http://blogs.scienceforums.net/swansont Physics, tech and humor. Because science and learning are cool, and life's too short not to laugh. Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:00:31 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Basics of space flight: orbital mechanics Orbital mechanics, also called flight mechanics, is the study of the motions of artificial satellites and space vehicles moving under the influence of forces such as gravity, atmospheric drag, thrust, etc. Orbital mechanics is a modern offshoot of celestial mechanics which is the study of ... http://blogs.scienceforums.net/swansont/archives/3047 10 Fascinating Elevators http://blogs.scienceforums.net/swansont/archives/3014 Gigapan collection of electron-microscope images of an ant Gigapan: Ant - Eutetramorium mocquerysi This Gigapan is part of the NanoGigaPan project. Which is working to take high resolution images of very small things. More at the Nano Gigapan blog Also ant-related Mr. Ellis, Ant mega-colony takes over world [I]t now appears that billions ... http://blogs.scienceforums.net/swansont/archives/3041 Movie Trivia: Raiders of the Lost Ark The movie was filmed in Tunisia because it was a lot cheaper to shoot there than Egypt, and since the script never called for shots of the Sphinx or the pyramids, so they were able to get away with it. In fact, one of ... http://blogs.scienceforums.net/swansont/archives/3049 Carnivorous Clock eats bugs, begins doomsday countdown This prototype time-piece from UK-based designers James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau traps insects on flypaper stretched across its roller system before depositing them into a vat of bacteria. The ensuing chemical reaction, or "digestion," is transformed into power that keeps the rollers rollin' and ... http://blogs.scienceforums.net/swansont/archives/3035 Thunderhead Accelerator Besides being host to stunning lightning displays, thunderclouds also emit gamma rays, although researchers aren't completely sure why. Last fall, detectors installed on a mountaintop in Japan captured the first simultaneous observations of this radiation along with the high-speed electrons thought to be their source. The results, detailed in ... http://blogs.scienceforums.net/swansont/archives/3039 Tim Allen has apparently rewired somebody's toaster [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdI0mAT_zVA] http://blogs.scienceforums.net/swansont/archives/3012 … but we just can't kill the beast. Until the fourth try. Fortunately the failed attempts are kinda neat, too. [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16_SHHCMPfw] My instinct to grab a pointy object to burst the bubble was misplaced, of course. The soap film isn't a rigid object, so it was content to accommodate ... http://blogs.scienceforums.net/swansont/archives/3030 Those which involve duct tape, and those which do not. There, I fixed it Someone needs to start an experimentalist version of this (if it does not already exist) — lab kludges http://blogs.scienceforums.net/swansont/archives/3027 Why a Greyhound or a Racehorse Doesn’t “Pop a Wheelie” The ability to gain speed quickly is crucial for survival, but there’s a limit as to how rapidly an animal can accelerate. Researchers wondered whether the “wheelie” problem experienced by cars during a drag race could be a factor in four-legged ... http://blogs.scienceforums.net/swansont/archives/3019