Category Archives: Video

Carly Simon Physics

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I was poking around the blogdom — with the rise of science-y, i.e. non-diary (and, I suppose non-dairy) blogs, surfing the web has become interesting again — and ran across a link to How to Build a Cloud Chamber, and that reminded of the person that built the cloud chamber using a Starbucks cup. (Not sure if he was so vain, however.)

And that reminded me of the question I had back then — TRIUMF had a large, continuously-running chamber in the lobby of the visitors’ entrance last time I was there, and though nobody does it better, I’m sure there are other facilities with similar setups. Why not run a webcam showing it? I haven’t found one.

Second-best is video. Here’s one that shows the construction steps of a good one, and some tracks. That’s at the end, so there will be some anticipation.

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Dog Ballistics

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I guess it’s a dog-day. No, not dogs as projectiles — what a horrible thought. (I used cats in my physics examples when I was teaching. Or smurfs, if I had blue chalk)

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And a wiener dog, no less. Very Gary Larson.

Notice how the dog takes off as soon as the launcher draws back, making a distinctive sound. Pavlovian ballistics.

via Respectful Insolence

Your Data Are Colorful and Sound Funky

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Cryogenic dark matter search (CDMS) signals converted into visual and audio

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(OK, who didn’t have one of these in their dorm rooms in college? 🙂 )

There’s a pepsi-through-the-nose funny part, too, (at least according to my calibrations) about halfway through. What a dark sense of humor!

From the Fermilab newsletter, via physics and physicists

Traffic

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One of the neat things about traffic is how it can be analyzed in terms of some physics parameters. You get density waves that can propagate, and end up getting slowdowns that can persist long after the original cause is gone. Or, as this video shows, there doesn’t have to be a real cause, like an accident or scantily-clad jogger distracting the drivers. Just statistical fluctuation can be enough to send a shockwave through the traffic.

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There’s a short article as well

(via Cognitive Daily)

UPDATE: more on this at Backreaction. Actual analysis.

The plot shows nicely how the perturbation – the zone of zero velocity (aka the jam) – travels at constant speed in the direction opposite to the traffic flow.