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from the comes-in-colors-everywhere dept.
In 2001, some physicists put their heads together and asked: “What is the color of the Universe?”
By this they meant what color would an observer see, “if they had the Universe in a box, and could see all the light at once.”
“And,” they added, as if that question was too simple, “it wasn't moving.” They added this bit because, because of the Doppler effect, stars that are receding from Earth are redshifted – i.e. they appear redder than if they weren’t moving, relative to us.
Even though, as New Scientist observed, the question might seem about as useful as “the ‘answer’ to life, the Universe and everything given in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - 42,” the astronomers knew the spectral analysis would help them trace the history of star formation. So they forged ahead with the calculations and, in January 2002, captured the public’s attention when they announced their result.
“In space no one can hear you scream, which is probably a good thing,” the Guardian wrote in their coverage, “as scientists have discovered that the universe is a shade of turquoise.”
The Guardian’s reporter might have been glib, but many others embraced the color. The real problem was, the universe isn’t turquoise. The scientists had gotten it wrong.
http://priceonomics.com/what-is-the-average-color-of-the-universe/
(Score: 3, Funny) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Thursday January 29 2015, @12:15PM
1. Find someone with synesthesia
2. Ask them what colour "42" is.
Job done.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday January 29 2015, @01:24PM
Easier: Grab the colour rectangle with xv, press the middle mouse button and read off the HSV values: 42, 9, 100
So you see, 42 is the hue of the universe. So the question of life, the universe and everything, to which the answer is 42, is:
What is the hue of the universe?
Damn, I just notice today is Thursday! And a hue of 42 at full saturation instead of just saturation 9 happens to be a shade of yellow very much like that commonly found on construction site equipment … and probably also on Vogon constructor fleet ships …
Also note the saturation of 9. What was again the question the caveman revealed? Right, what do you get if you multiply 6 by 9. Yes, exactly, nine. The saturation of the universe!
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday January 29 2015, @08:32PM
Of course they must have made a mistake, because it's obvious that the HSV values of the universe's colour must be (42,42,42).
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by KritonK on Monday February 02 2015, @08:58AM
I thought the question was "what do you get if you multiply six by nine?"
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday January 29 2015, @06:31PM
Turns out the color of the univers is bacon flavored. How interesting.