Do You Know How Big a Bus Is?

So, I almost got hit by a bus on Monday morning. That would have been fun. I was crossing the road at a crosswalk when it told me to cross and he must not have seen me. It was really close, like a couple feet between me and the bus. Fun times eh?

Well we’re on the subject of buses, did you know that there is a bus out there that can carry 300 people? Check this puppy out – Big Bus.

Also, did you know that there is such a thing as Queueing theory? If you didn’t here is a little explanation.

Queueing theory is the mathematical study of waiting lines (or queues). The theory enables mathematical analysis of several related processes, including arriving at the (back of the) queue, waiting in the queue (essentially a storage process), and being served by the server(s) at the front of the queue. The theory permits the derivation and calculation of several performance measures including the average waiting time in the queue or the system, the expected number waiting or receiving service and the probability of encountering the system in certain states, such as empty, full, having an available server or having to wait a certain time to be served. – Wikipedia

This reason I bring Queueing theory up is that it reminds me of bistromathics from Douglas Adam’s Life, the Universe and Everything.

Bistromathics itself is simply a revolutionary new way of understanding the behaviour of numbers. Just as Albert Einstein’s general relativity theory observed that space was not an absolute but depended on the observer’s movement in time, and that time was not an absolute, but depended on the observer’s movement in space, so it is now realized that numbers are not absolute, but depend on the observer’s movement in restaurants.

The first nonabsolute number is the number of people for whom the table is reserved. This will vary during the course of the first three telephone calls to the restaurant, and then bear no apparent relation to the number of people who actually turn up, or the number of people who subsequently join them after the show/match/party/gig, or to the number of people who leave when they see who else has shown up.

The second nonabsolute number is the given time of arrival, which is now known to be one of those most bizarre mathematical concepts, a recipriversexcluson, a number whose existence can only be defined as being anything other than itself. In other words, the given time of arrival is the one moment of time at which it is impossible that any member of the party will arrive. Recipriversexclusons now play a vital part in many branches of mathematics, including statistics and accountancy, and also form the basic equations used to engineer the Somebody Else’s Problem field.

The third and most mysterious piece of nonabsoluteness of all lies in the relationship between the number of items on the bill, the cost of each item, the number of people at the table and what they are each prepared to pay for. (The number of people who have actually brought any money is only a sub-phenomenon in this field.) – Life, the Universe and Everything

Interesting isn’t it?

Is There Life Out There?

I’ve been thinking about this topic lately. I don’t see how there cannot be other life out there. There are so many other stars out there that it seems absurd to think that we, on our tiny little speck, are the only living things in the Universe. A comment on an article I was reading about the subject said it very well.

I think it is nothing but hubris to think that, in all of space, we are the only planet with sentient life.

I think that that statement says it all. If we really are the only living things in the universe, then this is one amazing planet (which we already know that it is, but that would make it even more amazing). But, I simply cannot believe that we are the only life. Dr. Seth Shostak, the Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute had this to say on the subject:

Well, it comes down to this, there is a lot of cosmic real estate. There are four or five hundred billion stars in our galaxy. There are one-hundred billion other galaxies, each with a few hundred billion stars. You add that all up, that’s a lot of real estate. So, just on the basis of the numbers, you figure that, unless this is some sort of miracle here, there is going to be other life out there and some of it is going to be intelligent.

I think that what he said there pretty well sums up how I feel about the subject. There is so much more out there. We are just this tiny little blip in space. Bill Nye puts us into perspective with the rest of the universe quite nicely.

So, I’m this guy, standing on a planet. Our planet is pretty big compared to me. Really, I’m just a speck, standing on this big planet, but the planet compared with the stars is just another speck. The Earth is orbiting the sun and the sun is a huge star and our star may be a big deal to us, but my friends, our star is just another speck. So, I’m a guy, I’m a speck, living on a speck out on the edge of the galaxy. I mean it isn’t really in downtown Milky Way, it’s way out on the side. We’re just a speck on a speck, orbiting a speck. I’ll tell you what else, there is billions and billions of stars, billions and billions of specks. And then billions of galaxies. I mean, I’m a speck living on a speck, orbiting a speck in the middle of specklessness.

If you are interested in this subject, you should check out the first episode of The Eyes of Nye, which is titled Astrobiology. It is a pretty cool show. If you don’t know what it is, it is Bill Nye’s adult science show. Check it out!

Tesla Coils Playing Mario Bros Theme

This is so awesome. If you love Tesla Coils like I do, and even if you don’t, you will think this is cool.

