This is really freaking cool. Or scary, as she may become an unstoppable killing machine next. It's really 50/50 either way.
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science. Show all posts
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Airplanes!
Here's a simple brain teaser (via metafilter).
A plane is standing on a runway that can move (some sort of conveyer belt). The plane moves in one direction, while the conveyer moves in the opposite direction. This conveyer has a control system that tracks the plane speed and tunes the speed of the conveyer to be exactly the same (but in the opposite direction). Can the plane take off?
What do you think? Also, do you think I got the right answer initially (what with all the physics)?
The answer, after the jump. But think about it first!
Yup, the plane will take off just fine. I initially thought the plane wouldn't take off, but I was wrong.
An explaination is here.
Further explaination here.
Yet another one here.
The last one is a bit more rude, with quotes like "I could understand a random high school dropout being fooled by this, but a pilot?" Screw you, pal. I get the aerodynamics, but I don't spend a lot of time thinking about airplane wheels.
Friday, June 22, 2007
New Study Suggests Firstborns are Smarter
Newsweek reports what I have long suspected: first borns have higher IQs.
Interestingly, I think pretty close to everyone that writes on here is the first born. My condolences to Joey (and Tommy and Storki, but they never write).
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Delicious Roundup!
For all you losers who didn't get a del.icio.us account, you missed out on a lot of cool links this week. Seriously, get an account. mathgimp, nuraido, forgottenfodder, Kikiz, and shweenerator all have one. Which makes us awesome and smart. Ergo, you are a tard. After the jump, you can see why...
For those of us who do have a del.icio.us account, we are very cool. And I mention your links below. After the jump, you can feel important!
For starters, all three branches of our government demonstrated their commitment to crazy this week.
We'll begin with the judiciary.
A Nebraska judge declares the words "rape", "sexual assault", "victim", "assailant", and "sexual assault kit" inappropriate in a rape trial. Rape will now be referred to as "intercourse," and Nebraska judges as "mouth breathing imbeciles." It turns out Supreme Court judges are also jackasses. And sometimes crazy.
Not to be out done, the Executive branch also made some bizarre headlines.
The Washington Post realized Bush doesn't care about laws. Also, the Justice department is done with the whole race problem, and has decided to focus on the War on Christmas or some crap. Best of all, Cheney went ahead and recused himself from the executive branch all together! That wacky, wacky separation of powers...it really was just a myth all along!
And, as always, you've got to love the legislature. The Senate took the spotlight this week.
Virginians LOVE their guns. And putting their congressional aides at risk for jail time. Also, Obama proves he's not above the good clean fun of bizarre racist propaganda.
Beyond the Beltway, many birds have suddenly vanished. This coupled with the bees means soon, telling our children about sex will be called the "Llamas and Sea Sponge" talk. Animals that abandoned sex billions of years ago figured out they really still wanted to get some. Icebergs are freaking awesome. And, apparently, homosexuality is signified by your hair. Which begs the question, what does my cowlick say about me?
On the random but awesome note: Math is cool. (This one wasn't posted by me, amazingly). Sometimes, passive agressive people are funny. And, finally, John likes Opera. To be honest, it's pretty heartwarming.
Did we find this post amusing? I'm thinking about doing it on a weekly/bi-weekly basis...
Friday, June 15, 2007
The Pluto-Is-Stupid-So-Keep-Defaming-It League
We believe that Pluto should be demoted to a dwarf planet (also known as an irrelevant retard planet [citation needed]). In the event of a grassroots movement to elevate any dwarf planet to true planetary status, we believe that Eris (the best dwarf planet) should be promoted in lieu of Pluto. After the jump, irrefutable evidence that Pluto is stupid...
The two dwarf planets are similar in many respects. Both are quite small and lightweight. Both Pluto and Eris exist in the Kuiper Belt . I mention this only because they are not in the Oort Cloud , which is more fun to say. This is very disappointing to me.
While the two dwarves have much in common, there are significant differences that suggest the utter worthlessness of Pluto, and the total awesomeness of Eris. To begin, we will address the absurd arguments as to the promotion of Pluto to planet status.
I'm not a scientist, and I have little interest in why or why not these guys collect grant money to classify, reclassify, and declassify objects in our solar system willy-nilly.
Scientists are the coolest people in the world. The should be allowed to do whatever they want.
