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You’re Not Going to Believe What I’m Going To Tell You
from theoatmeal.com/comics/believe_clean
From “You’re Not Going to Believe What I’m Going To Tell You”, from The Oatmeal/ Matthew Boyd Inman.
You’re Not Going to Believe What I’m Going To Tell You.
I’m going to tell you some things.
You’re not going to believe these things that I tell you.
And that’s Ok. You have good reason not to.
But I need you to keep listening, regardless of what you believe.
I don’t care if you’re liberal, conservative, or somewhere in between.
I don’t care if you’re a cat person, a dog person, or a tarantula person.
Morning person or night owl. iPhone or Android. Coke or Pepsi.
I don’t care. All I care about is that you read this to the end.
Sound good? Then let’s begin.
“You’re Not Going to Believe What I’m Going To Tell You”, from The Oatmeal
The neuroscience of changing your mind, by David McRaney
We don’t treat all of our beliefs the same.
If you learn that the Great Wall of China isn’t the only man-made object visible from space, and that, in fact, it’s actually very difficult to see the Wall compared to other landmarks, you update your model of reality without much fuss. Some misconceptions we give up readily, replacing them with better information when alerted to our ignorance.
For others constructs though, for your most cherished beliefs about things like climate change or vaccines or Republicans, instead of changing your mind in the face of challenging evidence or compelling counterarguments, you resist. Not only do you fight belief change for some things and not others, but if you successfully deflect such attacks, your challenged beliefs then grow stronger.
The research shows that when a strong-yet-erroneous belief is challenged, yes, you might experience some temporary weakening of your convictions, some softening of your certainty, but most people rebound and not only reassert their original belief at its original strength, but go beyond that and dig in their heels, deepening their resolve over the long run.
Psychologists call this the backfire effect.
This episode is the first of three shows exploring this well-documented and much-studied psychological phenomenon, one that you’ve likely encountered quite a bit lately.
In this episode, we explore its neurological underpinning as two neuroscientists at the University of Southern California’s Brain and Creativity Institute explain how their latest research sheds new light on how the brain reacts when its deepest beliefs are challenged.
The neuroscience of changing your mind
Physics of Batman: The Dark Knight
Let’s assume that the memory fiber used in “The Dark Knight” is real.
In the movie it is used to change the shape of a cape into wings with the application of an electrical current.
No such material yet exists, but materials scientists are getting close.
If this kind of fabric existed, would it work? What kind of forces would this put on the human body?
(Remember: For every force there is an equal and opposite force – this is one of Newton’s laws.)
http://www.popsci.com/entertainment-%2526-gaming/article/2008-08/physics-batman
Adapted from “The Physics of Batman: The Dark Knight – High Dive”, Adam Weiner, 08.15.2008
Let’s start with the basic situation: Batman spreads the cape-wings & moves into a circular path.
Therefore his motion goes from vertical to mostly horizontal.
The force of air resistance increases dramatically when he expands these wings.
This force turns his linear path into a circular path.
This inward pointing force is a centripetal force.
Law of physics: No object travels in a circular path (Newton’s 1st law), unless some force continually pulls it radially inward.
The balance of inertia and a radially inward force can create circular motion.
Centripetal force depends on the radius of the curve (r) and the radial velocity (v)
F = mv2/r
When a glider – or a Batwing – is bent into the wind, one can use the force to deflect the glider, plane or Batman.
Red arrow to upper right = “lift” (due to the wind hitting the wings)
Red arrow down = weight
Horizontal green arrow is the horizontal component of lift (aka centripetal force)
Vertical green arrow is the vertical component of lift. (If it is big enough then one can glide for long periods of time)
What about Newton’s 3rd law of motion?
To hold his arms out, Batman has to exert the same force back on the air.
So while he moves in a circle, we can calculate the force that will be exerted on Batman’s arms.
circle radius = 20 meters
man + equipment mass = 80 kg
speed remains constant during this turn
Let’s estimate the force on Batman’s arms as he sweeps through the bottom of the arc.
F = weight + centripetal force
F = m g + m v2/r = m ( g + v2/r )
= 80 kg (9.8 m/s2 + [40 m/s]2 /20 m) = 7200 N
= about 1600 pounds
This means that Batman has to hold 800 pounds on each arm!
Imagine lying on your back, on a workout bench, holding your arms out and having 800 pounds of weights placed on each one! This is probably impossible for someone to do without super-strength.
Perhaps there is a way out of this. Maybe there are some hinges that connect the wings to the Bat suit. If so, then these hinges could be doing some of the supporting, rather than Batman’s arms.
Cartoon Laws of Physics
Cartoon Law I
Any body suspended in space will remain in space until made aware of its situation.
Daffy Duck steps off a cliff, expecting further pastureland. He loiters in midair, soliloquizing flippantly, until he chances to look down. At this point, the familiar principle of 32 feet per second per second takes over.
Cartoon Law II
Any body in motion will tend to remain in motion until solid matter intervenes suddenly.
Whether shot from a cannon or in hot pursuit on foot, cartoon characters are so absolute in their momentum that only a telephone pole or an outsize boulder retards their forward motion absolutely. Sir Isaac Newton called this sudden termination of motion the stooge’s surcease.
Cartoon Law III
Any body passing through solid matter will leave a perforation conforming to its perimeter.
Also called the silhouette of passage, this phenomenon is the speciality of victims of directed-pressure explosions and of reckless cowards who are so eager to escape that they exit directly through the wall of a house, leaving a cookie-cutout-perfect hole. The threat of skunks or matrimony often catalyzes this reaction.
Cartoon Law IV
The time required for an object to fall twenty stories is greater than or equal to the time it takes for whoever knocked it off the ledge to spiral down twenty flights to attempt to capture it unbroken.
Such an object is inevitably priceless, the attempt to capture it inevitably unsuccessful.
Cartoon Law V
All principles of gravity are negated by fear.
Psychic forces are sufficient in most bodies for a shock to propel them directly away from the earth’s surface. A spooky noise or an adversary’s signature sound will induce motion upward, usually to the cradle of a chandelier, a treetop, or the crest of a flagpole. The feet of a character who is running or the wheels of a speeding auto need never touch the ground, especially when in flight.
