On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 3:49 PM, Davis Waithaka <daviswaithaka@gmail.com> wrote:

Q8: is data Matter? does a byte of data have molar weight? is a server
who'se hard disk is full of data heavier than one whose drive has empty
drives?

A8: First, currently (ie inside ur PC) data carriers are basically
electrons. From classical mechanics (normal physics and chemsitry) we
know that electrons have a definite mass. Thus data carriers have mass.
However, data itself is not matter.. the analogy here would be that of
the spoken word (data) vs air (sound/ data carrier) - the spoken word is
not matter while air is.

We know from basic physics that for current to flow (for data to be
carried across), there must be a complete loop circuit in which carriers
come from A Source - to A Load - Back to The Source. The instantaneous
mass M(t) at any given point on this loop, in terms of carriers, is thus
constant [M(t+1)= M(t) + n - n = M(t)] where n is the number of carriers
transmitted in unit time.
Thus, whether the harddisk is full of data (spoken word) or empty, the
number of data carriers (those with actual mass) is constant through
time.

It is nevertheless important to note that from quantum mechanics the
electrons (our data carriers in PCs) are considered to be levels of
energy around an atom. Their position is simply a cloud of the probable
positions where this energy can be found. This does not give us any
indication of the electron being considered matter but as more of an
energy wave concept - thus mass is out of the question, at least for
quantum theorists.

A8 Second Part

<I have always wondered about this, to add to it, Will the fiber cables

become heavy in terms of weight once they start being used? :)/>

The above logic will be applied a bit differently:
First, the data carrier in a fibre optic cable is light, does light have
mass? Well, previously thought not to until it was demonstrated that its
path can be bent by a black hole's gravity. However, the circuitry logic
tells us that the light is not stored in the cable and that if 1 kg of
light enters on one side, then 1 kg of light will be emitted at the
other end. Using the earlier simple data carriage equation we can
conclude that a fibre optic cable carrying data will weigh the same as
one that is not.

--
Davis Waithaka <daviswaithaka@gmail.com>
Systems Kenya Solutions

On Wed, 2009-07-15 at 12:09 +0300, Peter Karunyu wrote:
> This "Q8: is data Matter? does a byte of data have molar weight? is a server
> whose hard disk is full of data heavier than one whose drive has empty
> drives?" is a superb question, it should make interesting lunchtime
> conversation, I will pose it to my boss, [evil grin here].
>
>
>
> On 7/15/09, Philip Musyoki <pmusyoki@gmail.com> wrote:
> > I saw some documentary of NatGeo or Discovery, I do not know which, but they
> > were able to transmit power tirelessly and power some devices. More like the
> > way microwaves work. I guess in future it will be possible as the technology
> > matures.
> >
> > About the Nyayo Pioneer, I double Jeremy Clarkson would have had any kind
> > words to say about it. He says really bad things about Bugati's and
> > Maserati's, and the Pioneer is way down there, if it was a in a scale of 1
> > to 10, 1 being the worst, the Pioneer would have been like -100. That car
> > was just so ugly.
> >
> > Currently, internet crimes are tried in the country/state which hosts the
> > server. They was a case of a woman who tormented her neighbor's daugher
> > until she committed suicide, all on MySpace and it was being tried in
> > California's where MySpace has it's servers.
> >
> > So if you commit internet crimes on servers based in the Hague, you will go
> > to the Hague.
> >
> > On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 11:45 AM, Geoffrey Mimano
> > <gmimano@datadyne.org>wrote:
> >
> >> Q1: Will we ever manage to transmit power wirelessly? (think of a
> >> mobile phone like socket you plug in your laptop and get mains power
> >> wirelessly.
> >>
> >> Probably. But not in the way u think. Everybody emits some small
> >> charge. Now now those guys creating nanobots to cure or repair human
> >> tissue can use this elec from the human body to power the nanobots.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> 2009/7/15 Areba Collins <arebacollins@gmail.com>:
> >> > Q1: Will we ever manage to transmit power wirelessly? (think of a
> >> > mobile phone like socket you plug in your laptop and get mains power
> >> > wirelessly.
> >> >
> >> > Q2: Is the shorthand for a Terrabyte TB? and what will 100 TB's be
> >> called?
> >> >
> >> > Q3: Will we ever reach a dangerous state of security on the Internet
> >> > that there shall be need for Internet Police, complete with warrants
> >> > and courts? In which country will crimes commited on the Internet be
> >> > tried?
> >> >
> >> > Q4: WHY DOES'NT KENIC SELL DOMAINS ONLINE? for $9.99 complete with
> >> > online ordering? b) Why do i have to buy domains from a third party?
> >> >
> >> > Q5: Is the Opposite of Open Source "Closed source"? ^>alex$
> >> >
> >> > Q6: If Nyayo pioneer had taken off, would Jeremy clarkson have a kind
> >> > word to say about Kenyan Engineering?
> >> >
> >> > Q7: Will the next land rover discovery be called LandRover TATA?
> >> >
> >> > Q8: is data Matter? does a byte of data have molar weight? is a server
> >> > who'se hard disk is full of data heavier than one whose drive has
> >> > empty drives?
> >> > --
> >> > If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples
> >> > then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea
> >> > and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will
> >> > have two ideas.
> >> >
> >> > George Bernard Shaw
> >> > _______________________________________________
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> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Mimano G. Muthondu,
> >> Software Developer,
> >> Datadyne.org
> >> skype : gmimano
> >> Mobile : +254 723 615 206
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