Lambda?

ankalar

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Why is the symbol for Half Life the Greek letter lambda? I have not actually played Half Life (don't shoot me :eek:) but I did not think it had anything to do with light or wavelengths...
 
Because of the role that the lambda complex has in the game I'd guess.
*Bang*
 
Lambda stands for half life. You'll learn it in physics or math.
 
Lambda is the symbol for gay pride ...

I'm not sure how that figures in the game.
 
Chosen by New York Gay Activist Alliance in 1970 as symbol of the movement gay, the Lambda is a Greek letter who is equivalent at "L".

A flag of war with loviLambda was spread by a squad of Greek loving warriors, older than they were folloied to the battle for its young ones and demonstrated to its random and desire to fight until the death.

This symbol also was chosen by the International Congress of Gays Rights that aconteceum in Edinburgo, Escócia in 1974. Today the Lambda is considered a symbol of the rights of gays and lesbians.

Suck hu ?
 
Originally posted by Elite Suspect
Lambda stands for half life. You'll learn it in physics or math.

Wow.. you must have obviosuly not been there that day.
 
Yeah, what does it have to do with light and wavelengths?
 
Lambda is actually the symbol for Wavelength.

Hmmm...I wonder when gays will adopt the BioHazard symbol...maybe after people forget what it really means. (No offense, but Lambda means Wavelength; leave it alone.)
 
Lambda is a symbol for many things, starting with the obvious wavelength, right through to the decay constant of a radioactive material: Half-Life = ln(2) / lambda
 
You searched on Google for that. Also, it was probably a placeholder, I believe that it generally known as the symbol for wavelength.
 
Originally posted by Crusader
Lambda is a symbol for many things, starting with the obvious wavelength, right through to the decay constant of a radioactive material: Half-Life = ln(2) / lambda

But Lambda isn't the symbol for HL, necessarily. In(2)/lamba... Half-Life is just the result of the equation. Well, I guess you could use Lambda for HL. But it seems careless.
 
No, no, that's not what I'm saying, lambda is definitely NOT the symbol for half-life, I was just showing you what the decay constant was. Symbol for Half-Life is usually T1/2 in my books.
 
Ok you physics experts, do you have any idea what those equations at the end of the e3 video mean then?
 
Originally posted by Crusader
No, no, that's not what I'm saying, lambda is definitely NOT the symbol for half-life, I was just showing you what the decay constant was. Symbol for Half-Life is usually T1/2 in my books.

Ok, sorry about the misunderstanding.
 
u learn what actual half-life is, early on in junior high....
 
Originally posted by LoneDeranger
Ok you physics experts, do you have any idea what those equations at the end of the e3 video mean then?

"9/30 gabe will make you his bitch."

it was written upside down so it looked like equations.
 
Originally posted by nw909
"9/30 gabe will make you his bitch."

it was written upside down so it looked like equations.

Huh...I need to get that video again.
 
No guys all of you are wrong. Sory

The Correct thing is; lambda stands for is A FUNCTION in Eifel Programming Language that used in a wide range of Commercial and graphical application systems, such as database, very low languages of 3d max, and very low langauges of Operating system..etc. I think HL1 low level langauge has been writin in Eifel and one of the Symbole Founder at valve Suggested that Lambda Syble to be used.
thanks. but this is the fact.
 
Originally posted by G0rgon
No guys all of you are wrong. Sory

The Correct thing is; lambda stands for is A FUNCTION in Eifel Programming Language that used in a wide range of Commercial and graphical application systems, such as database, very low languages of 3d max, and very low langauges of Operating system..etc. I think HL1 low level langauge has been writin in Eifel and one of the Symbole Founder at valve Suggested that Lambda Syble to be used.
thanks. but this is the fact.

HALF-LIFE: the time required for half of the atoms of a radioactive substance to become disintegrated

BLUESHIFT: the displacement of the spectrum of an approaching celestial body toward shorter wavelengths

OPPOSING FORCE: An opposing force
 
Originally posted by nw909
"9/30 gabe will make you his bitch."

it was written upside down so it looked like equations.

lol really?

i dont want another daikatana...
 
The one thing that I am confused about is why they called the game "Half-Life" I mean maybe it was just an interesting way of using a term in physics that sounds like a good title for a game, but then again there is nothing to actually do with radioactive decay in the game, short of the occasional places of high radio activity that act as obstacles.

Does anyone know if there was some reason behind the title?
 
Hmm, yeah... I suppose they just thought it sounded good, because I think in that situation you'd have much less than a half chance of living :p

Or maybe because when you finally crawl out of Black Mesa you'll be half dead and therefore... well, you get the picture ;)
 
they had to have picked it for the scientific name, afterall gordon works in a secret underground bunker running test on annomoulys materials.
 
Gorgon, you are actually wrong.

What nw909 says is correct. All the names of the HL1 series (excluding the third party Valve games such as DOD and CS) are named after physics / chemistry / science type things.

This has also been confirmed by Valve and he states that "we chose the titles of our games carefully". The fact that all three relate to science isn't just a coincidence.
 
Astronomy/Physics.... hmmm Astronomical Phsyics even...
 
The names are clever, but I don't think they hold any special meaning as far as the game is concerned.
 
They call it Half Life , because for all of those who DIDNT know!... When you play the game and you get down to exactly 50 Health (half of your life, half-life) all the scientists in the game turn into Evil GaBe Newells running around with their hands in the air saying (Faulty Network Security! Faulty Network Security Gordon it's going to kill us all!) Then the walls start changing colors, and the water turns into toxic sludge that forms Teletubbies who spit acid G-men with umbrellas who stab your eyes out, and then your forced to play the remainder of the game in the dark. Cuz you have no eyes. And you cant quit the game, or turn off your computer until you beat the game in the dark, because console has been disabled. And when you reach 50 health a signal is sent to Valve Headquarters who contacts their old pals Microsoft to dispatch secret jibberoo agents to your home to steal your computer's power button, and put an electric force feild around your AC outlet so you cannot unplug your computer. If you guys ever EVER got down to exactly 50 health you would know this. It's hard to get down to 50, most people usually get headcrabbed to 48 or 49. Sometimes even 51, but not 50. It's a rare thing. But anywho glad I could clear things up for yas. :D
 
Originally posted by LoneDeranger
The names are clever, but I don't think they hold any special meaning as far as the game is concerned.

I agree. The only bearing these titles have is that they are scientific terms. Opposing Force only has bearing because you were the enemy, an opposing force. I remember each year of science Hl was mentioned, Blue shift was mentioned in one year, and an Opposing Force was mentioned in two. There aren't even connections between the terms themselves.
 
Some other examples:

Headcrab - because it looks like a crab and goes on your head
Nihilath - has to do with Nihilism (go read Matrix theories)
G-Man - government man
Strider - based on the water insect
Biozeminade - ???
 
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