The Work Song Nanocluster

"The Work Song Nanocluster" is the eighteenth episode of the second season of the  sitcom The Big Bang Theory. This episode first aired on Monday, March 16, 2009.

Summary
Penny starts her own business and asks Sheldon for help. The other guys become involved and they end up spending all night filling an order for one thousand "Penny Blossoms".

Extended Plot
The guys are playing Secret Agent Laser Obstacle Chess, when Sheldon goes over to Penny's with a delivery. While insisting she signs the delivery, he learns that her delivery consists of, and that she is manufacturing flower which she has dubbed "Penny Blossoms". Sheldon comments how her process is not optimized enough for her to maximize, and starts helping her after she insists he do so.



When the guys hear Penny and Sheldon singing "" in her apartment, they discover how the two are working on "Penny Blossoms". After manifesting bafflement, Leonard, Howard and Raj start offering suggesting to improve the final product, and the manufacturing process is transferred over to Sheldon's apartment.

The "Penny Blossom" business by now is in full flair, and Leonard has even established a from which people can create orders. Although the others criticize him for the fantasiously feminine design making up the site, Leonard points out that they already have orders. The business seems to kick off to stupendous success, especially when The 5th Annual Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Alliance Luau place a mass-order of a thousand "Penny Blossoms", but Leonard makes the mistake of adding a "One-Day Rush" button on the website, meaning that the group has to manufacture the thousand "Penny Blossoms" in twenty-four hours. The task is, and the guys end up spending the entire evening and most of the night fabricating the flowers. In order to finish in time, Sheldon even succumbs to drinking, something which he has always insisted against in order to avoid or. Sheldon goes into mode constantly talking, but not helping in making the product.



Just as the group finishes exactly one thousand "Penny Blossoms", Leonard goes to print the shipping address, but reveals to the group that they have received another large order of another one thousand. The guys just give up and leave not helping Penny anymore. Sheldon comes in dressed as, but leaves soon after to get more coffee when he learns that there's none left.

In the final scene, the guys are playing Secret Agent Laser Obstacle Lunch, with Raj getting a slice of pizza. Leonard ends the episode by stating that game is stupid.

Critics

 * "This show is rife with brilliant humor and quirky characters. Parsons and Cuoco have a unique partnership that brings out the best in them both." - The TV Critic's Review
 * IMDb user reviews

Trivia

 * This is the first episode where just the main cast appear and no guest actors or extras are used.
 * This episode took place in only three locations (Apartment 4A, Apartment 4B, and the hallway), the least of all the episodes in the series. More associated with the Star Trek series, this show is an example of a "Bottle Show" Which is an episode that uses only the main sets (No ships or planets outside the ship.)
 * Penny is seen wearing the Penny Blossom in the next episode. She later wears one to Howard and Bernadette's wedding in "The Countdown Reflection" (S5E24)
 * Howard mentions would make a better adhesive.  are commonly known as super glue or crazy glue, as small amounts dry very quickly and create powerful bonds.
 * The guys all play a game they invented called Secret Agent Laser Obstacle Chess.
 * The song the guys were singing during Secret Agent Laser Obstacle Chess was . You might recognize the key musical phrases from things like circus performances (such as fast-paced acrobatics or precarious balancing of objects or people). The closed captioning on the DVD incorrectly identifies the song as the theme from "".
 * Sheldon has never heard of Radiohead. However one their albums 'OK Computer' features references to A Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy, which Sheldon has referred to in later episodes.
 * Penny also showed her love for modern British music in the Pilot.

Quotes

 * Sheldon: I'm a physicist. I have a working knowledge of the entire universe and everything it contains.


 * Penny: Who's Radiohead?


 * Sheldon: [after twitching for a moment] I have a working knowledge of the important things.


 * Sheldon: When I signed for the package, I was deputized by the United Parcel Service and entrusted with its final delivery. I now need you to acknowledge receipt of the package so that I’m fully indemnified and no longer liable.


 * Sheldon: Look at Planck’s Constant. People say it’s arbitrary. It could not be less arbitrary. If it varied even slightly, life as we know it would not exist. Bam! Now, now, let’s reconsider the entire argument, but with entropy reversed and effect preceding cause, so you are thinking of a universe that’s not expanding from the center, no, it is retreating from a, from a possibility space. Bam! This is a space where we are all essentially Alice through the looking glass, standing in front the Red Queen, and we’re being offered a cracker to quench our thirst. Bam! Of course, in another universe, let’s call it universe prime, there’s another Sheldon; let’s call him Sheldon prime…
 * Penny: We should have let him go to bed.
 * Leonard: Bam.