101–110 of 279 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm curious how they were able to patent a technique invented by nature millions of years ago.
the displays have an array of switchable mirrors individually addressable, unlike nature in this case. (but sort of like chromophores in an octopus or cuttlefish, perhaps).
If they say, the air appears to be clear when I stare at something other than sky, the answer is you need more of air to be able to see its blue-ness, in much the same way that a small amount of murky water in your palm appears clear, but a lot of it does not.
If they ask, why don't I see that blue-ness at dawn or dusk, the answer is that the light source is at a different angle. The color of most objects changes when the light source is at a flat angle. And sun lights hits at a flat angle at dawn and dusk.
If they ask, what exactly is the inside phenomenon to see the sky color to be blue, then explanations like this blog are relevant.
If they ask, what exactly is a color, the answer is that it is a fiction made up by our brain.
In The Cuckoo's Egg Cliff Stoll recounts an episode from the oral defense of his astrophysics PhD thesis. A bunch of people ask questions but one prof holds back until... """ “I’ve got just one question, Cliff,” he says, carving his way through the Eberhard-Faber. “Why is the sky blue?” My mind is absolutely, profoundly blank. I have no idea. I look out the window at the sky with the primitive, uncomprehending wonder…
I am positively excited about the upcoming first generation of humans who will have all their questions answered, correctly and in the way they can best understand, and as often and many of them as they want – and what that is going to enable.
We value what we achieve with effort, I would say proportionally to energy put in (certainly true for me, thus I like harder efforts in activities and ie sport climbing).
Really cool article! Tangential: > “Scattering” is the scientific term of art for molecules deflecting photons. Linguistically, it’s used somewhat inconsistently. You’ll hear both “blue light scatters more” (the subject is the light) and “atmospheric molecules scatter blue light more” (the subject is the molecule). In any case, they means the same thing There's nothing ambiguous or inconsistent about this. In English…
Labile verbs is a source of ambiguity of natural languages (only western ones?) that we are all accustomed to. The bell rang should become The bell was rung, either way it means The bell rang another bell.
"the bell rang" illustrates an effect (the vibration and sound of the bell as it rings).
i think this is more an illustration of the ambiguity of the root word "ring", which can be an action by a subject upon an object, or to describe the behavior of the object itself.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"tell"?
Ah! That's not bad but it's not the same thing. Good nevertheless. I can 'show' (or point someone to a) a sight that I am not myself creating in anyway. The word I am looking for would mean to 'make you hear' in the same may to show is to make you see. I showed him the distant tower. I ??? him the faint sound.
I played him the faint sound.
Obligatory xkcd: "Sky Color" https://m.xkcd.com/1145/ Obligatory xkcd[2]: "Rayleigh Scattering" https://m.xkcd.com/1818/ Others?
The "Rayleigh Scattering" comic is really spot on. Air is blue. The reason air is blue is blah blah blah physics, see the article we're all commenting on, but at the end of the day air is blue. We don't demand the same elaborate physics questions for why a ripe banana peel is yellow.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
the displays have an array of switchable mirrors individually addressable, unlike nature in this case. (but sort of like chromophores in an octopus or cuttlefish, perhaps).
I see, but those MEMs mirrors were already invented.
In The Cuckoo's Egg Cliff Stoll recounts an episode from the oral defense of his astrophysics PhD thesis. A bunch of people ask questions but one prof holds back until... """ “I’ve got just one question, Cliff,” he says, carving his way through the Eberhard-Faber. “Why is the sky blue?” My mind is absolutely, profoundly blank. I have no idea. I look out the window at the sky with the primitive, uncomprehending wonder…
I am positively excited about the upcoming first generation of humans who will have all their questions answered, correctly and in the way they can best understand, and as often and many of them as they want – and what that is going to enable.