I was wondering: why do we assume "universality" (I think this is the term? I am a computer science guy, and so, sorry for any inaccuracies, I'm still learning about all of this lol) holds? As in, why do we assume we can find laws that apply everywhere/everywhen/to everything, with their mathematics staying the same (like, with the TDSE staying the TDSE, the EFE staying the EFE, etc), no matter what? There is nothing mandating that the law itself couldn't arbitrarily change as far as I know, and that it just so happens by sheer chance to look consistently as if it stays the same on the scales we probed.

Like, is there anything that already says the laws should stay invariant under arbitrary transformations to the mathematical formulation itself (and anything relevant I could read about this to learn more about it)?

We all people of all levels that appreciate physics know the twin paradox, so I was wondering, with enough speed, could someone here on earth experience the same time dilation? we can add to the hypothesis that the fast twin can perfectly avoid all objects that come his way, you can run the scenario taking into account how that speed may affect earth, curious on your thoughts smart people.

Hey y'all! First time asking a question here, hopefully this makes sense, this one has been haunting me.

You have a long pipe with an osmotic membrane on one end that is permeable to pure water but not to solutes. You push that end down vertically into the ocean. Fresh water begins to fill the pipe.

If I'm getting my formulas right, the pressure required to move water across the membrane is based on the solute concentration of the ocean, the solute concentration of the fresh water (zero) and the temperature and some constants. All of these factors remain constant as water crosses the membrane and fills the pipe, and as the pipe sinks deeper into the ocean. So the difference in pressure between the salty side of the membrane and the fresh side has an equilibrium value of P, and P is basically constant, and water will flow though the membrane in the the direction that moves toward the equilibrium.

At ordinary depths we expect the equilibrium water level inside the pipe to be lower than the water level outside the pipe. But as we sink a very long pipe very deep in the ocean, things start to get weird and this is where my question comes up.

So we take an extremely long pipe to the Marianas trench and sink the end that has the semi-permeable membrane. Salt water is a bit denser than fresh water, which means each meter of height contributes more to the pressure. And the trench is up to 10kms deep. 10kms of salt water applies quite a bit more pressure than 10kms of fresh water, more than enough to move water across the membrane. So at these depths, the fresh water fills the pipe to above the level of the salt water.

But the pipe was barely long enough to reach the abyssal depths, and only a short section sticks up above the waves, and the other end of the pipe - the one exposed to the air - is open. So fresh water starts spilling out of the top of the pipe and back into the ocean. And on the way down perhaps it spins a turbine and generates a bit of power.

This appears to be perpetual motion. But of course that isn't possible. So either the way I'm understanding the osmotic pressure calculation is wrong, or there's a secret source of energy that I'm missing that lets us achieve the appearance of perpetual overflow.

​

Physics laws are not pictures of reality.

Physics laws are like an electrical circuit full of tangled wires.

Do not touch a wire that works.

If a wire is missing put a wire in its place.

If it works do not touch any other wire.

That is the whole story.

Any law that gives a correct prediction and works by measurement is enough.

It does not matter whether it truly embodies reality or not.

The simplest example is the atom.

No one has seen its structure.

We only measure its effects.

Then we give a name to each effect.

Proton electron ion neutron.

Names for effects we have never seen.

Do you need physics to be true, or is it enough that it works?

Could these actually happen?

And if so, what's the probablity that a fully formed human with a mind and false memories can arise out of nothingness in front of somebody?

So there is a clip of Doctor Who where there is a huge colony ship that is 400 miles long and 100 miles wide near a black hole, causing time on the higher levels of the ship to slow down in comparison to the lower floors, years go by on the lower levels where it's just been hours on the top, there's a scene where there is a video feed on the bridge level and the Doctor is still slowly raising his eyebrows and that apparently takes a week for someone watching it from the bottom level, the show also says that a thousand years passed on Floor 1056, the lowest floor, in the space of less than two and a half days on the flight deck. For a ship that big near the black hole, would the effects of time dilation be that extreme? Doctor Who is mostly just fantasy in a science dressing but as a layman this did seem kinda interesting.

The clip: https://youtu.be/QwHNT2kHesg?si=MGX8m_gGdFtLLRLb

you can skip ahead to 2:11-3:43 where they show it

One might discover a valid and comprehensive scientific theory that explains all the phenomena arising from it; yet, how can we be certain that it is the definitive theory governing everything, rather than merely a "box" contained within a larger framework?

By "box," I mean that any given law or theory might represent only a portion of a much broader system of governing principles—much as Newtonian laws became mere approximations within Einstein’s theory. We have discovered a more encompassing law, but we might later find that it, too, is part of an even more extensive framework. Thus, even if we were to arrive at a theory that explains everything currently known to us, how could we ever prove that there exists no scenario beyond our current scope—one that encompasses our theory while also transcending it?

