3000: Experimental Astrophysics

2024-11-15T01:45:25Z

172.69.0.170: Undo revision 356889 by HARRISWON2024! (talk)

{{comic
| number = 3000
| date = October 18, 2024
| title = Experimental Astrophysics
| image = experimental_astrophysics_2x.png
| imagesize = 317x490px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Our experiment will be expensive, but we believe it will produce important spin-offs, especially if we manage to hit the sun from the right angle.
}}

==Explanation==
A {{w|Thorne–Żytkow object}} is an object theorized by astrophysicists {{w|Kip Thorne}} and {{w|Anna Żytkow}} which is a {{w|red giant}} or {{w|red supergiant}} with a {{w|neutron star}} at its core. There have been no confirmed sightings, but HV 2112 and HV 11417, both in the {{w|Small Magellanic Cloud}}, have in the past been considered strong candidates.

Cueball is asking for a grant for funding for research into these theoretical astral bodies, the implication being that they are asking funding for telescope time, or even an entirely new telescope, in order to make such investigations possible. However, the caption reveals that he is asking for something completely different: funding to ''create'' the object, with a {{w|Gravity assist|gravitational slingshot}}. Normally, astrophysics is an observational discipline, but the title of the comic (made explicit by the caption text) suggests that this is intended to be a 'practical' experiment to induce a TŻO into existence by actually sending a neutron star into our own {{w|Sun}}.

Cueball is complaining that no one is willing to fund this experiment to create the Thorne–Żytkow object for direct observation. Creating it would be impractical, for several reasons. First, you would need to find (or create!) a neutron star and bring it here, which requires amounts of energy, mass, and precision that we have no current possibility of achieving. Secondly, having a neutron star anywhere near the Sun would most likely destroy the solar system, or at least accelerate its transition to a red giant, which would likely result in {{w|Future_of_Earth#Red_giant_stage|Earth being engulfed by it}} and [[1606|ruining the weather]]. The funding body, presumably based on Earth, would probably find the study would not pass an {{w|Research_ethics|ethics review}}, and the end result would not generate a favorable {{w|environmental impact statement}}, given the almost inevitable destruction of our planet.

A spin-off usually means something additional that was not originally planned. The title text in this comic is a two-layer joke on the phrase "spin-off", meaning that hitting the Sun off-center (from the right angle) would likely have many unintended consequences, but also cause the Sun to start rotating abnormally, due to the added angular momentum, in the same way as hitting a ball on the side makes it spin. A similar idea (the engulfment of a planet or companion star) has been proposed to explain the apparently anomalous rotation of the red supergiant {{w|Betelgeuse}}.{{acn}} "Spin-off" could also refer to material being flung off the Sun due to the impact of the neutron star. If the right material is sent in certain directions, it could have useful, or more likely just 'interesting', properties.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is standing on a circular podium with a screen behind him. He is holding his palm out towards an unseen audience. On the screen there is a large circle with a solid inner line and a ragged outer line. And then there are two much smaller circles also with solid inner lines and ragged outer lines. One of them is drawn just outside the large circle to the left. An arrow is pointing from this to the center of the large circle, breaking the large circle's edge. It points at the other small circle, which is drawn at the center of the large circle.]
:Cueball: A Thorne-Żytkow object is a hypothesized nested star — a red giant with a neutron star inside it.
:Cueball: So far, no TŻOs have been definitively observed, but your grant could help us change that.

:[Caption below the panel:]
:We're struggling to get funding for our project to slingshot a neutron star into the Sun.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Astronomy]]