Cartoon Law VI
As speed increases, objects can be in several places at once.
This is particularly true of tooth-and-claw fights, in which a character’s head may be glimpsed emerging from the cloud of altercation at several places simultaneously. This effect is common as well among bodies that are spinning or being throttled. A ‘wacky’ character has the option of self- replication only at manic high speeds and may ricochet off walls to achieve the velocity required.
Cartoon Law VII
Certain bodies can pass through solid walls painted to resemble tunnel entrances; others cannot.
This trompe l’oeil inconsistency has baffled generations, but at least it is known that whoever paints an entrance on a wall’s surface to trick an opponent will be unable to pursue him into this theoretical space. The painter is flattened against the wall when he attempts to follow into the painting. This is ultimately a problem of art, not of science.
Cartoon Law VIII
Any violent rearrangement of feline matter is impermanent.
Cartoon cats possess even more deaths than the traditional nine lives might comfortably afford. They can be decimated, spliced, splayed, accordion-pleated, spindled, or disassembled, but they cannot be destroyed. After a few moments of blinking self pity, they reinflate, elongate, snap back, or solidify.
Corollary: A cat will assume the shape of its container.
Cartoon Law IX
Everything falls faster than an anvil.
Cartoon Law X
For every vengea nce there is an equal and opposite revengeance.
This is the one law of animated cartoon motion that also applies to the physical world at large. For that reason, we need the relief of watching it happen to a duck instead.
Cartoon Law Amendment A
A sharp object will always propel a character upward.
When poked (usually in the buttocks) with a sharp object (usually a pin), a character will defy gravity by shooting straight up, with great velocity.
Cartoon Law Amendment B
The laws of object permanence are nullified for “cool” characters.
Characters who are intended to be “cool” can make previously nonexistent objects appear from behind their backs at will. For instance, the Road Runner can materialize signs to express himself without speaking.
Cartoon Law Amendment C
Explosive weapons cannot cause fatal injuries.
They merely turn characters temporarily black and smoky.
Cartoon Law Amendment D
Gravity is transmitted by slow-moving waves of large wavelengths.
Their operation can be wittnessed by observing the behavior of a canine suspended over a large vertical drop. Its feet will begin to fall first, causing its legs to stretch. As the wave reaches its torso, that part will begin to fall, causing the neck to stretch. As the head begins to fall, tension is released and the canine will resume its regular proportions until such time as it strikes the ground.
Cartoon Law Amendment E
Dynamite is spontaneously generated in “C-spaces” (spaces in which cartoon laws hold).
The process is analogous to steady-state theories of the universe which postulated that the tensions involved in maintaining a space would cause the creation of hydrogen from nothing. Dynamite quanta are quite large (stick sized) and unstable (lit). Such quanta are attracted to psychic forces generated by feelings of distress in “cool” characters (see Amendment B, which may be a special case of this law), who are able to use said quanta to their advantage. One may imagine C-spaces where all matter and energy result from primal masses of dynamite exploding. A big bang indeed.
© 1997 William Geoffrey Shotts. Last update: Thursday, December 4, 1997
Hovercraft build project
Essential Questions:
How do objects move in response to forces? (Mechanics/kinematics)
How does energy relate to the motion of objects?
When building a hovercraft, where does the energy from the hovercraft initially come from?
Where and how is this energy stored?
How is this stored energy turned into kinetic energy (the energy of the craft in motion)?
Shown: Kits from Kelvin Educational
I. Build and demonstrate a hovercraft, or
II. Write a typed report, with a cover page, 3 double-spaced pages of text, and 1 page of citations/references, on what a hovercraft is, how they work, and how they use Newton’s laws of motion, or
III. Create a computer presentation on what a hovercraft is, how they work, and how they use Newton’s laws of motion. Present it to the class.
Grading (customize as needed)
The hovercraft should not be pushed at the start.
It cannot be adjusted after it starts, except by remote control.
A remote control, if used, must be wireless. (i.e. no strings!)
Each foot the craft moves gains 10%. If it goes 10 feet you get a grade of 100%.
If it goes 20+ feet, then you get 105%. If it goes more 30+ feet then you get 110%.
How to build your own hovercraft
Photos from a hovercraft project
Build a remote control hovercraft!
Can a hovercraft go up the walls?
A simple to build project
Mod your toy helicopter; turn it into a hovercraft
Kelvin Educational Kits
Kelvin Educational online catalog
EGR 100 — Hovercraft Design Project: College freshmen majoring in engineering build and design hovercrafts
http://www.eng.uab.edu/me/faculty/amcclain/hovercrafts.html
Hovercraft calculator – used only for building larger hovercraft that can actually carry passengers.
http://www.olshove.com/HoverHome/hovcalc.html
Learning Standards
Next Generation Science Standards
DCI – Energy is a quantitative property of a system that depends on the motion and interactions of matter and radiation within that system. That there is a single quantity called energy is due to the fact that a system’s total energy is conserved, even as, within the system, energy is continually transferred from one object to another and between its various possible forms.
Conservation of energy means that the total change of energy in any system is always equal to the total energy transferred into or out of the system.
Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but it can be transported from one place to another and transferred between systems.
Mathematical expressions, which quantify how the stored energy in a system depends on its configuration (e.g., relative positions of charged particles, compression of a spring) and how kinetic energy depends on mass and speed, allow the concept of conservation of energy to be used to predict and describe system behavior.
The availability of energy limits what can occur in any system.
Next Generation Science Standards: Science – Engineering Design (6-8)
• Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework
HS-ETS4-5(MA). Explain how a machine converts energy, through mechanical means, to do work. Collect and analyze data to determine the efficiency of simple and complex machines.
HS-PS3-3. Design and evaluate a device that works within given constraints to convert one form of energy into another form of energy.
• Emphasis is on both qualitative and quantitative evaluations of devices.
• Examples of devices could include Rube Goldberg devices, wind turbines, solar cells, solar ovens, and generators.
