3 ms·
I just listened to 'Micro', Michael Crichton's last book (completed by another author after his death) http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B00687OAI2&qid=
by pdx 14y ago
I just listened to 'Micro', Michael Crichton's last book (completed by another author after his death)
http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B00687OAI2&qid=1338927290&sr=1-1 http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B00687OAI2&qid...
That book taught me a ton about the different physics that apply "in the micro world" that insects inhabit. The physics of falling and of water tension at that scale are so different than we are used to.
- patrickk 14y agoInteresting article about insects that are a millimeter or less (!) in size: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/11/30/how-fairy-wasps-cope-with-being-smaller-than-amoebas/ http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2011/11/3... Didn't know that there was another Crichton book out, thanks for the heads up. Big fan of his.
- excuse-me 14y agoFor small insects drinking from a water droplet can be a challenge when surface tension is stronger than you are! And of course the classic essay "On Being the Right Size" http://irl.cs.ucla.edu/papers/right-size.html http://irl.cs.ucla.edu/papers/right-size.html
- bitwize 14y agoOne of the brilliant things about The Secret World of Arrietty is how water works in that movie. At Borrower scales, water is more viscous than we perceive it, and their soup and tea become thick gels. At one point, Arrietty brushes droplets of herself and they remain coherent because of the high surface tension. And this is all shown brilliantly through animation.
- cma 14y agohttp://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2003/feb/13/the-future-needs-us/?pagination=false http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2003/feb/13/the-fut... Supposedly Crichton got it wrong at the even smaller scale