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Category Archives: Interesting Things
Tablesaw that Won’t Cut Fingers
Sunday, July 19th, 2009
This is one of the greatest inventions I’ve seen in a long time. Using a charge in the saw blade, if it detects capacitance from human flesh it immediately halts and retracts the spinning blade. When pushing wood through at any reasonable speed, it’s supposed to stop before the blade cuts any deeper than 1/16th [...]
The Martini Shot
Thursday, February 26th, 2009
In film making and photography, the Martini shot is the last shot of the day. According to Dave Knox, it is named so because “the next shot is out of a glass”1.
The second to last shot of the day is the Abby Singer shot. As an assistant director, near the end of a day of [...]
US State Adjacency Graph
Thursday, February 19th, 2009
This is pretty cool. From Keenan Pepper, an undirected graph showing each state’s adjacency to other states; excluding Hawaii and Alaska. Probably useful if you ever want to play Risk on a map of the United States.
Technogaianism
Saturday, January 24th, 2009
When it comes to the environment and sustainability, your average hippie will want to live off the grid, farm their own food, and have a minimal if not zeroed carbon footprint. I find that throwing out any technological progress our civilization has made in the interest of the environment is wasteful. Technogaianism offers a much [...]
Jellyfish Lake
Monday, January 12th, 2009
On one of the uninhabited pacific islands of Palau, there is a lake. Once upon a time this lake was connected to the sea. This connection closed and any predators still in the lake died soon after leaving native jellyfish isolated. The jellyfish stingers devolved to the point where they don’t sting human skin, making [...]
The Highest Socially Organized Mammals
Tuesday, December 9th, 2008
The Naked Mole Rat is the only other mammal known to exhibit eusocial behavior; a behavior that would otherwise be exclusive to ants, bees, wasps, termites, and sci-fi sequels from the 80s.
Heterocephalus glaber
A rodent which lives in colonies underground, digging with its enlarged front teeth. Only one female in a colony breed, and her offspring [...]
Finding the Relative Importance of each State in the Electoral College
Thursday, October 30th, 2008
The Banzhaf Power Index is an interesting thing. In a situation where participants (players) in a vote have differing weights, depending on the weights of every player, their relative importance or “power” may be surprising. What the index measures is, in all possible situations, how critical were each player? That is, a critical player is [...]
Why is Booze Measured in Proof?
Wednesday, September 17th, 2008
The proof of an alcoholic beverage is not simply twice the percentage alcohol.
In the 18th century and until 1980, Britain defined alcohol content in terms of proof spirit, which was defined as the most dilute spirit that would sustain combustion of gunpowder.[1] The term originated in the 18th century, when payments to British sailors included [...]
About Quadriplegics
Monday, July 14th, 2008
Quadriplegics can not sweat or shiver, a function of the autonomic nervous system controlled by the spinal cord. This makes them especially sensitive to extreme temperature, as their body has a difficult time maintaining homeostasis.
Something to keep in mind.