Science Notes

fuckyeahfluiddynamics: Capillary waves—ripples—interfere with...

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 19:23:35 -0500

Capillary waves—ripples—interfere with one another after the photographer throws objects into a narrow point in a small lake. The reflections of these waves off the lake’s boundaries and against one another creates a mosaic-like geometric effect on the liquid surface. (Photo credit: Jorgen Tharaldsen/National Geographic Photo Contest)

fuckyeahfluiddynamics: Ethanol droplets on a hot copper plate...

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 10:15:43 -0400

fuckyeahfluiddynamics:

Ethanol droplets on a hot copper plate bounce under the influence of electrostatic forces from a charged rod. The temperature of the plate is high enough that the droplet is supported by a thin vapor film, which is what keeps it from wetting the plate. Ethanol does not have the strong polarity that water does, but the hydroxyl group on one end does make it susceptible to the electrostatic charge built up on the teflon rod. As a result, the droplets oscillate under electrostatic and gravitational forces, resulting in a dribbling effect. (Video credit: S. Wildeman et al.)

The “Lost” Steve Jobs Speech from 1983; Foreshadowing Wireless Networking, the iPad, and the App Store

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 23:20:19 -0400

The “Lost” Steve Jobs Speech from 1983; Foreshadowing Wireless Networking, the iPad, and the App Store

jtotheizzoe: Flipping Cats! Smarter Every Day investigates cat...

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 08:45:11 -0400

jtotheizzoe:

Flipping Cats!

Smarter Every Day investigates cat physics, or the mechanics of why cats always land on their feet. Complete with vintage footage of weightless felines!

No cats were harmed in the making of this video. Stuck the landing.

tumblr.com

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 21:06:48 -0400

tumblr.com

How the Pop Can Stay-on Tab works (slow motion) (by...

Sun, 01 Jul 2012 16:57:00 -0400

How the Pop Can Stay-on Tab works (slow motion) (by engineerguyvideo) Using slow motion video Bill Hammack shows the ingenious engineering design of a pop can stay-on tab. To use the least amount of material it was designed to change, while in motion, from a 2nd to a 1st class lever.

medicalschool: Floaters are deposits of various size, shape,...

Sun, 06 May 2012 17:41:59 -0400

medicalschool:

Floaters are deposits of various size, shape, consistency, refractive index, and motility within the eye’s vitreous humour, which is normally transparent. At a young age the vitreous is perfectly transparent but, during life, imperfections gradually develop. The common type of floater, which is present in most people’s eyes, is due to degenerative changes of the vitreous humour. The perception of floaters is known as myodesopsia. Floaters are visible because of the shadows they cast on the retina or their refraction of the light that passes through them, and can appear alone or together with several others in one’s field of vision. They may appear as spots, threads, or fragments of cobwebs, which float slowly before the observer’s eyes. Since these objects exist within the eye itself, they are not optical illusions but are entoptic phenomena.

staceythinx: The numbers and patterns in nature come alive...

Sun, 06 May 2012 17:28:20 -0400

staceythinx:

The numbers and patterns in nature come alive in Nature by Numbers, a trulygorgeous video by Cristóbal Vila.

curiositycounts: I’d seen snippets raving about the iPad app,...

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:20:41 -0400

curiositycounts:

I’d seen snippets raving about the iPad app, Paper, then a coworker showed it to me in person. I think I said something along the lines of “Oh my.”

It’s intuitive, creates a seamless experience and has absolutely gorgeous graphics. So naturally I had to download it and share with the Curiosity Counters. And whether for scribbling notes, sketching or showing off some serious artistic talent, this app is a wonderful (and useful) addition to any creators toolkit.

Enjoy!

the-star-stuff: Why does this blue stone have yellow light...

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:35:59 -0400

the-star-stuff:

Why does this blue stone have yellow light coming out of it?

