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Humility versus hubris - Does science have the potential to answer any question?
Okay, here’s just one question:
Where exactly will all the planets in our solar system be in 100,000 years from today May 27, 2009 at 5 pm GMT? We allow a margin of error of 10 feet.
The question is somewhat related to asking: Is the solar system stable or will one planet, say Mars, leave our solar system entering interstellar space?
What do you need to answer the question? Here are a couple of options. Please pick one:
1) A small personal computer and an astronomy program
2) A high-end computer with 16 processors
3) A data center full of high-end computers
4) A computer the size of Jupiter
Or does the question require a computer that consists of more than 10^85 atoms? If our universe is too small for that, does this mean science does not have the potential to answer any question?
Here’s the definition of the problem:
The n-body problem is the problem of finding, given the initial positions, masses, and velocities of n bodies, their subsequent motions as determined by classical mechanics, i.e., Newton’s laws of motion and Newton’s law of gravity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N-body_problem
Any opinions?
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