February 2012

Posted February 27, 2012

Flying "people":

I think it would have been really creepy to see these shapes flying over New York, but the thing I find most fascinating is that airplanes don't have to be airplane shaped. As long as enough lift can be generated and the over-all configuration is stable in the air, an "airplane" can take on a wide variety of forms. Note that this stunt was an advertisement for the movie Chronicle, which came out earlier this month. YouTube link

Posted February 20, 2012

Canadian Lego man in space:

This is not the first weather balloon trip to "space" I've posted, but this is a nice version. It's important to remember that this is edited footage, the ascent alone probably took an hour. I also appreciate that you can hear and see the bursting of the weather balloon at the end of the video. Finally, bonus points for using Lego … YouTube link

Posted February 13, 2012

Frozen sea:

While the US has been enjoying a much warmer than average winter, Europe has felt a cold snap of surprising intensity and duration. Not only has Tripoli seen the most snow since the 1950s, ice covers many areas that don't see such significant accumulations. This video from Odessa in Ukraine gives a sense of what it's like to stand on the shore of the frozen Black Sea. The sound of ice rubbing on ice is pretty creepy … YouTube link

Posted February 6, 2012

Reaction time:

This video received a lot of attention during the Australian Open because of the spectacular reaction grab by the ball boy. It got me thinking about typical reaction times and how they affect our everyday lives, particularly when driving. A quick search will lead you to websites that allow you to test your own reaction time and compare it to the average (about 0.2 s). YouTube link

Jacob Clark Blickenstaff is Assistant Professor of Physics and Assistant Director of the Center for Science and Mathematics Education at the University of Southern Mississippi.