tingilinde

an andy revkin post on the hunt for the giant squid and beyond

In retirement Andy is continuing his Sustain What? focus.  This is from his current Substack post. Video and an AI derived transcript.

 

 

voice of a starwars fan

A remarkable piece on Industrial Light and Magic in the day. (20 minute video that doesn't embed)

a tip of the hat to John

 

 

accents

london accents through the ages

hang it up

Simone on an interesting coat hanger - a tip of the hat to Greg

properly fixing a lighthouse

Using the old fresnel lens at Montauk Point.

 

a high school student and fermat

A high school student and Carmichael numbers  - a nice piece in Quanta.

snip

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[...] These became known as Carmichael numbers, named after the American mathematician Robert Carmichael. After they were discovered, new questions popped up: Are there other ways to identify Carmichael numbers? Do they have any other special properties? Are there infinitely many of them? If so, how frequently do they occur?

It was this last question that ultimately caught the attention of Daniel Larsen. Mathematicians had proved that there were indeed infinitely many Carmichael numbers, but to show this they had to construct Carmichael numbers that were very far apart. This left open the question of how these infinitely many Carmichael numbers are distributed along the number line. Are they always far apart by their nature, or might they occur with more frequency and regularity than this initial proof showed?

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coyote v acme

One of the classic NYer pieces from 1990

snip

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Mr. Coyote states that on eighty-five separate occasions he has purchased of the Acme Company (hereinafter, “Defendant”), through that company’s mail-order department, certain products which did cause him bodily injury due to defects in manufacture or improper cautionary labelling. Sales slips made out to Mr. Coyote as proof of purchase are at present in the possession of the Court, marked Exhibit A. Such injuries sustained by Mr. Coyote have temporarily restricted his ability to make a living in his profession of predator. Mr. Coyote is self-employed and thus not eligible for Workmen’s Compensation.

Mr. Coyote states that on December 13th he received of Defendant via parcel post one Acme Rocket Sled. The intention of Mr. Coyote was to use the Rocket Sled to aid him in pursuit of his prey. Upon receipt of the Rocket Sled Mr. Coyote removed it from its wooden shipping crate and, sighting his prey in the distance, activated the ignition. As Mr. Coyote gripped the handlebars, the Rocket Sled accelerated with such sudden and precipitate force as to stretch Mr. Coyote’s forelimbs to a length of fifty feet. Subsequently, the rest of Mr. Coyote’s body shot forward with a violent jolt, causing severe strain to his back and neck and placing him unexpectedly astride the Rocket Sled. Disappearing over the horizon at such speed as to leave a diminishing jet trail along its path, the Rocket Sled soon brought Mr. Coyote abreast of his prey. At that moment the animal he was pursuing veered sharply to the right. Mr. Coyote vigorously attempted to follow this maneuver but was unable to, due to poorly designed steering on the Rocket Sled and a faulty or nonexistent braking system. Shortly thereafter, the unchecked progress of the Rocket Sled brought it and Mr. Coyote into collision with the side of a mesa.

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on walking through walls

Greg updates his video..  fine work!

constructing universal germanic dialogs