natemcgrath.com

It’s been almost 50 years since Star Trek first beamed into television sets across America. 

Electrostatics: Why water does that “shocking” thing

Electrostatics is a branch of physics that deals with the phenomena and properties of stationary or slow-moving electric charges. Like the charged water you see in the gif that is being attracted to the electrically charged plastic cup. What you see there is the consequence of electrostatic phenomena. There are many examples of it like, the plastic wrap that sticks to your hand after removing it from a package.  

Electrostatics involves the buildup of charge on the surface of objects due to contact with other surfaces. And is predominantly better observed when at least one of the surfaces has a high resistance to electrical flow. Because they are more or less trapped there for a long enough time for their effects to be observed. These charges remain there until they are neutralized/discharged: e.g., the familiar phenomenon of a static ‘shock’ when you touch a grounded or insulated conductive surface.

The law of physics describing the electrostatic interaction between electrically charged particles is called  Coulomb’s law or Coulomb’s inverse-square law. And looks like this: 

It shows the magnitude of the electrostatic force (in newtons) between the two point charges “Q” and “q” (in coulombs). But we can also measure the electric field of a point charge and even its electric flux, potential, electrostatic pressure etc… the Lorentz equation explains non-stationary charges.

To describe what is happening in the gif above, the negatively charged plastic cup repels (the negatively charged) electrons or ions from the surface of the water. This creates droplets from the water stream that are more positively charged. An attractive force is then exerted between the objects and you see the water droplets divert from their path towards the plastic cup.

Electrostatic induction in used a lot in commercial applications such as  Electrostatic precipitation(the removal of fine particles, like dust from air), spray painting, Inkjet printing etc…

With a large chin, a prominent slightly arched nose and delicate lips, the “face” of England’s King Richard III was unveiled on Tuesday, a day after researchers confirmed his remains had finally been found after 500 years.

A team of university archaeologists and scientists announced on Monday that a skeleton discovered last September underneath a council parking lot in Leicester was indeed that of Richard, the last English king to die in battle, in 1485.

Devotees of Richard, who have long campaigned to restore his reputation, proudly revealed a 3D reconstruction of the long-lost monarch’s head on Tuesday, introducing him to reporters as “His Grace Richard Plantagenet, King of England and France, Lord of Ireland”.

DOORS

Installation by Theoriz is a doorway that leads to virtual perceptions, utilizating head tracking to provide convincing perspective to participating observer:

“If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.”  - William Blake

Doors is an ongoing research work from our R&D department.

Between reality and virtuality, we are playing with the feeling of perception and infinite space. In this setup we had a real time anamorphic custom software computing the perspective of the nearest person. Through a 4 channel immersive and 3D spatialized sound, people could experience and discover virtual audioreactive landscapes by simply moving in space.

Calvin and Hobbes: The Force Awakens #2 Brian Kesinger

Story artist at Walt Disney animation studios / Artist for Marvel Comics. Check out his etsy store for books and prints www.etsy.com/shop/BrianKesinger

19th Century Martin Guitar Destroyed in “The Hateful Eight” 

A tragedy on the set of Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight”, when a miscommunication led to a irreplaceable antique Martin acoustic being destroyed. The Martin, which dates back to the 1870s, was loaned to the film by the Martin Museum. The scene in question involves Kurt Russell’s character, John Ruth, smashing the guitar against a wall. The antique Martin was due to be swapped for a much cheaper replica before the smashing, however this didn’t happen as sound mixer Mark Ulano explained “somehow that didn’t get communicated to Kurt”, which led to the real Martin being destroyed. 

I did an interview with psfk about Internet culture and everybodyatonce and we touched on a bunch of the things we obsess about like folks who hide their communication from the rest of the internet. (h/t mememolly)

Related: I’m speaking at PSFK2015 this year. Come through if you’re around!

(via kenyatta)

Great read. Don’t just assume you know what your audience is doing, or how they’re using a space. Take the time to actually find out and figure out how you can add value to their experience there.