Appendix VIII Value of Crosscutting Concepts and Nature of Science in Curricula
Cause and Effect: Mechanism and Explanation. Events have causes, sometimes simple, sometimes multifaceted. A major activity of science and engineering is investigating and explaining causal relationships and the mechanisms by which they are mediated. Such mechanisms can then be tested across given contexts and used to predict and explain events in new contexts or design solutions.
Mousetrap racer build project
Your task is to build a mousetrap powered car!
It can be built from wood, paper, plastic, metal, erector sets, pens, rulers, old toys, Legos, and other materials.
We need a fair comparison between race cars. Therefore it must be powered by only 1 mousetrap.
You may not modify the mousetrap, such as by over-winding the metal coil, because that would unfairly increase its potential energy storage.
A rat trap, or trap for any other animal, is not safe or acceptable.
2 people may collaborate to make 1 car.
If you do not have your car on the day that it is due, you lose 5 points per day.
I suggest working in groups, making your own local mousetrap racer “factory”. This approach is easier and more fun.
Clearly print your names somewhere on the car!
Giving time to do this
Day 1 – We introduce the project, discuss the physics and engineering principles, show some videos and photos.
Day 2 – (Which could be any day that fits our class schedule) – Have students bring in the building materials they have procured so far. Also, as a teacher I will help make materials available in class. Both teacher and some volunteer students will show in class how to assemble a mousetrap racer. The way that it is shown in class is not the only way to do it.
Day 3 – Classroom build. Students individually or in pairs work on the mousetrap racer. First start off with a brief review of physics principles – storing energy as PE, simple machines, how mechanical devices can transform PE into kinetic energy, etc.
Day 4 – Run the mousetrap racers! Find a long hallway with a smooth floor. We will have competitions:
(A) Fastest: Which car goes to the finish line in the shortest amount of time?
(B) Furthest distance: Which car goes the furthest?
Much information on mouse trap racers is available online. However, you may not use a kit to build your racer.
Instructables (several ideas here)
Mousetrap cars and kits from Doc Fizzix. Great for ideas
Gallery of great mousetrap racers. from UCI Summer Science Institute
What is a mousetrap powered car? How does it work?
It is a vehicle powered by a mousetrap spring. We tie one end of a string to the tip of a mousetrap’s snapper arm, and the other end of the string has a loop that is designed to “catch” a hook that is glued to a drive axle.
Once the loop is placed over the axle hook, the string is wound around the drive axle by turning the wheels in the opposite direction to the vehicle intended motion.
As the string is wound around the axle, the lever arm is pulled closer to the drive axle causing the mousetrap’s spring to “wind-up” and store energy.
When the drive wheels are released, the string is pulled off the drive axle by the mousetrap, causing the wheels to rotate.
How do you build a mouse trap powered racer?
There is no one “right way” to build a mousetrap powered vehicle. The first step to making a good mouse trap powered car is simple: put something together and find out how it works.
Once you have something working you can begin to isolate the variables that are affecting the performance and learn to adjust to improve your results.
Build, test, have fun spectacular failures, and improve, just like SpaceX rockets.
What’s the difference between a FAST Racer and a LONG distance traveler?
When you build a mouse-trap car for distance, you want a small energy consumption per second or a small power usage. Smaller power outputs will produce less wasted energy and have greater efficiency.
When you build a vehicle for speed, you want to use your energy quickly or at a high power output.
We change the power ratio of a vehicle by changing one or all of the following:
* where the string attaches to the mouse-trap’s lever arm
* the drive wheel diameter
* the drive axle diameter.
The amount of energy released by using a short lever arm or a long lever arm is the same, but the length of the lever arm will determine the rate at which the energy is released and this is called the power output.
Long lever arms decrease the pulling force and power output but increase the pulling distance.
Short lever arms increase the pulling force and the power output by decrease the pulling distance but increasing the speed.
Building for speed
If you are building a mouse-trap car for speed, you will want to maximize the power output to a point just before the wheels begin to spin-out on the floor. Maximum power output means more energy is being transferred into energy of motion in a shorter amount of time. Greater acceleration can be achieved by having a short length lever arm and/or by having a small axle to wheel ratio.
Building for distance
Minimize the power output or transfer stored energy into energy of motion at a slow rate. This usually means having a long lever arm and a large axle-to-wheel ratio.
If you make the lever arm too long, you may not have enough torque through the entire pulling distance to keep the vehicle moving, in which case you will have to attach the string to a lower point or change the axle-to wheel ratio.
Supplies
Most parts can be scavenged from toys, or recycled materials. You may also consider stores such as Michael’s Art Supply, Home Depot, or A. C. Moore. Mousetraps are available in 2 packs, for less than $2, from supermarkets.
Learning Standards
Next Generation Science Standards
DCI – Energy is a quantitative property of a system that depends on the motion and interactions of matter and radiation within that system. That there is a single quantity called energy is due to the fact that a system’s total energy is conserved, even as, within the system, energy is continually transferred from one object to another and between its various possible forms.
Conservation of energy means that the total change of energy in any system is always equal to the total energy transferred into or out of the system.
Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but it can be transported from one place to another and transferred between systems.
Mathematical expressions, which quantify how the stored energy in a system depends on its configuration (e.g., relative positions of charged particles, compression of a spring) and how kinetic energy depends on mass and speed, allow the concept of conservation of energy to be used to predict and describe system behavior.
The availability of energy limits what can occur in any system.
Next Generation Science Standards: Science – Engineering Design (6-8)
• Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework
HS-ETS4-5(MA). Explain how a machine converts energy, through mechanical means, to do work. Collect and analyze data to determine the efficiency of simple and complex machines.
HS-PS3-3. Design and evaluate a device that works within given constraints to convert one form of energy into another form of energy.
• Emphasis is on both qualitative and quantitative evaluations of devices.
• Examples of devices could include Rube Goldberg devices, wind turbines, solar cells, solar ovens, and generators.
Appendix VIII Value of Crosscutting Concepts and Nature of Science in Curricula
Cause and Effect: Mechanism and Explanation. Events have causes, sometimes simple, sometimes multifaceted. A major activity of science and engineering is investigating and explaining causal relationships and the mechanisms by which they are mediated. Such mechanisms can then be tested across given contexts and used to predict and explain events in new contexts or design solutions.
