Time Machine Science topics notes
Precision vs. Accuracy
Precision is getting the same, or close to the same answer repeatedly. It’s doing everything the same each time you do a problem or experiment.
Accuracy means that you get the right or close to the right answer.
You can be accurate without being precise, you can be precise without being accurate.
https://www.wpclipart.com/recreation/games/darts/dartboard.png.html
So are the following examples precise, accurate, both or neither.
- The actual size is 6.03, your measurements are: 4.29, 4.28, 4.279, 5.0
- The actual size is 10, your measurements are: 10, 15, 8, 3
- The actual size is .00043, your measurements are: .0043, .000043, .00044, .00049
- The actual size is 100,000, your measurements are: 100,000, 85,000, 85,000, 85,000,
Four Dimensions:
Length ( breadth)
Height
Width ( thickness)
Time
This diagram represents the three dimensions. Add it moving through time as the fourth.
https://www.google.com/search?q=three+dimensional&safe=strict&espv=2&biw=1024&bih=643&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjg26TIo6DLAhWLVD4KHThVDmUQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=8scQ2sVh7arL1M%3A
Barometer: an instrument for determining the pressure of the atmosphere and hence for assisting in forecasting weather and for determining altitude
Velocity: Velocity is a vector quantity that refers to "the rate at which an object changes its position." Imagine a person moving rapidly - one step forward and one step back - always returning to the original starting position. While this might result in a frenzy of activity, it would result in a zero velocity. Because the person always returns to the original position, the motion would never result in a change in position. Since velocity is defined as the rate at which the position changes, this motion results in zero velocity.
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/1DKin/Lesson-1/Speed-and-Velocity
Acceleration: Acceleration is a vector quantity that is defined as the rate at which an object changes its velocity. An object is accelerating if it is changing its velocity. Sports announcers will occasionally say that a person is accelerating if he/she is moving fast. Yet acceleration has nothing to do with going fast. A person can be moving very fast and still not be accelerating. Acceleration has to do with changing how fast an object is moving. If an object is not changing its velocity, then the object is not accelerating.
Paradox: Simple Definition of paradox
: something (such as a situation) that is made up of two opposite things and that seems impossible but is actually true or possible
: someone who does two things that seem to be opposite to each other or who has qualities that are opposite
: a statement that seems to say two opposite things but that may be true
So, in time travel, what do we mean by Paradox? A paradox happens when someone goes back in time and something changes. Think of “It’s Wonderful Life”. When George wishes he had never been born, all the things that he affected changes, his brother drowns, all the men on the transport in the military die, his uncle is committed for insanity, his mother becomes hard, his wife never marries, his children are never born, Mr. Gower goes to jail for killing a kid, Martini never owns his own house or the bar, Violet becomes a prostitute, Mr. Potter owns everything in town because the Building and Loan closes.
Basically, every event, no matter how minor can have a ripple effect. When that event is removed, it leaves a hole and the events subsequent to the original event are changed.
Solstice: either of the two times a year when the sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator: about June 21, when the sun reaches its northernmost point on the celestial sphere, or about December 22, when it reaches its southernmost point.
Compare summer solstice, winter solstice.
Atoms: Smallest particle that has its own properties. For example, everyone knows what gold is. If I were to cut a piece of gold in half over and over, it would still be metallic and shiny and that specific color. At a certain point, too small to be seen by the naked eye, if I were to cut the atom any further, it would no longer have those qualities. It would be made of sub-atomic particles, the protons, neutrons, and electrons, which do have the specific physical qualities of gold but when combined in certain numbers create atoms with specific qualities.
Molecules: are particles that are made of atoms and held together by the sharing of electrons. Molecules can have different properties than that of the atoms that they are made from. For example, I can take sodium, a shiny metal that is s soft that it can be cut with a butter knife, yet is so reactive, that it has to be kept in oil because if it touches air it catches on fire. Then take Chlorine. A toxic, green gas known as mustard gas during the wars in the early 1900’s. Each have very specific properties. When I combine them chemically, they turn into sodium chloride, basic table salt. Hardly toxic like mustard gas or flammable like sodium metal. So when these chemicals combine, we can see that they have new properties that do not reflect the original chemical properties of the atoms that make up the molecule.
Oxidation: oxidation is simply the loss of electrons when two or more atoms interact. Oxidation gets its name from oxygen since it was originally noticed that when metals were left in the presence of oxygen they would rust, or oxidate. Oxygen is a very reactive element and it almost always steals electrons away from other atoms. When it does, the original material changes in the way it looks and often then strength or affinity for its particles.
