- Leibniz cookies -- While perusing Instagram I saw a photo of Leibniz cookies, a German brand I'd never heard of. Wikipedia informed me that they are in fact named after the creator of calculus, as he resided in Hanover, where the cookies are manufactured. I wonder what he'd think of them!
by Rainer Zenz (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AButterkeks.jpg) - Gamma Knife vs. CyberKnife -- The Gamma Knife and CyberKnife are two machines used for stereotactic (minimally invasive) radiosurgery. They use highly focused beams of gamma rays in place of a scalpel to remove tumours. The Gamma Knife is used to treat brain tumours, usually with single radiation doses, and requires the skull to be immobilized in a frame. The CyberKnife accommodates for patient movement and may therefore be used to treat tumours in other parts of the body, potentially with the dose divided into several fractions. It seems that the two techniques are similar, but differ in settings such as beam parameters. Gamma Knife remains the gold standard and is available in Winnipeg, Toronto, and Sherbrooke. CyberKnife is available in Hamilton, Ottawa, and Montreal.
Gamma Knife (http://www.nrc.gov/images/reading-rm/photo-gallery/20071114-040.jpg) - the column effect -- We had a talk from a dietitian about optimizing calorie and protein intake for cancer patients. She mentioned that liquids should not be consumed directly before solids, as they relax the gut (like a fast-flowing swollen stream) and solids that follow will transit through too quickly to be well absorbed. I hadn't thought about this before and wonder how much significance it really holds (it seems that it would be a rather hard thing to test in a study).
...so eat the sandwich before drinking the water! - saran wrap art -- I came across some neat art created with the help of saran wrap. Scrunched saran wrap can be placed over wet paint to create a wrinkled texture. It can also be scanned (still or in motion) to create neat abstract artwork.
by Elephant Trunk Studio (http://society6.com/elephanttrunkstudio/rainbow-elephant-jjr_print#1=45) 
by Bruno Levy (http://www.wired.com/2013/07/put-saran-wrap-in-a-scanner-and-you-get-this/#slideid-423922) - atoms -- In watching another episode of Cosmos I heard an analogy that really illustrates the vast emptiness within an atom: if an atom is the size of Notre Dame Cathedral, its nucleus is the size of a mote of dust.
With this in mind, it's hard to fathom how Rutherford observed any back scatter in his gold foil experiment -- that would be like firing one mote of dust (an alpha particle) into Notre Dame Cathedral (an atom) and expecting it to hit another mote of dust (the nucleus of this atom)...perhaps the Notre Dame analogy is a little exaggerated? Or maybe Rutherford had to fire lots of alpha particles before he observed one scattering back.
Notre Dame Cathedral is to the atom as mote of dust is to its nucleus 
by Kurzon (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AGeiger-Marsden_experiment_expectation_and_result.svg) - tricycles in China -- I saw a very neat series of aerial photos on The Huffington Post of tricycles in Guangzhou, China. It's remarkable how efficient they are at packing these bikes to the max...and the drivers must sure get a good work out pedalling them!
ChinaFoto Press / Getty Images
(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/06/china-tricycles_n_5941074.html?utm_hp_ref=world)
I think the Notre Dame example is a bit exaggerated too. There's also the analogy of the size of an atom being as big a football stadium if the nucleus was the size of the football. I'm guessing none of these are actually strictly true, but it's just to give the concept of emptiness (since it's really hard to imagine something so SMALL being so EMPTY).
ReplyDeleteI loved the wrap art- it's so beautiful. But it sounds really messy o.o
I hadn't heard the football stadium analogy before! I agree, both really do illustrate the vast emptiness well... Yes, I'll bet the saran wrap art is trickier than it looks!
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