Hello Sidepodders! How are you doing? May I ask you a question? Let's suppose that you had a robot to wake you up each morning with a cup of tea/coffee and some kind of greeting that was less jarring than the traditional alarm clock noise, what would your noise be? More importantly, whose voice would you record to say it? (I'm excluding Andy Serkis as a possibility, because “Good morning, Preciousss!” is too creepy to contemplate)
There's no Formula 1 news. The Guardian was so desperate to post something F1-related, they wrote a dreary article about how the F1 track has ruined India.
Spencer Pumpelly and his co-driver won the GT class in the Grand-Am race at Watkins Glen yesterday. Spencer is one of my favourite tweeters, if any of you were wondering why I care more about him than the other drivers competing.
The next time I write a daily, I'll have F1 news for you, because Spa will have just finished. I await that day with baited breath!
Now a day I'm not looking forward to: the end of Eureka. For those who don't know about it, you've been missing out on the hilarious love-child of a cop show and a science fiction fantasy. We can be a tiny bit glad that SyFy and Universal have conceded to a single finale episode instead of Season Six.
Speaking of surreal science, scientists are experimenting with growing faces (well, facial cartilage) from stem cells found in the ear. It's particularly cool in light of the antibody cocktail that is being tested to prevent tissues grown from stem cells turning into tumours.
Finally, have you ever wondered why intestines are coiled the way they are? (I'd like to say “Great! I'm not alone here,” if that's fine with you. I hope I'm not alone, having spent hours interrogating Mum about it as a child.) As it turns out, it's just simple physics and researchers have made a model to demonstrate the concept
That's it from me for now, but I'll see you in the comments (in the morning. A touch of bronchitis is taking its toll, so staying up until midnight to chat to you when this goes live isn't a viable option, I'm sorry)!
ummmmm......
great daily ms. brij.
Nope
I always thought it was for the extra surface area so more nutrients can be absorbed.
I can't read the link to find out the physics behind it because it won't load at the moment :(
I bet that after a controversial Indycar race that will get lots of coverage we can expect Bernie to come out with a GP on Easter Island or something to grab the media back
the tension from the membrane attached to them makes them coil. huh.
Insane in the membrane?
hehe
Hi Alex (and Nina?)
Feeding time?
Oh yes
She's having problems sleeping, so in many ways it's the between feeding that's the problem.
Christine has been having trouble, too, according to her blog. I wonder what's up? Solar flares? :)
Here we go.. Robin Miller calling in to Wind Tunnel.... Main points....
- Drivers were screaming, spotters were screaming, team managers were screaming;
- Does not think the race should have started;
- Says that Barnhardt must have been able to hear the drivers.
- Said Power, who "went nuts", to get little in the way of penalty.
Affinity :) Nina hasn't read too many books yet though :)
hm. I wonder how she feels about Outside?
she just wants to be part of the awesome crowd.
*waves*
She is like the rest of us then. As long as someone has made us something to eat we are happy but the rest of the time it is easy to find something to complain about
hehe
RHR on Wind Tunnel right now.
Johnny Rutherford had the windshield wipers on in the pace car. And RHR had rain on his visor.
Obviously they need to work on the chain of communication. Drivers told pit, pit guys told Indy stewards who were also in the pits. Then they told...no one?
W.T. has a followup interview with RHR who said that B.B not hearing the pleas of the drivers and the teams is "astounding" and that the teams were passing the messages to the INDY pit-techs.
!!!!!!!!!!!
This goes back to Barnhart' s press conference. He i assuming no communication means everything is OK even when it obviously is not. They must be able to see the wipers going from race control
yeah, no kidding!
and it is troubling that the tone of the promoter Jerry Gappens afterward was that this was great because people were talking about the race. I get what he's saying, but I it sits wrong with me.
