MetaFilter: Across the 8th Dimension!
December 19, 2006 2:02 PM Subscribe
See this glass. It's solid matter, right? See this glass. It's solid matter, right? But in point of fact, the solid parts of this glass --the protons, quarks, your neutrons and electrons -they comprise only one quadrillionth of its total volume.
The science behind Buckaroo Banzai and the Oscillation Overthruster (via)
MetaFilter: What a bunch of bosons.
Yes. They should be lepton.
posted by eriko at 2:24 PM on December 19, 2006
Yes. They should be lepton.
posted by eriko at 2:24 PM on December 19, 2006
Excellent use of the laughwhileyoucanmonkeyboy tag, John.
posted by koeselitz at 2:39 PM on December 19, 2006
posted by koeselitz at 2:39 PM on December 19, 2006
No matter where you go, there you are.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 3:00 PM on December 19, 2006
posted by ZenMasterThis at 3:00 PM on December 19, 2006
delmoi, I saw that too. But my internet access was pretty tenuous back then.
posted by lekvar at 3:06 PM on December 19, 2006
posted by lekvar at 3:06 PM on December 19, 2006
the article was written in 1984...
The only reason time exists is so everything doesn't happen at once.
posted by xod at 3:08 PM on December 19, 2006
The only reason time exists is so everything doesn't happen at once.
posted by xod at 3:08 PM on December 19, 2006
Home is where you wear your hat.
posted by George_Spiggott at 3:22 PM on December 19, 2006
posted by George_Spiggott at 3:22 PM on December 19, 2006
Not to be too much of a nerd, but glass is not exactly a solid....
posted by eparchos at 3:26 PM on December 19, 2006
posted by eparchos at 3:26 PM on December 19, 2006
Another classy imdb summary
Plot Outline: Adventurer/surgeon/rock musician Buckaroo Banzai and his band of men, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, take on evil alien invaders from the 8th dimension.
Tagline: Beings from Another Dimension have invaded your world.
I think I may have to see this film...
posted by Luddite at 3:28 PM on December 19, 2006
Plot Outline: Adventurer/surgeon/rock musician Buckaroo Banzai and his band of men, the Hong Kong Cavaliers, take on evil alien invaders from the 8th dimension.
Tagline: Beings from Another Dimension have invaded your world.
I think I may have to see this film...
posted by Luddite at 3:28 PM on December 19, 2006
And, guess what, DVD and Novel now in stores! (preview comic selling out!)
Must... fight... cynicism...
posted by Luddite at 3:31 PM on December 19, 2006
Must... fight... cynicism...
posted by Luddite at 3:31 PM on December 19, 2006
Why is a watermelon trapped between those monstrous pressure plates deep within the Institute's Critical Stress Laboratory?" Team Banzai botanical agronomists have been for years hard at work on the problem of hunger in Third World countries under constant revolutionary turmoil. A nonpolitical, humanitarian effort, their goal has been to find ways to feed starving peoples in remote areas where traditional food delivery systems prove woefully inadequate. Often, the only way to get the nourishment into the bellies of the needy is to hit and run, avoiding all petty ideological side-taking. What you see in the Critical Stress Lab is a revolutionary watermelon capable of withstanding impact pressures of 300,000 pounds per square inch! Sweet, juicy and vitamin-packed, this remarkable fruit can be dropped from the bomb bays of low-flying aircraft into the backyards of disenfranchised villagers in the remotest backwaters of this angry planet. Just another Team Banzai effort to cut through all the unnecessary crap around us and help people help themselves.
Courtesy of The Banzai Institute
posted by xod at 3:31 PM on December 19, 2006
Courtesy of The Banzai Institute
posted by xod at 3:31 PM on December 19, 2006
dhartung : Why is there a watermelon there?
One of the first things I ever looked up on the internet was the answer to this very question. I had wondered about it for years, and just knew that with the wealth of information that was suddenly at my fingertips, someone would have an answer to this burning question from my youth.
