Astronomy, physics, philosophy, and what to do with a dead horse · 11:49pm Dec 25th, 2021
Happy Hearth’s Warming everyone. I hope you are all in good health and enjoying the holidays wherever you are. Do you need something to do after eating the good food, playing with your new toys, and catching up on all the new films, books, fanfics and anything else? Here are some ideas:
Read up of the James Webb Space Telescope, the latest new gadget to explore the universe, which launched from Kourou this morning, to the great excitement and relief of astronomers worldwide, and the huge number of people who have spent their careers building something that could have blown up on the launchpad.
BBC News: James Webb: A $10bn machine in search of the end of darkness
- Have a go at Mari Lwyd – a Welsh folk custom that, some say, is making a comeback. What could be more fun than carrying a horse’s skull on a stick around the neighbourhood, while singing Welsh folk songs, in order to exact food and drink from your neighbours? Actually, probably quite a few things, but this option is not to be ignored.
Find out what happens when an experimental physicist, a theoretical physicist, and a philosopher go to a festival. The video of the debate I joined at the HowTheLightGetsIn festival in the summer is now on YouTube. Write your own punchline.
I have been wondering how I could use my notes from this event for a story, and continue the particle physics shorts I wrote leading up to release of the new generation film. Expect a new story from me with ponies talking about fundamental physics soon.
Izzy is (clearly) G5's Pinkie Pie, but I actually find her much more endearing. She can bend reality at will, and only Hitch seems to be clueless and concerned about that. As in the pic, above... I don't think her cutie mark is only about crafting, but also fashioning perceptions of reality, without the aid of unicorn magic!
For the curious: Where is Webb?
As I write this, JWST has already logged 114,000 miles, 12.66% of the distance to L2.
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The nature and full extent of Izzy's reality-bending powers are not yet clear, but I'm happy to go with the idea that she can craft anything given enough glitter, tape and glue.
Thanks for sharing the JWST link. Cruising along nicely.
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You think all ponies inherited Pinkie's pocket space for storage, or just Pipp?
It would be weird if Izzy didn't. I don't remember if she vanished anything into her flank.
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Yeah, I don't want to ascribe super powers to her. That feels like it would only diminish the fun of her character.
My pleasure!
I find it interesting that the Webb has slowed down from nearly 2mps to 1mps, but it makes sense. It's somewhat like a ball rolling up the "slope" of the Earth's gravity well, slowing down the closer it gets closer to its L2 resting spot. Orbital mechanics are cool. And Lagrange points are fascinatingly weird.
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Non-inertial reference frames in general are a whole separate brand of weirdness. Just ask the weatherman.
Nice video to relax and enjoy on Boxing Day, thanks!
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Really? Aside from her archetypal "Holy Fool" powers, she chopped down a gigantic tree with her head-knife!!!
(N.B. That only makes me love her more.)
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The way Izzy draws out the 'come visit us' note hints that she may share Pinkie Pie's hair type. But she still needed Zipp's help to get her hooves on some macaroni.
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The tree was clearly dead and just waiting for some pony to give it a little push. However the style of local architecture suggests that home construction in Bridlewood requires similar, but maybe more sensitive, powers.
Uhm... is Mr. Ekeberg well-regarded by physicists in general?
(because reasons)
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I don't think your average physicist pays any more attention to him than your average philosopher pays to my fanfics. The basic idea behind his book - that physics experiments are based on assumptions that philosophers regard as rather shaky - is something I am periodically reminded of by students doing the Physics and Philosophy course.
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Ah. Thanks, I suspected that something like that was the case.
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Since you mentioned the local architecture of Bridlewood, I found it interesting that the unicorns we saw in ANG were the only group of ponies who had not gone through the Industrial Revolution and/or its consequences. Who knows if the G5 series will comment on this or if it will be early-episode weirdness or treated as a mere sight gag?
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RE: Izzy being a better Pinkie
We also have only had a single movie that surpassed the expectations of most to go on for Izzy. There hasn’t been time for a bad Izzy episode yet.
That said, when I wrote my long review of the G5 movie, one of the characterization points I made was that Izzy is Rarity if she became Pinkie Pie. I like the way you put it: “I don't think her cutie mark is only about crafting, but also fashioning perceptions of reality, without the aid of unicorn magic!” Both Izzy and Rarity know that the clothes make the mare if you don’t look too long.
If Pinkie Pie is the class clown of FiM, Izzy is the galaxy brain of ANG.