Recently a similar construct of six squirrels with tails glued together by sap, a squirrel king, was discovered in Canada. Veterinarians separated the squirrels and expect them to recover.
Brief and mostly accurate explanations of things.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Rat King
A rat king is the name given to a group of rats living as one with their tails tangled or fused together. It’s unpleasant enough to encounter one rat, so there should be little surprise that the discovery of a rat king was regarded as a very bad omen through history. It was thought to prophesy a plague, which makes sense because where there is sufficient density of rats to make a rat king possible, conditions are probably ripe for plague. The occurrence of rat kings seems to have diminished (along with the occurrence of plagues) but preserved specimens can be seen. The one pictured below has 32 members.
Recently a similar construct of six squirrels with tails glued together by sap, a squirrel king, was discovered in Canada. Veterinarians separated the squirrels and expect them to recover.
Recently a similar construct of six squirrels with tails glued together by sap, a squirrel king, was discovered in Canada. Veterinarians separated the squirrels and expect them to recover.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Crepuscular Rays
A fan of sun rays streaming through a cloud or tree or horizon at sunset are called crepuscular rays. It’s a striking and beautiful phenomenon, but may seem to present a quandary.
We know that the sun’s rays that reach the earth do so along almost perfectly parallel lines. The Sun and Earth are so far apart that even if two rays are coming to your location from opposite ends of the vastly large sun, the angle between them is still just over half a degree, and the vast majority of the rays you see are much more parallel than that.
So how is it that crepuscular rays seem to be at very large angles to one another? It seems like the Sun must be much closer than they say...
Actually, it’s just a trick of perspective that can be tricky to get your brain to recognize. Imagine you are in a tremendously long tunnel. Say there are lines painted along the length of the tunnel on the walls. These lines are parallel, but to you they seem to converge at a point.
The suns rays are doing something similar, they are all coming toward you from far away and passing by your head on all sides, so they have this tunnel perspective.
In fact, we can take this further. Consider if you turn around and look the other way in your tunnel, you should get the same effect. Well in fact sometimes if crepuscular rays are visible at sunset, you can turn around and see anti-crepuscular rays on the opposite horizon.
We know that the sun’s rays that reach the earth do so along almost perfectly parallel lines. The Sun and Earth are so far apart that even if two rays are coming to your location from opposite ends of the vastly large sun, the angle between them is still just over half a degree, and the vast majority of the rays you see are much more parallel than that.
So how is it that crepuscular rays seem to be at very large angles to one another? It seems like the Sun must be much closer than they say...
The suns rays are doing something similar, they are all coming toward you from far away and passing by your head on all sides, so they have this tunnel perspective.
In fact, we can take this further. Consider if you turn around and look the other way in your tunnel, you should get the same effect. Well in fact sometimes if crepuscular rays are visible at sunset, you can turn around and see anti-crepuscular rays on the opposite horizon.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Vonnegut Says
- in the introduction to Mother Night
Well, I've worried some about, you know, why write books ... why are we teaching people to write books when presidents and senators do not read them, and generals do not read them. And it's been the university experience that taught me that there is a very good reason, that you catch people before they become generals and presidents and so forth and you poison their minds with ... humanity, and however you want to poison their minds, it's presumably to encourage them to make a better world.
- "A Talk with Kurt Vonnegut. Jr." by Robert Scholes
One of the great American tragedies is to have participated in a just war. It's been possible for politicians and movie-makers to encourage us we're always good guys. The Second World War absolutely had to be fought. I wouldn't have missed it for the world. But we never talk about the people we kill. This is never spoken of.
- Interviewed by Roger Friedman
I have wanted to give Iraq a lesson in democracy — because we’re experienced with it, you know. And, in democracy, after a hundred years, you have to let your slaves go. And, after a hundred and fifty years, you have to let your women vote. And, at the beginning of democracy, is that quite a bit of genocide and ethnic cleansing is quite okay. And that’s what’s going on now.
