Scientists discover how to turn light into matter after 80-year quest - Polidicks

[QUOTE=ironman17;44843172]Sooo I guess I was more or less on the mark with my observation? Or is it that they normally don't have mass and gain it under certain circumstances?[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Aurora93;44843202]wait, what? do they have mass or do they don't?[/QUOTE] There's no theoretical reason to believe photons have nonzero rest mass under any circumstances. My point was they've been shown experimentally to have [I]at most[/I] an incredibly tiny mass, which corroborates the theoretical belief that they have none.

[QUOTE=MaxOfS2D;44842846]I wonder how bright a dildo would have to be for a woman's torso to start shining like this [img]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9524LDvDayo/T8ZFHTi0NXI/AAAAAAAAAmo/3_sBRHlUni4/s1600/tut28_fig01.jpg[/img] truly asking the hard-hitting questions over here[/QUOTE] A true Fleshlight :v:

[QUOTE=Karmah;44843180]So let me get this straight because All I know about atoms is derived from University Chemistry lectures: Basically they are saying that light photons are essentially the same as all other charged base particles like electrons, neutrons and protons? So if they could build a rudimentary atom out of 2 photons making them act as electron and proton, couldn't you eventually split an entire atom into pure light alone?[/QUOTE] No, they are saying they've found a way to make it into rudimentary particles with mass. And as for the second thing, someone already did something like that, the built a photo lattice, which for all intents and purposes you could describe as a molecule

Time to make mass fabricators. You'll need two tech 3 power generator for each tech 3 fabricator though. Make sure to build them next to each other too. This is Supreme commander, right?

[QUOTE=Mitchel.;44843213]I wish i could change your title for that post Too bad we can't buy other people a titles anymore[/QUOTE] I for one am glad, that purple prose jab last year stung something vicious. Thankfully it got changed before shit got too rusty. Also the whole "shining dicks" thing would require a semi-strong light, but would also require a cooling system and proper insulation to not burn the lady's cooch. Still, it's a project that Bad Dragon would probably be all over if they had the tech to back it up. Same goes for Fleshlights, only this time you should be worried about not burning the man's chap.

Keep in mind that an electron and a positron barely qualify as matter. The amount of mass they have, while non-zero, is almost nothing in comparison to the weight of a single proton or neutron. If they wanted to create an actual atom from light, they're really, really fucking far off from that, not to mention you'd need a ridiculous amount of energy.

I might not get it, but what does this have to do with lightsabers or lightbridges? This is about turning photons into matter, not making light itself a solid object. If you were to make a lightsaber like this, it would just be a normal sword. It's not photons, it's protons and electrons.

True that, leptons are not quarks. That said, despite them being "elementary particles" in the current model, surely they're made up smaller stuff like coiled-up superstrings or even smaller particles? I mean, just look at the top quark and tell me he's not smuggling any quantum foam snack cakes under his belt. (the proton and electron are down in the bottom-left corner, for comparison) [IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Quark_masses_as_balls.svg/500px-Quark_masses_as_balls.svg.png[/IMG]

[QUOTE=ironman17;44843377]True that, leptons are not quarks. That said, despite them being "elementary particles" in the current model, surely they're made up smaller stuff like coiled-up superstrings or even smaller particles? I mean, just look at the top quark and tell me he's not smuggling any quantum foam snack cakes under his belt. (the proton and electron are down in the bottom-left corner, for comparison) [IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b5/Quark_masses_as_balls.svg/500px-Quark_masses_as_balls.svg.png[/IMG][/QUOTE] Ehh I don't really know much about this stuff, but I don't think string theory predicts elementary particles being composed of structures (i.e. more than one) of strings.

I don't now dick about shit but couldn't this lead to some kind of dark matter discovery? It's basically raw matter right?

[QUOTE=Qwerty Bastard;44843573]I don't now dick about shit but couldn't this lead to some kind of dark matter discovery? It's basically raw matter right?[/QUOTE] Not sure if I'm just being extremely obtuse and stupid, but it seems to me like they demonstrated pair production and were able to observe it properly. I honestly don't know though.

[QUOTE=MaxOfS2D;44842846]I wonder how bright a dildo would have to be for a woman's torso to start shining like this [img]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9524LDvDayo/T8ZFHTi0NXI/AAAAAAAAAmo/3_sBRHlUni4/s1600/tut28_fig01.jpg[/img] truly asking the hard-hitting questions over here[/QUOTE] I used to have a flashlight/battery powered construction lamp powerful enough to do that when shone at the palm of my hand. Was so neat to be able to see the shadow of my bones through the skin, I tells ya. Hot as hell to do for more than a few seconds, though, but super neat.

