What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

Description

Randall Munroe left NASA in 2005 to start up his hugely popular site XKCD 'a web comic of romance, sarcasm, math and language' which offers a witty take on the world of science and geeks. It now has 600,000 to a million page hits daily. Every now and then, Munroe would get emails asking him to arbitrate a science debate. 'My friend and I were arguing about what would happen if a bullet got struck by lightning, and we agreed that you should resolve it . . . ' He liked these questions so much that he started up What If. If your cells suddenly lost the power to divide, how long would you survive? How dangerous is it, really, to be in a swimming pool in a thunderstorm? If we hooked turbines to people exercising in gyms, how much power could we produce? What if everyone only had one soulmate? When (if ever) did the sun go down on the British empire? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? What would happen if the moon went away? In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, studded with memorable cartoons and infographics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion. Far more than a book for geeks, WHAT IF: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions explains the laws of science in operation in a way that every intelligent reader will enjoy and feel much the smarter for having read. Cover Title Contents Disclaimer Introduction Global Windstorm Relativistic Baseball Spent Fuel Pool Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #1 New York-Style Time Machine Soul Mates Laser Pointer Periodic Wall of the Elements Everybody Jump A Mole of Moles Hair Dryer Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #2 The Last Human Light Machine-Gun Jetpack Rising Steadily Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #3 Orbital Submarine Short-Answer Section Lightning Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #4 Human Computer Little Planet Steak Drop Hockey Puck Common Cold Glass Half Empty Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #5 Alien Astronomers NoMoreDNA Interplanetary Cessna Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #6 Yoda Flyover States Falling with Helium Everybody Out Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #7 Self-Fertilization High Throw Lethal Neutrinos Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #8 Speed Bump Lost Immortals Orbital Speed FedEx Bandwidth Free Fall Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #9 Sparta Drain the Oceans Drain the Oceans: Part II Twitter Lego Bridge Longest Sunset Random Sneeze Call Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #10 Expanding Earth Weightless Arrow Sunless Earth Updating a Printed Wikipedia Facebook of the Dead Sunset on the British Empire Stirring Tea All the Lightning Loneliest Human Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #11 Raindrop SAT Guessing Neutron Bullet Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox, #12 Richter 15 Acknowledgments References Colophon