A while back, I talked about a colloquium where Steven Boughn of Haverford argued that it’s practically impossible to detect a single graviton. It was a very nice talk, relying mostly on simple dimensional analysis arguments, and very basic physics.
Today, via Wolfgang Beirl (via Mixed States), I see that Boughn and Tony Rothman have a paper on the porn server about graviton detection. It’s got a bunch more math, but the conclusion is the same.
It’s a clever paper, and worth a look if you’re into this sort of thing.
Did you really just call it “the porn server”? (I like the new digs, btw.)
Did you really just call it “the porn server”?
Yeah. It’s “xxx.lanl.gov”– what else would you call it?
I remember hearing a few years back that they had had some problems with a couple of government labs blocking access to the site because of the URL. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it’s a good story.
“xxx.lanl.gov”
Bwahaha! I didn’t even notice that — I assumed it was because the content is “physics geek porn”.
Actually, it’s http://www.arxiv.org these days. It’s not even at lanl anymore.
You could also access it at xyz.lanl.gov to get around porn filters, as I remember it.
Actually, it’s http://www.arxiv.org these days. It’s not even at lanl anymore.
The lanl address still works, though– look at the link in the post.
I don’t know about government buildings, but WebSense (an annoying netnanny package used by lots of places, including my office, which for reasons I don’t understand also blocks LiveJournal) assumes it’s a Bad Site and threatens you with fierce punishment.
A colleague who needed a paper from it made a point of going there every day until the alarm count got high enough for someone to look at what he was doing. He reports that after a few weeks, it got magically unblocked. No one ever even bothered to inform him. (But then, he never informed anyone he needed that paper….)