6 Small Math Errors That Caused Huge Disasters | Cracked.com: “”
In light of physics conversations I’ve had with Matt, I’m particularly interested in #4.
January 11, 2012
December 5, 2011
November 26, 2011
November 2, 2011
October 19, 2011
October 16, 2011
History
It’s easy to forget that ancient peoples also studied history – Babylonians who lived 2,500 years ago were able to look back on millennia of previous human experience. That’s part of what makes the museum of Princess Ennigaldi so remarkable. Her collection contained wonders and artifacts as ancient to her as the fall of the Roman Empire is to us. But it’s also a grim symbol of a dying civilization consumed by its own vast history.
The story behind the world’s oldest museum, built by a Babylonian princess 2,500 years ago: “”
October 10, 2011
Rider on the Storm
What’s it like to parachute through a monster cumulonimbus thunderstorm? Bill Rankin is the only human to do it. Read this harrowing story here.
October 7, 2011
September 28, 2011
Faster than Light?
Science fiction author and scientist Jerry Pournelle holds forth on the recent neutrino FTL news.
September 26, 2011
You-Nique
What are the odds that you are here, alive, right now? I’ve always wondered this since all of the permutations and decisions involved factor in so heavily (if your parents met a day later, or if your great great grandparents had made slightly different decisions, etc). The vagaries of specific eggs and sperm are staggering enough without thinking about how those combinations had to fall just right going back throughout the human ancestor tree. If the combination fell even slightly differently you wouldn’t be you. As a person of faith I have a definite view of my existence (See Jeremiah 1:5), but I’ve always wondered about the specific odds.
What are the numbers? Is there even a way to come up with a meaningful estimate? Ali Binazir makes an attempt, starting with a staggeringly big estimate. Then it gets really crazy. Don’t miss it. It makes the thought of even a moment not living fully seem like a frightening waste.
I’m off now to go justify my existence. Or at least enjoy this brief candle.
September 23, 2011
August 30, 2011
August 22, 2011
August 15, 2011
With a Whisper
The world’s first acoustic diode.
“The acoustic diode works much like the electrical component of the same name, letting current (or, in this case, sound waves) pass in one direction but blocking it in the other. Composed of a structured arrangement of elastic spheres that ferry the sound through the material, the diode can be tuned to work only at certain frequencies or to downshift the frequencies moving through the material to lower frequencies as needed….the tunable diode could scavenge energy from noisy machinery and channel it back into a transducer that converts those sound vibrations into electricity that could be fed back to the machine, reducing net energy consumption. It could also downshift sound frequencies to ranges that are optimal for energy conversion.”
July 6, 2011
Reboot
Juan Enriquez on the ultimate reboot. Starts with bad news, ends with good news. Great stuff.
June 16, 2011
June 13, 2011
June 8, 2011
Add One to the Menagerie
Cool, physicists might just have discovered a new fundamental particle.