photo c8de48b2-f655-4e63-9559-e4db6e3781d5_zpsd6043488.jpg
Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome!

Chat

Credit
Welcome to Land Of Equestria. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Annual Canterlot Research and Science Convention; Tag Alpha Helix/Open
Topic Started: Jun 17 2012, 11:52 PM (251 Views)
Cosmic Radiance
Member Avatar
Super Member
[ *  *  * ]
It was once again time for the annual Research and Science Convention in Canterlot. This was one of Cosmic's, well any Scientifically inclined pony, favorite events. It brought some of the greatest minds from across Equestria. Even from outside of Equestrian boarders as well. Despite this fact, it still lacked the publicity of that of the Magical Annual Conventions. Not like they were competing for popularity or not.

This year it was the University of Canterlot that was hosting the event. Despite it being a rival school for Cosmic, he held no ill will toward those who had attended it. The Scientific community in general were a close nit group. Not many ponies in the public held much interest in this field. It obviously took a back seat to magic in the public eye. However, it was tradition to let these kind of conventions to be open to the public.

As a representative of the Academy of Science and Engineering, Cosmic was going to be an attendance to present his latest findings of his research he was doing. The convention had a laundry list of speakers, including both veteran and up and coming Scientist.

Cosmic arrived at the University early on to browse the many displays that were set up. Tri-folds as far as the eye could see of various experiments and their results. A few ponies that did show up were given quick summaries to whoever displays that caught their interest. It was a wonderful atmosphere indeed.

He would have to browse these later, for the main action was to take place in the Auditorium. This is where the speeches and presentations were to be given. Thus, this was the first location Cosmic would want to stop by at. Even if the event was not till later, at the very least he could mingle a bit with the other ponies there that were going to be given presentations as well.

Pushing the doors to the Auditorium open with his front Hoof, Cosmic entered the Auditorium. Inside there were several ponies already gathered around. Various conversations were already taking place. To the average pony it would appear to be some kind of foreign language was being said. It was just common practice to those in company though. Cosmic walked toward them given them a slight not in acknowledgement. Cosmic wanted to great the representative for the University of Canterlot first, Alpha Helix.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Alpha Helix
Member Avatar
Member
[ *  * ]
There are simply not enough hours in a day, though Alpha Helix as he galloped up the steps of Clover The Clever's Hall. A bulging briefcase bounced unsteadily behind him, suspended in amber light. I've got a speech to give in ten minutes, he glanced up at the clock tower, in seven minutes, and I'm not even there yet. How is this going to reflect on me?

It wasn't his fault, of course, that the train back from Ponyville was late. It wasn't specifically anypony's fault- unreliable trains were one of those things one just accepted. Just one of those facts of life. Rather ironic, he thought- for somepony so dedicated to defying the most basic "facts of life", to be inconvenienced by something so trivial.

He lamented, for the thousand-and-first time, that the first pair of unicorn-and-pegasus twins in over three decades had been born out in the middle of nowhere. It was unusual enough for one child to be of a different phenotype than either of its parents- and yes, he'd tested the obvious question, and Carrot really was their biological father- but this was practically something out of old mare's tales. There were seven or eight documented cases of this sort of thing EVER, and half of those were the misbegotten result of magical accidents. It's a pity that it happened in a small town with such a sorry excuse for a hospital, but Helix supposed that such things often did. What he wouldn't have given to have been able to observe them during the pregnancy, rather than finding out via the newspaper when they were already a couple weeks old.

Oh well. Ponyville may be a backwater, but he could say this for the Cakes- they knew an awful lot about pastries, and they never let him leave hungry.

He made it to the auditorium with three minutes to spare, quietly slipped the case full of notes and samples under a desk, and paused for a few moments to catch his breath before engaging in the tedious chore of shaking hooves and exchanging pleasantries with visiting scientists from other institutions.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Cosmic Radiance
Member Avatar
Super Member
[ *  *  * ]
Cosmic was mildly disappointed. Cosmic had arrived early so he would be able to have a more in depth talk with Mr. Helix. After a good 15 minutes of wondering around in the Auditorium, Alpha Helix was no where to be found. So Cosmic deiced to do the next best thing in his opinion, sit down and wait for him to come. Apparently Helix was out on business, and was do back today. He was just.. late.

It was about an hour before Alpha Helix had shown up. Just in time really.. his speech was up in merely a few minutes. During the hour.. Cosmic had a few conversations of little importance. But at last the first speech of the convention was to start soon.

