Monthly Archives: June 2009
The Littlest Birds: Answer on Swarming
Today Damon theorized an answer to my previous question — why big birds select V formation flying while little birds seem to prefer swarms. The aerodynamic effects that bigger birds rely on to help reduce drag don’t help little birds … Continue reading
Filed under How Stuff Works
Memory of the Day
I’m going through some photos from my most recent crazy adventure — traveling around the UK and the European continent from west as Barcelona to east as Istanbul, and found this shot I took from the cab of a grocery-hauling … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
This is Why Birds Fly in V Formation
Some friends and I were on the beach the other day, staring up at the sky watching pelicans and seagulls fly by in big Vs. “Did you hear that the military is considering having its planes fly in ad-hoc assembled … Continue reading
Filed under How Stuff Works
Sita Sings the Blues + MonkeyLectric + Creative Commons = Win!
I work at MonkeyLectric, and one of the things I’ve been doing is trying to find good Creative Commons-licensed/free use images for MonkeyLectric’s POV bike wheel demos, so that we can make and publish videos showing what our bike wheel … Continue reading
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Awesome Engineering out of MITERS!
Whoah, my friend Charles just finished making this totally awesome race car shopping cart, “LolRio Kart”: It took him about a year to build at MITERS. Charles also works at the Car of the Future research group. Therefore I think … Continue reading
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on creating actions
“Who are you to decide to play small in this world?” good quote by Nelson Mandela via John Gilmore
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Totally excellent new favorite Word of the Day! ratiocination
ratiocination: to form judgments by a process of logic, reasoning. YESSSS
Filed under Word Hijinks!!
Doctor Popular Writes a Song About Me!
I really dig this song. And the second stanza is about me!
Filed under Uncategorized
Magnetic Circuits and Permeability
New levels of understanding! From the well-recommended text, “Electric Machinery”: A magnetic circuit consists of a structure composed for the most part of high-permeability magnetic material. The presence of high-permeability material tends to cause magnetic flux to be confined to the … Continue reading
Filed under Electrical Fascination
Stunningly good CC-licensed movie: Sita Sings The Blues
Here’s the archive.org link for Sita Sings the Blues I just finished watching this totally delightful film, Sita Sings the Blues! It’s an eye-candy-licious animated feature (1:21:31) combining the Indian legend of the “Ramayana”, animator Nina Paley’s personal break-up story, … Continue reading
Filed under Uncategorized
