The "Useless Information" Thread

[KevinJS]

The myth was that it was impossible to fold a piece of paper more than 7 times, but the Mythbusters team busted that myth when they achieved 11 folds.

According to your math, a standard piece of paper would become invisible to the naked eye before it reached the moon. So, it appears the math has proven me wrong. In practice, however, I refuse to believe it's possible.

That's the beauty of thought experiment. You can start with an impossibly large sheet of paper, and ignore the fact that the paper would be crushed by its own weight.

The only substance that would have any chance of not collapsing under it's own weight would be diamond, and that's another story. Arthur C Clarke's "space elevator" springs to mind here.

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[Ads]

[zstairlessone]

That's the beauty of thought experiment. You can start with an impossibly large sheet of paper, and ignore the fact that the paper would be crushed by its own weight.

The only substance that would have any chance of not collapsing under it's own weight would be diamond, and that's another story. Arthur C Clarke's "space elevator" springs to mind here.

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Of course F(g) = g*(m1m2)/r^2 and the paper doesn't actually gain mass giving a lighter overall gravitational force as you fold it higher. r gets bigger so F(g) gets smaller, plus as r(m) gets smaller (closer to the moon therefore moon gravitational force is larger) lowers the force towards the earth...

Oops sorry, my inner geek took over for a moment

[scifan57]

That's the beauty of thought experiment. You can start with an impossibly large sheet of paper, and ignore the fact that the paper would be crushed by its own weight.

The only substance that would have any chance of not collapsing under it's own weight would be diamond, and that's another story. Arthur C Clarke's "space elevator" springs to mind here.

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Of course, the space elevator would be under immense tension, not compression, due to centrifugal force acting on the cable and top end facility.

[AdmiralAdama]

Underground is the only word in the English language that begins and ends with the letters "und".

AA

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[twerppoet]

Underfund?

[scifan57]

Admiral Adama is the only Colonial fleet officer on detached duty to the iPad Forums.

[AdmiralAdama]

Underfund?

Which goes to show - never trust a book of lists.

AA

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[scifan57]

Which goes to show - never trust a book of lists.

AA

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The publisher probably underfunded the research to save money,

[twerppoet]

The publisher probably underfunded the research to save money,

Or didn't spend much time playing word games.

[KevinJS]

Or didn't spend much time playing word games.

I had ZWAQ on a triple word score once. Unfortunately it was challenged.

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