Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts

[Anarchic Fox]

Yeah, the author seems to be having a lot of fun subverting our expectations of what a traditionalist should be, without making his characterization contrived.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Gregor continues to be incredibly chill.

[Radar]

Gregor continues to be incredibly chill.

And I think he just made a joke. Kind of reminds me of Raymond Holt actually.

[Rockphed]

Yeah, the author seems to be having a lot of fun subverting our expectations of what a traditionalist should be, without making his characterization contrived.

He is very cautious about he things, but he doesn't reject them out of hand.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Florence is punny.

[Anarchic Fox]

That's a fantastic pun, if overexplained a little. I'm saving it for possible future use.

[Thomas Cardew]

Awww that's a great pun, but it's sadly wrong. Microscopic cross-sections are measured in barns and independent of the total number of atoms. Macroscopic cross-sections are dependent on the number of atoms but are measured in inverse centimeters since the cm^2 of the cross-section cancels with cm^-3 of the atom density.

[Anarchic Fox]

...Oops. I'm embarrassed I didn't know that.

I've wondered before whether "barn" itself is wordplay, and Wikipedia says it is:

During Manhattan Project research on the atomic bomb during World War II, American physicists at Purdue University needed a secretive unit to describe the approximate cross-sectional area presented by the typical nucleus (10−28 m2) and decided on "barn". They considered this a large target for particle accelerators that needed to have direct strikes on nuclei, and the American idiom "couldn't hit the broad side of a barn" refers to someone whose aim is very bad.[2] Initially they hoped the name would obscure any reference to the study of nuclear structure; eventually, the word became a standard unit in nuclear and particle physics.

[Rogar Demonblud]

So kind of like how the process of generating a nuclear explosion takes three shakes, as in three shakes of a lamb's tail.

[Willie the Duck]

Awww that's a great pun, but it's sadly wrong. Microscopic cross-sections are measured in barns and independent of the total number of atoms. Macroscopic cross-sections are dependent on the number of atoms but are measured in inverse centimeters since the cm^2 of the cross-section cancels with cm^-3 of the atom density.

Wait, Stanley got a physics thing wrong? I thought he was a physicist or nuclear engineer or something like that. He certainly doesn't get his other science right (social, ecological, etc.).

[Rogar Demonblud]

He was stretching for a pun. Puns are generally completely wrong.

[Willie the Duck]

Ah. Okay. I've certainly stretched to force a joke before in my days, so I can't criticize.

[Fyraltari]

He certainly doesn't get his other science right (social, ecological, etc.).

Doesn't he?

[DavidSh]

If I remember my units correctly, a barn yard atmosphere is a very small unit of energy.

[Thomas Cardew]

If I remember my units correctly, a barn yard atmosphere is a very small unit of energy.

Yup, 10^-24 cm^2 *10^2 cm * 10^11 J cm^-3 so about 10^-11 J. So about 10 times bigger than the rest mass of proton.

[Anarchic Fox]

Wait, Stanley got a physics thing wrong? I thought he was a physicist or nuclear engineer or something like that. He certainly doesn't get his other science right (social, ecological, etc.).

Doesn't he?

Speaking as a physicist (hence my embarrassment), I don't see many scientific errors in Freefall, disregarding the sci-fi stuff like AI and warp drives. The most recent one I remember was him giving the wrong value of the average density of matter in deep space; as far as I can tell, he used its value in the solar system instead. This was the comic where Florence talked about using the matter in deep space to assemble new suns.

However, there's one glaring exception: his dismissal of climate science. These jokes all occurred in the first half of the comic, so as far as I know Stanley has come around on the topic, but it's the single biggest reservation I have about the comic. I also remember one rather obnoxious comic based on pop evolutionary psychology, the one where Florence talks about women preferring men who cheat on them, but I think that was an isolated incident.

...The size of this comic sure does make it hard to find the specific comics I have in mind.

[Radar]

...The size of this comic sure does make it hard to find the specific comics I have in mind.

Freefall has a very convenient search function (located to the right of the archive button). The strip you were looking for is here.

[Anarchic Fox]

Freefall has a very convenient search function (located to the right of the archive button). The strip you were looking for is here.

Thanks, that's very handy! Yes, that was the strip I had in mind. The other strip I was thinking about was this one. The density quoted there is way too high. If you look at Table 1 on this Wikipedia page, the density she quotes is that of molecular clouds, which make up <1% of deep space. If you use the predominant "warm ionized medium" instead, the correct number would be on the order of 10^-20 kg per cubic meter, giving 0.004 suns per cubic light year... less impressive.

As a handy tip, if someone gives three or more significant digits in their answer when doing a back-of-the-envelope calculation, be dubious.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Yes Florence, I think we all prefer to work in a warm place with a breathable atmosphere.

[Radar]

Yes Florence, I think we all prefer to work in a warm place with a breathable atmosphere.

Indeed. Even as a physicist I just cannot work properly in a frictionless vacuum.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Another safety aspect of nuclear engineering I'd never considered.

[Radar]

Another safety aspect of nuclear engineering I'd never considered.

Seems so obvious in retrospect, but I would not think about it either. I had an opportunity to visit a nuclear plant during my student years and there were a lot of those small but significant details. For example the whole interior of the power plant is separated into a few layers and the air in each layer is kept at a slightly lower pressure than the one outside. This way you prevent uncontrolled air leaks and you filter everything that goes out through the pumps.

Each safety system has multiple redundancy using different methods of activation. For example, the absorbing rods are typically controlled with a worm gear, but can also be pushed in using hydraulic pressure. If that is the case there are mechanical flaps that under their own weight push out and prevent the rods from falling down even if the hydraulic fluid will leak out. The last line of defense is a simple fact that the rods are under the reactor: if it comes to a full meltdown, the nuclear fuel will mix with the neutron absorber which will slow down the reaction anyway.

[Rogar Demonblud]

And that's a safety protocol I've used repeatedly. Don't assume you're the last, check and double check.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Moral of the story: know what your customer likes.

[sihnfahl]

Moral of the story: know what your customer likes.

I think he's been so human-focused that his connect-the-dots is a bit rusty. At least Florence isn't feeling pressured by him, so she can keep the atmosphere light.

[Rockphed]

We like to go out and let the corrosive liquid fall on our faces and then dance in the puddles that form on the ground.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Dance? Heck, we do full body immersion, even at temperatures when it is barely liquid.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Sounds like Stanley has met somebody from the Upper Plains.

[Rockphed]

Sounds like Stanley has met somebody from the Upper Plains.

I have been getting a fair bit of Minnesota in his voice the last couple times he has talked.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Minnesota

It's pronounced Many-Snow-ta.