November 10, 2005
Earth Impact Effects Program
The Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona in Tucson has an impact effect calculator that gives estimates of what would happen if a extraterrestrial body were to strike the earth. You need to know lots of information in order to use the calculator, such as the size, velocity, and density of the object, but the results are quite specific, such as how likely it would be that trees within 1,000 miles of the impact would ignite.
Posted by mslaybau at 03:59 AM
August 28, 2005
What's That Stuff?
Ever wondered about what's really in hair coloring, Silly Putty, Cheese Wiz, artificial snow, or self-tanners? C&EN presents a collection of articles that gives you a look at the chemistry behind a wide variety of everyday products.
Posted by mslaybau at 11:17 AM | Comments (0)
January 16, 2004
Cryptozoology
Primate-ish:
Bigfoot (Sasquatch)
Yeti (Abominable Snowman - and how would YOU like to be called 'abominable'?)
Oliver ('Oliver'?)
Other kinds:
Loch Ness Monster (Nessie)
Chupacabra (some kind of giant bat?)
Mokele-Mbembe (a dinosaur of the non-extinct variety)
cryptozoology.com has a glossary with a whole lot more, including the 'windigo', an 'Algonkin sub-arctic zombie'.
The only I thing I'm certain about regarding these creatures is: if they do exist, they smell really bad
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Posted by mslaybau at 01:14 AM | Comments (0)
January 13, 2004
Foucault's Pendulum (the thing, not the book)
A Foucault's Pendulum would be an interesting implementation of the Pendulum Music idea. The UN has one in the main lobby, with a weight of 200lbs and a length of 75ft. I used to work there, so know that getting the permission to attach a microphone and speakers to their setup would take about 2 years for all the approval to happen. We won't have to worry about it, but pendulums exhibit odd activity during solar eclipses, possibly because the 'gravity waves' from the Sun are blocked. That sounds like a tinfoil-hat explanation, but it's on a NASA site.
Since we're not at the pole, a full rotation wouldn't take 24 hours, but I don't know what the correct number would be.
The original had a weight of 62lbs and a length of 220 feet.
The biggest one in the world weighs 900 pounds but is only 70 feet long.
If my memory is correct, the length of one meter was established because it is the length required for a pendulum to have a period of exactly one second, regardless of the weight. A heavier weight just guarantees that there is enough inertia to keep the thing swinging over several hours.
If we were to try Foucault's experiment in class, we'd be limited to a length of about 3 meters, and thus a shorter period, which would mean more friction at the joint holding the rope, so it would decelerate sooner. The main thing would be to get a really heavy weight.
Something else to try is to launch the thing in a figure-8 pattern over a circle of speakers emitting different sounds.
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Posted by mslaybau at 06:32 AM | Comments (0)