Jody Gaines
Phys 212, F07
4/16/14
Website Project
The impact of "Futurama" has spurred
popular memes and catchphrases.
In the “Futurama” movie, “Bender’s Big Score”, Professor Farnsworth sees the following equation on a blackboard:
E=9.87sin(2B)-7.53cos(B)-1.5sin(B)
He says that this
equation explains paradox-free time travel. Ironically
Farnsworth finds it unsolvable. The Harlem Globetrotters
take a look at the problem and tell Farnsworth to “use variation of
parameters and expand the Wronskian.” The equation, however,
comes with a caveat: paradox-free time travel can bend the
fabric of time and space [1].
Viewers don’t really care what equation explains
paradox-free time travel. Sure, paradox-free time travel
would be nice to use, but we don’t expect it to be
represented as a trigonometric equation. Futurama is allowed
to have the freedom of doubt. It doesn’t matter why dark
matter can be used as a source of energy, as long as it
sounds like a reasonable material to use as ship fuel.
The genre of “Futurama” is science fiction. Its concepts should be taken with a grain of salt. Every now and then “Futurama” will meet with critical success in the academic field (Keeler’s Theorem), so the show has its moments of inspiration. Overall the show is made for entertainment purposes, which means it’s very popular with the younger demographic. With that being said, “Futurama” is hilarious, and a great show in general. I recommend that you, the person who is reading this website, watch this show for its entertainment purposes. I give the show an A+.