XXI- The Dark Night Rises Shooting

Saddened by yet another mass shooting. It's not hard to imagine yourself in the situation going about your normal day and next thing you know you are in immediate danger, unprepared. The sentiment I share the most is from Adam Carolla: that I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. You have x number of people willing to do it and the availability of everything needed to execute it. The only thing stopping it is the determination of that person.

How much planning involved varies on the individual. You can have someone spur of the moment walk into a coffee shop (such as in Seattle, a few weeks back), the AZ shooting in front of a Safeway, to this most recent event, or Virginia Tech, or in Norway. (I think the most frightening to me still is the D.C. sniper attacks). After its happened so many times, however infrequent, I can't say I'm surprised or taken aback anymore.

XX- Zuck Zuck Zuck

Mark Zuckerberg and myself have a lot in common. When we are not dodging the efforts or a evil twin tandem, we're watching our networth fluctuate in the billions.

XIX- Ping Pong Ball

A Ping Pong ball filled with Tungsten would weigh approximately 1.42 lbs. This is going to be the least, and yet most important thing you will hear all day. Also, while this is not the heaviest element on earth, it is just slightly lighter then uranium (more on uranium later). The last few weeks I have become somewhat obsessed with the the density of things...

Gravity
Gravity is an important force, bro. You may remember from your high school math or science class that everything has a terminal velocity. This concept is 99% of the time thought of something falling through air, a gas. Or more specifically, a mixture of gases. If you threw a pillow, a dart, and yourself out of an airplane, you would reach the earth at different times. With different consequences. The maximum speed you would reach from gravity alone (as opposed to being shot out of a canon, towards the ground) is your terminal velocity. Or, more eloquently put:

"A free-falling object achieves its terminal velocity when the downward force of gravity (F_g) equals the upward force of drag (F_d). This causes the net force on the object to be zero, resulting in an acceleration of zero.^[1]"-

"Higher speeds can be attained if the skydiver pulls in his or her limbs (see also freeflying). In this case, the terminal velocity increases to about 320 km/h (200 mph or 90 m/s),^[2] which is almost the terminal velocity of the Peregrine Falcon diving down on its prey.; The same terminal velocity is reached for a typical .30-06 bullet travelling in the downward vertical direction — when it is returning to earth having been fired upwards, or perhaps just dropped from a tower — according to a 1920 U.S. Army Ordnance study.^[3]"

"The reason an object reaches a terminal velocity is that the drag force resisting motion is approximately proportional to the square of its speed. At low speeds, the drag is much less than the gravitational force and so the object accelerates. As it accelerates, the drag increases, until it equals the weight. Drag also depends on the projected area. This is why objects with a large projected area relative to mass, such as parachutes, have a lower terminal velocity than objects with a small projected area relative to mass, such as bullets."
-Wikipedia

Let's Fall
In the beginning of that Wikipedia article, it mentions terminal velocity is a property of fluid dynamics. Not only does something falling through air have a terminal velocity, the same is true for liquid (i.e. water). A sinking ship, a lead weight, or a dolphin corpse. OK, hopefully you are intrigued with all the talk about falling objects, but probably don't know where this is going. Well, recently there was a study in Mexico and Cuba that showed objects travelling threw a granular medium (i.e. sand, ball pit, polystyrene beads) could reach a terminal velocity. This is important because it has not even been publicly theorized before. If anyone has watched Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman, that is impressive in it's own right.

The link is below for the Pop-Sci article, and it really caught my attention. The researchers dropped (or more accurately, shot) different weighted ping-pong balls into the polystyrene (i.e. foam) beads and observed them to reach a terminal velocity. Imagine jumping into a ball pit and falling forever, or dropping something on a sandy beach and have it sink beyond reach.

Heavy Metal
In that test, the researchers modified the density of the balls by filling them with steel particles/ dust. Their heaviest ping pong ball, at 182 grams, was still less than 1/2 a pound. By doing more math then I should be logically be doing in my normal life, I calculated that the ball should be closer to 9+ ounces if filled with solid steel or iron. This means that the some density has been lost due to the granular nature of their product, and probably completely topped off with the steel particles.

Why is this important? In the physorg.com original article, they mention a ping pong ball would have to weigh approx. 31 pounds to travel endlessly through sand. Well, that stat sparked my interest for this entire blog post. Inside my head " Wow, 31 lbs. How much steel would have to be in it? I don't think that would work. They just did the test with steel. Steel is really heavy. Is there anything heavier than steel? google.com"

At that point, I came head on with my wrong assumptions:

#1 a 31 lb. ping pong ball is possible
#2 Steel is really heavy

This search lead me to a few very interesting websites, and some strong realizations. Refer back to my 1st sentence about a Tungsten ping pong ball. I calculated this to weigh a little more than 1.42 lbs, or about 23 ounces. That is about 2-1/2 times the weight, or density of steel! Tungsten is pretty much the heaviest metal we have hear on earth that is safe to handle. There are a few substances that are only marginally heavier, such as Uranium. So, it's safe to say the 31 lb. ping pong ball isn't happening anytime soon.

