This special section from Physics of Fluids features award-winning photographs and videos chosen from among numerous entries to the Annual Gallery of Fluid Motion exhibit, held at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society, Division of Fluid Dynamics.
These photographs and videos illustrate both experimental and numerical investigations of a wide variety of flow phenomena. Judged by a distinguished international panel of referees, winning entries were selected based upon criteria of scientific merit, originality, and artistry/aesthetic appeal.
The Naval Observatory makes an appearance in Blondie
I have gotten phone calls from people expecting the voice announcer telling them what time it is. My original phone number was apparently listed as such in some old government handout. It’s a little like the reaction when people call and were expecting (or hoping for) voicemail.
An unprecedented study that followed several thousand undergraduates through four years of college found that large numbers didn’t learn the critical thinking, complex reasoning and written communication skills that are widely assumed to be at the core of a college education.
Many of the students graduated without knowing how to sift fact from opinion, make a clear written argument or objectively review conflicting reports of a situation or event
The cranks believe that if you just find the right way to burn it, then you can create a perfect source of free energy. You see, if you can just burn it so that it produces a teeny, tiny bit more energy being burned that it cost to produce, then you’ve got free energy. You just run an engine – it keeps dividing the water into hydrogen and oxygen, and then you burn it, producing more energy than you spent to divide it; and the only by-product is water vapor!
Of course, this doesn’t work. Thermodynamics fights back
It’s pretty standard fare (with too few notable exceptions) for the GOP to take anti-science stances on topics like evolution and, more recently, global warming. From my perspective, it’s interesting to note that those candidates who have declared global warming to be false are taking a position that’s contrary to that of the military — the people who have a vested interest in the science as far as it involves the security of the US, and who do not have to take positions in order to “align” themselves with voters.
This is a video of the Oceanographer of the Navy, RADM David Titley, who was formerly the commanding officer of the Meteorology and Oceanography command (i.e. my boss, several levels up). It also turns out that I grew up less than a mile from him, and while I am junior enough that our paths did not cross in high school, a younger brother of his was my patrol leader in the Boy Scouts. It made for an interesting exchange when I got a chance meet him when he toured the lab — a comment from left field (not being related to the science and technology) and it took him a second to mentally shift gears and process it.
Anyway, he was a skeptic until he got a good look at the science, and now it’s his job (and others) to worry about the impacts of global warming on our nation’s defense. So I wonder how a GOP candidate — who usually comes with a “strong on defense” label already attached, would reconcile these opposing positions? Are they really willing to weaken our defense by ignoring global warming? Would voters be swayed from a denialist stance, knowing that the navy accepted it as good and valid science and takes it very seriously?
Oceanographer for the U.S. Navy, RADM David Titley discusses the hot topic of climate change, and its impending ramifications on national security. Listen as he details some of the top facts and figures you should know about climate change and your future, explained in terms that even the most unfamiliar with science would be able to understand.
I love the observation that ~390 ppm, dismissed as inconsequential by global warming denialists, is enough to get you a bit drunk if it’s alcohol in the blood.
Kids always ask the best, most basic questions; they haven’t learned yet to pretend to be smart, to be ashamed of their ignorance; they’re just curious about how the world works. And the best scientists ask those kinds of questions too, which is why we might roll our eyes and chuckle a bit when we read about two California scientists who decided to delve into the underlying science of why it is that woodpeckers don’t get headaches.
We present the Throwable Panoramic Ball Camera which captures a full spherical panorama when thrown into the air. At the peak of its flight, which is determined using an accelerometer, a full panoramic image is captured by 36 mobile phone camera modules.
Neat idea, though the “you can see what’s behind you” gave me a creepy 70’s/80’s horror flick vibe. The call is coming from inside the ball!
