A thread for those questions you wouldn't dare ask in real life/normally!

skibunnnnny In trying to understand explanations about the universe and ever-expanding, and walking on the surface of a sphere etc, I always get as far as the point when someone says "infinity" or "forever" and get stuck.

I just cannot comprehend it.

My physics teacher at school (very unhelpfully) told us that we shouldn't bother trying to understand it at GCSE level, a true understanding of 'infinity' only becomes possible with emotional maturity. Hmmmm.....

Methe I just tried it and yes I can! But I had never realised before.

Why has "someone been hanged" why have they not been "hung"?

Thank you

Moths, generally are nocturnal for self preservation reasons. I.e. less predators. They are attracted to lights because they navigate by the light of the Moon. Being so far away the light rays from the moon appear parallel on Earth. However they get confused by near sources like streetlights or fire because the light rays are divergent, which drives the moths to circle in closer and closer until

(I love that autocorrect just tried to change phutttt to obituary)

The way I understand it (may be just one theory) is that space is not infinite but has no edge. It is very hard to picture it because we can't conceive of more than 3 dimensions but the analogy in 2 dimensions would be the surface of a sphere. You can travel along the surface of a sphere without ever reaching an edge but it still has a finite size. It is true that the universe is always expanding though.

Hope that makes sense.

A collapsed dead star... Yes.

So a black hole is like an inside out star?

And as per usual... The physicist kills the conversation!

I've not done astrophysics in donkeys years and may not have explained that very well.

I feel like trying to explain quantum theory now, but I can't, I just can't. When I was at uni we first learned classical physics, we moved on to modern physics and quantum theory/mechanics reared it's ugly head... It's just a branch of physics that helps describe and explain really small physics (sub-atomic) very, very small.

It's a massive subject area... I couldn't even begin on Mumsnet (and on my iPhone).

wannabe right black holes. Black holes are formed when massive stars (think 20-30x larger than the sun) die. They collapse in on themselves in a massive explosion (supernova). The star gets smaller and more dense and the gravitational field becomes so strong that nothing (no radiation, therefore also light and no matter) can escape it.

I'm afraid I don't have time to explain all of quantum theory to you load... I am a physicist but it's just so bloody hard (to understand and explain).

load we know the universe is expanding because we have measured the velocities of galaxies and with very few exceptions they are all moving away from us, the further the galaxies are from us the faster they are moving away from us. The galaxies appear to be moving away from us because the universe is expanding and the space between galaxies is getting larger. This observation fits extremely well with Einstein's theory (general relativity), although Einstein didn't initially believe it himself until convinced by Hubble (the scientist not the telescope) who first measured/observed this.

Therefore if we accept that the universe is expanding (which we do) it must have originally started from a something now coined the big bang.

About babies remembering things, I have several vivid memories fron when I was a baby so yes I can assure anyone wondering that babies can and do form memories.

LunaticFringe I can see what you're saying regarding colour. I can be matching a sample of blue I created with a swatch I've been given but while both may look the same to me, the blue I see would not be the same blue you see, but you're still likely to see both pieces of fabric as being the same colour (assuming I'd dyed it correctly).

Kim, if I wake up as it's getting light now I can't get back to sleep properly. Your explanation might explain why I sleep better in winter. I need to add a blackout blind I think, I really do find it difficult to sleep if it's not dark.

bordello -- the older I get, the more introvert I think I am getting
When I listen in on colleagues at work 'chatting' to one another I sometimes wish you could wipe out all of the meaningless bullshit chatter and distil the verbal communication that was actually essential into about 3 words for the whole day.
the average conversation in the UK would definitely involve weather, it's also hard at parties to keep your face on the 'interested' expression and how do you elegantly escape from a dullard anyway?

I think this is interesting.

all of the memory questions - the filing cabinet/computer file theories are helpful simple ideas to start to think about memories, but we still have no idea how they actually work, the utter mind-boggling complexity, the strangeness of human memory.
have just read a thriller by Nicci French about recovered/false memories

What is a black hole? Always heard of them but dont get it.

How interesting do you find the average conversation with the average person?

methe I can do the ear noise thing, is it your jaw joint cracking? heard in your ears? oh no, its air moving round my earholes..

kim147

Thanks for the explanation. I suppose I'm classed as a light sleeper then ?

Just wish I did go to sleep in the evening, and not between 2 and 3 am which it usually is. Maybe new curtains, with extra blackout lining ? Or where could I get some new melatonin ?

The teenagers thing is very interesting. I have one of them, and his sleep patterns have changed so much. I don't ever make any comment about him being lazy, because I am very aware that it is something that they can't actually 'control'.

Fancy wanting to induce jetlag. I've never had it, but I can't imagine it's much fun !

I don't believe the universe is expanding - how do they even know this?
and what the actual is quantum theory and wormholes and the like