You’d expect this cloudy blue glass to throw a blue light onto its surroundings. The light it throws, though, is clearly a bright orange-yellow. Can you guess why?

How can a light change from blue to orange? The Tyndall Effect shines through.

Top Image: Optick

curiositycounts: Drew Berry’s astonishing animations of...

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:14:47 -0500

curiositycounts:

Drew Berry’s astonishing animations of biology’s invisible processes and structures

thats-textbook-enigmatic: morph0fairy: happilyimperfect: darco...

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:23:55 -0500

thats-textbook-enigmatic:

morph0fairy:

happilyimperfect:

darcotheferret:

cashfameandsocialchange:

dawnofeden:

e1n:

ihaventeateninthreehours:

geniusbee:

nekoconsulting:

lilywinterwood:

digitalhoarder:

BECAUSE I HAVE NO LIFE AND THIS IS REALLY BOTHERING ME…

The prevailing theory on Tumblr on how Sherlock survived the fall was that he managed to land in a laundry truck.

Benedict Cumberbatch is 1.84 meters tall and by using his body you can measure how far from the building he would have had to jump to make it into the truck. Roughly 7.32 meters.

Sherlock is standing on the Pathological Department of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. Google Street View shows what appears to be Routemaster double-decker buses which are 4.38 meters tall. The building therefore is roughly 14.6 meters.

You can use Pythagoras’ theorem to calculate the distance which is 16.33 meters. FYI: The World Record for men’s long jump is 8.95 meters and that was done with a running start. Sherlock flopped over the edge with no horizontal directional speed. I don’t think it’s possible for the laundry truck theory.

EDIT: how much time he had to “steer” towards the truck while falling.

Time = √ 2(height)/gravity
Time = √ 2(14.6m)/9.8 m/s²
Time = √ 29.2m/9.8 m/s²
Time = √ 2.98 m/s²
Time = 1.73 seconds

Sherlock was falling for 1.73 seconds.

Question: Can you jump off a 14.6 meter building and land in a truck full of laundry 7.23 meters away in 1.73 seconds?

HOLY SHIT MATH AND PHYSICS

THIS IS LEGIT BECAUSE THEY USED MATHEMATICS

YOUR ARGUMENT IS INVALID

I am so bad at math but I appreciate it. This is QUALITY and jeez even visual aids YES THIS IS HOW I SHOULD HAVE LEARNED GEOMETRY

Sorry to burst everyone’s bubble but this is not quite right.

People don’t fall in straight lines, they fall in parabolas. So Pythagoras has nothing to do with this. What we need is projectile motion physics.

The dark red is the path he would actually take.

So using these figures it still takes 1.73 seconds to fall vertically 14.6m with an acceleration of 9.8 ms-1.

But travelling horizontally there is no acceleration or deceleration. To travel the 7.32m to the truck Sherlock would only have to take off from the roof at 4.23 ms-1. (Because of air resistance he may have fallen slower and taken a longer time therefore this number may be even lower). Average human walking speed is between 4 to 6 ms-1 (I couldn’t find an exact number) so for Sherlock to have reached the truck in that time he would only have to step off. By falling the way he did it looks like he didn’t push off but there is actually a lot more horizontal velocity than if he had just stepped so he could actually reach the truck.

Also this explains why Sherlock chose such a tall building. If the height wasn’t as large he couldn’t have made it that distance to the truck.

tl;dr: Sherlock could have made it to the truck without any particular effort. The truck theory is still viable.

I’m going to regret jumping on this, but the Parabola theory above is the correct one. You don’t fall in a straight line like what the original theory said.

That said, in order to make 7.32m of horizontal displacement, you need 4.23m/s of horizontal speed, which is NOT walking speed. According to Wikipedia (on Walking), average human walking speed is 3.1mph, or 1.4m/s. 4.23m/s amounts to about 9.5mph, which is a running speed. If you don’t believe me, get on a treadmill and set the “speed” to 9.5. I guarantee you’ll be running like hell.