- Interviewed by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show
[When Vonnegut tells his wife he's going out to buy an envelope] Oh, she says, well, you're not a poor man. You know, why don't you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet? And so I pretend not to hear her. And go out to get an envelope because I'm going to have a hell of a good time in the process of buying one envelope. I meet a lot of people. And, see some great looking babes. And a fire engine goes by. And I give them the thumbs up. And, and ask a woman what kind of dog that is. And, and I don't know. The moral of the story is, is we're here on Earth to fart around. And, of course, the computers will do us out of that. And, what the computer people don't realize, or they don't care, is we're dancing animals. You know, we love to move around. And, we're not supposed to dance at all any more.
- Interview by David Brancaccio
During my controlled near-death experiences, I've met Sir Isaac Newton, who died back in 1727 as often as I've met Saint Peter. They both hang out at the Heaven end of the blue tunnel of the Afterlife. Saint Peter is there because it’s his job. Sir Isaac is there because of his insatiable curiosity about what the blue tunnel is, how the blue tunnel works. It isn't enough for Newton that during his eighty-five years on Earth he invented calculus, codified and quantified the laws of gravity, motion and optics, and designed the first reflecting telescope. He can’t forgive himself for having left it to Darwin to come up with the theory of evolution, to Pasteur to come up with the germ theory, and to Albert Einstein to come up with relativity. “I must have been deaf, dumb, and blind not to have come up with those myself,” he said to me. “What could have been more obvious?”
- God Bless You, Dr Kevorkian
For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that’s Moses, not Jesus. I haven’t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere. "Blessed are the merciful" in a courtroom? "Blessed are the peacemakers" in the Pentagon? Give me a break!
- Cold Turkey
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Weight and Mass
What we call weight is the effect of gravity on mass. On the surface of earth, weight = mass x g (gravitational acceleration). That’s simplified from Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation: F = G * M1 * M2 / r2, which describes the attraction between any two masses. You can use it to find out how much gravity attracts you and the Eiffel tower together, if you want (the answer will be very very small). But the earth is big enough that the force becomes significant, G * Mearth * Myou / (radius of earth)2 = g * Myou. Note that this force always goes both ways. You attract the earth as much as it does you (Newton’s third law).
And if you fall to earth, it falls up to you. It’s just that it’s acceleration toward you is extremely small due to it’s large mass (Newton’s second law).
People like to think that in space you are weightless. If by space we mean in orbit around the earth, than not really. Or rather you are only weightless in the way you are in free fall. In fact, we can think of being in orbit as constantly falling to earth, but missing. Think of it this way: if you threw a ball straight ahead, it would fall to the ground. If you threw it hard enough, it would still fall to the ground, but the ground would have curved down a bit first, since the earth is round.
Now if you threw it even harder, at some point the ground will be falling away as fast as the ball is falling and it will never hit the ground, but remain in orbit. That’s exactly what astronauts do: they use rockets to throw themselves hard enough that they miss the ground.
And if you fall to earth, it falls up to you. It’s just that it’s acceleration toward you is extremely small due to it’s large mass (Newton’s second law).
People like to think that in space you are weightless. If by space we mean in orbit around the earth, than not really. Or rather you are only weightless in the way you are in free fall. In fact, we can think of being in orbit as constantly falling to earth, but missing. Think of it this way: if you threw a ball straight ahead, it would fall to the ground. If you threw it hard enough, it would still fall to the ground, but the ground would have curved down a bit first, since the earth is round.
Now if you threw it even harder, at some point the ground will be falling away as fast as the ball is falling and it will never hit the ground, but remain in orbit. That’s exactly what astronauts do: they use rockets to throw themselves hard enough that they miss the ground.
Friday, July 5, 2013
The Zipper Merge
A common situation: On the highway, a lane is closed ahead. So everyone gets over into the lane that goes through, leaving a terrific jam in that lane, and the other completely empty. And if anyone should drive down he empty lane and merge when it ends, they earn the sincere hate of everyone waiting in the ridiculous line. This is called "early merge." I'm here today to preach the new gospel: the late merge, aka zipper merge, aka zipper method.
