seperis: (frog love)
seperis ([personal profile] seperis) wrote2010-11-06 09:34 pm
Entry tags:

i resent science a lot today

Child is always an inspiration and a joy forever, but I also have a fairly elaborate system in place to hide from him when he's feeling especially curious and his prepubescent ass can't bother itself with Wikipedia (ie, all the time). This is not because his questions aren't awesome; it's because at the end of the day, physics is fucking up my life.

Most of the time, he's going on about space, which thanks to a lifetime of Star Trek and TOS I can get through with the quick addition of surreptitious googling or reference to Dr. Who and technobabble, which let me say, thank God for.

Today was not space; today he posited a hole that goes from one side of the earth to the other, and you're laughing because come on, that one's easy. Yeah, I did too until he started with how he'd do it and avoid the molten core of the earth (don't ask) while achieving escape velocity once the other side was reached (God I was stupid; I mentioned escape velocity and he didn't even frown in frustration that he missed something). We were okay until I realized this wasn't so much a question as a plan, perhaps more meticulous than I'm comfortable with, and I'm really not entirely copacetic with him wanting to know how big a hole we're talking about that wouldn't lead to the earth growing unstable or flooding the earth with the core through the mantle.

What I'm saying is, he's thirteen and has neither enough theory or like, supplies, to pull this off (or for that matter, a working way to bend if not break some physics in a really geological way), but I have an uneasy feeling I'm seeing the beginnings of a bucket list. I'm usually pretty comfortable with the fact technology hasn't caught up with his ideas of what to do with his life, and when that fails, there's always the immutable existence of say, reality to work with.

But put it this way; this not a black hole and there aren't any warp engines; I just spent way too much time trying to work out how technology or reality can actually stop him and I'm coming up just a little short. I think he sensed this; he went away with a grin and seriously, I'm tired of holes in the backyard.

If anyone tells him the thinnest part of the crust is actually in the ocean and he should start working on his scuba diving and pick up an interest in drills and pressure, I will so cut you. We're only five years away from a time I can no longer punish him with 4chan trauma macros, people. The future is coming, and apparently, it wants to find out if digging your way to China really is a metaphor.
kate_nepveu: sleeping cat carved in brown wood (Default)

[personal profile] kate_nepveu 2010-11-07 03:08 am (UTC)(link)
Surfing the network--

Would it help to tell him that he wouldn't reach escape velocity on the other side, he'd just go right back?

I happen to know this from a Neil deGrasse Tyson book and actually excerpted this very bit from my review, so: http://www.steelypips.org/weblog/2009/05/tyson_blackhole.php
reginagiraffe: Stick figure of me with long wavy hair and giraffe on shirt. (Default)

[personal profile] reginagiraffe 2010-11-07 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
Why do I have the feeling that you just saved the Earth today...?

Thank you! *g*
beachlass: red flipflops by water (Default)

[personal profile] beachlass 2010-11-07 03:33 am (UTC)(link)
Ok.

So we have to make sure that your son and my son don't meet up. Together they might be unstoppable.

[identity profile] mis-mariposas.livejournal.com 2010-11-07 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
Random lurker just dropping by to ask how he's planning to reach escape velocity because he's going to need some force besides gravity.

Just dropping something through the center of the Earth will cause it to sling shot back and forth like a pendulum. It'll never actually leave the Earth since gravity is mass dependent.
nagasvoice: lj default (Default)

[personal profile] nagasvoice 2010-11-07 03:47 am (UTC)(link)
Current tech's drills simply can't cope with the heat and distance. The tech for dilling deep isn't all that great. Have you put him onto info about the Moho project?

[identity profile] mis-mariposas.livejournal.com 2010-11-07 03:50 am (UTC)(link)
Whoops, just noticed someone else already mentioned this from a much more entertaining source than Newtonian physics.

[identity profile] mis-mariposas.livejournal.com 2010-11-07 04:00 am (UTC)(link)
That's awesome. Child is very lucky to have you looking out for him. I didn't get to learn that until a teacher told us to calculate the equation of motion for an object dropped through the center of a massive sphere.