Sure enough.
Now that I know the answer, I feel so empty inside. Like one of life's great mysteries has been laid bare before me and there is nothing to replace it.
posted by quin at 3:36 PM on December 19, 2006
One of the first things I ever looked up on the internet was the answer to this very question. I had wondered about it for years, and just knew that with the wealth of information that was suddenly at my fingertips, someone would have an answer to this burning question from my youth.
Sure enough.
Now that I know the answer, I feel so empty inside. Like one of life's great mysteries has been laid bare before me and there is nothing to replace it.
posted by quin at 3:36 PM on December 19, 2006
That said, the actual reason there is a watermelon in a vice, as revealed by the DVD commentary, is actually far more funny. But I will leave it to those that wish to know these dark secrets to find out for themselves.
posted by quin at 3:39 PM on December 19, 2006
posted by quin at 3:39 PM on December 19, 2006
If there's something other than "Holy nuclear force, batman!" in that giant wall of peach-flavoured text, I haven't found it.
posted by tehloki at 3:39 PM on December 19, 2006
posted by tehloki at 3:39 PM on December 19, 2006
And beat to the first link by xod. Damn you monkeyboy!
posted by quin at 3:40 PM on December 19, 2006
posted by quin at 3:40 PM on December 19, 2006
Sealed with a curse as sharp as a knife. Doomed is your soul and damned is your life.
posted by xod at 3:46 PM on December 19, 2006
posted by xod at 3:46 PM on December 19, 2006
Not to be too much of a nerd, but glass is not exactly a solid....
From your link:Nevertheless, from a more common sense point of view, glass should be considered a solid since it is rigid according to every day experience. The use of the term "supercooled liquid" to describe glass still persists, but is considered by many to be an unfortunate misnomer that should be avoided.
To say that glass isn't a solid is wrong, per the dictionary definition of solid. The above states that it's not a crystaline solid, however it has all the 'everyday' properties of a solid.
posted by delmoi at 4:02 PM on December 19, 2006
From your link:Nevertheless, from a more common sense point of view, glass should be considered a solid since it is rigid according to every day experience. The use of the term "supercooled liquid" to describe glass still persists, but is considered by many to be an unfortunate misnomer that should be avoided.
To say that glass isn't a solid is wrong, per the dictionary definition of solid. The above states that it's not a crystaline solid, however it has all the 'everyday' properties of a solid.
posted by delmoi at 4:02 PM on December 19, 2006
Where's John Smallberries when we need him.
How odd. Mere seconds ago I was folding my YoYoDyne Propulsion Systems t-shirt.
And... what's that watermelon for?
posted by dobbs at 4:23 PM on December 19, 2006
How odd. Mere seconds ago I was folding my YoYoDyne Propulsion Systems t-shirt.
And... what's that watermelon for?
posted by dobbs at 4:23 PM on December 19, 2006
I'll tell you later.
posted by Divine_Wino at 4:36 PM on December 19, 2006
posted by Divine_Wino at 4:36 PM on December 19, 2006
Is there someone crying in here?
posted by Astro Zombie at 4:41 PM on December 19, 2006
posted by Astro Zombie at 4:41 PM on December 19, 2006
Sorry pal, everybody "Need see Buckaroo"...
posted by squidfartz at 4:49 PM on December 19, 2006
posted by squidfartz at 4:49 PM on December 19, 2006
To say that glass isn't a solid is wrong, per the dictionary definition of solid. The above states that it's not a crystaline solid, however it has all the 'everyday' properties of a solid.
Uh... delmoi, I'm talking about science here, not the dictionary. So is the link. A "common sense" point of view isn't applicable, sorry.
Here's another quote from the link I posted... first several sentences in the conclusion....
