Let’s set aside the question of how we got the baseball moving that fast. We’ll suppose it’s a normal pitch, except in the instant the pitcher releases the ball, it magically accelerates to 0.9c. From that point onward, everything proceeds according to normal physics.
via xkcd
Read More → "What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90% the speed of light?"
Patrick Stevenson-Keating is that designer. A product and interaction designer at Superflux by day, he created the Handcrafted Particle Accelerator — a working model that you can set up in your living room — in his spare time. A self-confessed science geek, Stevenson-Keating wanted to try to take the passion he felt for physics and communicate that to a public who might have otherwise overlooked the subject.
via Read More → "A DIY particle accelerator built in this guy’s garage"
For several days now, as regular readers know, I’ve been advertising my incomprehension of the Higgs boson. And–perhaps in an attempt to bolster my self-esteem–I’ve suggested that even physicists often fail to comprehend sub-atomic physics; or, at least, that they sometimes have to settle for a sheerly mathematical comprehension, because when they try to translate the math into a clear and coherent model that can be conveyed by words and pictured in the mind, that doesn’t work.
Below is a truly classic comment on this … Read More → "Richard Feynman on the weirdness of physical reality"
This is insane. 152,455 Lego bricks, 677 pounds (307 kilograms) and 6.56 feet long (2 meters). That’s how amazing this Lego cut-out of a Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engine is. It has over 160 separate engine components just arranged like the engine that power the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Rolls-Royce—who presented their Lego engine yesterday at the Farnborough International Airshow—says that it took four people eight weeks to complete, which is quite a feat. The beautiful cut-out shows every … Read More → "152,455-piece Rolls-Royce engine is the most complex Lego machine ever built"
Richard Branson today set out the roadmap for Virgin Galactic’s immediate future by announcing that he will be taking his children along for the ride when the SpaceShipTwo (SS2) makes its inaugural flight next year (should all go to plan). As expected, Branson also confirmed plans for a commercial service to put satellites in orbit at a tenth of today’s costs, marking the resumption of Virgin Galactic’ … Read More → "Richard Branson lays out roadmap to put satellites, and his kids, into space"
While it might not be the world’s largest solar boat or the fastest, this modest home-built solar-powered boat does the job and comfortably accommodates six passengers. Dubbed “Firefly,” it was built by Canadian eco-enthusiast Dan Baker for an impressive CA$2,900 (US$2,845).
The Firefly was custom built to cruise lakes, providing a leisurely experience without air or noise pollution. Baker fitted the roof of the boat with a … Read More → "A 100 percent solar-powered boat that cost under $3,000 to build!"
Today’s 3-D printers are similarly crude. They all use Fused Depositon Modeling (FDM) technology and are essentially robotic hot glue guns. Fortunately, a new generation of higher-resolution, faster, and more reliable machines are starting to come to market.
This new breed of printer use Stereolithography (SLA) technology, utilizing light instead of heat to make models. How? A high powered … Read More → "New 3-D printers that don’t suck"
IKEA has developed some innovative green designs over the years, but now the home furnishings retailer has the distinction of having the largest photovoltaic array in the state of Michigan. The 122,200-square-foot PV array was officially plugged-in today, and consists of a 977.6-kW system built with 4,160 panels. Installed at the Detroit-area store in Canton, the array will produce … Read More → "Michigan-based IKEA now has the state’s largest solar array"
Smooth move, Dave. You’ve done pissed off the ship’s Nav-com enough to warrant bailing out of an airlock. Now, find yourself in the cold embrace of interstellar space sans helmet. Here’s what you have to look forward to during your last few moments alive.
Death by vacuum has become a hallmark of modern space cinema. 2001, Total Recall,Outland, Armageddon, every one of theAliens series—no movie set outside Earth’s atmosphere is complete without … Read More → "What really happens when you get sucked out of an airlock?"