Suggested reading
..I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.
~Anna Quindlen, “Enough Bookshelves,” New York Times, 7 August 1991
I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.
~Groucho Marx
The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.
~ Mark Twain
Classic Fiction
At the Mountains of Madness, The Complete Works of Howard Philips Lovecraft, Arkham House, Wisconsin
Here are all the novels of Howard Phillips Lovecraft in one volume: At the Mountains of Madness, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, The Shunned House, The Dreams in the Witch House, The Statement of Randolph Carter, The Silver Key, and Through the Gates of the Silver Key.
“The Annotated Hobbit”, J. R. R. Tolkien
Annotated by Douglas A. Anderson, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002
Fiction (cautionary)
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury, 1953
This dystopian novel presents a future American society where books are outlawed and “firemen” burn any that are found. The lead character, Guy Montag, is a fireman who becomes disillusioned with his role of censoring literature and destroying knowledge.
Despite its popularity it is widely misunderstood book: Books, in general, are not banned in Fahrenheit 451! They have cookbooks, manuals, magazines, reality TV show articles – what is banned are books with ideas, themes, and anything that proposes a particular point of view unless it is acceptable to everyone. In this novel the government does not censor books – censorship came from multiple groups, from the ground up, till it became a societal norm
Ray Bradbury writes
The point is obvious. There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches. Every [political, religious, ethnic, social] minority… feels it has the will, the right, the duty to douse the kerosene, light the fuse. Every dimwit editor who sees himself as the source of all dreary blanc‐mange plain porridge unleavened literature, licks his guillotine and eyes the neck of any author who dares to speak above a whisper or write above a nursery rhyme….
Fire‐Captain Beatty, in my novel Fahrenheit 451, described how the books were burned first by minorities, each ripping a page or a paragraph from this book, then that, until the day came when the books were empty and the minds shut and the libraries closed forever.
– Ray Bradbury, Coda to the 1979 Del Rey edition
“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”
Also see Fahrenheit 451 Misinterpreted
1984, George Orwell, 1949
Newspeak, doublethink, thoughtcrime – in 1984, George Orwell created a whole vocabulary of words concerning totalitarian control that have since passed into our common vocabulary. More importantly, he has portrayed a chillingly credible dystopia. In our deeply anxious world, the seeds of unthinking conformity are everywhere in evidence; and Big Brother is always looking for his chance. – Daniel Hintzsche
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley, 1932
A dystopian social science fiction novel, 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State, all people are engineered into an intelligence-based social hierarchy. The novel anticipates scientific advancements in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation and classical conditioning that are combined to make a dystopian society which is challenged by only a single individual: the story’s protagonist.
Harrison Bergeron, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., 1961
A classic dystopian short story in which every American is forced to be equal and average by the Handicapper General. It illuminates explains the tyranny of forced egalitarianism.
Animal Farm, George Orwell, 1945
An allegorical novella which tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy. Ultimately the rebellion becomes perverted by individuals seeking power for themselves. The farm ends up in a state as bad as it was before, under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon. According to Orwell, the fable reflects events leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 and then on into the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union.
Society and culture
The Souls of Black Folk, W. E. B. Du Bois
A seminal work in African American literature and an American classic. Du Bois proposes that “the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line.” His concepts of life behind the veil of race and the resulting “double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others,” have become touchstones for thinking about race in America. He offers an assessment of the progress of the race, obstacles to progress, and possibilities for future progress as the nation entered the twentieth century.
DuBois eloquently advocates for a classical education – “I sit with Shakespeare, and he winces not. Across the color line I move arm and arm with Balzac and Dumas, where smiling men and welcoming women glide in gilded halls. From out of the caves of evening that swing between the strong-limbed Earth and the tracery of stars, I summon Aristotle and Aurelius and what soul I will, and they come all graciously with no scorn nor condescension. So, wed with Truth, I dwell above the veil.”
The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today’s Students, Allan Bloom, 1987
The author criticizes the supposed openness of relativism in academia and society, as leading paradoxically to the great “closing” referenced in the book’s title. In Bloom’s view, “openness” and absolute understanding undermine critical thinking and eliminate the “point of view” that defines cultures.
The Western Canon
The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages, Harold Bloom
Increasingly people on college campuses are advocating the removal of the last 3000 years of great classics from our university curriculum. Instead of evaluating each work separately, books are collectively being condemned as being written by ‘dead white males,’ and thus problematic.
What’s astonishing is that many of these “dead white males” are the classic philosophers of ancient Greek, Arab and Jewish culture, most of whom wouldn’t be considered “white” by white supremacist groups.
Great philosophers – Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Maimonides, and Ibn al-Haytham didn’t write about subjects based from a male or white perspective. Rather, they asked questions about the nature of reality, truth, and justice. They asked readers to critically analyze the nature of the world that we live in. They asked people to stop always accepting things that they were told at face value, and instead to inquire as to whether claims could be proved by fact and reason.
Critical thinking
“How To Think About Weird Things” Schick and Vaughn
Teaches us to think critically about the many New Age claims and beliefs that abound in our culture. In an examination of over 60 paranormal, supernatural, or mysterious phenomena, the authors focus on types of logical arguments and types of proofs. This is a versatile supplement for logic, critical reasoning, and philosophy of science courses.
Science
“Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman”, Richard Feynman
The outrageous exploits of one of this century’s greatest scientific minds and a legendary American original. In this phenomenal national bestseller, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard P. Feynman recounts in his inimitable voice his adventures trading ideas on atomic physics with Einstein and Bohr and ideas on gambling with Nick the Greek, painting a naked female toreador, accompanying a ballet on his bongo drums and much else of an eyebrow-raising and hilarious nature. A New York Times bestseller; more than 500,000 copies sold.
“Quantum Reality” Nick Herbert, Anchor books.
This clearly explained layman’s introduction to quantum physics is an accessible excursion into metaphysics and the meaning of reality. Herbert exposes the quantum world and the scientific and philosophical controversy about its interpretation.
