| Apr 26, 2015
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Gravity in Space

I’m loving the current age of comics to screen. Primarily movies, not TV. I was never much of a comic book reader so I don’t know most of the lore, nor do I care. A couple tickets, a bucket of popcorn or some candy, a large drink, and my wife and I have a fun cheap date.

I also love YouTube and what it offers, including the channel CinemaSins. Of course movies are going to have errors – continuity errors, scene cutting errors, ‘true to life’ side of the street errors, etc. However, CinemaSins goes a bit further and goes the Captain Obvious route. So naturally I love it. However, with The Avengers they got it wrong with #61: There is no gravity in space, but Iron Man falls back to Earth anyway.

Well, there is. How else does the moon orbit the Earth or the Earth orbit the Sun? Did we all forget our Physics 101? In the words of Weird Al via Pancreas:

My pancreas attracts every other
Pancreas in the universe
With a force proportional
To the product of their masses
And inversely proportional
To the distance between them

In other words, the force of gravity between two objects is equal to the gravitation constant times the mass of each object divided by the distance between them.

Gravity Equation

Gravity via Study.com

Commercial jet liners fly between 5 and 6 miles up, the portal was was closer than that. As Iron Man flies through the portal he flies straight out, which means Earth is ‘below’ him. The highest free fall of a human was 24.2 miles – so we know Earth’s gravity will pull a person down from that far, but not as far as the moon (238,900 miles). I’d guess Iron Man flew less than 10 miles into space from the portal. Sure, he’s thousands, millions, or billions of miles from or even in a different realm then Earth. But, as objects and light can go through the portal why would universal gravitation be any different?

I only saw CinemaSin’s episode on The avengers a week or two ago and laughed the whole way through. And while watching The Avengers just now (and again, thanks FX), it’s clear the movie did NOT make a mistake.

Take away: If you’re going to be a smart ass, be smart.

Category: Explanations
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| Aug 8, 2014
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Mmmm… Soda

Soda Can

What is it about soda that is so tasty? I never really thought about it until recently. What are the main components of soda?

Carbonated water & flavored syrup.

Water, I like. CO2 I’m indifferent. But when you combine the two as carbonated water I can’t stand it. Almost to the point that I’d rather go thirsty than drink it. Which is a problem because the few times I’ve been to Europe ‘water without gas’ is difficult to come by at times.

I’m not going to break-down flavored syrups as there are too many and for the most part one doesn’t consume too many of the components individually. However, I can say as a lone ingredient I could probably do a shot or two of flavored syrup, but I’d have to tap out after that.

I would think when two ingredients I don’t like much are combined it would not be an enjoyable flavor. Au contraire mon frere. For some reason the bubbles and the syrup combine into something wonderful (well, not all flavors). I don’t know if it’s due to the dilution of the syrup, the addition of flavor to the bubbles or a more complex chemical reaction, but it just works so beautifully.

Something else to consider is the delivery method, that is, fountain vs. can vs. plastic bottle vs. glass bottle. I actually wrote that list in no particular order, but after looking at it, it’s generally my preferred order for almost every flavor of soda, with fountain winning by a long-shot. And as a fountain is poured into a cup, I gotta admit, some amount of ice is desired even if the soda is already code.

The one exception is Henry Weinhard rootbeer in a glass bottle. I’ve never seen it any other way, but honestly, why mess with perfection?

Take away: I freaking love science (and soda)!

Category: Explanations | Pointless
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| Dec 5, 2013
Comments Off on Why Women Are Always so Cold

Why Women Are Always so Cold

If you know me you’re immediately thinking I’m going to say something sexist, but I’m not. I try to use reason when I explain stuff. So, no, it’s not because women are cold-hearted, in fact, it’s because they are warm-hearted, or at least warmer-hearted than us men. Like my explanation for Why It’s Always Higher on the Diving Board it’s all relative.

I think this next bit is pretty obvious, but this is the start of my premise, so bear with me. Everyone I’ve had some sort of temperature related conversation with I’ve noticed the further the ambient temperature is from our generally accepted core temperature (98.6 F) the colder or warmer we feel. And as the ambient temperature increases from cold towards our body we feel warmer. So, the higher the ambient temperature the hotter it is.

To answer this I think it depends on one simple point: when does one gender begin to feel cold or hot compared to the other gender. And I think it’s pretty obvious that women always say “I’m cold” before any man does. And, conversely, I generally hear men say “I’m hot” before a women, temperature wise, not looks-wise.

I’m not talking a large difference in core temperature, just enough to feel it, just a few degrees between men and women. And considering I can feel the difference between 68 F and 72 F to a small extend, I’d say two to three degrees is enough of a difference between core temperatures for women and men.

Why Women Are Always Colder Than Men

Why Women Are Always Colder Than Men

So, if one feels cold based on the difference of ambient and core temperature and women generally feel cold before men, I think it’s safe to say women have a higher core temperature than men. To have a warmer core temperature you must have warmer blood, and thus a warmer heart.

Take away: women aren’t cold-hearted, men are (in comparison).

Extra: Drawn in Paper by 53 on my iPad by me!

Category: Explanations
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| Sep 26, 2013
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Why It’s Always Higher on the Diving Board

Summer just started, you’re older, braver, and stronger. You look at that high dive board and think, “no problem, I got this.” You climb the steps, “it’s all good.” You walk out on the board, “still good.” You look down, “oh sh…!”

At least that’s what it was for me when I first went off the high dive back in Quantico (my hands are getting all balmy thinking about it). Of course, I couldn’t say I was scared and climb down in shame in front of roughly 200 people, so I had to jump. But as I was never good at diving I didn’t take the chance to dive or even do a flip, I just cannon-balled it.

About fifteen years later it finally dawned on my why it’s always worse when you’re actually on the high dive. You’re 6′ tall, the board is 20′ from ground / water. For arguements sake we’ll have your eyes at the very top of your body, so when you look at the board, it’s just 14′ above you, barely twice your height.

But wait, you’ve climbed the steps/ladder to the board. Add the 20′ for the board and your 6′ for you and now you are 26′ up, at least your eyes are and that’s how humans come up with visual perspective.

Why it's higher on the diving board

Diving board perspective. Not necessarily to scale, no big deal.

And I know from 10′ to 30′ the numbers work really well for the magnitude changes vs. from 50′ to 90′. But I can look at a 50′ cliff and easily say, “yeah, that’s pretty high” and not be tempted. Regardless of the height, if you go up and decide it’s not for you I would not mock you, except if it’s less than 15′ up. I mean, c’mon, it’s barely twice Shaquille O’Neal’s height!

Take away: It’s called a high-dive for a reason; and for some reason I kept going up the high-dive.

Extra: Drawn in Paper by 53 on my iPad by me!

Category: Explanations
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| Sep 12, 2013
One comment

Time Travel Paradox

Doc & Marty

Doc & Marty
© Universal Studios

If you’re not familiar with what a paradox is then look it up or follow this example: You go back in time and accidentally kill your dad before your were born, but then you wouldn’t exist to go back in time to kill your dad, so he lives and gives birth to you, and you go back in time and accidentally kill your dad.

That’s a direct paradox, I could go into a diatribe about indirect paradox (e.g. you go back to the American Revolution and side with the redcoats, perhaps you still exist, perhaps not, but if you did would you still have gone back? Think of the show Sliders with how a change in history could impact how we live now.)

Semi-spoiler Alert!

After seeing the movie Looper I discussed the paradox it created with my wife. Her response, “How do we know? Has anyone ever experienced one?” To which I could only respond, “touché.”

Take away: How do we know?

Category: Explanations
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