The Pointless World

My mind is racing, so I’m putting thoughts to keyboard.

After reading this and watching the accompanying video, I began to wonder what would happen if you boiled water with strange heaters.

When I think of boiling, I think of a pot on the stove heating water. Bubble nucleation starts, convection currents kick in, bubbles rise, new bubbles replace, repeat.

But what if you heated the water from above? Imagine a constantly heated metal cone with the tip and the bottom removed. Immerse the base of it in water in a Pyrex beaker. I can only imagine that the convection currents would be a number of toroids, and a jet of steam would shoot out of the open tip of the cone.

Now, if you immersed the entire cone in the water, I imagine that you’d get a very large toroidal convection current, with steam and boiling water shooting out of the open tip - likely disturbing the surface of the water. Other surfaces would probably also get very interesting results. A single vertical cylinder, a cone with only the bottom removed (superheated trapped steam?), a disc resting on (or very slightly below) the surface of the water..

I’ve very, very interested in what the water would do.. But I’d need a large beaker, some sort of sheet metal, and a way to heat the metal. Ideas that come to mind all involve resistive heating. A soldering iron would probably be the simplest way, but in all cases except the vertical cylinder, it would disturb convection and cause boiling on its on. Insulation might solve the problem, but it wouldn’t be easy. Another way would be to make the metal plate the resistive heater. For the open cone, wires could be attached in multiple places to the top and bottom of the cone. Issues involve a) electrical conduction through the water, b) uneven heating of the cone, c) the low resistance of metal..

A) can be solved with sterilized water, which has very low conductivity, but I’d bet insulated wires and a metal plate would change that. A lot. B) might be addressed with lots of small wires, evenly space around the rims of the cone. C) could be fixed with nothing other than more power. ;)

Looking through Wikipedia’s information, it looks like diamond is a pretty good electrical insulator - and a generally not-so-good electrical conductor. So, if I could plate an aluminum cone with diamond and suspend it in water with numerous wires (all with high temperature insulators,) I’d be good to go. =T

Now then. Sorry about the rant. :O

I still want to try the experiment, though. ;)

Edit: Ohhh! Neat idea! An induction cooker might solve the heating problem nicely. Suspend the cone with fishing line, stick the beaker on the induction cooker, and hope the magnetic field has a good enough range to reach something that’s not directly on the pad. It wouldn’t solve the conductivity-of-water problem, but I don’t think that’d be hugely significant to the result. Induction heaters still boil water quite well in a normal ferro-magnetic pot.. $60 for the cooker (which can be used in the kitchen afterwards,) the beaker would be cheap, bottled water.. The most difficult thing would be the steel cone/other shape for the actual heating.

If I only had about $80.

I'm going to shave my head again (my hair is currently and inch long,) and I've decided that I wish I wore glasses. Bald headed glasses wearing people look thoroughly badass.

"This guy was perceptive enough to notice the bulges in my sack." --Will

I love roleplaying.

So cold.

Leg cramps.

Fuck.

I just made five bucks in about five minutes. Pineconeresearch.com, baby. They actually send checks to people who do help them with market research. ::Holds one up.::

Going with Josh and Brandon to the Y to take TKD today. Since self-defense has issues (he's a fourth dan in a reputable (but closed) TKD school - he shouldn't be teaching us to throw bad haymakers,) I figure that I'll go ahead and join TKD now.

Hit the Athens library again. I discovered their CD collection this time. =D Dave Brubeck and Brahms CDs sitting on my desk.. Mmm, tasty.

WarHammer 40k is coming along slowly. I need to try more army variations before the tournament this month.. And I also need to get a tank brush. =T

And lastly, I think I'm going to be doing some major blog restructuring at some point in the future. We shall see.

Yikes. Second time in a year that I've had laryngitis. My voice is nearly gone now, and I'm betting it'll be non-existent tomorrow.

Played four games of Warhammer 40k in a row in a local tournament. Didn't do that well, but enjoyed. My army doesn't work that well with only 500 pts. on a small, low-terrain table.

