January 30, 2026
Feynman Fix Sparks Comment Chaos
Richard Feynman Side Hustles
Genius hack or Nobel side hustle? Comments fight over sensors, X, and 'Nazi' vibes
TLDR: Feynman’s simple oxygen-sensor tweak—adding a third electrode—allegedly became a real product. The comments explode into debates over whether the idea is sound, whether Nobel fame equals cushy consulting, and whether using X is morally wrong, turning a neat science story into an ethics and platform war.
Richard Feynman’s kid drops a throwback: teen tours a factory that makes oxygen probes you dunk in beer or sewage, dad suggests a simple tweak—add a third “helper” electrode so the gadget reads oxygen faster and doesn’t get fooled by gunk—and next year the company’s building it. The internet? Immediately splits into genius vs grift. Skeptics like moralestapia roll in with “cool if it made sense,” while vonneumannstan fires a hot take about Nobel-level consultants who “learn a business, toss random ideas, and bill obscene fees.” Meanwhile, platform politics crash the party: celsoazevedo shares links to read replies without an account via xcancel and nitter, and antonvs goes full philosophy class with Hannah Arendt’s “banality of evil”—as in, just using X (formerly Twitter) is morally gross because people don’t care enough. Cue Uhhrrr: “Neat story. Where’s the ‘Nazi’?” after someone chucked that word into the mix. Memes pile up: “third electrode = third wheel,” “Feynman DLC,” and “world’s priciest dad hack.” For the non-technical crowd, commenters begged for an ELI5: the extra electrode keeps oxygen steady so the reading isn’t delayed or distorted. This thread had everything—science, ethics, platform wars, and a surprise ‘Nazi?’—because of course it did.
Key Points
- •Electrochemical oxygen sensors with two electrodes measure oxygen by converting its consumption into an electric current.
- •A membrane allows oxygen to diffuse into a compartment while blocking contaminants; fouling slows diffusion and can bias readings low.
- •Response is slow when moving from air to a sample due to residual oxygen in the sensor compartment needing to be consumed.
- •A third, oxygen‑regenerating electrode was proposed to prevent net oxygen consumption, making readings independent of diffusion rate.
- •The following year, the manufacturer was producing three‑electrode sensors implementing this improvement.