Cosmic got up and walked over to Alpha Helix and nodded to him. Alpha was not one for the mingling aspect of these conventions. To be honest, Cosmic was not a huge fan either. But far be it from Him to show it to other Scientist. Cosmic was there for the knowledge aspect.

"Welcome Alpha Helix." Cosmic stated to him. "Just in time I see, Can't wait for your speech." Cosmic grinned. "Always interesting when it comes to you, despite it being in a different field than what I work in." Cosmic added.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Alpha Helix
Member Avatar
Member
[ *  * ]
Helix turned, slightly startled at the sound of his name, and saw a vaguely familiar face. "Ah, Radiance. Cosmic Radiance." He nodded in return. "It's been a while. I hope things aren't always so hectic over at your Academy?" The subtext, of course, being: Has another damned fool of a grad student somehow decided that it would be a good idea to make invisible parasprites, and then expected us to clean up her mess?

"Because I know I'd never get any work done if it was."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Cosmic Radiance
Member Avatar
Super Member
[ *  *  * ]
"Well.." Cosmic scratched the back of his head some. He debated how he would answer the question at first. "Nothing to that extant know." Cosmic informed him. "There are some with rather 'unique' experiments going on. But nothing I have had to step in and take care of so to speak." That was a rather interesting story about that incident, but they hadn't the time to delve into that event currently.

"Seeing as were between semesters currently. I'm more focused on my own research areas." Cosmic noted. "Though.. I am always on call.. much like yourself. Have to be prepared at a moments notice in case something happens." Cosmic chuckled slightly.

"Well I should not hold you up to much, you are the first speaker to go." Cosmic noted the time.

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Alpha Helix
Member Avatar
Member
[ *  * ]
Somewhat nervous, Alpha Helix took the podium, rehearsing under his breath the few prepared lines that he was most proud of. He gestured to an assistant who was working the projector- including a couple of slides he'd just put together the night before. He gestured a second and a third time before deciding that she was just too distracted, reached out with telekinesis, and flicked the ON switch himself. The slide showed a famous Fresco illustrating the unity of Pegasus, Unicorn, and Earth Pony. The original was badly damaged during the Rise of Nightmare Moon, but a faithful reproduction hung in the Canterlot Museum of Fine Art, and anypony who cared about fine art had seen it.

"As far back as any scholar can remember, there have been speculations about the relationship between the three races of ponykind. Starswirl the Bearded wrote that they contained different admixtures of the fundamental forces of nature: Earth, Air, and Fire." with much head-scratching given to the lack of a representative for Water, but that was a discussion for another day, "While Navel Gazer taught that they embodied the more esoteric concepts of Mind, Heart, and Spirit." He pressed a button, cycling the projector between portraits and illustrative diagrams.

"Sweet Pea, the monk renowned as the founder of the science of genetics, shared a version of this view, though she was the first to attempt to explain the actual phenotypical differences in terms of genes."

"There were great disputes about just how genetically different the three races were. Sweet Pea's new science of genetics- and the work of her students such as Inordinate Fondness- was thought by many to vindicate ancient prejudicial philosophies. Who could forget the actions of Grand Marshal Black Nimbus?" There was some uncomfortable muttering in the crowd- Nimbus was not a pony one mentioned in polite company. A scant few generations before the peace accords that lead to the foundation of Equestria, he had lead a brutal war of subjugation- some historians argued extermination- against Earth Ponies and Unicorns alike. "But frankly, those who so argued were missing the point. I'm sure there's not one among you who would dispute the fact that Nimbus was a madpony, and if some small fraction of his ravings happened to correspond with reality, that hardly vindicates the rest of them." Pause for awkward chuckles on que. Continue.

"Sweet Pea, for her own part, offered a compromise- which, given the evidence available to her, made about as much sense as anything anypony else was proposing. Each of us, she suggested, contains a blend of every trait, differing amounts of Mind or Heart or Spirit or Earth or Water or whatever. Our race was the result of a unique interplay of these factors, reflecting something or other about our mystical potential and our destiny to pursue our own unique gifts to the best of our abilities."

Many ponies, Helix knew, found this comforting. There was probably some basis to the speculations about gifts and destinies actually having a physical representation, though the nature of the Cutie Mark was debated by philosophers at least as thoroughly as the nature of the races. But, quite frankly, most of this view didn't square very well with what had since been learned about inheritance patterns. The evidence seemed to be increasingly pointing to the fact that it wasn't nearly that complicated.