If you dig sideways tunnels you could theoretically use gravity to power trains though.
dreamatdrew: (Skullbutt The Tormenter)

[personal profile] dreamatdrew 2010-11-07 04:12 am (UTC)(link)
Well, if he had a booster going the entire "fall" through, he could possibly get escape velocity rather cheaply. The problem is that ya cant get that kinda hole to fall through...
zee: (Adam Laughing)

[personal profile] zee 2010-11-07 04:15 am (UTC)(link)
I can't even begin to tell you how much I love your kid posts. Seriously. The love is big. That's one lucky evil genius, to have a mom like you.
dreamatdrew: (Barcode)

[personal profile] dreamatdrew 2010-11-07 04:25 am (UTC)(link)
plz dont kill me

[identity profile] mis-mariposas.livejournal.com 2010-11-07 07:00 am (UTC)(link)
The "falling" object will actually decelerate after it passes the center of the Earth, so it'll end up on the other side of the Earth with roughly its original velocity. So, escape velocity still requires expensive rockets!

The world is still safe.
jadey: greyscale a woman's face (ani difranco) eyes upward  (Default)

[personal profile] jadey 2010-11-07 07:04 am (UTC)(link)
And now I wonder if you have ever read this book, because right now your life sounds startlingly like an excerpt from it!
dreamatdrew: (Daria)

[personal profile] dreamatdrew 2010-11-07 07:06 am (UTC)(link)
See, I'm not so sure on that... that whole "it takes more effort to get moving than keep moving" thing... Something in my hindbrain just says "WOULD BE EASIER DAMMIT, not much, but it would."
shaenie: crazy pants (Default)

[personal profile] shaenie 2010-11-07 09:23 am (UTC)(link)
I think your son and my son should be kept as far apart as possible to avoid the possibility of co-galactic-overlordship.
kate_nepveu: adult and toddler grinning (SteelyKid - grinning with Mom (2010-07))

[personal profile] kate_nepveu 2010-11-07 12:05 pm (UTC)(link)
It is a fabulous book and I look forward to SteelyKid (the resident toddler) being old enough to enjoy it herself.

(Also, I'm married to a physicist with an interest in pop science books, so if your son ever wants books more on the physics rather than astronomy end, we'd be happy to provide recs.)
kate_nepveu: sleeping cat carved in brown wood (Default)

[personal profile] kate_nepveu 2010-11-07 12:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Glad to be of service!

[identity profile] mis-mariposas.livejournal.com 2010-11-07 12:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, this is approximating the Earth as a sphere, which is not true, so it wouldn't be perfect. Putting that aside, I'm now going to break out the physics because intuition is so amazingly wrong in this case that it's awesome.

If you weren't looking for a physics lecture on the internet today, please feel free to ignore. I've been correcting Intro physics work all day, so it's reflex now.

Image
scy: (Default)

[personal profile] scy 2010-11-07 05:19 pm (UTC)(link)
*pats your shoulder* Perhaps he is going to use these projects as a means of deciding a career path? Then at least it will be somebody else's problem if he is digging in the wrong place?

In the meantime, do not take him to try out heavy equipment...ever...and I am trying to think of ways to deter him from digging up your backyard- I have visions of large pits with THINGS at the bottom..or just one of you falling in...

Fortunately when I tunneled I was only allowed to do it in mud or sand - we have trees that my father would not let me disturb - or the grass - that would have led to yelling.

Hmm.
supermouse: Simple blue linedrawing of a stylised superhero mouse facing left (Default)

[personal profile] supermouse 2010-11-08 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
To get to the centre of the earth, he has to remove material - make him work out how much material he has to move, and then how much energy moving all of that material will take.

Either he'll disappear forever into a world of mathematics, and be rendered more or less harmless, or get bored and give up.
mecurtin: Doctor Science (Default)

[personal profile] mecurtin 2010-11-08 06:54 pm (UTC)(link)
You may want to point him to this set of fun distracting links. Contents include activities for doing Real Science to help Real Scientists! also many cool pictures.
cereta: My daughter, with "Evil Genius" (frog is an evil genius)

[personal profile] cereta 2010-11-08 08:07 pm (UTC)(link)
...

...

Will he at least use his powers for good?

[identity profile] yoiyami.livejournal.com 2010-11-07 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
I don't know whether I would laugh or cry in that situation.

Then again, there are age and monetary restrictions when dealing with scuba diving and deep sea digging, so maybe it would stave off the inevitable until it gets to the point where you can let someone else deal with it?

[identity profile] seperis.livejournal.com 2010-11-07 03:03 am (UTC)(link)
I'm pretty much clinging to both with both hands at this point. The legality of locking him in the closet is under question, but I"m looking into it.

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