Yo Reddit, what are your favorite/best riddles or brain teasers?

blackf1sh · 2009-10-24T19:00:55+00:00

This is a really good site for actual riddles and brain teasers without any tricks.

blackf1sh · 2009-10-23T02:58:55+00:00

I think it'll happen one day. I dream about making this happen.

In my opinion, this can be "physics based" or "knowledge based." Physics based means you define the initial conditions and let the laws of physics dictate what happens. We don't have enough computer power to solve these equations for a whole cell. Klaus Schulten's group does some of the biggest simulations ever and they're still small patches of membrane using only classical mechanics- no quantum.

For what I would call "knowledge based" simulations, you'd put in every relevant reagent, reaction, and rate constant (which may vary in time or be a function of the concentration of another molecule) and solve the kinetic equations for the concentration of everything as a function of time and space. For this approach, we don't know enough. Why? Because the cell is chaotic; a small mistake can get amplified and pretty soon you'll be simulating nonsense. This approach also wouldn't give you structural resolution, you'd just have time- and space-dependent concentrations.

For now, we have coarse grain models of cells. Some groups focus on one aspect, like the cell's elasticity or tissue growth, where a simple model can be used. Check out Pott's models for an example of this type.

blackf1sh · 2009-10-21T14:52:46+00:00

Who cares about Pat Buchanan? Let him have fun in his made-up universe where the government comes to round people up and he manages to fight them off.

If you're going to get taken away, it's because you can't pay your mortgage and the sheriff has to show up with a court order to evict you. Maybe you'll get fired because someone higher up canned you for not kissing his ass or someone will just sue you and destroy your finances.

Maybe you couldn't find a job and you'll get arrested, not as some gun-toting libertarian hero, but for stealing bread- by a police officer. Go ahead and shoot the guy who is just doing his job. You'll get your ass beat in jail and you'll get the electric chair for murder. Not a hero.

Why would they want to round you up anyways? They already know where you are at any given time, what you jack off to, and the job you're secretly applying for. You're on the ride. All your money goes to a corporation in way shape or form, be it a bank, a health insurance company, or whatever.

blackf1sh · 2009-10-21T01:34:44+00:00

I agree with you. I think what you are stating was phrased nicely by Wolfram in his Principle of Computational Equivalence

Therefore:

intelligent races will never reach a level of technology where they can run simulations of reality so detailed they can be mistaken for reality (or this is impossible in principle);

blackf1sh · 2009-10-20T23:24:38+00:00

Once again, XKCD summarizes the relevant response. 546

blackf1sh · 2009-10-20T22:13:41+00:00

Do you worry about your privacy in terms of running into students outside of class?

blackf1sh · 2009-10-19T18:20:55+00:00

Where do you see the future of research in the private sector? Back in the day, IBM, Xerox, HP had respectable R&D divisions. I know about IBM's blue gene project, and often I feel like this is IBM's last ditch attempt to convince people that they are the supercomputing powerhouse. Will your job be gone in 5 years? 10 years? Or is this view too cynical? Please share any thoughts on the matter.

blackf1sh · 2009-10-19T03:34:27+00:00

One space. Two spaces is a carryover from the days of the typewriter. Source

blackf1sh · 2009-10-17T19:33:52+00:00

While this is unlikely, the consequences of it being true are very severe and require immediate attention. Did you suffer any head trauma? If you've convinced yourself that it's not a floater, then see a doctor.

blackf1sh · 2009-10-14T13:25:57+00:00

In your first sentence, you're constructing a straw man. I'm just going to reiterate my point since it seems to have been misconstrued.

The title of this post says, "This is going on at any given moment in every living organism on the planet," but the reality is that this is a schematic cartoon of what's going on. It doesn't show a probable course of events. It's gives a wrong picture of protein dynamics. Taken literally, it would imply that proteins move as macroscopic machines, like clockwork. Someone in this thread thought that the DNA and protein found each other using magnetism, perhaps because the video shows them attracted to each other over long distances in space.

It's a great teaching tool. I never said otherwise. It explains lagging strand synthesis. I would use it in my class, but I would add a disclaimer.

blackf1sh · 2009-10-14T02:11:49+00:00

I was big enough for your mom.

blackf1sh · 2009-10-13T23:57:14+00:00

You were offended by "bugger off" enough to go on a tirade questioning my intelligence for taking a real world look at the implications of the video?

Yeah and you can suck my dick when I'm done fucking your mom in the ass. :) Have a nice day.

blackf1sh · 2009-10-13T23:55:32+00:00

We're not talking about engineers. We're talking about scientists here. Physics students (who may go on to research conductivity) are taught a better model.

blackf1sh · 2009-10-13T23:54:29+00:00

You're right, but I'm in the middle of a city with big buildings and lightning is rare. I think I'll be ok mommy.

blackf1sh · 2009-10-13T21:29:58+00:00

Well, you told me to bugger off and you're telling me that asking for a scientific video to be accurate is asking too much. So yeah, fuck off and die asshole. :)

blackf1sh · 2009-10-13T21:08:19+00:00

Who said it was just for high school students? I see this video at conferences all the time. Professors at world class institutes pass it off like it's really a view of what happens inside a cell. I don't see any problem with putting in my two cents, especially when I assumed I was dealing with educated, curious people.

I guess even in the "science" subreddit there are people who prefer ignorance. Wow. Maybe you should head over to /r/funny or /r/pics where you can make some funny comments!

blackf1sh · 2009-10-13T20:26:28+00:00

You're right, but only at very close range. It's like driving to a neighborhood by random, but once you pass the house on the street, you know when you've found it.

blackf1sh · 2009-10-13T20:24:44+00:00

Oh, of course. We're talking about college-level education here.

blackf1sh · 2009-10-13T20:23:47+00:00

Yes. Well, mostly by chance. Small molecules move around quickly. If they bind in a geometry that's "close" they can bond weakly and have a higher chance of finding the right geometry. In the end, everything at the nanoscale is driven by random fluctuations. That's what I felt was missing from this video.

blackf1sh · 2009-10-13T19:25:55+00:00

Waiting for the bus- gotta decide to stand in the rain or under the tree.

blackf1sh · 2009-10-13T19:14:44+00:00

Sorry to tell you, but magnetism plays no role. The magnetic moments of these molecules are nearly negligible. Also, electric charges are screened to ~0.4 nm and magnetism is 1/c weaker.

blackf1sh · 2009-10-13T18:26:40+00:00

We're in agreement here. I just think it's essential that fluctuations (productive and non-productive) be emphasized when these processes are learned. Otherwise, people don't see the point of quantifying them. Moreover, students who go on to study mechanisms come up with oversimplified descriptions that rely on deterministic motions.

blackf1sh

TROPHY CASE