Double rainbow over King of Prussia, 2016. Taken from the parking lot in front of Acme. I miss the Acme.
| Choose ONE of the following projects! | |||
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Option 1: The Physics of...
Choose a sport, hobby, activity or game and analyze the physics of it. Instructions |
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Option 2: Virtual Physics
Use Algodoo (a physics simulation program available from Managed Downloads on your laptop) to set up a simulation to demonstrate a concept from physics. Note: This requires you to be independent and learn the program on your own. Instructions Algodoo Demo video The Algodoo Website has tutorials and samples. |
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Option 3: Design Your Own Experiment
Choose an experimental question, take measurements and answer it. Instructions |
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THE UNLUCKY WORLD TRADE CENTER TOURIST
Soon after 9/11, this photo started making the rounds by email. The story was that a camera was found in the wreckage of the World Trade Center after September 11, and this photo was found on the camera. Seemingly taken moments before the first jet crashed into the building, the photo is dramatic... but is it real? The most important thing to look for in photos like this is the shadows and glints of light. Notice that for the tourist, the sunlight is coming from the right. That leaves the left side of his face heavily in shadow. The glint from the sun on the jet is along the top and front, indicating that the sun was directly overhead and foreward. Conclusion: the jet was pasted into the photo. There are other bits that you can pick out as well. He looks to be dressed for winter, not for a relatively warm day in September. Also, the first tower to be hit was the north tower, which did not have an observation deck on the roof. It turns out the person in the picture is a Hungarian guy who edited the photo as a joke for friends not realizing it would spread across the entire internet. Let that be a lesson to you. Here's more info. |
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BRAD AND SIENNA
I took a pic of this cover of Us Magazine while waiting in line at the food store. Brad Pitt's love life seems to occupy a large portion of many magazines. But did this picture really capture Brad and Sienna together? If you try to look at the shadows and glints in this photo it's a bit harder to draw a conclusion. The light does look a little different for each of them, but not conclusively different. But one thing that always captures the light is the eyes. In each of their eyes, there is a reflection of the light source. Click the picture to see a larger version and take a look in their eyes. In Brad's eye's there is a single reflection - a single light source. In Sienna's eyes, you can see reflections of multiple light sources. Conclusion: these were two separate photos. In my anecdotal experience waiting in line at the food store, gossip magazines do this fairly often. |
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LIZ AND MARILYN
This picture was posted to Twitter a few years back. It shows two rival icons of the 1950s: Marilyn Monroe and Liz Taylor, together leaning against a tree. Does this picture really capture a serene moment of their youth before what later became a contentious relationship? Looking at the light and shadow in this photo leads you to a clear conclusion. For Liz, the light is coming from the right. For Marilyn, the light is coming from overhead. Conclusion: these were two separate photos that were pasted together. |
| Song | Artist | Year | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Love Reign O'er Me | The Who | 1973 | One of the most passionately sung love songs I know. Well done, Roger Daltrey. |
| Little Willy | Sweet | 1972 | |
| Because The Night | The Patti Smith Group | 1978 | Written by Patti and Bruce Springsteen. Bruce is not a bad song writer but I like it better when others sing his songs. I feel the same way about Bob Dylan. |
| Truth | Kamasi Washington | 2017 | Like most jazz, it gets a little crazy toward the middle. I usually skip to the end. |
| Come on Eileen | Dexy's Midnight Runners | 1982 | |
| Five O'Clock World (Original Single Version) | The Vogues | 1965 | Quittin' time! |
| If You Really Love Me | Stevie Wonder | 1971 | |
| Malaguena | Ritchie Valens | 1959 | You only ever hear "La Bamba". He was quite the guitarist. |
| Island Letter | Shuggie Otis | 1974 | Thanks again to UM grad Ross Reilly back in the early 2000s for turning me on to Shuggie. |
| What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 1): Blue Sky Revisit / Transmission 3 | DJ Shadow | 1996 | Another track from the amazing album Endtroducing..., supposedly the first album to be composed solely of samples. |
| Stand Back | Stevie Nicks | 1983 | I, like so many others, was infatuated with Stevie back in the 80s. I still love her music, though. |
| Friday On My Mind | The Easybeats | 1967 | End of the week! |
| Radio Ga Ga | Queen | 1984 | I will never forget watching Live Aid on TV, and seeing that scene at Wembley Stadium with all the people clapping over their heads. It was quite a moment. For a long time, this was my favorite Queen song but I think I like "Flash" better now. |
| What's Going On | Marvin Gaye | 1971 | |
| People Are People | Depeche Mode | 1984 | A good song containing a strong plea for tolerance. |
| You Can't Hurry Love | The Supremes | 1966 | |
| American Pie | Don McLean | 1971 | One of the great sing-along songs. What makes a great sing-along song, I wonder? |
| Fresh-Garbage | Spirit | 1968 | The world's a can For your fresh garbage Sad but true. |
| Some Days Are Better Than Others | U2 | 1993 | Isn't that the truth?? |
| Were Not Gonna Take It | Twisted Sister | 1984 | We thought we were so cool shouting this at whatever we thought authority was back then. |
| Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want | Dream Academy | 1986 | Beautiful version of the Smiths song that was used in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. |
| My Adidas | Run-DMC | 1986 | |
| Save it for Later (from vinyl) | The English Beat | 1982 | |
| Embryonic Journey | Jefferson Airplane | 1967 | Beautiful instrumental guitar piece. It reminds me of Michael Tierson who used to have a psychedelic radio show on Sunday nights on WMMR. He always played this song as his intro music. |
| Weather With You | Crowded House | 1991 | |
| Reach Out I'll Be There | The Four Tops | 1966 | |
| Just What I Needed | The Cars | 1978 | I use this song as my ringtone for Ms. Newhart. :) |
| I Got A Line On You | Spirit | 1968 | |
| Lemon | U2 | 1993 |
Man builds a city With banks and cathedrals Man melts the sand So he can see the world outside Man builds a car Builds a road to run them on Man dreams of leaving But he always stays behind. We are so good at creating structure and organization, and even better at getting caught up in them like spider webs. |
| Human Ceremony | Sunflower Bean | 2016 | |
| Into the Deep | Kula Shaker | 1996 | One of the unknown songs that I heard on WCUR in the early 2000s that I eventually tracked down with the help of this new thing called google as people began posting lyrics online. |
| Love Will Tear Us Apart | Joy Division | 1980 | |
| All Apologies | Nirvana | 1993 | |
| Tijuana Lady | Gomez | 1998 | Another one of the unknown songs from WCUR in the early 2000s. In the early days of the internet, this song came up on a website of songs with the worst lyrics. I love the music, but I can't say I disagree. |
| And So I Know | Stone Temple Pilots | 1996 | Why do I find this song so beautiful? It's dreamy and summery to me. |
| Surfin' Away | Vivian Girls | 2009 | I love the simplicity of the Vivian Girls music. |
| It's The Same Old Song | The Four Tops | 1965 | |
| Another One Bites the Dust | Queen | 1980 | |
| Go | Moby | 1991 | Found this one on a compilation of this new thing called techno music back in the early 90s at Repo Records in Bryn Mawr (no longer there, sadly). Samples music from Twin Peaks. |
| It's A Shame About Ray | The Lemonheads | 1992 | |
| Bust a Move | Young MC | 1989 | |
| Walk On By | The Stranglers | 1988 | I love this cover of the Dionne Warwick song. |
| Uncle Jack | Spirit | 1968 | |
| Mr. Blue Sky | Electric Light Orchestra | 1977 | This might be the happiest song I know. |
| World | New Order | 1993 |