Archive for October, 2017
Algae World News: Red snow melts glaciers
Just in time for our first snow in Minnesota when we eagerly bring out our cross-country skis and sleds—both self-propelled and motorized, comes this news of a melt-inducing microbe. I’ve seen and tasted the resulting “watermelon snow” up in the Rockies. It seemed harmless enough—a natural frozen novelty. But a simple comparative experiment by Alaskan researchers showed a 17% increase in melting where the snow became darkened by the algae stain. On the positive side it will be watermelon snow-cones all around.
‘Roid rage
Posted by mark in Nature, Uncategorized on October 12, 2017
Let’s not get caught off guard by an Earth-killing asteroid. As Dylan Thomas said: “Do not go gentle into that good night, …rage against the dying of the light.”
That is the mission of NASA. If you are reading this, chances are that Asteroid 2012 TC4 whizzed by today at 30,000 miles per hour—closely monitored by a network of observatories. Check out the details at this NASA website. They take asteroid defense very seriously. Their defense plans for redirecting asteroids will be tested out in 2022 on a double asteroid Didymos B as explained here.
Keep in mind that asteroid 1950DA, about three-quarters a mile wide—big enough to destroy our planet, has a 0.1% chance of hitting the earth 2818. In case NASA does not succeed in their defense efforts, start digging now and you might get hunkered down enough to survive for a short while after that.
The hero of zero
Posted by mark in Basic stats & math, history on October 9, 2017
Breaking news about nothing: Dating done with the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit now puts the invention of the number zero 500 years earlier than previously believed. As explained in this post by The Guardian, the hero of zero is Indian mathematician Brahmagupta who worked out this pivotal number in 628 AD. Isn’t that something?
The development of zero in mathematics underpins an incredible range of further work, including the notion of infinity, the modern notion of the vacuum in quantum physics, and some of the deepest questions in cosmology of how the Universe arose – and how it might disappear from existence in some unimaginable future scenario.
– Hannah Devlin,
What happens if you walk backward while carrying a cup of coffee?
Posted by mark in pop, Uncategorized on October 1, 2017
One would assume that walking backward with coffee, especially when it’s piping hot, would be nearly as dangerous as running with scissors. Not so, according to the 2017 Ig Nobel Prize winning study for Fluid Dynamics. According to Korean physicist Jiwon Han, you will likely spill less walking backward than forward. However, your chances of tripping, or crashing into a colleague (also walking backward with coffee, ha ha) “drastically increase”.*
“Rarely do we manage to carry coffee around without spilling it once. In fact, due to the very commonness of the phenomenon, we tend to dismiss questioning it beyond simply exclaiming: ‘Jenkins! You have too much coffee in your cup!’”
– Jiwon Han
As reported in this “SmartNews” post by Smithsonian Magazine, Han advises a claw-like grip on top of your cup, rather than using the handle. Other tips from University of California researchers, reported here by LiveScience, are to gradually accelerate to a very slow walk, thus avoiding disruptive oscillations, and keep your eyes on the cup, not the ground.
My secret to stop spillage is to use a very large cup and fill it only two-thirds of the way, e.g., 12 ounces of hot coffee in a 16-ounce Styrofoam cup. The ultimate solution is to use a spill-proof, lidded container. However, I prefer drinking from a cup, if possible.
*(Source: Chemical and Engineering News, 9/18/17, Newscripts—“Curating quirky science since 1943.”)