RobotToaster@mander.xyz to Today I Learned@lemmy.worldEnglish · 2 months agoTIL that Indiana’s House of Representatives once unanimously passed a bill to make Pi exactly 3.2www.scientificamerican.comexternal-linkmessage-square61linkfedilinkarrow-up11arrow-down10
arrow-up11arrow-down1external-linkTIL that Indiana’s House of Representatives once unanimously passed a bill to make Pi exactly 3.2www.scientificamerican.comRobotToaster@mander.xyz to Today I Learned@lemmy.worldEnglish · 2 months agomessage-square61linkfedilink
minus-squareMolochHorridus@piefed.sociallinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up0·2 months agoThis kind of anti-scientific bullshit could only happen in the U.S.A.
minus-squareGhostalmedia@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up0·2 months agoIt was the late 1800’s. Dumb shit wasn’t in short supply in the world. Problem is, I could also see Trump’s WWE education secretary pushing for this in 2026.
minus-squareMarthirial@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up0·2 months agoThe fact that it is 100% plausible today is the worrying part.
minus-squareZos_Kia@jlai.lulinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up0·2 months agoHonestly in terms of late 1800s engineering, pi = 3.2 is accurate within 2% it’s not that scandalous
minus-squareorlyowl@piefed.calinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up0·2 months agoYes I was fully expecting the details to be “It was a Republican-sponsored bill in 1992” or similar. It’s just too damn believable.
minus-squareZoteTheMighty@lemmy.ziplinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up0·2 months agoUnironically, NIST basically did this with Planck’s constant and the speed of light.
minus-squarenialv7@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up0·2 months agoyou can’t do that to pi because it’s dimensionless
minus-squareCosmicTurtle0 [he/him]@lemmy.dbzer0.comlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up0·2 months agoI sort of get NIST doing something like this. I think even NASA rounds pi to 8 digits since that gets them within a diameter of a hydrogen atom. The purpose of NIST is not necessarily accuracy but consistency.
This kind of anti-scientific bullshit could only happen in the U.S.A.
It was the late 1800’s. Dumb shit wasn’t in short supply in the world.
Problem is, I could also see Trump’s WWE education secretary pushing for this in 2026.
The fact that it is 100% plausible today is the worrying part.
Honestly in terms of late 1800s engineering, pi = 3.2 is accurate within 2% it’s not that scandalous
Yes I was fully expecting the details to be “It was a Republican-sponsored bill in 1992” or similar. It’s just too damn believable.
Unironically, NIST basically did this with Planck’s constant and the speed of light.
you can’t do that to pi because it’s dimensionless
I sort of get NIST doing something like this. I think even NASA rounds pi to 8 digits since that gets them within a diameter of a hydrogen atom.
The purpose of NIST is not necessarily accuracy but consistency.