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Another Truth Brutally Shot Out From Under Me
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Tuesday, January 23, 2007
11:22:00 AM EST
Hearing Nothing at the moment.
Is nothing scared anymore?!???!??!
The old adage that "no two snowflakes are alike" might not hold true, at least for smaller crystals, new research suggests... while "no two snowflakes are alike" might hold true for larger snowflakes, cloud physicist Jon Nelson at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan, figures it might ring false for smaller crystals that sometimes fall before they have a chance to fully develop.
"How likely is it that two snowflakes are alike? Very likely if we define alike to mean that we would have trouble distinguishing them under a microscope and if we include the crystals that hardly develop beyond the prism stage—that is, the smallest snow crystals," Nelson said.
"Good luck finding them though," he added. "Even if there were only a million crystals and you could compare each possible pair once per second—that is, very fast—then to compare them all would take you about a hundred thousand years."
Which means they're all different from an entirely practical point of view. Unless you do want to spend the next hundred thousand years looking at ice crystals. In which case, live that dream, friend. I'll occasionally stop by and bring you some hot chocolate.
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11:22:00 AM EST
Hearing Nothing at the moment.
Another Truth Brutally Shot Out From Under Me
Is nothing scared anymore?!???!??!
The old adage that "no two snowflakes are alike" might not hold true, at least for smaller crystals, new research suggests... while "no two snowflakes are alike" might hold true for larger snowflakes, cloud physicist Jon Nelson at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan, figures it might ring false for smaller crystals that sometimes fall before they have a chance to fully develop.
"How likely is it that two snowflakes are alike? Very likely if we define alike to mean that we would have trouble distinguishing them under a microscope and if we include the crystals that hardly develop beyond the prism stage—that is, the smallest snow crystals," Nelson said.
"Good luck finding them though," he added. "Even if there were only a million crystals and you could compare each possible pair once per second—that is, very fast—then to compare them all would take you about a hundred thousand years."
Which means they're all different from an entirely practical point of view. Unless you do want to spend the next hundred thousand years looking at ice crystals. In which case, live that dream, friend. I'll occasionally stop by and bring you some hot chocolate.
Written by johnmscalzi Blog about this entry |
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This entry has 2 comments: (Add your own)
-
Backup from the yawning chasm, John... it is okay...
be well,
Dawn
1/23/07 11:42 PM