More of the Three Stooges
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
The Dimensions of Time
I've been thinking a lot about the possibility of a topography of time. How could one map the various gradients caused by massive bodies and acceleration? (The time dilation effect.) Going from macroscopic to microscopic, what would time look like at the smallest of scales, i.e., Planck time and Planck space? Is time's uni-directional quality preserved at these scales?
How does one account for apparent synchronicity (action at a distance) in experiments with entangled photon pairs? These seem to imply a communication of state that violates the universal speed limit of C.
Was time created as the result of an instability that existed prior to the Big Bang?
If time had a beginning, does it also have an end?
Since our awareness of time depends on memory, no discussion of time's topography would be complete without taking into account this fundamental element of mind. As a neighbor of mine once remarked, "The years fly, and a minute drags." An excellent book that deals with this is Proust's Remembrance of Time Past.
In addition to Proust's literary exploration of time and memory, it might also be interesting to have an overview of the current neurological models of human memory and theories regarding human awareness of time.
How does one account for apparent synchronicity (action at a distance) in experiments with entangled photon pairs? These seem to imply a communication of state that violates the universal speed limit of C.
Was time created as the result of an instability that existed prior to the Big Bang?
If time had a beginning, does it also have an end?
Since our awareness of time depends on memory, no discussion of time's topography would be complete without taking into account this fundamental element of mind. As a neighbor of mine once remarked, "The years fly, and a minute drags." An excellent book that deals with this is Proust's Remembrance of Time Past.
In addition to Proust's literary exploration of time and memory, it might also be interesting to have an overview of the current neurological models of human memory and theories regarding human awareness of time.
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Friday, March 18, 2005
Telegraph | News | Scientists to make 'Stuart Little' mouse with the brain of a human
Telegraph | News | Scientists to make 'Stuart Little' mouse with the brain of a human: "It will look like any ordinary mouse, but for America's scientists a tiny animal threatens to ignite a profound ethical dilemma." They must have been reading my post about attaching ant heads to giant robots.
Thursday, March 17, 2005
River Ruins
I had to go to the bank to make a deposit, so on the way home, I stopped at Kellogg Creek Park. I took a picture of some old massive steel embedded in a big block of concrete. The painted tops of the retaining wall by the river looked interesting to me as well.
I also stopped by another park on the way home, Villa-something-or-other park. I wanted to check out the big railroad bridge over the Willamette. There was some talk a while back of using this bridge for a pedestrian crossing from Milwaukie to Lake Oswego. After checking out the state of the concrete pylons, I can see why the railroad was not eager to embrace this idea. (Their official response was that they were concerned about the safety of pedestrians.) My hunch is that the additional structures necessary to attach a pedestrian walkway to the bridge might be more than the old bridge can handle.
I'll bet the people building the river-front homes in Lake Oswego aren't too interested in having the old train trestle turned into a pedestrian bridge.
I think it would be cool to have the old railroad bridge adapted so pedestrians and bicylists can cut across the river to Lake Oswego, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
I also stopped by another park on the way home, Villa-something-or-other park. I wanted to check out the big railroad bridge over the Willamette. There was some talk a while back of using this bridge for a pedestrian crossing from Milwaukie to Lake Oswego. After checking out the state of the concrete pylons, I can see why the railroad was not eager to embrace this idea. (Their official response was that they were concerned about the safety of pedestrians.) My hunch is that the additional structures necessary to attach a pedestrian walkway to the bridge might be more than the old bridge can handle.
I'll bet the people building the river-front homes in Lake Oswego aren't too interested in having the old train trestle turned into a pedestrian bridge.
I think it would be cool to have the old railroad bridge adapted so pedestrians and bicylists can cut across the river to Lake Oswego, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
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