History and ethics
“The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness, Revised and expanded edition”, Simon Wiesenthal
While imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, Simon Wiesenthal was taken one day from his work detail to the bedside of a dying member of the SS. Haunted by the crimes in which he had participated, the soldier wanted to confess to–and obtain absolution from–a Jew. Faced with the choice between compassion and justice, silence and truth, Wiesenthal said nothing. But even years after the way had ended, he wondered: Had he done the right thing? What would you have done in his place?
In this important book, fifty-three distinguished men and women respond to Wiesenthal’s questions. They are theologians, political leaders, writers, jurists, psychiatrists, human rights activists, Holocaust survivors, and victims of attempted genocides in Bosnia, Cambodia, China and Tibet. Wiesenthal’s questions are not limited to events of the past.
“Lies My Teacher Told Me” James Loewen, Touchstone Books, New Press
Americans have lost touch with their history, and in this thought-provoking book, Professor James Loewen shows why. After surveying twelve leading high school American history texts, he has concluded that not one does a decent job of making history interesting or memorable. Marred by an embarrassing combination of blind patriotism, mindless optimism, sheer misinformation, and outright lies, these books omit almost all the ambiguity, passion, conflict, and drama from our past.
From the truth about Columbus’s historic voyages to an honest evaluation of our national leaders, Loewen revives our history, restoring to it the vitality and relevance it truly possesses. Winner of the 1996 American Book Award and the Oliver Cromwell Cox Award for Distinguished Anti-Racist Scholarship
Just and Unjust Wars, Michael Walzer, Basic Books
Is it ever ethical to fight a defensive war or an offensive war? If so, then under what circumstances? Prof. Walzer takes us through the morality and immorality of many ancient wars, the two world wars, the Vietnam war, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Persian Gulf war, and in the third edition of this book, the war in former Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Kosovo. “A classic treatment of the morality of war written by one of our country’s leading philosophers, with a new introduction considering the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo.
Just and Unjust Wars examines a variety of conflicts in order to understand exactly why, according to Walzer, “the argument about war and justice is still a political and moral necessity.” Walzer’s classic work draws on historical illustrations that range all the way from the Athenian attack on Melos to this morning’s headlines, and uses the testimony of participants-decision makers and victims alike-to examine the moral issues of warfare.”
Fun books about science, build projects, and science in movies:
There are so many great books that I put them in a separate section: Science books
.
Liver
The liver is a multifunction organ. Has these jobs:
Part of the digestive system
Detoxification
Stores energy
Produces cholesterol
Produces bile to break down fats
Liver produces bile, a detergent that breaks up fat into small particles.
Bile is stored in the gallbladder, and released when you are digesting a meal.
Here we see bile salts emulsifying a globule of fat.
from pathwayz.org
Detoxification
“Almost all the blood in your body passes through the liver.”
US Dept of Veterans Affairs, Liver as Filter
“As blood passes through the liver, it breaks down substances, such as prescription or over-the-counter drugs, street drugs, alcohol, and caffeine.”
“Our bodies naturally produce some harmful (toxic) chemicals or poisons, and those are also broken down by the liver.”
“In this way the liver acts as a filter to clean your blood.”
Energy storage in glycogen
The liver takes excess sugars and links them together into a large molecule called glycogen.
Glycogen is stored until energy is needed.
Image from National 5 Biology, nat5biopl.edubuzz.org
Makes cholesterol
The liver makes cholesterol.
Contrary to popular belief, cholesterol is not bad for you: In fact, you’d instantly stop living if you didn’t have any in your body. All cell membranes in animals have some cholesterol as part of their structure. And many critical hormones are made by using cholesterol as a starting point.
Why do people think that cholesterol is bad? Over the last 200 years the American diet has changed. People now have vastly less whole foods, vegetables, whole grains, fruits, beans and legumes, and instead now eat more fatty foods, and more cholesterol-rich meats. As a result, most people now have far more cholesterol in their bodies than is necessary, and for some people, high levels of cholesterol increase the risk of many diseases.
The solution is not to make our bodies cholesterol-free; the solution is to change one’s diet to reduce the excess added cholesterol.
Cholesterol used to build bile
from Wikimedia by Mcstrother. CC BY 3.0
Cholesterol used to build hormones
Cholesterol used in all cell membranes
Image from sliderbase.com/spitem-808-1.html
References
Cholesterol & heart disease – there is a relationship, but it’s not what you think
Kidshealth.org – Liver
How does bile break up fat?
Think of washing dishes after dinner, without using detergent. Very hard to clean the plates. The fats in your food aren’t water soluble, so they clump together, stick to surfaces, and are hard to remove.
Now add detergent: that’s a two-sided molecule. One side attracts water, while the other side attracts a fat. Once the water, fat and detergent are all held together, it is easy for fats to dissolve. Dishes can be cleaned.
Same thing for digesting food. Your body can’t digest clumped up fats. Your digestive enzymes only touch the fats on the outside of clumps. But now that we add bile, it acts like a detergent. Water and fat are held together, so the clumps break up, and the small bits are now easily digested.
Diffraction
I: adapted from Giancoli Physics
Waves spread as they travel. When waves encounter an obstacle, they bend around it and pass into the region behind it. This phenomenon is called diffraction.
The amount of diffraction depends on the λ (wavelength) of the wave and on the size of the obstacle:
(a) λ is much larger than the object. Wave bends around object almost as if it is not there.
(b) and (c) the λ is shorter than the size of the object. There’s more of a “shadow” region behind the obstacle where we might not expect the waves to penetrate — but they do, at least a little.
(d) the obstacle is the same as in part (c) but the λ is longer. More diffraction around object.
Rule: Only when λ is smaller than the size of the object will there be a shadow region.
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II. Here we see water waves undergoing diffraction around an island.
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Sound waves can diffract in unusual and unexpected ways. See our article on anomalous sounds
Even light itself can diffract! See our article on light’s wave nature.
