* Overheard in the store: "Mixing random liquids together does NOT count as Science."
"If the end result is tasty, then yes, it does!"
* Sometimes I really love the Internet. The White House has officially rejected a petition to build the Death Star:https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/response/isnt-petition-response-youre-looking and then the Empire responded: http://hypervocal.com/news/2013/star-wars-responds-death-star/
* Call for local writers! Can you write a short science fiction, fantasy, or horror play? San Francisco Theater Pub wants you! Details here: sftheaterpub.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/call-for-writers/
* Jim Hines, Mary Robinette Kowal, John Scalzi, Charles Stross & Patrick Rothfuss do something awesome for charity (& to show how sexist book covers can be): http://www.jimchines.com/2013/01/group-cover-pose-reveal/
* Marvelous video on why the Moon landing couldn't have been faked: http://gizmodo.com/5977205/why-the-moon-landings-could-have-never-ever-been-faked-the-definitive-proof?utm_source=gizmodo.com&utm_medium=recirculation&utm_campaign=recirculation
* Artist Dan Bransfield sketched this patron at Borderlands Cafe: http://danbran.com/2013/01/13/borderlands-cafe/
* Happy 5th Anniversary, io9.com ! Also, Annalee Newitz explains what an io9 IS: http://io9.com/5977774/what-is-an-io9-and-where-did-it-come-from
* Don't miss Naked Dudes Reading Lovecraft at Stage Werks Theatre 2/13 @ 8 pm! Cost is $20. (I'm thinking this one is 18+.) http://www.stagewerx.org/shows.html#dudes
* Pssssst! Hey, you there. . .wanna buy a castle? http://www.businessinsider.com/castle-homes-for-sale-2013-1?op=1
Showing posts with label Humor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Humor. Show all posts
February 05, 2013
August 09, 2012
Overheard in the Store
This is a feature that appears periodically, usually as we attend conventions and overhear things. However, sometimes we overhear amusing tidbits even when we're not attending a convention:
"Sometimes I think I _might_ miss other people, if they'd only stay away longer."
"When you date artists, it's sometimes hard to tell the difference between 'crazy-crazy' and 'artist-crazy'."
"It's okay, run-on sentences are kind of my thing. I write that way, too."
"I'm quite choosey -- I just like everything!"
"Sometimes I think I _might_ miss other people, if they'd only stay away longer."
"When you date artists, it's sometimes hard to tell the difference between 'crazy-crazy' and 'artist-crazy'."
"It's okay, run-on sentences are kind of my thing. I write that way, too."
"I'm quite choosey -- I just like everything!"
July 14, 2012
Ravioli vs. Spaceship
What follows has been floating around the internet for years (oldest reference I found to it is from 1998). Someone just sent it to me (thanks, Chats) and I thought it would be entertaining for our readers. Not being a physicist, I can't speak to the accuracy of the science. However, there's nothing here that seems flatly wrong to me.
And yes, this is geeky as hell. - AB
"There was still one aspect of the whole concept of a ravioli-loaded
railgun type weapon which we, lolling about late on a weeknight, with
only a few neurons randomly firing, could not resolve. Would a chunk
of metal (can of ravioli) impacting another, larger, rest mass
structure (star destroyer) produce an "explosion" effect, or simply
punch an appropriately shaped hole as it passed through? Bill?"
What am I, the neighborhood blast physicist??? Well, maybe... :-)
It all depends on speed of impact versus the speed of sound in the target (what is called the Mach number, where Mach 1 means the speed of sound, Mach 2 is twice the speed of sound, etc), and the speed of the ravioli versus the speed of light in the target (which I'll call the Cerenkov number, where Cerenkov 1 is the speed of light in anything; Cerenkov 1.3 is the speed of high-energy protons in a water-cooled reactor (that's why you get that nifty blue glow), and you can get up to Cerenkov 2.4 using diamonds and nuclear accelerators. In the late 40's people used to talk about Cerenkov numbers, but they don't anymore. Pity.). Lastly, there's the ravioli velocity expressed as a fraction of the speed of light in a vacuum (that is, as a fraction of "c"). "C" velocities are always between 0 and 1.
At low speeds (REAL low) the ravioli will simply flow over the surface, yielding a space-cruiser with a distinctly Italian paint job.
Faster (still well below speed-of-sound in the target) the metal of the space-cruiser's skin will distort downward, making what we Boston drivers call a "small dent".
And yes, this is geeky as hell. - AB
"There was still one aspect of the whole concept of a ravioli-loaded
railgun type weapon which we, lolling about late on a weeknight, with
only a few neurons randomly firing, could not resolve. Would a chunk
of metal (can of ravioli) impacting another, larger, rest mass
structure (star destroyer) produce an "explosion" effect, or simply
punch an appropriately shaped hole as it passed through? Bill?"
What am I, the neighborhood blast physicist??? Well, maybe... :-)
It all depends on speed of impact versus the speed of sound in the target (what is called the Mach number, where Mach 1 means the speed of sound, Mach 2 is twice the speed of sound, etc), and the speed of the ravioli versus the speed of light in the target (which I'll call the Cerenkov number, where Cerenkov 1 is the speed of light in anything; Cerenkov 1.3 is the speed of high-energy protons in a water-cooled reactor (that's why you get that nifty blue glow), and you can get up to Cerenkov 2.4 using diamonds and nuclear accelerators. In the late 40's people used to talk about Cerenkov numbers, but they don't anymore. Pity.). Lastly, there's the ravioli velocity expressed as a fraction of the speed of light in a vacuum (that is, as a fraction of "c"). "C" velocities are always between 0 and 1.
At low speeds (REAL low) the ravioli will simply flow over the surface, yielding a space-cruiser with a distinctly Italian paint job.
Faster (still well below speed-of-sound in the target) the metal of the space-cruiser's skin will distort downward, making what we Boston drivers call a "small dent".
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