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Salut!

  • Jen-Luc Piquant sez: "They like us! They really like us!"

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« FROM THE ARCHIVES: down the rabbit hole | Main | what do we mean by "how much oil is left" in the gulf? »

here, listen to this while I'm away

BookishJenLuc While you're waiting for fresh blogging fare at the cocktail party (it's coming soon! we promise!), let me point you to the hot new diavlog I did for BloggingHeads.tv, featuring me and author Mary Roach, whose latest book is the excellent Packing for Mars. Regular readers know I'm a longstanding fan of Mary's work, and she's just as fun and engaging over the phone as she is in print. We chatted about zero gravity (she got to ride on the Vomit Comit!), what freefall is really like during a spacewalk, the psychological complications pertaining to sex in space, Mary's foray into space toilet training, and she also had the chance to redeem the reputation of Enos the Space Chimp, unfairly maligned for masturbating during his NASA space mission. (Although if he had, Roach says, that would have given Enos the dubious honor of achieving first orgasm in space.) Go on, you know you want to give it a listen. And we'll be back soon with new posts before you know it.

Posted by on August 21, 2010 in Books, Gravity matters, Pop culture |

Comments

Very informative and entertaining - and your outfits matched.

Posted by: Partially Deflected | August 21, 2010 at 11:43 PM

Please stop talking about traveling beyond the pull of gravity! That propagates a gross misconception. Gravity in low Earth orbit is just slightly less than at Earth's surface (gravity is an inverse square force, after all). The reason you are in free fall in a circular orbit is that you are accelerating toward the center of the Earth at the same rate as demanded by the local gravitational field. The circular orbit speed is determined from v^2/R = G*M/R^2....

BBB

Posted by: Bernard Beard | August 26, 2010 at 03:34 AM

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    Physics Cocktails

    • Heavy G
      The perfect pick-me-up when gravity gets you down.
      2 oz Tequila
      2 oz Triple sec
      2 oz Rose's sweetened lime juice
      7-Up or Sprite
      Mix tequila, triple sec and lime juice in a shaker and pour into a margarita glass. (Salted rim and ice are optional.) Top off with 7-Up/Sprite and let the weight of the world lift off your shoulders.
    • Listening to the Drums of Feynman
      The perfect nightcap after a long day struggling with QED equations.
      1 oz dark rum
      1/2 oz light rum
      1 oz Tia Maria
      2 oz light cream
      Crushed ice
      1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
      In a shaker half-filled with ice, combine the dark and light rum, Tia Maria, and cream. Shake well. Strain into an old fashioned glass almost filled with crushed ice. Dust with the nutmeg, and serve. Bongos optional.
    • Combustible Edison
      Electrify your friends with amazing pyrotechnics!
      2 oz brandy
      1 oz Campari
      1 oz fresh lemon juice
      Combine Campari and lemon juice in shaker filled with cracked ice. Shake and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Heat brandy in chafing dish, then ignite and pour into glass. Cocktail Go BOOM! Plus, Fire = Pretty!
    • Hiroshima Bomber
      Dr. Strangelove's drink of choice.
      3/4 Triple sec
      1/4 oz Bailey's Irish Cream
      2-3 drops Grenadine
      Fill shot glass 3/4 with Triple Sec. Layer Bailey's on top. Drop Grenadine in center of shot; it should billow up like a mushroom cloud. Remember to "duck and cover."
    • Mad Scientist
      Any mad scientist will tell you that flames make drinking more fun. What good is science if no one gets hurt?
      1 oz Midori melon liqueur
      1-1/2 oz sour mix
      1 splash soda water
      151 proof rum
      Mix melon liqueur, sour mix and soda water with ice in shaker. Shake and strain into martini glass. Top with rum and ignite. Try to take over the world.
    • Laser Beam
      Warning: may result in amplified stimulated emission.
      1 oz Southern Comfort
      1/2 oz Amaretto
      1/2 oz sloe gin
      1/2 oz vodka
      1/2 oz Triple sec
      7 oz orange juice
      Combine all liquor in a full glass of ice. Shake well. Garnish with orange and cherry. Serve to attractive target of choice.
    • Quantum Theory
      Guaranteed to collapse your wave function:
      3/4 oz Rum
      1/2 oz Strega
      1/4 oz Grand Marnier
      2 oz Pineapple juice
      Fill with Sweet and sour
      Pour rum, strega and Grand Marnier into a collins glass. Add pineapple and fill with sweet and sour. Sip until all the day's super-positioned states disappear.
    • The Black Hole
      So called because after one of these, you have already passed the event horizon of inebriation.
      1 oz. Kahlua
      1 oz. vodka
      .5 oz. Cointreau or Triple Sec
      .5 oz. dark rum
      .5 oz. Amaretto
      Pour into an old-fashioned glass over (scant) ice. Stir gently. Watch time slow.