Giancoli Physics, Chap 24, The Wave Nature of Light
Fresnel diffraction
French scientist, Augustin-Jean Fresnel,
Discovering Fresnel diffraction: The Greatest Mistake In The History Of Physics
Real life application: Diffraction in Boston Harbor
from bostonfoodandwhine.com
As part of the Central Artery/Tunnel project – the Big Dig – Applied Coastal Research and Engineering did research on wave diffraction in Boston Harbor, around Spectacle Island.
…A detailed beach nourishment design was developed for the southern shoreline of Spectacle Island, which is located within Boston Harbor… The propagation of waves from Massachusetts Bay into Boston Harbor was modeled using the refraction/diffraction model REF/DIF1. This model predicts the transformation of waves in areas where bathymetry is irregular and where diffraction is important, such as at Spectacle Island. The resulting wave heights, periods, and directions were used as input to both longshore and cross-shore sediment transport models. These models were employed to simulate the performance of several different beach fill designs…
Beach Nourishment Design for Spectacle Island
This map is from mass.gov/eea/images/dcr
Learning Standards
2016 Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Framework
HS-PS4-1. Use mathematical representations to support a claim regarding relationships among the frequency, wavelength, and speed of waves traveling within various media. Recognize that electromagnetic waves can travel through empty space (without a medium) as compared to mechanical waves that require a medium
SAT subject test in Physics: Waves and optics
• General wave properties, such as wave speed, frequency, wavelength, superposition, standing wave diffraction, and Doppler effect
• Reflection and refraction, such as Snell’s law and changes in wavelength and speed
• Ray optics, such as image formation using pinholes, mirrors, and lenses
• Physical optics, such as single-slit diffraction, double-slit interference, polarization, and color
Anomalous sounds
Here’s an actual news story: “Loud booms heard across Southern New Hampshire: Source of the noise still unclear.”
Nashua police say they don’t know what caused several loud “booms” Saturday afternoon that were heard across Southern New Hampshire. Many reports came from Nashua and surrounding towns, but the sounds were reported as far north as Manchester and as far south as Westford, Massachusetts. Some who heard it in Nashua said they felt their houses shake. Police and fire departments said they have not been alerted to any incidents related to the noise in the area. The cause is still unclear.
– WMUR 9 News. (An ABC affiliated TV station) 2/10/18
How is it possible that such loud, possibly building shaking sounds could be heard in some parts of this town – yet in other parts of the city other residents reported no sound? Also, in a town next door no reports have yet surfaced of anyone hearing them – yet in a town after that, some residents also reported these booming sound.
The answer? It’s complicated, but basically:
(a) there are a wide variety of ways that sounds are produced – including some bizarre ways that most people have never heard of
(b) Sound waves don’t always move in a straight path like many people imagine; changing temperature/density of the air can cause sound waves to bend and diffract, so:
(b1) sound can sometimes travel much further distances than one would expect
(b2) sound can come from a location very different from what “seems obvious” just by listening
(b3) local wind can mask sound, so the same loud sound might be heard in one neighborhood, yet be undetectable by people just a mile away.
Basic physics idea:
Right off the bat, let’s realize that sound doesn’t move in a straight line: It spreads out radially from it’s source, and then – because of a phenomenon known as diffraction – it can even bend around obstacles.
Source: Hyperphysics, Diffraction of sound, http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/
“If the air above the earth is warmer than that at the surface, sound will be bent back downward toward the surface by refraction.” – Hyperphysics
Normally, only sound initially directed toward the listener can be heard, but refraction can bend sound downward – effectively amplifying the sound. This can occur over cool lakes.
Sounds also can bounce off of objects, and come to our ears from a direction totally different than the original source.
ABD Engineering writes:
…wind alters sound propagation by the mechanism of refraction; that is, wind bends sound waves. Wind nearer to the ground moves more slowly than wind at higher altitudes, due to surface characteristics such as hills, trees, and man-made structures that interfere with the wind.
This wind gradient, with faster wind at higher elevation and slower wind at lower elevation causes sound waves to bend downward when they are traveling to a location downwind of the source and to bend upward when traveling toward a location upwind of the source.
Waves bending downward means that a listener standing downwind of the source will hear louder noise levels than the listener standing upwind of the source.
Temperature gradients in the atmosphere. On a typical sunny afternoon, air is warmest near the ground and temperature decreases at higher altitudes. This temperature gradient causes sound waves to refract upward, away from the ground and results in lower noise levels being heard at the listener’s position.
In the evening, this temperature gradient will reverse, resulting in cooler temperatures near the ground. This condition, often referred to is a temperature inversion will cause sound to bend downward toward the ground and results in louder noise levels at the listener position.
How Weather Affects an Outdoor Noise Study by ABD Engineering and Design
Cheung Kai-chung, from Physics World (Hong Kong), (Translation by Janny Leung) offers this explanation
Sound wave will be refracted to the ground when traveling with the wind.
Sound wave will be refracted upwards when traveling against the wind.
Can wind mask even loud sounds?
A discussion to consider, from Physics forums, includes this phenomenon: “Yes. I have a freeway about 10 blocks South of my house. I can hear the traffic very clearly with no wind, or a South wind. If there is even a slight North wind, the traffic noise becomes almost inaudible. If there is a brisk North wind (over 15 MPH), the sound is completely gone.”
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/does-wind-affect-how-far-sound-can-travel.149392/
Sound refraction due to cold air:
Also this “…if the air close to the ground is colder than the air above it then sound waves traveling upwards will be bent downwards. This is called Refraction. These refracted sound waves can act to amplify the sound to someone standing far away.”
http://sciencewows.ie/blog/does-sound-travel-faster-in-warm-or-cold-air/
Sound seems amplified when traveling over water.
In School-for-Champions we read
“If you are sitting in a boat, a sound coming from the shore will seem louder than the same sound heard by a person on land. Sound seems to be amplified when it travels over water. The reason is that the water cools the air above its surface, which then slows down the sound waves near the surface. This causes refraction or bending of the sound wave, such that more sound reaches the boat passenger. Sound waves skimming the surface of the water can add to the amplification effect, if the water is calm.”
