Post AoePIV2MYRCVpmuEwS by bigiain@aus.social
(DIR) More posts by bigiain@aus.social
(DIR) Post #AocXtmpvkYeV4PShYe by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-12-02T02:06:38Z
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Thinking about super clusters of galaxies and getting very upset about how big that is. Don't even get me started on that... gravitational noodle nonsense. I can't handle that stuff yet. I'm just... going to try to get less upset about the super clusters for now. Don't tell me about anything bigger please.
(DIR) Post #AocY5pTlkbmOjzq3E0 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-12-02T02:08:47Z
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@noricenolife Really?
(DIR) Post #AocYCxgTdwZcDPBROi by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-12-02T02:10:05Z
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I've made a lot of progress. I used to just sit around being upset about how big UY Scuti was. I can deal with whole galaxies of stars OK-ish now. I'm coping.
(DIR) Post #AocYTckQjkWgCnygTY by PizzaDemon@mastodon.online
2024-12-02T02:13:04Z
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@futurebird it's a long way down the road to the chemist
(DIR) Post #AocZ5dNuok0LBWZU7E by michael_w_busch@mastodon.online
2024-12-02T02:19:56Z
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@futurebird @noricenolife Not really.We can only sat that the universe is to all appearances infinite.
(DIR) Post #AocZnEixrjuvRYCxhA by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-12-02T02:27:51Z
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Why aren't the people who study this stuff more upset about this?????
(DIR) Post #Aoca8d7GN9EvAtm5fE by richpuchalsky@mastodon.social
2024-12-02T02:31:42Z
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@futurebird I used to be an astrophysicist in training (ABD). The first thing they teach you is that everything is an order of magnitude estimation. Once you think of things as order of magnitude estimations, it doesn't really matter how large or small the magnitude is.
(DIR) Post #AocaDvTbXK0DZAkZ1c by dendari@mastodon.world
2024-12-02T02:32:39Z
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@futurebird When my son was 9ish I would read him to sleep from a book about the universe. He asked me to stop because he was afraid the universe would end in a black hole. To be fair it did kind of feel like that's how they described black holes.
(DIR) Post #AocaeaiIqAwYzRL8vg by Wendelin@ohai.social
2024-12-02T02:37:27Z
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@futurebird They like big stuff, you like ants? Personally I can't wrap my brain around the vastness of the cosmos, and new info is coming seemingly at the speed of light.
(DIR) Post #Aocas0wEeIRq5aG19k by level98@mastodon.social
2024-12-02T02:39:54Z
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@futurebird The Universe is "unreasonably" (psychologically speaking) large.
(DIR) Post #Aocb6Ywn08qNcVSCFU by andyhilmer@mstdn.social
2024-12-02T02:42:32Z
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Is it an agoraphobia feeling or do you feel the same thing contemplating the Planck scale?@futurebird
(DIR) Post #AocbJakfbTFUytzvXM by llewelly@sauropods.win
2024-12-02T02:44:54Z
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@futurebird it takes a special kind of energy to contemplate truly huge structures. A dark energy.
(DIR) Post #AocekOjShPvVNuuGRM by spacegeck@astrodon.social
2024-12-02T03:23:19Z
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@futurebird because it's the stuff we use think about to be less upset about other things? 🤔
(DIR) Post #AocmSyZTVmWMxSRGNc by pyroboyee@mstdn.social
2024-12-02T04:49:50Z
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@futurebird Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space. - Douglas Adams
(DIR) Post #AocomX7DV7jfVOfsbQ by gay_ornithischians@sauropods.win
2024-12-02T05:15:46Z
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@futurebird you like maths tho. the bigness of anything irl is trivial in comparison to what can be conceived by math no?
(DIR) Post #Aocu3q5Qif3H2MuUgy by ineiti@ioc.exchange
2024-12-02T06:14:56Z
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@futurebird next step are the cosmic voids, or supervoids.There was a really nice graphic of them in one of the scientific America's some time ago. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Void_(astronomy)
(DIR) Post #Aocx9ef4PVZxCd2sGe by justafrog@mstdn.social
2024-12-02T06:47:33Z
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@futurebird I think it's far worse than just "not upset".They actively delight in finding and describing larger superstructures.
(DIR) Post #AodGNiLhOYvLp4P04m by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-12-02T10:25:03Z
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I'm coming to terms with the fact that I *do* have a problem with things being Very Large. I find it... sort of offensive? Like "why does it need to be THAT big? That's too big? I can hardly imagine how big that is. Why do I need to work so hard to imagine the scale of this?"But, some people think the absurd jumps in scale are elegant, and mysterious, and wondrous. Ok ok ok ok. Good.I did think of one good thing: on these scales you and I are basically the same size as ants. That's nice!
(DIR) Post #AodGciYGvJZSnNRAn2 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-12-02T10:27:46Z
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There is but a little rounding error between you and the pyramid ant.