From Youtube

Twin Solid State Musical Tesla coils playing Mario Bros theme song at the 2007 Lightning on the Lawn Teslathon sponsored by DC Cox (Resonance Research Corp) in Baraboo WI.
The music that you hear is coming from the sparks that these two identical high power solid state Tesla coils are generating. There are no speakers involved. The Tesla coils stand 7 feet tall and are each capable of putting out over 12 foot of spark. They are spaced about 18 feet apart. The coils are controlled over a fiber optic link by a single laptop computer. Each coil is assigned to a midi channel which it responds to by playing notes that are programed into the computer software. These coils were constructed by Steve Ward and Jeff Larson. Video was captured by Terry Blake. What is not obvious is how loud the coils are. They are well over 110dB.

Cool DNA Extraction

Call it what you will, but I was watching The Screen Savers and saw one of the coolest things yet, DNA extraction! Now I haven’t tried this yet myself, but they did it on the show and it worked and it was originally published by Dr. Louisa Stark and the University of Utah. It looked really cool and fun. It doesn’t have much practicality, but it still is fun, and if you have a microscope like me, it could be fun! By the way, I went to the Calgary International Auto and Truck Show on Thursday night, and will be publishing a post on that in the near future with pictures. Anyways, here the directions, as seen on The Screen Savers.

DNA Extraction Made Easy
written by Dr. Louisa Stark on Thursday, March 10, 2005

You Can Extract DNA From Anything Living!

Desoxyribonucleic acid! You mean I can see it? How?

Just follow these 3 easy steps:

Detergent

eNzymes (meat tenderizer)

Alcohol

It’s that simple? Tell me more!

First, you need to find something that contains DNA. Since DNA is the blueprint for life, everything living contains DNA. For this experiment, we like to use green split peas. But there are lots of other DNA sources too, such as:

* Spinach
* Chicken liver
* Onions
* Broccoli

Here’s the fun part. Put these items in a blender:

* Your DNA source (about 100ml or 1/2 cup of split peas)
* A large pinch of table salt (less than 1ml or 1/8 teaspoon)
* Twice as much cold water as the DNA source (about 200ml or 1 cup)

Blend on high for 15 seconds. The blender separates the pea cells from each other, so you now have a really thin pea-cell soup. Because this step is pretty messy, certain sources of DNA should not be used, such as your family dog or close relation.

And now, those three easy steps:

1. Pour your thin pea-cell soup through a strainer into another container (like a measuring cup).

How much pea soup do you have? Add about 1/6 of that amount of liquid detergent (about 30ml or 2 tablespoons) and swirl to mix. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes.

Pour the mixture into test tubes or other small glass containers, each about 1/3 full.

Try any detergent you may have on hand.

2. Add a pinch of enzymes to each test tube and stir gently. Be careful! If you stir too hard, you’ll break up the DNA, making it harder to see.

Use meat tenderizer for enzymes. If you can’t find tenderizer, try using pineapple juice or contact lens cleaning solution.

3. Tilt your test tube and slowly pour rubbing alcohol (70-95 percent isopropyl or ethyl alcohol) into the tube down the side so that it forms a layer on top of the pea mixture. Pour until you have about the same amount of alcohol in the tube as pea mixture.

DNA will rise into the alcohol layer from the pea layer. You can use a wooden stick or other hook to draw the DNA into the alcohol.

What is that stringy stuff?

Alcohol is less dense than water, so it floats on top. Since two separate layers are formed, all of the grease and the protein that we broke up in the first two steps and the DNA have to decide: “Hmmm…which layer should I go to?”

This is sort of like looking around the room for the most comfortable seat. In this case, the protein and grease parts find the bottom, watery layer the most comfortable place, while the DNA prefers the top, alcohol layer. DNA is a long, stringy molecule that likes to clump together.

Congratulations! You have just completed a DNA extraction!

Now that you’ve successfully extracted DNA from one source, you’re ready to experiment further. Try these ideas or some of your own:

* Experiment with other DNA sources. Which source gives you the most DNA? How can you compare them?
* Experiment with different soaps and detergents. Do powdered soaps work as well as liquid detergents? How about shampoo or body scrub?
* Experiment with leaving out or changing steps. We’ve told you that you need each step, but is this true? Find out for yourself. Try leaving out a step or changing how much of each ingredient you use.
* Do only living organisms contain DNA? Try extracting DNA from things that you think might not have DNA.

Many thanks to Dr. Louisa Stark and the University of Utah Genetic Science Learning Center, where this article was originally published.

For more information and a FAQ, please click here