Apollo 11 Slow-Motion Launch Video

This is a slow motion video of the apollo 11 launch, closeup on the engines. Be sure to have the volume turned on because the accompanying description rules.


Apollo 11 Saturn V Launch (HD) Camera E-8 from Mark Gray on Vimeo.

Awesome!!!

Also, everyone has probably seen the apollo 11 moon-walk videos a bunch, but the later apollo missions had two things apollo 11 didn't have... better video equipment and a ROVER:


Apollo 16 LRV Grand Prix HD from Doug Ellison on Vimeo.

via @nauticalgrandpa via kottke.org

The Grand Canyon Rules, pt 1

Recently I went to the grand canyon, which is one of the top five most amazing sights I imagine I will ever see in my life. Here is a picture of me at the north rim:

Me, Mind Being Melted.

At the visitors center, on the side of an awesome miniature model of the canyon, there is this amazing quote from geologist Clarence Dutton (1841-1912) that sums up quite well how I feel when standing on the edge of the canyon:

Dimension means nothing to the senses, and all we are left with is a troubled sense of immensity

The Toxies

Since I will someday, within the next few decades, finally reach adulthood, I have been giving a lot of thought to my personal brand. So far this has mainly consisted of coming up with an extremely long list of band names. Most recent addition:

butt nachos

I have also been giving a lot of thought to never-before-seen-on-earth-until-the-dawn-of-the-industrial-revolution-but-mainly-since-world-war-II chemicals, that inevitably find their ways into the environment and into our bodies. Also concerned with this topic is a California-based (of course) group called CHANGE, who also seem to understand the importance of branding:

Symphony of Science

Not only has Carl Sagan already done all of the most amazing things that it is possible to do,

but he has also been re-mixed:

That was by Symphony of Science, and you should check out the rest of their videos here.

Slow and steady wins the race

I've been thinking a lot recently about time scales, how quickly and/or slowly things happen, and how we humans perceive that.

Look at how slowly this mudslide happens!!!! Way more slowly than I thought mudslides would ever happen. This is from southern italy, where 200 residents were evacuated to avoid this really slow mud.



According to howstuffworks.com, mudslides can sometimes reach speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. The speed of the mudslide increases as the soil contains more water or the slope is more steep. So, just based on what we can see visually from this video, the mud looks a lot like dirt, meaning there is not much water, and the slope is not that steep, so it makes sense that this mudslide is relatively slow. It also makes sense that the slower a mudslide is, the more likely it is to be caught on video, which might be one reason that this is the only mudslide video i can find on the internet. EVERYTHING MAKES SENSE!!!!!!!

Rain, electricity, ding-a-ling

Okay, this might get weird, but here goes. The other night I was biking to a friend's house, wearing full rain-gear.

Even with all this gear on I was getting pretty soaked:

Krakatoa

This is what the volcano Krakatoa looked like before it exploded in August 1883:

This is what it looks like now, the three islands forming what used to be the perimeter of the pre-1883 volcano: