Encapsulation, inheritance and polymorphism

[Hans Mulder]

On 20/07/12 11:05:09, Virgil Stokes wrote:
> On 20-Jul-2012 10:27, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
>> On Fri, 20 Jul 2012 08:20:57 +1000, Chris Angelico wrote:
>>
>>>>>        Since the current evidence indicates the universe will just
>>>>> keep
>>>>> expanding, it's more of a "deep freeze death..."
>>>> Heat death means *lack* of heat.
>>> The second law of thermodynamics states that energy tends to go from
>>> higher states to lower, with heat being the very lowest. It's possible
>>> to do work using (say) kinetic energy, and in the process, some of that
>>> energy becomes heat. It's also possible to do work with any difference
>>> in temperature (eg Stirling engines), so the state of the universe in
>>> which it's no longer possible to do any work will be one in which all
>>> energy is heat and everything's at the same temperature. That doesn't
>>> mean a lack of heat; in fact, it implies that there'll be rather more
>>> heat than there now is, because we currently have a whole lot of
>>> chemical energy available to be used.
>> Yes, but the point is, that heat will be *incredibly* diffuse,
>> essentially spread over the entire universe, which will be MUCH bigger
>> than it is now, and hence the temperature will be low even though the
>> total amount of heat will be high.
>>
>> The average temperature of the universe now is about 2.7 degrees above
>> absolute zero (i.e. 2.7 K, -270.45 C or -454.81 F), with individual
>> hotspots reaching into millions of degrees or higher. By the time the
>> last of the stars burn out, the average temperature will be a minuscule
>> fraction of a degree above absolute zero, and the only hotspots will be
>> the slowly cooling neutron stars.
>>
>>
>>> But in any case, that's a looooooooong way off...
>> I once went to an astronomy lecture where the lecturer was talking about
>> the eventual death of the sun. He said, "In about 10 billion years, the
>> sun will consume almost all of its fuel. It will cool and expand into a
>> red giant, and the earth will be engulfed by the expanded sun and
>> destroyed."
>>
>> This fellow sitting next to me got all agitated, stood up and cried out,
>> "Does the government know about this? We have to do something!"
>>
>> The lecturer said "Don't worry sir, there's no need to panic, this won't
>> happen for billions of years."
>>
>> The fellow looked relived and said "Oh thank god, I thought you said
>> *million*!"
>>
> How does this relate to the python list?

This thread is as coherent as a typical episode of
Monty Python's Flying Circus :-)


-- HansM