On a side note, a Tungsten ping pong ball would be fun to toss to your friends if you like giving them stress fractures or hideous bruises. Also, I would like to start a gym called Tungsten where all the weights are: you guessed it, Tungsten. I think it would be cool to have 45 lb. plates about 25% smaller than other gym's 25 pounder's. I'm sure the cost would be astronomical.

Depleted Uranium
I recently did some light reading on Depleted Uranium (DU) shells, and it fit right into this whole conversation. The difference between DU Uranium and Enriched Uranium- EU can be used for nuclear fission. I found a great article on the Santa Clara University website, linked below. The concept behind a DU shell is the same reason a "bullet proof" vest does not stop a sharp knife. You want a concentrated force to penetrate the armor, instead of being dispersed. For comparison, DU is 68.4% more dense than lead. These heavy shells are very dangerous and strongly linked to radiation poisoning ("Gulf War Syndrome"). DU shells also offer some different benefits compared to other advanced ammunition, as stated in the article. Research into using these DU and Tungsten slugs started in the 1970's. DU is also used for advanced armor. It's amazing how the military will gravitate towards a material because of it's low cost, despite being potentially poisonous to your own troops. And it's density.

120 mm Tank Ammunition

"The use of DU in munitions is controversial because of questions about potential long-term health effects.^[5][6] Normal functioning of the kidney, brain, liver, heart, and numerous other systems can be affected by uranium exposure, because uranium is a toxic metal.^[7] It is weakly radioactive and remains so because of its long physical half-life (4.468 billion years for uranium-238, 700 million years for uranium-235). The biological half-life (the average time it takes for the human body to eliminate half the amount in the body) for uranium is about 15 days.^[8] The aerosol or spallation frangible powder produced during impact and combustion of depleted uranium munitions can potentially contaminate wide areas around the impact sites leading to possible inhalation by human beings" - Wikipedia


Phys Org Article (original)

Terminal Velocity Through granular medium (Popular Science)

Volume of a Ping Pong Ball

DU Ammunition- SCU



XVIII- How to Sleep like you were poisoned

Greetings loyal Apprisal readers! I know I have not posted in a while, but I had to break down what has happened over the last 12 hours or so. I'm talking about sleep, son!!!

Don't worry, the blog is still getting plenty of hits, which reminds me....
Alison Rosen Adam Carolla Bald Brian Daves of Thunder DOT BTL Delicious Pancakes In my mouth

Sleep

Like a lot of people in their early to mid 20's, sleep is a love hate relationship. I like staying up late and hate getting up in the morning. It's a constant battle to go to bed on time. Despite this, I have pretty good sleeping habits (except when I pass out at my neighbor's place, on their floor, when I have my bed about 150 yards away). I usually go to bed around 11:15 to 11:30, with my alarm going off at 7 a.m.



  Everyone has their own particulars for an environment they can sleep in. I have a friend of mine that would play loud music on his computer and pass out no problem. Now banging. Linkin Park and Eminem in my room is not what I like to do, so....

The Official List of Ideal Sleep Conditions
Temperature- Slightly on the "Cool" side. If I had to guess, between 63-67 degrees.
Humidity- As little humidity as possible

Sound- As little sound as possible

Light- As little light as possible.

Smell- As little smell as possible.

Covers- Light, clean sheet and comforter.

Pillows- Standard issue, slightly to moderately broken in.

Bed- Breathable, firmer material. Twin XL, Queen, or larger for length.

Like a Utopian society, it is hard to reach all of these conditions, but it doesn't hurt to strive for. It's hard to control all of these factors, such as when my window is open. Apparently, the intersection I live by occasionally turns into Need for Speed: Underground 2.

The Set-up

Last night was the first night I used my air conditioning unit all spring/summer. I usually have it run to cool my room just a tad, but mainly to utilize it's ability to remove humidity. I rarely need to have it run all night, so I had it run for the typical two hours or so on timer, just long enough to get me to sleep. It does make some noise as it kicks on and off as it maintains temperature, but the comfort benefit greatly outweighs the noise.

Well, I slept like a rock last night. I slept so hard that I slept straight through my alarm. I felt like I had taken a bunch of Advil or NyQuil right before bed. Even with those products, I still would have woken up to my alarm! I was actually worried that maybe my A/C had a leak and I got like freon poisoning or something. I found out that Freon is non-toxic, thanks Google. THAT'S A NIGHT OF SLEEP!