Anyways. Think I'll drink some tea and chill.

One of the weirdest (and hardest) things I've ever considered is persistence of the mind. What if there is no continuous mind or soul-like part of us? What if at each instant, we are simply the the present neurons firing (which includes memory)? The concept that there is no persistent soul-like part of me give me the shudders. It would mean that we "die" at every unit of time, and a new person with the same memories is born the next unit.. Yet we would never know. That goes against everything society has taught me to believe. *Shudder.*

Frankly, I think this my cold talking.

Sleep now.

Bald again.

Woke up thirty minutes late. Test today in Macroeconomics. Looks like I'll be driving to campus.

Still retarded from sleep.

Got back from playing the owner of Classic City Comics and Games in Warhammer 40k. I'm glad to be back into that game.. Painting the models gives me a sense of accomplishment, and is a good form of release after staring at a computer screen. And I get to blare breakbeats while I do it. =)

I was looking around for sweet and sour sauce recipes for my oh-so-frequently fixed stir fry, and I found a recipe for Stuff Bell Peppers American Style. Not much more than what I normally buy ingredient wise, and it looks like a good break. And it's simple, which is imperative. =) So, when I go shopping next (Wednesday?), I shall grab that stuff. Yum. =D

I've been thinking about what I'll do financially after I graduate, and I've been looking at Personal Finance Blogs. Over thirty years of saving at ten percent compounded return (very reasonable, given investment into an index fund like the S&P 500,) I'll end up with two thousand, two hundred and sixty seven times the monthly investment. Not counting bonuses like Roth IRAs, other opportunities, or luck. And since Brandon's probably going to be needing a roommate for a few more years, I can save a significant chunk of change by staying here. So, yes. READ THIS carefully: $500 a month will make you a millionaire in thirty years. That's six and a quarter times what you put in. (Need to install Maple to absolutely check my math.)

And I shall start with my tax return. I wanna keep a chunk to spend, but I think I'll stick half of it in a high interest rate savings account like Emigrant Direct. And I'll be budgeting for the first time in my life. =) My main worry is job hunting after GHP. But isn't that every college student's worry?

Oh. I have a paper due tomorrow, but I'm putting it off as usual. The fact that I keep getting good grades on my papers despite my complete lack of effort does _not_ help with my procrastination issue. =T

Got my W-2 in the mail today. Total taxes to be returned, after charge for using TurboTax to file? ~ $860. Got, I need it so badly.

MONEY!

http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog/2006/02/04/outrage-at-attacks-on-nasa-science/

Key quote? "The Big Bang is 'not proven fact; it is opinion,' Mr. Deutsch wrote, adding, 'It is not NASA’s place, nor should it be to make a declaration such as this about the existence of the universe that discounts intelligent design by a creator.'"

Additional key quote? "This is more than a science issue, it is a religious issue. And I would hate to think that young people would only be getting one-half of this debate from NASA. That would mean we had failed to properly educate the very people who rely on us for factual information the most."

Mmmm. Get the fuck out of my science, ass hole.

I swear, Bush couldn't stop at just fucking our rights in the PARTIOT Act. He had to shove religion in our faces as well.

I think everyone should be forced to get temporary birth control until they can prove that a) they're not fucking stupid and b) can take care of a child.
We need to stop impeding evolution.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/02/apple-sued-over-ipod-hearing-risks/

Well, I discovered something. Trying to shave a straight line on your head with your left hand while looking in two mirrors is hard.

So, no more mohawk. I'm now completely bald. =)

It is done.

I am now closer to being, as Jenn would put it, a "jack booted thug."

Picture possibly after class tomorrow?

Weather forecast for the day: High 58F. Abundant sunshine.

Hehehe. Dunno why that gets me. Maybe because it's early. o.o

Painting models. Trucking along slowly at completely my Warhammer 40k army, but I've been driven a little bit by the knowledge of fellow WH40k players at http://www.athensgamersunite.com/ . One model down recently, and.. Um.. Forty-seven to go. Five of which are pretty large. Lots of work to do!

