⊙ AntiQuark

Truth, Beauty, Charm, Strange

2005/06/23

Knuthlu

More Knuth...

First Publication
Knuth's first paper was published in Mad magazine. (This is a repeat blog entry from many months ago.)

FAQ
A frequently asked question (relatively speaking) from one of my cow-orkers:

Q: I thought that Knuth was this squid-headed monster in one of H.P. Lovecraft's novels.

A: I don't know who this Lovecraft fellow is you're talking about, but I'm sure you're mistaking Knuth with Knuthlu. Project Knuthlu was a top-secret experiment by the Genetics department at Stanford University. The goal was to combine the DNA of the smartest cephalopod (the octopus) with that of the smartest mammal (Knuth).

The resulting organism exceeded the experimenters expectations. Within days, Knuthlu was counting on its tentacles in binary up to 255. Later, when connected to a neurally-activated speech synthesizer, it clearly stated "I INK, THEREFORE I AM."

Before the experiment could be halted, Knuthlu escaped at night. The scientists were able to trace a slimy trail that crossed the campus and led to the mighty Stanford River. The current whereabouts of Knuthlu is unknown. One theory is that it is rallying the denizens of the deep, preparing to wreak bloody havoc on mankind as revenge for overfishing and oceanic pollution.

Another theory is that Knuthlu is a mere hoax. The following photograph (which has been examined and declared authentic by experts) casts doubt on that hypothesis.


The only known image of Knuthlu.


0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home