Möbius Cheat Sheet

I wish I knew about this when I was still taking math tests.

[click for full effect]

Also, a möbius gear.

A Motherfraking Möbius Gear

Thank Berkeley robotics student Aaron Hoover for this mind-bending, one-sided gem.

Wired describes his difficult to convey contraption-

The white section is the Möbius strip and is flexible. It is made from silicone rubber, and has a twist, which means that — despite what your eyes and brain are telling you — it only has teeth along one side (because it only has one side).

The outer, black strip has a double twist that I still can’t make out after letting my eyes follow it around for a good 10 minutes now. Somehow, the little blue rubber “spur” gears guide these two impossible shapes and allow them to mesh. In theory, either the blue gears (planets, as this is essentially a planetary gear system) or the white “sun” strip can drive the movement. In practice, it’s easier to move the white strip by hand, and even then, the blue gears pop out occasionally.

I’m finding it hard to tear myself away from this picture, but I managed it for long enough to read Hoover’s detailed description of the planning and printing process (.pdf) from start to finish. It, too, is almost impossible to understand for a layman like me, but reading the nightmarishly complex calculations needed to make the gears line up makes this deceptively simple model seem even more impressive.

Learn more about it from Aaron.

Yo-Yo Ma + Lil Buck = Spike Jonze?

Wow, man, apparently. That's one expectedly cool (yet totally unexpected) equation. 

Spike Jonze comments on capturing the otherwise more intimate moment:

The other day, I was lucky enough to be at an event to bring the arts back into schools and got to see an amazing collaboration between Yo-Yo Ma and a young dancer in LA, Lil Buck. Someone who knows Yo-Yo Ma had seen Lil Buck on YouTube and put them together. The dancing is Lil Buck’s own creation and unlike anything I’ve seen. Hope you enjoy.

NSF Study: Developmental Differences in Stress Responses

Adriana Galván, of UCLA, is exploring how daily stress and associated stress hormones impact decision making. Through a grant from the National Science Foundation, she is able to contrast the effect of stress on brain function in adolescents and adults.

Galván monitors the level of stress in her study participants four times per day. When an individual records high or low levels of stress, he or she immediately comes to the lab for evaluation.

Data suggest that the greatest sources of stress for teens are parents, while for adults stress tends to come from work or schoolwork.

There are also differences based on the time of day. While adults are most stressed in the morning, teens are most stressed in the early evening. Data also suggest that teens show greater cognitive impairment when stressed than adults.

Once the individuals come to the lab, their levels of cortisol are evaluated. Galván explained, "We expect diurnal patterns of cortisol release to differ between adults and adolescents and that this distinction will correlate with levels of stress. Previous work has shown that, under identical stress conditions, teens show greater cortisol release than adults."

Full Text via NSF and LiveScience

CollegeBinary Presents 3 Minute Philosophy

Australian S. Peter Davis (also called CollegeBinary) makes good use of youtube by providing light-hearted primers on several philosophers- above, Kant's stubbornness highlights himself as an especially douchey one. Reminds me a bit of Brad Neely (of Wizard People, Dear Reader fame).

The Pythagoras one, below, might be my favorite.

Also make sure to check out Galileo, Descartes, Aquinas, Aristotle, Hume, Nietzsche, and Locke.

Did You Know 4.0 Drops Tech Usage Knowledge

This is the most recent update [Fall 2009] of the Shift Happens video, of exploding internet fame. The original Did You Know? started as a powerpoint presentation to faculty in August, 2006 at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado as a way to acquaint teachers and staff to new media and its use among younger generations. Developed with the assistance of The Economist, the latest version showcases the most recent data on shifting media landscapes. I've taken the liberty of posting links [where possible] to every cited source below. Enjoy being on the forefront of the world's information-technology changes. Because, for better or for worse, this is how we're using tech at the moment.

College Graduation Rates [Infographic]

Congratulations to all students graduating this past May! As I've done that myself, I have been on the road for the past few weeks, camping in North Carolina's scenic and psychedelic outer banks, visiting an organic brewery or two. Now that I'm back, and back favoring the virtual world for the real one, I thought I'd share some graduation related info with all you intellectually curious types.