Another of Mathematician Vi Hart’s pieces on spirals (and plants). It’s clear from her video that Ms Hart would understand the young Jay Harman’s aversion to traditional classroom teaching!
Want a signed copy of The Shark’s Paintbrush?
y now, I think we’ve well established the fact that I have had a live-long fascination with spiral geometries, in particular the equiangular spiral. So, now you can contribute to that fascination by sharing your original spiral photos! Our favorite shots get a signed copy of The Shark’s Paintbrush, and I’ll highlight your photo on this site.
First, what do I […]
Thank you, Vi Hart!
Mathematician Vi Hart appears to share my fascination with spirals, and made this charming video to help others become just as interested as we both are! Brainpickings calls this piece “doodletastic” and I quite agree — I am in favor of anyone who makes maths fun!
More paint drops
Another nibble from the book …
It was November 1985, and a pitch- black, steamy night in the Java Sea. En route to Singapore from Australia, our fifty- foot sailboat should have been lit up by at least the tricolor navigation light at the top of her mast. Instead, the night before we had been hit by lightning, which shorted out all the boat’s electrical systems. […]
Oooh, sticky!
Nature apparently admires adherence—I say this because there are so many different types of natural adhesives. From gecko’s feet, and their use of van der Waals forces to attach themselves to walls and ceilings, to the amazing mussel adhesive proteins (or MAPs) that have fascinated scientists and led to the development of MAP adhesive products for scientific products, medical applications—even […]
A bit buggy?
This article in the Yakama Herald about new bug’s eye-inspired technology caught my eye (pun very much intended). Ant-eyed endoscopes? Apparently John Rogers, a professor […]
Paint drops …
Okay, it’s nearly May and things are heating up! The Shark’s Paintbrush will be published in June and there’s already an early review! If you haven’t visited our Facebook page, it’s here.
Here’s a bit from the book to whet your appetite:
Zoopharmacognosy is the long- winded scientific label for studying animal self- medication. You may have seen your […]
Flipperbot!
As a person who’s spent a fair bit of time in the sea, I’ve had a number of sea turtle encounters. Obviously, my colleagues at Georgia Tech have as well. Their turtle-inspired Flipperbot helps them learn more the locomotion of turtle, seals, and mudskippers over complex granular surfaces, such as sand.
In an article in The Engineer, […]
Birds of Paradise
Isn’t it amazing what we continue to learn about the many creatures with whom we share this planet? All 39 species of the remarkable and distinctive birds of paradise show in this video are only found deep in the rainforests of New Guinea. It has taken years to track these birds and study their unique behaviors—and plumage—all so we can learn more about Nature’s […]