h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/may/18/matter-light-photons-electrons-positrons?CMP=twt_gu

Matter from light? That'll be an interesting experiment to see performed.

Exactly...
Laws of thermodynamics etc?

John Boorman wrote a wonderful book called "Money into Light" about the process of film-making ...

The last sentence in this Guardian item is startling: "Would we be able in the future to convert energy into time and vice versa?"

I don't see time mentioned in E=Mc^2

That is because time is an illusion .....

Not Directly, but it is there
C is the speed of light Meters per Second

So it's the inverse of time.

Makes conversion tricky. It's more directly related to frequency.

My head hertz

joules = grams * 300 * 10^6 meters / second

well 299,792,458 metres per second if you want to be strict
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_of_light

So you can only directly convert energy into per-seconds or hertz.

But you could convert per-joules into seconds. What's the physical equivalent of per-energy?

c^2 is a ratio so in the end it's just a number (a big one)
90 X10^15 if you are not being exact

So 1g of matter could convert into 90x10^15 Joules of energy

http://faculty.etsu.edu/gardnerr/einstein/e_mc2.htm

Converting in and out of time still sounds dodgy to me, but hey, if you think you understand it you don't understand it (like quantum physics).

I wonder how long it will be until Deepak Chopra uses this to support some new pseudoscience quackery?

It's full of quantums.

The red tops have started their annual HELIOPOCALYPSE ranting.

The potential for creating matter from light
might make it interesting for corporate slugs
to re-consider the absolute waste of sunlight
currently bombarding our planet.

If they can't be arsed to find ways to convert
the limitless supply of solar energy into forms
we can use for cars and heating/lighting homes,
then maybe the idea of creating material products
out of thin air will appeal to them sufficiently
to put more money into solar power research.

Imagine being able to store enough solar energy
in a battery which could then be converted into
any needed material on demand. Like, "Hey I need
a new pair of pants!" and presto zappo - job done.
Or, "Tea, Earl Grey."


~jwf~

If as reported above C is a large number, then it will take a hell of a lot of light to create a tiny amount of matter

Yes, and it's very tiny amounts of matter that will annihilate each other when electron and positron recombine.

Bulls 3 Spanish Peacocks 0

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27507414

'mon the bulls!

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/mariakonnikova/2014/05/why-do-people-persist-in-believing-things-that-just-arent-true.html


We're all pretty familiar with how hard it is to convince someone to change their mind about some ideological topics merely by presenting facts and evidence to the contrary. "Don't confuse me with the facts. My mind is made up." is a phrase my father likes to cite. Recent experiments have even shown that presenting evidence can actually reinforce misconceptions. This article suggests that this stubbornness can be averted when people's sense of self is reinforced.

How can this be used with strongly entrenched and politicized misconceptions regarding subjects like anthropogenic global warming? Is there anyway to convince people against their strongly held misconceptions?

Yeah, Go Bulls!


So, how can we convince people in certain cultures that such sports are barbaric?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-27497727
French rail company SNCF gets their measurements wrong and spends €15 billion on orders for trains that are too wide to fit into many of their stations, and can't pass each other on regional lines.

Even South West Trains haven't done that one yet...

<BB<