Recent content by zerodish

Alger was in Guinness book of world records. So I tried to find information on him on a regular basis. I came across a patent for a maser that works in outher space. That was it no other information other than it existed. Other sources called him a mechanical genius. Glass can't be bent but you...

First thing you do is search for the Szilard papers. Yes that Szilard. I had assumed Alger's patents were classified by the government which is why his name was being scrubbed from the internet. I still think this but the real story is more complicated. This is a man who scorred 197 on an IQ...

There are many valid mathematical systems in use. You will need to define the rules where this is valid. Argand chose to make the imaginary axis at right angels to the real axis in the Argand Plane. The imaginary axis is associated with the real axis. The Pythagorean Theorum does not work in the...

Viewed as a mathematical object it is simply a function where the value is 1 at 0 and 0 every where else. The idea that you can take the derivative or intergal of this monster is interesting. I would say it is a degenerate function like a line segment could be viewed as a degenerate ellipse...

A lot of people will come across that problem and waste a lot of time thinking about it. I came across it on youtube. I have lost my ability to save youtube videos so I don't waste my time viewing their site or saving the url of a video. I didn't waste any time on the problem it solved itself. I...

Assume you have a perfect hill a perfect ball and a perfect putter. Then you putt the ball so it comes to rest on top of the hill. If you accept this is possible then you have to accept a ball balanced on the hill can eventually fall down the hill. That is an effect without a cause. While this...

There was about 40 mm between the dropout and the inside of the cone on the standard 5 cog freewheel sold in the 70's Then the industry went mad. Jack Taylor's words not mine. The Modern 7 cog freewheel sold in depertments increased the moment arm to 47.5. mm Meanwhile secular trends in human...

I volunteer in the coops. I had a customer come in who had broke 8 spokes on a single ride. I have no idea how far the ride was but if he had used 14 gauge instead of 15 gauge he would have broken 1/5 as many spokes. A much safer ride. I tour and keep the rear rack loaded even when I'm not...

The following equation comes from a paper by HP Gavin. LOG(stress)=-.3LOG(cycles)=4.12+.072Z where Z is the normal distribution. If you only have 1 spoke you place it in the middle of the normal distribution that is a Z score of 0. So if you have 36 spokes you divide the normal distribution into...

The CPSC has mandated every bicycle rim have a groove to indicate the wear on the rim. I have tested wheels extensively that I built over 100000 miles. As they wear from the brake pads the side walls will bulge from fatigue. If you are paying attention you can feel the brake grab at this spot...

Hilbert's hotel is a fallacy. The problem is there is always some one in the hallway. To convince yourself this is true try to check into Ramsey's hotel. Ramsey's hotel has a hallway with a finite size. It connects to an infinite number of rooms in an infinite number of dimensions. Move some one...

Here is the photo you can view it on flickr by searching "national electrical code" in quotes.

I have been photographing wires hanging from utility poles that have tangled with and caused automobile accidents. One of these is a puzzle the detail shows a wire from a 7 strand wire rope made out of aluminum. It was too dangerous at the time to anything but drag the wire out of the road and...

Sorry I can't find the article it had the diagram. The idea hyperbolic flywheel shape is easy to find on the web http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544211005251 the column shape should be easier to find since columns are much more common than flywheels. I'm replacing all the...

It ran in Science News after much calculation the idea shape for a column to resist buckling was solved. It is a slight barrel shape.