Comments on: Science resonates throughout the cosmos

By: Crazy Metronomes - Resonance in action « el random

Crazy Metronomes - Resonance in action « el random — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 01:07:30 +0000

[...] net while we visited my in-laws. I’m a little bit of a science buff, so when I saw this on BAD ASTRONOMY I was pretty amazed. It looks kind of lame at first, so stick with it until the magic begins to [...]

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 13 May 2008 06:41:03 +0000

I learned through trial and error that I could drive my new ‘71 Celica down the washboard roads in North Carolina at a certain speed and the ride was as smooth as any paved road, though a lot noisier. It was about 23mph, as I recall, any slower and the car pitched like a bronc, faster and the noise and vibration increased until I was too scared to continue to my goal of 46.

I finally reached the magic 46 by getting to that speed on pavement and holding it when the pavement ran out and dirt began. When going around curves the rear end would slide out and begin thumping at a different rate from the front, until the car straightened out.

Didn’t Mythbusters do this last year?

By: Friday video fun — cool metronome clip « David Kirkpatrick

Friday video fun — cool metronome clip « David Kirkpatrick — Sat, 10 May 2008 04:05:50 +0000

[...] Friday video fun — cool metronome clip Filed under: Media, Science, et.al. — Tags: metronome, momentum, YouTube — davidkirkpatrick @ 2:02 am Great example of momentum resonance effect … (Go check out Phil Plait’s awesome explanation of this video.) [...]

By: Buzz Parsec

Buzz Parsec — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:23:31 +0000

Phil, I know how you feel, I used to know all that stuff, but 99% has vanished. I had a great classical mechanics course in college, could a been a 19th century physicist. BTW, my section leader (teaching fellow) in the course was Alan Sokol, who is currently starring in another thread in this blog. Only thing, I was a junior and Alan was a sophomore at the time! Really bright guy and a very good teacher.

By: JB of Brisbane

JB of Brisbane — Tue, 06 May 2008 02:59:36 +0000

@Phil (Dr Plait) and Hydro -

“Or driven on a dirt road with the ripples in the middle?”

I was not aware of the term “washboard road”, but it is very good imagery. In Australia, we usually refer to the phenomenon as “corrugations”. Now, maybe the Mythbusters can revisit the “drive fast over corrugations” myth on the washboard roads of the Deep South instead of coming all the way to Oz.

By: Lugosi

Lugosi — Mon, 05 May 2008 23:17:25 +0000

A great example of resonance is the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse back in the 40's. The wind hit it just right, started to oscillate, and it went down. Here's the video.

By: BaldApe

BaldApe — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:23:47 +0000

When I took a course on-campus for an otherwise online masters program, the professor said “This is graduate school. If anyone calls me ‘Doctor’ he buys everyone lunch.”

I was dismayed, though, when a response to a letter about calling some PhD “Mister” on air was that it is NPRs policy that only physicians are referred to as “doctor.”