Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Lies, Damned Lies, and Quantum Statistics

Posted by samzenpus on from the do-the-math dept.

quax writes "Getting a scientific paper published that goes against the grain of conventional wisdom was never easy. Especially when it seems to contain an obvious glaring mistake. Fortunately despite already being some kind of pop celebrity with no shortage of fan mail, Einstein still opened letters he received from strangers. And this is how a trivial, fateful counting mistake was able to change the course of physics forever."

6 of 53 comments (clear)

  1. uhuh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dear theoretical physicists,

    Admit that most of your fields have become a branch of overpriced mathematics and stop boring us with your tales of 100 years ago.

  2. But in the year 2012... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...due to a 500 internal server error and a useless summary that is written to bait and not inform, we won't learn what that mistake was and how it changed the course of physics forever.

    1. Re:But in the year 2012... by Alkonaut · · Score: 5, Funny

      I think slashdotters observing the state of the server has changed the state of it.

    2. Re:But in the year 2012... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Describing Einstein as the Lady Gaga of Science is probably why the article is now 403 forbidden.

    3. Re:But in the year 2012... by ColdWetDog · · Score: 5, Funny

      Describing Einstein as the Lady Gaga of Science is probably why the article is now 403 forbidden.

      Dunno.

      Bad hair - check
      Bushy eyebrows - check
      Toneless whistling - check
      Incomprehensible 'lyrics' - check

      You have to admit, there are certain similarities.

      I would not be surprised to learn that Lady Gaga smokes a pipe.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  3. Re:Bose-Einstein Statistics by mister2au · · Score: 5, Funny

    not really sure why this is news

    I blame it on relativistic time dilation ...

    to an observer in travelling at Slashdot speed this appears to have just occurred, whilst to a stationary observer 87 years appear to have passed ...

    this dilation seems to apply uniformly across most observed Slashdot articles (albiet with yet-to-be-explained time loops as well!)