“Then the writing became so fluid that I sometimes felt as if I were writing for the sheer pleasure of telling a story, which may be the human condition that most resembles levitation.”
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
May 23 2021 — Thanks God, It is Sunday. Like everyone, a physicist may feel lonely sometimes. But his princess is never far away. And he knows better than most how to give her a great time and send her to heaven. Follow us on Twitter: @Intel_Today
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The events depicted in this story are fictitious. Any similarity to any person and frog, living or dead, is merely coincidental.
The Physicist and the Princess Frog
A physicist was crossing a road after a long night in the Nuclear Physics Laboratory of the University of Washington in Seattle when a frog called out to him and said:
‘If you kiss me, I’ll turn into a beautiful Princess.’
The young scientist picked up the frog and put it in his pocket.
The frog said:‘Hey, if you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful Princess, I’ll love you forever.’
The physicist took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at her, and put it back in his pocket.
The frog yelled:‘If you kiss me and turn me back into a Princess, I’ll clean your house, I will cook for you, and I will love you forever.’
The physicist took the frog out, smiled at it, and put it back.
Finally the frog asked:‘What is it? I’ve told you I’m a beautiful Princess. I’ll cook and clean for you and love you forever. I will do anything you want. Why won’t you kiss me?’
The physicist said:
‘Look, I’m a nuclear physicist. I don’t have time for girlfriends, but a talking frog is really cool.’
I guess this joke is not that funny… if you are not a physicist. Did I ever tell you about my first visit to the California Institute of Technology?
I was there to give a talk about nuclear astrophysics: The alpha + 12C reaction rate and the evolution of Red Giant (Betelgeuse). The story of my encounter with a gorgeous young female student is way worse than this joke. That will be for an other Sunday…
By now, some people may wonder if physicists can really make a frog levitate. Yes, we can! Even physicists need a bit of fun on Friday night…
By the way… Not every frog is a princess. The golden frog is endemic to humid forests of the Pacific coast of Colombia. Her skin is densely coated in an alkaloid toxin. This poison prevents its victim’s nerves from transmitting impulses, leaving the muscles in an inactive state of contraction, which can lead to heart failure or fibrillation. One gram is enough to kill more than 100,000 humans. So, don’t fool around with this one!
“In my experience, if people don’t have a sense of humor, they are usually not very good scientists either.”
Andre Geim — 2010 Nobel Prize in physics
Diamagnetism: How to Levitate a Frog
“Friday Night Experiments”
REFERENCES
The Deliberate Amateur — How outlandish experimentation and “grazing shallow” led to a Nobel Prize win. — Slate
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Sunday Jokes — The Physicist and the Princess Frog
Intel Today 