Neatorama

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• He Rented a Helicopter to Settle a Physics Question
• Turning Band Names Into Food
• Ways to Get Out of the Bubble and ‘Rewild Your Attention’
• Explaining the Idiom "Dead as a Doornail"

He Rented a Helicopter to Settle a Physics Question Posted: 04 Nov 2021 03:57 AM PDT A question used for the 2014 US Physics Olympiad team qualifying exam managed to stick around because it was so intriguing. If you hang a flexible but consistent rope underneath a moving helicopter, which of the above shapes would that rope take? I figured that would depend on other factors, but let's assume they are not carrying a piano or a rhino. Derek Muller of Veritasium decided to find out once and for all, so he hired a helicopter and a pilot to do the experiment. Think about how you would answer the question, maybe even write it down, and then watch the video. It's pretty neat that he also tracked down the origin of the question and interviewed the guy who came up with it. Don't be concerned with the length of the video; the basic question is answered in about four minutes, but then they add some confounding factors that you'll find quite interesting. The last minute is an ad. -via Digg

Turning Band Names Into Food Posted: 03 Nov 2021 11:34 PM PDT 🎵 Love music and snacks? Combine the two by turning band names into food puns! Like Fleetwood Mac and Cheese, James Brownie, Stevie Wonder Bread, and many more. 🏠 This man's family lived in a 500-year-old house for 30 years before he discovered that there's a secret room behind his bookshelf, and a mysterious old safe. So, what's inside the safe? Let's find out. 💰 This city will give you $5000, gift cards to the farmer's market, home cooked meals and "grandparents on demand" if you move there. 👶 Man recreated their maternity photoshoot with his one-year-old daughter to honor his late wife. 🐱 Woman messed with this cat by turning it into a zen garden. But whatever you do, don't mess with this cat, who'll defend its food from a wild bobcat. 🌎 This is what the Earth and the Sun look like from the South Pole of the Moon. 🐊 Three eyelids, retractable in battle, and night vision: why crocodile eyes are an engineering marvel. Today's link round up is from our new sites: Pop Culturista, Homes & Hues, Supa Fluffy, and Pictojam. They've got a new frontpage design, so please check 'em out! Thank you!

Ways to Get Out of the Bubble and ‘Rewild Your Attention’ Posted: 03 Nov 2021 07:03 PM PDT Facebook has been in the news lately for reinforcing preconceived notions and contributing to information bubbles. That's because the algorithm loading your feed is programmed to give you more of the same kinds of things you've shown interest in before. It's not the only social media platform to do this, and all kinds of websites are glad to recommend that you read "more like this." You can understand why they do that, but without some effort, you'll end up being recommended the same subjects over and over until you may begin to think that's all there is. Clive Thompson calls that "a form of intellectual monocropping." This applies with more than just politics or pandemic information. If you are into crocheting, football, veganism, or Marvel comics, and you keep following recommendations, you can end up missing out on a lot of the other things that the web has to offer. Of course, you, being a Neatorama reader, have varied interests and already know that the internet is more than just social media. However, you may want to try some new ways to expand both your web surfing and offline interests. Clive Thompson has put a lot of thought into this, and gives us nine methods he uses to get out of a rut and into something fascinating you wouldn't have considered otherwise.  -via Kottke (Image credit: Flickr user Jennifer C.)

Explaining the Idiom "Dead as a Doornail" Posted: 03 Nov 2021 11:26 AM PDT You've heard the phrase "dead as a doornail" before, but it never made much sense, because all inanimate objects are just as dead. Besides, doors are now more likely to be held together with staples and glue than with nails. Maybe whoever coined the phrase just liked the alliteration. But there's more to it than that. This video starts off talking about the phrase, but fairly quickly turns into a chapter in the history of carpentry. It has to do with the particular challenge of joining flat slabs of hand-hewn wood side-to-side to build a door, back when nails were hand-made. The video ends up being way more interesting than you expect. -via reddit

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