this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2025
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Science Memes

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top 29 comments
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[–] y8h8do3a2vg5@lemmy.world 0 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

It is not a square cylinder.

A triangular cylinder is right out.

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 0 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

Square cylinders are just cubes. Triangle cylinders are triangular prisms.

I don't see the problem, really. What other shape would a penguin come in?

[–] notabot@piefed.social 0 points 2 weeks ago

What other shape would a penguin come in?

They're typically roughly cuboid, though best approximated with rounded corners, and wrapped in a layer of plastic.

I might need a snack.

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[–] don@lemmy.ca 0 points 2 weeks ago

What other shape would a penguin come in?

An oloid, the only shape nature has ever intending them to be in.

[–] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 0 points 2 weeks ago

But what shall I do once a circular cylinder has been assumed? A cylinder whose cross section takes the shape of a circle?

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 0 points 2 weeks ago

Sorry but even after doing that it is still clear we need more tariffs on the penguins whether we assume they are cylinders or not.

[–] bazus1@lemmy.world 0 points 2 weeks ago

Therefore the density of penguin flesh on a flat glacier surface can be estimated to be 3pi/4 l x w x h where length and width are the area of the penguins, and h is the average height of the penguin.

[–] toofpic@lemmy.world 0 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Not sure if it's popular internationally, but in Russian, "a calculation for a spherical horse in vacuum" is used quite often

[–] beveradb@sh.itjust.works 0 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] toofpic@lemmy.world 0 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

It's when you make some calculations or plans, but they would only work in "perfect" conditions. Like when you have an assignment about a horse running from A to B, and you made some calculations, but you disregard horse's shape, friction, air resistance, and gravity

[–] beveradb@sh.itjust.works 0 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Oh cool, thanks for explaining! I guess the closest equivalent phrasing I'm used to would be "sounds good on paper" - or in Scotland (home for me) someone would probably reply with "Aye, and if my granny had wheels she’d be a bike.” 😂

[–] alzymologist@sopuli.xyz 0 points 2 weeks ago

Nah, that's more like russian "if grandmother had balls, she'd be grandfather"

[–] Engywuck@lemmy.zip 0 points 2 weeks ago

And the horse

[–] wewbull@feddit.uk 0 points 2 weeks ago

Spherical cows is the one I always hear.

[–] omgboom@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Accelerate the penguin to 99% the speed of light

[–] FilthyShrooms@lemmy.world 0 points 2 weeks ago

Assume no air resistance

[–] CubitOom@infosec.pub 0 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

It is imperative that the cylinder not be harmed.

[–] sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 2 weeks ago

... the cylinder knows where it is, because it knows where it isn't: where it was, and where it likely will be.

[–] Raptorox@sh.itjust.works 0 points 2 weeks ago

It's a cylinder

[–] kubica@fedia.io 0 points 2 weeks ago

Ok, but let me see the the source code of the cylinder.

[–] whotookkarl@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 2 weeks ago

From the patent for pneumatic tubes delivery systems

[–] khannie@lemmy.world 0 points 2 weeks ago

Now assume pi is 4. Proceed to have a nervous breakdown.

20 points.

[–] als@lemmy.blahaj.zone 0 points 2 weeks ago

My guess is that this is to do with penguin huddling and circle packing

[–] sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

...

...

...

In conclusion, the physical properties of penguins constitute a suboptimal replacement for graphite moderation of neutron propogation in a nuclear reactor.

Further, tested penguins were largely non responsive to all different training approaches attempting to have them associate the verbal command "Scram!" with the desired behavior of promptly entering the reactor pool.

[–] tomiant@programming.dev 0 points 2 weeks ago

The only thing missing is a period.

[–] Gustephan@lemmy.world 0 points 2 weeks ago

(...) of uniform density in a neutral vacuum.

...In a vacuum.

[–] Dr_Nik@lemmy.world 0 points 2 weeks ago

...of bird like material which can be represented by a mass average of bone and flesh. This can be used in bird strike simulations for studying aircraft windshield performance as compared to thawed penguins shot out of a pneumatic canon. (I actually went to a talk that discussed exactly this except you replace "penguin" with "bird" in general).