Science is built up of

facts, as a house is built of

stones; but an
accumulation of facts is no
more a science than a
heap of stones is a house.
Henri Poincare (1854-1912)
Science and hypothesis(1905)

Why Airfoils Work

Bernoulli vs Newton
Needless to say, the disagreement is modern;
airfoils did not exist in Newton or Bernoullis time

Why Airfoils Work

Newton supporters say
TRUE 1. In order for the airfoil to go up,
air must be redirected down (3rd
Law of Motion).
TRUE,
BUT
2. Therefore, the angle of attack
LESS
THAN HALF is important because air that
THE STORY
hits the bottom of the wing gets
bounced down.
FALSE 3. (Unstated) The top of the wing
plays no role.

Why Airfoils Work

Bernoulli supporters say

TRUE 1. The air is redirected up on top of
TRUE,
the wing.
BUT
NOT 2. That air travels a longer distance.
RELEVANT
FALSE 3. The air must come back around to
meet the air on bottom in the same
time.
TRUE,
BUT
4. Therefore the air on top travels
NOT
FOR THE faster
REASON GIVEN
5. By Bernoullis equation, the faster
air on top exerts less pressure.

Why Airfoils Work

The truth is that the 3rd Law of Motion and the
Bernoulli Effect are both relevant.
It is true that air is forced down (downwash),
but this is mostly due to a speeding up of
the air on top of the wing, which is a
Bernoulli Effect phenomenon.
The effect is so
pronounced, that air
passing over the wing
actually passes around
the wing in a shorter time
than air passing under the
wing.

Why Airfoils Work

Calculation shows
that the positive
pressure on the
bottom of the wing
is insufficient to
explain the lift.
It is the negative
pressure on top of
the wing that
accounts for most
of the lift.

Why Airfoils Work

It should be noted that wings are three
dimensional objects.
The downwash is strongest near the body
of the plane and weakest at the
wingtips.
This effect produces
vortices in the
downwash
more info:
http://www.av8n.com/how/htm/airfoils.html

The Corilois Effect

The Coriolis Force

When explaining draining sinks, tubs,
and toilets, the influence of the
Coriolis Force is very small.
The shape of the bowl, the location of
the drain, and how the bowl is filled
determine the direction which water
flows out of everyday objects.
http://www.ems.psu.edu/~fraser/Bad/Ba
dCoriolis.html

Einstein Said It
Beware of the Mark Twain
Effect. Sayings are
sometimes attributed to a
person who is thought to
be witty, wise or who is
already extensively
quoted.
Witty sayings are often attributed to Mark Twain
Wise sayings are often attributed to Albert Einstein, the Dalai Lama
One liners are often attributed to George Carlin

Einstein Said It

Which of these cannot be found among

Einsteins writings? source: The Quotable Einstein, edited by
Alice Calaprice

cannot
cannot

cannot

cannot

1. Imagination is more important than

knowledge.
2. Few people are capable of expressing with
equanimity opinions which differ from the
prejudices of their social environment.
3. I do not know how World War III will be
fought, but World War IV will be fought
with sticks and stones.
4. When the blind beetle crawls over the
surface of a globe, it doesnt notice that
the track it has covered is curved. I was
lucky enough to have spotted it.

Einstein Said It
If you are really interested in what
Einstein said, I recommend:
Albert Einstein, Ideas and Opinions
If you are only interested in quotes:

The Quotable Einstein, edited by Alice

Calaprice

Weightless in space
Are astronauts weightless when
they are in orbit around the Earth?

A Microgravivty Environment
An Astronauts weight is defined
as the gravitation force acting
between the astronaut and the
earth.
Using Newtons Law of Universal
Gravitation, the weight of a
70 kg(150 lb) astronaut orbiting at
400 km is 131 lb (88% of his/her
weight on Earth)

The Appearance of
Weightlessness
Astronauts appear to be
weightless because, just like the
spaceship they are in, they are in
freefall.
If gravity stopped in space, how
could the Earths moon influence
the oceans tides?

Earthquake Prediction
There was a time when we thought that with
enough research we could predict earthquakes.
We were wrong. Current models suggest that
fault lines organize themselves into a critical
state in which earthquakes can be triggered by
the smallest changes.
Such systems have what is known as long
memory --- every rock, crack, and movement
would have to be known to extreme precision in
order to predict. (Sensitive dependence on
initial conditions.)
more info: Ubiquity: Why Catastrophes Happen, by Mark Buchanan

Tsunami Prediction
Tsunami detection is possible, but arrays
of such systems are very expensive
and may not be worth the cost in all
oceans.
Did you know that the Sumatra
earthquake that spawned the tsunami
changed the earth?
1. The North Pole shifted 2.5 cm.
2. The Earth is slightly less oblate.
3. The day is 2.68 microseconds shorter.
more info at:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/2005/2005011018159.html

We only use 10%

Using our brains

We use 100% of our brains.
Difficult to track down the source
of this number.
This number is often referenced
when explain the Supernatural
abilities of psychics
http://www.csicop.org/si/9903/tenpercent-myth.html

Intelligent Design and Evolution

Myth #1: Intelligent Design is a unitary
idea.
Reality: It can be
1. The attempt to cast doubt on
evolution.
2. The hypothesis that empirical
evidence exists that the universe was
designed supernaturally and did not
happen naturally.
3. The religious conviction that the
natural processes of the universe
must have been designed.

