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esiegel | April 18, 2013"The cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us—there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, or falling from a height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries." -Carl Sagan
One of the greatest things we can do -- when we study and learn the story of the Universe -- is simply to tell that story, as best as modern science allows us to. Earlier this week, I had a chance to do this in front of a small, intimate audience at the Hand-Eye Supply Curiosity Club here in Portland…
stoat | July 20, 2011...I will wear the green willow. Yes, we went up: yay! Though that doesn't begin to capture it.
L to R: Andy Southgate (4); Steven Andrews (5); Chris Wood (2); Ollie Crabb (S); James Tidy (Cox); Chris Metcalfe (3); William Connolley (B); James Howard (7; with George); Chris Smith (6).
Yesterday, Tabs 3 caught City 3 round about Grassy; and since we mostly held station with Tabs, we were happy that we could get City in a fair fight. But! Behind us, Champs 2 had caught Nines 3 not much after the motorway bridge: and while we'd pulled away from Nines by at least 1/2 a length, that was still a…
rallain | June 9, 2009So, analysis of the movie Up is pretty popular in the blogosphere. Figure I might as well surf the popularity wave. So, I have a couple more questions.
The most important thing to estimate is the mass of the house. I am going to completely ignore the buoyancy of the house. I figure this will be insignificant next to the buoyancy needed. Anyway, let me go ahead and recap what has already been done on this in the blogosphere.
Wired Science - How Pixar's Up House Could Really Fly - from that post:
First, they calculated (seemingly correct) that the buoyancy of helium is 0.067 pounds per…
rallain | June 3, 2009I haven't seen the Pixar Movie "Up" yet, so don't spoil it for me. I have, however, seen the trailer. In my usual fashion, I have to find something to complain about. There is this scene where the old man releases balloons out of the house.
What is wrong with this scene? Also, would that be enough balloons to make the house float? Here is a shot of the balloons coming out of the house.
Ok, I was already wrong. The first time I saw this trailer I thought the balloons were stored in his house. After re-watching in slow motion, it seems the balloons were maybe in the back yard held down…