However, as a child raised in a pre-September 11th world where Pluto was most definitely a planet, I have multiple reasons for wanting it to stay that way.
September 11th changed everything, except for the worthlessness of Pluto.
1. Building models is fun. We got to build lots of models of the solar system when I was little, using Styrofoam balls (before the CFC crisis), a basketball for Jupiter and a pea for Pluto, etc. I think that Pluto's inclusion both illustrates the sheer size of the solar system, and also teaches kids the value of including the little guy - not just cutting him out of our solar system and letting him drift without a family or a home.
As should be clear, the demotion of Pluto does not affect the enjoyment of model building. Hell, it doesn't even ban the construction of models that include irrelevant planets like Pluto. Pluto can (and probably will) continue being included in solar system models, constructed by people who do not understand the worthlessness of Pluto.
It is also interesting to note that the pro-Pluto camp do not argue for the inclusion of Eris in these models. They support one minority, while keeping another down. Such callous disregard for the feelings of other dwarf planets shows the moral depravity of Pluto supporters.
2. My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickles/Pizzas. Pluto's the most versatile planet in that mnemonic device. Also, I'm not really sure how to rewrite it so kids can remember the planet names, but I think the scientific community has that ethical obligation to our children and our educational system.
There are many possible changes to the mnemonic that work fine without Pluto. My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nuts, for example. True, it can be interpreted in a dirty and fairly disturbing way, but it's the first one that came to mind. Perhaps we should consider the mnemonic with the promotion of Eris. My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Eagles, for example. The inclusion of eagles makes it more patriotic! Although the suggested eating of said eagles probably negates the patriotism.
3. Pluto has popular culture currency. Although, to be fair, Disney kinda sucks.
Pluto (the dog) has always sucked (as has the ex-planet). Renaming Pluto after Astro from the Jetsons would add greatly to the pop-culture argument. While Eris doesn't really have any connection to popular culture, at least it is untainted by popular culture that sucks, unlike Pluto.
While some of these arguments would validate the promotion of a dwarf planet, none suggest that Pluto in particular should be promoted. Perhaps we should consider the advantages of elevating Eris to the list of planets, while keeping Pluto down where it belongs.
(1) Eris is bigger than Pluto. As a Texan, bigger = more awesome. Oklahomans may have a difficult time with this concept.
(2) Pluto is the Roman god of the underworld, while Eris is the goddess of strife. As Americans, we all love war, and hate the devil. Thus, Eris is better.
(3) Additionally, there are only two planets named for females (Venus and Earth). Isn't it time for the evil planetary patriarchy to recognize the contribution women make to our solar system? Even dwarf-planet women. An elevation of Pluto would simply reenforce the status quo, and also suggest that size doesn't matter in men. Is that what you really want, ladies?
(4) Eris kinda sounds like eros, which is kinda hot. Pluto is stupid sounding.
(5) Oort cloud! Hee hee.
(6) Puto and Eris both have moons: Charon and Dysnomia, respectively. In mythology, Dysnomia was the demon of lawlessness . Charon, of course, was the ferryman across the river Styx , who had to be paid by the dead. The implication is clear: those who wish to tax the dead (both rich and poor alike) support Pluto, while those who wish to fight the encroachment of big government prefer Eris.
(7) The name Dysnomia kinda looks like insomnia too, which suggests Eris stays up late. Charon sounds kinda like charred, so Pluto must overcook steaks. Why support a morning planet that can't cook?
(8) Pluto is the Water Chestnut of the universe.
(9) The eccentricity of a planet tells you how elliptical the orbit of the planet is. It also tells you how interesting it is, and how fun to hang out with (obviously). Pluto has an eccentricity of 0.248, whereas Eris has an eccentricity of 0.442, as shown here . As is obvious, Eris is cooler than Pluto. For those who argue that eccentric people are just crazy people who are rich, please note that there is no money in space.
(10) Pluto hates our freedoms.
As should be abundantly clear at this point, Pluto should not be elevated to planetary status at all. In fact, a pre-emptive attack against Pluto may be necessary in the near future, coupled with the imprisonment of all Pluto-supporters.
While we have not definitively shown that Eris deserves to be promoted, we have certainly shown that it kicks ass, and is better than stupid Pluto.
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