Swans on Tea

(Part I)
The state-of-the-art timekeeping technology a century ago was comprised of pendulum clocks. Refinements were made in the areas of obvious problems, such as the mechanical escapement which robs the system of energy, the vulnerability to changes in length from temperature and humidity, and vibrations. The culmination of this was the clock of [...]

Take the quiz!
I got 9/12, but then, I never did take biology after 7th grade.
via Pharyngula (whom I am compelled to cite, despite his snarky comment)

How bold can Darth Vader be?
Font pun and typeface art. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

“Secret” Physics they don’t teach you in class —
The Fifth Law of Thermodynamics: Beer is good.
The Sixth Law of Thermodynamics: Men driving sports cars are assholes.

On the vagaries of random playlists on the iPod:
The transition from Bobby Darin’s “Mack the Knife” to RHCP’s “Funky Monks” at oh-dark-thirty in the morning, before caffeine and not really fully awake, is a little harsh.
I’m just sayin’

Oh, boy, was he strict. Harvey Korman, 1927-2008
I remember watching him on the Carol Burnett Show, trying not to laugh at something Tim Conway had done or said. That was as funny as the rest of the stuff.

To help NCIS catch those evil fonts caught on video, only to find that their prints aren’t in AFIS.
What The Font?
via Daring Fireball

Giving a Good Talk over at Life as a Physicist.
Unfortunately (or fortunately) there is a lot more to giving a good talk than just a good deck of slides. I think the number one thing for me is “tell a story.”
Some good tips to check out. A couple to add:
Don’t make your graphs too [...]

Physics Floundering saved by Disco Parody
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And just like that when I had given up all hope,
I said nope, there’s just one way to find that slope.
And so now I, I will derive.
Find the derivative of x position with respect to time.
It’s as easy as [...]

C is for Carbon, parts 1 and 2, over at Cocktail Party Physics
An interview with Eric Roston, author of The Carbon Age: How Life’s Core Element Has Become Civilization’s Greatest Threats
C is for cookie. That’s good enough for me.

The gallery of failed atomic models, 1903-1913 from Skulls in the Stars.
[H]ow many atomic models were there?
A lot. Most people in physics are taught Thomson’s ‘plum pudding’ model of the atom, but a little investigating turned up no less than eight distinct pictures of atomic structure.
The late 1800s and early 1900s was the breakthrough period [...]

Bought this trebuchet as a kit several years ago, and put it together over the Memorial day weekend back then. I had seen a NOVA special about some men who built two using in-period tools, and then knocked down a wall with them. When I ran across the kits on the intertubes, I [...]