RobotToaster@mander.xyz to Today I Learned@lemmy.worldEnglish · 2 days agoTIL that Indiana’s House of Representatives once unanimously passed a bill to make Pi exactly 3.2www.scientificamerican.comexternal-linkmessage-square67fedilinkarrow-up1447arrow-down15
arrow-up1442arrow-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 days agomessage-square67fedilink
minus-squareMolochHorridus@piefed.sociallinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up87arrow-down6·2 days agoThis kind of anti-scientific bullshit could only happen in the U.S.A.
minus-squareGhostalmedia@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up54arrow-down1·2 days 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-squareZos_Kia@jlai.lulinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up2·1 day agoHonestly in terms of late 1800s engineering, pi = 3.2 is accurate within 2% it’s not that scandalous
minus-squareMarthirial@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up16·2 days agoThe fact that it is 100% plausible today is the worrying part.
minus-squareorlyowl@piefed.calinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up5·2 days 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-up3arrow-down6·2 days agoUnironically, NIST basically did this with Planck’s constant and the speed of light.
minus-squarenialv7@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up8·2 days agoyou can’t do that to pi because it’s dimensionless
minus-squareCosmicTurtle0 [he/him]@lemmy.dbzer0.comlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up5·2 days 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.
Honestly in terms of late 1800s engineering, pi = 3.2 is accurate within 2% it’s not that scandalous
The fact that it is 100% plausible today is the worrying part.
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.