(DIR) Post #AodGpkhmEFH1Eq6Ame by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-12-02T10:30:07Z
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Remember when they found out that the barycenter of the solar system was OUTSIDE of the sun? And the astronomers were so proud of their precision within 30 meters! 30 meters!That's the difference between a big old ship and and ant! But also, it is objectively impressive and tells you how humongous their numbers and distances are.
(DIR) Post #AodGvVNE8xxVQUEIoi by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-12-02T10:31:06Z
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@gnomekat Maybe take a deep breath before you read about the fairyflies (aka fairy wasps, close cousins of ants...)
(DIR) Post #AodHGwA3k85uaVI3Iu by RolloTreadway@beige.party
2024-12-02T10:35:02Z
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@futurebird I don't have a problem with that, but what I do struggle with is large empty spaces on earth. Particularly Antarctica. I have no issue seeing photos of Antarctica, very beautiful and interesting, but maps of Antarctica, satellite photos of Antarctica, anything showing the huge blank mass from above... it proper freaks me out.
(DIR) Post #AodHfxGklE1fGPLnZQ by glennsills@dotnet.social
2024-12-02T10:39:31Z
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@futurebird I struggle with the fact that I am only 5'6" and murder SUVs and pickup trucks can't seem me over their hoods.
(DIR) Post #AodHj9pKWnKf4z3CxE by krnlg@mastodon.social
2024-12-02T10:40:06Z
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@futurebird Oh wow those are amazing 😯 who wouldn't want to swim through the air like its honey 😯
(DIR) Post #AodIGOxPILP3YrgGBM by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2024-12-02T10:45:33Z
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@gnomekat @futurebird I do feel the vertigo as well, but if I woke up tomorrow in a universe that was only just as big as the moon's orbit, and our bodies consisted of just 1000 indivisible parts, I think that would be even more upsetting.I think that once you've lived with these scales for a while, it's also hard to go back.
(DIR) Post #AodILUgfPzm4mSHLxg by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-12-02T10:47:04Z
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@pbloem @gnomekat OK but the moon is really really far away and it's not like you are ever going to go over there. Though ... the nothing all around would be kinda creepy.
(DIR) Post #AodIjkOEgggKQpDs2a by pbloem@sigmoid.social
2024-12-02T10:51:26Z
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@futurebird @gnomekat I think I would be more upset by the fact that it just stops. Even if it stops a couple of lightseconds out, I would find it claustrophobic.
(DIR) Post #AodJ6uS7RP2AIi5FSa by nazokiyoubinbou@urusai.social
2024-12-02T10:55:23Z
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@futurebird There are a few games I play where they do somewhat realistic simulations of astral bodies. The most realistic, of course, is Elite Dangerous. You can fly towards a red giant and struggle even to get a feel for its size even going faster than light.But another game I had been getting into a lot in recent times is Empyrion. It's not super realistic, but at the same time, the fact you can walk around on verdant worlds and look up and see what's in the sky makes a difference for pulling you in more IMO.Anyway, the point I'm getting to in my roundabout way is several worlds orbit gas giants and the like and sometimes you can look up during the day and it's just floating in the sky dominating your view. It really gives you a sense of scale...(I had to google for an image.)
(DIR) Post #AodJCdngGaDSONtyr2 by Asbestos@pnw.zone
2024-12-02T10:56:38Z
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@futurebird@pbloem @gnomekatI have trouble with where is it, like what is the universe *in*So reality is this weird thing that goes on forever.Also the fact that light can travel 2 billion years is just way to big
(DIR) Post #AodJgSdKLjZsRiHJvE by chris_evelyn@troet.cafe
2024-12-02T11:02:02Z
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@futurebird Starts for me even with smaller things. We visited a Shipyard once and could watch a Freightship motor being assembled for an hour or so.I was like „A crankshaft is not supposed to be this large, look they need two cranes to move it and there, the big thing on the truck … is that a SCREW?“ the whole time.I don’t really want to start thinking about planets, stars and whatever.
(DIR) Post #AodJjmWMrcPczmbffs by astro_jcm@mastodon.online
2024-12-02T11:02:37Z
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@futurebird We just put everything inside a logarithm and call it a day! :D But yes, it's really, really hard to internalize those scales. We just get used to it I guess.It does however complicate science communication. The scales –and the jumps of scale– are so large that when saying things like "This is X times more massive/larger than/further than Y" usually involves stupidly large X and/or a Y that is already well beyond our daily experience.
(DIR) Post #AodLFrkZ3edQQx6s7t by CynAq@beige.party
2024-12-02T11:19:37Z
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@futurebird I wanted to see a picture of earth and moon to scale with the distance between them. Turns out, our standard screen resolutions make this kinda impossible because drawn to scale, they need to be one pixel and smaller than one pixel to fit the distance between them on the screen.Isn’t that annoying?
