Planetary alignment will cause gravitational fluctuation on January 4th

[Guffe]

I just hope that the people who thought that a certain software update turned their certain brand phones water resistant are not reading this certain tweet... or well have alot of flat dead people that day

Wait what ???
You can't be serious on that one...??

Yeah that sounds like a load of crap. Not only do I believe such a thing is probably impossible, if it did happen it would be disastrous even if it was very brief.

BUT I WANT THE TITANS TO RELEASEEEE!!!!!

 

[Thaluikhain]

It's fake? Awww. I was all set to call my mother and tell her that I'd finally lost weight.

You can do that when going down in a lift, though, or otherwise moving in direction of gravity.

I just hope that the people who thought that a certain software update turned their certain brand phones water resistant are not reading this certain tweet... or well have alot of flat dead people that day

Wait what ???
You can't be serious on that one...??

There was also the one about being able to recharge your mobile phone by sticking it in a microwave.

Though, a phone being water proof (not through an app) doesn't sound outlandish.

 

[Guffe]

Though, a phone being water proof (not through an app) doesn't sound outlandish.

Water proof phones are a thing of course, but via an app xD
Would love to see the one trying that one out

 

[FirstNameLastName]

Even just reading that for the first time i thought i sort of sounded like NASA having some fun at the expense of the less knowledgeable again. I'm not sure why, just something about it seemed to scream Dihydrogen Monoxide!

 

[Maze1125]

But qualitative analysis isn't an explicit solution.

That not relevant, a solution is a solution.

Lets say that I need to show that x is less than c.
If I can show that x is less than or equal to s (where s is the maximum possible value of x) and that s is less than c then I have solved the problem without ever even needing to find the exact value of x.

The question of whether or not it's an "explicit" solution is meaningless, the problem has been solved.

When you're talking about explicitly solving a system of differential equations, that means more than just extracting the needed information for a particular application. Certainly not knocking on that approach: with most equations that's all you'll ever have to go on. Equations that can be fully solved are the exception, not the rule. Solving the problem of determining whether an object can levitate due to the combined gravitational forces of all objects in the solar system is possible by qualitative analysis, but it's not a solution to the system of equations.

An "explicit" solution to a differential equation, or a system of equations, is one that results in the equation no longer being differential, ie, you've eliminated all of the derivatives and integrals and have a function that directly relates the dependent variable to the independent variable(s). So the solution to the system of differential equations where the position x of an object at any time t is given directly by some function of the position of the Sun and planets is what an "explicit solution" would mean here, and it is such a solution that is impossible with n-body problems.

I know what an explicit solution to a differential equation is, thank you.
The point is that its irrelevant. The N-body problem cannot, for the vast majority of situations, be solved explicit nor implicitly. So the distinction is meaningless.

Regardless, the problem we're talking about can be solved without differential equations at all, so why do you keep referring to them? The most elegant solution to a problem uses as few steps as possible to solve it.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Even just reading that for the first time i thought i sort of sounded like NASA having some fun at the expense of the less knowledgeable again. I'm not sure why, just something about it seemed to scream Dihydrogen Monoxide!

It annoys me that people always tend to specify Dihydrogen Monoxide when doing stuff like that. If you just say "Dangerous hydrogen oxide", that actually could be a problem. H2O2 is sorta nasty.

 

[renegade7]

Regardless, the problem we're talking about can be solved without differential equations at all, so why do you keep referring to them? The most elegant solution to a problem uses as few steps as possible to solve it.

Mostly just to give one more reason to point out that it's not the sort of prediction a real astrophysicist would claim to have made. I wanted to show that it would be "Not even wrong" in addition to being just plain wrong, as in a fundamental misunderstanding compared to an error in calculation. It probably was unnecessary now that you mention it.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

In related news, on January 4th there will also be random fluctuations in meteorological activity and marital laws; expect to see cats and dogs in bed together, as well as a rain of men.

Can we hope for mass hysteria and the rampant use of Bill Murray quotes?

 

[Thaluikhain]

In related news, on January 4th there will also be random fluctuations in meteorological activity and marital laws; expect to see cats and dogs in bed together, as well as a rain of men.

So in other words it'd be the Gay-Furry-Pocalypse

I'll take my Cannibal-Mutant-Nymphomaniac-Apocalypse thank you very much.

...

Yeah, sticking "cannibal" and "nymphomaniac" together sounds really bad, with or without "mutant". Gay furry, OTOH...that doesn't sound scary at all.