The A/C benefits my sleep greatly, but I had never woken up that groggy, through my moderately loud alarm, and thought that I had been drugged and/or poisoned during the night.

The Culprit
So, after ruling out the poisonous A/C unit, I reviewed what I had consumed before bed.

About a month ago, I decided to make Gin Rickey's for the first time. A Gin Rickey consists of: Gin, Ice, Club Soda, and fresh squeezed Lime. I have since adapted to drink just the same thing minus the Gin, as it is a very refreshing and healthy drink. I will be consuming more and more of these as the temperature goes up during the summer.



Gin Rickey

Enter Sandman

Well, last time I went to Safeway, that had some real b-stock limes: off color, small, and not even on sale. Instead, that had some giant lemons on sale, 2 for $1. I deducted that they must be in season, and I could make the same drink with Lemon instead. I had the first Lemon drinks on Sunday, during the late afternoon. I slept well that night, but nothing out of the ordinary (out of the ordinary i.e. drugged/poisoned). Last night, I did the same thing, except much closer to bed time. I usually make two drinks, half the fruit in each, and finished the second one around 11pm.




Consult your doctor before consuming



Turns out, Lemon is sort of a homeopathic sleep aid, among other things. A Hot Toddy, for example, contains lemon, as well as many teas, etc. designed to help you get over being sick faster and help you sleep. I haven't seen anything promoting the "knocked-out" experience that I had, but seems to be enough evidence to say this is what did me in. I hope now that I have come forward, others will as well with their extreme lemon sleep.

Recipe: The Big Sleep

 (The Big Sleep is a euphemism for death)

Throw 5 or 6 big ice cubes into a pint(16oz.) glass

Squeeze half a large fresh lemon into the glass. I prefer to puncture the lemon several times with a fork to facilitate the juicin'.

Top the glass off with club soda, or water. See you in 16 hours!!!

Warning: Consumption may result in large losses in time

Articles

"In case of insomnia, raw lemon juice helps to improve sleep."

http://www.ehow.com/how_6857990_do-use-lemon-cure-snoring_.html

http://healthmad.com/nutrition/lemon-juice-offers-surprising-benefits-you-want-to-enjoy/

http://goneraw.com/forum/drinking-lemon-juice-sleep-and-waking

XVII- War. Dogs.

I wasn't going to talk about war dogs in the blog, until a new article popped up that expressed the same fan boy-spirit I had for them. War dog's, also called Military Work Dog or MWD's, recently got highlighted all over the news because of the helicopter raid on Bin Laden's complex, which utilized at least one dog.

And, oh yeah...I SAW THIS PICTURE




! ! ! ! !


You can read the article at Fast Company, everything is bad-ass about the article including the title:

"The Bullet Proof Dog That Stormed Bin Laden's Lair"

I originally expressed my interest in war dogs watching Diane Sawyer gloss over all the expensive items these dogs get tricked out with. I started thinking about how police dogs are trained to take down attackers by biting them, and I imagined if their mouth had some teeth, similar to a bear trap. Sure enough, these dogs get missing teeth replaced with titanium (although not as awesome as my bear trap concept). Teeth, according to D-Soy, that are broken during training. Titanium is named after the Titans from Greek Mythology,

Official Apprisal List of Animals you do not want to get bit by

4. Cobra, etc.

3. Any type of a gator, boy! ROLL TIDE

2. shark, killer whale, etc.

1. Dog that is trained to kill with it's teeth, is so ferocious that it breaks it's teeth during training, and has it's teeth replaced with titanium. Bite strength: 700 lbs/ sq.in.

German Shepherd Puppy

The thing I most like about involving dogs in combat, that it's kind of a retro concept. People used to utilize animals in combat all the time, horses, elephants, etc. and moved away with the advancement in technology. Now, these advancements allow these animals to get re-introduced into combat. Lucky them! Seriously though, pretty soon it's going to be like a sci-fi novel or something similar, with Chewbacca's running around with laser guns.

Special Made Vest for Dogs: $20,000 - $30,000

XVI- John Demjanjuk (talk about a bad day)

I was reading the news today, and had to talk about this story of John Demjanjuk. Today, he has been sentenced to 5 years in prison...for Nazi war crimes.

John D. is 91 years old. I imagine the prosecution went something like this:
"Do you remember where you were in 1943?"
"That was 68 years ago. so no"

They have numerous articles that have been linked to him being there, so odds are he is guilty as charged. He maintains his innocence despite this evidence. Although, the only reason he was regarded as a Nazi is because he was a prisoner of war. It was common for POW's to be forced into service for Germany in WWII. Unless...you were Jewish. So here we are, almost 70 years later, prosecuting a man who is 91 years old.

