Comments | cellio: interesting visualization

cellio

interesting visualization

Jul 02, 2009 23:22

I just came from an interesting demonstration called a "cosmic walk". (People who were at NHC last year might have seen this there. I saw only its after-effects then ( Read more... )

science, kallah

Comments 9

hildakrista July 3 2009, 06:11:12 UTC

neat.

(The comment has been removed)

alaricmacconnal July 4 2009, 11:24:15 UTC

The cathedral is Chartres. Here's a link about the labyrinth and the Wikipedia article about the cathedral.

cellio July 5 2009, 21:17:15 UTC

Several years ago the Pennsic Choir, as part of its performance, replicated that cathedral in the barn. It was pretty nifty. (I had forgotten all about the labyrinth until you commented.)

cellio July 5 2009, 21:16:00 UTC

That's a good point about perceptions.

I had forgotten all about the medieval "alternative pilgrimage".

browngirl July 3 2009, 16:24:56 UTC

That sounds incredibly cool!

And oh, those vast reaches of time. It's not so much that they're empty as undocumented.

cellio July 3 2009, 17:14:40 UTC

Undocumented, or perhaps undisturbed.

merle_ July 3 2009, 18:49:39 UTC

A spiral is also a more pragmatic option, as it requires less room and people can gather around it. Had it been a line the people seated near the big bang wouldn't be able to see by the end of the show. (my math is rusty, but I estimate a 8-9' spiral with 1' spacing would have about 9*4*6=216' of rope)

cellio July 5 2009, 21:14:25 UTC

That's a good point.

IIRC, the figure he was using for the age of the universe was 13.7B years. If so, that would mean about 92' of rope, which means either my memory is faulty or I can't estimate these things very well. :-) Rope in harder to find in lengths over 100' and I didn't see any knots, so that's probably right. (I'm saying "rope", but I think it was clothesline. I didn't go back to look at it in daylight.)

merle_ July 6 2009, 00:55:09 UTC

No, your estimate seems accurate enough. But I did assume it went all the way to the centre, which it might not have, and if the spacing were slightly further apart (say 1.5') the numbers would be much closer -- and I would want more than a one foot path between candles.

My estimate came from approximating the spiral by using a set of concentric circles, assuming 8',7',..,1' ones. If you use 8',6.5',5',3.5' it's about 140'. And clothesline is available in 250' lengths.