Small but important nitpick: Newton's laws are actually incorrect at all speeds. The differences between the newtonian model and the relativistic model, however, are negligible for all but the most precise experiments for low speeds.

Thus, the lack of perfection of Newton's laws serves as an example of your first point as much as your second.

(The main point of your post, though, is very good!)

Dangnabbit, where are my mod points when I need them? This comment is both (1) technically wrong and (2) misguided. It certainly shouldn't be modded ``Insightful''!

(1) The notation ``bEa'' is shorthand for ``b times 10^a''. Therefore, ``10E-24'' means ``10 times 10^(-24)'' = 10^(-23), which isn't 10^(-24).

(2) Prefixes may or may not have much in common with emoticons, but they are worth creating. They are very handy for communication, both oral and written. Other posters have made this point, so I won't say any more about it.

(By the way, should ``dangnabbit'' have one ``b'' or two? I can't find any trustworthy resources on this.)

The point is that you don't get stuck in a saddle. Motion along one direction is inhibited, but motion along an orthogonal direction is encouraged. To get stuck, you need to be inhibited in all directions.

Chuck

Velocity is relative, but acceleration isn't relative. Rotation involves acceleration. So it isn't equivalent to say that X rotates around Y is the same as Y rotates around X. (Hypothetical example: consider a universe empty except for a single planet which is rotating. What does it mean to say it's rotating, without reference to background stars? Is it equivalent to a model where we say the planet doesn't rotate? No - we could see the difference in a centrifugal force causing the planet to bulge as it rotates.)

Anyone who enjoys this sort of thing should really, really read about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mach's_principle. Ernst Mach thought about acceleration in the absence of the rest of the universe quite a bit. His ideas had a strong influence on Einstein when he was developing general relativity. (However, whether or not GR actually agrees with Mach's Principle is complicated).

Chuck

Heh, i'd give it a couple months to fail before saying jobs made a mistake, maybe there's hordes of ravening fans dreaming of a slightly larger iphone.

Why is this particular form of prejudice allowed and even encouraged on Slashdot (by being moderated "Funny")?!?

If Tanktalus had written "... and those that think I might have darker skin than average" or "... and those that think I might be a woman", then he/she would be rightfully modded down to -1 and there would be multiple posts by now justifiably calling him/her a bigoted asshole.

Bigotry is bad, ok?

Your post is both interesting and informative, so it's worth my being a little bit pedantic. You should have said that ``the measurements are imprecise'' -- they seem to be completely correct, but they have a larger uncertainty than we would like.

Chuck