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Posted by fnands 12 hours ago

CERN levels up with new superconducting karts(home.cern)
361 points | 80 comments
NewLogic 5 hours ago|
Takes me back to the week we all thought room temperature super conductors might be a solved problem.
Bratmon 4 hours ago|
That served a useful purpose- it let you objectively identify how gullible everyone you know is.
chime 2 hours ago|||
There was more than enough skepticism and cautious optimism too. While it sounded too soon to be real, it wasn't unlike carbon nanotubes, graphene, or solid state batteries — previously unachievable material-tech getting validation in the lab, with a 20yr pipeline for global production. With even nuclear fusion being achieved in very specific / limited instances in the last decade, it's not inconceivable to hope that maybe RTSC are just around the corner.
fragmede 4 hours ago|||
It also served the purpose of finding out who the cynical Debbie Downers who have no hope are as well!
Bratmon 4 hours ago|||
If your hope for the future is based on believing the most obviously-impossible technological claim in the world, you're way more cynical than I am.
ppsreejith 4 hours ago|||
Why are room temperature superconductors an 'obviously-impossible' technological claim?

Asking since we've managed to increase superconductor temperature several times in the past, right? (to ~ -130 degrees celsius right now IIRC). Why is our current temperature of, say ~30 degrees celsius special?

idiotsecant 2 hours ago||||
Its not at all clear that room temperature superconductors are impossible, it's a materials problem. If someone was to find one that is probably how they would do it - testing materials for some other property and finding it accidentally.
ChrisClark 57 minutes ago|||
Oh god, wow. It's obviously impossible? Please please please write a paper on that, you can save so much scientist time!
Sharlin 4 hours ago|||
How?
earthnail 7 minutes ago||
Mario Idraulico says „mamma mia, they’re super”. Gosh I love April.
Akuehne 9 hours ago||
This got me. Thought it was real, busted out laughing when I read the project leads name. It still didn't click.
throw101010 9 hours ago||
Small clue here too, maybe more subtle:

> explained school director, Rosalina Pfirsich, looking up from her storybook

Pfirsich in German means Peach, as in Princess Peach :D

adrian_b 7 hours ago|||
Also "project leader Mario Idraulico" (i.e. "hydraulic" in Italian) or "Safety coordinator Luigi Fratello" ("Brother Luigi").
dasyatidprime 1 hour ago|||
The noun “idraulico” also means “plumber”.
TeMPOraL 4 hours ago|||
Also the schoolteacher Yoshi Kyouryuu which apparently is the dinosaur.
rmast 4 hours ago||||
They’ve also got:

> schoolteacher Yoshi Kyouryuu, mid-way through painting spots on eggs

darth_aardvark 3 hours ago||||
You somehow identified the last possible, most obscure clue. Mario, Luigi, Rosalina, and Yoshi show up before that.
hapidjus 8 hours ago|||
There is also ”project leader Mario Idraulico”
charltones 6 hours ago|||
Also the hat and mustache of the kart driver.
marricks 6 hours ago|||
Someone was saying "can we just not with April fools" this year because everything is so grim and dire in the world... but I think this is such a perfect level we need. I could go for more whimsy like this.
Pixelbrick 5 hours ago|||
I'd of said I had limited appetite for April fools gubbins this year too but this still made me smile :)
moron4hire 2 hours ago|||
This one was good. It was pretty low-stakes and not anything that would impact anyone. For a while there, companies like Google were announcing products that sounded like a good idea, but turned out were just them trolling everyone over things people had been requesting for a long time.
marricks 2 hours ago||
Their heyday of good jokes was also when they hadn't produced any ads and seemed like an underdog. "Don't Be Evil" days.

Vibe-wise they all feel closer to Raytheon and I sure as fuck wouldn't want to see an attempt at a whimsical joke from Raytheon.

shdudns 8 hours ago|||
Man I fell for it until I saw your post. In fact, I was just about to post what the man's name means in Italian.

I was even going to point out how ironic it is that the mans first name and last name fit together so well.

In my defense I only got as far as idraulico and missed the "Mamma mia, they're super!"

newsclues 7 hours ago|||
I read the title and thought CERN + Mario Kart and am giggling.
riffraff 8 hours ago|||
ah! got me too!
shevy-java 8 hours ago||
For me it was easier. While I forgot it was first april, the image was too outrageous. Looked like AI-generated slop.

They may have had more success with another image. AI slop made us lazy.

riffraff 8 hours ago||
IMO a made up "artist conception" picture on an article like this would have been perfectly appropriate, we've seen worse (think of the whole NEOM thingy).
PunchyHamster 10 hours ago||
We need followup post exactly 365 days later describing first karting accident inside CERN
tom-blk 10 hours ago|
Exactly
cern 10 hours ago||
CERN Research Facility, Geneva. Subject: Gordon Freeman, Male, Age 27
fnands 8 hours ago|
Gérard Hommelibre?

Bonjour, and bienvenue to the Black Mesa - pardon, la Mesa Noire - Établissement de Recherche. Please keep your hands inside le tramway at all times, and do try not to provoquer une cascade de résonance. Merci.

leoc 3 hours ago||
Tired: particle accelerator which crosses the border between France and Switzerland.

Wired: particle accelerator which crosses the border between Quebec and Ontario.

fragmede 3 hours ago||
Wireless: Quartks crossing between France and Ontario
ourmandave 8 hours ago||
I would pay stupid money for a CERN Tunnel Rainbow Road track DLC.
rmast 4 hours ago|
How about for a real life Rainbow Road made by the Quantum Mushroom startup? I think that might be the aerospace applications reference in the article:

> CERN’s Knowledge Transfer Group has begun discussions with European startup company Quantum Mushroom to explore aerospace applications and powering for next-generation anti-gravity vehicles.

pugworthy 3 hours ago||
I'd be cautious of residual Higgs Booson particles in the tunnels. They can cause unexpected phase shifts if encountered, which may expose the driver to unexpected hazards.
lapetitejort 2 hours ago|
The observer effect prevents Booson particles from traveling towards the observer
gnarlouse 12 hours ago||
Happy April Fools Day!
pjmlp 11 hours ago||
As Alumni, the tables outside R1 are prime for getting ideas, with some help from fermented barley, especially after work during Summertime.
fnands 12 hours ago|||
I always look forward to CERN's April fools jokes!
lloydatkinson 11 hours ago||
[flagged]
hidroto 9 hours ago|||
This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four.

-- Mark Twain, "Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar"

junon 10 hours ago||||
How dare people have fun.
ecshafer 5 hours ago||||
This is an old internet tradition. I am disappointed so few organizations are doing a good april fools day post nowadays.
MisterTea 8 hours ago|||
You must be a real hoot at parties.
stego-tech 7 hours ago||
Ah, the stages of a good April Fool's nerd joke:

1, Reading the Headline on HN) "Man, this is probably going to be something more practical, but I wish they were superconducting go-karts or golf-carts to get around the facility in."

2, Reading the article) "...okay, I was right? Kinda? Huh. Something feels off. Wait a-"

3, Remembering the Date) "FUCK. OK, CERN got me. Good one. Still want a superconducting kart though."

rbanffy 10 hours ago|
I really miss Think Geek :-(
jansan 10 hours ago||
When they later actually sold the t-shirt they had previously presented as an April Fools joke? That was pretty cool.
taneq 9 hours ago||
I still had a Timmy the Monkey sticker on the lid of my kitchen bin up until a couple of years ago.
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