Comments

Record-Breaking Skydive Attempt Fails Again

Michel Fournier's latest attempt at the highest parachute jump record—which was to have taken place this past Memorial Day weekend—has come to an unfortunate end. The $200,000 helium balloon which was to have lifted Fournier and his capsule 130,000 feet into the atmosphere detached unexpectedly as it was inflating and drifted away. The flight and jump was originally to have taken place on Monday, but was postponed due to threatening weather and winds.

Detroit Auto Show 2008 In Photos

The Physics of Animation

San Jose State University is soon going to start offering a class called "Physics of Animation," that aims to teach future animators the proper way to render a leaf falling to the ground or a person walking with a realistic gait. Or a kung-fu fighting panda getting launched into the air by a furry little creature. Physics is a key element of realism, says the course's professor, physicist Alejandro Garcia. Any movie-viewer can spot bad physics, though they might not always recognize what's bothering them. And for all the progress that has been made in animation in the last decade, and all the science homework that effects experts say they do prior to creating scenes, most movies still let through a glitch or two that makes the attentive viewer wince.

Fun With Standing Waves

In this video, we see a dramatic demonstration of standing waves patterns, which form when travelling waves constructively and destructively interfere as they pass through one other.

Ten Times the Turbine

Sky Serpent Cost to Develop: $250,000 Time: 9 years Prototype | | | | | Product Today’s largest wind farms are the size of small towns, made up of turbines 30 stories tall with blades the size of 747 wings. Those behemoths produce a great deal of power, but manufacturing, transporting, and installing them is both expensive and difficult, and back orders are common as the industry grows by more than 40 percent a year. The solution, says inventor Doug Selsam, is to think smaller: Capture more power with less material by putting 2, 10, someday dozens of smaller rotors on the same shaft linked to the same generator.