h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Three in six months. In the words of OMC, How Bizarre.

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=d83cf5c8-437d-4586-8289-a763ee0b5738&k=58864

I grew up by there!

You'd think three people with, well, pronounced limps would be noticed....


poor taste, I know..


Yeah, it's macabre, all right

I bet their owners are hopping mad.

should be easy enough, just look for three people that are suddenly a foot shorter.

"Although it is somewhat common to find individual body parts,"
It is? Are they sure? It's not something I'd consider 'somewhat common'. Very odd though. I wonder if we'll ever hear the conclusion or if this is going to be one of those stories which is never followed up in the press.

Is it at all possible that some med student is tossing spare parts from lab as a prank?

(hopping mad you should be ashamed )

'adipocere' also known as 'grave wax'. commonly occurring to those who lose their lives falling into glacial crevasses.


grim Jimmy Hoffa humour aside, for a moment, the article seems to be leaning toward bodies dismembered by the elements rather than human action.

What are the chances that only the right feet would be found?

(1 in 8?)

Nah. 1 in 4. The possibilities are:
- 3 Right
- 3 Left
- 2 Right, 1 Left
- 2 Left, 1 Right.

but aren't the possibilities:

RRR
RRL
RLR
LRR
RLL
LRL
LLR
LLL


?

Ah...here's where it gets all counter-intuitive. It depends on whether you're taking bets on:
a) the sequence in which three feet will be washed up. RRR is one amongst eight possibilities.
b) the possibility of a given set of three feet all being right.

Think of it this way:

When the first foot turns up...what's the probability that it's either left or right? 1.0
Second one turns up...what's the probability it's the same as the first one?
Third one...etc.

The big question is whether the surprise factor is in all the feet being the same (left or right), not in their being right feet. If a dead Arctic Tern is found on the beach, we don't consider the ods of it's having been precisely that species amongst all the possible types of bird.

in other words the 4 choices are:

RRR
LLL

then any of
RRL
RLR
LRR

and then any of
RLL
LRL
LLR

since those two groups both represent essentially the same thing - either 2 right and 1 left or 2 left and 1 right - if we are not bothered about order.

or better put-
all left
all right
2 left 1 right
1 left 2 right

are the only choices if we ignore order.

actually, if I understand correctly, if we are concerned about 3 specifically right feet washing up, the chances remain 1 in 8. If we are concerned about three feet of identical orientation washing up, then it is 1 in 4, no?

With odds that low (any of them), expect left feet to be washing up on shore all over the place!

The latest theory is that the body decomposes or is eaten, the foot and ankle are protected by the socks and shoe and the running shoe causes the foot to float (upside down). In 1990 a shoe *spill* inadvertently helped map ocean currents:

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF10/1099.html

And since thousands of Nike shoes were found, there is even a possibility that one of the three has made the trip twice! The first two were Adidas and Nike, no word so far on the third.

btw, the Atlantic has Lego!

http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/LEGO-Floating-Flotsam.htm

I just hope an assembled left foot made out of Lego doesn't wash ashore at Brighton.

http://thederringdos.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/ego-leonard.JPG

I believe there's an area of the North Pacific, the size of Wales or Belgium or Baffin Island or somewhere where all the polythene bags end up. Having grown near a beach on which metre-high drifts of condoms and sanitary protection lined the high water mark, I can well believe it.

I believe there's an area of the North Pacific, the size of Wales or Belgium or Baffin Island or somewhere, where all the polythene bags end up. Having grown up near a beach on which metre-high drifts of condoms and sanitary protection lined the high water mark, I can well believe it.

Say something once, why say it again...

Twice the size of the US?

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/the-worlds-rubbish-dump-a-garbage-tip-that-stretches-from-hawaii-to-japan-778016.html

Jaysus! That's a lot of Baffin Islands.

Wait a minute...

*metre-high drifts of condoms and sanitary protection*

Where was THAT!!??

You've put me right off my visits to the beach!

Actually I have a somewhat related story. For various reasons several years ago my employer needed high-quality footage of the sun rising over the city and then setting. This involved several trips to the beach at very early hours to determine the exact point the sun would rise. The beach is this one:

http://www.aphoenix.ca/photoblog/photos/FromTheSpanishBanks.jpg

Anyway, the first early morning outing was with a small crew but the next two I was all by my lonesome. I guess the noise of the crew kept people at bay (pun intended) the first time but the next two times I not only literally tripped over a couple quietly bumping uglys in the cold sand but then was nearly bowled over by a someone picking up empty bottles. Both events in total darkness! I wasn't using a flashlight in order to better my night vision, but those three? By the time the sun was lighting the sky I was completely alone on the beach. The next time I used a flashlight.

>>*metre-high drifts of condoms and sanitary protection*

>>Where was THAT!!??

Here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2005/07/05/art_antony_gormley_feature.shtml