See their full lesson here School-for-champions.com: Sound_amplified_over_water
Can snow on the ground affect sound?
“When the ground has a thick layer of fresh, fluffy snow, sound waves are readily absorbed at the surface of the snow. However, the snow surface can become smooth and hard as it ages or if there have been strong winds. Then the snow surface will actually help reflect sound waves. Sounds seem clearer and travel farther under these circumstances.” – Colorado State Climatologist Nolan Doesken
Related topic: The Hum is a phenomenon, or collection of phenomena, involving widespread reports of a persistent and invasive low-frequency humming,rumbling, or droning noise not audible to all people. Hums have been widely reported by national media in the UK and the United States. The Hum is sometimes prefixed with the name of a locality where the problem has been particularly publicized: e.g., the “Bristol Hum” or the “Taos Hum”. It is unclear whether it is a single phenomenon; different causes have been attributed. ”
Human reactions to infrasound – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrasound#Human_reactions
Skyquakes or mystery booms are unexplained reports of a phenomenon that sounds like a cannon or a sonic boom coming from the sky. They have been heard in several locations around the world. – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyquake
And: The microwave auditory effect, also known as the microwave hearing effect or the Frey effect, consists of audible clicks (or, with speech modulation, spoken words[citation needed]) induced by pulsed/modulated microwave frequencies. The clicks are generated directly inside the human head without the need of any receiving electronic device. The effect was first reported by persons working in the vicinity of radar transponders during World War II. (Wikipedia)
Find The Guns of Barisal and Anomalous Sound Propagation
https://www.du.edu/~jcalvert/waves/barisal.htm
References
Our first article.
How Weather Affects an Outdoor Noise Study by ABD Engineering and Design
This following discussion has helpful images.
A discussion to consider, from Physics forums, includes this phenomenon:
“Yes. I have a freeway about 10 blocks South of my house. I can hear the traffic very clearly with no wind, or a South wind. If there is even a slight North wind, the traffic noise becomes almost inaudible. If there is a brisk North wind (over 15 MPH), the sound is completely gone.”
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/does-wind-affect-how-far-sound-can-travel.149392/
Also this “…if the air close to the ground is colder than the air above it then sound waves traveling upwards will be bent downwards. This is called Refraction. These refracted sound waves can act to amplify the sound to someone standing far away.”
http://sciencewows.ie/blog/does-sound-travel-faster-in-warm-or-cold-air/
Sound seems amplified when traveling over water
https://www.school-for-champions.com/science/sound_amplified_over_water.htm#.WoBbQ5M-fVo
Diffraction of sound waves
https://katrinasiron21.wordpress.com/properties-of-sound-waves/diffraction-of-sound-waves/
Temperature inversion and sound waves
http://kxan.com/blog/2015/02/13/why-does-sound-carry-farther-on-cold-calm-mornings/
Also look into: Humans hearing infra sound waves
“Colorado State Climatologist Nolan Doesken says: “When the ground has a thick layer of fresh, fluffy snow, sound waves are readily absorbed at the surface of the snow. However, the snow surface can become smooth and hard as it ages or if there have been strong winds. Then the snow surface will actually help reflect sound waves. Sounds seem clearer and travel farther under these circumstances.””
Related topic: The Hum is a phenomenon, or collection of phenomena, involving widespread reports of a persistent and invasive low-frequency humming,rumbling, or droning noise not audible to all people. Hums have been widely reported by national media in the UK and the United States. The Hum is sometimes prefixed with the name of a locality where the problem has been particularly publicized: e.g., the “Bristol Hum” or the “Taos Hum”. It is unclear whether it is a single phenomenon; different causes have been attributed. ”
Human reactions to infrasound – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrasound#Human_reactions
Skyquakes or mystery booms are unexplained reports of a phenomenon that sounds like a cannon or a sonic boom coming from the sky. They have been heard in several locations around the world. – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skyquake
Learning Standards
Skeptical analysis of unexplained phenomenon.
The Massachusetts STEM Curriculum Framework addresses “Understandings about the Nature of Science”
Scientific inquiry is characterized by a common set of values that include: logical thinking, precision, open-mindedness, objectivity, skepticism, replicability of results, and honest and ethical reporting of findings.
Science disciplines share common rules of evidence used to evaluate explanations about natural systems. Science includes the process of coordinating patterns of evidence with current theory.
Most scientific knowledge is quite durable but is, in principle, subject to change based on new evidence and/or reinterpretation of existing evidence.
The “College Board Standards for College Success: Science” addresses these same skeptical inquiry methods in Standard SP.1: Scientific Questions and Predictions. Asking scientific questions that can be tested empirically and structuring these questions in the form of testable predictions.
Students recognize, formulate, justify and revise scientific questions that can be addressed by science in order to construct explanations.
Students make and justify predictions concerning natural phenomena. Predictions and justifications are based on observations of the world, on knowledge of the discipline and on empirical evidence.
Students determine which data from a specific investigation can be used as evidence to address a scientific question or to support a prediction or an explanation, and distinguish credible data from noncredible data in terms of quality.
Students construct explanations that are based on observations and measurements of the world, on empirical evidence and on reasoning grounded in the theories, principles and concepts of the discipline.
The “Benchmarks for Science Literacy” (AAAS) addresses these same skeptical inquiry methods:
In science, a new theory rarely gains widespread acceptance until its advocates can show that it is borne out by the evidence, is logically consistent with other principles that are not in question, explains more than its rival theories, and has the potential to lead to new knowledge. 12A/H3** (SFAA)
Scientists value evidence that can be verified, hypotheses that can be tested, and theories that can be used to make predictions. 12A/H4** (SFAA)
Curiosity motivates scientists to ask questions about the world around them and seek answers to those questions. Being open to new ideas motivates scientists to consider ideas that they had not previously considered. Skepticism motivates scientists to question and test their own ideas and those that others propose. 12A/H5*
SAT subject test in Physics: Waves and optics
• General wave properties, such as wave speed, frequency, wavelength, superposition, standing wave diffraction, and Doppler effect
Binnacle
Our school is right by Boston Harbor – learning about the sea is second nature to many of our staff. So we love to tie maritime history and science into our curriculum.
