Cosmos Computed

The visible world around us is constantly changing. One second we may have the sun in our eyes, and another we're in a dark closet trying to find the light switch. Such fluctuations in brightness could have ended up being a serious problem for our vision if it weren't for a handy built-in feature: our eyes automatically adapt to the lighting conditions of the surrounding environment. Most people are well aware that their pupils change size to handle lighting conditions. A larger pupil admits more light and makes the scene brighter, while a smaller pupil admits less light and makes the scene dimmer. This mechanism is fast and effective, and is controlled by the brain stem, which acts autonomously - you don't even have to think about it. As useful as this type of adaptation may be, it has some limitations. For example, most artificial lighting is 20 times dimmer than the sun, while pupil dilation only brightens light by a factor of 4 (when compared with a fully constricted pu...

A bright star streaks across the sky, leaving behind a glowing trail that soon fades back into the blackness of the night sky, leaving no perceptible trace. A minute later, another streak appears; this one has faint hues of pink and orange. Each streak lasts only a couple seconds, but its quiet beauty is not easily forgotten. Maybe I could write a kid's book about it: Fast star, slow star Red star, blue star The sight I'm describing is called a meteor (as I'm sure you already know). Meteors have been observed for as long as humans have existed, and have been a mystery for almost as long. It didn't take long to figure out  that they occurred high in the atmosphere - in fact, the name "meteor" was originally used for any atmospheric event - but it wasn't until the 19th century that somebody finally realized what they actually were: small bits of space debris burning up as they fell through the sky. The question that naturally comes next: how does a meteor ge...

The retractable pen is an interesting little device. You press a button, and the tip comes out. Press it again, and it does the opposite: the tip disappears back inside. How can the same action lead to different results? In this post, I'm including a CGI animation I created using Blender. I actually modeled this pen in early 2012 (a little over 4 years ago); I recently fixed it up and re-rendered it. A retractable pen has 5 main parts: 1. Frame 2. Thruster 3. Ink cartridge 4. Spring 5. Cam (a special mechanical piece; 1 or more is used) The basic design is for the cam to rotate each time the pen clicker is pressed; the rotation allows for a pin (built into the frame) to slide into a different slot. Different slots have different lengths, and depending on the length of the slot, the ink cartridge will extend by a different amount. There are many ways to work out the details, and the animation I created shows only one possibility. Of course, the design of the pen in the animation wou...

Nothing beats a nice spring day on the slopes. The warm sun beams down, with its barely-filtered UV rays piercing through the thin air and frying all unprotected skin. The snow starts out icy, but before long it becomes soft and smooth, with slushy snow flying out at every turn. The weather can be really crazy - a couple years ago, Vail reopened for an extra weekend after closing when it was hit with a snowstorm that dumped 3 feet of snow. One of the best Spring skiing days I've ever experienced was nearly two months ago at Vail, a week before the closing date. Due to some lucky weather events, I experienced all three main types of snow conditions in a single day: ice, slush, and powder. The day started out like any other: hard snow covered the trails, frozen solid from the cold night before. Turns were difficult to make on this surface, as the skis could not carve on the ice. Clouds covered the sky. It was cold, but not frigid. View of the back bowls and Blue Sky Basin, taken from...

One thing I enjoy when programming is to make weird interactive computer-generated objects. In this post, I'm showing you... a blob. To see the blob, simply click on the black box. The blob will immediately appear. Once you have the blob, you can drag it around with your mouse - just press down and move it around. When you let go, the blob will snap back with a little jiggle. Click here! There are a few things I'd like to point out about the blob: First, when you stretch it, it actually gets narrower. When I designed this, I wanted it to shrink enough to look realistic, but not far enough that it looked weird. Second, notice that it drags faster depending on how far you stretch it. The speed at which it drags is proportional to the square of the distance stretched. I found that this was much more realistic than making it directly proportional to the stretch. Also, if you only stretch it slightly, it doesn't drag at all (this simulates static friction). Finally, the...

I am fascinated by man-made transportation devices. Besides the fact that they can be very advanced technologically, they almost always look really awesome. The ones that fly are the coolest to look at; I love their sleek appearance and clean, smooth colors. It makes them really fun to draw. In this post, I'm including a two different drawings of a Boeing 747. One interesting thing about the Boeing 747 is that there isn't only one type. The 747 comes in several variants, each with different dimensions and characteristics. The 747SP is the shortest of the variants, with a length of 185 feet; the longest is the 747-8, with a length of 250 feet. I decided to draw the 747-400, which is 231 feet long. The first drawing is a sketch I made using a regular graphite pencil. To prepare for my watercolor sketch on special paper, I thought I should make a quick practice sketch first. Once I started sketching I decided to go the whole way and make it good, so my final result actually ended ...