Category Archives: Off The Deep End

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Posted on 5/8/2013 by Pontifex Praeteritorum

Walk up to a physicist at a party (we could add a conditional about the amount of beer consumed by the physicist at this point, but that would be redundant, it is a party after all), and say to him or … Continue reading →

Posted in Go Ahead, Waste Your Time, Off The Deep End, Physics, Quantum, The Loony Bin Called Academia | 3 Comments

Apocalypses, Firewalls, and Boltzmann Brains

Posted on 12/29/2012 by chb

Last week’s plebeian scare-mongering about the world ending at the wraparound of the Mayan calendar did not distract sophisticated readers of gr-qc and quant-ph from a more arcane problem, the so-called Firewall Question.  This concerns what happens to Alice when … Continue reading →

Posted in Off The Deep End, Quantum, Science | 1 Comment

The Nine Circles of LaTeX Hell

Posted on 3/12/2012 by sflammia

Poorly written LaTeX is like a rash. No, you won’t die from it, but it needlessly complicates your life and makes it difficult to focus on pertinent matters. The victims of this unfortunate blight can be both the readers, as … Continue reading →

Posted in Off The Deep End, Scientific Publishing | 42 Comments

More cracks in the theory of relativity?

Posted on 12/24/2011 by sflammia

When the OPERA collaboration announced their result that they had observed neutrinos traveling faster than the speed of light, it rocked the entire physics community. However, despite the high statistical certainty of the claim, any sober physicist knew that the possibility … Continue reading →

Posted in Funny Ha Ha, Off The Deep End, Physics Bastardizations, Politics | 7 Comments

What are the odds?

Posted on 11/9/2011 by sflammia

Let’s multiply together a bunch of numbers which are less than one and see how small they get! If that sounds like fun, then you’ll love this sleek new infographic (of which the above is just the teaser) posted this morning at … Continue reading →

Posted in Extralusionary Intelligence, Mathematics Basterdizations, Nitpicker's Paradiso, Off The Deep End | 15 Comments

Ig Nobels 2011

Posted on 9/29/2011 by sflammia

Yes, it’s that time of year again. The Ig Nobel Prize ceremony was held this evening at Harvard. My favorite is the winner of the Ig Nobel Peace Prize, which went to Arturas Zuokas, the mayor of Vilnius, Lithuania, for … Continue reading →

Posted in Announcement, Funny Ha Ha, Go Ahead, Waste Your Time, Off The Deep End | 5 Comments

Geocentrism Revival

Posted on 9/2/2011 by sflammia

Seriously? A few conservative Roman Catholics are pointing to a dozen Bible verses and the church’s original teachings as proof that Earth is the center of the universe, the view that was at the heart of the church’s clash with Galileo … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Off The Deep End, Physics Bastardizations, Religion | 17 Comments

The Quantum Interregnum Decoherence Continues

Posted on 8/5/2011 by Pontifex Praeteritorum

The College of Cardinals has been in conclave for over a month now and leaks to the public indicate that the cardinals are still stalemated.  What does this portend for the world?  The end?  A new beginning?  Only entropy (which … Continue reading →

Posted in Off The Deep End | 2 Comments