# The Fluff
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [September 8, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638 "2011-09-08T18:37:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638/41 "2011-09-12T19:58:01Z")
> [@Ravenman](#):
>
> If it were really so malevolent, wouldn’t physicists think of a better name than “The Fluff?” Like, maybe the “Field of Doom” or the “Electron Tornado”?
Yeah. It’s like finding out that the four horsemen of the apocalypse are actually the Tellytubbies.
---
### Author:  [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638/42 "2011-09-12T22:27:37Z")
Mangetout:
> [@](#):
>
> Yeah. It’s like finding out that the four horsemen of the apocalypse are actually the Tellytubbies.
Of course they are, I thought everybody knew that.
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### Author:  [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)
#### Post date: [September 12, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638/43 "2011-09-12T23:10:59Z")
> [@runner pat](#):
>
> The Fluff is the [Destroyer of Worlds.](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AU_zNjFv40E/TadoLnGT86I/AAAAAAAAA8M/i4lrABEnhDg/s1600/fluffy.png)
No no, the line you want is, “I am become Fluff, destroyer of worlds.” (And I’m ashamed to say, [it’s been done before](http://cheezburger.com/doctor_hu/lolz/View/2641675264).)
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2011, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638/44 "2011-09-13T11:13:22Z")
> [@runner pat](#):
>
> The Fluff is the [Destroyer of Worlds.](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AU_zNjFv40E/TadoLnGT86I/AAAAAAAAA8M/i4lrABEnhDg/s1600/fluffy.png)
That is one surly puppy.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2011, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638/45 "2011-09-13T12:09:57Z")
> [@Vahid\_Tarzan](#):
>
> … Everything I attempt to write about it sounds crazy…
Have you ever considered that there might be a really, really simple explanation for this?
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### Author:  [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2011, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638/46 "2011-09-13T14:45:38Z")
The important question here has not been asked!
The important question is, does the existence of interstellar Fluff imply the existence of interstellar Fluffers?
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638/47 "2011-09-13T14:56:15Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#):
>
> The important question here has not been asked!
>
> The important question is, does the existence of interstellar Fluff imply the existence of interstellar Fluffers?
And doesn’t the existence of interstellar Fluffers lend credence to the Big Bang Theory?
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638/48 "2011-09-13T14:59:01Z")
> [@kunilou](#):
>
> Right now your post has all the credibility of a story told around the campfire.
While _really_ drunk.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638/49 "2011-09-13T14:59:11Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#):
>
> The important question here has not been asked!
>
> The important question is, does the existence of interstellar Fluff imply the existence of interstellar Fluffers?
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> And doesn’t the existence of interstellar Fluffers lend credence to the Big Bang Theory?
And let’s not forget that stars are just big balls of gas.
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### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638/50 "2011-09-13T15:04:59Z")
When I was small, I always wanted to Fluff the Magic Dragon.
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### Author:  [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638/51 "2011-09-13T18:15:11Z")
Good thing you didn’t, unless you always wanted hairy palms…
-XT
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### Author:  [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638/52 "2011-09-13T19:27:01Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#):
>
> Is The Fluff anything like [The Time Cube](http://www.timecube.com/)??? I am very worried.
That was my first though! I wonder if there is a unifying theory . . . Time Fluff? Fluff Cube?
Fluffy Time?
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### Author:  [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638/53 "2011-09-13T23:08:22Z")
> [@Smeghead](#):
>
> Sigh. I don’t suppose you might be able to provide us with anything remotely resembling evidence for this claim?
Soooo…no, then.
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### Author:  [@Vahid\_Tarzan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vahid_Tarzan)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2011, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638/54 "2011-09-15T07:05:31Z")
It is hard to report to our government what our government will fail to disclose.
Any terrorist could disable individual towns or cities electrical defenses unnoticed in anticipation of the next Fluff breach.
