Nobody Cares! (Science & Tech Edition)

[Argent Stonecutter]

Of course we can see quantum phenomena in macroscopic systems. That's what Einstein got the Nobel Prize for, the quantum nature of the photoelectric effect. That doesn't mean you can use the time invariance in Feynman diagrams to build a time-turner.

 

[Free]

I'm a big fan of Time Turner.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[danielravennest]

Where is Webb (NASA)

The whole deployment sequence (29.5 days)

 

[Govi]

Was it intentional: to make this wonderful instrument's deployment the Twelve Days of Christmas?

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

It was originally supposed to be deployed years ago, and IIRC the current launch was originally scheduled yesterday, so I suspect it's a lucky accident.

 

[Free]

Moons are planets!

Scientists avenge Pluto, declare there are 150 planets in our solar system

A “planet,” by their definition, is “any geologically active” body in space, which not only would rope Pluto back into the fold, but also moons like Europa, Enceladus and Titan, as well as the asteroid, Ceres. All in all, about 150 new “planets” to add to the existing eight.

Unfortunately, as planetary geologist Paul Byrne explained, all this back-and-forth about taxonomy often overshadows much of the other genuinely fascinating aspects about these celestial bodies of all sizes. “Every time I gave a talk and I put up a picture of Pluto, the first question was not about the planet’s geology, but why was it demoted?” he told NBC News. “That’s what stuck with people, and that’s a real shame.”

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

I keep saying that zero of the Astronomers who voted to make Pluto a "dwarf planet" were actual planetary scientists.

Mother very eagely made a jelly sandwich under no protest.

 

[Govi]

I think this belongs here because it's a technology that all here are currently using: rm vis a vis m

rnmrnmrnmrnmrnmrnmrnmrnm
rn m rn m rn m rn m

Will somebody please tell me why a font that has such poor kerning between "r" and "n" is designed? It's far too easy to confuse them. The confusion is not frequent in English, but it does show up in renderings of native English speakers' accents: gorn versus gom, for example. horny versus homy, born versus bom. Context always helps, but one shouldn't have to go into a context examination. This is not a problem with most serifed fonts, just the sans serif.

Or maybe this should be in a fashion related section.

Or maybe I'm just venting my anger and frustration with my husband, about a topic which is otherwise very small potatoes.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

I keep saying that zero of the Astronomers who voted to make Pluto a "dwarf planet" were actual planetary scientists.

But you have been wrong all this time.

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

But you have been wrong all this time.

Mike Brown was not at that meeting.

Will somebody please tell me why a font that has such poor kerning between "r" and "n" is designed?

Because otherwise we couldn't have r/keming

 

[Casey Pelous]

I think this belongs here because it's a technology that all here are currently using: rm vis a vis m

rnmrnmrnmrnmrnmrnmrnmrnm
rn m rn m rn m rn m

Will somebody please tell me why a font that has such poor kerning between "r" and "n" is designed? It's far too easy to confuse them. The confusion is not frequent in English, but it does show up in renderings of native English speakers' accents: gorn versus gom, for example. horny versus homy, born versus bom. Context always helps, but one shouldn't have to go into a context examination. This is not a problem with most serifed fonts, just the sans serif.

Or maybe this should be in a fashion related section.

Or maybe I'm just venting my anger and frustration with my husband, about a topic which is otherwise very small potatoes.

Do I ever have a book for you!

For those with a love of typography, that book is un-put-downable.

(Others -- such as folks who read your post and thought, "kerning? Eh?" might find it .... um ......... restful.)

 

[Essence Lumin]

rnmrnmrnmrnmrnmrnmrnmrnm
rn m rn m rn m rn m

Will somebody please tell me why a font that has such poor kerning between "r" and "n" is designed?

There's a problem with discussing fonts on the web, namely it's hard to know what anyone else's web browser uses for fonts. In VVO's case, with Chrome on a PC it defaults to Roboto for me. If I change the font to san-serif it looks quite different.

.

 

[Govi]

There's a problem with discussing fonts on the web, namely it's hard to know what anyone else's web browser uses for fonts. In VVO's case, with Chrome on a PC it defaults to Roboto for me. If I change the font to san-serif it looks quite different.

.

That's even worse! The morning for the coming Armageddon of kernings!

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

Mike Brown was not at that meeting.

No, but the meeting happened only because of his decision.

(ETA) To clarify, his decision after his team discovered Eris to push for it to NOT be called a planet, despite it being in the same region and larger than Pluto according to the data at that time. His reasoning was that at least 3 more bodies for certain, and almost certainly some three dozen more, would all have to become planets as well just in our solar system.

I wonder what mnemonic children would have to learn in order to memorize 40 or 50 planets.

 

[Ashiri]

Will somebody please tell me why a font that has such poor kerning between "r" and "n" is designed? It's far too easy to confuse them.

That's a good question and if "r" was designed differently the problem would far less frequent.
Of the san-serif fonts I have, Comic Sans is the most readable in this regard.

 

[Free]

Do I ever have a book for you!

Book? What is that?

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Book? What is that?

It's like printing out a website.

 

[Free]

I wonder what mnemonic children would have to learn in order to memorize 40 or 50 planets.

This point is weird, considering all the things children may have to learn where items of memorization, like multiplication tables (or exoplanets!), lead into hundreds worth if not more.

The argument though does point out that classifying "just the planets" on a single taxonomic line is stupid.

We have the gas giants. We have the terrestrials. We have the dwarfs, which could be split into the inner rocky and outer icy. We have the moons, which again could be subclassified in different ways (say those that developed with their companion, or those captured by its gravity at a later time). Even if you choose not to place moons into a classification of planets, right now the asteroids are also known as planetoids, or minor planets.

So it ends up that mnemonics like "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos" (or maybe "Many Very Educated Men Just Screwed Up Nature"!) are more of a concealer than a learning tool.