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The secret fourth kind is ‘we applied a standard theory to their map of every tree and got some suspicious results.’

https://explainxkcd.com/2977/

  • @[email protected]
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    23 days ago

    What about ‘we applied a standard theory to standard circumstances and somehow the results aren’t right and it’s probably our fault’

    • @[email protected]
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      1323 days ago

      Business as usual, just another day at the lab. People using actual real world samples instead of the expensive standards to produce a very messy calibration squiggle. Also, the machine probably requires some maintenance from time to time.

        • palordrolap
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          1223 days ago

          Oddly enough, the lack of air pressure in a vacuum would have the effect of trying to turn a regular cow into a sphere.

          (Do not do this. Not even if the cow is already dead. Thanks.)

          • @Viking_Hippie
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            623 days ago

            Do not do this.

            Dammit, there goes my weekend! Oh well, guess I can still just eat that dead cow that’s been taking up space in the lab 🤷

    • @Cryophilia
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      1023 days ago

      The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not “Eureka!” but “That’s funny …”