GEEKING OUT! A places for nerds, geeks & freaks

Girl_On_Fire · 03-15-2013, 10:17 PM

The Coolest Star Trek: The Next Generation Villain EVER!

"It's only forever..."

Did anyone else want to see them make out?

My Favorite Doctor

The Goddess Chiana

Dance-with-me · 03-15-2013, 10:38 PM

Femme geek in the house. I way totally into Star Trek (the original series) when it was first on (I was 7-8), I am an engineer by degree and a networking and information security teacher who is brushing up on trig and calculus so that I might teach higher maths instead of technology, and I wore one of my five pi shirts to work on Thursday and am already planning a party for pi day in two or three years, depending on whether I round or truncate.

I have found my tribe.

Bleu · 03-16-2013, 11:57 AM

As I was not online yesterday. I must extend my sincerest apologies, I happen to be a day late and a denarius short.

....and this just cracked me up....

I take it we all made it though unscathed?
I did, but just by a skosh.

femmeInterrupted · 03-19-2013, 10:06 AM

IAN MCKELLEN IS SET TO OFFICIATE PATRICK STEWART’S WEDDING, PROMISES NO MUTANT ATTACKS, LOTS OF FIREWORKS

http://www.themarysue.com/mckellen-stewart-wedding/

The only thing better, would for them to be marrying each other!

thedivahrrrself · 03-19-2013, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by femmeInterrupted

IAN MCKELLEN IS SET TO OFFICIATE PATRICK STEWART’S WEDDING, PROMISES NO MUTANT ATTACKS, LOTS OF FIREWORKS

http://www.themarysue.com/mckellen-stewart-wedding/

The only thing better, would for them to be marrying each other!

If I was getting married, Gandalf would be like my #1 choice for officiant... just sayin'...

Speaking of geeky weddings, check out these adorable invitations!

thedivahrrrself · 03-19-2013, 12:07 PM

It is probably for the best that I don't have children. I would SO make them suffer through shit like this:

<---already did that to the dog

dreadgeek · 03-19-2013, 12:11 PM

Ever wondered what would happen if you threw a baseball or softball at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light?

What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90% the speed of light?

The answer turns out to be “a lot of things”, and they all happen very quickly, and it doesn’t end well for the batter (or the pitcher). I sat down with some physics books, a Nolan Ryan action figure, and a bunch of videotapes of nuclear tests and tried to sort it all out. What follows is my best guess at a nanosecond-by-nanosecond portrait:

The ball is going so fast that everything else is practically stationary. Even the molecules in the air are stationary. Air molecules vibrate back and forth at a few hundred miles per hour, but the ball is moving through them at 600 million miles per hour. This means that as far as the ball is concerned, they’re just hanging there, frozen.

The ideas of aerodynamics don’t apply here. Normally, air would flow around anything moving through it. But the air molecules in front of this ball don’t have time to be jostled out of the way. The ball smacks into them so hard that the atoms in the air molecules actually fuse with the atoms in the ball’s surface. Each collision releases a burst of gamma rays and scattered particles.

These gamma rays and debris expand outward in a bubble centered on the pitcher’s mound. They start to tear apart the molecules in the air, ripping the electrons from the nuclei and turning the air in the stadium into an expanding bubble of incandescent plasma. The wall of this bubble approaches the batter at about the speed of light—only slightly ahead of the ball itself.

The constant fusion at the front of the ball pushes back on it, slowing it down, as if the ball were a rocket flying tail-first while firing its engines. Unfortunately, the ball is going so fast that even the tremendous force from this ongoing thermonuclear explosion barely slows it down at all. It does, however, start to eat away at the surface, blasting tiny particulate fragments of the ball in all directions. These fragments are going so fast that when they hit air molecules, they trigger two or three more rounds of fusion.

After about 70 nanoseconds the ball arrives at home plate. The batter hasn't even seen the pitcher let go of the ball, since the light carrying that information arrives at about the same time the ball does. Collisions with the air have eaten the ball away almost completely, and it is now a bullet-shaped cloud of expanding plasma (mainly carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen) ramming into the air and triggering more fusion as it goes. The shell of x-rays hits the batter first, and a handful of nanoseconds later the debris cloud hits.

