Collection of Science Jokes P2

[thegoldbering]

Grim Air.


Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station.
https://research.csiro.au/acc/capabilities/cape-grim-baseline-air-pollution-station/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Grim/Kennaook

I'll counterfeit the bejesus out of this product! xD

 

[thegoldbering]

View attachment 297480

"that crowbar" OMG it made me laugh so hard xD!

 

[phinds]

I suspect this has been posted on PF before. I know I've heard it before but a friend just sent it to me. Don't know if it's a true story or apocryphal but it's worth repeating in either case.The following concerns a question in a physics degree exam at the University of Copenhagen:

"Describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper with a barometer."

One student replied:

"You tie a long piece of string to the neck of the barometer, then lower the barometer from the roof of the skyscraper to the ground. The length of the string plus the length of the barometer will equal the height of the building."

This highly original answer so incensed the examiner that the student was failed. The student appealed on the grounds that his answer was indisputably correct, and the university appointed an independent arbiter to decide the case. The arbiter judged that the answer was indeed correct, but did not display any noticeable knowledge of physics. To resolve the problem it was decided to call the student in and allow him six minutes in which to provide a verbal answer which showed at least a minimal familiarity with the basic principles of physics.

For five minutes the student sat in silence, forehead creased in thought. The arbiter reminded him that time was running out, to which the student replied that he had several extremely relevant answers, but couldn't make up his mind which to use.

On being advised to hurry up the student replied as follows:

"Firstly, you could take the barometer up to the roof of the skyscraper, drop it over the edge, and measure the time it takes to reach the ground. The height of the building can then be worked out from the formula H = 0.5g x t squared. But bad luck on the barometer."

"Or if the sun is shining you could measure the height of the barometer, then set it on end and measure the length of its shadow. Then you measure the length of the skyscraper's shadow, and thereafter it is a simple matter of proportional arithmetic to work out the height of the skyscraper."

"But if you wanted to be highly scientific about it, you could tie a short piece of string to the barometer and swing it like a pendulum, first at ground level and then on the roof of the skyscraper. The height is worked out by the difference in the gravitational restoring force T = 2 pi sqroot (l / g)."

"Or if the skyscraper has an outside emergency staircase, it would be easier to walk up it and mark off the height of the skyscraper in barometer lengths, then add them up."

"If you merely wanted to be boring and orthodox about it, of course, you could use the barometer to measure the air pressure on the roof of the skyscraper and on the ground, and convert the difference in millibars into feet to give the height of the building."

"But since we are constantly being exhorted to exercise independence of mind and apply scientific methods, undoubtedly the best way would be to knock on the janitor's door and say to him 'If you would like a nice new barometer, I will give you this one if you tell me the height of this skyscraper'."

The student was Niels Bohr, the only person from Denmark to win the Nobel prize for Physics.

 

[DrGreg]

Firstly, you could take the barometer up to the roof of the skyscraper, drop it over the edge, and measure the time it takes to reach the ground.

Time to recycle a joke I've told before:

For sale: 1 barometer, dropped off the roof of a skyscraper. No pressure.

 

[kuruman]

$\dots~$ and convert the difference in millibars into feet to give the height of the building."

I first heard it as an undergraduate many decades ago without mention of Bohr's name. This version is probably apocryphal and embellished. The giveaway: Bohr would not convert millibars into feet.

Edit: I found this on the web.

 

[jack action]

 

[pinball1970]

I first heard it as an undergraduate many decades ago without mention of Bohr's name. This version is probably apocryphal and embellished. The giveaway: Bohr would not convert millibars into feet.

Edit: I found this on the web.

That story reminds me of the hell and souls story.

 

[BillTre]

 

[jack action]

How do you tell the gender of an ant?

Spoiler: Answer

Drop it in water.
If it sinks, GIRL ANT.

If it floats ...

 

[jack action]

 

[BillTre]

 

[pinball1970]

View attachment 299153

Like it, Russell would approve!

 

[Bandersnatch]

Jokes_I_don't_get_but_will_pretend_otherwise_to_look_smart.jpg:

 

[pinball1970]

Jokes_I_don't_get_but_will_pretend_otherwise_to_look_smart.jpg:

View attachment 299368

I'm clueless. Is that Sanders? Something to do with taxes?

 

[BillTre]

He's turning into a laser cat.

 

[phinds]

He's turning into a laser cat.

and why is that funny?

 

[BillTre]

Laser cats are generally funny.

 

[berkeman]

Laser cats are generally funny.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2pihYpcpdvk/maxresdefault.jpg

 

[Ibix]

and why is that funny?

I think the point is that the sums on the left are one of those funny series where the sum is zero for the first n terms, then suddenly it has a finite sum (somebody named them the last time this came up). Which is weird.

 

[phinds]

I think the point is that the sums on the left are one of those funny series where the sum is zero for the first n terms, then suddenly it has a finite sum (somebody named them the last time this came up). Which is weird.

fair enough. I think it would have been funnier if the last panel had been

But clearly the intent was the same.

 

[berkeman]

Jokes_I_don't_get_but_will_pretend_otherwise_to_look_smart.jpg:

View attachment 299368

BTW, this post has been reported as too political. Is anybody else offended by there being a political candidate in the meme? If so, we can deleted this sub-thread. Thanks.

 

[Ibix]

Political? I don't think it's making fun of Sanders is it?

 

[pinball1970]

I think the point is that the sums on the left are one of those funny series where the sum is zero for the first n terms, then suddenly it has a finite sum (somebody named them the last time this came up). Which is weird.

Ok. And the connection to Bernie Sanders?

 

[Klystron]

BTW, this post has been reported as too political. Is anybody else offended by there being a political candidate in the meme? If so, we can deleted this sub-thread. Thanks.

Political? I don't think it's making fun of Sanders is it?

It uses Senator Sanders's image in a cartoonish fashion. Disrespectful, perhaps. Political, doubtful.

 

[pinball1970]

BTW, this post has been reported as too political. Is anybody else offended by there being a political candidate in the meme? If so, we can deleted this sub-thread. Thanks.

I couldn't be offended if my life depended on it, I understand less about this than the thread on Ontology.

 

[Jonathan Scott]

I think the point is that the sums on the left are one of those funny series where the sum is zero for the first n terms, then suddenly it has a finite sum (somebody named them the last time this came up). Which is weird.

I'd be interested in some sort of reference for the maths. By symmetry between n and m, that sum must be zero for any finite number, but some infinite sums can be set to different values depending on how you choose to group the terms, and this one looks like one of those.

 

[Klystron]

And to think viable presidential candidate Howard Dean resigned after a harmless late-night shout...

...was a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2004 presidential election where he campaigned as a long-shot candidate; his campaign suffered after negative reactions in the media to a hoarse "Yeah" that he shouted after enumerating states that he hoped to win...

 

[pinball1970]

'A pint of Guinness please'

A tachyon walked into a bar.

 

[Klystron]

'A pint of Guinness please'

A tachyon walked into a bar.

Wouldn't a tachyon order faster-than light beer?

 

[Borg]

Wouldn't a tachyon order faster-than light beer?

I need to watch my weight. I'll have a lighter than light beer please.