"You're very clever, young man, very clever. But it's turtles all the way down!"

Jezztek — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:54:18 -0800

Dear Hive-Mind, Want to help me brainstorm up a list of strange (pre-existing) theories? Howdy,

I'm working on a new project and I'm just in the brainstorming phase, but I could use a little extra help. I'm trying to think of as many interesting 'theories' that small(ish) clans of people earnestly believe, but pretty much everyone outside these insular groups don't even consider.

What I'm NOT looking for are theories that are still controversial (even if there is a scientific consensus to contradict them, like people that deny global warming or deny evolution).

Basic religious beliefs aren't going to work for me (So please no 'ha ha, Mormons are dumb'), but if they take it to the next level of strangeness they'll work (for example denying evolution is one thing, but believing the devil literally went around with a shovel planting dinosaur bones to screw with our heads is more along the lines of what I'm looking for).

So basically what I need are theories that have an abundance of evidence to contradict them, but still retain some true believers. Conspiracy theories are fine especially if they have an element of the fantastic, but unusual/fantastic explanations for natural/historical events, or just general cosmological strangeness is even better.

And best of all are theories that aren't seriously considered by pretty much anyone, but your average person on the street may have at least heard of (so super obscure theories are a bit less useful).

Some examples:

UFOs visited ancient Egypt and aliens helped build the pyramids
Flat Earthers
The Devil Planted Dinosaur Bones
The Moon Landing Was Faked
"Turtles all the way down"

Thanks much!

Can I transfer information faster than the speed of light by using a really long rod?

tommasz — Mon, 12 Jul 2004 11:33:57 -0800

[PhysicsFilter] This has been troubling me for a while and the answers I've gotten haven't satisfied me. Nothing travels faster than the speed of light for all intents and purposes, information included. I think I have a way around that, but I've been told it won't work. [More inside] My idea: build a rod that stretches a long, long distance, perhaps to another solar system. I suspect that materials science would say this is impossible also, but bear with me. If you were to whack the near end of the rod at the same time as a light flash was emitted, would the other end of the rod move before the light was detected? Or would something cause sufficient delay to make them appear at the same time at the remote end. All I've ever heard was that it wouldn't work. My question now is, "why not?"

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"You're very clever, young man, very clever. But it's turtles all the way down!"

Can I transfer information faster than the speed of light by using a really long rod?