When it reaches the batter, the center of the cloud is still moving at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light. It hits the bat first, but then the batter, plate, and catcher are all scooped up and carried backward through the backstop as they disintegrate. The shell of x-rays and superheated plasma expands outward and upward, swallowing the backstop, both teams, the stands, and the surrounding neighborhood—all in the first microsecond.

Suppose you’re watching from a hilltop outside the city. The first thing you see is a blinding light, far outshining the sun. This gradually fades over the course of a few seconds, and a growing fireball rises into a mushroom cloud. Then, with a great roar, the blast wave arrives, tearing up trees and shredding houses.

Everything within roughly a mile of the park is leveled, and a firestorm engulfs the surrounding city. The baseball diamond is now a sizable crater, centered a few hundred feet behind the former location of the backstop.

A careful reading of official Major League Baseball Rule 6.08(b) suggests that in this situation, the batter would be considered "hit by pitch", and would be eligible to advance to first base.

Full hillarity, including stick-figure illustrations are at: http://what-if.xkcd.com/1/

UofMfan · 03-19-2013, 12:23 PM

Not really a Geek but will look like one later this evening.

03-15-2013, 10:38 PM	#2
Dance-with-me Member How Do You Identify?: Femme Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: earth Posts: 419 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 264 Thanked 1,926 Times in 378 Posts Rep Power: 21474849	Femme geek in the house. I way totally into Star Trek (the original series) when it was first on (I was 7-8), I am an engineer by degree and a networking and information security teacher who is brushing up on trig and calculus so that I might teach higher maths instead of technology, and I wore one of my five pi shirts to work on Thursday and am already planning a party for pi day in two or three years, depending on whether I round or truncate. I have found my tribe. __________________ Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. ~Mahatma Gandhi

03-16-2013, 11:57 AM	#3
Bleu Senior Member How Do You Identify?: Bleu Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: @ home Posts: 2,771 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 2,565 Thanked 2,699 Times in 733 Posts Rep Power: 21474852	So say the Soothsayer! As I was not online yesterday. I must extend my sincerest apologies, I happen to be a day late and a denarius short. ....and this just cracked me up.... I take it we all made it though unscathed? I did, but just by a skosh.

03-19-2013, 10:06 AM	#4
femmeInterrupted Member How Do You Identify?: Queer femme Preferred Pronoun?: she works out well ;) Relationship Status: Happily married. Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Ontario Posts: 812 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 1,885 Thanked 3,216 Times in 667 Posts Rep Power: 21474852	IAN MCKELLEN IS SET TO OFFICIATE PATRICK STEWART’S WEDDING, PROMISES NO MUTANT ATTACKS, LOTS OF FIREWORKS http://www.themarysue.com/mckellen-stewart-wedding/ The only thing better, would for them to be marrying each other! __________________ "If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us walk together." Lila Watson You say you love rain, but you use an umbrella to walk under it. You say you love sun, but you seek shade when its shining. You say you love wind, but when its comes you close your window. So that's why I'm scared, when you say you love me. -- Bob Marley

03-19-2013, 12:07 PM	#6
thedivahrrrself Senior Member How Do You Identify?: Queer Sapiosexual Femme Relationship Status: Mrs. Grumpy Cat Tournaments Won: 4 Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: 8,660 feet high in the Andes Posts: 2,640 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 10,519 Thanked 11,656 Times in 2,292 Posts Rep Power: 21474852	It is probably for the best that I don't have children. I would SO make them suffer through shit like this: <---already did that to the dog __________________ Small business owners around the world use microfinance to help expand their businesses and provide for their families. You can help! Click here to learn about Kiva.