And I didn't know Dario Franchitti was writing a blog for Boston.com all season. That was a nice find.
http://www.boston.com/sports/other_sports/autoracing/blog/2011/08/franchitti_the.html
I listened to the first minute of his interview then shut down the browser window. What an idiot. Barnhart was bad enough going on about how the fans should have a green flag finish. It's almost like the first 200 laps are not part of the race. But the idea that Gappens put forward that it was rght to risk carnage to try and give the fans a show is crazy. Motor racing should have lost that attitude in the 60s
News to me
The YouTube of Red 5 Nigel winning on his 40th birthday is a highlight. Hearing the familiar voices in commentary was great - one of the best indycar seasons ever!
You're so right. Great to hear Paul Page. I miss that kind of coverage so much...the good kind. :)
According to the comments on that post, I am not the only one. There definitely must be something up with the universe.
Morning, here's a story to make you smile, Mercedes give F1 fan a new ionic hand http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/8700621/F1-fan-receives-bionic-hand-from-Mercedes-team.html
Oh that's a lovely story! I'd forgotten that was in process, but it's really awesome to hear the outcome!
Thank you!
Maybe I'm alone in that...like many random science-related questions :(
That's the 'why;' Kurpios has demonstrated the 'how.' The 'how' blows my mind (way more than the 'why')!
Re: the NASCAR race, as someone pointed out on twitter last night, if they claim to be the best drivers in the world, why don't they man up and run rain tyres like every other series?
An aside on guts: does it blow anyone else's mind that they're fractals?
No way :)
I have a theory that most things turn out to be fractals so it doesn't really surprise me :)
Yay!
I do love how fractals show up everywhere! It makes walks along the beach so much fun...have you ever wondered why so much stuff turns out to be a fractal (apart from the physics version of an old-school entomologist's assertion that "The Good Lord has an inordinate fondness for beetles")?
Heh... Well there are a number of theories about this but essentially fractals are iteration in action, and so is life to an extent isn't it? Flowers and beetles and people don't appear fully formed, but we all grow bit by bit. That's my theory anyway :)
Ja, but everything...absolutely everything. This is why I failed discrete maths at uni - I would get so caught up in the patterns that I would forget to concentrate on what was being said.
Perhaps it has to do with how most of the earth (and DNA, etc) is held together by hydrogen bonds?
But everything, absolutely everything is itterative too isn't it. You are right though it must be itterative in a very particular way though maybe it is hyrogen bonds after all?
Oooh also Bridget that quote reminded me of one of my favourite Darwin quotes. Apart from the really famous book that he wrote three books on barnacles, one of the slimmer companion books was merely 684 pages long!!! This was all to study diversity and patterns. On completion of the last one he wrote in his diary, "I hate a barnacle as no man ever did before".
Maybe hydrogen bonds are, themselves, iterative? I need to head to work, but maybe when everyone else wakes up they can contribute their thoughts? Maybe hydrogen bonds are there as the glue to allow larger iterations to occur? (And Dark Matter and/or Gravity to hold things together in space, since there are no hydrogen bonds holding galaxies [one of my favourite fractals] together?)
Hehe, I understand his sentiments! Although that is a very respectable amount of work!
Everything is itterative.
my borg plans are working *evil laugh*
Morning folks
How well do you know your Formula 1 history?
The book That'll be the Day: 365 F1 Stories takes a look at significant moments or quirky happenings on this day in Grand Prix history. Can you guess what event the following describes?
Keke Rosberg's only GP victory on his way to the title.
The Schnitzel was particularly good that day, Ja...
:D
Must say, I'm quite looking forward to catching that IndyCar race tonight
#Points!
ooh I could really go a schnitzel right now
Me too. It's cold and I want winter food. Schnitzel, horseradish, capers, roast potatoes and gracy!
yum yum yum yum yuuuum. i had a tuna salad for dinner which is good for the health, not good for the i like tasty comfort food part of my brain :D
I had some veal ribs, chick pea soup and a vege caesar salad.
mmmm ribs. I am going to make some vege soup in my slow cooker overnight so I can have nice warm dinner tomorrow night, if I can wait that long :D
That was the Swiss GP, wasn't it?
I'm guessing it's the last win for Lotus under Colin Chapman.
Sounds great :)
You might be right. First win by de Angelis (ahead of Rosberg)
few days in Austria last week sorted me out for a while :-)
Guest post ping: http://sidepodcast.com/post/whats-your-favourite-thing-about-f1
Oooh oooh... that's my guest post that is!
