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xkcd #3080: "Tennis Balls" (xkcd.com)
submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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After initial tests created a series of large holes in the wall of the lab, the higher-power Scanning Tunneling Tennis Ball Microscope project was quickly shut down.

https://explainxkcd.com/3080/

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[-] [email protected] 40 points 1 month ago

Wouldn't that be a macroscope?

[-] [email protected] 19 points 1 month ago

Heinsenberg principle : once you made one measure, the measured target may not be there anymore.

[-] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago

It's not even really uncertain, after a tennisball to the face, they'll definitely move

[-] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

I want to see someone build this so badly.

This guy did something in the same vein but tried to make a musical instrument instead: https://youtu.be/yFIxf2gTg_k

[-] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

Based on the positions of the "bonk"s and "ow"s, I posit that the target is a sentient floating torus.

[-] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

Qualified "explain" link for mobile users: https://explainxkcd.com/3080

[-] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

Fair point, have edited.

this post was submitted on 24 Apr 2025
264 points (98.9% liked)

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