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Cosmic Variance
« The Numbers Behind NUMB3RS
Even More on the Stimulus »

I’m Pretty Sure This Is What That Official at NSF Was Watching

by Sean Carroll

20090202.jpg

I will just mention that this guy doesn’t really look like Brian Greene. And that I’m disappointed the word “heterotic” couldn’t be worked in there somewhere.

And also that ordinary one-dimensional strings don’t form knots in higher dimensions of space, so extra-dimensional bondage requires extended objects. So really the guy in the cartoon should probably be “Dr. Polchinski.”

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February 2nd, 2009 4:37 PM
in Humor | 9 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >

9 Responses to “I’m Pretty Sure This Is What That Official at NSF Was Watching”

  1. 1.   ollie Says:
    February 2nd, 2009 at 5:32 pm

    Strictly speaking, “ordinary” (as in, say, smooth or P. L.) strings don’t knot themselves in 3-space either. :)

    Of course closed loops do, and yes, so do non-smooth (or non- polygonal ) strings and non-compact strings, etc.

  2. 2.   helvio Says:
    February 2nd, 2009 at 5:50 pm

    Hmmm, I thought that this cartoon was just a rip-off of the excellent ‘hyper-bondage’ xkcd cartoon in the recent xkcd vs The New Yorker cartoon-off.

  3. 3.   Sunrisemix1 Says:
    February 2nd, 2009 at 6:23 pm

    I don’t know what kind, but its got to be some kind of awesome when my favorite science feed mentions my favorite webcomic. :)

  4. 4.   anonymous this time Says:
    February 2nd, 2009 at 6:24 pm

    I am pretty sure I have never seen the real Dr Greene in a tie, either.

  5. 5.   A. Says:
    February 3rd, 2009 at 11:27 am

    Mouse over the red button below the comic for more compactification-related excitement.

  6. 6.   Blake Stacey Says:
    February 3rd, 2009 at 11:48 am

    “If inflation persists for more than four Planck times, consult your physician immediately.”

  7. 7.   Sili Says:
    February 3rd, 2009 at 1:25 pm

    At least there was one for the chemists today.

    I don’t think I’ve ever seen orbifolds used in humour before. Pity I can’t even wrap my head round differential geometry (dispite having passed the exam once …).

    Linky, since Blake isn’t tooting his own horn for some reason.

  8. 8.   Qubit Says:
    February 3rd, 2009 at 4:35 pm

    He might not look like the real Brian Greene, but he definitely has an imaginary likeness. ;)

  9. 9.   Mike Says:
    February 9th, 2009 at 6:41 pm

    That picture gives me a large hadron.





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