Is There Such a Thing As Absolute Hot?

AlpineR writes "Is there an opposite to absolute zero? An article from PBS's NOVA online explains several theories of the maximum possible temperature. Maybe it's the Planck temperature, 10^32 K, beyond which the known laws of physics break down. Or maybe just 10^30 K, the limit of some versions of string theory. If space is actually 11-dimensional then the maximum temperature could even be as low as 10^17 K, attainable by the Large Hadron Collider. Or maybe infinite temperature wraps around to negative temperature and absolute hot is the same as absolute cold."

Comments

Integer overflows

[m50d]

That's what you get for writing a universe in C.

Re:Integer overflows

[The MAZZTer]

I always thought it was written in lisp [url=http://xkcd.com/224/]until I learned otherwise[/url].

Re:Integer overflows

[Watson Ladd]

Slashdot uses HTML, not BBCode.

Re:Integer overflows

[mfnickster]

God says: "I assumed you knew what you're doing. You have free will - you can make your integers overflow, even though you know it's a sin."

Re:Integer overflows

[Lord Ender]

[fail]haha nooblet[/fail]

[][][][][]

Re:Integer overflows

[Creepy Crawler]

and I assume that /dev/null are blackholes... /root is god. literally

and I just want read/write access to /proc/kcore

Re:Integer overflows

[Xzzy]

It's a sound argument for intelligent design. If temperature overflows, it means we were all programmed and god does, in fact, exist.

The downside is he's a first year CS student.

It would certainly explain a lot. The universe's expansion is just a memory leak and the big bang was simply POST. Black holes? Core dumps. I just worry what happens when he wedges the machine and has to reboot.

Re:Integer overflows

[cavebison]

Black Holes imply Windows, not Linux.

Sure

[Anonymous Coward]

> "Or maybe infinite temperature wraps around to negative temperature and absolute hot is the same as absolute cold."

Or maybe the universe is a snake eating its own tail!

Or maybe monkeys will fly out of my butt.

Re:Sure

[WombatDeath]

I think you've hit on something with the snake idea.

Anyway, it's a little-known fact that 'absolute hot' is 39.6 degrees celsius (about 103.3 degrees fahrenheit). Any observation indicating a higher temperature is simply due to malfunctioning apparatus or experimental error.

Is There Such a Thing As Absolute Hot?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, and it's my wife's sister. I love the holidays!

Re:Is There Such a Thing As Absolute Hot?

[Wicko]

And here, ladies and gentleman, is an excellent use of AC. Avoid death by wife! Although now you've ruled out any possibility of a threesome.

Re:Is There Such a Thing As Absolute Hot?

[Anonymous Coward]

My niece Kristen. WOW!!!!

Re:Is There Such a Thing As Absolute Hot?

[rasputin465]

Although now you've ruled out any possibility of a threesome.

Not necessarily. No one said his wife had to be involved in the threesome ;-)

Your question is simple..

[Brian Lewis]

But the answer is much, much simpler.

42.

Yes, there is.

[Anonymous Coward]

McDonald's coffee?

Absolute hot?

[Malevolent Tester]

Margaret Thatcher. Covered in whipped cream. (apologies to anyone who was planning to close their eyes in the near future)

No, it was writting in Java

[Anonymous Coward]

Black holes are garbage collection.

Re:No, it was writting in Java

[Anonymous Coward]

I didn't know Sun had a British distribution of Java.

Yeah, her name is Jessica Alba!

[bchernicoff]

DUH!

Re:Yeah, her name is Jessica Alba!

[AmberBlackCat]

I was about to mod you Off-Topic but it's the day before Christmas so I'll post my own off-topic message instead.

A simple scientific experiment

[Anonymous Coward]

"Is there such a thing as absolute hot?"
1. Turn on a burner on the stove. Turn it up as high as it will go.
2. Wait 5 minutes for the burner to warm up.
3. Place the palm of your hand on the burner.
4. You tell me.

Re:A simple scientific experiment

[Tablizer]

"Is there such a thing as absolute hot?" 1. Turn on a burner on the stove. Turn it up as high as it will go. 2. Wait 5 minutes for the burner to warm up. 3. Place the palm of your hand on the burner...

Very efficient: you test for absolute hot and absolute stupid all at the same time.

The "slashdottization" of science

[gr8dude]

Is there a corresponding maximum possible temperature? Well, the answer, depending on which theoretical physicist you ask, is yes, no, or maybe.

This sounds... incredibly familiar!

Or maybe

[roman_mir]

we should switch the scale of hotness: accept Carmen Electra as 1 unit of hotness as measured in the year 2000. Also accept that 2 Carmen Electras is twice as hot as 1 Carmen Electra. As the number of Carmen Electras approaches infinity, their total combined hotness approaches some saturation limit, after which it is no longer possible to determine whether hotness of N x Carmen Electra is greater than hotness of (N+1) x Carmen Electra, which breaks down the laws of mathematics and thus the laws of physics by making N=N+1.

I must add that Chuck Norris can kick Carmen Electra's ass even at the hotness limit.

Re:Or maybe

[ocie]

In school, we used the Hatcher scale (Teri Hatcher in Lois and Clark around 1994). In practice, we usually measured in terms of milli-hatchers or in those few unfortunate cases, micro-hatchers.

Re:Or maybe

[Jesus_666]

Did I honestly just write "beautiness"? I seriously need more sleep. My sleep depravity is affectionating my articulating. If this keeps up, my ableness to write anything meany will be completeful diminishized!

I'm sure it's not *that* hot...

[Anonymous Coward]

At that temperature any water would be denatured, so it would be a "dry heat".

Re:Correction...General Relativity and QM

[dubbayu_d_40]

Who knew James Bond was a brainy karma whore?

Taggers

[Ophion]

An Infiniti is a car, and it will wrap around almost anything into which the driver rams it.

Re:Taggers

[Dunbal]

You just need 2 key ingredients.

a) a female driver
b) a cell phone

Re:absolute zero is not the coldest...

[Anonymous Coward]

"absolute zero only applies to our planet... try pluto for example... the temperatures there are a lot cooler than 0K..."

This does not bode well for you.

Re:Could be...

[sm62704]

I would have never thought there was a speed limit for the universe before I read Einstein's special theory of relativity.

Which should not be confused with Einstien's "special" theory of relativity, which states that no matter who you are, all your relatives seem like retards.

-mcgrew

(Einstien would never be confused with Einstein, would he? Except maybe by one of your relatives...)

Your sig

[sm62704]

Margaret Thatcher. Covered in whipped cream

The developers aren't the only ones you've made cry today. How do I get that horrible picture out of my tortured barin? You fiend! Did you learn that awful technique in your CIA "special rendition" class?