Editing Talk:1642: Gravitational Waves

"Local group" refers to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Group. Lonely singles (black holes?) meeting on a galactic scale would produce another gravitational event. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.223|162.158.90.223]] 21:39, 11 February 2016 (UTC) Christoph Berg

Should we add a Trivia section regarding the fact that this comic was posted outside the normal M-W-F schedule? [[User:Edo|Edo]] ([[User talk:Edo|talk]]) 23:03, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

Should there be some kind of mention of the possibility (or lack thereof) of artificial gravity waves being used for long-distance communicaiton? --[[User:Joshupetersen|Joshupetersen]] ([[User talk:Joshupetersen|talk]]) 23:41, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

I'm not sure everyone knows what the solar mass symbol looks like. [[User:Thaledison|Thaledison]] ([[User talk:Thaledison|talk]]) 23:51, 11 February 2016 (UTC)

I think the explanation needs a bit more on the analogy that humans rely heavily on electromagnetic waves for communication. It is reasonable to expect aliens to use gravitational waves for the same as the theoretical basis for encoding messages would likely not need to be change. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.221|162.158.91.221]] 08:29, 12 February 2016 (UTC)
: Please go ahead and edit it, I'm done for now. I've added lots of stuff. This is the first comic I've tried explaining in full, and it has become quite big. ;-) So far I was only doing small edits here and there... [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.216|199.27.130.216]] 09:16, 12 February 2016 (UTC)
: EDIT - I added a sentence about it. Please do any further edits if you like... [[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.216|199.27.130.216]] 09:24, 12 February 2016 (UTC)
:I think this has something to do with [https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Google_Wave |Google Wave] or am I overthinking it? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.180.125|162.158.180.125]] 12:11, 12 February 2016 (UTC)
Odd for a massive-object-related comic to not contain a your-mom-joke reference. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.221|141.101.75.221]] 12:09, 12 February 2016 (UTC)

"Black hole merger in Carina (30 M☉, 30 M☉)" refers to the public announcement of the [http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/12/science/ligo-gravitational-waves-black-holes-einstein.html?_r=0 first detection ever made of gravity waves] from the LIGO-VIRGO experiment. The announcement has been publicly done thursday 11 February 2016, the same day the drawing has been done. This is not a "Possibly legitimate result", but a scientifically proved legitimate result. The drawing has been done in honor to that major scientific first ever observation (which will probably lead to a Nobel Price). --[[Special:Contributions/173.245.49.24|173.245.49.24]] 15:04, 12 February 2016 (UTC)
: I think that the word "merger" is a pun. It is not normally used to describe black hole collisions, but is common in spam messages about stock tips. Not being a native English speaker, I wouldn't attest this, but someone who is might confirm... [[User:Mumiemonstret|Mumiemonstret]] ([[User talk:Mumiemonstret|talk]]) 11:26, 14 September 2016 (UTC)

"Zorlax is a kid's television gameshow, based on time travel", and "Formed billions of years ago in the earths core, cursed to be but a floating head, gifted with a knowledge of the ages and destined to be the master of time. He is '''the mighty... ZORLAX!'''" See [https://vimeo.com/7592641 here] and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdGGL0OrmFs here]. Maybe someone knows this kid's television gameshow. --[[User:Dgbrt|Dgbrt]] ([[User talk:Dgbrt|talk]]) 19:21, 12 February 2016 (UTC)

"One of the receivers is quite impressed with this and suggests that they have to reply to the spam just because the sender has made such an effort to send the message." This line: I actually interpreted the title text as worry rather than being impressed. If a cosmic being is moving around celestial bodies just to make a LinkedIn request and is making increasingly-intense messages, it might be best for the safety of whatever to prevent it from escalating any further. Am I the only one who understood it this way? [[User:Jeudi Violist|Jeudi Violist]] ([[User talk:Jeudi Violist|talk]]) 19:45, 12 February 2016 (UTC)

Just to be complete: The spam messages could also come from a prankster messing with the computer or some equipment between the experiment and the computer.  Of course this is less (if at all) funny than the thought of encoding messages in gravitational waves. {{unsigned ip|162.158.90.210}}

De Speld (dutch "news" site similar to The Onion) [http://speld.nl/2016/02/12/trillingen-in-heelal-veroorzaakt-door-gasboringen-in-groningen/ reports] the gravity waves are the result of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groningen_gas_field natural gas production in Groningen]. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.185|141.101.75.185]] 14:41, 13 February 2016 (UTC)


I have a somewhat different take on this comic. The "Explanation of observed events" section seems to imply that these messages are directed towards earth. My interpretation is that the team has tapped into some sort of intergalactic internet, where stars are communicating with each other (and, perhaps, looking for other stars to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_system mate with]) [[User:Sysin|Sysin]] ([[User talk:Sysin|talk]]) 17:20, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

The event log is presumably a reference to some kind of computer event log, perhaps for network events. I'd assume it's modeled on some obscure Linux thing.  I actually came here hoping for an explanation of what type of event log Randall is spoofing.  [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.4|173.245.54.4]] 20:27, 13 February 2016 (UTC)

;Injection

[http://www.nature.com/news/einstein-s-gravitational-waves-found-at-last-1.19361 The Nature article] on the discovery mentions that there was a number of "injections" of fake signals in LIGO to test whether the scientists can tell apart real and fake signals. The original signal now considered a confirmation of gravitational waves was first thought to be an injection. This comic might be showing such an experiment with a mixture of real and fake signals.

--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.222|162.158.91.222]] 14:22, 14 February 2016 (UTC)

Is it possible that the "most energetic event is a pun"?  As in, "My kid is full of energy," or "That was an energetic party."  [[User:Mikemk|Mikemk]] ([[User talk:Mikemk|talk]]) 08:24, 15 February 2016 (UTC)