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Non-Wet Water 30
Symul writes: "ABCNews has posted a story today about water that, when mixed with a powder derived from the spores of cub moss, behaves much as liquids do in a weightless environment, with the properties of a sponge-like solid. The powder "coats" the droplets of water, adhering to its surface and little else, including itself. Suggested applications have been leak-free water transportation, and small scale lubrication."
Used in magic tricks (Score:1)
This effect has been used in magic tricks for a long time.
OpenSourcerers [opensourcerers.com]
Re:Am I the only one that saw this on Mr. Wizard? (Score:1)
I remember back in high school chemistry calculating how many molecules of licapodium existed on the surface of the water b/c they spread out to approx. one molecule thick if you do it just right. That was just some very cool stuff...we estimated fairly close to what the "real" figure was...still neat playing with the stuff!
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Re:Am I the only one that saw this on Mr. Wizard? (Score:1)
Most nifty!
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Fermat (Score:1)
I knew I was right, but I didn't feel like working it out; neither did he.
Apropos, no? I propose a new html tag for "I Know I'm Right But It's Too Much Work To Prove", called the Fermat tag.
Do you think that he actually had a proof or do you think he was bluffing? Note, I'm not putting the guy down; I wish that I could, when I die, leave people scratching their heads as much as he did.
To expound for the people who are curious:
Fermat's Last Theorem states that x^n + y^n = z^n has no non-zero integer solutions for x, y and z when n > 2.
Well of course! You say. It's common sense!
Try proving it.
It took until 1993 (from when Fermat wrote his claim in 1630) for a brit named Andrew Wiles to nail it down.
http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/Hi stTopics/Fermat's_last_theorem.html
Wiles' proof is still under scrutiny, as the last bit of the article says:
It's an interesting story, to say the least.
Re:Lay off the crack pipe - Was: Something Missing (Score:1)
He's right. If you decrease the volume, the RATIO of surface area to volume goes UP.
<Fermat>
I have a proof for this, but it's too large to write in this margin.
</Fermat>
:-P
This has real world implications, especially for biology. A shrew has problems keeping its body temp up because it radiates too much heat for its body size (see ratio above) so it has to eat, practically continuously, to be able to expend the energy to merely *heat its body*.
Compare this to larger mammals which have less of a problem with temperature regulation.
Re:This sounds scarily like Ice-9 (Score:1)
See also: ice plus and ice minus. FDA-banned, too. Fun!
Am I the only one that saw this on Mr. Wizard? (Score:1)
Re:Old News (Score:1)
Nice one!
Re:Are these real scientists here? (Score:1)
They did screw up the cm->in conversion, though.
Milalwi
Re:Are these real scientists here? (Score:1)
Non-wet water? (Score:1)
~
Re:Something Missing? (Score:1)
Something Missing? (Score:1)
Re:Contraceptive? (Score:1)
Lay off the crack pipe - Was: Something Missing (Score:1)
Surface Area = 4*pi*r^2 for a sphere, Since the diameter = 2*r and A ~ r^2, a smaller diameter means a smaller surface area.
Re:Lay off the crack pipe - Was: Something Missing (Score:1)
Surface area varies with the square of the radius, volume varies with the cube of the radius. So, as you increase radius, the ratio of surface area to volume decreases, and vice versa.
Re:Are these real scientists here? (Score:1)
Re:Old News (Score:1)
In fact, why did you think I registered?
Anyway, thanks for your reply. It makes me feel, wanted...
Re:Am I the only one that saw this on Mr. Wizard? (Score:1)
Re:Are these real scientists here? (Score:1)
Re:Contraceptive? (Score:1)
Re:Something Missing? (Score:1)
I bought some powdered water... (Score:1)
Re:Are these real scientists here? (Score:2)
--
All browsers' default homepage should read: Don't Panic...
Are these real scientists here? (Score:2)
Since when did 1cm = 0.2in ?
Re:Contraceptive? (Score:2)
Nice to see that there are people just as sick as me!
So do these spores reproduce? If you used it in conjunction with a condom, would she end up with a moss infection? What kind of pesticide would you need to combat it? I can see the commercial now:
"Some days I don't feel as fresh, you know?"
"When I have those days, I rely on Personal Agent Orange."
"Thanks, Mom!"
Polymer/water mixtures (Score:2)
Contraceptive? (Score:2)
"No ma'am, it's not a yeast infection...
This sounds scarily like Ice-9 (Score:2)
Old News (Score:3)
http://www.sciam.com/news/062101/1.html
Hi everybody by the way. I've been lurking in the science section for quite a while now, and decided to register just now.