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Vaporizing the Earth In the Name of Science

Posted by Soulskill on from the what-better-reason dept.

cylonlover writes "Unlike in old B movies, real scientists don't scream, 'Fools! I'll destroy them all!' before throwing the switch on their doomsday device. At least, most of the them don't. However, the August 10 issue of the Astrophysical Journal reports that a team of scientists are working on destroying the world – not once, but repeatedly (abstract). Fortunately, the world they're vaporizing exists only in a computer simulation and its destruction is in the service of learning more about planets revolving around other stars."

8 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. And then the AI in the lab next door... by dywolf · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...somehow starts talking to their supercomputer, probably because of some undisciplined USB stick swappage, and thinks that that's what he was designed to do, and then we got a SyFy movie!

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  2. Sounds familiar by Cornwallis · · Score: 5, Funny

    Saw Jon Stewart a few years ago and, while talking about the poltical scene in general he made a pretty good comment along the lines of "When the world ends the very last thing we'll hear is some scientist saying "It works!"'

    1. Re:Sounds familiar by ThunderBird89 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Or "Oh crap..". Or "Hey guys? This is pretty weird...".

      --
      Hyperbole: I use it liberally!
    2. Re:Sounds familiar by ThunderBird89 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Or, "Hey Bubba, Watch This!"

      "I bet you my Nobel Prize and a beer you can't hit the unobtanium sample with the coils on manual!"
      [Cue resonance cascade]

      --
      Hyperbole: I use it liberally!
  3. Virtual Earth? by Shrike82 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Fortunately, the world they're vaporizing exists only in a computer simulation

    DAMMIT! I have a deadline on Wednesday and this would have been a great excuse to blow it off and kick back with a cold beer...

    --
    You can advertise in this sig from as little as £99.99 a month!
  4. Where's the Ka-boom!?! by Picass0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    There was supposed to be an Earth shattering ka-boom!!!

  5. Re:What harm could it do ? by somersault · · Score: 4, Funny

    Rather than destroying the Earth or the Universe, it would be much more efficient just to kill yourself.. the end result is the same for you.

    --
    which is totally what she said
  6. Re:What harm could it do ? by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's really dumb too. I would not worry about a mad physicist building a death star. All he's worried about is whether or not he'll have trouble with the peer reviews.

    Now a mad engineer, that's a different story.

    http://boingboing.net/2010/06/01/the-dark-side-of-eng.html