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

Lucky, that is a good one, I never would have caught it. Maybe that's why (since I am a QM scientist) I like that picture so much.


Ictoan, each of those "orbitals" can contain 2 electrons. So the 1s contains 2 electrons, the 2px contains 2 electrons, the 2py contains 2 electrons, the 2pz contains 2 electrons...

So actually another way of thinking about is that the 1s electron has a probability represented by that orbital shape. There are 2 electrons which have that probability distribution.

Yesterday they began installing a big piece of kit in the ring at CERN. The 'microscope' (as the guy called it and as the BBC seem to have 'nicknamed' it) weighed 2,000 tonnes. It'll be up and running in November and then we're told we may know the secret of life, the universe and everything! At present 95% about is not known to us!

>>"And then we're told we may know the secret of life, the universe and everything!"

Told by *scientists*, or just by journalists?

>>"At present 95% about is not known to us!"

At *which* level of analysis?

It's all at the BBC scientific-journalist level of reporting. The 95% quote was however direct from the horse's mouth - from one of the guys installing this tremendous piece of equipment.

>>"It's all at the BBC scientific-journalist level of reporting."

Oh well. Never mind.

I´d be guessing they´re on about the dark matter stuff again, even if they seem to usually give a figure of 90%.

Lucky, you may find these interesting:

Information theory:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_theory

How much information can be transmitted through a noisy channel (e.g. the static in your TV, or your the visions in your head)


Quantum information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_information

how quantum mechanics intersects information theory


The Bogdanov affair:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogdanov_affair
A pair of brothers, less reputable than the Dalai Lama, but writing in a similar vein.

Arnie,
I reckon even Sherlock Holmes would struggle to unravel the Bogdanov affair. By the way, what's the name of your intelligent looking dog?

Unfortunately, that's not my dog, but his name is Oliver.

Totally off-topic, but since the subject of BBC science reporting has come up, I thought I'd post this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/horizon/broadband/tx/petdinosaur/

The BBC's flagship (only) science programme has now run the full gamut from pure science to the history of science, through interesting humanist stories involving scientists, to science fiction.

Just thought I'd mention that.

>>"The BBC's flagship (only) science programme has now run the full gamut from pure science to the history of science, through interesting humanist stories involving scientists, to science fiction."

Personally, I thought Horizon had simply moved from being excellent to being sensationalist c**p, seemingly following the same manufactured-controversy script week after week, likely written and produced by people who understand less science than not-Arnie's dog does.

Not-Arnies's dog is called Oliver!

I've always found the standard of BBC science programmes to be excellent although I have to watch them in German. I sincerely hope they're not going down-market, seeking cheap thrills and so on ... anybody can do that.