The Roundest Thing In The World

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2008-07-03 06:42pm

If you had a million bucks, what would you buy? A new sports car? Celebrity memorabilia? A Playstation 3 with one game?

No. What you really want to buy, is one of these.

When asked by the Pope to demonstrate his artistic skill, 14th century Italian painter Giotto di Bondone supposedly drew a perfect circle freehand and said: "That's more than enough." Now, an international group of engineers and craftsmen has gone him one better and built a pair of nearly perfect spheres that are thought to be the roundest objects in the world.

They're so... round.

Companion Cube · Post by **Companion Cube** » 2008-07-03 07:13pm

Jesus, think of the possibilities. With these corner-less objects, there's no limit to the sports we can invent!

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2008-07-03 07:23pm

It seems somehow fitting you, of all people, should respond first.

Molyneux · Post by **Molyneux** » 2008-07-03 07:49pm

That is actually pretty damn cool.

I can see some Batman-ish villain just randomly stealing one for the hell of it, though. Imagine the thrill of owning one of them.

Singular Intellect · Post by **Singular Intellect** » 2008-07-03 08:38pm

I have a pair of balls, thanks.

But for all you guys out there insisting they could use this pair, I won't stand in your way. Snicker behind you, perhaps...

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2008-07-03 11:59pm

Is it too soon to say that it's almost as perfectly round as Tim Russert's head?

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2008-07-04 02:40am

Admiral Valdemar wrote:It seems somehow fitting you, of all people, should respond first.

Oh yes. Sweet irony

Napoleon the Clown · Post by **Napoleon the Clown** » 2008-07-04 05:23am

Just don't drop yours, lest you make it somewhat less round.

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2008-07-04 05:40am

Napoleon the Clown wrote:Just don't drop yours, lest you make it somewhat less round.

Don't touch, spin or keep them in a gravity well, either. Some atoms might shift!

salm · Post by **salm** » 2008-07-04 07:02am

Ah, they´ll make good 360 HDRI images.

Vanas · Post by **Vanas** » 2008-07-04 02:00pm

If you look closely, you can see a pair of burning hands lost in the depths.

Personally speaking, they're round enough to hurt my head thinking how spherical they are. That's round. But it's not perfect. Get some lasers to ping of individual atoms or something to make it perfect, damnit.

Darth Raptor · Post by **Darth Raptor** » 2008-07-04 11:40pm

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi wrote:Is it too soon to say that it's almost as perfectly round as Tim Russert's head?

More like too late.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2008-07-05 01:04am

I keep expecting to see the Eye of Sauron inside.

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » 2008-07-05 01:24pm

Rou rou rou...ground, that's it, ground! I...wonder if it'll be friends with me.

*SPLOT*

The Vortex Empire · Post by **The Vortex Empire** » 2008-07-05 01:25pm

Holy crap, it's a Palantir. Nobody look into it or you'll get corrupted and aid in Saurons plans!

Post by **Kuja** » 2008-07-05 03:23pm

MY GOD, I CAN SEE FOREVER!

Post by **Surlethe** » 2008-07-05 03:46pm

Vanas wrote:Personally speaking, they're round enough to hurt my head thinking how spherical they are. That's round. But it's not perfect. Get some lasers to ping of individual atoms or something to make it perfect, damnit.

When you're working with individual atoms, you can't deal in roundness, which is a continuous concept. The best you can hope for is to, say, keep the average radius within certain tolerances, which is what they've done.

DesertFly · Post by **DesertFly** » 2008-07-05 05:08pm

I guess I'll be the one to say it, but it looked an awful lot like a giant dildo for a couple of steps of the creation process.

KlavoHunter · Post by **KlavoHunter** » 2008-07-06 03:01am

Suddenly, this joke seems entirely appropriate to commemorate such perfect metal spheres...

Satan catches a German, a Russian and a Polack. He rounds them up, puts each of them in separate steel boxes, 6x6x6 feet wide. Next, he gives them two steel ball bearings and tells them: "Guys, I'm pretty fucking bored. Do something entertaining with those marbles and I'll let you go".

He returns after a couple of minutes and goes to the German, who has managed to balance the ball bearings on top of each other.

"Meh, I've seen better, but I'm in a good mood, so you're free to go", he tells the German.

Next, he goes to the Russian, who's levitating the ball bearings using psychic powers.

"Damn, that's pretty fucking impressive. Alright, you're free to go!", he tells him.

Finally he goes to the Polack, get all wide-eyed and asks "Where the fuck are your ball bearings?"

The Polack goes "I lost one and broke the other ".