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03-16-2010, 10:48 PM
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#21481 (permalink) | |
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Casual... Real Casual
Location: Orstraylia
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Quote:
Well, I wouldn't call it "big"..... Perhaps medium sized? Tis, white though, to be sure..... . ---------- Post added at 02:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:47 PM ---------- Hey..... got the new page!
__________________
"And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking.
Racing around to come up behind you again. The sun is the same in a relative way but your older, shorter of breath, and one day closer to death" ...pink floyd |
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03-17-2010, 11:01 AM
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#21486 (permalink) |
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Riding the Ocean Spray
Location: S.E. PA in U Sofa
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Talk about problems, the longest standing math problem in the world is standing no more; i.e. Fermat's Last Theorem.
While this might be old news to all you math buffs, I'll take the liberty to post about it here hoping that this might be one of the longest posts in the longest thread. It doesn't have to be "longest"; "one of the longest" is good enough for me until further notice. Fermat proposed that x^n + y^n = z^n has no non-zero integer solutions for x, y and z when n > 2. This simple conjecture was not solved for over 350 years and through the centuries became one of math’s greatest puzzles. Then came along Andrew Wiles. As a child Wiles loved doing math problems. When he was ten he came across Fermat’s Last Theorem which was, at the time, unsolved for 300 years. “It looked so simple, and yet all the great mathematicians in history couldn’t solve it,” said Wiles. “I had to solve it.” Wiles quickly became obsessed with solving the problem. Throughout his teenage and college years he worked on it, using his own methods and that of the mathematicians who had worked on it before him. However, when he became a research student he decided to put the problem aside. Wiles realized that current techniques could not solve the problem and that one could spend years without making any progress. Also, a proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem would be completely useless to mathematics – it would not lead to anything useful for mathematicians. Instead, he went on to study elliptical curves at Cambridge. His study of elliptical curves would prove useful, for in 1986 a new possibility was presented to Wiles. Ken Ribet linked Fermat’s Last Theorem to another unsolved problem, the Taniyama-Shimura conjecture, which happened to be about elliptical curves. If one conjecture was true, both were – thus, if Wiles could prove the Taniyama-Shimura conjecture, he could prove Fermat’s Last Theorem as well. From that moment on he was determined to solve the riddle. He dropped all other projects he was working on and concentrated on the Taniyama-Shimura conjecture – in secrecy and isolation. “I realized that anything to do with Fermat’s Last Theorem generates too much interest. You can’t really focus yourself for years unless you have undivided concentration, which too many spectators would have destroyed.” His wife did not even know that he was working on the problem until he told her during their honeymoon. Wiles worked on the problem alone for seven years. He devoted all of his time to working on the proof, the only exception being spending time with his family. He had a few breakthroughs but not a complete proof until one day in spring of 1993 in which he had the idea of examining the elliptical curves from the prime five instead of the prime three. Working feverishly (and forgetting to eat lunch), Wiles went to his wife that afternoon saying he had the proof. Wiles introduced the proof in a series of three lectures which made no mention of Fermat’s Last Theorem, but rather of elliptical curves. However, the audience realized by the end of the third lecture what Wiles was leading them towards. Once Wiles had finished his proof of the Taniyama-Shimura conjecture, he put Fermat’s Last Theorem on the board then concluded saying, “I think I’ll stop there.” Wiles gained instant fame for having developed a solution to Fermat’s Last Theorem. However, soon Nick Katz discovered that there was an error in a key section of his original proof. This setback proved difficult for Wiles to overcome, and none of the methods he tried could solve the error. He was about to give up when he re-examined his original (though discarded) method and found that there was actually a way to use it to resolve his mistake. “It was so indescribably beautiful,” said Wiles about the moment he solved the problem. “It was so simple and so elegant, and I just stared in disbelief for twenty minutes.” Thus, in 1994 the final proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem was complete, weighing it at 200 pages, more complex than most people can understand. The full riddle, however, is still not completely solved, for it remains unknown whether Fermat ever really had a brilliant proof to his conjecture. Fermat could not have thought of Wiles’ proof – Wiles says that, “the techniques used in this proof just weren’t around in Fermat’s time.” With the many mathematicians who had thought they’d solved it in the past, it is possible that Fermat deluded himself as well – but a simpler solution may still exist. Wiles, however, is content with his difficult proof – “I had this very rare privilege of being able to pursue in my adult life what had been my childhood dream.” I hope they named A & W Root Beer after Andrew Wiles in honor of this achievement. Last edited by BadNick; 03-17-2010 at 11:04 AM.. |
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03-17-2010, 01:16 PM
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#21487 (permalink) | |
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The Reforms
Location: Rarely, if ever, here or there, but always in transition
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Quote:
---------- Post added at 05:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:14 PM ---------- I'm stranded and cold and maybe hungry, on... 
