Hot answers tagged technology
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This question is sort of difficult to answer in an objective way, because it depends very strongly on your definition of "best." Natural selection favors traits which provide a reproductive advantage; no more, no less.
Could our eyes be better by the standards of modern optical design, in terms of precision and features? Sure. I could easily design a camera ...
13
QM already made a big change to our lives:
Without QM no transistors. Without transistors, no modern computers. Without modern computers, you wouldn't have been able to ask your question here.
Before an integrated circuit (that encapsulates an array of transistors in a piece of computer equipment, say) is mass produced, one must do a huge number of ...
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[Updated to correct a couple of mistakes pointed out in comments. Thanks!]
At my age, it's clear that there's room for at least one major improvement: more accommodation. Accommodation, in this context, means the ability of the eye to focus at different distances. This is accomplished by changing the shape, and hence the focal length, of the lens. The lens ...
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This is a common misconception -- evolution has not stopped a million years ago leaving all the creatures in the "best possible state"; it is a continuous pursuit of adapting to the current environmental conditions, with only aim in reproductive success. Moreover most of the population stays in even more suboptimal surroundings due to random mutations (the ...
6
There are several different levels of advanced in quantum mechanics. I will try to answer using these levels of quantum mechanics:
Basic: single particle or single particles interacting with a single atom/nucleus, or classical field picture--- anything Einstein would have been comfortable with.
Advanced: highly entangled many-body quantum mechanics, ...
5
As an ex-physicist who now works as a quant in power markets I think it's safe to say the physics of the matter will be swamped by the economics in commodities and how power markets work. Two things to note:
power prices are set by markets and not by the viability of the technology (prime mover)
solar is hard to make money with w/o a long term Power ...
4
This question can’t be answered exactly properly. The eyes we humans have evolved to be “about” the best available to us hominids. There are other species of life with eyes better adapted for their econiches. Eagles and hawks have eyes capable of far better resolution at great distances. They can soar 500 meters above the ground and spot a small animal ...
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The human eye is an indifferent camera. Compared to a hawk's, it is laughable. A hawk can sit on top of the Empire State Building and make out a dime on the sidewalk.
What makes the human eye any good at all is the software behind it: what our brains provide. You do realize that what really focuses on our retinas is an upside-down, tunnel-vision image that ...
3
a few different answers:
no, it's easy to imagine small improvements: more regular lenses, wider spectrum sensibility, more than three color sensors...
not only not the best possible, but also have some fortuitous bad choices, the most commented is the retina orientation that makes it easy to detach with a big impact. the very similar but independently ...
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At first glance, this is more an engineering question than a physics question, lurscher's comment actually answered it: Engineers think about possible solutions and their implications, test some of them in simulations and finally test some in real life or with models.
Note that 'think about their implications' actually means doing tons of calculations, doing ...
2
the simple answer is no. Materials for an Earth elevator are at least one order of strength too weak at this time. Mars gravity is around 0.378 of earth, so materials are still too weak.
The long answer is much more complicated:
1. Taper of the tether plays a role as much as the safety factor you want to engineer into your elevator, how much a tether can ...
2
This is only a response to your edit:
EDIT: From what I experienced, experiments are already producing results, when theorists are still trying to fit their theories to the data. So why do you need the theoretical calculations then? Do they have predictive power that would be found easier and more precise with experiments?
What sort of predictive power ...
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When silicene is buckled on the substrate it has a substantial band gap or in other words it can be turned on or off thus making it appropriate for digital applications. Graphene doesn't have a band gap so it isn't so good for digital circuits. Although techniques have been developed to produce a band gap and transistors have been made, they say that the ...
1
In fact, we already have imaged extraterrestrial planets. You can find a list here, with perhaps the most famous system being HR 8799.
Of course, that quote was referring to Earth-like planets, and you can see from the list I linked that everything we've seen is more massive and further out than even Jupiter. The challenge that confronts direct imaging is ...
1
My answer should possibly satisfy you, I think. Here is an artist's conception of Mars Science Laboratory Entry, Descent & Landing...
Curiosity is large in size as it has 10 science instruments to find the availability of life in Mars. Also it uses Multi-Mission Radio-isotope Thermal Generator for fuel. Hence, airbags cannot be used to handle such a ...
1
The relevant comparison is between bulbs with similar light power.
Let's assume for sake of argument that a 20 W CFL light generates as much light as a 100 W incandescent bulb. For instance, both generate 5 W of light. If you leave the CFL light burning in a room, you get 15 W of heat and 5 W of light. If the room has no windows, no light energy leaves the ...
1
No they won't
if you're reading the "watts" off the package.
That is because for an incandescent bulb, the "60 W" is a measure of the actual electric power it dissipates. Most of that power is thermal (i.e. heat) from the get go, and every last Watt ends up heating in the room eventually (when the light energy thermalizes).
On the other hand, CF lamps ...
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