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First "Observation" of Hawking Radiation

Posted by kdawson on from the simulation-or-experiment dept.

KentuckyFC writes "Italian physicists are claiming the first observation of Hawking radiation, but not from a black hole. Instead they've spotted it streaming from a sonic horizon in a Bose Einstein Condensate (abstract on the arXiv). That's consistent with previous predictions but they're claiming the 'first' even though the experiment was only a numerical simulation. Does that really count?"

7 of 86 comments (clear)

  1. Maybe they read /. by JeepFanatic · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... and they wanted to get First Post?

  2. Only numerical simulation by jayhawk88 · · Score: 4, Funny

    That accurately describes about 90% of theoretical physics doesn't it?

    1. Re:Only numerical simulation by Thanshin · · Score: 5, Funny

      That accurately describes about 90% of theoretical physics doesn't it? Yes, the other 10% actually test empirically all their theories. They just keep the TP name because chicks dig it.
  3. Re:First Observation of The Meaning Of Life by Selfbain · · Score: 3, Funny

    I think you mean 6 by 9.

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    Well, it has never been successfully tested.
  4. What an interesting question by idontgno · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...though the experiment was only a numerical simulation. Does that really count?

    If so, then many slashdotters are no longer virgins.

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    Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
  5. Re:Thinking in circles anyone? by CmdrGravy · · Score: 4, Funny

    Not quite, if you imagine the theory as a car then the scientists suspected it might have been a Porsche Cayenne 4x4 and once they had built their simulation ( imagine that as a carwash ) it turned out that it was indeed a Porsche Cayenne 4x4. However the amazing thing was that even though they hadn't considered the driver specifically in their simulation it did indeed turn out the simulated driver was a enormous wanker thus proving beyond doubt the truth of their simulation.

  6. God Exists! by serutan · · Score: 4, Funny

    We've got millions of highly vivid simulations!