Math Open Reference

http://www.mathopenref.com/vertex.html

Tesselating.

http://www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/Tessellate/

Good news - chocolate is slimming!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17511011

Buyoyant new material

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17510782 

Safe landing:

Due to scientists' unwillingness to toss cats off buildings for experimental observation, science has been unable systematically to study the rate at which they live after crashing to the ground.
But
Cats' remarkable ability to survive falls from great heights is a simple and predictable matter of physics, evolutionary biology, and physiology, veterinarians and biologists say.

They are relatively small in weight, which means that over a high distance, they will fall more slowly, the laws of physics dictate, thus reducing the force at which cats hit the pavement.

Cats reach terminal velocity, the speed at which the downward tug of gravity is matched by the upward push of wind resistance, at a slow speed compared to large animals like humans and horses.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17492802 

social notworks

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10719042

Homework assignment TE EK (on 3.14, the Pi-Day)

Analyse one set of energy data (pie charts and bar charts). Describe the chart.
http://www.nationmaster.com/cat/ene-energy
http://www.nationmaster.com/about_us.php

Happy Pi-Day!

Larry Shaw created Pi Day in 1988. The holiday was celebrated at the San FranciscoExploratorium, where Shaw worked as a physicist, with staff and public marching around one of its circular spaces, then consuming fruit pies. The Exploratorium continues to hold Pi Day celebrations.

On Pi Day 2004, Daniel Tammet recited 2 964 decimal digits of π.

http://www.pi-world-ranking-list.com/lists/details/tammet.htm

On March 12, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution (HRES 224), recognizing March 14, 2009, as National Pi Day.

For Pi Day 2010, Google presented a Google Doodle celebrating the holiday, with the word Google laid over images of circles and pi symbols.

At 9:26:53 on Pi Day 2015, the date will be 3/14/15 at 9:26:53, corresponding to 3.141592653.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7296224.stm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi_Day
http://www.piday.org/

Wind energy.

The traditional ‘Dutch’ windmill had proliferated to the extent of about 100,000 machines throughout Europe at their peak in the late 19th centur y. These machines preceded electricity supply and were indeed wind-powered mills used for grinding grain. Use of the wind for water pumping also became common. The indmills were always attended, sometimes inhabited and largely manually controlled. They were also characterised by direct use of the mechanical energy generated on the spot. They were integrated within the community, designed for frequent replacement of cer tain components and effi ciency was of little importance.
In contrast, the function of a modern power-generating wind turbine is to generate high-quality, network frequency electricity. Each wind turbine must function as an automatically controlled independent ‘mini-power station’. It is unthinkable for a modern wind  turbine to be permanently attended, and uneconomic for it to be frequently maintained. The development of the microprocessor has played a crucial role in enabling cost-effective wind technology. A modern wind turbine is required to work unattended, with low maintenance,
continuously for in excess of 20 years.
http://www.wind-energy-the-facts.org/documents/download/Chapter1.pdf