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From: Charles Richmond on 4 May 2010 23:10 Ian Gregory wrote: > On 2010-05-04, Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer(a)cs.nmsu.edu> wrote: > >> When we can see that something can be done, arbitrarily decreeing that >> it's "impossible" for a machine to do it is, as Patrick points out, >> bizarre. > > According to folklore the laws of aerodynamics prove that the bumblebee > should be incapable of flight but scientists never claimed that they had > evolved an anti-gravity organ or anything like that. It was always clear > that we simply didn't have an adequate grasp of aerodynamics, fluid > dynamics, biomechanics etc to explain such a complex phenomenon. > And *please* don't tell the bees that they can't fly! We *need* the honey, and we need our crops pollinated!!! -- +----------------------------------------+ | Charles and Francis Richmond | | | | plano dot net at aquaporin4 dot com | +----------------------------------------+
From: Charles Richmond on 4 May 2010 23:13 Jennifer Usher wrote: > > > "Lewis" <g.kreme(a)gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote in message > news:slrnhu16oe.2jll.g.kreme(a)ibook-g4.local... > >>> According to folklore the laws of aerodynamics prove that the bumblebee >>> should be incapable of flight but scientists never claimed that they had >>> evolved an anti-gravity organ or anything like that. It was always clear >>> that we simply didn't have an adequate grasp of aerodynamics, fluid >>> dynamics, biomechanics etc to explain such a complex phenomenon. >> >> It took Chaos theory to explain it, as I recall. > > Actually, the simple answer is, bumblebees don't study physics. > > The longer answer is a bit more complex and has to do with viscosity and > fluid dynamics: > > http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/March00/APS_Wang.hrs.html > Right! Bumblebees fly because they do *not* study physics. And as Mark Twain said: "Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint." -- +----------------------------------------+ | Charles and Francis Richmond | | | | plano dot net at aquaporin4 dot com | +----------------------------------------+
From: Thomas R. Kettler on 4 May 2010 23:31 In article <hrqnk1$9q5$8(a)news.eternal-september.org>, Charles Richmond <frizzle(a)tx.rr.com> wrote: > Ian Gregory wrote: > > On 2010-05-04, Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer(a)cs.nmsu.edu> wrote: > > > >> When we can see that something can be done, arbitrarily decreeing that > >> it's "impossible" for a machine to do it is, as Patrick points out, > >> bizarre. > > > > According to folklore the laws of aerodynamics prove that the bumblebee > > should be incapable of flight but scientists never claimed that they had > > evolved an anti-gravity organ or anything like that. It was always clear > > that we simply didn't have an adequate grasp of aerodynamics, fluid > > dynamics, biomechanics etc to explain such a complex phenomenon. > > > > And *please* don't tell the bees that they can't fly! We *need* > the honey, and we need our crops pollinated!!! That explains why honeybees have been dying by the millions. People having been telling them they can't fly! <http://www.greenearthfriend.com/2009/01/colony-collapse-disorder-ccd-hon eybees-dying-by-the-millions/> -- Remove blown from email address to reply.
From: Jennifer Usher on 4 May 2010 23:39 "Charles Richmond" <frizzle(a)tx.rr.com> wrote in message news:hrqno7$9q5$9(a)news.eternal-september.org... > Right! Bumblebees fly because they do *not* study physics. > > > And as Mark Twain said: > > "Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a > misprint." Mark Twain was a very wise man. -- Jennifer Usher
From: Wes Groleau on 5 May 2010 00:03
On 05-04-2010 16:46, Joe Pfeiffer wrote: > I wonder in what context he said it -- he must have been talking > engineering practicalities, not violations of fundamental laws of > physics. Or maybe he didn't say it. Forward _that_ to everyone in your address book! -- Wes Groleau Pat's Polemics http://Ideas.Lang-Learn.us/barrett |