S10E22 "They Saved Lisa's Brain"

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[–] 40 points 2 years ago (4 children)

For those curious, the donut shaped universe shown isn't what the theoretical universe model actually looks like,

What it represents is an "asteroids like" geometry of a two dimensional universe where exiting one "side" brings you to a corresponding point on the other.

The proposed donut geometry of the universe is what's called a 3-roid or 3-tauroid, which is basically the same idea as the asteroids like 2D universe but for a prism instead of a rectangle. Meaning that our ability to return to the starting point is based on the fact that we are moving along a 3-D "surface" of a 4th dimensional object, the way the Asteroids ship loops back to the start by moving across the 2-dimensional surface of a 3-D geometry.

Part of me wonders if this means that the actual boundaries of the universe are at 0+ and 0- along the W/A axis in 4-D space, and if that means that every character who has some power related to moving in 4-D space would actually just fall out of space and time if they ever tried using their abilities for real.

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  • [–] 23 points 2 years ago (2 children)
  • [–] 17 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    This but the donut is 4d so that 3d things can move around on it (I think...)

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  • [–] -5 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I asked ChatGPT to explain it to me and it came up with this:

    This description is discussing a theoretical concept where the universe is shaped like a donut, known as a "3-roid" or "3-tauroid". In this model, moving through the universe is akin to navigating a 3D surface of a 4D object, similar to how a spaceship in a 2D video game wraps around when reaching the edge of the screen. The suggestion of characters with 4D movement abilities falling out of space and time is a speculative idea based on this theoretical framework.

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    I think they covered what happens when you get to one side of the universe and keep going in a different episode

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago

    Fun fact: 1782¹² + 1841¹² = 1922¹² is an incorrect equation, per Fermat's last theorem.

    They put that equation there because some of the writers of the episode have a mathematical background, and they knew it was wrong, but the error is so relatively small that if someone writes that in a normal calculator they'll get the equality. So basically an easter egg for someone that knows about Fermat's last theorem.

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