"There is no clear answer to the question "Is glass solid or liquid?" In terms of molecular dynamics and thermodynamics it is possible to justify various different views that it is a highly viscous liquid, an amorphous solid, or simply that glass is another state of matter which is neither liquid nor solid. The difference is semantic. In terms of its material properties we can do little better. There is no clear definition of the distinction between solids and highly viscous liquids."
So, like I said, not EXACTLY a solid. Of course, working on polymers reaching the glass trensfer stage in a lab for 6 months helped my understanding of this, which is to say it's really complex and no, it doesn't always behave like a solid OR a liquid.
Sorry, no easy answers yet.
posted by eparchos at 5:05 PM on December 19, 2006
I'd just like to say that it's a pleasure to be in the company of such fine and cultured individuals as yourselves.
Having said that,
"BigbooTAY! TAY! TAY!"
posted by lekvar at 5:18 PM on December 19, 2006
Having said that,
"BigbooTAY! TAY! TAY!"
posted by lekvar at 5:18 PM on December 19, 2006
I am here, Monkeyboys.
So you figured it all out, eh? Big deal. You are still descended from poop flinging primates. So there.
(And speaking of my brethren John Bigboote, I must argue that his magnificent flipping of the bird at Lord Whorfin might just be the greatest single instance of the middle finger being captured on celluloid. Such intensity and feeling and largeness of spirit!)
Oh yeah... Hail Whorfin.
posted by John Smallberries at 5:38 PM on December 19, 2006 [1 favorite]
So you figured it all out, eh? Big deal. You are still descended from poop flinging primates. So there.
(And speaking of my brethren John Bigboote, I must argue that his magnificent flipping of the bird at Lord Whorfin might just be the greatest single instance of the middle finger being captured on celluloid. Such intensity and feeling and largeness of spirit!)
Oh yeah... Hail Whorfin.
posted by John Smallberries at 5:38 PM on December 19, 2006 [1 favorite]
Uh... delmoi, I'm talking about science here, not the dictionary. So is the link. A "common sense" point of view isn't applicable, sorry.
Oh, you're quoting SCIENCE? Well then.
The article you linked too isn't a peer reviewed paper, it's just someone's opinion. My opinion is that he's over thinking the semantics of the word "solid." It clearly matches the properties of one of the dictionary definitions. Glass isn't completely covered in ink nor is it manufactured by a solid piece of wood.
Glass meets the most common definition of solid, meaning that it does not flow and will not take the form of it's container.
posted by delmoi at 6:14 PM on December 19, 2006
Oh, you're quoting SCIENCE? Well then.
The article you linked too isn't a peer reviewed paper, it's just someone's opinion. My opinion is that he's over thinking the semantics of the word "solid." It clearly matches the properties of one of the dictionary definitions. Glass isn't completely covered in ink nor is it manufactured by a solid piece of wood.
Glass meets the most common definition of solid, meaning that it does not flow and will not take the form of it's container.
posted by delmoi at 6:14 PM on December 19, 2006
We're all monkeyboys here, John Smallberries.
posted by malaprohibita at 6:19 PM on December 19, 2006
posted by malaprohibita at 6:19 PM on December 19, 2006
the article was written in 1984...
Bears repeating. There was a post just yesterday to a site that parses the philisophical, scientific, etc. in popular movies; is a sixteen year old essay on Buckaroo Banzai really post-worthy, or were you just dropping some chum into the Buckaroo Quotefest Sea? If the latter, mission accomplished.
/goml rant
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 6:55 PM on December 19, 2006 [1 favorite]
Bears repeating. There was a post just yesterday to a site that parses the philisophical, scientific, etc. in popular movies; is a sixteen year old essay on Buckaroo Banzai really post-worthy, or were you just dropping some chum into the Buckaroo Quotefest Sea? If the latter, mission accomplished.