(DIR) Post #AodQHhlndNXzpaNrHc by NocturnalNessa@infosec.exchange
2024-12-02T12:15:58Z
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@futurebird not large in a galactic sense but its been FUCKING WITH ME this thing is taller than the twin towers
(DIR) Post #AodR1o2yd1SecUOvqa by paris@wandering.shop
2024-12-02T12:23:26Z
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@futurebird I live in a city surrounded by mountains, but they’re small tame mountains that are very accessible and comfortable, friendly even. We love our mountains! They have sweet names, like Sugarloaf and Pretty Rock! I cried on the train when I saw Mt Fuji for the first time, because things should NOT be THAT BIG.
(DIR) Post #AodR5uAtmsiimc3qSW by lienrag@mastodon.tedomum.net
2024-12-02T12:24:57Z
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@futurebird Cue the "your mama" jokes ?
(DIR) Post #AodTRrQMtUqsX1tTO4 by bogosity@im-in.space
2024-12-02T12:51:28Z
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@futurebird I'm impressed that you can internalize those scales at all. I still can't fully visualize the length of a kilometer.
(DIR) Post #AodUsoh3Fu75pp7AZ6 by flashesofpanic@ruby.social
2024-12-02T12:41:38Z
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@NocturnalNessa @futurebird I remember the first time I was in Moscow, in 1994, stepping out of the University metro station and looking up at the Moscow State University (МГУ). My roommate said in a low voice, “We can’t stay here. The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man is going to come and fuck this place up.”
(DIR) Post #AodV5GNa95FTAzwWOm by radiophobicsherkpop@ravenation.club
2024-12-02T13:09:43Z
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@futurebird I don't know if it's available to you where you are but the UK radio 4 science show Infinite Monkey Cage's latest episode touched on that discombobulating feeling and offered very little to help us cope.
(DIR) Post #AodZg5ZXgkU6BqLvE0 by tkinias@historians.social
2024-12-02T14:01:14Z
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@futurebird You’re ahead of me, then.UY Scuti still breaks my brain.
(DIR) Post #AodaN3hSWdiepqXrQ8 by MedeaVanamonde@chaosfem.tw
2024-12-02T14:09:01Z
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@futurebird reminded of the Antagonists in the final Hitchhiker’s guide novel. They evolved in a solar system imbedded in a molecular cloud that only made their sun and planets.When they finally passed thru the darkness and saw the visible universe their response was:Nope.
(DIR) Post #Aodb2MFKTXv4EE53dA by franco_vazza@mastodon.social
2024-12-02T14:16:27Z
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@futurebird @noricenolife No, not really...!
(DIR) Post #AodbVgK8uFzetcJZXE by franco_vazza@mastodon.social
2024-12-02T14:21:44Z
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@futurebird I sort of get your being annoyed, although I study all of that every day, and I do mostly get the "fun" part. The fact that these structures are so big and far also means they could not care less about all our daily miseries and tragedies ...The annoying part for me really is that they also evolve on hundreds of million years timescales....so whatever nice simulation or theory I come up with...not only I won't ever see if it's true, but not even humankind will... 🙄
(DIR) Post #Aodg72HMdk31WJ5ATA by vt52@ioc.exchange
2024-12-02T15:13:19Z
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@futurebird it's pretty bad, especially when you consider that everything we can observe only accounts for 5-10% of the matter in the universe
(DIR) Post #Aodnqwp9x8O3bNjI2K by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-12-02T16:40:06Z
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@franco_vazza these are those messed up noodles aren’t they?
(DIR) Post #AodocH0ciut9oZesFM by franco_vazza@mastodon.social
2024-12-02T16:48:38Z
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@futurebird Indeed, with magnetic sauce on top
(DIR) Post #AodpUMoXMA6nSLna3k by bigiain@aus.social
2024-12-02T11:34:27Z
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@chris_evelyn You might get a kick out of this, a guy making a tiny little 2 stroke engine: https://youtu.be/nKVq9u52A-c?feature=shared @futurebird
(DIR) Post #AodyJCfxbqPaPmXSkK by mattmcirvin@mathstodon.xyz
2024-12-02T18:37:12Z
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@futurebird Back before the evidence of cosmic acceleration, in the period when everyone assumed zero cosmological constant and called cosmology "the search for two numbers", I remember a lot of astronomers hoping against hope for a closed universe that was a finite hypersphere that would collapse someday, because they found the finiteness of it somehow tidy or cozy and had this horror of the absurdity of an infinite space that would just fade into a dark heat death.I always wondered about that because I couldn't quite get that emotional reaction--as a kid, finiteness upset me more (though I knew that the infinite future in the infinite case was pretty bleak, not really limitless from our perspective).But large finite things can be as disturbing as infinite ones maybe.
(DIR) Post #AoePIV2MYRCVpmuEwS by bigiain@aus.social
2024-12-02T23:22:37Z
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@CynAq You need to point your Xmas gift buying friends towards this: https://www.littleplanetfactory.com/products/the-solar-system-scale@futurebird