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Two Snowflakes May Be Alike After All
An anonymous reader writes "LiveScience is reporting that it may be possible for two snowflakes to be alike after all. For anyone who studies probability, this seems reasonable, given that the article mentions that 10^24 snowflakes fall in any given year. The article contains links to fascinating snowflake pictures. From the article: 'A typical snow crystal weighs roughly one millionth of a gram. This means a cubic foot of snow can contain roughly one billion crystals ... "It is probably safe to say that the possible number of snow crystal shapes exceeds the estimated number of atoms in the known universe," Nelson said. Still, while "no two snowflakes are alike" might hold true for larger snowflakes, Nelson figures it might ring false for smaller crystals that sometimes fall before they have a chance to fully develop. "How likely is it that two snowflakes are alike? Very likely if we define alike to mean that we would have trouble distinguishing them under a microscope and if we include the crystals that hardly develop beyond the prism stage--that is, the smallest snow crystals," Nelson said.'"
So now we have a way to link snowflakes and cryptography.
Sam ty sig.
I am special. And I'm going to be famous.
Myth Busted?
A typical snow crystal weighs roughly one millionth of a grama cubic foot of snow can contain roughly one billion crystals...
Most snowflakes are less than one-half inch across. The smallest may be only about one-tenth of a millimeter across...
I think, if you're talking about the myth that Americans do science in metric, then yes: Myth Busted.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
-- Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Good Omens
Some bring out the best in others, some the worst. Some bring out far more.
If someone tells you "You're one in a million," there are 6,571 people exactly like you.
A typical snow crystal weighs roughly one millionth of a gram. This means a cubic foot of snow can contain roughly one billion crystals ...
:-)
Who made one cubic foot equal to 1000 grams? I'll smash him with one cubic foot of lead!
(ps for the metric vs imperial system: one cubic decimeter of water is one liter, and one liter of water weights one kilogram, so one cubic decimeter of water weights one kilogram
bash$
proving that a watched pot does indeed boil
Hoorah for science!
1 voice in a sea of voices
Check out the flake in pic #8.
Last winter, I saw one just like that. I swear!
bla
So how does the number of possible snowflake configurations compare with the number of possible IPV6 addresses? Can we assign a unique address to every snowflake and then just see if we get an address conflict somewhere?
Two snowflakes alike? Bah!
For those who don't know, this possibility was discussed in France two centuries ago, where this and many other troubling discoveries were dealt with.
The plan put in place was considered absurd, but doable. To somehow or another change the very climate of the world, to make it use the flakespace at a slower pace until a new dimension could be discovered.
So, along with European clocks moving a head a second every few years, there world temperature too was set to become warmer. The phenomina today which we call "Global Warming" is actually there to save us from the disasturous effects of two similar snowflakes.
The official Snowflake Registry in Paris has concluded, after a full investigation of the matter, that no two snowflakes have ever been alike, and each flake fallen is actually recorded with an id. Should you happen to generate a snowflake on your own, please register it, and do the world a favor.
Have you read my journal today?
Once I didn't apply a stitch in time, and was shocked that I only had to make five stitches to fix it back up, instead of the expected nine.
"When the atomic bomb goes off there's devastation...but when the atomic bong goes off there's celebraaaaation!"
So you're saying all snowflakes are exactly the same?
They don't taste the same.
OMG duh, its cuz when u talk stupid, ppl think u r stupid :) and theirs no stupid mod, theirs only troll.
The problem is that once you've done a ping sweep of the IPv6 network, the first lot of snowflakes have melted (along with the DHCP server).
Moderation Total: -1 Troll, +3 Goat
Mod dupe snowflake -1 redundant