Ok Equals a Person, or a Ninja...
The origin of the word OK is with American president Martin Van Buren, who was elected in 1836. He would always say everything would be all right, everything would be fine, etc. His nickname was named after his birthplace, Old Kinderhook, New York. So, for short people called him O.K. This then became a substitute for what he stood for, everything will be alright, etc. and thus OK was born. Don’t believe folks who tell you that it is from Okay…
I looked in the mirror this morning, and this is what I found. Who knew 3.14 was a Palindrome? It is clear that some higher being must certainly exist…
Now I find that 3.14 does not actually equal pie… 
What do you see in the mirror?
Have you ever found yourself next to a Rattle Snake? Last year while hiking in the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, I had the opportunity to find myself in that exact situation. Torrey Pines Park is the home of our nation’s rarest pine tree - Pinus torreyana. Once this tree covered a larger area, but the fragile environment it requires now only exists here and on Santa Rosa Island off the coast near Santa Barbara. As my wife and I walked down a trail leading to the ocean, which was completely obscured by an incoming fog bank off the coast, we suddenly heard a very loud buzz. This was a sound I had never heard in my life, and immediately started my heart racing. I jumped backwards and sprinted back up the trail. Turning back, I pulled out my camera and took a few shots before he slithered off into the brush. He was easily over six feet long and as wide as the business end of a baseball bat.
When I got back, I signed my kids up for this great magazine (ZooBooks) that teaches children all about animals. Give it a try, I am sure your kids will love it to.
What happens when you take your Lotus to a garage that does not know what they are doing.
Last week we stopped by the Frederick Fair. It was a fun day in the sun, and we enjoyed peeking in on all the animals. While there, we saw the most peculiar little rooster. Make sure you turn your speakers up and crank the music!
Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, led by Xiang Zhang, have demonstrated for the first time they were able to cloak three-dimensional objects using artificially engineered materials that redirect light around the objects. Underlying the work is the idea that bending visible light around an object will hide it.
XiangZhang said: “In the case of invisibility cloaks or shields, the material would need to curve light waves completely around the object like a river flowing around a rock.” The research, which was heavily funded by the military, will be published in two journals, Nature and Science, later this week.
People can see objects because they scatter the light that strikes them, reflecting some of it back to the eye. Cloaking uses materials, known as metamaterials, to deflect radar, light or other waves around an object, like water flowing around a smooth rock in a stream.
So, to me, the real question is what would YOU use an invisible cloak for? Rob a bank? Peek in on your neighbors? Leave me a comment and tell me what your first act would be if you had an invisible cloak.
A couple weeks ago, I posted that a small company named PowerMat had created a mat that delivered power wirelessly to small appliances like cell phone, shavers, etc. Because the device and the mat still needed to be in contact, I claimed that this was not true wireless power delivery, and declared myself the winner in a bet between myself and friend who we know as Tim. He had claimed that we would soon have wireless power delivery, while I felt that sending power will-nilly through the air was a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Well today, I came across a few new articles. Ok, I did not come across them, Tim sent them to me after realizing that I had claimed victory. Apparently some researchers at MIT lit a 60-watt light bulb by transferring energy through the air from the power delivery base to a device attached to the bulb. The researchers have dubbed their invention, “WiTricity”.
Essentially they have extended induction’s reach by projecting a magnetic field from a length of coiled wire that has two ends almost touching, which forms a gap. This gap forces electrons to travel back and forth through the coil, creating a magnetic field that oscillates at a specific frequency. The device attached to the light bulb has a similar gap with the exact same frequency, thereby allowing it to “pickup” the energy.
Backing my claim, theoretical physicist Douglas Stone of Yale University commented, “The big showstopper for this, would be if people, entities or devices that are not supposed to absorb the radiation do absorb it.” In layman’s terms, that means if you got in the way of a couple hundred watts, you would feel like you stepped into a microwave oven.
Tim also cited several articles, including Pinpoint microwave resolution could lead to wireless power transfer and a Biography of Nikola Tesla which you can read at your leisure. So what do you think, is Tim right and we will soon have wireless power delivery, or am I right and we should just stick to wires?
Today I spotted the new Lotus Mantis in Reston, VA. Apparently Lotus has an innovative new way to keep away any potential bugs in the new design. I am just praying that it will be an affordable option…
Mazda Miata goes for a dive. I am sure everyones first reaction is, “How can you let your car roll into a swimming pool”? But, stuff happens. Good rule to follow is, keep your car in gear, pull your parking brake up firmly, and if on a hill, turn your tires in towards the curb, or up hill.
My first thought was how the heck do you remove a car from a swimming pool? Reminds me of the Lotus Elise submarine…
Oh, that is how you remove it…
At least she had the top up…
Lately I have noticed a disturbing trend on the road. We all know about the infamous Left Lane Bandits that just love to sit in the left lane and poke along at, or below, the speed limit. More and more, I have experienced a situation in which the LLB will wait until you try to pass them on the right hand side, and then magically start speeding up to match your pace. If you keep speeding up to go around them, you find yourself in a 90MPH duel, if you slow down and go back behind them, they resume their snail like pace. Soccer Moms in their 240HP Honda Odyssey seem to be the worst offenders!
Why?