The entire observable Universe can be featured because the distance
scale diminishes exponentially the further you go out from the Earth
according to the following scale:
This scale is featured on the version of the illustration that features helpful labels:
Further information on the logarithmic projection for maps is provided by Philippe Rivière including an interactive sample projection centered on Iceland which can be observed as variables are altered:
As
we look further and further away we also look further and further back
in time since light although fast, does take time to travel long
distances. NASA scientist James O'Donoghue created some animations to help visualize the speed of light:
First, light is able to travel 7.5 laps around the Earth every second:
Next we see how long it takes light to go from the Earth to the Moon:
Finally we see how slowly light travels the greater distance from Earth to Mars:
Astoundingly intricate astronomical mechanism retrieved by divers from 45 metres (148 ft) of water in the Antikythera shipwreck off Point Glyphadia on the Greek island of Antikythera(pronounced an-ti-KEE-thur-a) in 1901, and subsequently dated to sometime in the first two centuries BC. Archeology recovers a certain
picture of the past, but can be lopsided if taken to give the full
picture! Too much of the past has simply not survived the rigors of
time as we realize when things like this miraculously do survive. Ancient writings mention devices like this, but none of them or their plans have survived.
"On the left, the front plate includes zodiac and calendar dials and a conjectural reconstruction of the ancient Greek Cosmos.
In the middle is an exploded reconstruction of the gears. The input
contrate gear is in the centre, with a keyway to turn the Mechanism. The
planetary gearing at the front is conjectural, but the gearing behind the main plate for the lunar anomaly mechanism and the back dials is now firmly established. On the upper right is the 19-year Metonic calendar dial and on the lower right, the 223-month Saros eclipse prediction dial."
A schematic
representation of the gearing of the Antikythera Mechanism, including
the latest published interpretation of existing gearing, gearing added
to complete known functions and proposed gearing to accomplish
additional functions, namely true sun pointer and pointers for the five
then-known planets, as proposed by Freeth and Jones, 2012.
Describing the genesis of this computer reconstruction, here is the research paper written by Tony Freeth and Alexander Jones:
This video is a tribute from Swiss clock-maker Hublot and film-maker
Philippe Nicolet to this device, known as the Antikythera Mechanism, or
the world's "first computer":
Antikythera mechanism proves that the ancient
Greeks used complex arrangements of precisely cut wheels to represent
the latest in scientific understanding. It’s also a window into how the
Greeks saw their universe. They came to believe that nature worked
according to predefined rules, like a machine—an approach that forms the
basis of our modern scientific views. Edmunds argues that this
“mechanical philosophy” must have developed as a two-way process. The
ancient mechanics who captured the cosmos in bronze weren’t just
modeling astronomical theories but were also inspiring them.
NOVA Documentary: Antikythera Mechanism The Two Thousand Year Old Ancient Computer:
The Trebuchet is an intriguing medieval device for flinging rocks and other projectiles. It differs from a catapult insofar as it does not use torsion or bending, neither the bending of wood (such as a bow or ballista) nor the torsion of twisted ropes (often seen in Roman catapults). It can be built on huge scales to heave heavy boulders and other massive projectiles.
They also provide an good animated drawing of a hinged counter-weight trebuchet in action:
Perhaps the best way to get to know the trebuchet (considered the most powerful medieval siege engine) is to build one yourself. There are many kits available. A free one that you can make using print-outs on card stock is available from
The Pathfinder Trebuchet under construction. At this point I had glued and pegged together the frame and base as well as the counter-weight box which will eventually be filled with stones. The pegging is done for added strength. At this point the building instructions say to stop and have a snack!
And now the completed model on the dining room floor with special guest star William Shakespeare to suggest the approximate human scale:
And in another close-up picture:
From the dining room floor I was able to hurl a grape into the kitchen, a distance of about 20 feet or 6 meters.
