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Fun With A Pun

Fun With A PunIf you love puns ...Nobody was injured in an unusual dockside accident today.The...

Why I've been away and why I'm back.

Why I've been away and why I'm back.I'm 79yo now.  I receive a state pension which falls short...

Air India Crash: When 2 + 2 Does Not Compute

Air India Crash: When 2 + 2 Does Not Compute2 + 2 Does Not Compute, But 1 of 4 AND 1 of 4 DoesOn...

Understanding The Voynich Manuscript #4

Understanding The Voynich Manuscript #4 If not Latin, then what? Please see the links at...

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Patrick LockerbyRSS Feed of this column.

Retired engineer, 79 years young. Computer builder and programmer. Linguist specialising in technical translation. Interested in every human endeavour except the scrooge theory of accountancy.... Read More »

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Cycling for Science #2 - Geology

Cycling for Science #2 - Geology

Jan 01 2015 | comment(s)

Cycling for Science #2 - Geology

Cycling on tarmac roads in summer is all very well but you can learn a whole lot about geology - and the laws of physics - if you ride off-road.  For example: today I went for a ride along a little-known trail and discovered a great deal about the adhesive properties of clay, the non-adhesive properties of tires clogged with wet clay and the super-adhesive and abrasive properties of brake pads clogged with dry clay.


A lot of mud and a bike - bliss!


An aside
Not So Smart Money

Not So Smart Money

Dec 23 2014 | comment(s)

Not So Smart Money

In modern English the term 'smart money'  is most commonly used in reference to money invested in the course of business or gambling by people presumed to be knowledgeable about the investment.  Less formally, the term is used to show that one statement is more likely true than another:  "some people say A, but the smart money is on B."

The modern meaning of 'smart money' dates from 1926, according to Merriam Webster's dictionary, prior to which the meaning was entirely different.

'Smart' can mean 'hurt' as when, after being slapped, the skin smarts.
Oceanlab Scientists Film Supergiant Amphipod and Deepest Fish

Oceanlab Scientists Film Supergiant Amphipod and Deepest Fish

Dec 20 2014 | comment(s)

Oceanlab Scientists Film Supergiant Amphipod and Deepest Fish

Scientists at the University of Aberdeen have set a new record for the world's deepest fish, a species of snailfish, which was filmed in the Mariana Trench this year.

The new finding was just one of several new species discovered, as well as the first footage of a living supergiant amphipod.

Cycling for Science #1 - Tensegrity

Cycling for Science #1 - Tensegrity

Dec 17 2014 | comment(s)

Cycling for Science #1 - Tensegrity

Velocipedological science

Cycling is more than just a pleasant way to keep fit: it is a pleasant way to learn some interesting velocipedological science facts.  Don't just exercise your muscles: exercise your brain by cycling for science.
Scientists with too much time on their hands have spent more than a century trying to understand how bikes ride and steer and fail to fall down in the way they do.
Phil Daoust

The first and most important scientific fact about the bicycle is that you can never own enough bikes.  This fact may be expressed as a formula:
Charles Hatchett - Tribologist to the Royal Mint

Charles Hatchett - Tribologist to the Royal Mint

Dec 12 2014 | comment(s)

Charles Hatchett - Tribologist to the Royal Mint
Neatly Scattered Papers

Neatly Scattered Papers

Dec 11 2014 | comment(s)

Neatly Scattered Papers

In an article in Scientific American* on the possibility of time running backwards, the author states:
Increasing entropy is a cosmic certainty because there are always a great many more disordered states than orderly ones for any given system, similar to how there are many more ways to scatter papers across a desk than to stack them neatly in a single pile.

That sentence contains an implied statement of fact: "there are many more ways to scatter papers across a desk than to stack them neatly in a single pile."

But is it a fact?