Nature takes a quick look at the now-86-year-long pitch drop experiment, and at several other long-running experiments. The people who started and tend the pitch drop experiment were awarded the 2005 Ig Nobel Prize in physics. Nature says, in part: The pitch-drop experiment started when Thomas Parnell, the university’s first professor of physics, set up […]
Tag: drop
Cooking: The drop of the steak, the sizzle of the analysis
XKCD tries to answer the question “From what height would you need to drop a steak for it to be cooked when it hit the ground?” This graph is a small part of the analysis: This is an example of both temporarily-haute cuisine and temporarily-fast food. BONUS (barely related): Another example of drop-cooking, compared […]
Dropping and bouncing cats (a collection)
A small collection of items about dropped and bounced cats: 1. “Does a Cat Always Land on Its Feet?” [article in Annals of Improbable Research, vol. 4, no. 4] 2. The Cat Bounce web site. 3. Dead Cat Bounce, the stock market metaphor. 4. The physics of skulking and falling cats. (Thanks to investigator John Runions […]
Sub-fever-pitch for next pitch drop’s imminent dropping
Low key, steady excitement comes through in this News.com report about the Australian project that was honored with the 2005 Ig Nobel Prize in physics: Pitch drop experiment’s ninth drop is preparing to fall. Fingers crossed the live feed holds Eighth drop fell in 2000 Camera failed at crucial moment Ninth drop due within 12 […]