> **[Giant Breach in Earth's Magnetic Field Discovered | Science Mission Directorate](https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2008/16dec_giantbreach/)**
>
> NASA's five THEMIS spacecraft have discovered a breach in Earth's magnetic field ten times larger than anything previously thought to exist. The size of the opening and the strange way it forms could overturn long-held ideas of space physics.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2011, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638/55 "2011-09-15T07:23:43Z")
> [@Vahid\_Tarzan](#):
>
> It is hard to report to our government what our government will fail to disclose.
How is it that you’re sure there actually _IS_ something that is being kept secret.
If the government is keeping it so tightly under wraps, how do _YOU_ know about it?
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### Author:  [@Vahid\_Tarzan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vahid_Tarzan)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2011, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638/56 "2011-09-15T07:48:28Z")
Stationed next to powerlines that peaked 10+mG into my living area. That’s one thing, the presence of lethal amounts of radiation in the US from Japan, another.
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### Author:  [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2011, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638/57 "2011-09-15T08:41:09Z")
> [@Vahid\_Tarzan](#):
>
> It is hard to report to our government what our government will fail to disclose.
> Any terrorist could disable individual towns or cities electrical defenses unnoticed in anticipation of the next Fluff breach.
>
> [http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2008/16dec\_giantbreach/](http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2008/16dec_giantbreach/)
This whole article has absolutely nothing to do with the fluff, which only has effects beyond the heliosphere – within our solar system, the solar wind sweeps the area clean, so to speak. What’s reported in the article is interesting, but merely points to the fact that the interaction of the Sun’s and Earth’s magnetic field are poorly understood – which really isn’t that much of a shocker; it’s like the weather: the basic principles are known, but every once in a while, freak storms occur. It’s just a consequence of the complexity of the system.
And how exactly would terrorists utilise these breaches? As far as I know, nobody knows how to predict them, and I’m not aware of any terrorist organization with a huge emphasis on astrophysical research…
> [@Vahid\_Tarzan](#):
>
> Stationed next to powerlines that peaked 10+mG into my living area.
Which is almost 1/50th as strong as the Earth’s magnetic field, at least; still, your fridge magnets are 5000 times stronger than that, and if you ever need an MRI…
> [@](#):
>
> That’s one thing, the presence of lethal amounts of radiation in the US from Japan, another.
What got to the USA were tiny trace amounts, much lower than what, say, your own body emits, or what you’re exposed to by other natural sources on a daily basis.
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### Author:  [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2011, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638/58 "2011-09-15T09:05:49Z")
> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> How is it that you’re sure there actually _IS_ something that is being kept secret.
>
> If the government is keeping it so tightly under wraps, how do _YOU_ know about it?
You’re using the logic the government taught you in school because that’s the sort of reasoning they _want_ you to make. Think about it, man, THINK ! We’re through the rabbit hole and down the looking glass here, people.
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2011, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638/59 "2011-09-15T09:12:39Z")
> [@Vahid\_Tarzan](#):
>
> That’s one thing, the presence of lethal amounts of radiation in the US from Japan, another.
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#):
>
> What got to the USA were tiny trace amounts, much lower than what, say, your own body emits, or what you’re exposed to by other natural sources on a daily basis.
Don’t be ridiculous. He’s _obviously_ talking about Godzilla attacks. That breath is _whole_ lot worse than what you get from natural exposure.
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### Author:  [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)
#### Post date: [September 15, 2011, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fluff/595638/60 "2011-09-15T10:24:18Z")
> [@Vahid\_Tarzan](#):
>
> Stationed next to powerlines that peaked 10+mG into my living area. That’s one thing, the presence of lethal amounts of radiation in the US from Japan, another.
Another thing is my cast iron pan. And the goat down the street for me? That’s a thing too. So is this tree I’m looking at, and also the prevailing weather patterns over southern West Virginia. Those are ALL things, and equally relevant to the discussion at hand.
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