Starship Asterisk*

Bored with your smart phone? Take it out and have some fun with it. Here's one way.

The folded paper pocket drone

If putting cold water on a hot pan causes it to deform, won't putting hot fire on a cold pan also cause it to deform? I've always tried to follow the advice to not put cold water on a hot pan but it seems futile. In the end, the pan deforms. Maybe it deforms half as fast if you never put cold water on the hot pan.

Moove out of the way. Here comes the world's tallest cow.

http://www.wfsb.com/story/26791381/illi ... allest-cow

Science from Star Trek: A tractor beam.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29708358

Beyond wrote:Science from Star Trek: A tractor beam.

But, this type of beam wouldn't work in a vacuum. It relies on momentum transfer by heated atmospheric molecules bouncing of the target, pushing it in the desired direction.

BDanielMayfield wrote:

Beyond wrote:Science from Star Trek: A tractor beam.

But, this type of beam wouldn't work in a vacuum. It relies on momentum transfer by heated atmospheric molecules bouncing of the target, pushing it in the desired direction.

Hey, ya gotta start somewhere. And besides, how often does anyone on this planet work in a vacuum?

Beyond wrote:

BDanielMayfield wrote:

Beyond wrote:Science from Star Trek: A tractor beam.

But, this type of beam wouldn't work in a vacuum. It relies on momentum transfer by heated atmospheric molecules bouncing of the target, pushing it in the desired direction.

Hey, ya gotta start somewhere. And besides, how often does anyone on this planet work in a vacuum?

My mom worked with a vacuum every day

I remember when my mom didn't have a vacuum. It wouldn't have done her any good anyway, until we got electricity.

Is the recognition of facial features, even in wildly different animals from ourselves, such as spiders, instinctive? I can't remember if anyone ever told me where the eyes on a bug were. It seems plainly obvious; as if I always knew. This is so that I can guess if the other animal is looking at me or not. Does anyone remember ever having to be instructed on where the head and eyes of bugs are? I remember being taught about the extra, smaller ones that spiders have, but the two big ones it seems education wasn't necessary. But someone had to teach me at some point, right?

Vaccuum Fun

I think a lot of news outlets use automatic tools to add images and captions to stories they post online. Sometimes the result is an epic fail. (Of course, this is a Fox source, so maybe it's by design...) An article about some Brazilian whackos who lured women to their house, killed them, and served them up in meat pies. Yummy. And the article is accompanied by an image for what is practically a recipe for empanadas with avocado sauce.

GAZOOKS!! What's for desert? I think I'll skip the main course.

Beyond wrote:GAZOOKS!! What's for desert? I think I'll skip the main course.

I don't know. Even a tough old geezer can be okay with avocado cream, don't you think? (Of course, as an atheist I mainly eat babies.)

Chris Peterson wrote:

Beyond wrote:GAZOOKS!! What's for desert? I think I'll skip the main course.

I don't know. Even a tough old geezer can be okay with avocado cream, don't you think? (Of course, as an atheist I mainly eat babies.)

Sugared or plain?

In some places, turkeys don't take kindly to Thanksgiving!

Build your own little magnetic train.
http://skullsinthestars.com/2014/12/12/ ... tic-train/

A follow-up on squares in nature.
I follow several entomologist photographers on Flickr with great delight. Here is a pair of giant shield bug nymphs by John Horstman, who has been showcasing some terrific little beasties from Pu'er, Yunnan, China lately.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/scie ... /20659917/

How about a nice cool glass of 1 to 2.5 billion year old water?

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30527357
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v5 ... 14017.html

Beyond wrote:How about a nice cool glass of 1 to 2.5 billion year old water?

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30527357

I'd argue that virtually all the water we come into contact with is billions of years old.

Sounds reasonable. Apparently, this water is isolated in the earth and untouched by human hands, IF i read it correctly, so that would make it fresh(?) 1 to 2.5 billion year old water.

Beyond wrote:Sounds reasonable. Apparently, this water is isolated in the earth and untouched by human hands, IF i read it correctly, so that would make it fresh(?) 1 to 2.5 billion year old water.

I guess it hasn't been through the water cycle in that long. Like you say, isolated. So you can learn something about ancient times by looking at contaminants, isotope ratios, and things like that.

If you had eyes with 12 retinas like this shrimp, you could perhaps peer at faint objects in space much better.
http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2015 ... 12-retinas