03-19-2013, 12:11 PM	#7
dreadgeek Power Femme How Do You Identify?: Cinnamon spiced, caramel colored, power-femme Preferred Pronoun?: She Relationship Status: Married to a wonderful horse girl Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Lat: 45.60 Lon: -122.60 Posts: 1,733 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 1,132 Thanked 6,841 Times in 1,493 Posts Rep Power: 21474852	Because inquiring minds want to know Ever wondered what would happen if you threw a baseball or softball at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light? What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90% the speed of light? The answer turns out to be “a lot of things”, and they all happen very quickly, and it doesn’t end well for the batter (or the pitcher). I sat down with some physics books, a Nolan Ryan action figure, and a bunch of videotapes of nuclear tests and tried to sort it all out. What follows is my best guess at a nanosecond-by-nanosecond portrait: The ball is going so fast that everything else is practically stationary. Even the molecules in the air are stationary. Air molecules vibrate back and forth at a few hundred miles per hour, but the ball is moving through them at 600 million miles per hour. This means that as far as the ball is concerned, they’re just hanging there, frozen. The ideas of aerodynamics don’t apply here. Normally, air would flow around anything moving through it. But the air molecules in front of this ball don’t have time to be jostled out of the way. The ball smacks into them so hard that the atoms in the air molecules actually fuse with the atoms in the ball’s surface. Each collision releases a burst of gamma rays and scattered particles. These gamma rays and debris expand outward in a bubble centered on the pitcher’s mound. They start to tear apart the molecules in the air, ripping the electrons from the nuclei and turning the air in the stadium into an expanding bubble of incandescent plasma. The wall of this bubble approaches the batter at about the speed of light—only slightly ahead of the ball itself. The constant fusion at the front of the ball pushes back on it, slowing it down, as if the ball were a rocket flying tail-first while firing its engines. Unfortunately, the ball is going so fast that even the tremendous force from this ongoing thermonuclear explosion barely slows it down at all. It does, however, start to eat away at the surface, blasting tiny particulate fragments of the ball in all directions. These fragments are going so fast that when they hit air molecules, they trigger two or three more rounds of fusion. After about 70 nanoseconds the ball arrives at home plate. The batter hasn't even seen the pitcher let go of the ball, since the light carrying that information arrives at about the same time the ball does. Collisions with the air have eaten the ball away almost completely, and it is now a bullet-shaped cloud of expanding plasma (mainly carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen) ramming into the air and triggering more fusion as it goes. The shell of x-rays hits the batter first, and a handful of nanoseconds later the debris cloud hits. When it reaches the batter, the center of the cloud is still moving at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light. It hits the bat first, but then the batter, plate, and catcher are all scooped up and carried backward through the backstop as they disintegrate. The shell of x-rays and superheated plasma expands outward and upward, swallowing the backstop, both teams, the stands, and the surrounding neighborhood—all in the first microsecond. Suppose you’re watching from a hilltop outside the city. The first thing you see is a blinding light, far outshining the sun. This gradually fades over the course of a few seconds, and a growing fireball rises into a mushroom cloud. Then, with a great roar, the blast wave arrives, tearing up trees and shredding houses. Everything within roughly a mile of the park is leveled, and a firestorm engulfs the surrounding city. The baseball diamond is now a sizable crater, centered a few hundred feet behind the former location of the backstop. A careful reading of official Major League Baseball Rule 6.08(b) suggests that in this situation, the batter would be considered "hit by pitch", and would be eligible to advance to first base. Full hillarity, including stick-figure illustrations are at: http://what-if.xkcd.com/1/ __________________ Proud member of the reality-based community. "People on the side of The People always ended up disappointed, in any case. They found that The People tended not to be grateful or appreciative or forward-thinking or obedient. The People tended to be small-minded and conservative and not very clever and were even distrustful of cleverness. And so, the children of the revolution were faced with the age-old problem: it wasn’t that you had the wrong kind of government, which was obvious, but that you had the wrong kind of people. As soon as you saw people as things to be measured, they didn’t measure up." (Terry Pratchett)

03-15-2013, 10:17 PM	#1
Girl_On_Fire Member How Do You Identify?: Femme Preferred Pronoun?: She, Her Relationship Status: On Hiatus Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Connecticut Posts: 690 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 2,020 Thanked 2,684 Times in 562 Posts Rep Power: 21474849	The Coolest Star Trek: The Next Generation Villain EVER! "It's only forever..." Did anyone else want to see them make out? My Favorite Doctor The Goddess Chiana __________________ "Quit trying to reason with unreasonable people. It's like trying to have a meaningful conversation with an end table." ~ Girl_On_Fire

03-19-2013, 12:23 PM	#8
UofMfan Infamous Member How Do You Identify?: Butch Relationship Status: A very happy Mr. Grumpy Cat Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Neither here or there Posts: 7,987 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 27,733 Thanked 18,936 Times in 4,705 Posts Rep Power: 21474859	Not really a Geek but will look like one later this evening.