"Over the past century or so, we've been able to gather data that Sweet Pea would not have dreamed of- from ancient genealogies to devices and spells that can probe the contents of cells themselves. And, unfortunately, it's looking increasingly like she was wrong about that. We've all got the genes, more or less, for producing horns, or wings, or hearty earthy constitutions." Well, about 11% of the subjects surveyed had mutations that would make producing an off-race child impossible, but "all" sounded better for the sake of a rhetorical point. He clicked to the next slide.

"We are all, but for a surprisingly small number of alleles, equal. The amount of genetic variation within races is vastly greater than the amount of variation between races. Many traits that were long thought to be associated with one race- unicorns with canted eyes, pegasi with elongated snouts, and so on- have recently been shown to be completely nonassociated with the genes that actually determine race, the result more of millennia of isolated mating practices than with anything inherent to the race. Were it not a few blatant exceptions," he listed off some long strings of numbers and letters that would be meaningless to anyone but a geneticist, "I think I might throw my support entirely behind Navel Gazer and Trillium, and say that there is only one race of any consequence- the Pony Race." A beat. There was some animated discussion- and some muffled indignance from the few non-ponies in the room. He hastily recovered: "Meaning no disrespect to visiting dignitaries of other species, of course- it is not your genetics or your respective races I am discussing."

This next bit was the dangerous part, and he'd been agonizing for weeks over just how much of his findings to reveal, just what sort of spin to put on it. At best, he might commit the social faux-pas of implying that it is better to be of one race than of another. At worst, he might find his name placed on some sort of list- or, worse still, lose his tenure!

"I think my latest research has proved fairly conclusively what was first speculated by Inordinate Fondness more than 150 years ago- that the genes for every race reside within all of us, and that their expression is regulated by a relatively tiny number of race-determining genes. Somewhere between eight and fourteen. Their very complex interplay insures that only one of three possible patterns of development will be followed by a developing pony's cells, regardless of what other genes that pony might possess. We do not yet understand exactly why this is the case," The unspoken message being that there is no good reason why this might be, as far as anypony had been able to determine, "but it seems to be the reason why Alicorns simply do not occur outside of certain incredibly magical bloodlines." Bloodlines which, to his frequent frustration, seemed very reluctant to offer him tissue samples.

This could be a perfect opportunity to point out the sheer unfairness of the fact that not everypony can fly and not everypony can use applied magic. It could be a perfect opportunity to call for a bright new future- to urge the scientific community to attempt in earnest what he had been trying on his own, in secret. My next few words, his inner transponyist argued, could change the course of life in Equestria forever.

It could also be a perfect opportunity to get lynched. Discretion prevailed, and he opted for a more vacuous- if still vaguely hopeful- conclusion. "And these paradigm-changing discoveries, I'm sure, are just a taste of what some of my distinguished colleagues have ready to share with each other over the course of this weekend. It is my profound hope that we all remember our duty to Knowledge and to the Realm, and to work always to make Equestria's future as bright as it can be! Thank you."

Perhaps using the national flag as the final slide was a bit much, but at least it produced applause. He noticed a little too late that he had paraphrased the University's motto ("To Knowledge, To the Crown, and To the Realm"), and hope that this subconscious slip up would not in itself be enough to raise suspicion.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Cosmic Radiance
Member Avatar
Super Member
[ *  *  * ]
It took quite a while for the crowd to calm down after Alpha Helix's fine presentation. Cosmic was very impressed. He always gave excellent presentations in the past, and this one was no exception. The crowd initial clapping had evolved into one of murmurs and talking among the pears in question. Alpha's research dug at the very essence of the common stigma of what it was to be a pony. There had always been "3 races" taught throughout school. Alpha's research was pointed toward one of a common ancestry... or at least to a point of where the races genes were becoming so intertwined...the pony race was seemingly becoming one. Cosmic loved the entire speech. He loved controversial subjects that bucked the common belief. Only one thing bothered him. How was anyone going to top such an opening presentation.

Eventually the speaker had to quiet down the crowd. Cosmic had such the opportunity to try follow up Alpha Helix. Cosmic Radiance rolled his neck around to get rid of any stiffness he had and gathered his own materials he had for his own presentation. Cosmic walked up to the stage and tapped the mic gently for a quick sound and level check.

"Good Afternoon everypony and other visitors." Cosmic was aware of the other spices in attendance of this event. "I'd first like to congratulate on that wondrous presentation Dr. Alpha Helix just gave." Cosmic looked over toward him. "Truly ground breaking research and findings he has presented for us today." The crowd gave one last round of applause before Cosmic diverted the attention back to himself.