Mom called about thirty minutes ago. She's barreling down 316, with the Hampton Inn in her sites. ;) As per usual, when she's in town, we're going to Chili's. Sweetness. =D

Now, back to painting this scout while I wait for her call. Hmm.. I should snap more pictures of my completed models.

It should only be allowed to rain when I'm warm and not going anywhere.

Classes are decent. I've yet to skip one. =D My favorite is self defense, but I'm willing to bet that that's partly endorphin related. The least is probably sociology.. To quote, the instructor said ". . . man, or person to be gender neutral . . ." Pardon the politics, but people that actually hold PC speech in high regard scare me. And make me sad. But anyways, the rest of my classes are decent. Not great, not bad, but decent.

Should be hitting up the capoeira tonight. Looking forward to that. I'd rather be taking TKD with Josh and Brandon at the Y, but I lack the cashes for the monthly fee.

I finally went to the library a few days ago. Loaded up on Nancy Kress sci-fi, but they unfortunately don't have Beggars In Spain. I MUST READ THAT NOVEL. *Twitch.* So, yes, I'm flying through the books I did get. I'm honestly a fool for not going before. Oh, and Nancy Kress's other books that I'm reading are pretty good. Mostly social based plots, with high tech thrown in.. Likey.

Now, I shall go fix a bowl of soup and some cheese toast.

*Sigh.* I don't want this to be my last semester at UGA. I'm really going to be miss being a student. If I can get a job, I'd love to have the money and independence, but I'm wishing I did some things differently.

CS at UGA bored the shit out of me, so I wish I would've taken something economic or financial as a double major. Maybe then I would've stuck with it. Then I'd have very good marketability.. Math a finance degree, CS experience.. Meh.

I'm mentally kicking around the idea of taking a class or two once I have a career. It's pretty impractical given scheduling, but I can daydream about having a job with flexible hours of something that meshes well with school.

But grad school? Not for a while. *Chuckle.* Maybe I could do grad school in business. My dad would jump for joy if he saw me do that.. The whole follow-in-your-father's-footsteps thing, right? Pft.

Anyways.. Gotta sleep now. Trying to get on an 11-7 sleep schedule. >

Too.. Much.. Sleep..

::Fireflys.::

In news today, Arnold Schwarzenegger quietly had his wife, Maria Shriver, served divorce papers. Shriver was in the news recently for her appearance at a Neo-Nazi rally, and her subsequent press release implicating her publicist in a setup. Video found has shown that Shriver was praising the Neo-Nazi party for "leading the future of America down the right path." Shriver has countered the video evidence by saying that she was told that the dinner was for teachers, but the Nazi flag in the background and the German emblems around the room cause many to cast doubt on her statements.

In the continuing War on Terror, investigations into the incident at the Fermilab particle accelerator from six months ago continue. Three deaths and millions of dollars of damage to a "CDF" have yet to be completely resolved, but the Department of Homeland Security has released a statement that while Al'Qaeda has taken responsibility for the actions, evidence points to an outside group planning and executing the attack. In particular, the Department of Homeland Security has requested that anyone who has any information about a Johnny Chan or a Sam Brinkman (both possibly false identities) to please contact the authorities as soon as possible. A monetary reward has been offered for any information leading to the capture of this man or his accomplices.

In technology stocks, share prices of Maas Incorporated have recently skyrocketed. Due to the apparently small number of buyers and high demand, the SEC is currently investigating possible insider trading.


So, yeah. I'm liking the D20 Modern game. Lots. Good group of players, and I'm able to keep the dice rolling to a low amount. Which is damn-near vital to make a D20 game not be crap. In fact, in yesterdays Shriver mission, there was only one death.. The poor phone guy, who had his car "acquired" by Josh, posing as an FBI agent. And sadly, he was distracted by trying to call his boss when he was clubbed in the back of the head with a stun baton.

Like a baby seal.