This Press Release Spun Me Right Round, Baby, Right Round

Caltech has just published a new press release in connection with a new paper in Physical Review Letters about visualizing vortices warped in space and time.

The press release includes the following line: “Anything that falls into a vortex gets spun around and around,” says Dr. Robert Owen of Cornell University, the lead author of the paper.

You know what would be infinitely cooler, though? If the quote instead read as follows: “Anything that falls into a vortex gets spun around and around like a record, baby,” says Dr. Robert Owen of Cornell University, the lead author of the paper.

Best. Press Release. Ever.

I thought this was a joke when I first read it, but apparently this is a real press release.

The money quote comes at the end of the press release (bold words were bold in the release):

“We completely understand the public’s concern about futuristic robots feeding on the human population, but that is not our mission,” stated Harry Schoell, Cyclone’s CEO. “We are focused on demonstrating that our engines can create usable, green power from plentiful, renewable plant matter. The commercial applications alone for this earth-friendly energy solution are enormous.”


Wow. I'm at a loss for words---well, except for the fact that one of the sites that promulgated the flesh-eating robot news was apparently FoxNews.com. I hate to break it to you, guys and gals, but she already works for you.

(Tip of the cap to Francisco Gutierrez and Heidi Eldenburg Bramlet.)