If you like to drop things, measuredly

If you like to drop things because you want to measure what happens to them, consider using the drop tower at the University of Bremen, Germany. Pertinent info abounds. Read Geoff Manaugh’s essay in Gizmodo (“This Tower Exists Solely for Dropping Things“). Read the tower authority’s attractive brochure, if you like — read that in German (“Experimente unter Schwerelosigkeit”) […]

Fish: Dolphins ‘dolphin-kick’ better than humans

Dr. Fish of Westchester University not only specialises in manta rays and whales, [see previous post;  Dr. Fish, Dr. Watts and their cetacean tubercules] he also investigates dolphins. In collaboration with Alfred von Loebbecke, Rajat Mittal and Russell Mark, Dr. Fish examined : ‘Propulsive Efficiency of the Underwater Dolphin Kick in Humans’ (Journal of Biomechanical […]

The title translates awkwardly: Piano Music from Tropical Fish

Sometimes a study’s title translates awkwardly from one language into another. Here is such a case, with Chinese making an awkward transition into English: “On The Creation Of Piano Music For Children From Tropical Fish By Zhao Xi,” Jing Zhang, Huangzhong-Journal of Wuhan Music Conservatory, January 2003. “The paper show the writer’s opinions on creation […]

Horrors: ‘Art’ in Artificial (Intelligence) Poetry

 William Topaz McGonagall who died in 1902, is widely regarded as the writer of the worst poetry in the English language.  As an example, see this video featuring Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame) interpreting the poem ‘Stirling Castle’. McGonagall has now become one of the very few famous poets to have a computer programme […]