Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Pasta Outperforms Computers For Earthquake Modeling

Posted by timothy on from the and-for-eating dept.

Judebert writes "Looks like Penn State has gone organic... at least where earthquake prediction is concerned. OK, really, they were trying to physically model friction forces, with respect to earthquakes. Since the glass tubes they needed were slow to arrive, they substituted angel hair pasta instead. (Does anyone but me think this sentence should be followed by "Hilarity Ensues"?) Apparently this physical model gives better (and faster) results than the numerical model they use on their computers. Instead of slashdotting Penn, you can also check out the near-perfect duplicate article at Science Daily."

3 of 32 comments (clear)

  1. What Fun! by zomB1kenoB · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now I can use that "On Top of Spaghetti" song to teach geology to my 4-year-old!

    --
    What Would Satan Do?
  2. Re:Penn State, not Penn, Timothy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Well, at least everyone that I know who attends Penn State is capable of spelling 'whining'.

  3. So... by Craig+Maloney · · Score: 4, Funny

    Does this mean they'll be Penne State? :)