11 July 2017 - 13 1/3 light bulbs
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The other day I read about a space probe which used so little power
that it was equivalent to two 100 watt light bulbs. Hmm, the two
“100 watt equivalent” bulbs in my bathroom are LEDs and together draw
30 watts, so that is pretty frugal. But wait, did they mean to write
13 1/3 bulbs of 15 watts each? This is so confusing!
clue:
The light bulb analogy is supposed to help ground people’s thinking
with a familiar comparison. The custom is so deeply engrained that
popular science writers don’t appear to have noticed that the analogy
broke down long ago. In a hundred years or so there will be a
revolution in science writing and they’ll change it to “2% as much
as a 10 kilowatt hair dryer.”
take oh take this clue away
copyright 2017, 2024 Jay J.P. Scott
<jay@satirist.org>