Some things that stuck out from reading about this crazy event:

• "As survivors and defendants have aged and died, the prosecution of Nazi-era war criminals has become increasingly difficult because, 66 years after the end of World War II, few potential witnesses are still alive."New York Times.  I imagine.
• He's been deported from the USA. Twice
• He is a retired US auto worker, meaning if you own an American car 30-40 years old, there is an outside chance it was part built by a Nazi.
• He was sentenced to death in 1988 in Israel, but was pardoned when they discovered they mistook him for a different Nazi.
• They had to make special arrangements for him because of his old age and health conditions.

Should John Demjanjuk be prosecuted?

The UK's First Post has a good article here

"But his accusers have maintained that between March and September 1943, he was a guard at the Polish Sobibor death camp. This was a relatively common way for Soviet prisoners to avoid being one of the three million Russian soldiers who starved to death in camps. Demjanjuk later testified, "I would have given my soul for a loaf of bread."

XV- Rich Man, Poor Man

Rich Man, Poor Man

Happy Special Tuesday Edition, everyone!

Dave Dameshek Daves of Thunder DOT BTL end cancelled Pancake Recipe Get Rich Quick Free Xbox

As you have hopefully figured out by now, I am a big fan of Adam Carolla. He is doing a show at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland on Saturday, May 14th. However, I will be out of town at a concert in Sea-Town, wasssup, Seattle, Jump on it! Jump on it! Jump on it! Also, tickets to his show are quite a bit more than other comedy acts I have been to. The neighborhood of $50 is a little much for a 90 minute show. I will probably check him out next time, if he is at a less prestigious venue (my living room, perhaps?)

THE MAN with new funny girl Alison Rosen



The Schnitz'


The Actual Article
I wanted to highlight a concept that Adam came up with a lone time ago. I was first introduced to Adam Carolla listening to loveline as a kid. Not really "content a 13 year old should be listening to", but my main attraction was the humor that he brought to the show. I imagine the majority of people's only familiarity with him is from The Man Show, which is like the only time eating chocolate is when it was on rotten fruit. I then followed him onto his morning show that was cancelled (I believe 2008?) despite it's popularity. As I'm sure I mentioned before, he now has his own podcast company, and the #1 podcast in the US (2nd in the world to Ricky Gervais' podcast, currently trying overtake him in the next week or two).

Ever since I can remember he has periodically talked about "Rich Man, Poor Man". This points out similarities between the poorest in our society and the richest in our society, which passes the middle 80-90% of society. It is one of my favorite things because of the hilarious and true analogies

assembled from fan submissions, Twitter (#richmanpoorman) and actual Adam Carolla, Bald Brian, etc. examples

Really Long Driveways
Rich people have those really long driveways that end in a circle, and poor people have long driveways that end in trailers
Make Your Own Alcohol
Rich people own wineries and do extensive home brewing while poor people make toilet wine and moonshine
Owning Lots of animals
Owning a bunch of Chihuahuas vs. a bunch of feral cats
Living in multiple houses a year
Couch surfing, getting evicted compared to vacationing in France, downtown penthouses
Their house has a lot of wood paneling
Rich people have hand carved mahogany panels, libraries, etc. Poor people have fake paneling from the 70's

They spend a lot of time in a bath robe

Playing guitar in front of people for money

Eating the exotic parts off of animals

From 2006 log of the ACS Show

"6:07 RICH MAN, POOR MAN

Adam plays a spirited round of Rich Man, Poor Man.

One thing the middle class seems to be brainwashed with, Adam says, is that second hand smoke is a first class killer. Rich people will smoke in the house, and even have a smoking room. Poor people just don’t care.
Dave brings up another thing that is just a middle class thing. The middle class will tell you, “Oh, my wife runs this house.” The rich don’t ever see their wife, and the poor just beat the hell out of their wife.

A listener calls in. The Harley-Davidson, he says. The rich man will of course have a nice motorcycle to play around with, and the poor man will just be a white trash biker dude. The middle class guy isn’t allowed to have a motorcycle.

James proffers “eviction notices.” The rich man gets to hand out eviction notices, and the poor man gets them. Interesting, Adam says. The middle class rarely deals with eviction notices.

Chris brings up taxidermy. The nice rich guy has a big marlin on his wall that he caught on some fishing trip. The poor guy has a jackalope.

Marcus calls in with “fishing.” Rich people do it for fun and sport, and poor people sometimes do it just to catch some food to cook up and eat.

Darren points out that neither rich guys nor poor guys will clean up after themselves. Agreed, Adam says. Rich guys feel entitled to be cleaned up after, and poor guys just don’t care."
-The Official Adam Carolla Show Blog