Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

> The so-called moving sofa problem asks how large a rigid shape can be while still being able to pass around a right-angled corner in an L-shaped corridor of a constant width of 1 meter.

This was also the problem in Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, so fictionally this problem had already been solved.



Now I might need to rewatch that very odd, charming, detective show :).


There were at least 2 separate and independent TV series, but I highly recommend going to the original: the 2 later novels from Douglas Adams, after he wrote the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirk_Gently%27s_Holistic_Detec...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Dark_Tea-Time_of_the_...

In the novels, a stuck sofa is revealed to have got there because a retired Time Lord, Professor Urban Chronotis, briefly materialised his TARDIS in such a place it provided a doorway. So the books are extremely loosely tied into the Dr Who universe.

Don't let this put you off.


The DG novel was partly based on the Doctor Who story where there were six copies of the Mona Lisa, and the bad guy wanted to go back to primitive Earth before multicellular life.

"The atmosphere is poisonous. I'm not sure what's in it but it would certainly get your carpets nice and clean."




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: