April 2010
8 posts
1 tag
Moon blocks cosmic rays →
Suppose you were stuck 30m under the ground, but you really wanted to know where the moon was (never mind why). What do you do?
Of course, you build a muon detector! You’d need quite a good one too, one that can determine the direction from which the muons came from. But still, beats digging yourself out of that hole. At least you’d learn some cool physics while you’re at it.
3 tags
PYRAF on Windows 7
Spent a good portion of this week trying to install PYRAF on my 64 bit windows 7 laptop. Of course, my laptop is set to dual boot into Ubuntu, but seeing as to how I rarely restart and boot into Ubuntu, I decided that its finally time to try out a virtual machine. I’ve finally succeeded, and here’s some documentation on the path I took.
Go to the system’s BIOS, ensure Intel...
Classical Astrology Problem →
This should be a mandatory homework problem for anyone taking physics.
Laser Punch! →
March 2010
30 posts
Magazine Preview - Can Animals be Gay? -... →
Here’s my take on this article: Biologists have been getting a basic assumption about the sexuality of an animal wrong. One cannot deduce the sex of an animal from its behaviour or appearance. A particular implication is the discovery of lesbian couples in these Albatrosses, but I think the more important issue is that this could invalidate many studies of animals where the sexes of the...
1 tag
“For one of my favorite math jokes you need to understand a little about the use...”
– MEB commenting on Steven Strogatz’s latest post
“I do know what will happen to me when I die. I’m going to medical school,...”
– Herb Silverman, panelist on Heaven and Earth
A whole bunch of awesome physics applets →
(via bindingwave)
1 tag
Mr. 23: Interesting Toyota Ad →
This is my short essay of the day, inspired by some math and cars.
I recently heard an advertisement by Toyota that said “80% of the Toyotas sold in the past 20 years are still on the road today”. I first thought what the ad wanted me to think, Toyota cars are long-lasting, dependable cars. After…
Anonymous asked: Please explain the Casimir effect so that a layperson would understand :)
Optimizing the LSST to measure Stellar Rotation...
“The LSST is a survey telescope destined to begin operations in 2017, when it will observe the night sky based on a predetermined observing schedule, called its cadence. My project is to investigate how well a particular cadence allows us to measure stellar rotation periods, and to do so I will simulate observation data from the LSST, and use Lomb-Scargle periodograms to extract period...
The ___ Squirrel
I saw a squirrel
He’s digging frantically
Cannot find his nuts
“Of course the common people don’t want war. After all, it is the leaders of the...”
– Herman Goering (Hitler’s “right-hand man”) at the Nuremberg Trials, 1946
(this was given to me on a “daily quote” flyer by a fellow UT student on campus a few days ago)
(via morganleah)
(via conscientious-contrarian)
Newton's Fractal →
The colour images were EXACTLY what Prof Hubbard showed us in Math 2230… Amazing that it would appear on a New York Times column! Clearly they are doing something right in getting interesting stuff like this out to the public. However, one has to be careful to ensure that the average reader can indeed follow the discussion… Judging by the comments, Prof Strogatz seems to have done...
Binding Wave: There is a Mechanism →
Very nice, very clear! Not that I have thought critically about this position yet…
Steven Jay Gould memorably argued that Religion and Science are mutually exclusive domains of ideas, articulating the distinction as between ““Non-Overlapping Magesteria.” Dinesh D’Souza began his UCF debate with Christopher Hitchens by articulating this idea; physical science can tell us
Religion and Reason
This seems like what my philosophy paper is going to turn out, sadly.
ageofreason:
““The study of theology, as it stands in the Christian churches, is the study of nothing; it is founded on nothing; it rests on no principles; it proceeds by no authority; it has no data; it can demonstrate nothing; and it admits of no conclusion.””
—
Thomas Paine
The Fun Way of Scientifically Slicing a Pizza →
Proof doesn’t seem as simple as the article makes it appear. Maybe I’m missing something… But then I haven’t had time to think about this yet
visualoop:
Scientists find mathematical formula for the... →
(via neverhead)
1 tag
Hearing the uncertainty principle →
Neil Fraser: Hardware: Lava Lamp Centrifuge →
Now THAT’s an experiment.
Its interesting that he would bother to include the android phone to measure the g-forces. I should think that one can calculate it rather easily: since r=1.5m, omega = 4.4rad per second (converted from 42rpm), centrifugal acceleration = v^2 / r = r omega squared = 29ms^-2 = 3g.
On hindsight, this calculation is probably what he did to conclude that his Nexus-One...
2 tags
Chilean Quake Likely Shifted Earth’s Axis, NASA... →
Go read the article, and you’ll see that said scientist claims that the day should have shortened by 1.26microsecond, and that such a change would be difficult to detect. Here, we investigate why the change IS difficult to detect, given that we are able to send satellites into space and have an immensely powerful GPS system.
A change of 1 microsecond corresponds to a 1.16e-11 fractional...
Math behind WW2 →
February 2010
13 posts
Gravity. It's the law.: Story Time →
The following concerns a question in a physics degree exam at the University of Copenhagen: Describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper with a barometer.
One student replied: You tie a long piece of string to the neck of the barometer, then lower the barometer from the roof of the…
1 tag
Make your own orbit →
(via tumples)
Stella doesn't love you back.: Is Heaven hotter... →
The temperature of heaven can be rather accurately computed. Our authority is the Bible, Isaiah 30:26 reads, Moreover, the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold as the light of seven days. Thus, heaven receives from the moon as much…
Incompatibility of omniscience and human free will
I am beginning to think that taking a class on the philosophy of religion is a mistake when my world view doesn’t contain Him. It is painfully obvious to me that there is no consensus on the nature of God among theistic philosophers; further, I believe that there is unlikely to be one, because of the authors I’ve read so far most cannot articulate their point across without throwing up...
lyrical- asked: so, why is the sky blue?
2 tags
Bang! A-boom-a-boomerang →
1 tag
