Tag Archives: said-the-desk

The Physics of Futurama

You might think that Futurama's an unlikely place to find a grab bag of graduate-level physics, but in an excellent new interview with the American Physical Society, creator David X. Cohen says viewers of his show will find just that. The lengthy, awesome interview, which will be published in the next APS journal, details how Cohen himself made the transition from graduate student in physics to professional comedy writer, and includes a teaser of a science-heavy episode from the new season: In the 10th episode of the upcoming season, tentatively entitled “The Prisoner of Benda,” a theorem based on group theory was specifically written (and proven!) by staffer/PhD mathematician Ken Keeler to explain a plot twist. Scientific accuracy! It's never been so funny. Check out the full interview to further convince yourself that Futurama isn't only a diversion but a learning experience, too. http://gizmodo.com/5539755/the-physics-of-futurama added by: pjacobs51

Aliens ‘hijack’ Nasa’s Voyager 2, claims expert

Hartwig Hausdorf, a German academic, believes that the reason Voyager 2, an unmanned probe that has been in space since 1977, is sending strange messages that are confusing scientists, is because it has been taken over by extraterrestrial life. Since its launch, Voyager 2 has been sending streams of data back to Earth for study by scientists, but on April 22, 2010, that stream of information suddenly changed. He told the German newspaper Bild: “It seems almost as if someone has reprogrammed or hijacked the probe – thus perhaps we do not yet know the whole truth.” Voyager 2 carries a disk with greetings in 55 languages on it in case the craft encounters other life forms. Dr Edward Stone, a scientist on the project, said the desk, called the Golden Record, is “a kind of time capsule, intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials. “The Voyager message is carried by a phonograph record-a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth.” added by: slagface