Talk:2986: Every Scientific Field

2024-09-19T08:04:07Z

172.69.0.170: /* No next button */ new section

My reading of the comic is completely opposite to the current explanation. Rather than the large section being what 'a disproportionate amount of time is spent on', it's the small section, which is why we've heard of that stuff. To me, the large section represents the bulk of what is there to be studied, but is relatively poorly understood, so the point of the comic is emphasising how little we actually know about stuff in relation to what there is to be known. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.160.136|172.70.160.136]] 11:16, 17 September 2024 (UTC)
: I didn't like the word 'disproportionate' either, because to me it sounded like an accusation of too much time being spent in the wrong branch, which is not what Randall is saying. I reworded and fleshed out the description. Better now? [[Special:Contributions/172.70.111.167|172.70.111.167]] 11:38, 17 September 2024 (UTC)
: I disagree with "poorly understood" being the central issue, though, rather the branches the general public finds fascinating are often not the scientificially dominating ones. Wasps laying eggs in other insects isn't "poorly understood" at all. It's just that cute baby elephants or pandas draw huge crowds in zoos, whereas 'icky' wasps don't. And e.g. a gyroscope makes for great YouTube videos, but it's no longer a subject of fundamental physics research. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.238|162.158.154.238]] 13:04, 17 September 2024 (UTC)
::I can offer anecdotal evidence that, yes, I would have been perfectly happy not knowing there are more than half a million different kinds of parasitic wasp [[Special:Contributions/162.158.63.6|162.158.63.6]] 13:38, 18 September 2024 (UTC)
: It's not really a matter of understanding, it's whether most of the public has even heard of it and knows that scientists are studying it. Randall's point is that most of what scientists study doesn't get much mention in the mainstream press and lay people don't know about it. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 14:27, 17 September 2024 (UTC)
: I disagree with "dark energy" being a no-interest-for-the-broad-public theme. [[Special:Contributions/172.71.160.70|172.71.160.70]] 08:16, 18 September 2024 (UTC)

== This stupid site is malfunctioning. ==

Hi chat. I'm the infamous #FreePalestine "troll". I would go into another rant, but there is a more pressing matter on our hands here. Whenever I try to access this site, I frequently encounter some "technical difficulties" message, claiming that I can't access the database. It occurs both on the school computers and my own device, so it's probably server-side. Can someone get to the bottom of this? Cheers! [[Special:Contributions/141.101.105.48|141.101.105.48]] 19:35, 17 September 2024 (UTC)
:This has been happening to me too. Reloading the tab almost always fixes it, but it’s still annoying nonetheless. [[User:Trogdor147|Trogdor147]] ([[User_talk:Trogdor147|talk]]) 23:49, 17 September 2024 (UTC)
::seems to have been fixed now :) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.33.237|162.158.33.237]] 07:42, 18 September 2024 (UTC)
:::Can we make it so that it it only does this for trolls and vandals?[[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.27|172.69.195.27]] 08:12, 18 September 2024 (UTC)
::::Vunny, I zougt Mossad already did zis :-) [[Special:Contributions/172.71.160.70|172.71.160.70]] 08:16, 18 September 2024 (UTC)
:Hmmm. "Hi, I am a troll..." What a strange claim. Does your point benefit from saying that? (Even "I'm the person that others ''consider'' to be a troll"?) Friendly advice: Under the remit of making a serious and valid observation, you can remain undistinguished behind your latest IP 'identity', because we don't care if you're a first-time poster or a decades-long contributor in this case.
:(As a decade-and-a-bit contributor, if you'll take my word for it, I had of course noticed this occasionally recurring issue had started again but had decided that (if it is sortable) then it didn't need my input to sort.)
:I do care about you not trolling, of course, but it's primarily because you say you're the one (with as little reason to take that as true) that now associate you with it. It doesn't add any value, shall we say? And probably neither does this reaction, but that's also down to your decision to make it a point of information, and having no other way to make my worldview known to you privately... [[Special:Contributions/172.69.195.231|172.69.195.231]] 09:37, 18 September 2024 (UTC)
:First off, if the errors stop you from trolling, then that’s great! I think that most of us have been experiencing the errors you’re mentioning. There’s a little discussion on the Technical Community Portal, but unless Davidy22 or Jeff respond to my pleas for help, there’s nothing that can really be done, as they are the only admins that have access to poke around the server. In addition, Jeff, if you’re reading this, we REALLY need new ‘crats, as otherwise nobody can be promoted to admin. I highly recommend Kynde, as he’s the only active admin on this site. [[User:42.book.addict|42.book.addict]] ([[User talk:42.book.addict|talk]]) 17:01, 18 September 2024 (UTC)

== No next button ==

Why is the next button missing? Shouldn't someone add it back in or something? [[Special:Contributions/172.69.0.170|172.69.0.170]] 08:04, 19 September 2024 (UTC)

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3000: Experimental Astrophysics

Talk:2986: Every Scientific Field