/goml rant
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 6:55 PM on December 19, 2006 [1 favorite]
Hey hey hey. Dont' be mean.
posted by ursus_comiter at 7:29 PM on December 19, 2006
posted by ursus_comiter at 7:29 PM on December 19, 2006
Terminal Verbosity-
I was sharing something, found on the web, that amused me. Given that the purview of MetaFilter is "the best of the Web," I thought I'd bring it to the attention of likeminded individuals. Yes, it was written in 1984, but it is being published to the web now. There have been many recent examples of historical oddities that have been republished to the web and shared here. What was I expecting? I didn't expect anything at all, the thread evolved of it's own accord. It could have been a jumping ground for a discussion of the fact that the Jet Car had a real, functioning rocket, or that, as usual, Earl Mac Rauch has a new Buckaroo project in the works, or even that there's been new developments in the Watermellon Project (scroll down for it).
/defensive first-time poster rant
posted by lekvar at 7:39 PM on December 19, 2006
I was sharing something, found on the web, that amused me. Given that the purview of MetaFilter is "the best of the Web," I thought I'd bring it to the attention of likeminded individuals. Yes, it was written in 1984, but it is being published to the web now. There have been many recent examples of historical oddities that have been republished to the web and shared here. What was I expecting? I didn't expect anything at all, the thread evolved of it's own accord. It could have been a jumping ground for a discussion of the fact that the Jet Car had a real, functioning rocket, or that, as usual, Earl Mac Rauch has a new Buckaroo project in the works, or even that there's been new developments in the Watermellon Project (scroll down for it).
/defensive first-time poster rant
posted by lekvar at 7:39 PM on December 19, 2006
Dont worry about it lekvar. I liked this post - it was quirky and interesting. Also TV's first post included a link to something written in (gasp!) 1996. And his most recent post was basically a double of something I posted in 2002. So...there!
posted by vacapinta at 7:48 PM on December 19, 2006
posted by vacapinta at 7:48 PM on December 19, 2006
We aren't on your lawn Terminal Verbosity, we're on metafilter. If you think the post breaks the guidelines then flag it. The incessant pooping of "this isn't what mefi is about" in threads that others are enjoying is the most tedious kind of preening puffery and is, in fact, what doesn't belong on metafilter. Give it a rest monkey boy.
posted by Divine_Wino at 8:11 PM on December 19, 2006
posted by Divine_Wino at 8:11 PM on December 19, 2006
What is the greatest joy?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:23 PM on December 19, 2006
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:23 PM on December 19, 2006
What is the greatest joy?
"To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you and to hear the lamentations of their women."
(different movie, but still...)
posted by bashos_frog at 8:56 PM on December 19, 2006
"To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you and to hear the lamentations of their women."
(different movie, but still...)
posted by bashos_frog at 8:56 PM on December 19, 2006
Oh crap -that Conan reference made me cream.
Sandahl Bergman, where are you?
posted by squidfartz at 9:33 PM on December 19, 2006
Sandahl Bergman, where are you?
posted by squidfartz at 9:33 PM on December 19, 2006
I just remember all of the snobs at my college science fiction club hating on this movie so much.
I also still have my "Buckaroo Banzai vs. the World Crime League" mini-poster, given out by a blow-dried studio flack at a con. Boy did he stand out. He also swore that we'd see it next year. That was, oh, maybe 1988.
quin: Unlike you, I preferred not knowing. Same reason as with Blade Runner. Although I did like the behind-the-scenes story a lot. Really, that was the love/hate dividing scene for the movie.
posted by dhartung at 12:25 AM on December 20, 2006
I also still have my "Buckaroo Banzai vs. the World Crime League" mini-poster, given out by a blow-dried studio flack at a con. Boy did he stand out. He also swore that we'd see it next year. That was, oh, maybe 1988.
quin: Unlike you, I preferred not knowing. Same reason as with Blade Runner. Although I did like the behind-the-scenes story a lot. Really, that was the love/hate dividing scene for the movie.
posted by dhartung at 12:25 AM on December 20, 2006
eparchos wrote: So, like I said, not EXACTLY a solid.