Intelligent Design and Evolution

Myth #2: There are doubts about evolution.
Reality: It is the most basic assumption of
all biology.
1. It is not just a theory.
2. Genetic Mutation is an observable fact.
3. Selection is an observable fact.
4. That Genetic Mutation and Selection
can produce new species is an
observable fact.
5. It is not just survival of the fittest.

Intelligent Design and Evolution

Myth #3: Empirical evidence exists that the
universe was designed.
Reality: The arguments cannot be based on
empirical evidence.
1. Catch-22. One could argue it both ways: if
life is unlikely then it takes the supernatural
to explain it. If it is likely, then the universe
was designed to have life.
2. Likelihood arguments assume that we know
the intentions of the designer. This becomes
circular.
3. Likelihood arguments assume we know the
probability space of the parameters that go
into designing a universe.

Intelligent Design and Evolution

Myth #4: Belief in Intelligent Design and
Evolution are mutually exclusive.

Reality: Many folks believe both.

Evolution is based on physical evidence
alone. Intelligent Design goes beyond
the physical evidence, and science alone
can neither confirm nor refute it.
Thus there is no contradiction in believing
that Evolution (or Gravitation or Quantum
Electrodynamics) could have been
designed to be the way it is.
more info at:
http://www.mrmont.com/idcsieve/empiricaldoubts.html

International Protocols
They can work.
Case in point: The ozone layer is no
longer thinning and may have
improved at midlatitudes
source: Chemical & Engineering News, September 5, 2005, p. 13

Global Warming

Some have argued that the Earth is not

warming, and even if it is, it is a natural
process.
Although there was some doubt a decade ago,
there is no doubt now that the Earth is
warming up.
Furthermore, recent statistical analysis now
shows that it is almost certainly our burning
of fossil fuels that is the cause.
Here is some data from journals I read...

Global Warming

Global average surface air temperature rise since 1900:

1.2 to 2.4 F (all methods of measurement agree) with a
further increase of 2.5 to 10.4 F expected by the end of
the century.
The 11 warmest years since instrumental records have
been kept have all occurred since 1990.
The warming observed in the Northern Hemisphere has
been greater than any other during the past 1000 yrs.
Increased cloud cover and precipitation has been
observed at the mid to high latitudes in the Northern
Hemisphere, as well as decreases in precipitation in the
subtropics.
Sea levels are up 10 to 20 cm from thermal expansion
and melting glaciers.
Arctic temperatures have risen faster than anywhere on
the planet; perennial ice is decreasing at a rate of 3%
per decade.
Source: Climate Change Chemical & Engineering News, December 15, 2003

Global Warming
The Earth is now absorbing 0.85 0.15
W/m2 more energy from the sun than it
is emitting, according to precise
measurements of ocean heat content
over the last 10 yrs.
Due to the thermal inertia of the
oceans, drastically reducing CO2
emissions today will not result in a
reversal of the warming for some time.
Source:
Earths Energy Imbalance: Confirmation and Implications
Sciencexpress.org (online version of Science) April 28, 2005

Global Warming

1. Precise ocean temperature

measurements have ruled out solar
variability and volcanic eruptions as
causes of the warming.
2. The same rise in ocean temperature
is accurately predicted by climate
models which assume human
generated CO2 forcing.

Source:
Penetration of Human-Induced Warming into the Worlds Oceans
Sciencexpress.org (online version of Science) June 2, 2005

Global Warming

Rapid climate change is possible,

according to both geological
records and climate models.
Rapid could mean decades.
The North
Atlantic
Circulation
question.
Source:
The Discovery of Rapid Climate Change
Physics Today August 2003 pp. 30-36.

Genetics of Eye Color

The old model had only one
gene with two alleles: blue
(recessive) and brown
(dominant).
The current model assumes
two genes: BEY 2 with two
alleles: brown and blue, and
GEY with two alleles: blue
and green.
Brown is dominant over green
which is dominant over blue.

Genetics of Eye Color

There is simulation of the model
online at http://www.athro.com/evo/gen/genefr2.html
The current model cannot account for
hazel, gray, or shades of brown,
though.
More info at:
http://www.seps.org/cvoracle/faq/eyecolor.html

Thanks for coming

Dave Montalvo
dmontalvo@umasd.org
www.mrmont.com/teachers
Pete Vreeland
pvreeland@umasd.org
www.thesciencefactory.org