"Science and Magic. These two areas have been a point of conflict dated back countless ages. Science has typically taking a back seat to 'magic.' And why not? Magic for the most part seems to make a mockery out of basic Scientific principles. The current accepted universal forces are as follows: Gravity, Strong and Weak forces, Electromagnetic forces, and more recently Nuclear Forces. " On the screen showed a presentation of each of the fundamental forces in nature.
"It was not too long ago that things like Gravity were thought of as magic to most ponies." Cosmic added as he went on to the next slide. "And who would blame them. Most ponies thought it was a magical existence that happened naturally. Through simple observations, we came to understand that we were able to understand and calculate the effects of Gravity. We have come to understand that Gravity is related based on the mass of the two objects and the distance between the two objects. " The formula was presented on this slide as the first image. "

By this time the crowd had begun to get a bit bored of Cosmic's presentation. So far nothing new had been presented.. just a recap of the very basic principles that everyone in the room would surely already know of. Already loosing the crowd. Cosmic thought a bit dejected. Cosmic tended to be a bit long winded ... with an overly large set up. He had worked on ..shorting his presentations in the pass. It was just hard to fix one's old habits it seems.

"Why would I bring up such ...common knowledge, I bet many of ponies here are asking oneself that at this point." Cosmic stated as he got a few nods.. while others just had a bit of an irritated look on their face. "To put it simply... Science and Magic... Magic and Science. It was my Fathers Hypothesis that what ponies have been labeling as 'Magic' is simply another Fundamental Scientific Force!" Cosmic stated excitedly. Some in the crowd groaned, while a few others simply suppressed a few chuckles. most of the crowd however remained respectful and stayed quiet.

"The standard concept of Magic is that it is housed within those blessed with the ability to conjure and make use of Magic. This common knowledge however is flawed! It fails to explain the inconsistencies observed throughout Equestria. Take the 'special' fruit that is a Zap apple." Cosmic went on to his next slide presenting said image of a Zap Apple. "Zap Apples are a very special kind of fruit that through a specific set of circumstances and occurrences produce this very distinguished fruit. This fruit is most common near "wild and uncontrolled" areas around and in the Everfree forest. This special fruit is thought of being part of the plant life able to have special magical attributes to them. Another common plant is poison Joke. That produce unique symptoms that pertain to the individuals that come in contact with it." Cosmic proceeded to flip to his next chart.
"What this fails to explain is... what enables such plants to 'produce' magical abilities in the first place." Most magical creatures we know have ways to focus their magic. Most commonly known as Alicorn. The bones of which the Unicorn horns are made out of. Other species that also possess Alicorn are Changelings, and other horned species scattered through the lands." Cosmic pointed to the screen.

"Fruit and plants have no such things. So what creates or draws the magic to them? To me the answer is simple." Cosmic paused a bit at this point. "Magic is a naturally occurring energy present throughout the lands that lands... and beyond. Magic is not 'conjured' out of thin air by those magically inclined. Instead.. they focus the natural magical energy around them and manipulate that force to whatever the user desires!" Cosmic presented his latest invention to the audience as well as moving on to the next slide.

"With the data I have collected with this device I have proof that this is the case. I have spent the last two years mapping out the natural magical back ground energy throughout Equestria." The crowd had grown silent by this point... there were no longer any hecklers in the crowd. "This device is able to read the latent magical energy in the air at any given time. Much like a thermometer, barometer, or anemometer. It is able to read the current magical energy in the air at any given time." Cosmic explained.

"Though there is a profound difference between the Magical Energy and those environmental properties. On average the magical back ground energy is relatively stable at any given point in Equestria. It comes in at about 0.5 MU's. Give or take +/- 0.1 MU's. " Cosmic flipped to his next slide and continued on.

"So what's significant about this value." Cosmic presented this to the crowd. "At this value the energy is stable and prevents random 'magical' like events from happening. " Cosmic noted. "Through observing unicorns. It seems it takes little bit over 1 MU's to be able to activate a basic spell by a unicorn. This is what I have determined as the base value needed for a magical reactions to take place." "The more complicated the spell, the more MU's needed for the spell."

"So this brings us back to the Zap apple and Poison Joke." This was the main selling point that really solidified his theories. "These things have no natural means to focus the magical energy. " Cosmic reiterated. "These plants form in magical back ground anomalies approaching that of 1 MU. This allows the natural magical reactions to start."

