Physicists did not take long to find the first practical application of the reported success of scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in making a subatomic particle go faster than the speed of light for the first time. The scientists used neutrinos, which were observed smashing past the cosmic speed barrier of 186,282 miles per second (299,792 kilometers per second). Below is the first joke being circulated around by our colleagues in the Physics Departments (and sent to me by one of my colleagues at the law school).
“We don’t allow faster-than-light neutrinos in here,” says the bartender.
A neutrino walks into a bar.
Now that is a scientific breakthrough.
Not so fast, neutrinos
Thanks, Blouise.
It was that course in Particle Physics Humor I took in college. It seemed like it was over before it began although it was often difficult to tell where the course was going at the same time as knowing where it was at.
tomdarch, here’s how to explain xkcd:
http://www.explainxkcd.com/2011/09/23/neutrinos/
I really don’t know how to explain the ultra-geeky xkcd comic, but as usual, the author, Randall Munroe, has put the appropriate mix of snark, cynicism and resignation into the mouths of his stick figures:
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/neutrinos.png
http://xkcd.com/955/
(The comic is a mix of RTFM-geek-aggravation, unalloyed romanticism, jaw dropping hand-drawn infographics and tech in-jokes that would take hours to explain – if you know much about how database back-ends work, #327 will cause your milk to shoot out of your nose in uncontrollable laughter. But otherwise is totally inscrutable.
I didn’t see that one coming.
AY,
Good one.
Gene beat out the Physics Department at George Washington … I’m proud of our guy.
Blouise,
See…I lol before your posted…
Gene H. cracked a similar joke on the thread that introduced this subject …
Gene H.
1, September 23, 2011 at 8:02 am
Strangely enough, some of us regulars were just talking about this potential discovery, but because we were using NeutrinoMail we actually had the discussion yesterday.
lol…
Actually, an Irishman first alluded to this phenomenon many years ago with the toast “May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you’re dead.” Unfortunately, he was in his cups at the time and was never able to fully articulate the notion.
I think maybe Elaine can come up with a neutrino poem to celebrate the discovery.
I couldn’t agree more – a very well-crafed joke – those particle jockeys did a nice job.
But isn’t it really interesting that the FTL neutrinos were detected AFTER they were fired off?
New law, like new science, causes static to build up on bar stools.