Blog Profile / Dot Physics
| URL : | http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/dotphysics | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | Academics / Physics | |
| Posts on Regator: | 304 | |
| Posts / Week: | 3.1 | |
| Archived Since: | July 11, 2011 | |
Blog Post Archive
We Take the Cosine Function For Granted
This all started with a student my wife was helping with high school trigonometry homework. Here is one of the questions. Here is the solution that the homework was looking for: This uses the trigonometry sum of angles formula and.....
Could the Student Be Wrong In This Rant?
Maybe you have seen the rant by Texas student Jeff Bliss. Most are using this to point out the problems with some teachers. I really don’t know everything that went on in this classroom, but let’s just consider part of...
Physics in the Gravity Trailer
Let’s take a look at this trailer for the upcoming movie Gravity. I don’t know much, but it seems like it is about two astronauts dealing with some problems on the International Space Station. After watching this, my physics alert.....
What Physics Demos Do Younger Children Like?
“Hey. Could you set up some physics type demos for kids at the local Discovery Center?” Me: “Of course. This will be a great experience for our students.” And it was a great experience. However, there is much to learn...
MythBusters: Why Did the Rocket Car Break the Ramp?
I hope you didn’t miss the last MythBusters. Only the MythBusters have a big enough budget to launch their fourth rocket car (two in this episode). The above clip shows you all the great details. The part I find the...
Gravity in the Elysium Space Station
I don’t know too much about the upcoming moving Elysium, but it looks pretty cool. Here is the trailer. The first interesting thing I saw was the rotating space station. How Do You Make Fake Gravity? Why are you weightless...
How Long Would It Take an AT-AT to Fall?
Happy Star Wars Day (May the 4th). Now for some physics. Here is the setup. The Imperial forces are assaulting the rebel base on the icy planet of Hoth using the impressive looking AT-AT walkers. After being shot down, Luke...
How Many People Would Work In the Death Star?
In case you haven’t seen it, here is my recent post on the ESA ATV blog. Could we use ATV to build and supply a real Death Star? Basically, I calculate how many ATV launches we would need to supply...
How Much Does the Enterprise Weigh?
I have no idea what will happen in the the new Star Trek movie, Star Trek Into Darkness. It looks interesting though. And as usual, I probably won’t see it right away. My only outlet is blogging. Here we go,...
Should We Change the Way NSF Funds Projects?
NSF stands for the National Science Foundation. This is U.S. government agency that supports and funds basic and fundamental research. The budget is quite large – around 7 billion USD. Now for the answer to the question. Should we change...
How Strong Is This Pole Dancer?
Just because it’s pole dancing doesn’t mean it isn’t art. In this case, pole dancing also means “requires strength”. When I see something like this, I automatically ask the question: what kind of forces would this guy have on his...
Rate My Jedi Master
I made this for a presentation later this week. Thought you might enjoy it. I think I might print it out and put it on my door too.
I’m Not a Fan of Flash Cards
Maybe you could even say I hate them. From time to time, I see students in the hallways and around campus with flash cards. Why does this bother me? Can’t I just get on with my Angry Birds analysis or...
Physics of Rowing
I think it’s important to bring your camera with you when you go out. You just never know when you will see something interesting. In this case, it is the women’s rowing competition between the University of Central Florida,...
Should You Buy a Phone or Get a Contract Phone?
I hate phones. Really, I hate them. I hate that they are so useful and I feel like I have to have one. On top of that, I hate the pricing of these dumb things. Here is the question. Most...
Interference Patterns on an iPod Screen
My daughter was pretty annoyed with her iPod case (with a screen protector). It had this interference pattern on it – here is a vine version. She asked how to get rid of the pattern, I just thought it was...
ATV Reboost Homework
Even though I made a small calculation error, I still enjoyed my analysis of the International Space Station Reboost. You can check out the post over at the European Space Agency ATV blog. What was my error? Well, I used...
A Quick Check On ESPN’s Sport Science
It’s been quite some time since I looked at an ESPN Sport Science video. I probably shouldn’t look at all. However, it’s too late. I looked. But maybe it’s not so bad. Maybe these videos don’t just throw out random...
Does Decreased Brightness Increase Your Phone’s Battery Life?
Everyone hates it when their phone battery doesn’t make it through the day. Usually, I am ok since I don’t use the phone all that much. If it is a day of a soccer at a soccer tournament or gymnastics...
Air Resistance in Orbit
The International Space Station (ISS) isn’t exactly in space. Well, it depends on what you mean by “space”. Is there gravity? Of course. Is there air? Not very much, but there is a tiny bit. This tiny bit of air...