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(YouTube) Video World's roundest object created by a bunch of squares   (youtube.com) divider line 35
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7476 clicks; posted to Geek » on 08 Aug 2008 at 4:09 AM   |  Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook   more»



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Ra_
2008-08-08 03:23:23 AM
But can it cure cancer?
 
batou
2008-08-08 04:19:24 AM
i make marbles, and that MF'r is AWESOME!!!!

/can I has phantasm refrence?
 
Commiesalami
2008-08-08 04:19:35 AM
And here I was hoping that is was literally made out of a bunch of little cubes similar to a bunch of legos/or something made from the likes of of a 3D printer.

/All I got in the end was a pun
 
Relatively Obscure [TotalFark]
2008-08-08 04:33:04 AM
Ra_: But can it cure cancer?

It's very likely, but that might reduce it's roundness so we dare not attempt it.
 
musashi1600
2008-08-08 05:08:06 AM
Out of curiosity, what practical use does a precision sphere have? The only application I know of is in super-accurate gyroscopes.
 
Brockway
2008-08-08 05:39:14 AM
musashi1600 2008-08-08 05:08:06 AM :

Out of curiosity, what practical use does a precision sphere have? The only application I know of is in super-accurate gyroscopes.

Makes for good ball bearings.

But it's not the world's roundest object. I made that by subjecting a molten plug of lead to microgravity whilst on Apollo VIII. Then I brought it back with me. I made a whole bunch of them, actually.
 
shubai33
2008-08-08 05:48:24 AM
Brockway: musashi1600 2008-08-08 05:08:06 AM :

Out of curiosity, what practical use does a precision sphere have? The only application I know of is in super-accurate gyroscopes.

Makes for good ball bearings.

But it's not the world's roundest object. I made that by subjecting a molten plug of lead to microgravity whilst on Apollo VIII. Then I brought it back with me. I made a whole bunch of them, actually.


Apollo VIII? Damn you're old. The youngest astronaut on that mission, William A Anders, is 74 and the other 2 fellows Frank F Borman II and James A Lovell Jr are both 80.

I'd get off your lawn but I think you're too slow to catch me at this point.
 
halkun
2008-08-08 06:12:59 AM
Guys, the reason why they are making the sphere is to set once and for all what 1 kilogram is. They will count how many atoms are in it and set that as a constant standard. It's a sphere so no edges can be broken off.

More info is here.
 
the_be_sharps
2008-08-08 07:43:45 AM
Brockway: But it's not the world's roundest object. I made that by subjecting a molten plug of lead to microgravity whilst on Apollo VIII. Then I brought it back with me. I made a whole bunch of them, actually.

I'm sure you'd love to show us, but haven't you got somewhere to be in 26 minutes?
 
Lamune_Baba
2008-08-08 07:47:07 AM
Ra_: But can it cure cancer?

But can it play games?
 
MonkeyVegetables
2008-08-08 08:03:26 AM
isnt that the best way to do it.. mathematically speaking

/not a mathematologist
 
PerfectStorm
2008-08-08 08:53:37 AM
Phantasm, IMO.
 
dryknife
2008-08-08 09:33:47 AM
i173.photobucket.com
 
EvilElecBlanket
2008-08-08 09:39:39 AM
i197.photobucket.com
 
bearded clamorer [TotalFark]
2008-08-08 09:48:49 AM
img1.picturewizard.com

/Approves
 
austerity101
2008-08-08 11:22:15 AM
Brockway: But it's not the world's roundest object. I made that by subjecting a molten plug of lead to microgravity whilst on Apollo VIII. Then I brought it back with me. I made a whole bunch of them, actually.

Those don't really qualify as the world's roundest objects, since they aren't from here originally.
 
ds394
2008-08-08 12:02:33 PM
Seems like an arbitrary definition:

A kilogram is x number of silicone atoms because the sphere we made is x number of silicone atoms.

Why not just pick a number and quit goofing around with the metal polish?

Here... let me help:

42


The answer is 42.
 
mavrick45
2008-08-08 12:28:14 PM
Come on, Benny. Man. The kid is a... L, 7, Weenie!