Per the late merge, drivers would use both lanes until right before the one ends, and then merge every other car into the continuing lane
Points for the late merge:
1. Length of road filled with traffic is cut in half. This helps prevent the jam from affecting intersections behind and multiplying into gridlock.
2. Merges occur at low speed, with plenty of time to prepare. Where the early merge requires one to merge at full highway speed and with no advance notice. The late merge is safer.
3. More robust against cheating. The early merge can be completely subverted by anyone who wants or who doesn't know or understand the convention, enraging everyone doing it correctly and potentially leading to road rage. The late merge can be cheated, if one refuses to allow the other lane to merge in when it's their turn, but in this case only one car is cheated, instead of all. This greatly reduces rage and requires no advance knowledge, simply drive where you can.
4. The above effects are multiplied when more than two lanes are to merge.
5. Jon Stewart, of the Daily Show, who said on that program to Drew Barrymore: "To me, the hallmark of civilization, and I believe this on its core foundational level, is the every-other-car merge..." Also at the Rally to Restore Sanity:
Points against the late merge:
1. Most of the country doesn't do it that way now, and attempting to change will cause resistance. Item 3 for the late merge points out that know advance knowledge is required, but that is almost literally true. If the drivers have knowledge of the early merge they will be very upset when others do the late merge around them.
2. The early merge is preferable where the merge will not necessarily result in a jam. Ideally the early merge would be employed until a jam occurs, at which time traffic would switch to late merge.
Per the late merge, drivers would use both lanes until right before the one ends, and then merge every other car into the continuing lane
Points for the late merge:
1. Length of road filled with traffic is cut in half. This helps prevent the jam from affecting intersections behind and multiplying into gridlock.
2. Merges occur at low speed, with plenty of time to prepare. Where the early merge requires one to merge at full highway speed and with no advance notice. The late merge is safer.
3. More robust against cheating. The early merge can be completely subverted by anyone who wants or who doesn't know or understand the convention, enraging everyone doing it correctly and potentially leading to road rage. The late merge can be cheated, if one refuses to allow the other lane to merge in when it's their turn, but in this case only one car is cheated, instead of all. This greatly reduces rage and requires no advance knowledge, simply drive where you can.
4. The above effects are multiplied when more than two lanes are to merge.
5. Jon Stewart, of the Daily Show, who said on that program to Drew Barrymore: "To me, the hallmark of civilization, and I believe this on its core foundational level, is the every-other-car merge..." Also at the Rally to Restore Sanity:
Points against the late merge:
1. Most of the country doesn't do it that way now, and attempting to change will cause resistance. Item 3 for the late merge points out that know advance knowledge is required, but that is almost literally true. If the drivers have knowledge of the early merge they will be very upset when others do the late merge around them.
2. The early merge is preferable where the merge will not necessarily result in a jam. Ideally the early merge would be employed until a jam occurs, at which time traffic would switch to late merge.
Monday, July 1, 2013
Henry Ford Stories
There are certain people in history who accumulate stories and quotes. If you have a quote that is cuttingly witty, it'll be said to be by Oscar Wilde or Winston Churchill. If it's more folksy and witty - Mark Twain. Here we look at a family of stories and quotes that accrue to Henry Ford. He's legendary as the platonic model of the modern American industrialist.
Henry Ford had a problem at one of his factories. The main generator had stopped working and no one could figure out why. Work was stopped and the shutdown was costing the company dearly. Finally Ford, who was familiar with many of the great minds of the age, called Charles Steinmetz to come as a consultant and figure out what was wrong. After listening to a few minutes of explanation, Steinmetz shooed away all of Ford's engineers and drew out his notebook and pencil. After two days of careful listening and occasional bursts of calculation, Steinmetz mounted a ladder and made a chalk mark on the side of the generator. He said "replace 12 loops of the coil at this point." They did, and it worked. Later, Ford received a bill for $10,000. This was a remarkable sum in that time, and Ford asked, respectively, for an itemization from Steinmetz. The reply read: Piece of chalk - $1, Knowing where to mark with chalk - $9,999.
