So muffles, you explain the coming and going of virtual particles pretty well, what is your understanding of matter then?
“Matter = everything with mass” does not quite seem to cut it (or do you think it does).
“Matter = everything that has mass and occupies volume” does not cut it.
“Matter = Stuff”… well it is quite a mystery what stuff is in scientific terms so…
What do you say?
oh noes, the metaphysical raises it’s ugly head once more! :
Are we to assume the other 4 threads have been abandoned with questions addressed to you forever remaining… a mystery?
My understanding is that the more you accelerate the photon the more energy you need, and when you get to the speed of light you need infinite energy which will give the photon infinite mass.
Here’s another probably stupid question. To get the photon to transmit light, does it have to travel at the speed of light?
And you, what is your understanding of matter? Just asking, you know, you being the go to guy for straight answers and all.
Why the fuck should I bother, Mr Evasion?
Because you are better than that ;D:
Don’t worry, if you feel ignored, try the happy place for all unanswered questions. Tell the world about all your questions, maybe someone will answer them and then the world will be your happy place again >:D.
Also, don’t worry about me, I have faith that you will answer the question “What is your understanding of “Matter”?” since you seem to be a civil conversationalist that answers direct questions directly. Thank you in advance.
roflol - I want you to answer direct questions. But thanks for my own thread. It is only the second one you have made especially for me. I feel well loved.
Here is another one: how can you say “cunt” but you can’t say “fuck”? …I’m thinking spell checker, never mind. We’ll make it easy on you and won’t ask you any questions today.
Well, while you are here, you might as well answer this question like the “civil conversationalist that answers direct questions directly” you portray yourself to be. Thanks in advance.
And yet we don’t get pounded to death while sunbathing…
Here's another probably stupid question. To get the photon to transmit light, does it have to travel at the speed of light?
I don’t think photons emit light so much as being the stuff (or “matter” for Tele-bob) that light is made of.
I think this is a brilliant thread. If I’ve learned anything over the last week or so, its that one can’t discuss anything in a meaningful way if we aren’t speaking the same language. What matter is must be resolved. Here. On this forum. We can inform the scientists of our findings later. 
My opinion? When energy goes on holiday, it acquires the ability to gravitationally interact with other tourists. It has mass.
Mintaka
What about quantum vacua? Matter?
I understand that you don’t matter.
That only applies to particles with non-zero rest mass. As I to explained, Einstein’s mass increase formula results in 0/0 (undefined) for particles with a zero rest mass. For a non-zero rest mass, we get mo/0 which goes to infinity.
The photon is light and it travels at the speed of light, which varies according to the medium through which the photons travel. Exactly how light can exhibit both wave and particle behaviour is still a deep mystery. Quantum Electrodynamics (QED), however, suggests that the velocities of photons in vacuo are statistically distributed around the usual value of c ― i.e. some photons move slightly faster and others slightly slower.
'Luthon64
What’s a quantum vacuum? A futuristic Hoover? Will have to go read some first and come back. However, if the quanta vacua are affected by gravity, then yes, I’d call it matterial in nature.
Mintaka
Oh no, now you have done it, cyghost is going to be on your case now. Funny, I feel the same way about him.
Nothing interesting from neither of you with regards to your understanding of matter?
Oh well, not that it matters what you think >:D…
A wiki whack
Or here?
Gravity and the quantum vacuum inertia hypothesis
Or here?
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/bookdescription.editors/678811/description#description
;D
Gosh you’re quick. We should appoint you Libriological, the official site librarian. Thanks for the links. Will have a skim through.
Mintaka
Ag no man, just google links, even I can do that :D.
So a Plain Jane vacuum is one with no particles in it, and a quantum vacuum is one with no energy in it? Or am I missing the plot.
My simple mind has no problem believing a photon can be a wave and a particle, because it’s both. If you test for wave you see one, and if you test for particle you see one. Maybe that’s just the way the photon likes to roll, in a sine wave, zig-zag way; like it’s dodging a bullet. If not, it wouldn’t be the first time I cut myself with Occam’s razor.
Wikipedia, that fount of all wisdom, says: "the modern conception is that matter is a “substance” or entity unto itself, that is to say, it exists even apart from composing something else. Modern science identifies this “substance” through its physical properties; the most common current definition of matter is anything that has mass and occupies volume. However, this definition has to be revised[citation needed] in light of quantum mechanics, where the concept of “having mass”, and “occupying space” are not as well-defined as in everyday life. A more general view is that bodies are made of several substances, and the properties of matter (including mass and volume) are determined not only by the substances themselves, but by how they interact. In other words, matter is made up of interacting “building blocks”,the so-called particulate theory of matter.
Matter is commonly said to exist in four states (or phases): solid, liquid, gas and plasma. However, advances in experimental technique have realized other phases, previously only theoretical constructs, such as Bose–Einstein condensates and Fermionic condensates. A focus on an elementary-particle view of matter also leads to new phases of matter, such as the quark–gluon plasma.
In physics and chemistry, matter exhibits both wave-like and particle-like properties, the so-called wave–particle duality.
In the realm of cosmology, extensions of the term matter are invoked to include dark matter and dark energy, concepts introduced to explain some odd phenomena of the observable universe, such as the galactic rotation curve. These exotic forms of “matter” do not refer to matter as “building blocks”, but rather to currently poorly-understood forms of mass and energy.
Sorry, I forgot to add:
Energy is moving stuff.