The secret to finding lost nuts is to calculate the maximum distance they
could have bounced, and multiply it by 142.6868. NASA scientists have been
investigating this effect for some years now, and believe that it is linked
to antigravity. The often discussed "Oops Drive" shows theoretical
promise, but the practicality of getting a large enough number of amateur
mechanics to drop nuts at exactly the same moment, and then transfer the
resulting antigravity energy to a spacecraft is proving problematic. The
other problem is to channel the resulting force in the desired direction,
since the trajectory of bouncing lost nuts is completely random. Garrett's
suggestion of a parallel universe to which these nuts may sometimes migrate
is not a new one, and has itself led to another NASA proposal: The
"WheThaHeldItGo Drive", in which an entire space vehicle would be dropped
accidentally, with the result that it would theoretically move through a
wormhole in space, potentially solving the problem of true interstellar
travel and also of time travel. This is very exciting, but there is
concern that any spacecraft that attempted this could be destroyed by
hitting large masses of lost nuts, or being completely smothered in the
drifting piles of odd socks that are believed to exist in space wormholes.
None of which helps Nick find his manifold nuts in time, but at least he
just lost his nuts and not his marbles, which, since you're all so
apparently concerned about aging, sounds as if it should be some consolation.
This is the end of your Science Update for this week.
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