Spaghettification

by Paul Waring

Wednesday 29th March 2017 9:13 am

space travel can bend you out of shape

so wandering too close to black

holes would be a big mistake

and if you fall in feet first

tidal forces and

gravitational

gradients

will

make

elasticity

your

plasticity

and

stretch

you

vertically

and

compress

you

horizontally

until

you

resemble

spaghetti

Comments

Paul Waring

Wed 5th Apr 2017 15:15

Thank you Col, great praise, much appreciated. And you (and AGFOAK) are absolutely right about the noodle effect.

I'm so pleased you came back for a second helping but hope you've still got..wait for it...space for dessert. Sorry, couldn't resist ?

Paul

<Deleted User> (13762)

Tue 4th Apr 2017 20:43

I loved this when I first read it and had to come back for another helping. According to the Almighty Google Font of All Knowledge 'spaghettification' is sometimes referred to as the noodle effect. Add to that Suki's 'respaghettify' and what more could we ask for? Terrific. Col.

Paul Waring

Sat 1st Apr 2017 12:15

Thanks to each and every one of you for your lovely comments.

I'm afraid I'm no physicist so don't ask me any Hawking-level questions ?. If I thought about this stuff too long I would have (like Neil in 'The Young Ones') a "negative reality inversion" ?

David, I heard that aliens prefer mashed potato (Smash) and chocolate bars like Milky Way, Mars Bar or Galaxy.

Thanks to you all, you lovely people.

Paul

edit: elP, sorry almost forgot to say how much I ached with laughter at the Patton Oswalt link. I've since watched several other of his YouTube clips which are equally funny. Thank you very much.

elPintor

Thu 30th Mar 2017 23:36

You know, I just had the funny idea from Suki's comment that maybe our universe is in the midst of re-expanding from just such an occurrence of 'falling in'?

I'm almost sure any astrophysicist would say that's a daft idea, but, that's the beauty of fiction and poetic license--we don't have to write the thesis or make the calculations.

elP

I hope you find the following clip as funny as I do..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTaylAABdZk

**warning--adult language ;)

Stu Buck

Thu 30th Mar 2017 17:21

excellent piece of concrete poetry paul. very much enjoyed, using words and space and shapes all in conjunction is a mean talent.

suki spangles

Wed 29th Mar 2017 10:56

Hi Paul,

Any poem about space travel is good by me - especially when "spaghettification" is mentioned in there somewhere.

But there is the question: once we fall out the other side of the black hole do we "respaghettify" back into our lovely human selves?

Also, I have heard another view posited: black holes are cosmic mirrors that we can fall into and then fall back out from again.

If you ever try that let us know!

Suki

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Spaghettification

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