Comments on: Sand, Man http://asymptotia.com/2008/03/25/sand-man/ Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:43:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Clifford http://asymptotia.com/2008/03/25/sand-man/#comment-113167 Clifford Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:09:03 +0000 http://asymptotia.com/2008/03/25/sand-man/#comment-113167 Re: "nutjob". I hear you... but don't worry about taking the path less travelled. Those who don't are mostly doomed to seeing nothing new at all. How dull. Cheers, -cvj P.S. Only five minutes!!! That's nutjob-lite! :-) Re: “nutjob”. I hear you… but don’t worry about taking the path less travelled. Those who don’t are mostly doomed to seeing nothing new at all. How dull.

Cheers,

-cvj

P.S. Only five minutes!!! That’s nutjob-lite! :-)

]]> By: Jeff Daly http://asymptotia.com/2008/03/25/sand-man/#comment-113166 Jeff Daly Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:54:05 +0000 http://asymptotia.com/2008/03/25/sand-man/#comment-113166 Thanks for this post. I love the ruminations on structures formed by wind blowing over sand. Awesome. On a near daily basis, I pause to observe some beautiful aspect of the world and the complexity that arises from simplicity: the playful, iridescent colors in the oil in the parking lot; the fractal growth structure of the tree in my yard; the sheeting patterns in the water running down the inclined street after the rain subsides. Aside: I know I look like a nutjob as I squat in the yard for 5 minutes straight, watching the comings and goings of a community of ants. I don't care. I love observing phenomena like these. Thanks for this post. I love the ruminations on structures formed by wind blowing over sand. Awesome.

On a near daily basis, I pause to observe some beautiful aspect of the world and the complexity that arises from simplicity: the playful, iridescent colors in the oil in the parking lot; the fractal growth structure of the tree in my yard; the sheeting patterns in the water running down the inclined street after the rain subsides.

Aside: I know I look like a nutjob as I squat in the yard for 5 minutes straight, watching the comings and goings of a community of ants. I don’t care. I love observing phenomena like these.

]]> By: Clifford http://asymptotia.com/2008/03/25/sand-man/#comment-113162 Clifford Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:53:33 +0000 http://asymptotia.com/2008/03/25/sand-man/#comment-113162 Hi, I was talking about things like self-organized criticality, of which sand pile models are part. As for dispersion relations... I don't know. They are not real waves, so I do not know how far the analogy can be pushed. I imagine you can find out more quite easily though... have fun! Cheers, -cvj Hi,

I was talking about things like self-organized criticality, of which sand pile models are part. As for dispersion relations… I don’t know. They are not real waves, so I do not know how far the analogy can be pushed. I imagine you can find out more quite easily though… have fun!

Cheers,

-cvj

]]> By: pedant http://asymptotia.com/2008/03/25/sand-man/#comment-113157 pedant Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:58:50 +0000 http://asymptotia.com/2008/03/25/sand-man/#comment-113157 Perhaps it is this self-similarity that makes your sand pictures look like the sea. Pouring out a bucket of sand to make a pile also generates a self similar structure - are these the links to critical phenomena to which you allude? And do the periodic structures have a dispersion relation (like gravity waves - w^2=kg, nothing to do with GR or the cosmos - on the sea, perhaps, which definitely show multi-scale structures)evident in their dynamics? This could easily be more fun than working for a living - and the phenomena have to be observed in such pleasant surroundings. And once the sand gets wet - a whole new set of phenomena, and an excuse for a trip to the seaside. Perhaps it is this self-similarity that makes your sand pictures look like the sea. Pouring out a bucket of sand to make a pile also generates a self similar structure - are these the links to critical phenomena to which you allude? And do the periodic structures have a dispersion relation (like gravity waves - w^2=kg, nothing to do with GR or the cosmos - on the sea, perhaps, which definitely show multi-scale structures)evident in their dynamics? This could easily be more fun than working for a living - and the phenomena have to be observed in such pleasant surroundings. And once the sand gets wet - a whole new set of phenomena, and an excuse for a trip to the seaside.

]]>