The New Year

Although badanswer.blogspot.com has not been online for a year, we do have a new calendar year upon us, for better or for worse, and I am hoping to make some changes around here.

First, as already mentioned I am planning to start a new competition involving scientific theories that "didn't make the cut." These theories are much like the Chicago Cubs of the science community. There were well received for a while (1907-1908) but now are just waiting to be swallowed by the maw of eternity having out lived their usefulness. The Cubs however get a new chance every year to try to be reinstated to the ranks of the "non-irrelevant," and the theories have been left to collect dust; until now.

Second, I was hoping to end my tenure as Google's redheaded step child by getting a domain name in my stocking, but alas, Santa failed me. So, all you loyal readers and one time visitors who got me nothing for Christmas (which is all of you, my brother, who's wife made me something, gets partial credit) have a chance to chip in. Domain registration is going for $10. I figure if all the regulars chip in a buck I can raid the kids penny jar to make up the difference. The other option is to just wait until the adds earn enough money to pay for the registration, based on Decembers totals that should happen sometime in May, 2075. I actually hope to be retired by then, so this may not be the best option. It would be nice to have this taken care of by February 23, 2007, the one year anniversary of the blog. A date in which two questions were answered ( http://badanswer.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html). I anticipate this would make it easier for whoever keeps getting to the blog by googling "badanswer blogspot."

Third, actually that about sums it up, but the list seemed short with just two points. So, I guess I will say I would also like to put up a list of those who do donate to the cause. Hopefully I won't be required to put down my kids names, a quick google search (which could be done from the top of this page) could show them who 'borrowed' their money. Feel free to email for more details.

Fourth, I guess I did have more to say after all. I added a poll on the page asking which post you feel is the best of the options given. This is primarily to keep you in practice for the voting, we don't want any dangling chad screwing up our results. You can vote for more than one post, but despite how deserving they all are, try to refrain from voting for them all. That would defeat the purpose.

Check back next week for the beginning of "Brackets 2: The Second Chance." Sorry for the lousy title, but the writers are still on strike.

THE FINAL

Kepler vs Newton

Evidently the date was wrong for the Archimedes vs Newton fight, but with Newton up by 9, we will let him get started in the final.

Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion:
   1. The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the sun at one of the foci. An ellipse is characterized by its two focal points. Thus, Kepler rejected the ancient Aristotelean and Ptolemaic and Copernican belief in circular motion.
   2. A line joining a planet and the sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time as the planet travels along its orbit.  This means that the planet travels faster while close to the sun and slows down when it is farther from the sun. With his law, Kepler destroyed the Aristotelean astronomical theory that planets have uniform velocity.
   3. The squares of the orbital periods of planets are directly proportional to the cubes of the semi-major axes (the "half-length" of the ellipse) of their orbits. This means not only that larger orbits have longer periods, but also that the speed of a planet in a larger orbit is lower than in a smaller orbit. His third law is based on the foundation left by Copernicus, because he uses a mathematical expression to show the correlation between T (time for one revolution) and D (distance from the sun).

Newton's Laws of Motion:
Briefly stated, the three laws are:
1. An object in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by a net force.
2. Force equals mass multiplied by acceleration.
3. To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

The final starts on Monday, What's up (Next) doc?

Well, I have decided to have another cage match. But like most of these reality shows we here at badanswer are resorting to "B-list" science to throw in the cage. We are currently recruiting false or superseded theories to put in the cage. The winner will get a second chance to be widely accepted by being immortalized by me personally in a blog post. A partial list of contestants is as follows:
Geocentric Universe
Lamarckism
Classical Elements
Flat Earth and
Spontaneous Generation

If you would like to nominate something for the next event please leave your recommendation in the comments so we may all ridicule you; unless you leave an anonymous comment,chicken.

Semifinal 2

Archimedes vs Newton

Archimedes' principle, or the law of upthrust, is: "When a solid body is partially or completely immersed in water, the apparent loss in weight will be equal to the weight of the displaced liquid."
In other words, when a body is partially or completely immersed in a liquid, then it experiences an upward buoyant force which is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the immersed part of the body.

Newton's Laws of Motion:
Briefly stated, the three laws are:
1. An object in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by a net force.
2. Force equals mass multiplied by acceleration.
3. To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Friday Updates

Unfortunately due to lots of work, regular Friday updates will no longer be regular.  However, still feel free to ask questions, I will try to get them answered in a timely manner.  Also, if you would like to be a guest contributor feel free to submit an article for review.  Please try to get any submission in by Friday morning, the day you would like it to be published.  That time is required to ensure the article will stand up to the rigorous standards we adhere to here at badanswer, both for accuracy and understandability.
Thank you for understanding.  I understand you will all be disappointed, feel free to vent in the comments.

Semifinal 1

Kepler vs. Ohm

Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion:
   1. The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the sun at one of the foci. An ellipse is characterized by its two focal points. Thus, Kepler rejected the ancient Aristotelean and Ptolemaic and Copernican belief in circular motion.
   2. A line joining a planet and the sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time as the planet travels along its orbit.  This means that the planet travels faster while close to the sun and slows down when it is farther from the sun. With his law, Kepler destroyed the Aristotelean astronomical theory that planets have uniform velocity.
   3. The squares of the orbital periods of planets are directly proportional to the cubes of the semi-major axes (the "half-length" of the ellipse) of their orbits. This means not only that larger orbits have longer periods, but also that the speed of a planet in a larger orbit is lower than in a smaller orbit. His third law is based on the foundation left by Copernicus, because he uses a mathematical expression to show the correlation between T (time for one revolution) and D (distance from the sun).

Ohm's law states that, in an electrical circuit, the current passing through a conductor between two points is proportional to the potential difference (i.e. voltage drop or voltage) across the two points, and inversely proportional to the resistance between them. In mathematical terms, this is written as: V=IR