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What is YOUR favourite science experiment?

arg-fallbackName="IrBubble"/>
My favourite is:

creationism.gif
 
arg-fallbackName="Marcus"/>
An engineer thinks equations are a model of reality.

A theoretical physicist thinks reality is a model of equations.

A mathematician doesn't care.
 
arg-fallbackName="Deleted member 619"/>
The double slit experiment. Hands-down winner for me, as it was the experiment that elucidated the fact that common sense is not actually a reliable guide to reality.
 
arg-fallbackName="schinth"/>
hackenslash said:
The double slit experiment. Hands-down winner for me, as it was the experiment that elucidated the fact that common sense is not actually a reliable guide to reality.
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+1. It taught me that universe is full of surprises...
 
arg-fallbackName="Pulsar"/>
Foucault's pendulum. A beauty of classical mechanics, yet not easy to visualize.
 
arg-fallbackName="Ciraric"/>
I'm a mathematician and so don't do experiments.

Nevertheless, the Milgram experiment is pretty cool.
 
arg-fallbackName="e2iPi"/>
Ciraric said:
I'm a mathematician and so don't do experiments.
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Pure mathematics is like a hammer without a nail. :D

No offense, I just couldn't resist taking the shot. Guess "the devil made me do it" as my grandfather was fond of saying :)

i^2
 
arg-fallbackName="The Apathetic Despot"/>
Okay, we've had Chemistry, Physics and Sociology, here's some psych. Take a blind person, and I mean completely blind with no visual sensation whatsoever, and put them in a room with a podium somewhere. Then ask them to point to the podium. After they've yelled at you for a while because they're blind and there's no way they can see the damn podium and you convince them to humor you they'll take a guess and point in what they think is a random direction. And they will consistently point right at the podium that they can't actually see.

It's called blindsight and it's fucking weird. Of course the explanation is obvious: the Cognition Faeries are just messing with us :lol: .
 
arg-fallbackName="Ciraric"/>
The Apathetic Despot said:
Okay, we've had Chemistry, Physics and Sociology, here's some psych. Take a blind person, and I mean completely blind with no visual sensation whatsoever, and put them in a room with a podium somewhere. Then ask them to point to the podium. After they've yelled at you for a while because they're blind and there's no way they can see the damn podium and you convince them to humor you they'll take a guess and point in what they think is a random direction. And they will consistently point right at the podium that they can't actually see.

It's called blindsight and it's fucking weird. Of course the explanation is obvious: the Cognition Faeries are just messing with us :lol: .
Click to expand...
I bet you the guy giving the instructions is standing behind the podium isn't he?
 
arg-fallbackName="The Apathetic Despot"/>
Ciraric said:
I bet you the guy giving the instructions is standing behind the podium isn't he?
Click to expand...

If only it were that simple :) . The podium experiment is only one example, it also works on other things they should only know using sight, like type of movement.
 
arg-fallbackName="Fratis Nox"/>
My Favorite is the prof of Alpha Radiation

I have only ever seen it once but it is awesome
 
arg-fallbackName="GluoN8"/>
Definitely the Millikan oil drop experiement, but the double slit experiement is a close second :D
 
arg-fallbackName="obsidianavenger"/>
The Apathetic Despot said:
Okay, we've had Chemistry, Physics and Sociology, here's some psych. Take a blind person, and I mean completely blind with no visual sensation whatsoever, and put them in a room with a podium somewhere. Then ask them to point to the podium. After they've yelled at you for a while because they're blind and there's no way they can see the damn podium and you convince them to humor you they'll take a guess and point in what they think is a random direction. And they will consistently point right at the podium that they can't actually see.

It's called blindsight and it's fucking weird. Of course the explanation is obvious: the Cognition Faeries are just messing with us :lol: .
Click to expand...

doesn't work for all blind people :p

blindsight results from a certain kind of brain injury, in the occipital lobe: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindsight

more interestingly, echolocation could also account for that kind of phenomenon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_echolocation
 
arg-fallbackName="xman"/>
hackenslash said:
The double slit experiment. Hands-down winner for me, as it was the experiment that elucidated the fact that common sense is not actually a reliable guide to reality.
Click to expand...
+1 also. I can hardly wait to show it to my son.
 
arg-fallbackName="Squawk"/>
hackenslash said:
The double slit experiment. Hands-down winner for me, as it was the experiment that elucidated the fact that common sense is not actually a reliable guide to reality.
Click to expand...


Fucker beat me to it, I was going to say exactly the same. ;)
 
arg-fallbackName="Jackvinsly"/>
well i am right now doing a college with microbiology. yesterday i was doing a practical on fungi. we all the friend have to work on that but the think is we was all have to check result after the day means today so every buddy gone fail to got fungi but i am only one succeed to growth to fungi in petri dish. This was my wonderful experience in today.
 
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