Mar 17, 2009: Roundest Thing, Evah

xoxoxoBruce · 03-17-2009, 12:00 AM

Wolf came up with this item. It's a ball of fused quartz, and the most perfectly spherical object ever made by man.

Quote:

It’s only the size of a ping pong ball, but its surfaces are so smooth that were it blown up to the size of Earth, the tallest mountain would be only eight feet high.

Actually it's one of four.
Four? I'll buy making one to, you know, see if you can, but making four means they must have a use for them.
Yes, they go in a space probe.

Not the kind of space probe they used on Burt Campbell.

They're used in "Gravity Probe B", which has been up there a couple years now.

Quote:

Einstein's theory of General Relativity predicts that Earth, by rotating, twists space and time around with it, forming a mild vortex in the fabric of spacetime around our planet. Researchers call this "frame dragging." Most physicists believe the spacetime vortex is real, but no experiment to date has been sensitive enough to detect it unequivocally.

Enter Gravity Probe B.

They've wanted to test this since the 50s, but nobody had the balls.

Quote:

It was originally proposed 47 years ago (!!) — but was delayed for decades waiting for funding, waiting for the shuttles to be built to get it aloft, then discovering that, whoops, the shuttles couldn’t actually handle that sort of payload, then designing a rocket to finally get it aloft. They also had wait for all manner of engineering breakthroughs to make those spheres. But what a metaphorically lovely finale: The most perfectly round objects ever made by humanity, flying through the void on one of the purest scientific quests ever.

The whole complicated story can be found here, and here, where they explain all about the Gravity Probe B project...

EXCEPT, how they made the damn balls.

Crimson Ghost · 03-17-2009, 12:48 AM

So round...

So firm...

So fully packed...

SPUCK · 03-17-2009, 04:49 AM

Wow.. They have a lot of balls!

capnhowdy · 03-17-2009, 06:26 AM

I thought for a minute they had captured the terminator and cut his nuts off.

Pie · 03-17-2009, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crimson Ghost

So round...

So firm...

So fully packed...

Who stole the Keeshka?

glatt · 03-17-2009, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

They've wanted to test this since the 50s, but nobody had the balls.

Hee hee.

This was a cool IotD. Thanks Bruce and wolf!

Sheldonrs · 03-17-2009, 08:54 AM

Bah! You want to see something REALLY round, check out my stomach the day after Thanksgiving.

Gravdigr · 03-17-2009, 11:20 AM

Probably the most expensive balls evah...

Coign · 03-17-2009, 11:36 AM

Read the wiki for a current timeline. What I read from the ending is that the results, although indicative of proving the space-time warp, will be too inaccurate to determine definitive results.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_Probe_B

wolf · 03-17-2009, 12:58 PM

Nerdgasm.

Clodfobble · 03-17-2009, 08:29 PM

I want to touch it. What do you think something that smooth feels like?

Sperlock · 03-17-2009, 08:53 PM

Pinball, anyone?

Crimson Ghost · 03-17-2009, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Actually it's one of four.
Four? I'll buy making one to, you know, see if you can, but making four means they must have a use for them.

Yes they do.

They're in the process of making the worlds fastest marathon runner.

Ball bearings and a stick shift
old, old joke

Beest · 03-17-2009, 10:06 PM

Make your own, instructions are here.

Requires four slightly wobbly sewing machine motors

xoxoxoBruce · 03-18-2009, 12:38 AM

Ah, thanks Beest. A ball grinder, I should have known, after all I married one.

03-17-2009, 12:48 AM	#2
Crimson Ghost Larger than life and twice as ugly. Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 5,264	So round... So firm... So fully packed... __________________ We must all go through a rite of passage. It must be physical, it must be painful, and it must leave a mark. I have no knowledge of the events which you are describing, and if I did have knowledge of them, I would be unable to discuss them with you now or at any future period. Don't waste your time always searching for those wasted years

03-17-2009, 06:26 AM	#4
capnhowdy Blatantly Homosapien Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 6,200	I thought for a minute they had captured the terminator and cut his nuts off. __________________ Please type slowly. I can't read very fast............... and no holy water, please.

03-17-2009, 08:54 AM	#7
Sheldonrs Master Dwellar Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 4,412	Bah! You want to see something REALLY round, check out my stomach the day after Thanksgiving. __________________ Laugh and the world laughs with you; cry and the world laughs AT you.

03-17-2009, 11:20 AM	#8
Gravdigr The Un-Tuckian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: South Central...KY that is Posts: 39,517	Probably the most expensive balls evah... __________________ These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, EPA, FBI, DEA, CDC, or FDIC. These statements are not intended to diagnose, cause, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you feel you have been harmed/offended by, or, disagree with any of the above statements or images, please feel free to fuck right off.

03-17-2009, 11:36 AM	#9
Coign Wanted Driver Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Vail, CO Posts: 279	Read the wiki for a current timeline. What I read from the ending is that the results, although indicative of proving the space-time warp, will be too inaccurate to determine definitive results. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_Probe_B __________________ Quoting yourself is the height of hubris. -Coign

03-17-2009, 04:49 AM	#3
SPUCK Professor Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 1,911	Wow.. They have a lot of balls!

03-17-2009, 12:58 PM	#10
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	Nerdgasm. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

03-17-2009, 08:29 PM	#11
Clodfobble UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 20,012	I want to touch it. What do you think something that smooth feels like? __________________ My book My other book My spirit animal

03-17-2009, 08:53 PM	#12
Sperlock Elite Elitist Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Reno, NV Posts: 322	Pinball, anyone? __________________ Every oak tree started out as a couple of nuts who stood their ground. - Anonymous http://informationthreshold.blogspot.com, http://spiritualthreshold.blogspot.com

03-17-2009, 10:06 PM	#14
Beest Adapt and Survive Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Ann Arbor, Mi Posts: 957	Make your own, instructions are here. Requires four slightly wobbly sewing machine motors

03-18-2009, 12:38 AM	#15
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Ah, thanks Beest. A ball grinder, I should have known, after all I married one. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

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