General Science Discussion Thread!

GalacticPetey said:
Dude, I was just making a Godzilla vs. Megaguirus reference.
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I know I've watched GMK, Final Wars, I'm a fan. But I'm also a serious fan of Science and the good it can do!
 
Replying to the reference anyway, we're making it just to study how particles behave and try to test the theory of the Higg's Boson
 
http://www.buzzfeed.com/kellyoakes/are-you-better-than-the-average-american-at-science?bffb

Thought this was a good place to post it. I got 10/10, but it's sad to think that knowing all these questions are what the average American knows.
 
I got 9/10 because I don't believe in the Big Bang theory. They say that "Matter cannot be created or destroyed". Yet they contradict themselves with this.
 
Dr. Murder said:
I got 9/10 because I don't believe in the Big Bang theory. They say that "Matter cannot be created or destroyed". Yet they contradict themselves with this.
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If you think that's a contradiction then you really don't know what the Big Bang Theory is. They've been trying to figure out how the big bang could've happened--they have not said it just poofed into existence. There's a few neat things involving string theory and multiverse and other shit I don't feel like explaining because google is right over there and it'll explain things better than I can.

DragonFreak said:
Don't they say that all matter was contained in the singularity before The Bing Bang, therefore, none was created or destroyed.
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Something like that, yeah.
 
Dr. Murder said:
I got 9/10 because I don't believe in the Big Bang theory. They say that "Matter cannot be created or destroyed". Yet they contradict themselves with this.
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The theory is heavily supported with tons of evidence, though

ninja'd by 'toad
 
DragonFreak said:
Don't they say that all matter was contained in the singularity before The Bing Bang, therefore, none was created or destroyed.
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But it had to originate from somewhere. And what triggered the BANG? And what is this nonsense about "Time didn't exist before that"?
 
Dr. Murder, the question wasn't "Do you believe in the Big Bang?" It might have not been worded the best way, but it was simply asking how in science the universe began, and the Big Bang Theory is one of the biggest and most supportive theories about how it began.

And who said that Matter was destroyed/created during the Big Bang Theory? Not sure if this is the best example, but I know that if you take a deflated balloon and poke dots on it, as you blow up the balloon, the dots will expand and grow apart for one another. It's not being destroyed nor created.
 
But matter had to be created. This theory says that you had some huge boom with some mysterious atoms that were never created.

A "Theory" is an academic equivalent of a "Guess". I personally believe that the universe is a mystery, and that we probably never will find an answer to the question of its existence...
 
Dr. Murder said:
But matter had to be created. This theory says that you had some huge boom with some mysterious atoms that were never created.

A "Theory" is an academic equivalent of a "Guess". I personally believe that the universe is a mystery, and that we probably never will find an answer to the question of its existence...
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Morty said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang
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And good lord, please don't ever do anything dealing with facts until you learn that a theory is not a "guess".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_theory

A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that is acquired through the scientific method, and repeatedly confirmed through observation and experimentation.[1][2] As with most (if not all) forms of scientific knowledge, scientific theories are inductive — that is, they seek to supply strong evidence for but not absolute proof of the truth of the conclusion—and they aim for predictive and explanatory force.[3][4]

Typically, before a scientific theory can be created, a hypothesis must be developed which is a supposition or proposed explanation that is formed on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation. If a substantial amount of evidence is gathered that consistently suggests the validity of a hypothesis, the hypothesis can be converted into a theory.
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A theory is an academic equivalent of "this is the best answer we have and a ton of tests have not been able to disprove it yet so it's pretty much the correct answer until more evidence may possibly come along to further explain."

Getting this in your head will send you above and beyond the average person and their horrid opinions of science.
 
OK, fine, an educated guess. But how did they come up with this theory?

Morty said:
Getting this in your head will send you above and beyond the average person and their horrid opinions of science.
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I like it how you think you're way better than average.
 
No. Not an educated guess. It's much more than an educated guess. The hypothesis alone is the educated guess and the theory is the result of testing the hypothesis over and over and over and a ton of other things that support it. Read what I said and let it sink in. Don't be stubborn.

Dr. Murder said:
Morty said:
Getting this in your head will send you above and beyond the average person and their horrid opinions of science.
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I like it how you think you're way better than average.
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That's absolutely not what I'm saying. Isn't this entire conversation the product of an online test to figure out if you're smarter than the average American in terms of science or something? Do you not want to be smarter than the average American?
 
And we're helping you turn that 9/10 into a 10/10, but instead you're getting defensive. Read the links and educate yourself that little bit more. Understanding what a theory is is at the base of understanding science in general.
 
Show me the quote, please, with context.

If it's this:
After the initial expansion, the universe cooled sufficiently to allow energy to be converted into various subatomic particles, including protons, neutrons, and electrons. Though simple atomic nuclei formed within the first three minutes after the Big Bang, thousands of years passed before the first electrically neutral atoms formed.
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It clearly says that energy was converted into subatomic particles, and then atoms.
 
And energy cooled off to create them. I don't see your point.

If you're trying to discredit the big bang theory, I hardly doubt a 14 year old on the Mario Forums who doesn't even properly know what a theory is is actually going to do something that thousands upon thousands of highly qualified physicists, astronomers, and other scientists of whatever, have been unable to do. Any nitpick that you're pulling out is a misunderstanding on your part. Please stop.
 
Dr. Murder said:
A "Theory" is an academic equivalent of a "Guess".
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I know it has been addressed but....


did you know that gravity is "ONLY" a theory?
 
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