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Better math and even computation doesn't necessarily help in some cases. Take for instance the problem of making better solar cells and batteries. We can't nec
by gene-h 5y ago
Better math and even computation doesn't necessarily help in some cases. Take for instance the problem of making better solar cells and batteries.
We can't necessarily make a mathematical model useful for understanding the processes that happen during the manufacturing and operation of solar cells/batteries. In fact in many cases determining just what processes are happening is a problem in and of itself. We don't necessarily understand how batteries degrade or why adding a certain component or using a certain process makes batteries degrade less. Determining this often can only be done with real world experimentation.
One problem relevant to making organic solar cells is determining how organic constituents crystallize. A talk I saw looked into doing this computationally, but claimed it to be intractable. The problem was that the same compound, but with a different isotopic composition crystallized completely differently. This meant that nuclear motion mattered and that the already computationally expensive crystallization sim being done needed to be made orders of magnitude more computationally expensive to get useful results.
This isn't to say that math isn't useful, it's just that math isn't necessarily as useful when real world experimentation is necessary. That being said, math can still be quite effective in the natural sciences.
- feoren 5y ago> Better math and even computation doesn't necessarily help in some cases. > We don't necessarily understand how batteries degrade or why adding a certain component or using a certain process makes batteries degrade less. It sounds like you're saying that better mathematical models can't possibly help because our current mathematical models aren't good enough. Huh? Isn't better theory exactly the answer to "how" and "why" questions? Why would you not want to improve the theory because the theory isn't good enough? Better theory is how you explain and guide real-world experimentation. Plenty of completely intractable problems have suddenly become quite tractable with better math.
- SiempreViernes 5y agoNo, they are saying is we currently don't know what is going on good enough to be able to tell which model actually predicts reality.
- psiconaut 5y ago> Better math and even computation doesn't necessarily help in some cases It is my impression that, at least on the topic of climate modelling, climate change denialism (which, frankly, is less and less common among educated population) was sustained by the rhetoric about models not being certain about linking anthropic change and its effects. So at least here I see that better understanding (accuracy/reliability) about the climate system (which the azimuth group claims to have contributed to, if I remember correctly) might have a direct effect on, at least, social perception of the uncertainty surrounding science...
- lupire 5y agoIt's the reverse. Doubt about models is sustained by denialism, which is sustained by short term economic interests.
- omgwtfbyobbq 5y agoI think we do have models to understand battery degradation. Like... https://www.dal.ca/diff/dahn/research/adv_diagnostics.html https://www.dal.ca/diff/dahn/research/adv_diagnostics.html