dimensions onto three; since the time and space are inextricably linked in General Relativity. According to Einstein's theory it is the warping of space-time due to mass that creates the gravitational force. Anyone who remember the three dimensional vectors that you use to describe three dimensional space will probably be glad to learn that they'll never have to learn about tensors (and tensor calculus), which describe four and up dimensions (and the curvature and its effects within them). Neither did i though, since i studiously avoided the most mathematical modules haha.

physics is so dull, i have no idea why i'm doing it at a level, I even contemplated doing it at uni, good lord

Physics was pretty easy, though. When I went into sixth year (I think around year 10 for you rabble) I ended up doing Advance Higher Physics and two different types of Maths at Advance Higher level (that's sort of equivalent to A Level) and then it hit me that there was no chance I hell I wanted to be an engineer. Thank fuck I did Politics instead of Mechanical Engineering at Uni like.

so you did a physics a level equivalent aged 15, doubtful.

Ah, fuck it.

I don't know how the English (backward system) years correspond to the Scottish years. It doesn't correspond well because we do four-year degrees, but doing an Advance Higher means that you learn very little new stuff in first year of Uni. I would have been 17 when I was doing Advance Higher Physics.

Although it is difficult to compare directly, Highers are roughly the same as A levels as far as I remember, so Advanced Higher Physics would be similar to doing an Advanced Physics course at A-level.

Raging Paul wrote:The picture we see of the universe around us is effectively a three dimensional projection of the four dimensional spaectime, but unfortunately its not as simple as projecting four spatial dimensions onto three; since the time and space are inextricably linked in General Relativity.

So does that mean that there IS actually a fourth dimension, but we just can't see it?

Yeah, and the fifth is even harder to see.

These videos = Better than most videos...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=QAATEFLcJj8&feature=related

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VCvH3Tz_1iw

woah, that's fucking cool!!!

do you reckon they had the lights on timers or they had one guy in each room turning the lights on and off?

I thought the first one was a bit naff but you really need it for the second one. That was really cool. Good find.

A 45-second flying fish flight!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7410421.stm

Wow!

Pretty cool.

Wow, amazing!