- Mystic: You, swimming bird.
- Spike: Huh?
- Mystic: The swimming bird will meet a woman. The bird will be hunted by this woman. And then... death.
- Spike: One more time.
- Mystic: What's that?
- Spike: I was killed once before... by a woman.
- Mystic: You take women too lightly, my friend.
- Spike: On the contrary. Catch you later.
Posted May 21, 2012 at 12:49am
Try as we might to invent a reasonable theory that can explain how a photon “makes up its mind” whether to go through glass or bounce back, it is impossible to predict which way a photon will go.
Philosophers have said that if the same circumstances don’t always produce the same results, predictions are impossible and science will collapse. Here is a circumstance—identical photons are always coming down in the same direction to the same piece of glass—that produces different results.
—
Richard Feynman [in QED: the strange theory of light and matter]
He continues with:
“We cannot predict whether a given photon will arrive at A or B. All we can predict is that out of 100 photons that come down, an average of 4 will be reflected by the front surface. Does this mean that physics, a science of great exactitude, has been reduced to calculating only the probability of an event, and not predicting exactly what will happen? Yes. That’s a retreat, but that’s the way it is: Nature permits us to calculate only probabilities. Yet science has not collapsed.”
(via blindmen6)
(via fuckyeahquantummechanics)
View high resolution
When conditions are just right, the low pressure at the center of a wingtip vortex can drop the local temperature below the dew point, causing condensation to form. Here vortices are visible extending from the tips of the propellers in addition to the wingtip. Because of the spinning of the propeller and the forward motion of the airplane, the prop vortices extend backwards in a twisted spiral that will quickly break down into turbulence. The same behavior can be observed with helicopter blades. (Photo credit: benurs)
Zen and the Art of Mountain Climbing
“Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion. Then, when you’re no longer thinking ahead, each footstep isn’t just a means to an end but a unique event in itself. This leaf has jagged edges. This rock looks loose. From this place the snow is less visible, even though closer. These are things you should notice anyway. To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top. Here’s where things grow. But of course, without the top you can’t have any sides. It’s the top that defines the sides.”
—Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Posted April 18, 2012 at 11:46pm
Know how to solve every problem that has been solved.
— Escrito en el tablero de Richard P. Feynman.
Posted April 18, 2012 at 11:39pm