"It is then conceivable, if not plausible, to be able to develop means to tap into the natural magical energy that is always occurring throughout the lands. This can open up an untapped source of energy to more than those that can focus the energy naturally. Through the study of the properties of Alicorn that allows the focusing and gathering of this natural magical energy, I propose an artificial means of focusing this energy is possible. Through this, one can bring 'magic' to more than just those blessed with the ability to use it. But as an energy source for all pony kind!" Cosmic flipped to his last slide of all three 'races' gathered around a magic wand.

The crowd of ponies had various reactions, overall its reactions were not as profound compared to Alpha Helix. Alpha Helix had a way with words that Cosmic did not. Cosmic's research also was still in its beginning stages. The real advancements would occur when finding an artificial means of focusing this natural energy. Cosmic bowed and exited the stage. Next year is when I'll really wow them. My research on Alicorn properties and its relationship with this energy is where I'll focus for now.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Alpha Helix
Member Avatar
Member
[ *  * ]
Helix watched the physicist's presentation, increasingly impressed at the depth of his rigor. Like most unicorns who had traveled, he had some intuitive experience that some areas were magically "warmer" or "cooler" than others- he'd spent hours at a time in the Everfree Forest, and always found himself a little lightheaded by the end. He was aware that there had been much theorizing about the possible causes and implications of this fact. However, he had no idea that somepony had actually quantified this effect or built a device to measure it.

Magic was- well, it felt like an extension of his body, a steady drumbeat in time with that of his heart, fueling an extra set of senses and manipulators without which he'd feel blind and dumb. He had no idea how pegasi or earth ponies managed it, relying on only five senses, manipulating things with only their relatively clumsy mouths and forehooves- and that, he supposed, was a pretty large factor in his desire to make it available to them. All the same, he was fuzzy on a lot of the details of the most powerful (and spooky) applications of it, having turned down an opportunity for higher magical education in favor of a career in biology. He certainly had more fine control than average, but like most unicorns he had a handful of spells he used frequently, and simply improvised the rest of the time.

He joined in the applause with the rest of the crowd, and offered some congratulations to the other scientist as he finished his speech. Then, as an afterthought, "Oh, and if your device doesn't have a name yet, might I suggest 'thaumometer'?"
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Cosmic Radiance
Member Avatar
Super Member
[ *  *  * ]
Cosmic thought about Alpha's suggestion. He really had no formal name to the device. "That is a very valid suggestion you have there Alpha Helix." After all it made sense over all. "Changing the magnitude of the values might be a suggestion for improvement as well." Sense it is relatively new, the device might be better of with a "larger" scale than dealing with only tenths of change here and there. Making the scale more viable .. especially if needing to pinpoint more specific values of interest down the road.

"I think the name fits perfect." Cosmic took the time to step off the stage to make room for the next speakers to go.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Alpha Helix
Member Avatar
Member
[ *  * ]
"And perhaps," Alpha Helix suggested in a half-whisper, paying only a very little attention to the mare on stage who was going on about the fat content of milk, "The scale might make more sense expressed logarithmically. What sort of numbers are you working with, anyway?"

He realized, several minutes into their conversation, that he was rather enjoying a chance to speak with somepony else who thought that magic ought to be available to all. He also found himself speculating fancifully, trying to make a game of extrapolating- from the amount of commitment Cosmic Radiance was willing to show in public, just how weird could one expect his personal experiments to be?

...or maybe I'm just projecting, suggested his voice of reason. After all, not everypony could have accumulated quite as high a body count as I did in the early days of this project. Right?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Cosmic Radiance
Member Avatar
Super Member
[ *  *  * ]
Cosmic whispered back his response. "I'm currently using a linear scale that measures the frequency of the magical wavelengths given off." Cosmic explained. "It's base properties are not that different then other wave's emitted through other properties. Except the fact that with out the aid of focusing mechanism, only the amplitude of the waves change. When a unicorn or other creatures that have the ability to focus magic, so does the frequency change."

Cosmic continued to explain. "We know the Energy of a light wavelength is E = hv where v is the frequency of the wave and h. So these natural magical wavelengths give off a slow radiation that this device measures." Cosmic continued. "This radiation increases under two conditions.. either A the amplitude of the wave increases.. or b the frequency changes. Frequency changes cause larger variations... and are more local. While amplitude changes only show minor increases in the energy." Cosmic showed him the device closer up. "Currently it can not distinguish between the two.. but through practice one can deduce based on the nature of the increase if it is an increase based on amplitude or frequency."
Edited by Cosmic Radiance, Jul 3 2012, 12:25 AM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
« Previous Topic · Archives · Next Topic »
Add Reply