Well I've read that part of the book, so I know now ;)
:D
An excellent one it is too :)
Nice, but what's this positivity in F1 you speak of? Surely not?
;)
:D I should be reading it, but I have gotten distracted by Game of Thrones. Excellent, excellent series.
Speaking of de Angelis-ish... my VivaF1 Swap Shop post... http://wtf1.co.uk/post/8947122289
Simon will be off doing his Edinburgh duty at the moment, so if anyone fancies a spot of daily posting, tomorrow's is up for grabs.
Ace !!
Can do unless anyone who hasn't done it before wants to.
Well, well, well. What do we have here:
Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 Billion
Things have just gotten that much more interesting. So you now have Android-Motorola and Nokia-Windows Phone both taking on the mighty iOS.
Ouch
No SAFER barrier?
SAFER barrier only covers part of the corner. There's still only one oval in the US that has a SAFER all the way around
Indianapolis?
I think it's either Darlington or Daytona - not completely sure, but it's definitely only one.
Afternoon all,
Thanks - these are my wife's handy work :) They were a special wedding gift for some friends of ours.
You would think they would mandate it on all tracks?
Excellent stuff
(any chance I could nab a leftover?)
;)
Sadly, most circuit owners would cry "we can't afford it" (etc...). That's why Pippa got injured on Saturday - she hit the actual concrete as opposed to the SAFER
For those heading to Silverstone this weekend, Ricciardo will still be competing in the FR 3.5 Series.
Interesting article about the barriers and why they are not everywhere http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/columns/story?columnist=blount_terry&id=6473101
oh! that's good news, do we know who is doing the f1 bit?
I haven't seen it confirmed anywhere yet.
ohh right, i shall keep an eye out.
Surprise, surprise. Robin Miller is on the warpath:
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-miller-sounds-off-on-indycar-race-control/
Sorry, they went pretty quickly. Fortunately the groom managed to bag himself the Ferrari one before the other guests nabbed their share. Shame really, they looked and smelled gorgeous while they were sat in Parc Ferme (the kitchen)
I can't help but wonder if that were F1, they would force the circuits to do it.
:(
Very nice all the same
:)
Yes - to be honest, a lot of the circuits and organising bodies are as bad as each other when it comes to safety features.
Re: Will Power - Randy Bernard will be loving this.
One of the good things about F1: they rarely scrimp on safety.
And how. :D
They will try to milk this as much as they can... and why not? Sometimes I wonder if the only reason Brian Barnhart is still in his job is so he can make poor decisions and get the drivers super animated.
Points for Mercedes GP? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14528118 #rankings
Does anyone remember where I can find a link to an interactive webpage where you could make your own samba band by clicking on the various instruments?
Found it: http://carnaval.ig.com.br/rio/carnival+in+rio+play+yourself+a+samba+school+drums+section/n1238135402474.html
Tweet of the week:
CroftyF1
£268.47 for a twenty year old album.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005FVA63A/
i'm so in the wrong business.
I won't be the first, and I won't be the last...
Kerching Baby
And he wants cupcakes!
Now that's what I call milking it.
:) :)
That's a lot of tat to go with those songs you've been listening to for the last 20 years!
Great album though - but not worth £268 ... says the man who just 'borrowed' his dad's copy...
That's fantastic
what album is?!
None are I suppose.
Cripes, that's a bit of a cheek.. wonder how many they sell
Megapoints.
I would like to point out that a copyeditor should really have rephrased the published quote of Ross Brawn that makes up the last paragraph. That's a bit of unfortunate phrasing.
didn't mercedes get points for this story months ago?
http://sidepodcast.com/post/even-cricket-gets-points-in-team-rankings-this-week
Looks like it. This was when he had the tour in June, he now has the arm but I don't think they should have points twice. Sorry I didn't see that this had already happened.
ah-ha! couldn't see that it had moved on.
That'd be fabulous, thanks RG.
