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Diploid
Cuban



Registered: 01/09/03
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Loc: Rabbit Hole
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Geek Test
#8084853 - 02/29/08 02:59 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Without looking it up, guess in what year the first accurate measurement for the speed of light was achieved.
Hint, it was done mechanically. No electronics!
-------------------- Republican Values: 1) You can't get married to your spouse who is the same sex as you. 2) You can't have an abortion no matter how much you don't want a child. 3) You can't have a certain plant in your possession or you'll get locked up with a rapist and a murderer. 4) We need a smaller, less-intrusive government.
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makaveli8x8
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Re: Geek Test [Re: Diploid]
#8084888 - 02/29/08 03:28 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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i dunno the year, but it was when they developed sun stones to tell time.
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  We were sent to hell for eternity Ø h® We play on earth to pass the time Over-population the root of all Evil-brings the Elites Closer to the gates.
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



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Re: Geek Test [Re: Diploid]
#8084944 - 02/29/08 04:34 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Mitchelson & Morley was towards the later part of the 1800's... 1885 or so, if I remember correctly. I don't know if they were the first to measure it, but they are the first that I can remember.
Edit: Wow! I cheated and looked it up... It never ceases to amaze me how creative early scientists were.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
Edited by Seuss (02/29/08 04:39 AM)
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Legend9123



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Re: Geek Test [Re: Seuss]
#8085340 - 02/29/08 09:14 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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1700.
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DieCommie


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Re: Geek Test [Re: Diploid]
#8085345 - 02/29/08 09:16 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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It was the 1600s with the moons of jupiter if I remember correctly... Thats not really mechanical though.
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TheCow
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Re: Geek Test [Re: Diploid]
#8085595 - 02/29/08 10:43 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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1500 or 1600's using some kind of shutter system and two people standing far away. I forget the details, and this might have never existed also
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Diploid
Cuban



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Re: Geek Test [Re: Diploid]
#8086215 - 02/29/08 01:36 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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You're all pretty close. It was 1850 and it was measured using a calibrated spinning wheel with holes in it and a distant mirror. By passing a light source through the rapidly spinning wheel and watching to see the angle of the hole when the reflection becomes visible, it was possible to calculate the speed of light.
Michelson and Morley refined the technique using a spinning prism. By passing the light through the prism, then onto a distant mirror and back, they could measure the angle the reflected light beam made with the incident beam due to the rotation of the prism as the light traversed the distance. This gave a measurement within about a percent of the actual value.
These were very clever scientists to come up with these methods long before electronics were invented.
-------------------- Republican Values: 1) You can't get married to your spouse who is the same sex as you. 2) You can't have an abortion no matter how much you don't want a child. 3) You can't have a certain plant in your possession or you'll get locked up with a rapist and a murderer. 4) We need a smaller, less-intrusive government.
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idreamofpiggies
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Re: Geek Test [Re: Diploid]
#8087104 - 02/29/08 05:20 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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I was under the impression that it was Fizeau, could be very wrong tho.
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Madtowntripper
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Re: Geek Test [Re: Diploid]
#8088196 - 02/29/08 10:31 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Quote:
Diploid said:
These were very clever scientists to come up with these methods long before electronics were invented.
I'm not sure what I was reading recently, it might have been a Bill Bryson book...But at any rate the author was discussing the various experiments you could do if all that you had was a straight stick.
It is actually pretty amazing, and if I could find this book ATM in the detritus of my recent move I would transcribe it for you. Suffice to say the amount you can learn about your surroundings with even simple tools is astonishing.
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Asante
Omnicyclion prophet


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Re: Geek Test [Re: Diploid]
#8088313 - 02/29/08 11:18 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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1932
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WhiskeyClone
Not here


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Re: Geek Test [Re: Diploid]
#8101330 - 03/04/08 12:08 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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1880 something
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BrAiN
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420
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flangenips
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Quote:
Madtowntripper said:
Quote:
Diploid said:
These were very clever scientists to come up with these methods long before electronics were invented.
I'm not sure what I was reading recently, it might have been a Bill Bryson book...But at any rate the author was discussing the various experiments you could do if all that you had was a straight stick.
It is actually pretty amazing, and if I could find this book ATM in the detritus of my recent move I would transcribe it for you. Suffice to say the amount you can learn about your surroundings with even simple tools is astonishing.
Yeah the ancient greeks found a great mathematical use for a straight stick, they apparently got the circumference of the earth by measuring the points of a shadow of a stick stuck in the ground over time. They got the arc distance and angle for that distance somehow and from that could work out circumference, and thus diameter, and thus a rough surface area etc. I think they were also able use similar methods to estimate distance to the sun and moon and roughly estimate their size too.
Go the stick!!
-------------------- All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusions is called a philosopher. - Ambrose Bierce
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