MrClaremonster, youtube.com
Newton’s Cradle
Newton’s cradle, named after Sir Isaac Newton, is a device that demonstrates conservation of momentum and energy via a series of swinging spheres. When one on the end is lifted and released, the resulting force travels through the line and pushes the last one upward.
Space Sounds - New Episode of It’s Okay To Be Smart!!
There is no sound in space.
In the near-vacuum of space, there is nothing to transmit the physical waves that we need to perceive sound. But that doesn’t mean we can’t MAKE sound from space.
This week, I channeled some inner Sagan, got a bit artsy, and I’m happy to feature several brilliant folks using scientific data to create “space sonification” projects. From the longest palindrome ever created to a chorus made from Earth’s magnetic field, these pieces truly lie at the intersection of art and science. More than just art, they allow us to perceive patterns in complex data in a completely new way. Some of them are actually used as part of space research projects!
Perhaps it answers the question: If the universe had a voice, what song would it sing?
For those of you who follow the blog in addition to the YouTube channel, you’ll get some special treats this week when I feature even more space sonification examples that we couldn’t fit into this episode!
FULL Versions of the pieces featured in this week’s video:
Robert Alexander - Transit of Venus
Daniel Starr-Tambor - “Mandala” (this piece is the longest palndrome ever created, at 62 viginitillion notes!!)
Holy shit! Was dumbfounded in Australia and afraid to go asking people “Is the Moon upside down?”
Fascinating.
Scientists have another name for failure: data. Expecting that your first stab at a big project will succeed is not only unrealistic, but a bit lazy. We should consider ourselves “tinkering scientists” on our quest to create, with each failure just another data point.
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At the 2013 99U Conference, Stanford Technology Ventures director Tina Seelig, author of inGenius: A Crash Course on Creativity, echoes Neil Gaiman’s timeless advice on failure and the creative life. A wise woman once said it even better. Also see Steve Jobs on the fear of failure. (via explore-blog) |
Memorable Experiments
Greg Ross, futilitycloset.comIn 1730 Stephen Gray found that an orphan suspended by insulating silk cords could be hold an electrostatic charge and attract small objects.In 1845, C.H.D. Buys Ballot tested the Doppler effect by arranging for an orchestra of trumpeters to play …
