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To: edsheppa; js1138; VadeRetro; Ichneumon; PatrickHenry; Junior

by the same token, physicists do not yet have the means to make "detailed" predictions concerning so simple a physical event as the detonation of a simple single-stage fission bomb.

just as biologists cannot predict where and when specific genes will change, but can statistically predict quantity of change in a given timeframe under known conditions... so are physicists incapable of predicting which atoms will split into what decay product, in what sequence, which neutrons will be shed, etc - but CAN predict total fissile yield quite accurately.


136 posted on 11/13/2005 9:53:57 AM PST by King Prout (many accuse me of being overly literal... this would not be a problem if many were not under-precise)
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To: King Prout
by the same token, physicists do not yet have the means to make "detailed" predictions concerning so simple a physical event as the detonation of a simple single-stage fission bomb.

Hmmm. I think I'd analogize to meteorology instead. Physicists can calculate pretty well the important (from our POV) characteristics of a nuke. Meteorologists, OTOH, can't usefully predict the weather more than a few days out.

327 posted on 11/13/2005 6:16:46 PM PST by edsheppa
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