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[hops]

... I rather imagine something approaching a majority of the folks down here have read ender's game. Quite possibly a majority of the forum in general. It's a pretty well read text, especially among english speakers that are even marginally interested in sci-fi.

Remembering any of it (besides maybe the bit about down and the (pre-?)teen xenocide and the homosexual not-so-under tones and maybe a bit else) is a different question.

The latter is funny considering that the author is a homophobic scumbag.

[Cryxis, Prince of Doom]

In reading that series I had (this is tangent and not sure if it's on homophobe topic or not) one WTF moment and that was the guys crawling through a space station's airvent a butt naked.
WTF!
Anywho
What sciences thing were we discussing?

[redwallzyl]

In reading that series I had (this is tangent and not sure if it's on homophobe topic or not) one WTF moment and that was the guys crawling through a space station's airvent a butt naked.
WTF!
Anywho
What sciences thing were we discussing?

i think that was because their were trackers in their suits.

[Scoops Novel]

Thanks guys. How fast can a star move? Is it possible they could get to a reasonable fraction of light speed?

[Helgoland]

In what frame of reference?

(Note: That's not the most wisecracking answer - that would've been 'Yes.')

[Il Palazzo]

Thanks guys. How fast can a star move? Is it possible they could get to a reasonable fraction of light speed?

Google 'high velocity stars', 'rogue stars' and 'hypervelocity stars' for general information and observation data.

This paper:
http://arxiv.org/abs/1411.5022
tries to find the upper limit on the speeds and concludes that 10^5 km/s (1/3 c) is possible.

The frame of reference for measurements is always the Local Standard of Rest - basically the Sun. But whether you use this one or the galactic rest frame or even the CMBR rest frame, it doesn't change much when you're talking 100 000km/s.

These semi-relativistic hypervelocity stars are purely hypothetical so far (unless I missed a discovery).

[Scoops Novel]

Thanks. Guessing planets hitching a ride are a dodgy prospect, but hey.

[That Wolf]

Has anybody ever seen or read 'Ender's Game'?
It's got a concept that is a bit of tangent to the conversation

It was interesting. Especialy the game the giants drink. that tripped me right out.
It didnt have enough character desctiption. The fact a maori was a tank alien fleet killer was awsome, better than temuera morrison in any light.

The time it was written and the game detail. Crazy beautiful.
Its too bad how distopian sci-fi is, because our science is inspired by it and vice versa.
Becoming an inbred monster of a future.
Yay for death. No immortal pill for this guy. Nup Im going to die in my study with a single bullet in my head after a steady decline into dementia.

[i2amroy]

One of the points of the future is that we get to cure/fix things like dementia, so unless you purposely don't accept the treatments for that (and your relatives don't, since eventually you wouldn't be able to hold legal guardianship over yourself) I doubt you could descend into it.

(That said I'd definitely be one of the immortality pill takers if/when one ever comes out, there's just way too much new stuff in the universe to experience in one lifetime, even if it's extended.)

[hops]

On the other hand I don't really mind not experiencing things. I would be okay with having my influence on the world immortalised as an AI, though.

[Sheb]

How can you use the cosmic microwave background as a frame of reference? Define a rest state so that the frequency from all directions is the same?

[Il Palazzo]

How can you use the cosmic microwave background as a frame of reference? Define a rest state so that the frequency from all directions is the same?

Yes. You choose the frame in which the CMBR looks isotropic - i.e., there are no hot and cold spots along the direction of travel.

[Vilanat]

An israeli and german scientists have re-discovered the Higgs boson using a regular laboratory rather than the several billions worth LHC.

http://phys.org/news/2015-02-higgs-boson-analogue-superconductors.html

[10ebbor10]

They discovered a higgs boson analogue. Some kind of higgs mode or something.

[alway]

Yeah, tldr of the article:
1. Higgs predictions had their roots in math & theories originating in superconductor phenomena.
2. Due to technical limitations, the particular bit which ended up relating to the Higgs couldn't be experimentally verified.
3. Higgs experimentally verified in LHC.
4. (now) The particular bit which ended up relating to the Higgs has been experimentally verified as technical limitations are overcome.
5. (future) After solving limitations preventing experiments with it in superconducting theory in a way allowing for relatively cheap experimental results compared to the particle physics version, superconducting theory version of the equations can be used to find easier results and better methods of exploring the particle physics Higgs.

It isn't the higgs boson, but is rather more like how you can have both an electromagnetic wave and a wave in water. Both are waves because they share certain phenomena and behavior, and by factoring out the peculiarities originating from their topic of origin you can investigate one by investigating the other. This will tell you both about waves in general and about any potentially unknown peculiarities originating from their topic of origin. Thus it has the potential to give insight both into higgs-like phenomena and the Standard Model in general, in addition to information about superconducting theory.

Or as a more concrete example of this sort of thing in action, here's a laboratory studying similar mathematical analogies, using specific types of flow and wave motion in water to study black hole phenomena: http://www.gravitylaboratory.com/#!black-holes/c1dug