__________________
As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves. —Mohandas K. Gandhi |
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03-17-2010, 03:24 PM
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#21489 (permalink) |
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The Reforms
Location: Rarely, if ever, here or there, but always in transition
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what am I not supposed to take personally?
where are you? what am I?  Spotted on on John St. in Brighton, blokes. Blimey! We were warned.
__________________
As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves. —Mohandas K. Gandhi |
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03-17-2010, 05:04 PM
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#21491 (permalink) | |
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The Reforms
Location: Rarely, if ever, here or there, but always in transition
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Quote:
to: the white rabbit.  he pops up everywhere in life, whether I like it or not. (and the above would be a nice little kitch addition to my bunny ears+santa hats collection.)
__________________
As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves. —Mohandas K. Gandhi |
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03-17-2010, 05:20 PM
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#21493 (permalink) |
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The Reforms
Location: Rarely, if ever, here or there, but always in transition
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I like those sort of films (I like any recommended film at all, I think).
Had I recommended this one to you as of yet? The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie This is one of, if I recall correctly, maybe 3 films in total that mirrors my life, my dreams, and my afterlife precisely (not accurately though, because I'm neither French nor Spanish), Also, the first time I saw the film above, I had this immediate inner notion that it would become one of my top five films of all time, and I was not wrong in that assumption.
__________________
As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves. —Mohandas K. Gandhi |
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03-17-2010, 05:28 PM
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#21494 (permalink) |
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Riding the Ocean Spray
Location: S.E. PA in U Sofa
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that's a beautiful film that I really liked, saw it shortly after it was released many years ago. I should watch it again this weekend.
Back in my "movie" days I'd watch several a day, I wasn't married, no kids, no commitments, just my big house and me and a TV, and a VCR since that was pre-video discs except for those huge laser discs that I think Sony made. ...ahhh, the good old days; then I'd watch the ones I liked again until I had enough to think about. Luis Buñuel's films were always very interesting. |
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03-17-2010, 05:33 PM
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#21495 (permalink) |
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The Reforms
Location: Rarely, if ever, here or there, but always in transition
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hey a quick question Nick, ol' boy: did you happen to see (and perhaps save?) that photo-linked post of paddyjoe's, the one where Bettie Page was photographed in a 3-way-mirror-splice-kind-of-way (and it was also monochrome)?
I wanted to re-host the broken image and send it to joe so that he can fix his post, but I can't find it myself.
__________________
As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves. —Mohandas K. Gandhi |
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03-17-2010, 05:48 PM
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#21496 (permalink) |
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Riding the Ocean Spray
Location: S.E. PA in U Sofa
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Jet, is it this photo? http://www.photographersgallery.com/...ge_fan_101.jpg ...oops, that's not monochrome. I'll keep looking.
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03-17-2010, 06:16 PM
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#21497 (permalink) |
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The Reforms
Location: Rarely, if ever, here or there, but always in transition
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wow, that's not bad.
that is to say, I actually love that photo, and I think paddyjoe might love it, too (maybe enough to replace his previously-original-but-now-broken post with your exquisite found image instead.
__________________
As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves. —Mohandas K. Gandhi |
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03-17-2010, 10:03 PM
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#21498 (permalink) |
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Casual... Real Casual
Location: Orstraylia
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Never mind the Rabbits.
Them bloody cane toads.... Queensland introdused them They should pay to get rid of them.... The federal government plans to abandon efforts to eradicate cane toads, and instead focus on saving certain areas and animals like the quoll and goanna from the pest. The new strategy comes after recent research showed some native animal species adapt to cane toads in their environment, after an initial decrease in numbers. It proposes giving up on efforts to rid Australia of the invasive toad, which is poisonous when ingested and competes with native species for food and shelter. "Neither the resources nor the technologies required to contain and eradicate cane toad numbers on a continental scale are available," the plan, released on Wednesday, says. Fed govt changes tack on cane toads - The West Australian
__________________
"And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking.