Taking into account air resistance and all that shit, I’d imagine he’d be pretty lucky to be able to land on the truck. But even if he was that lucky, landing on the back of that truck will really break some shit. There has to be a more elegant solution to this, although it was really really suspicious that the truck just drove by after a person jumped off the building and landed next to it.

I’m more intrigued by this:

The truck went missing in one scene. Then it reappeared and drove away, but in the following cut, the truck was back to where it was when it first started.

Maybe it was just badly edited. But maybe…

Well this is a lot to think about…

the sherlock fandom doesn’t just speculate

they break out motherfucking physics

i am screaming omg

Projectile motion ftw.

sweet jesus

“the sherlock fandom doesn’t just speculate

they break out motherfucking physics”

omg

curiositycounts: So you know, the physics of bursting water...

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 12:57:56 -0500

curiositycounts:

So you know, the physics of bursting water balloons, explained through ultra-high-speed photographs taken at 5400 fps, replayed at 30 fps. (via)

Fun Science: The Moon (by charlieissocoollike)

Sun, 15 May 2011 15:48:19 -0400

Fun Science: The Moon (by charlieissocoollike)

Derren Brown’ new special - Miracles for Sale (by...

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:21:47 -0400

Derren Brown’ new special - Miracles for Sale (by zemi7777)

With the cameras in hot pursuit, Derren faces his toughest project yet, going in search of an unsuspecting member of the British public prepared to adopt the guise of a pastor and miracle worker.

His chosen one then has six months to learn the trade and flourish across the pond as a convincing pastor.

The final phase of the volunteer’s extraordinary challenge sees them attempt to perform faith healing miracles live in Texas, but will Derren’s new recruit be accepted as a faith healer or cast away as fake healer? (from http://derrenbrown.co.uk/blog/2011/04/derren-brown-miracles-sale-tonight-9pm/)

A Short Talk about Richard Feynman

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 18:54:47 -0400

A Short Talk about Richard Feynman:

Stephen Wolfram talks about Richard Feynman.

Richard Feynman on doubt and uncertainty (by amiplaylists)

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 08:52:28 -0400

Richard Feynman on doubt and uncertainty (by amiplaylists)

(via AnnMarie Thomas: Hands-on science with squishy circuits |...

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:18:50 -0400

(via AnnMarie Thomas: Hands-on science with squishy circuits | Video on TED.com)

Project Tuva: Messenger Lectures - Microsoft Research

Sun, 03 Apr 2011 12:53:00 -0400

Project Tuva: Messenger Lectures - Microsoft Research:

The Messenger Lectures include seven videos of Dr. Richard Feynman speaking on physics at Cornell University in 1964. His signature speaking style, humor, and clarity is enhanced by Project Tuva’s interactive annotations and full transcripts.

BBC Horizon - The Secret You (by anewpersonalparadigm) With the...

Sun, 03 Apr 2011 12:37:28 -0400

BBC Horizon - The Secret You (by anewpersonalparadigm)

With the help of a hammer-wielding scientist, Jennifer Aniston and a general anaesthetic, Professor Marcus du Sautoy goes in search of answers to one of science’s greatest mysteries: how do we know who we are? While the thoughts that make us feel as though we know ourselves are easy to experience, they are notoriously difficult to explain. So, in order to find out where they come from, Marcus subjects himself to a series of probing experiments.

He learns at what age our self-awareness emerges and whether other species share this trait. Next, he has his mind scrambled by a cutting-edge experiment in anaesthesia. Having survived that ordeal, Marcus is given an out-of-body experience in a bid to locate his true self. And in Hollywood, he learns how celebrities are helping scientists understand the microscopic activities of our brain. Finally, he takes part in a mind-reading experiment that both helps explain and radically alters his understanding of who he is.

Mirrored from http://www.youtube.com/user/atheistmediadotcom