Vectors and scalars are two mathematical ideas that are used all the time in math and science. The most basic of the two is a scalar. A scalar is just a number – a quantity. That’s it! So, if I had 3 cats, 2 dogs, and 5 birds, the 3, 2, and 5 are all scalar values. A vector, on […]
A Mol of Moles is an Infestation
There are many words in the English language that sound the same but mean something different. For example, tee and tea. Mole and mole (mol unit) also sound the same but mean very different things. When you hear the world “mole” you might think of that little furry creature that digs holes in your yard. Or, you might think of […]
Internet and Black Box Voting Security
In the United States voting is a quintessential right of all non-felon (some prior felons can vote) adults. Voting helped create the Republic and all of it’s warts and scars. But how secure is your vote? Internet voting has not caught on yet, which is a good thing. Imagine sitting behind your computer and casting a vote for a Senator […]
The Magic of Idioms in Language
Fred kicked the bucket. Sally flys by the seat of her pants. Cat caught your tongue? What do all these sayings have in common? They are all idioms. What’s an idiom? What’s an Idiom? An idiom is an verbal expression that has a special meaning other than the literal words. It’s figurative, non-literal speech that translates to a known meaning. […]
Do Penguins Live With Polar Bears?
Penguins are those funny little flightless birds that waddle around on land and in the snow and swim like torpedoes in the water. Some people don’t realize that penguins don’t live at the North Pole. However, some commercials and movies will lie to you and show polar bears and penguins alongside each other. This is false. Polar bears live at […]
Is There a Real Magenta in the Electromagnetic Spectrum?
We experience the world through our senses: taste, touch, sound, smell, and sight. But what if I tell you that your brain is tricking you? Would you believe me? Maybe? When we look at colors we think that what we see is the truth. Take for instance the color blue. Blue exists in the electromagnetic spectrum, part of the visible […]
Golden Shellback Bluenose Dragon – Nautical Titles of Honor and Respect
Traveling the high seas can be dangerous at times but it has a lot of history. There are different titles that one can get for simply navigating the oceans of planet Earth. One certificate/title you get when crossing the 180th Meridian (International Date Line) is called the Domain of the Golden Dragon, an unofficial badge of honor and respect. Others […]
Do all Creatures Have Fingerprints?
Fingerprints are those swirly lines on the pads of your fingertips and pads of your thumbs. Supposedly, fingerprints are unique to each person which makes them usable for identification purposes. The police/F.B.I. manage a database of fingerprints to help identify suspects of crimes. But are us humans the only creatures that have fingerprints? The answer is an astounding No. We […]
Units in Pounds or Newtons – Can Spacecraft Survive?
There are two main systems used in the world for measurement: English System and Metric System. Each system was devised independently. The English system is used in only a few countries. The rest of the world uses the Metric system. The English system uses names such as inch, feet, yard, and mile. Pound is used for weight or pounds of […]
L-System: Grow Complex Plants with Computer Graphics
In 1968, Aristid Lindenmayer, a Hungarian theoretical biologist and botanist, developed a model on how plants grow. The concept is simple but the expansion of a system can become complex. Here is the idea. A set of rules are used to “grow” the system. A –> ABA B–>BAC C–>AC We start with A. For the next iteration we get ABA […]