ts4rw

ts4rw
True Science for a Real World

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

GO TEAM SANTA!!

Christmas is coming, and Santa with it...
When we think of Santa, we think of the North Pole. However, we never stop to realize where exactly is such place.

Is it where our compass points to? Well, yes... and no.
We are taught that the north-est point of the globe is slightly different from that pointed out by the compass. No big news here, but what if I told you that there are at least 7 different North Poles?!

Where are you sending your letters now??



Check it out:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-earth-has-more-than-one-north-pole

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Feline Inertia


"Unlike human laws,
those of Nature always apply and cannot be broken..."

Whenever you're witnessing a phenomena of any kind, where you think that even for an instant one law of Nature is left out of the game, you are most likely actually missing something in the picture. Science is all around us, whether we are aware of it or not. As humans, we do our best to learn from them. We try to construct mathematical models to fit reality.

This is no easy task! But the thing is that still the hardest we try, the Universe will always be pleased, laughing at us, amused with our endless efforts to understand it. The truth is, the World doesn't care whether we understand it or not... it just carries on like an excellent piece of clockwork (of course, it proves advantageous for those who have studied clock gears and stuff).

Take for instance the cats who enjoy lapping their milk; they perfected the technique since the very first time they took a sip to such a delicious drink, yet they don't know the mechanics behind what they're doing.... or do they??


 Special thanks:

Note to opening quote:
"Unless Chuck Norris states otherwise..."

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Magic and Wizardry

I've always thought that the whole series is filled with moral messages and smart details, but what I'm about to show you, extended the possibilities quite a little bit...
As I was watching one of my young wizard Harry Potter favorite movies: HP and The Prisoner of Azkaban, on a soon to be obsolete DVD player, I was compelled to see the whole movie to the last credit... A practice that is quite uncommon, not only to me but to every person I've met. That said, as I was watching the credits scroll in the screen, something interesting caught my eye around 2:14:10. A somewhere in between an Easter egg and a subliminal message of what appears to be... (check out the lower left corner)

Everyone knows how the Marauder's Map works, right?? So, who are those on the lower left corner?? 


AHEM... a couple having a good time in the very corridors of Hogwarts School of Magic and Wizardry.
Mind to take a look for yourselves? Go ahead and check it out! There's just no way this could've been an honest mistake. This was intentionally engineered! Even the corresponding feet move at the same time.
In the light of this discovery, now I wonder if it is possible that I've missed any other "detail" such as this one in the other HP movie installments.
Now, if you'd excuse me, it's time for me to go see HP7...


Photo credit: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie. Fair use assumed...

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Dead or Alive

The world is all connected... Even apparently small, insignificant things can determine whether our cat is dead or alive.

The Schrödingers spending some quality time together in a backyard picnic...




While this is a classic pop-science joke, very few still know that Mr. Schrödinger openly had in fact two wives (at the same time, of course!)
I wonder if this pet of his could actually be a zombie cat... Hmph...

Saturday, October 9, 2010

The Right Weapons

Half the battle is understanding your enemy... perhaps more! Appropriately solving any problem, any conflict involves choosing the right strategies, the right aim, the right weapons...



-If you know the enemy and know yourself you need not fear the results of a hundred battles.
Sun Tzu

Thursday, October 7, 2010

The Persistence of the Equation

Few are some stuff that endures in eternity through our minds. Such one thing, is the general equation for solving second degree polynomials (or at least it should be). I remember my math teacher in High School:

"Mark my words. You will remember this equation for the rest of your lives. It is such its fame, that even the guy who illegally sells fries outside of the school knows it."

Yet... it is hardly believable that a Postgraduate student of Mathematics and Statistics has actually forgotten it. Luckily enough for him (or her?), this happened during the first days of the course and not during the Mid Terms.
The following, ladies and gentlemen, is a true story:




For further reading:

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Time goes by

As I was in class last month, I tried my best to stay awake and make the most of it. Nevertheless, sometimes giving your best isn't enough. Doesn't it ever cross your mind?? That you made it through at least one class with a more-than-fair final grade and you look back and say: "Man, how did I manage to even pass that last test? I know nothing on the subject!"
Well, I just finished my SAP training and this is exactly how I feel...

Monday, October 4, 2010

Science is everything...

Made a cartoon inspired by those who still tell me that there is such thing as Social Science... Still, I guess that to some degree, they are right. It is only that their rules are way more bendable than those stipulated by the Scientific Method.


Thursday, September 2, 2010