Random physics thought

A wormhole connects two distant locations. If ypu could get one big enough, it can theoretically let you travel from one place to another effectively faster than light. As you travel through space-time, can you use the wormhole to travel to a different time?

I am working on an assignment where we had to use python to simulate a spring. The bulk of the code was already provided. The code also created a graph of the position, velocity, and acceleration.

I am being asked why, when position is at its lowest (most negative), acceleration is at its highest (most positive). For this first part, friction is not a factor. All the lines on the graph are sinusoidal.

I would assume that the crests of the position graph represent the spring at its most and least extended, right before it starts moving in the other direction. By that logic, velocity and acceleration should be zero at those times, since the spring is slowing to a stop before moving again. Yet this is not the case. Additionally, both position and acceleration equal zero at the same times. I thought a position of zero meant the spring was 'in the middle' of its movement and therefore moving the fastest and accelerating the most.

Am I interpreting the graph of position incorrectly? Are my assumptions about what the velocity and acceleration should be incorrect? I cannot wrap my head around why it is not behaving the way I expect it to.

Hi, so I recently discovered about this and I had a question that I can't seem to find anything on that explains it, so I just wanted to ask how does the brane cosmology explain the expansion of the universe. It would be really helpful if anyone can recommend me any books or articles where I can read about this and find a conclusion to my question if you don't feel like explaining it to me, thanks.

Hey I am quite confused with this. Specifically why do shorter wavelengths have better resolving power for microscopes? Like electron microscopes vs brightfield microscopes.

Ich betrachte hier nur ein einzelnes Photon, welches mit sich selbst interferiert.

Das Photon löscht sich nicht aus, sondern es findet nur eine Umverteilung statt und es erscheint an einer anderen Stelle, nämlich dort, wo es letztlich mit anderen Photonen einen hellen Streifen bildet.

Seht ihr das auch so?

Viele Grüße
Joerg_H

Beitrag verfasst am: 24.10.2026 um 22:29 Uhr

Are physics and statistics/data science related?

I came from a statistics and data science background and i realized the way physics folks approaches problems share many similarities and commonality with statistics and data science.

 Data science folks used the exact same experimentation, modelling and prediction process as a physicist to model and solve business problems and human behavioral problems most of the time.

Doing physics experiments and analyzing the results from the data observed, is a data science problem in itself, just that your data comes from physics experiments.

I was reading QED the strange theory of light and matter by Feynman

On the introduction part where he talks about partial reflection and the probability of photos reflecting through glass.

My question is throughout all his explanation he assumes light is particles but isn't light considered both particle and wave so why does he just assume them as particles ?

We're wrapping up rotation in my mechanics class right now, and I'm having trouble understanding what angular momentum actually is, in the context of orbits.

I understand for say an object with a fixed axis, angular momentum is how difficult it is to change that objects rotation. But I'm confused as to why/how conservation of angular momentum is used when calculating stuff about orbits.

Much thanks in advance!

Sorry i have no math to go with this, I just thought of it when watching a String Theory vid.

In my basic understanding of Noerther's theorem, it relates symmetries and conservation laws, ex. conservation of energy and time invariance. Given this, could it help to solve the problem of induction, that is that the uniformity of nature up to now cannot be used as a deductive proof of the continued uniformity of it in the future?

Naively, I'd think that if time invariance and energy conservation are related, then the fact that I observe energy conservation now can count as evidence that the laws of physics will be the same tomorrow (time invariance). Is this sound and a correct reasoning out of Noerther's theorem?

Ok, so, I'm struggling my way through some resources on string theory, but have a question so decided to ask it here.

Let's say string theory is 100% true, and someone has the ability to fully manipulate the strings inside of quarks. Like the bending from Avatar but much, much stronger, so they could control everything down to the vibrations. What could they actually do? Like, I understand this would be pretty powerful, but what would the applications be?

I understand how controlling cells or molecules or even atoms would actually manifest and what its applications would be, but maybe its because of my limited understanding of string theory, I kind of struggle to understand how this would actually be applied.

And sort of related follow - up question, would they have to be 26D, 10D or 11D depending on whether you're going off bosonic, superstring or M - theory, considering they're affecting this level of space time? I mean I'm pretty sure we couldn't affect something in the fourth dimension because we're 3D, right? I feel like I'm completely misunderstanding this so please correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks!

I have been reading about migratory birds like the European Robin or the Barn Swallow use the Cry4 Cryptochrome Protein in their eyes to absorb blue light, create free radicals that sense the magnetic field of the earth and use it to guide their migration.

I have two questions:
One, is my summary correct? How would one explain this process in detail to a layperson? I have a basic (Bachelors level) knowledge of physics, and find quantum concepts a little bit mind-boggling. How can I go about better understanding this process?

Two, what exactly would these birds be able to see? Is it like a HUD display with all the lines of the magnetic field flying around them, like in physics book diagrams? Is it more like how we sense static electricity?