Photo by RK
As you enter our school, you pass by a binnacle – what was it used for?
A binnacle is a waist-high case, found on the deck of a ship, that holds the compass.
It is mounted in gimbals to keep it level while the ship pitched and rolled.
It also has a mechanism to compensate for errors in detecting the Earth’s magnetic field.
Every ship’s captain would use one, for navigating in and out of Boston Harbor, and around the world.
Here we see Boston Harbor – now let’s get in to how the binnacle works!
This map is from mass.gov/eea/images/dcr
Why did we need to develop the binnacle?
Excerpted from Magnetic Deviation: Comprehension, Compensation and Computation by Ron Doerfler
Today, radio navigational systems such as LORAN and GPS, and inertial navigation systems with ring and fiber-optic gyros, gyrocompasses and the like have reduced the use of a ship’s compass to worst-case scenarios. But this triumph of mathematics and physics over the mysteries of magnetic deviation, entered into at a time when magnetic forces were barely understood and set against the backdrop of hundreds of shipwrecks and thousands of lost lives, is an enriching chapter in the history of science.
The Sources of Compass Error
Ron Doerfler writes:
Compasses on ships fail to point to true (geographic) north due to two factors:
Magnetic variation (or magnetic declination) – the angle between magnetic north and geographic north due to the local direction of the Earth’s magnetic field, and
Magnetic deviation – the angle between the compass needle and magnetic north due to the presence of iron within the ship itself.
The algebraic sum of the magnetic variation and the magnetic deviation is known as the compass error. It is a very important thing to know.
Magnetic Variation
Magnetic variation has been known from voyages since the early 1400s at least. Certainly Columbus was distressed as he crossed the Atlantic to find that magnetic north and true north (from celestial sightings) drifted significantly…
We now know that the locations of the Earth’s magnetic poles are not coincident with the geographic poles—not even close, really—and they are always wandering around.
Image from commons.wikimedia.org, Magnetic_North_Pole_Positions. Red circles mark magnetic north pole positions as determined by direct observation, blue circles mark positions modelled using the GUFM model (1590–1980) and the IGRF model (1980–2010) in 2 year increments.
What’s the difference between where a compass needle points (magnetic north) and the geographic north pole? This is called the declination It’s smallest near the equator, but generally gets large as one moves towards the poles.
On this map, the green arrows – the direction from the compass – point towards the magnetic north. The red arrows point towards the geographical north pole.
Notice how the left location (in Pacific ocean) shows the compass point a bit east of where we’d hope it would point; in the right location (in Atlantic Ocean) it shows the compass point a bit west of where we’d hope it points.
There’s also a special line where the magnetic north and geographic north point in the same direction.
Image from Drillingformulas.com by Rachain J i
Here we can see how many degrees of deviation there are – the # of degrees between where the compass points, and where the north pole is. But – wait for it – the image is changing? The magnetic fields are significantly changing every year!
from USGS.gov, faqs, what is declination
Magnetic Deviation
Ron Doerfler writes
There is an additional effect on the compass needle that took much longer to appreciate and even longer to understand. This magnetic deviation is due to the iron in a ship…
The first notice in print of this effect was by Joao de Castro of Portugal in 1538, in which he identified “the proximity of artillery pieces, anchors and other iron” as the source.
As better compass designs appeared, a difference in compass readings with their placement on the same ship became more apparent. Captains John Smith and James Cook warned about iron nails in the compass box or iron in steerage, and on Cook’s second circumnavigation William Wales found that changes in the ship’s course changed their measurements of magnetic variation by as much as 7°.
Here we see a modern naval vessel, with it’s own magnetic field. As a metal ship moves through Earth’s magnetic field, an electric current is produced within all that metal – and that current produces it’s own magnetic field. This field can affect the ship’s compass. That’s why a binnacle is designed to be adjustable, to compensate for this field. – RK
image from slideplayer.com/slide/1632522/
Ron Doerfler writes
Captain Matthew Flinders (1774-1815) spent years in the very early 1800s on voyages to investigate these effects…. [he] eventually discovered that an iron bar placed vertically near the compass helped overcome the magnetic deviation. This Flinder’s bar is still used today in ships’ binnacles.
Apps & Interactives
NOAA Historical Magnetic Declination
Activities
Hands-on Activity: Nautical Navigation. Teachengineering.org
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/lessons/plot_course.html
https://asa.com/certifications/asa-105-coastal-navigation/
Educational opportunities and museums
http://www.capecodmaritimemuseum.org/education/
http://abycinc.org/?page=standards
Important components
Quadrantal spheres (spherical quadrantal correctors)
Hood, over the compass bowl
flinders bar (vertical, soft iron corrector)
Learning Standards
Ocean Literacy Scope and Sequence for Grades K-12
6. The ocean and humans are inextricably interconnected: From the ocean we get foods, medicines, and mineral and energy resources. In addition, it provides jobs, supports our nation’s economy, serves as a highway for transportation of goods and people, and plays a role in national security.
Massachusetts 2016 Science and Technology/Engineering (STE) Standards
7.MS-PS2-5. Use scientific evidence to argue that fields exist between objects with mass, between magnetic objects, and between electrically charged objects that exert force on each other even though the objects are not in contact.
HS-PS2-1. Analyze data to support the claim that Newton’s second law of motion is a mathematical model describing change in motion (the acceleration) of objects when acted on by a net force….{forces can include magnetic forces}
HS-PS3-5. Develop and use a model of magnetic or electric fields to illustrate the forces and changes in energy between two magnetically or electrically charged objects changing relative position in a magnetic or electric field, respectively.
History standards
National Standards for History Basic Edition, 1996
5-12 Identify major technological developments in shipbuilding, navigation, and naval warfare and trace the cultural origins of various innovations.
Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework
The Political, Intellectual and Economic Growth of the Colonies. Explain the importance of maritime commerce in the development of the economy of colonial Massachusetts, using historical societies and museums as needed.
National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies: A Framework for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment, National Council for the Social Studies, 2010.
KaiserScience 