Polarized vision

[James Jay]

Originally Posted by Pastor

Physics, rocket science and now latin names? Too much, far too much for one day. I'm going for a lie down

Me too. Not sure where I first heard the term wavicle but it did seem to help sort it out in my head. Still gives me a headache when I try to get my mind around the finer points.

Wave–particle duality - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[sanso]

Hey everyone,

because of the quality of the goldfish-topic, I moved some of the goldfish-related posts into their own thread here - which they clearly deserve.

Keep it up! Excellent stuff!!

[DeepThought]

Originally Posted by trux

Even if you are not a physicist, you probably know that objects moving with the speed close to the speed of light are changing their weight and length. Better told, they just appear to be lighter and longer to the static observer, but should you be moving with the same speed as the object, it will have the same length and weight as you are used to (from your standpoint).

Not a physicist, but I thought that the closer an object (that has mass) gets to the speed of light its mass increases rather than decreases. I thought that's why it's theoretically impossible to reach the speed of light - because as mass rises it takes more energy to accelerate, and eventually it'll take infinite energy in order to accelerate to the speed of light...

Originally Posted by trux

Photonic Laser Propulsion...

Very cool!!

Since we're already explaining/confusing ourselves with physics, let's see what this cool clip raises:

YouTube - Dr Quantum - Double Slit Experiment

(I'm not comfortable with the strict conclusions this flick presents)

[naiad]

Another strange thing about goldfish eyes is that the lens is coloured according to the colour of the fish. An orange goldfish must see an orange world, while its companions may see a yellow, blue or brown world.

It can be seen in the picture, the lens is the part just in front of the pupil.

[Bill]

Glad to see you split the threads. I wanted to comment or better still ask for comments about man's ability to see polarised light. Has anyone else read about this?

That Dr. Quantum video can't be real, can it?

[naiad]

Originally Posted by Bill

That Dr. Quantum video can't be real, can it?

I thought the same!

[Pastor]

Fraid it is, we did a module on this while I was doing my degree and it's totally true about the differences in behavior when you observe the particles. Quantum physics is a fascinating subject

[sciencemike]

Absolutely true. Absolutely facinating. Especially the electron part, electrons have mass, which makes it even more interesting. Can you imagine being the scientists who were discovering that data arguing on either side of the conclusion. Must have been an interesting time to be doing science.

Also deep thought you are right, to get an object to near light speed its mass does mass does increase. As mass becomes infinite as you approach light speed, the energy to accelerate an infinite mass object becomes infinitely large and therefore impossible to reach light speed.

[wet]

Pastor,

your first diagram, isn't it incorrect? The up and down wave would get cancelled by the slits, while the side to side wave would penetrate the slit screen, right? Or the slit screen should be turned 90 degrees?

And I still think that eskimo goggles might produce a weak polarization effect, perhaps only with infra infra red light?

DDeden

[octopus]

Not a physicist, but I thought that the closer an object (that has mass) gets to the speed of light its mass increases rather than decreases. I thought that's why it's theoretically impossible to reach the speed of light - because as mass rises it takes more energy to accelerate, and eventually it'll take infinite energy in order to accelerate to the speed of light...

Yes, you are right.

It always amazes me when people start such explanations like this:

That's relatively easy.

Now, there is little bit of a mix of everything in that explanation, but mainly special theory of relativity. That is normally not the first thing that comes into the mind when you talk about wave/particle duality.
I think it would be good to say that no one fully understands quantum mechanics and I am no exception. I have feeling that Pastor put his question with this in mind, but I might be wrong (it is not always easy to notice light irony in British humor).
I am sure that google could provide us with some basic wave/particle duality sites.
Also, it is not only photons that have this property (according to current theory), but everything else. However, the bigger the mass, the smaller the wave function of the object. Photons have zero rest mass. Duality is noticable in electrons as well. Cat, on the other hand, is far too massive to have significant wave.
Concept of time seems to be key in all this, but this is my personal nonsense.
I think Alun could explain this much better to us, but he does not seem to visit the forum anymore.

For further reading (between the dives):
Amazon.com: Six Not-So-Easy Pieces: Einstein's... Amazon.com: QED: The Strange Theory of Light and...

[BatRay]

That's interesting about the lens color. I have a white goldfish that has only five scales. It has transparent gill plates. Wonder what colors his lenses are? He might see a clear world.

[wet]

Originally Posted by naiad

Another strange thing about goldfish eyes is that the lens is coloured according to the colour of the fish. An orange goldfish must see an orange world, while its companions may see a yellow, blue or brown world.

It can be seen in the picture, the lens is the part just in front of the pupil.

yeah, that's weird, an orange tint to the actual lens. Do you know if it's just on the convex surface cells, or throughout the lens tissue?

[Pastor]

Originally Posted by wet

Pastor,

your first diagram, isn't it incorrect? The up and down wave would get cancelled by the slits, while the side to side wave would penetrate the slit screen, right? Or the slit screen should be turned 90 degrees?

And I still think that eskimo goggles might produce a weak polarization effect, perhaps only with infra infra red light?

DDeden

Well spotted but it might be the magnetic component of the wave, that is at 90 degrees to the electrical component (if my memory serves me correctly and if anyones daft enough to accept that as an excuse )

[wet]

Originally Posted by Pastor

Well spotted but it might be the magnetic component of the wave, that is at 90 degrees to the electrical component (if my memory serves me correctly and if anyones daft enough to accept that as an excuse )

I salute your quick thinking

Anybody got a pair of polarized magnetic-filtering goggles yet?

[naiad]

Originally Posted by BatRay

That's interesting about the lens color. I have a white goldfish that has only five scales. It has transparent gill plates. Wonder what colors his lenses are? He might see a clear world.

Probably he does have clear lenses. All goldfish have a full covering of scales, but in some (calico varieties, shubunkins), the pigment layers are missing from the scales, making them transparent and invisible. The gill plates are also transparent. A few scales may be pigmented, giving the impression of a random scattering of scales.

Originally Posted by wet

yeah, that's weird, an orange tint to the actual lens. Do you know if it's just on the convex surface cells, or throughout the lens tissue?

It looks quite uniform, probably it is throughout the lens tissue. It may have a protective function, like sunglasses, because the pupil does not contract in bright light. Strangely, my darkest coloured fish, which is jet-black with brown lenses, hates bright light, while the white ones don't mind it.

I don't know if the colour difference makes them behave differently. Maybe when a goldfish complains that 'no-one can see my point of view', he really means it!

I never knew what quantum physics was until now, the Dr. Quantum video was the first time that I have even started to understand it.