Ping: http://sidepodcast.com/post/tweets-of-the-week-heres-to-100-more
Ooh! Ooh! http://www.rdmag.com/News/2011/08/Materials-Photonics-Nanostructured-glass-can-take-images-and-hold-data/
Nobody's answered my question about their robot's wakey-wake voice. I thought at least one person would have said they wanted Rob Smedley saying "Good morning, Sunshine!" (Maybe I just spent too much time with predictable F1 fans ;) )
Enjoy a little something from the Sidepodcast back catalogue.
- Manipulating the Media
Originally published 10 December 2007.
Ping! Gavin's swap shop post "How Much Would We Miss F1?" is now on VivaF1. Here's the link http://www.vivaf1.com/blog/?p=8043 and also a link to all 9 posts published so far http://bitly.com/ost38w
Looks like Adam Hay-Nicholls went to Tivoli today and went on the Vertigo: http://www.twitvid.com/GNJ67
That ride is insane, I hated it, it felt like someone was sitting on me and I was green when I got off. Normal rollercoasters are fine though!
I just need to look at one and I go green, not a snowballs chance I'd go on that
Oh my word, I feel ill just watching it! There's one at Thorpe Park which I refuse to go on and this looks worse!
Am the same as you though, normal rollercoasters are fine but anything that drops or moves like that, no way. I think speed is the thrill. :)
not falling
My mate (the guy from Trinidad) loves it and convinced me to go on. Now, I like scary rollercoasters because the rush is like karting or riding a motorcycle. But that has no feeling of speed - it's just a blur and you cannot move because of the g-force!
Yes exactly, that's why Nemesis is so good. There's one at Thorpe as well as the original at Alton Towers.
Evening peeps
Is it just me that thinks 'losing' an experimental aircraft doing Mach 20 is generally a bad idea? Especially if it's hurtling towards the Earth
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14497641
Tivoli has three - the Demon, the Odin Express and the Mine cart. There's another theme park up north with a rollercoaster that spins you horizontally too...
Will try and have mine done tonight, the Merc arm thing gave me an idea which I think I can get more words out of.. will get the blogging hammer and chisel ready later.
I also want to reply to Alex's great post so I'm trying to narrow myself down.
Probably confetti by the time it reaches the ground, no?
Thanks Pat
Dunno, it's shaped like a spear-tip and the test was 'supposed' to head into the Pacific anyway. I'd say that if I lost one too
:)
Must be fairly expensive
I'd imagine so. Military expenditure is almost open cheque book isn't it? :)
For someone who doesn't like the drops, somehow I ended up on this..
http://themeparkvillage.com/images/stories/saw1.jpg
The vertical climb and drop was pretty scary at first but the rest was mega fun :) :)
If found, please return to the US Government?
*gasps*
9 is a fantastic response, btw
It's getting better and better!
I think there are still about another 6 to come as well, it's kept me quite entertained this week and I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with
can anyone tell me what's up with Tony Kanaan and the porta potty? Been hearing rumblings of something, but not quite sure what happened.
He was involved in a crash and ended up upside down with the rear of his car over a tyre barrier knocking over the plastic convenience. Quite who allowed such a thing to be put in touching distance of a tyre barrier I don't know. Clearly someone with a limited knowledge of the laws of physics, the purpose of a tyre barrier or common sense
thanks. Just watched a video of it. Whomever put that thing there should be fired. Luckily noone was in it, AFAIK
It was empty at the time. Tony tweeted later that if anyone was in it they were welcome to come to the team motorhome for a shower.
For those who have not seen the video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obkA9FDWgHY&feature=youtu.be&a
There is also a link from that video of Will Power expressing his opinion of race control but I am not sure it complies with commenting policy so I won't link to it.
Is that series for real? Or are they trying to bring back the good old days?
The decision to re-start the race at the end when every driver and team said it was crazy and the pace car was going round with the wipers on was unbelievable
Mrs. Goat and my colleague were in stitches when I told them about the "Angry Birds" earlier...
i saw three minutes of highlights yesterday and i want those three minutes back.
oh, I saw that awesomeness all over twitter.
I can be fickle too. Yesterday I was mad at Andretti Autosport.. well okay just Michael Andretti.
