Not too long ago I posted about the device above – a cool looking glass bulb which supposedly uses light to scare away flights. That claim hit my skeptical nerve, and I discussed itin my previous post. Over the past weeks I’ve been researching reasonable methods to test this claim – and like much of my research – I procrastinate and end up watching TV. But every once in a while it pays off; and to my amazement I stumbled upon theMythbusters and their Bug Special (Season 8, episode 26). One of their mini-myths was exactly this – that bags of water can scare away flies! The test was designed pretty well, however the concept as to why it would have worked is flawed. As I discussed in my previous post, flies would and should be able to handle refracted and reflected light. די “invisible wall” theory did not hold up as you can imagine and the bag of water did zero to repel flies – and it might have actually attracted a few who were looking for a droplet or two of moisture around the edges. I am still left wondering if the motion of scattered light would have any effect on fly behavior (however unlikely). Looks like I missed my opportunity for a Mythbusters consult!
אַלעקס ווילד posted a few days agoabout the “פרעעלענסינג” פאָטאָגראַפיע טעכניק. איר קענען באַקומען עטלעכע טאַקע קיל רעזולטאַטן, ספּעציעל מיט קריייטינג די אילוזיע פון מיניטשערז – אָבער אַזוי ווייַט איך האב ניט געווען העלדיש גענוג צו געבן עס אַ שאָס (קיין ווערטערשפּיל בדעה). I came across this impressive compilation of Haitian images on NPR today that is both tilt-shifted and stop-motion!
*Update* – If you were previously subscribed to any posts, it looks like you will have to re-subscribe. I have decided though to skip on the entire-blog subscription and just stick to individual posts.
It’s always something. I updated my theme the other day and a glitch in the software caused a crash. Everything was put back together by the Southern Fried Scientist, but now I need to pick up the pieces and find a new theme to host my page. Stay tuned, I need to rebuild, and it will probably take me a day or two to get everything back to working order!
איך וויסן וואָס איך בין כאָופּינג פֿאַר פון סאַנטאַ דעם יאָר!
געזונט, ניט טאַקע. אין אַקטשאַוואַלאַטי איך טאָן ניט קלייַבן באַטערפלייז, און ספּעציעל ניט די ריז בירדווינגס. זיי זענען סטאַנינג אַנימאַלס, אָבער באַזונדער פון זייַענדיק ריזיק, זיי זענען אויך טייַער (די דורכשניטלעך ספּעסאַמאַנז גיין פֿאַר וועגן אַ הונדערט באַקס). The newsworthy part of this story is how much it went for at auction. Before I tell you the price… this is a rare aberration of a rare butterfly (the forewing is almost a solid green blush, which is freakish). אבער…it’s still just a butterfly.