Amen, brother! The "three phases of matter" is nothing more than lies and propaganda spread by the grade school science conspiracy. They'll stop at nothing to corrupt young minds with deceptive simplifications and discredited theories. F=ma, my ass!
posted by ryanrs at 3:22 AM on December 20, 2006
Amen, brother! The "three phases of matter" is nothing more than lies and propaganda spread by the grade school science conspiracy. They'll stop at nothing to corrupt young minds with deceptive simplifications and discredited theories. F=ma, my ass!
posted by ryanrs at 3:22 AM on December 20, 2006
If it was a snake, it would've bit me!
posted by drinkcoffee at 5:40 AM on December 20, 2006
posted by drinkcoffee at 5:40 AM on December 20, 2006
F=ma, my ass!
Actualy, I think that stands for 'mass' and 'acceleration'.
posted by chrismear at 5:53 AM on December 20, 2006 [1 favorite]
Actualy, I think that stands for 'mass' and 'acceleration'.
posted by chrismear at 5:53 AM on December 20, 2006 [1 favorite]
I also still have my "Buckaroo Banzai vs. the World Crime League" mini-poster
I've read that Big Trouble in Little China sucked up much of the stuff that was originally going to be in BBvtWCL.
Now this really pisses me off to no end.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:58 AM on December 20, 2006
I've read that Big Trouble in Little China sucked up much of the stuff that was originally going to be in BBvtWCL.
Now this really pisses me off to no end.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 6:58 AM on December 20, 2006
All the cool stuff has been said, I would just like to add my name to the list of people who think BB is way bitchin'.
posted by Meatbomb at 8:18 AM on December 20, 2006
posted by Meatbomb at 8:18 AM on December 20, 2006
From Delmoi: Glass meets the most common definition of solid, meaning that it does not flow and will not take the form of it's container.
You can see old glass flowing or melting, in saggy stained glass windows and old libraries (for instance, some of the 18th-century display cases at the Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia).
posted by Mister_A at 9:43 AM on December 20, 2006
You can see old glass flowing or melting, in saggy stained glass windows and old libraries (for instance, some of the 18th-century display cases at the Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia).
posted by Mister_A at 9:43 AM on December 20, 2006
Ha ha, I was just going to come in here and summon John Smallberries, but his Buckaroo Banzai detector clearly functions correctly
posted by poppo at 10:23 AM on December 20, 2006
posted by poppo at 10:23 AM on December 20, 2006
Mister A,
they would form windows by pouring molten glass unto a spinning surface. The outside rim would end up thicker than the inside and they would then cut the glass and place the thicker side down...weight on the bottom. At least so I've been told
posted by dibblda at 1:04 PM on December 20, 2006
they would form windows by pouring molten glass unto a spinning surface. The outside rim would end up thicker than the inside and they would then cut the glass and place the thicker side down...weight on the bottom. At least so I've been told
posted by dibblda at 1:04 PM on December 20, 2006
"There! Evil, pure and simple from the eighth dimension!"
(can't believe no one posted that one yet)
posted by InnocentBystander at 1:31 PM on December 20, 2006
(can't believe no one posted that one yet)
posted by InnocentBystander at 1:31 PM on December 20, 2006
The "three phases of matter" is nothing more than lies and propaganda spread by the grade school science conspiracy
Oh ryanrs, you might want to catch up with the 20th century a little...
posted by eparchos at 4:24 PM on December 20, 2006
Oh ryanrs, you might want to catch up with the 20th century a little...
posted by eparchos at 4:24 PM on December 20, 2006
It's threads like these that make me proud to be a MeFite.
posted by zoogleplex at 4:26 PM on December 20, 2006
posted by zoogleplex at 4:26 PM on December 20, 2006
« Older It was a funny looking bird and he stood right... | *insert loon call here* Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by Divine_Wino at 2:10 PM on December 19, 2006