Crazy-seeming research, every now and then, leads to something really, really wonder-filled. In this case, the discovery of something long-predicted (by Einstein) but seemingly impossible to perceive: gravity waves. (HT Maggie Lettvin)
Tag: gravity
A bra that falls off when you clap your hands (new patent)
Inventor (and IP / patent lawyer) Michael Mansour Ahmadshahi Ph.D., Esq. has just been granted a US patent for his ‘Signal-activated lingerie’ which incorporates a remotely activated (un)fastener “causing the lingerie to fall off from the wearer’s body” when it receives the appropriate signal. The patent document explains : “Lingerie, such as bras which are […]
Dice under gravity
These dice, the work of Suzy Leleviere, are visibly under the influence of gravity. They appear to be firmly seated on the surface of a table:
The effect of gravity on slimy little men
These videos show the effect of gravity on slimy little men — the kind of slimy little men called “Peta Peta men”: General effects: An ungentle experiment: BONUS: US patent 6527616, issued March 4, 2003, for a “Throwing toy for producing splash effect” which “is comprised of a sticky elastomer shell around a liquid core. The shell is […]
Black holes and their possible wigs
It was somewhere around 1973 that the high-end theoretical physicist and H-bomb co-developer (the late) professor emeritus John Archibald Wheeler announced that “A black hole has no hair.” [in: Gravitation, Charles W. Misner, Kip S. Thorne and John Archibald Wheeler] The concept, which was later consolidated as the ‘No-hair theorem’ has since been updated with […]
Running on water: On the earth and on the moon
It would be even better on the moon. Yes, here on earth you can run atop a pool of water-mixed-with-cornstarch, as people are doing in this video: But you could also run atop a pool of pure water—if you and that water were somewhere that has weaker gravity. The moon is one such place. An […]
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”) […]
Wassersug and the frogs in space
Jason Goldman, writing in The Guardian, today tells of the long history of frogs being sent (by humans) into space for scientific purposes: “Frogs in space: one giant leap indeed“. Ig Nobel Prize winner Richard Wassersug [pictured here] has an intimate relationship with the history of frogs in space. Among his publications in that realm: “Emesis and […]
Headline o’ the day: “Brazil Nut Effect Measured in Lunar and Martian Gravity Conditions”
Today’s Headline of the Day appears in The Physics arXiv Blog: Brazil Nut Effect Measured in Lunar and Martian Gravity Conditions The headline concerns the also-intriguingly-headlined study “Granular convection and the Brazil nut effect in reduced gravity,” Carsten Güttler [pictured here], Ingo von Borstel, Rainer Schräpler, Jürgen Blum,” arXiv:1304.0569, Apr 2, 2013. The authors report: […]
XKCD: Vault calculation
This XKCD cartoon illustrates an old (but perhaps correct) idea — that calculation can have consequences: