It’ll take a few days for the Canadian accent to fade away… anyway, here are some short things to be aware of.
1) The new Carnival of Space is up at The Bat Page. It’s a good roundup, with a veritable explosion of Tunguska posts. Ha ha.
2) There is a gravity simulator just put online called Universe Sandbox that some people are raving about. Sadly, it’s Windows only, so I can’t use it on my Mac (and no, I won’t install Parallels or Boot Camp or anything like them; there’s a reason I bought a Mac, folks). Still it looks cool.
3) A while back, Chris Comer, who worked for the Texas Education Agency, was fired for sending out an email about an upcoming talk about the failings of creationism and ID from Barbara Forrest. She’s decided to sue TEA for firing her without due process. For icing, the lawsuit also claims — quite correctly — that TEA being neutral on creationism is unconstitutional. Yay!
4) Last week, I wrote about hero Robert Lancaster’s run-in with the evil Sylvia Browne at one of her live shows. He has received some emails from other members of the audience, and one woman who was a supporter of Browne’s has now seen the light after talking to Robert. Yay again!
5) Peter Jackson is making a movie about the Dambusters, allies in WWII who destroyed Axis dams. One key raid was done at full Moon when the water was especially high, to maximize infrastructure damage. To make sure Jackson got his facts straight, he hired an astronomer to calculate the position and appearance of the Moon on that date. Wow. That happens in movies like once every never. Good on ya, Hobbit Man! Tip o’ the beret to BABloggee Damien for sending that news along.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:49 pm
On point #5, I hope you’re not implying some causal link between the full Moon and the *lake* water being high….
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:00 pm
“Sadly, it’s Windows only, so I can’t use it on my Mac (and no, I won’t install Parallels or Boot Camp or anything like them; there’s a reason I bought a Mac, folks). Still it looks cool.”
@Phil, same scenario here… Macs are really great for science, especially a Mac Pro or an Xserve cluster.
@Dan: the causal link is astrology between full Moon and lake water being high. (Sarcasm intended.)
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:03 pm
i love peter jackson, good to see he’s going for accuracy in a world that has none. now when can we expect to see the Hobbit!?!?, LOTR was GTREAT
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Universal Sandbox: Ugh! It requires .Net framework. No, I don’t need another 300MByte MS behemouth cluttering up my system. Too bad, looks interesting.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:21 pm
Blu-Ray-Ven Says:
i love peter jackson, good to see he’s going for accuracy in a world that has none. now when can we expect to see the Hobbit!?!?, LOTR was GTREAT
Jackson won’t be directing, Guillermo Del Toro will be doing it as two movies. The first would be the actual HOBBIT, the second would deal with what happened between the Hobbit and LOTR.
I believe that Jackson will be producing, though.
J/P=?
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:34 pm
“It’ll take a few days for the Canadian accent to fade away… ”
You mean of course it will take a few days for the American accent to kick in. (I’d give it aboot 2 days.)
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Thanks for the Universal Sandbox heads up, I can’t wait to play with it.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Isn’t it more “oat and aboat”? Or is that just over here.
WTF? O and 0 are identical in this new font. How annoying.
Also: Yay! for Reason working!
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:46 pm
That Gravity Simulator is really cool … it even has the Death Star orbiting Endor (even though Endor looks like Earth and the Death Star like a well-known moon in our solar system)!
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:58 pm
The full moon was used for visibility and had nothing to do with the water level.
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Ever see the original Dam Busters? If not, there is one big
reason why, and it involves the name of a dog in the film
that is a big no-no these days.
But kudos to Peter Jackson for actally giving a flying fig
about getting something in astronomy right in a film!
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:10 pm
The Universal Sandbox is really stinking cool. BA, you should find someone with a PC and check it out. It would be a little better if the collisions resulted in fragmentation of the bodies, but maybe they will add an update like that if it does not require a billion MB.
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Oot and Aboot? OOT AND ABOOT???
You totally stole my blog title. I’m clearly the first one in the history of the intertoobs to think that its funny to play on that joke, and use it online.
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:22 pm
There’s so much stuff around these days requiring .Net framework, you might as well install it, it’s worth the effort.
For a similar thing, but less taxing on your hard drive space go here:
http://dan-ball.jp/en/javagame/planet/
I found that through Zandperl’s web site: http://modern-science.blogspot.com/
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:40 pm
and no, I won’t install Parallels or Boot Camp or anything like them; there’s a reason I bought a Mac, folks
Because you like being left out?
It IS a pretty dang cool app.
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Oot and aboot? That’s more of a Newfie dialect, eh. Now, did you get a toque?
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:50 pm
IIRC the water level was what constrained the Dams raid to take place in May at the latest: once spring was over, the water in the reservoirs would no longer be replaced by rainfall as fast as it was consumed, so the level would fall below that required for the bombs to work. The explosives themselves were not sufficient to destroy the structure: hydrostatic stress was also required. In addition, the bombs were detonated by a depth fuze: at a lower water level, that would correspond to a thicker part of the dam wall.
As phunk says, a full moon was needed for the crews to fly to and attack their targets at low level.
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Here’s some REAL Canadian stuff, eh:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=GsgVspgy184
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:58 pm
I remember seeing a documentary on the dam busters, perhaps on The Discovery Channel? It was interesting watching (IIRC) films of their test runs, with barrels of (dummy) explosives bouncing down the lake like a skipping stone. (Or were those just reenactments?)
So, if the water level were too low, the part of the dam hit would be too thick for the bombs to do enough damage? I guess by breaking the top of the dam, there is enough cascade effect to destroy the entire dam by the water behind it?
July 3rd, 2008 at 4:19 pm
I do hope Peter Jackson gets it right. It seems he is doing his research. 617 Squadron was a true Commonwealth squadron. The men came from Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The need for Moon light had to do with their range finder. It consisted of a triangle sheet of plywood with nails forming a triangle on it. When the nails lined up with the towers on the dam that was being targeted they knew they had the range correct. As it was a night mission they wanted to avoid lights of their own. They used two spotlights shining down at the water to figure out their altitude from the water. The average age of the aircrew was 22. The wing comander was an Englishman named Guy Gibson who at age 25 was considered one of the luckiest in bomber comand having survived 172 missions before being sellected to lead the “Dam Busters”. The full Moon was actually the night bombers enemy and accounted for the 56 of the 133 men being lost. It also accounts for Gibson’s last words to his crews before departure, “You’ll all be given posthumous V.C.’s.”
July 3rd, 2008 at 4:24 pm
There were a number of test runs: largely to make sure that the bombs would withstand the forces involved. The drop height was reduced to 60 feet (from 100+) as a result.
Once the bomb had created a small hole, the idea was that water pressure would take care of expanding it into a big one. The depth fuzes had to be set before take-off, but there was a limit to how shallow the explosion could be and still work: if it was too close to the surface, most of the force would just go up. Too deep, and the part of the dam wall it went off by would indeed be too thick.
The “Upkeep” bombs worked well against masonry dams like the Mohne and Eder, not so well against an earthwork dam like the Sorpe, even though a different attack plan was used to try to compensate for that.
July 3rd, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Sandbox looks really interesting, but it still has a lot of bugs and ran sluggish here, and I have a very good video card. Maybe in a few months if it gets more polish.
July 3rd, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Universe Sandbox ran fine for me (A64 2.4ghz dual core , 8800gt graphics card) and is extremely cool! Load the solar system default… throw in a small-ish blackhole… watch the chaos! Muhahaha!
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:52 pm
> and no, I won’t install Parallels or Boot Camp or anything like them; there’s a reason I bought a Mac, folks
So you could evangelize?
A computer is a machine – you buy it to run software. And here’s software you CAN run (and would like to) but simply WONT because of some religious OS fervor? Oh, the irony.
July 3rd, 2008 at 7:40 pm
ARP1234 Said:
“Ever see the original Dam Busters? If not, there is one big reason why, and it involves the name of a dog in the film that is a big no-no these days.”
Actually I had seen the film a bunch of years ago and I was curious about that comment. Via those fonts of all knowledge, first Google leading to wikipedia, I found out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dam_Busters_(film)
The reason is near the bottom of the article. Note this interesting comment which mentions the Jackson to be produced version:
“U.K.’s Channel 4 screened the censored American version in July 2007, in which the dialogue was dubbed so as to call the dog Trigger, this screening taking place just after the 2008 remake was announced. For the remake, Peter Jackson has said no decision has been made on the dog’s name, but is in a “no-win, damned-if-you-do-and-damned-if-you-don’t scenario”, as changing the name could be seen as political correctness, while not changing the name could offend people.[9]. In September 2007, as part of the BBC Summer of British Film series, The Dam Busters was shown at selected cinemas across the UK in its uncut format.”
George
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:01 pm
I’m the creator of Universe Sandbox. Thanks for the positive comments. I’ve been working on it over the last year and have just recently released it for public consumption.
Phil:
Thanks so much for the mention. It’s my understanding that it doesn’t work in Parallels so you would have to try it on a PC. I hope you have the opportunity, as it’s totally educational and right up your alley.
Togan:
Yes… the Endor/Death Star system may look like Earth (same texture), but they are sized to a best guess estimate of their mass and diameter if they really existed.
Cheers,
Dan Dixon
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:20 pm
-1 for the cheesey “oot and aboot” stereotype. Yeah, I know, “get a sense of humour, Craig”, but I have never heard a Canadian say “oot and aboot” and being a red-blooded Canadian, I know a lot of ‘em.
Also, I have several friends who are from The Rock, and they don’t say “oot and aboot” either.
Tangential rhetorical question: Why is it that stuff like this actually bothers a person?
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Some of Tolkien’s meticulousness seems to have rubbed off on Jackson – when Tolkien noticed inconsistencies in the phases and position of the Moon in different scenes, he used a 1942 almanac to make sure every mention of the Moon was astronomically accurate.
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:27 pm
The Dam Busters wiki also mentions Stephen Fry and screenwriter for the remake. Cool.
As far as the dog’s name goes. Different time different sensitivities. The dogs name was what it was. Should they use it or not? If it was an epithet used casually for people then no. Because it was the dog’s name, probably yes. I’m glad I don’t have to decide. Peter Jackson is right though, damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Even if they end up using it it will probably be changed for the US version anyway. Also pleasantly surprised to find that the real dog wasn’t killed in a car accident as depicted in the original movie.
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Craig, Canadians can’t tell when other Canadians are saying it! It only sounds that way to everyone else.
I do tech support. American users always know I’m Canadian when I tell them how to find the version number of their software. When I get to the part where they have to click Help -> Aboot, they figure it out.
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:31 pm
OMG Phil!
Not only are you awesome and inspired me to always be skeptical, you use a MAC!
I always new I liked scientists.
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Sad now. It appears the dog was killed. It just wasn’t a hit-and-run.
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:54 pm
@Brenda Shaw,
Hmm…you probably have a point!
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Wow!! That gravity program is incredible! the first thing I did is explode a planet and put it back together by stopping all velocity.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:53 pm
@Brenda Shaw, I can hear it now with practice. It’s closer to aboat than aboot, but it’s not either one. People who speak French natively have problems with “sh” because “sh” is not a phenome in French. People who didn’t grow up with Canadian raising don’t have the proper phenome in their own dialect, so they hear something different.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:42 pm
The Universe Sandbox is totally amazing. Exactly what I’ve been looking for
Just WOW!
July 4th, 2008 at 12:38 am
I had seen at least one documentary about the Dam Busters as well as most of the original movie on cable. I remember thinking that this could make a nice modern day big budget film. I am glad that it is Peter Jackson who is taking up the challenge.
I wonder if George Lucas was inspired by the Dam Busters when he came up with the rebel assault on the Death Star.
July 4th, 2008 at 3:05 am
Lucas’ main inspiration for the Battle of Yavin were the movies “Battle of Britain” and “633 Squadron.”
July 4th, 2008 at 3:49 am
Dambusters will no doubt be tempered for the demands of the US market, with Flying Fortresses replacing Lancasters, some tough yet sensitive Wing Commander called Hank replacing Guy Gibson, some blonde American love interest waving from the end of the Scampton (PA) runway and Barnes Wallace inventing his bouncing bomb in Sillicon Valley.
I cite in evidence the execrable U571. Everyone involved should have had their legs slapped and been sent to bed without any tea.
PS Looks like Jodrell Bank is safe.
July 4th, 2008 at 4:10 am
The attack on the trench on the Death Star came from The Bridges at Toko-Ri
July 4th, 2008 at 4:26 am
I LOVE Universe Sandbox! I could play all day! Creating and destroying worlds, stars….. Oh The Power! The Power! MuaHaHaHaHa!
July 4th, 2008 at 5:39 am
Ah, perhaps I should have been clear, I’m not the programs creator. Just share a name…
July 4th, 2008 at 6:20 am
@Phil: there’s a reason I bought a Mac
The smug superiority and persecution complex? ‘Cause that’s why I bought mine
July 4th, 2008 at 9:35 am
I have become the destroyer of worlds! Seriously! Universe Sandbox is awesome! I have flung Earth out of the solar system countless times already.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:14 am
The kids spent the morning blowing up the solar system. The death star was a nice touch. Thanks for the link!
July 4th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
[...] FROM THE FIREWORKS–Phil Plait of Bad Astronomy recently linked to this excellent piece of software and I’ve just been having a ball with it. [...]
July 5th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
My little laptop doesn’t seem too happy with the Sandbox – just like he gets warm when playing Youtubes.
But when I tried loading the Solar System, planets flew everywhere and when I found the Sun in was locked in a binary system with Saturn!
Dunno what went wrong, but it didn’t strike me as all the intuitive. Unstalling it now …