This video demonstrates how to tie a Figure 8 knot, one of the Basic 8 knots that lead to a huge catalog of useful tying skills for boating, climbing, scouting, search and rescue, and more.
The Figure 8 is a stopper knot — it prevents the end of a rope sliding through a pulley or it can be used to add security to another knot. It is relatively easy to undo, is preferred to the Overhand Knot, but is not as secure as the Double Overhand.
These videos are from AnimatedKnots.com, where they believe that it’s “Better to know a knot and not need it, than need a knot and not know it.” And don’t forget, safety first!
Photographer Dan Finnerty’s time lapse view of comet Pan-STARRS over Southern California is breath-taking. The colorful sunset and moon setting doesn’t hurt either. Full screen!
From Forbes:
The comet is called C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS, and it’s a frozen ball of dirt with a long tail made of debris. PANSTARRS isn’t coming very close to our planet –the closest it gets is 170 million kilometers, more than 400 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon. But the comet’s tail is roughly ten times longer than the Earth is wide, and as it passes through our neighborhood all that ice and dust reflects light, so the comet shines bright in the night sky.
…PANSTARRS will remain in our night sky through the end of the month.
Nasa has this helpful graphic in their ScienceCasts: A Naked-Eye Comet so that you might catch a glimpse before the view grows dim.
via Wired Science.
This mind-bending and water bending viral video is another experiment from Brusspup (featured previously on this site). Here’s the zig zag DIY:
Run the rubber hose down past the speaker so that the hose touches the speaker. Leave about 1 or 2 inches of the hose hanging past the bottom of the speaker. Secure the hose to the speaker with tape or whatever works best for you. The goal is to make sure the hose is touching the actual speaker so that when the speaker produces sound (vibrates) it will vibrate the hose.
Set up your camera and switch it to 24 fps. The higher the shutter speed the better the results. But also keep in the mind that the higher your shutter speed, the more light you need. Run an audio cable from your computer to the speaker. Set your tone generating software to 24hz and hit play. Turn on the water. Now look through the camera and watch the magic begin. If you want the water to look like it’s moving backward set the frequency to 23hz. If you want to look like it’s moving forward in slow motion set it to 25hz.
And if you want to see it with your eyes and no camera, a strobe light, set to 24hz in a light-controlled environment should do the trick.
We love illusions and experiments. Another great video on tricking the eye at the right frame rate: Pixar’s Zoetrope and how animation works.
via Colossal.
It’s not magic, it’s science! In this case, physics! This Sick Science experiment uses static electricity to help objects “fly” in the air. Details here.