[QUOTE=Cakebatyr;44842809]m = E/(c^2)[/QUOTE] I don't get it

[QUOTE=Cakebatyr;44842809]m = E/(c^2)[/QUOTE] you mean [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/0/3/f/03f882b7de498678b4a5a6987e261aa7.png[/img]

[QUOTE=Eltro102;44843626]you mean [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/math/0/3/f/03f882b7de498678b4a5a6987e261aa7.png[/img][/QUOTE] You mean E = sqrt(m^2 + p^2)

[QUOTE=Steele92;44842833]The place looks pretty fun [t]http://jigglingatoms.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Blackett-1.jpg[/t][/QUOTE] That whole image just screams [I]science [/I]and[I] "we have no idea what we're doing".[/I]

[t]http://combineoverwiki.net/images/1/19/Hard_light_surface.jpg[/t] when

[QUOTE=Banhfunbags;44843622]I don't get it[/QUOTE] The correct response was: [I]Watt[/I].

So, if this is like Hard-Light then I can only hope for energy swords in the next 25 years

If you're making electrons and positrons, wouldn't they combine to create hydrogen? Hydrogen in a superheated gold can replicating the heat of a star? and then this comes to my mind [t]http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/EQSvxz1oWa8/maxresdefault.jpg[/t] Still it's pretty cool. I'm guessing it's still a long road to our own star trek replicator.

Positrons are the antiparticle to electrons. If they are combined you get photons. The electrons and positrons are annihilated. What you were thinking of are protons, which are far larger than electrons. Question: Would this procedure proven here basically be reverse annihilation?

[QUOTE=Doom64hunter;44843911]Positrons are the antiparticle to electrons. If they are combined you get photons. The electrons and positrons are annihilated. What you were thinking of are protons, which are far larger than electrons. Question: Would this procedure proven here basically be reverse annihilation?[/QUOTE] Essentially. If you look at the diagram in the OP and reverse left and right (the time direction) on the Breit-Wheeler diagram, you'll see it turns into the Dirac annihilation diagram. So this process is basically time-reversed Dirac annihiliation.

when i was a kid, i dreamed of turning light into matter in an open cone to generate pressure and make thrust and then turning it into the first light-powered rocket. i doubt that has anything to do with this but it still sounds cool as fuck.

Aren't plants converting light to matter since like forever? Or is photosynthesis a completely different thing?

[QUOTE=pedrus24;44844053]Aren't plants converting light to matter since like forever? Or is photosynthesis a completely different thing?[/QUOTE] completely different, plants use the energy to assemble sugars from co2 and water

[QUOTE=Most wanteD;44844028]when i was a kid, i dreamed of turning light into matter in an open cone to generate pressure and make thrust and then turning it into the first light-powered rocket. i doubt that has anything to do with this but it still sounds cool as fuck.[/QUOTE] [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_sail[/url]

[QUOTE=Doom64hunter;44843911]Positrons are the antiparticle to electrons. If they are combined you get photons. The electrons and positrons are annihilated. What you were thinking of are protons, which are far larger than electrons. Question: Would this procedure proven here basically be reverse annihilation?[/QUOTE] so if you somehow get rid of the positron after this have you generated electricity directly from light?

Ok, this is beyond cool, this is really fucking cool. But this is more than just cool, it is a huge advancement in humanity as a race! This isn't something like, hard light, this is the creation of protons (and with advancement and study in this area perhaps electrons as well (though anti-matter would be everywhere)) Basically, we could formulate blank mass at any point where there's a solid supply of light. Blank matter being able to be molded to anything we need in that moment; then, with some advancement in "Light Matter," blink the created mass or anything (with correlating atomic structure) out of existence just as easy. Science, BITCH!

[QUOTE=frozensoda;44844107]so if you somehow get rid of the positron after this have you generated electricity directly from light?[/QUOTE] You can't, due to charge conservation.

[QUOTE=frozensoda;44844107]so if you somehow get rid of the positron after this have you generated electricity directly from light?[/QUOTE] You can already generate electricity from light. Light is an electromagnetic wave. That's what photovoltaics do.