Thursday, July 31, 2014

AAPT SM14: Physics Force selected moments in high speed

The Physics Force provided the demo show for AAPT's Summer Meeting 2014 at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. I caught a few moments at 120 fps in HD and posted the compilation to YouTube.

Physics Force AAPT SM14




Sunday, July 27, 2014

My AAPT SM14 photo album begins

Most images are from Sunday's High School Share-a-thon at The American Association of Physics Teachers Summer Meeting 2014 (AAPT SM14) so far.


Monday, July 14, 2014

Yellowstone lightning strike caught on video

The lightning grounded through a tree and the voltage remained high through the conductive root structure. The heating of the surrounding (less conductive) earth was rapid and intense, resulting in what look like explosive pop of soil.

Click to link to the video
(Oh Yahoo News, why must you annoy me so?)

Lightning strike caught on camera at Yellowstone National Park - Lonewolf Sager


Enjoy the curious stat about lightning strike "gender bias". Oh, the original item mentioned that more men than women are struck by lightning. I'm guessing that male golfers are overrepresented among lightning strike victims.

Friday, July 04, 2014

I was bound to do this

So there I was at Victoria Falls, on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia. The Victoria Falls Bridge spans a gorge through which the Zambezi river runs, post falls. We are told the deck of the bridge is 135 meters above the water.

At the midpoint of the bridge there is a low-slung hut through which bungee jumpers are fitted with harnesses and pushed over a precipice. We are told the bungee jumpers plummet 111 meters, though it seems the mileage would vary from one jumper to the next, depending on weight.

I'm much too bashful to reveal my weight, but the bungee operators wrote 111 on my arm after having me stand on a scale. Oh yeah, I signed up for this jump. I teach physics! I was bound to do this.

They harness you quite thoroughly, and cinch your lower calves to each other and attach them to the bungee cord with five carabiners. I was bound to do this.

They help you waddle out over the lip of the diving platform. Then it's "5-4-3-2-1-BUNGEE!" and off you go, into the gorge. But enough jibber-jabber. Let's roll the film.

Victoria Phyz Falls


Was I ever really in danger? As it turns out, yes I was. This very jump dropped an Australian woman into the Zambezi a few years back.

Aussie Tourist's Bungee Cord Snaps


I really only put myself at risk like this so that Dan Burns could generate some nice, personalized physics problems, if he is so inclined. If you think of some, leave them in the comments or email them to me.

Did I mention that I jumped off a bridge?

My African media shoeboxes

The month-long African safari is in progress!

Lightly-processed safari photos are accumulating on Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/phyz/sets/72157645336319582/

Accommodations and other random shots are accumulating here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/phyz/sets/72157644963423317/

Videos are accumulating here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/deanbaird

The blog at Outdoor Safari Photographers. I was/am with them June 16-20 (Machaba), June 28-July 2 (Chobe/Pangolin), and July 5-9 (Elephant Plains).
http://www.odpsafaris.com/blog/#.U7Zt1hY_aGk

Further details when I return.