Path integrals on BBC2

[cojak]

The problem is the BBC and the meedja studies production crews who insist on trying to make science popular through the use of "arty" shots, generally of Cox getting all dewy eyed whilst staring into the distance etc...

It really is spoiling it for us proper nerds and geeks who have spent ******* decades watching this stuff before it became cool to be a geek.

Real Nerds V Fake Nerds - Damn! LOL

Oh he even had that covered "hold on, I have to do a dewy-eyed pose pointing to the stars for some of my audience"...."right, now that that's out of the way..."



I lurve PBC...

[d000hg]

The problem is the BBC and the meedja studies production crews who insist on trying to make science popular through the use of "arty" shots, generally of Cox getting all dewy eyed whilst staring into the distance etc...

The thing last night was Cox in a small lecture theatre with a table and a blackboard. More like the Xmas lectures in spirit than a documentary.

[cojak]

The thing last night was Cox in a small lecture theatre with a table and a blackboard. More like the Xmas lectures in spirit than a documentary.

It was the same theatre, it just looked smaller because of the audience.

[cojak]

Apparently the RI are well on their way to going bust.

Yes, I read that. Prof Cary Cooper is very vocal about it at the moment.

[Normie]

I couldn't get my head around the bit where he said that no 2 electrons in the universe can have exactly the same energy level (Pauli Exclusion Principle). He said that if he warmed up the diamond he was holding, therefore changing the energy of the electrons in it, then this led to instantaneous changes in all electron energy levels in all atoms in the universe. WTF??? Or did I misunderstand that wrong?

[cojak]

I couldn't get my head around the bit where he said that no 2 electrons in the universe can have exactly the same energy level (Pauli Exclusion Principle). He said that if he warmed up the diamond he was holding, therefore changing the energy of the electrons in it, then this led to instantaneous changes in all electron energy levels in all atoms in the universe. WTF??? Or did I misunderstand that wrong?

I just went with the flow...

[cojak]

Talking of constants, Mr C has been complaining all weekend that his new calculator doesn't have a constant button (his old one did).

He wasn't amused when I said that maybe not many people used it and the old one was considered over-engineered*.

(*I don't agree with this possibility, if only for the sake of marital harmony.)

[d000hg]

I couldn't get my head around the bit where he said that no 2 electrons in the universe can have exactly the same energy level (Pauli Exclusion Principle). He said that if he warmed up the diamond he was holding, therefore changing the energy of the electrons in it, then this led to instantaneous changes in all electron energy levels in all atoms in the universe. WTF??? Or did I misunderstand that wrong?

Doesn't sound right to me though I hesitate to say it's wrong... it's pretty fundamental that information can't travel faster than light so 'instantaneously' is a dangerous word to use.

[Spacecadet]

I couldn't get my head around the bit where he said that no 2 electrons in the universe can have exactly the same energy level (Pauli Exclusion Principle).

They can, it's slightly more complicated than that, did he mention spin states?
To be more precise no two electrons can occupy the same quantum energy state

He said that if he warmed up the diamond he was holding, therefore changing the energy of the electrons in it, then this led to instantaneous changes in all electron energy levels in all atoms in the universe. WTF??? Or did I misunderstand that wrong?

Probably analogous to blowing in a hurricane. You will effect every other bit of air in the hurricane but the signal to noise ratio of trying to measure the change will be rather high!

[d000hg]

Isn't position part of quantum state, therefore 2 electrons on opposite sites of the room/galaxy can be otherwise identical?

Haven't watched that bit of the program, maybe I'll iPlayer it to see what he really said before disagreeing with it...