Rust: 
Verdigris: a bright bluish-green encrustation or patina formed on copper or brass by atmospheric oxidation, consisting of basic copper carbonate.
https://www.google.com/search?q=verdigris&safe=strict&espv=2&biw=1024&bih=643&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiuhrHquqDLAhWFOiYKHbIPBjkQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=Dm4mBvY5V7yI7M%3A
How do rivers move over time? Let’s start with an easy one. Niagara Falls.
What causes the change in the location of Niagara Falls? Basically it is simple erosion. Recession for at least the last 560 years has been estimated at 1 to 1.5 metres per year. Its current rate of erosion is estimated at 1 foot per year and could possibly be reduced to 1 foot per 10 years. The rate has been greatly reduced due to flow control and diversion for hydro-power generation. 50,000 years from now, at the present rate of erosion, the remaining 20 miles to Lake Erie will have been undermined. There won’t be a falls anymore, but there will still be a river at work and perhaps a series of rapids will remain.
Overall, rivers change due to the water flowing through them. The average stream has water pressure at different levels due to the amount of water, the slope of the water bed, the type of soil or rock below or to the side of the stream.
Will the planets return to the sun?
By the late 20th century, astronomers had a much better grip on this fundamental cosmic metric – what came to be called the astronomical unit. In fact, thanks to radar beams pinging off various solar-system bodies and to tracking of interplanetary spacecraft, the sun-Earth distance has been pegged with remarkable accuracy. The current value stands at 149,597,870.696 kilometres.
Having such a precise yardstick allowed Russian dynamicists Gregoriy A. Krasinsky and Victor A. Brumberg to calculate, in 2004, that the sun and Earth are gradually moving apart. It’s not much – just 15 cm per year – but since that’s 100 times greater than the measurement error, something must really be pushing Earth outward. But what?
One idea is that the Sun is losing enough mass, via fusion and the solar wind, to gradually be losing its gravitational grip (see Astronomical unit may need to be redefined). Other possible explanations include a change in the gravitational constant G, the effects of cosmic expansion, and even the influence of dark matter. None have proved satisfactory.
Sclera: the white part of the eye
Iris: the colored part of the eye, controls the amount of light that enters the eye
Pupil: The opening that allows light to enter the eye
Cornea: a clear protective covering over the pupil
Optic Nerve: the nerve that takes the impulses that light creates in the eye back to the brain
Retina: the tissue at the back of the eye that receives the light and sends them as impulses to the brain.
Division of a Species
Can a species divide into two separate species or sub-species?
What could cause this to happen?
Environmental factors
Variation
Evolution.
Energy sources:
Autotrophic: makes their own food
Heterotrophic: has to get food
Herbivore: plant eater
Carnivore: meat eater
Omnivore: eats plants and meat
Decomposer: eats dead stuff and recycles it back to environment
Which are the Eloi?
Where does their food come from?
Which are the Morlocks?
How do the Morlocks get their food?
Constellations: Do constellations move and change over time?
If stars never changed, then constellations wouldn't change. But the stars, including the Sun, travel in their own separate orbits through the Milky Way galaxy. The stars move along with fantastic speeds, but they are so far away that it takes a long time for their motion to be visible to us. You can understand this by moving your finger in front of your eyes. Even when you move it very slowly, it may appear to move faster than a speeding jet that is many miles away.
Even the fastest stars take a long time to travel a noticeable distance. A faint star named Barnard's Star moves the fastest through our skies. Still, for it to change its position only by an amount equal to the width of the moon would take about 180 years. The constellations surely change shape, but seeing the changes would require superhuman patience!
Night sky around the world and effects of light pollution.
Link to pictures: http://features.weather.com/stargaze/
So if the time traveler was looking at constellations and the night sky, what would we expect him to see?
What did the book say he saw?
The name "Sirius" is derived from the Ancient Greek Seirios ("glowing" or "scorcher"). The star has the Bayer designation Alpha Canis Majoris
Cannibalism: eating your own species. Most people who perform cannibalism will end up with illness such as prion disease. A prion is an infectious agent thought to be the cause of the transmissible spongiform encephalopathy such as Kuru which is known as a laughing sickness. (There are some cultures which still practice cannibalism but some seem to be immune to these prions).
