10.12.07

The Hollywood Uncertainty Principle

So I had the tv on this weekend (usually to provide background noise) and happened to catch part of a movie called "A Sound of Thunder" which is based on a Bradbury story. One scene which particularly caught my attention was one character's response to being told that there is no room for error in the procedure they were setting up (something involving time travel).
His response (not verbatim):

"When I was a physics student we studied something called 'The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle' which states that there is no such thing as zero tolerance". Some more dialog followed along the lines of the inability to have sufficient information to detect all possible errors. I was ROFLing too hard at this point to pay much attention.

Hollywood science strikes again. If you want a more scientifically accurate explanation, stick with Samantha Carter on Stargate SG-1.

PS If you get this, you don't need any more explanation

Q: Why was Heisenberg's wife always frustrated?
A: Because when he had the time he didn't have the energy and when he had the position he didn't have the momentum

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