How to Model Newtons Cradle. I read this before seeing Newton’s Crane Cradle in which the Mythbusters supersize the system. The model assumes conservation of momentum and that the collision is elastic, i.e. kinetic energy is conserved. Assume also that one steel ball cannot pass through another and the solution is determined by simple algebra.
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Irish Class, October 10, 2011
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Helen’s Daughter is about the life of Hermione, daughter of Menelaus and Helen of Troy, and granddaughter of Atreus (Hence the Amazon blurb’s reference to “the curse that haunts her family”). The author, Laura Gill, knows the Mycenaean Greek world very well and tells a gripping and realistic story about what Hermione’s life might actually have been like.
Irish Class, October 3, 2011
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The 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics
“Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice…” *
What will be the final destiny of the Universe? Probably it will end in ice, if we are to believe this year’s Nobel Laureates in Physics. They have studied several dozen exploding stars, called supernovae, and discovered that the Universe is expanding at an ever-accelerating rate. The discovery came as a complete surprise even to the Laureates themselves.
Also see Universe Today and the New York TImes
For background I have some links at Really long range thinking and Long range forecast: Very, very cold and very, very dark,
I know I have been in 5 of these. Perhaps more: I may be repressing some memories.
From Slashdot
Irish Class, September 26, 2011
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Bhí tinneas orm. Ní raibh mé i rang an oíche sin. Ach seo é m’obair bhaile.
From RogueClassicism.
Following up on last night’s post….
Let’s Go Slow on CERN Faster-Than-Light Claims
The skeptics are not simply saying “That’s impossible because it violates relativity.” They are pointing out that it directly contradicts the well established observations of Supernova 1987A. Hence Neutrinos on Speed concludes with a limerick.
Also see xkcd. I should try this: We could use some extra money. Any takers?
This Extraordinary Claim Requires Extraordinary Evidence!
Faster-than-light travel discovered? Slow down, folks
I am waiting to see what Sean at Cosmic Variance has to say.
