Wednesday, April 01, 2009


The April 2009 stories at http://www.flyingcircusofphysics.com/ include

1. Robbie Maddison's remarkable jump onto the top of a structure that is 37 meters high and then down again. If he had not understood some very subtle physics, he would have died in the stunt.


2. Charles Taylor's strange one-wheel vehicle, balanced by gyroscopes. A video shows him tooling along a road.


3. Pub trick of the month. The very old pub trick of exchanging a shot glass of water and a shot glass of whisky without using a third container. There is some obvious physics and some not-so-obvious physics here.


4. Holding a cylindrical container on a table and then giving it a good flick with your finger results in a surprising landing on the table when it falls over.


5. The article of the month is about the physics and design of kaleidoscopes, including some very novel designs.