On 23 Jan 2004 14:00:14 -0800, jim rozen
wrote:

In article , Greg Dermer says...

As physicists now know, there is some nonzero probability that any object
will, through quantum effects, tunnel from the workbench in your shop to
Floyds Knobs, Indiana (unless your shop is already in Indiana, in which case
the object will tunnel to Trotters, North Dakota). The smaller mass of the
object, the higher the probability. Therefore, disassembled parts,
particularly small ones, of machines disappear much faster than assembled
machines.

The expectation function for tunnelling has an exponential
factor in it. The springier the part, the higher the
value.

I think one of my small springs is now jammed in the mars
rover motor assembly or something.

You gentlemen are overlooking one of the most fundamental laws of
physics, however, the law of "propogation of stuff."

For a demonstration of this law, enter any long disused empty room and
see how much "stuff" has accumulated there since your last visit!

Al Moore