You can think of inertial mass (to distinguish it from anything involving gravity or parameters in a particle theory) as a measure of how much something resists being pushed off its current course. If something is sat still, its mass indicates how much force you'd need to apply to get it to accelerate away from that force. A low mass is easy to make accelerate; a high mass much harder.
If you have a negative mass, then it measures just the opposite: how much force you need to apply to get it to accelerate toward that force.
__________________ The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve. -Eugene Wigner
Hmm so if you wanted to get really close to real science in sci-fi, tractor beams could work by inducing a negative inertial mass in an object then using energy to push the object away, dragging it in.
Hmm so if you wanted to get really close to real science in sci-fi, tractor beams could work by inducing a negative inertial mass in an object then using energy to push the object away, dragging it in.
I mean, if you've solved the bolded part, you probably didn't need to. You probably have some other way of tractor-beaming whatever you want tractor-beamed. But sure.
__________________ The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve. -Eugene Wigner
"With negative mass, if you push something, it accelerates toward you," said co-author Michael Forbes, assistant professor of physics at WSU.
I once knew a girl that was like that.
__________________ Old Pain In The Ass says: I am on a mission from God to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable; to bring faith to the doubtful and doubt to the faithful.
On January 5, 2015, the camera caught a glimpse of a young white-tailed deer standing near the skeleton with a human rib bone in its mouth. Then it happened again on January 13—the camera caught a deer with another rib sticking out of its mouth like a cigar. It’s not clear whether it was the same deer in both cases, but it’s certainly possible first one came back for seconds.
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Peering from the top of Mount Stupid
On January 5, 2015, the camera caught a glimpse of a young white-tailed deer standing near the skeleton with a human rib bone in its mouth. Then it happened again on January 13—the camera caught a deer with another rib sticking out of its mouth like a cigar. It’s not clear whether it was the same deer in both cases, but it’s certainly possible first one came back for seconds.
Actually, in fairness, that's not the least bit surprising. Meat is an excellent source of protein and fats -- much moreso than plants -- and bones are an excellent source of calcium and phosphorous. As such, a great many animals that most people think of as "vegetarians" will readily eat meat, given the chance. And bones are particularly prized by many mammals, even supposed "herbivores."
Goats, deer, cattle, and other herbivores have often been documented killing and eating smaller animals, when the opportunity arises. The young of ground-nesting birds are often preyed upon by deer, for example. Similarly, a recent Canadian study found that the principle predator upon young Snowshoe Hares wasn't Lynx, wasn't Hawks, wasn't Owls -- it was Red Squirrels.
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“The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be.”
On January 5, 2015, the camera caught a glimpse of a young white-tailed deer standing near the skeleton with a human rib bone in its mouth. Then it happened again on January 13—the camera caught a deer with another rib sticking out of its mouth like a cigar. It’s not clear whether it was the same deer in both cases, but it’s certainly possible first one came back for seconds.
Actually, in fairness, that's not the least bit surprising. Meat is an excellent source of protein and fats -- much moreso than plants -- and bones are an excellent source of calcium and phosphorous. As such, a great many animals that most people think of as "vegetarians" will readily eat meat, given the chance. And bones are particularly prized by many mammals, even supposed "herbivores."
Goats, deer, cattle, and other herbivores have often been documented killing and eating smaller animals, when the opportunity arises. The young of ground-nesting birds are often preyed upon by deer, for example. Similarly, a recent Canadian study found that the principle predator upon young Snowshoe Hares wasn't Lynx, wasn't Hawks, wasn't Owls -- it was Red Squirrels.
I've seen evidence of the local grey Squirrels gnawing on animal bones, I assumed it was because the bones were a good source of calcium.
The squirrels must have also evolved a way of digesting acorns, as there seems to be too much tannin for people to eat. Either that or it just tastes bad.
__________________ The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about. Wayne Dyer
Bill Nye should go to jail for going against the scientific consensus. It could cost thousands of lives.
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What a man believes upon grossly insufficient evidence is an index into his desires -- desires of which he himself is often unconscious. ... The origin of myths is explained in this way.
[Most people don't realize it, but they actually launch a new space station every few weeks because this keeps happening.[/SPOILER]
The earth is flat.
__________________
What a man believes upon grossly insufficient evidence is an index into his desires -- desires of which he himself is often unconscious. ... The origin of myths is explained in this way.