80Views9Replies
Finding googols without a search engine!
It is not often that you encounter a googol as a "measured" (or inferred) quantity referring to something physical.
A preprint out today on arXiv:astro-ph presents a calculation of the total entropy of the observable Universe (in units of Boltzmann's constant, k), coming up with a result Sobs = 3 × 10104k. The dominant contribution is from supermassive galactic black holes, for which the entropy is proportional to their surface area, which in turn scales like the mass squared.
Discussions
10 years ago
Do you mean Googol?
For the internet company, see Google
I once saw an article published online being admonished in a comment, for hyperbolically claiming there were "uncountable googols" of snowflakes in existence. As the commenter pointed out, even if you are charitable and ignore the fact that "uncountable" technically means "more infinite than vanilla infinity", invoking googols for physical objects on earth is disproportionate.
Every time I typed "googol" in this article I typed "google" first and then had to correct myself...
Reply 10 years ago
And there I thought it was an intentional pun...
Reply 10 years ago
:-/ It was, but more on the part of Sergei Brin and Larry Page, ten years ago. Mine was just a pop-culture mistake :-(
Reply 10 years ago
Well hey, the only true fail is the one that goes unrecognized by the failer, right?
Reply 10 years ago
Oh, that's embarrassing. I'll fix it.
10 years ago
Hi, Kelsey. That's intriguing! ~~I have a question, though - I'm sure I'm being a dolt, but what units is this measuring? I didn't even know there was a unit to measure~~ I JSFIed it and am now even more perplexed by the wikipedia article on it (but do now know the SI unit for measuring entropy!).
Reply 10 years ago
Is JSFI the bowdlerised JFGI?
Reply 10 years ago
Yes, an alternative site (it's a bit more polite). Currently undergoing renovation, though...
Reply 10 years ago
/me didn't understand her entire comment at all. Decides he's just not cut out for professional engineering. Makes millions as an actor/director/producer instead.