/Yeah. Yeah. Oscar Meyer even.
 
ollin
2008-08-08 02:55:24 PM
i294.photobucket.com
 
Silveralex
2008-08-08 02:57:42 PM
Worlds roundest object?
www.smh.com.au
 
Forty-Two [TotalFark]
2008-08-08 03:54:55 PM
i139.photobucket.com

It's nice to see that these scientists weren't EDUCATED STUPID!!!
 
haliphax
2008-08-08 04:11:00 PM
how many times are they gonna say "by the Institute of Crystal Growth in Germany"??
 
earl_k
2008-08-08 04:53:04 PM
ds394: Seems like an arbitrary definition:

A kilogram is x number of silicone atoms because the sphere we made is x number of silicone atoms.

Why not just pick a number and quit goofing around with the metal polish?

Here... let me help:

42


The answer is 42.

All standards have some sort of agreed upon arbitrary, but (relatively) convenient definition.

i.e. one second = the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium 133 atom. Or the time it takes to say "Mississippi." Whichever.
 
hogans
2008-08-08 05:27:31 PM
The lead researcher:

www.vh1.com

(NOTE: The test subject can't be shown due to obscenity laws)
 
Tainted1
2008-08-08 07:09:51 PM
Brockway: musashi1600 2008-08-08 05:08:06 AM :

Out of curiosity, what practical use does a precision sphere have? The only application I know of is in super-accurate gyroscopes.

Makes for good ball bearings.

But it's not the world's roundest object. I made that by subjecting a molten plug of lead to microgravity whilst on Apollo VIII. Then I brought it back with me. I made a whole bunch of them, actually.

Incorrect, such an object would be affected by tidal forces in play even in the microgravity while being formed and thus would not be an absolutely perfect sphere.
 
ifrog
2008-08-08 07:19:56 PM
i tried to watch the video but about half way through i saw some paint drying and was distracted.
 
DotsAndMagnets
2008-08-08 07:26:31 PM
I'd like to use that for candle pin bowling. I wonder if it's roundness would improve my score.
 
Marley
2008-08-08 08:13:01 PM
Wow, that really could have been interesting!
 
Russ1642 [TotalFark]
2008-08-08 11:09:26 PM
ds394: Seems like an arbitrary definition:

A kilogram is x number of silicone atoms because the sphere we made is x number of silicone atoms.

Why not just pick a number and quit goofing around with the metal polish?

Here... let me help:

42


The answer is 42.

They need to match it to the current international standard. And, for the calculations, they need to calculate its volume precicely. Via optical methods using frickin laser beams they can determine its diameter. They're not using the Mr. Bean method either, where you stick your fingers on either side of the sphere and then hold them up to a ruler. On top of all that they have to make many copies. These can now be made without actually weighing the spheres but instead by making them perfectly spherical and then measuring the diameters, which is a more precise method.
 
ds394
2008-08-09 12:42:55 AM
Russ1642:
They need to match it to the current international standard. And, for the calculations, they need to calculate its volume precicely. Via optical methods using frickin laser beams they can determine its diameter. They're not using the Mr. Bean method either, where you stick your fingers on either side of the sphere and then hold them up to a ruler. On top of all that they have to make many copies. These can now be made without actually weighing the spheres but instead by making them perfectly spherical and then measuring the diameters, which is a more precise method.

Sorry guys... I know you're trying to give a masterful definition and all that...

but let's be honest... weight is NEVER 100% accurate; especially something like this. Like I said... if you want a constant... pick something that you can measure quantitatively.

Ie: create a 1/1000000000000000th of a kilogram sphere that is exactly 42 atoms of silicon. Then everyone else can say "oh, now I know the exact weight of a kilogram."

Picking something that is 99.999999% accurate is NOT 100% accurate. Stop pretending it is.
 
Clarinch
2008-08-09 09:51:38 AM
i86.photobucket.com
 
Phideaux
2008-08-09 12:31:27 PM
Bunny with pancake please report to Fark thread #3789556, bunny with pancake please report to Fark thread #3789556. Thank you.
 
SobrietyFighter
2008-08-09 06:45:17 PM
wait wait wait: if you knew the diameter of the intended sphere, and you knew the density of Silicon...


/doesn't take a rocket scientist
//oh wait
 
ninjakirby
2008-08-11 03:39:03 PM
ds394: Picking something that is 99.999999% accurate is NOT 100% accurate. Stop pretending it is.

But, but.. 9.99~ = 1
 
akugyaku
2008-08-11 05:18:36 PM
What's it for?
 
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