Prion diseases occur when normal prion protein, found on the surface of many cells, becomes abnormal and clump in the brain, causing brain damage. This abnormal accumulation of protein in the brain can cause memory impairment, personality changes, and difficulties with movement. Experts still don't know a lot about prion diseases, but unfortunately, these disorders are generally fatal.
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/conditions/nervous_system_disorders/prion_diseases_134,56/
Estuary: Estuaries are bodies of water and their surrounding coastal habitats typically found where rivers meet the sea. Estuaries harbor unique plant and animal communities because their waters are brackish—a mixture of fresh water draining from the land and salty seawater
Estuaries are some of the most productive ecosystems in the world. Many animal species rely on estuaries for food and as places to nest and breed. Human communities also rely on estuaries for food, recreation, and jobs.
Red mangroves in the Bahamas
Underwater view. The roots of the mangroves provide structure to the soil and prevent erosion in addition to safe areas for water animals to feed and hide. Estuaries without plants such as the mangrove are likely to change much more rapidly over time.
shutterstock.com
What happens to sea creatures if temperature rises? (taken directly from National Geographic)
As climate change has warmed the Earth, oceans have responded more slowly than land environments. But scientific research is finding that marine ecosystems can be far more sensitive to even the most modest temperature change.
Global warming caused by human activities that emit heat-trapping carbon dioxide has raised the average global temperature by about 1°F (0.6°C) over the past century. In the oceans, this change has only been about 0.18°F (0.1°C). This warming has occurred from the surface to a depth of about 2,300 feet (700 meters), where most marine life thrives.
Perhaps the ocean organism most vulnerable to temperature change is coral. There is evidence that reefs will bleach (eject their symbiotic algae) at even a slight persistent temperature rise. Bleaching slows coral growth, makes them susceptible to disease, and can lead to large-scale reef die-off.
Other organisms affected by temperature change include krill, an extremely important link at the base of the food chain. Research has shown that krill reproduce in significantly smaller numbers when ocean temperatures rise. This can have a cascading effect by disrupting the life cycle of krill eaters, such as penguins and seals—which in turn causes food shortages for higher predators.
Higher Sea Levels
When water heats up, it expands. Thus, the most readily apparent consequence of higher sea temperatures is a rapid rise in sea level. Sea level rise causes inundation of coastal habitats for humans as well as plants and animals, shoreline erosion, and more powerful storm surges that can devastate low-lying areas.
Stronger Storms
Many weather experts say we are already seeing the effects of higher ocean temperatures in the form of stronger and more frequent tropical storms and hurricanes/cyclones. Warmer surface water dissipates more readily into vapor, making it easier for small ocean storms to escalate into larger, more powerful systems.
These stronger storms can increase damage to human structures when they make landfall. They can also harm marine ecosystems like coral reefs and kelp forests. And an increase in storm frequency means less time for these sensitive habitats to recover.
Other Consequences
Warmer sea temperatures are also associated with the spread of invasive species and marine diseases. The evolution of a stable marine habitat is dependent upon myriad factors, including water temperature. If an ecosystem becomes warmer, it can create an opportunity where outside species or bacteria can suddenly thrive where they were once excluded. This can lead to forced migrations and even species extinctions.
Warmer seas also lead to melting from below of polar ice shelves, compromising their structural integrity and leading to spectacular shelf collapses. Scientists also worry that warmer water could interrupt the so-called ocean conveyor belt, the system of global currents that is largely responsible for regulating Earth's temperature. Its collapse could trigger catastrophically rapid climate changes.
Will It Continue?
The only way to reduce ocean temperatures is to dramatically reign in our emission of greenhouse gases. However, even if we immediately dropped carbon dioxide emissions to zero, the gases we've already released would take decades or longer to dissipate.
Eclipse:
By National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) - http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/videogallery/index.html?collection_id=14483&media_id=155578101&module=homepage, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22700005
For the sky to be completely dark due to a solar eclipse, what would need to change? It currently emits some light around the edges, as seen in the previous picture. The other inner planets may reflect the suns light or at least be visible to us due to the location of the planets.
And last but not least, why does the time traveler’s lab come back around him when he leaves and comes home to tell the story to his group of associates?
Wasn’t it moved from where it arrived by the Morlocks at the beginning of the story?
Why didn’t it return to the relative location that is was moved?
Or when he time traveled back, did the machine get moved back to its starting location as if rewinding a film?
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