One day there was a small disaster at the Ford factory. An employee had set a metal punch to the wrong position and $1,000 worth of parts were ruined before it was caught. The employee felt terrible and went to Henry Ford himself to apologize and be fired. To his surprise, Ford did not fire the employee, but sent him back to work. When asked why, Ford said "I'm not going to fire an employee I just invested $1,000 in educating!"
"Whether you think you can, or think you can't - you're right." - Henry Ford
It's said that Henry Ford had a team of engineers who he would send to junkyards around America. They were tasked with assessing the condition of the various parts - what was falling apart, what was still in good shape. They found that a certain cotter pin that was made of a high quality alloy and of a thick gage was always in particularly great shape. The engineers thought "Ah, great, now we know to use this material and technique in other parts." But when they reported to Henry Ford, he listened to what they said, but shook his head and told them to just reduce the quality of the over-designed pin.
"If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." - Henry Ford.
A VIP was being shown around the factory by Henry Ford himself. At one point Ford indicated the vehicle under construction and stated that the finished product would contain "exactly four thousand, seven hundred, and eighteen parts!" This struck the visitor, so later he cornered a company engineer and asked if there were really exactly four thousand, seven hundred, and eighteen parts in that model. The engineer shrugged and said "I don't know, but I can't think of a more useless piece of information!"
"You can get the Model T in any color you like, as long as it's black." - Henry Ford
It's said that Henry Ford would take job applicants out to lunch, but immediately reject any who salted their food before tasting it.
"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently" - Henry Ford
Henry Ford hired an efficiency expert to go through his plant. He said, "Find the nonproductive people. Tell me who they are, and I will fire them!" The expert made the rounds with his clipboard in hand and finally returned to Henry Ford's office with his report. "I've found a problem with one of your administrators," he said. "Every time I walked by, he was sitting with his feet propped up on the desk. The man never does a thing. I definitely think you should consider getting rid of him!" When Henry Ford learned the name of the man the expert was referring to, Ford shook his head and said, "I can't fire him. I pay that man to do nothing but think - and that's what he's doing."
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| Left to Right: Ford, Edison, Harding, Firestone |
One day there was a small disaster at the Ford factory. An employee had set a metal punch to the wrong position and $1,000 worth of parts were ruined before it was caught. The employee felt terrible and went to Henry Ford himself to apologize and be fired. To his surprise, Ford did not fire the employee, but sent him back to work. When asked why, Ford said "I'm not going to fire an employee I just invested $1,000 in educating!"
"Whether you think you can, or think you can't - you're right." - Henry Ford
It's said that Henry Ford had a team of engineers who he would send to junkyards around America. They were tasked with assessing the condition of the various parts - what was falling apart, what was still in good shape. They found that a certain cotter pin that was made of a high quality alloy and of a thick gage was always in particularly great shape. The engineers thought "Ah, great, now we know to use this material and technique in other parts." But when they reported to Henry Ford, he listened to what they said, but shook his head and told them to just reduce the quality of the over-designed pin.
"If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses." - Henry Ford.
A VIP was being shown around the factory by Henry Ford himself. At one point Ford indicated the vehicle under construction and stated that the finished product would contain "exactly four thousand, seven hundred, and eighteen parts!" This struck the visitor, so later he cornered a company engineer and asked if there were really exactly four thousand, seven hundred, and eighteen parts in that model. The engineer shrugged and said "I don't know, but I can't think of a more useless piece of information!"
"You can get the Model T in any color you like, as long as it's black." - Henry Ford
It's said that Henry Ford would take job applicants out to lunch, but immediately reject any who salted their food before tasting it.
"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently" - Henry Ford
Henry Ford hired an efficiency expert to go through his plant. He said, "Find the nonproductive people. Tell me who they are, and I will fire them!" The expert made the rounds with his clipboard in hand and finally returned to Henry Ford's office with his report. "I've found a problem with one of your administrators," he said. "Every time I walked by, he was sitting with his feet propped up on the desk. The man never does a thing. I definitely think you should consider getting rid of him!" When Henry Ford learned the name of the man the expert was referring to, Ford shook his head and said, "I can't fire him. I pay that man to do nothing but think - and that's what he's doing."
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