Swans on Tea

Humbling at indexed.
Observation: Jessica’s plots vary as either 1/r, r or r2, but I can’t recall any that had an actual inflection point (in my semi-random sampling). There could be some subtle implications in inflection points. No asymptotic functions I can recall, either.

Why “Daisy” in 2001: A Space Odyssey?
Possibly because a Bell Labs computer sang it years earlier, in a demo of voice synthesis and voice recognition.

Pangolins is practically chickens.
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Jennifer has started the great pop-sci book project, a natural evolution (and yet intelligently designed progression) of The Big Read
The rules are familiar
1. Highlight those you’ve read in full
2. Asterisk those you intend to read
3. Add any additional popular science books you think belong on the list
4. Link back to me (leave links or suggested [...]

21 Funny Airline Announcements

“In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, masks will descend from the ceiling. Stop screaming, grab the mask, and pull it over your face. If you have a small child traveling with you, secure your mask before assisting with theirs. If you are traveling with more than one small [...]

Map of Springfield and an interactive version (the website mentioned on the map leads to a dead-end)
via Neatorama

Fantastic Contraption
Flash game. Build a device to move (push, pull, launch) an object to a goal. Physics and engineering at play!

The Kansas Classroom

Beijing 2008 - It’s a wrap at The Big Picture (39 photos)
If you look at the high jump of Blanka Vlasic, you can see how it’s possible to do a high jump with your center-of-mass (focus on the physics) never rising above the bar, though I think in this jump it is higher, since [...]

Rotating Grid Illusion
Oh, way cool. A rotating grid looks like a bunch of smaller grids when you rotate it.

I notice that the answers are posted for the “Presidential Physics quiz” in the NY Times (original quiz wording) and, well, blech. Sorta. I’ve read decent things about the Physics for Future Presidents book, but I don’t want this to be the example for “how to quiz presidents and justify the answers.”
QUESTION 1. [...]

Teaching evolution — and, by the sound of it, doing a good job — in Florida. He realizes that if the science sounds dogmatic he’s lost before he even starts.
A Teacher on the Front Line as Faith and Science Clash
When Florida’s last set of science standards came out in 1996, soon after [...]