Racing around to come up behind you again. The sun is the same in a relative way but your older, shorter of breath, and one day closer to death" ...pink floyd |
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03-18-2010, 05:41 AM
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#21499 (permalink) |
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Riding the Ocean Spray
Location: S.E. PA in U Sofa
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Predators
Many species prey on the cane toad in its native habitat. These include the Broad-snouted Caiman (Caiman latirostris), the Banded Cat-eyed Snake (Leptodeira annulata), the eel (family: Anguillidae), various species of killifish, the Rock flagtail (Kuhlia rupestris), some species of catfish (order: Siluriformes) and some species of ibis (subfamily: Threskiornithinae). Predators outside the cane toad's native range include the Whistling Kite (Haliastur sphenurus), the Rakali (Hydromys chrysogaster), the Black Rat (Rattus rattus) and the Water Monitor (Varanus salvator). There have been occasional reports of the Tawny Frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) and the Papuan Frogmouth (Podargus papuensis) feeding on cane toads.  |
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03-18-2010, 05:46 AM
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#21500 (permalink) |
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Casual... Real Casual
Location: Orstraylia
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crikey, you are a wealth of information... Get your ass to Oz!
__________________
"And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking.
Racing around to come up behind you again. The sun is the same in a relative way but your older, shorter of breath, and one day closer to death" ...pink floyd |
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03-18-2010, 09:56 AM
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#21502 (permalink) |
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The Reforms
Location: Rarely, if ever, here or there, but always in transition
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Was this the sequel to that video I posted around 18 pages back?
__________________
As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves. —Mohandas K. Gandhi |
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03-18-2010, 04:27 PM
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#21506 (permalink) |
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Riding the Ocean Spray
Location: S.E. PA in U Sofa
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For some of you non-where in the world am I folks, here's the last place I was and it's another one of those longest things:
 The Sandia Peak Tramway, located adjacent to Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, is the world's longest passenger aerial tramway. It also has the world's third longest single span. It stretches from the Northeast edge of the city to the crestline of the Sandia Mountains.  |
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03-18-2010, 10:48 PM
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#21508 (permalink) |
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Casual... Real Casual
Location: Orstraylia
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Another one b4 I go....
__________________
"And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking.
Racing around to come up behind you again. The sun is the same in a relative way but your older, shorter of breath, and one day closer to death" ...pink floyd |
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03-19-2010, 06:03 AM
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#21510 (permalink) |
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Eat your vegetables
Super Moderator
Location: Arabidopsis-ville
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BadNick, that appears to be a beautiful ride. I'll add that to my list of places I'd like to see someday.
__________________
"Sometimes I have to remember that things are brought to me for a reason, either for my own lessons or for the benefit of others." Cynthetiq "violence is no more or less real than non-violence." roachboy |
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03-19-2010, 07:50 AM
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#21512 (permalink) |
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Eat your vegetables
Super Moderator
Location: Arabidopsis-ville
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The Sandia Peak Tramway, of course. Though the wave in your avatar is equally enticing. I'm afraid that I'm not too interested in the other option you present.
__________________
"Sometimes I have to remember that things are brought to me for a reason, either for my own lessons or for the benefit of others." Cynthetiq "violence is no more or less real than non-violence." roachboy |
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03-19-2010, 11:00 AM
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#21515 (permalink) |
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Riding the Ocean Spray
Location: S.E. PA in U Sofa
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Probably because it's so beautiful outside, this seems like the longest day. Pretty soon I'm leaving work early to have a couple brews with friends at our favorite Tony's Place nearby. Wish you all could be here.
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03-19-2010, 08:10 PM
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#21518 (permalink) |
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Casual... Real Casual
Location: Orstraylia
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__________________
"And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking.
Racing around to come up behind you again. The sun is the same in a relative way but your older, shorter of breath, and one day closer to death" ...pink floyd |
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03-20-2010, 07:30 AM
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#21520 (permalink) |
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still, wondering.
Location: South Minneapolis, somewhere near the gorgeous gorge
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Maybe so,
but if there's no pain does it hurt? 2+1-5=-2+0 Or, elsewise, if it doesn't hurt is it pain?
__________________
BE JUST AND FEAR NOT 
Last edited by Ourcrazymodern?; 03-20-2010 at 07:32 AM.. |
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| longest, thread, tlte! |
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