Today they made Conway Street in Baltimore (on of the streets of the street circuit), into Mike Conway Street. :) http://t.co/eRtQ3w5
I really dislike that we are talking about it just because it was so awful.
I was stunned when I saw it live. He jumped the wall at the trackside clearly intent on expressing his opinion but a couple of people had a word in his ear and calmed him down a lot before he caught the eye of someone in race control and expressed his displeasure.
Would you prefer to talk about preserving tomatoes? http://www.foodinjars.com/2011/08/five-ways-to-preserve-small-tomatoes/ We can always talk about something else though ;) I just miss having a garden and a steady supply of fresh tomatoes.
Thing is, more and more people have been complaining about their race control this season. And that includes most of the paddock. Not a good situation when they those people lose confidence in the decision-making.
Some level-headed words on it here. (once instance of p-word).
http://morefrontwing.com/2011/08/15/reading-between-the-lines/
Christine can tell you how to grow tomatoes inside. She is an expert.
Ooh! I need to learn how to do that! I generally fail at making things grow without Nature helping it along (a terrible admission for a botanist, I know) - the Living Room Lavender and Bedroom Basil of '09 was a particularly tragic period of time!
Further to my Eureka-related mourning in the post above, I've found something cool - one of my favourite characters is in a cross-over with Warehouse 13 (a delightfully trippy sci fi show that shares a writer with Buffy the Vampire Slayer - that writer being Drew Zachary) http://www.redeyechicago.com/entertainment/tv/redeye-preview-warehouse-13-ep-dont-hate-the-player-20110815,0,5003079.story
#sidepodspace
Some fabulous recent space photos
http://www.space.com/12631-top-space-photos-week-aug-13-2011.html
Christine has even listed all her posts on indoor vegetable/fruit growing
http://mrschristine.com/life-list/the-great-gardening-adventure/
the two colliding galaxies makes for a very beautiful photo! wow!
Ooh, much OOHness! I can't wait to have a flat of my own to do these things in! So much to perfect for the Post-Apocalypse Bunker Experiment (I'm not insane; the time may come where living below ground in a sealed bunker is the most viable in terms of good air and water quality and optimal temperatures)!
did someone say lavender? on that note... PING: http://photofinishblog.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/trying-something-new/
not quite Alex, i know :)
I think expert would be pushing it. My mum had to rescue them.
Every picture of colliding galaxies looks amazing. Unless you are in one of the galaxies of course
And the best podcasting studios
yes i can imagine that wouldn't be so nice. but from here they look quite pretty :)
You grew stuff, ate it and survived. That is an expert compared to me
:)
I can never understand the scale involved in those pics. The area covered by pictures like that is just too enormous to contemplate
and even the area covered in those pictures is miniscule compared to the size of the universe.
Those look delectable!
I'm sure, with the right methodology and equipment, that it would be rather simple...I may need to have a conference call with my green-fingered grandmothers though ;)
Indeed!
Great, so when we're all living in bunkers, we'll be able to communicate as long as we keep the network cables in good order :)
Finally I have uploaded my pics from the Copenhagen Historic Grand Prix last weekend - there were some ace classic cars out there: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rubbergoat/sets/72157627317389357/
I could spend all day looking at photos of old cars. I really enjoyed this collection
Thanks. It took ages to edit them. Sadly some didn't come out as well as I liked, but I'm very happy with the ones that did :)
Any news on a penalty to Will Power, for his lack of willpower?
Nothing public but they were talking about staying lenient because it was their fault. Wouldn't surprise me if he was on double-secret probation though
They have to take some action when his actions were broadcast live on TV and the subject of so much discussion since. Even if it is only making him apologise and a token fine.
Tuesday is officially here: http://sidepodcast.com/post/daily-16th-august-2011
I thought it was only about ten o'clock. Sidepodtime wins again
He apologised on Twitter and in a statement. Quite impressive really because he (more likely team PR) posted the sentences in reverse order so that when you go to the his Twitter page it reads the right way top to bottom.
An apology and an attack on race control. Nice
clever!