On pandora

[archaic]

Numbers may not lie, but the measurement, recording and interpretation are subject to inaccuracies, especially the interpretation.

Also, who decides which are the relevant variables, and which are irrelevant?

[Clarke]

Generally, you work that out when you realize you can't replicate the results without them.

[archaic]

And then who decides which are the relevant results, and which are irrelevant?
Based on what factors?

It's not unknown for one study to look at a data set and draw one conclusion, then later a different study looks at the same data set, and draws a radically different conclusion.

[`Eylan Ayfalulukanä]

There are some folks who go as far to state that the universe IS mathematics.

There are some constants that keep showing up over and over in nature. For instance, the speed of light, the fine structure constant and Planck's constant. Tiny variations in these numbers would have profound consequences for the universe. But as they further study these numbers, they find that they are indeed constants. In the case of the fine structure constant, the value is very near, but not exactly 1/137. For years, the fact that it wasn't exactly 1/137 vexed scientists. Now, they realize that it has nothing to do with 1/137, but that it is its very own animal. The speed of light, though, is EXACTLY 299,792,458 meters/sec because the meter is based on that constant.

The older I get, the more I enjoy physics and mathematics, and their complex relationship. They expose a beauty and organization that to me speaks of a master creator (but may speak to you of something else).

[Clarke]

IMO, it's far more amusing to think of those as God being a bad programmer and including too many magic numbers.

[Toruk Makto]

The speed of light is different through different mediums. For example, it is only 100Kps through optic fiber (gives the echoes and delay on long distance). Once again the observed plenum has an unknown. My point is that science is all a best guess.

[Clarke]

In technical terms, that's not light slowing down, but getting interrupted continuously by its interaction with the charges with the glass.

[archaic]

That is an explanation for an observed phenomena.

The point is that there maybe unknown and as yet unexpected phenomena in other parts of the galaxy/universe, which do not manifest themselves here because underlying causal conditions needed for those phenomena do not exist here.
If you were to know what those underlying causal conditions were, and manufacture them here, you would recreate the phenomena here, and only then make observations.

[`Eylan Ayfalulukanä]

But we do know that light travels at its maximum speed in a vacuum, and most of space is a pretty good vacuum.

If you want to study something really mind-blowing though, check out cosmic bubbles and 'false vacuum'.

[Clarke]

Understanding the false vaccum just made me paranoid about not knowing about reality-ending events somewhere in deep space.   

[`Eylan Ayfalulukanä]

If the LHC made a particle that jumped over the energy barrier between the false and ground state vacuums, we'd all know about it in less than a second...

[Eana Ketuwong]

Although I would love to fly across Pandora, Palulukan is the way to go for me! 

[archaic]

That said, physical laws should work the same way everywhere in the universe,

Just remembered the blindingly obvious, they don't. Black holes, singularities.