Here is a fun video of a family using the Pathfinder trebuchet on their back deck (and includes a helpful warning about the dangers of standing directly behind the trebuchet):
Once constructed you can make some adjustments to try and get the maximum firing range. You can add or remove stones from the counter-weight box. You can change the length of the string that runs from the sling pouch (that holds the grape) to the top of the throwing arm.
A Virtual Trebuchet is handy to see how changing these various parameters can affect the throwing. Just set the parameters and press the SUBMIT button to fire the trebuchet:
It is also helpful to watching the firing of a full scale trebuchet such as the one we watched being fired in Provence, France:
Or check out what is considered to be the world's biggest trebuchet in action at Warwick Castle:
Daily Planet documents the largest trebuchet in continental Europe and the difficult process of adjusting the firing range:
One of the reasons I started
watching the great series Northern Exposure (about a young New York
doctor exiled to a small Alaskan community) was that I read they had
actually built a trebuchet capable of hurling an old upright piano...
There
are many interesting trebuchet videos on YouTube, including the
following fascinating experimentation with both fixed and hinged
counter-weights:
Trebuchets have appeared in TV shows and movies. The Historian on the Warpath has critiqued a few. First the Game of Thrones trebuchet that appears during the Battle of the Bastards:
The 'scutoid' shape (d) was named in homage to the scutellum
– a posterior portion of the thorax in some insects, which resembles the same mini-triangle shape (e)... Some fun and educational videos about scutoids...
The STEMulus Network: NEW SHAPE DISCOVERED...
Brand new 'scutoid' shape discovered by scientists in skin cells...
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researcher Dr. Robyn Araujo
has developed new mathematics to solve a longstanding mystery of how
the incredibly complex biological networks within cells can adapt and
reset themselves after exposure to a new stimulus.
Abstract : Robustness, and the ability to function and thrive amid changing and
unfavorable environments, is a fundamental requirement for living
systems. Until now it has been an open question how large and complex
biological networks can exhibit robust behaviors, such as perfect
adaptation to a variable stimulus, since complexity is generally
associated with fragility. Here we report that all networks that exhibit
robust perfect adaptation (RPA) to a persistent change in stimulus are
decomposable into well-defined modules, of which there exist two
distinct classes. These two modular classes represent a topological
basis for all RPA-capable networks, and generate the full set of
topological realizations of the internal model principle for RPA in
complex, self-organizing, evolvable bionetworks. This unexpected result
supports the notion that evolutionary processes are empowered by simple
and scalable modular design principles that promote robust performance
no matter how large or complex the underlying networks become.
Einstein and Maxwell were fortunate to find the mathematics they needed already available. When Newton developed his Theory of Gravitation, the mathematics he needed had not been developed, so he invented Calculus. Likewise when Edward Witten began his work on String Theory and M-Theory he had to do pioneering work on many of the mathematical tools required and is the only physicist to win the top award in Mathematics: the Fields Medal. Here is the official Fields citation of his mathematical achievments:
Stephen Hawking in his book The Grand Design co-authored with Leonard Mlodinow notes that:
M-theory is the most general supersymmetric theory of gravity. For these reasons M-theory is the only candidate for a complete theory of the universe.
Jorge Estevez and other members of the Higuayagua Taino community dance
at a festival in New York City. Taino groups have fought against the
idea that indigenous Caribbean islanders died out after European
contact.
On islands in the Gulf of Alaska, ground squirrels are not a recent, human-mediated introduction (as previously thought) and may
have colonized via a natural dispersal event or an ancient
human translocation:
Evidence of human use of ground squirrels on Chirikof Island, Alaska:
(a) parka created by Susan Malutin, Grace Harrod, and community
volunteers for the Alutiiq Museum in 1999, with support from the Alaska
State Museum grant-in-aid program (catalog number AM405; photo by Marnie
Leist); (b) skeletal elements showing cut marks across the occipital
condyle of the cranium; and (c) burning and calcification seen on a
proximal femur, distal humerus, and proximal ulna.
