MacGyver Physics

counterfriction writes "This month's issue of Symmetry, a magazine jointly published by SLAC and Fermilab, is featuring an article that points out the sometimes extemporaneous and unconventional solutions physicists have come up with in (and out of) the laboratory. From the article: 'Leon Lederman ... used a pocket knife, tape, and items on anyone's grocery list to confirm that interactions involving the weak force do now show perfect mirror symmetry, or parity, as scientists had long assumed.'"

Changes over time?

[AJWM]

to confirm that interactions involving the weak force do now show perfect mirror symmetry, or parity,

As compared to last week, when they didn't.

But what happened to the...

[bluemonq]

...chewing gum wrapper?! Everybody knows that MacGuyver would use a chewing gum wrapper!

The original hardware store experiment

[edwardpickman]

Isn't about time some one confirmed the cat, box and pistol experiment? Schrödinger Cat has been living on borrowed time long enough.

big deal

[Anonymous Coward]

I once used spaghetti, vaseline, plastic wrap, and an ovaltine jar to make a synthetic pussy. But you don't see me bragging about it.

Re:Changes over time?

[Opportunist]

You know, some experiments must be repeated 'til the result matches your expectation. But since neither music sales nor stem cells are involved... well, with a bit of squeezing we could press it into the "creation of the universe and all" corner.

Re:big deal

[Anonymous Coward]

Was the spaghetti to simulate your noodle?

Re:The original hardware store experiment

[SpottedKuh]

Schrödinger Cat has been living on borrowed time long enough.

Or has it?

MacGyver Physics According To Engineers...

[__aaclcg7560]

The real trick is to do it with duct tape and baling wire.

Re:But what happened to the...

[MillionthMonkey]

A chewing gum wrapper rotates the polarization of light that passes through it.

You can prove this with two polarizers at right angles if you crumple up a piece of chewing gum wrapper and stick it between them. When held up to a light source, only the light that goes through through the chewing gum wrapper makes it through the second polarizer- the rest is all dark. And since the rotation is frequency dependent, the chewing gum wrapper is glowing in multiple colors. Especially if you do a good job when you crumple it up. It would look great on TV.

Re:The original hardware store experiment

[arpy]

We appear to have Schrödingered their web server: We all went to look and now it's dead.

Re:Changes over time?

[Anonymous Coward]

MacGyver was a cool show, regardless of what you say about week-to-week continuity.

Oblig Simpsons Quote

[Hoi Polloi]

Patty & Selma: "Love me, love MacGyver."

Dear MacGyver-

[Vituperator]

Dear MacGyver-

Enclosed is a rubber band, a paper clip, and a drinking straw. Please save my dog.

Re:The original hardware store experiment

[Anonymous Coward]

Going by the smell, I observed that it died of starvation sometime last week.

Re:Dear MacGyver-

[revolu7ion]

Dear Vituperator,
Please find your dog attached. Don't thank me - thank the moon's gravitational pull.

Sincerely
MacGyver

Of course.

[FlyingSquidStudios]

I always knew it was MacGyver physics that made the Stargate work!

Macgyver: The college years!

[Spy der Mann]

Alright, I couldn't resist. SOMEBODY had to do it.

(warning: rated PG-13)

Episode 1 [youtube.com]

Episode 2 [youtube.com]

You know you're reading /.

[Opportunist]

...when something like this is modded "informative"...

Tells you something about the audience.

Re:Changes over time?

[Anonymous Coward]

Couldn't the author of the slashdot post have at leased used the cut and paste features of his computer?

Perhaps if the author had bought his cut-and-paste feature new rather than leasing a used one, it would've worked properly. I'm guessing the previous owner broke it.

Re:big deal

[Blighten]

I once used spaghetti, vaseline, plastic wrap, and an ovaltine jar to make a synthetic pussy. But you don't see me bragging about it.

Sounds like a strange way to run the Schrödinger cat experiment.... any interesting results?

Re:big deal

[StarfishOne]

".. any interesting results?"

All possible girlfriend wave functions collapsed instantly! :P

Re:The original hardware store experiment

[nih]

Do you have to have a soul to observe life or death?

considering that the 'soul' doesn't exist, then no

Person

[Mark_MF-WN]

They didn't destroy the work of a person, they destroyed the work of a graduate student. There's a difference.

Re:Doctor Who

[Tsagadai]

And don't forget the mullet.

The man said temporally-impaired!

Re:The Article (server /.'d)

[elgatozorbas]

"Without the Swiss Army Knife, we would've been hopeless," Lederman said. "That was our primary tool."

After which he developed the now famous Lederman tool. [leatherman.com]