putting the j in jjosh

So after posting that bit about the CERN collider perhaps creating a black hole, I didn’t want to freak you out and let you know that when they start up that huge collider it might also create a rift in space-time and allow time travel to be possible. But hey, it might.

Instead I want to let you know (courtesy joshgranger.com science coorospondent Pat G) that some badass scientist named Scott Funkhouser (yes!) thinks he may have unearthed some kind of new cosmic constant, and it’s 10 to the 122. Nice. Good work, Funkhouser. It comes into play in trying to explain that "dark matter" we keep hearing about, and also:

"the ratio of the mass of the observable Universe to that of the smallest possible ‘quantum’ of mass is about 6×10¹²². And the number of ways in which the particles of the current Universe can be arranged throughout space (a measure of entropy) is 2.5×10¹²²."

According to Funkhouser (preach it, Funkhouser!) “It is unlikely for chance alone to be responsible for generating so many pure numbers from just several fundamental parameters.” In other words, it looks like design! I love it when science gets out in the fringes…

Meanwhile, let’s take a moment to reminisce on another, more classic cosmic number:

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Wizards, robots, math, science, hip-hop — I love this video! It’s by comedy/music duo Hard n Phirm.

They’re also known for their medley of Radiohead songs done in a bluegrass style. Of course they are. It’s called Rodeohead, check it out…according to wikipedia (can we ever believe them?!) Radiohead themselves approved the track…

Hard n Phirm – Rodeohead