Xeni Flies Zero G, part 4: zero gravity toilet

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Xeni Flies Zero G #10: goodbye, gravity

Xeni Flies Zero G #10: goodbye, gravity 09/16/2004 01:40 AM
Xeni Jardin: Remember dreaming you could fly? It's exactly like that.

Before you move into weightlessness, between parabolas, g-force is about double what it is on earth. Suddenly you're 300 pounds, and it pushes your hair to your skull to your spine to your tail to the floor and the meat on your body is suddenly stone. They tell you not to look back, to keep your head still and aligned when the pressure starts. Anything to avoid vertigo, because where there's vertigo there's vomiting.

Waiting, your face becomes newly dense. You're a chipmunk carrying cheeks full of bullets. Your blood strains. Your veins are streams carrying too much silt.

And then, when the weight is worst, the invisible hands cramming your spine into the plane's padded floor lose interest and lift away. What was concrete is cotton. The hands reach beneath you, and lift you up into nothing, and you float. And all there is to do when this happens for the very first time is to laugh. Because it's impossible. Because it's unnatural.

But the joke in your bones is that it feels perfectly natural, like all your life you were intended to float. After all, just before you came into the world, that's what you were doing in liquid. When you leave, there you are again, becoming vapor. Breaking down from matter to dust to air. Floating.

Last week, a friend said, "You'll tell children and grandchildren when you're old, over and over again. Your family will be totally sick of you explaining how awesome this felt the first time." He was only half right. The grandchildren won't need my explanation. They'll know it better than I do now. These zero-g joyrides will seem as crude and dated to them as Model T Fords or ink-ribbon typewriters are for us. They'll be floating plenty.

As I sit here, I can still feel it in my body. It comes in waves. I want to hit "post," shut the application, close the laptop lid. Then bend my knees a little and shove off, push up into the air above my desk. Do the superman. Do a backflip. Bust a "crouching tiger hidden dragon" move, karate-chop martian foes mid-air. And float away into bed. It's natural now, and will remain that way forever. I miss it already.

Images: (1) A weightless photo from today (Link to full-size). (2) Floating with Dr. Buzz Aldrin in a zero gravity parabola during today's preview flight (Link to full-size image). Both images courtesy of Jim Campbell, Aero News Network.

Previous BB posts: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Also: here's the Zero Gravity Corporation's patent listing for "A system and method is provided for rapidly reconfiguring a jet aircraft from a cargo or passenger configuration into a parabolic flight configuration." Link (Thanks, Jason)

Xeni Flies Zero G, part 3: Superman
Moves

Xeni Flies Zero G, part 3: Superman
Moves 09/12/2004 12:45 PM
Xeni Jardin: New York Times reporter John Schwartz took a flight on NASA's zero-gravity "vomit comet" earlier this year, and wrote a terrific first-person piece about his experience. You have to pay $2.95 to read it at nytimes.com, but I found helpful site in Turkey that coughs up the complete text gratis. Yay for Turkish websites!

For the first few parabolas, I did as the flight surgeon, Dr. James Locke, told me. Lie back in my seat with the seat belt unbuckled, holding the ends. When the plane rounded the top of the first curve, I felt a momentary dropping in the pit of my stomach and then gravity simply went away. I floated up from the seat. Thirty seconds later, my body pressed down against the seat once again, but with twice the normal weight as we slammed upward.

After growing used to the sensations through a few cycles, I pushed out of the seat and floated toward the ceiling, grabbing the canvas straps along the wall to move around. Dr. Locke told me that I was bouncing around a little too tentatively.

"Try the Superman move!" he said, stretching out his arms in an imitation of comic-book flight. I did, and gave a gentle kick against the wall and sailed to the other wall, slower than a speeding bullet, but nonetheless fulfilling childhood desires I had forgotten I had.

Link to John Schwartz: "Mild-Mannered Reporter Gets a Superman Moment"

T minus 72 hours to liftoff. Previous posts: Link to Xeni Flies Zero G part 2, and Link to part 1.

Xeni Flies Zero G, part 5: Hungarian
Zero G Rhapsody

Xeni Flies Zero G, part 5: Hungarian
Zero G Rhapsody 09/14/2004 03:48 AM
Xeni Jardin: BoingBoing reader Peter says,

"I was reading about your upcoming adventure with considerable envy when I realized i'd seen something similar in june or so and sure enough, a Hungarian online mag has a first-person account of such a flight right here in budapest. a 20-year old soviet-built Antonov 2 plane is used for the stunt, apparently flown by one of hungary's top fighter pilots (this part is not clear). it's all in hungarian but check out the pictures. it's groovy."

Link

Previous "Xeni Flies Zero-G" posts: 4, 3, 2, 1.

Xeni flies Zero-G, part 2: word to the
weightless wise

Xeni flies Zero-G, part 2: word to the
weightless wise 09/11/2004 02:31 PM
Xeni Jardin: In a few days, God willing, I'll become one of the first people to ever fly on a commercial weightless flight in the United States. Friends, colleagues, and astro-nerdy strangers have been offering all sorts of advice ranging from scientifically substantiated to silly.

Some have even suggested some crash-course reading over the weekend. Lloyd Fonveille says that Air & Dreams: An Essay on the Imagination of Movement by Gaston Bachelard is a must: "Dense writing but amazing stuff about flying and flying dreams... he argues that images and dreams of flying are the highest state of the imagination, and emblems of the mental place where all real creativity happens."

As I prepare for Wednesday's adventure, I'll share some of this microgravity advice here on BoingBoing. I'll start with insights from experienced zero-g flier Raffi Krikorian of MIT (and O'Reilly).

I rode on NASA's KC-135a a few years ago (I was running a series of experiments to determine whether the brain's ability to localize sound was affected by being in a microgravity environment -- the anwer is that it is, but I digress), and it was an awesome experience.

NASA requires a lot of pre-training before they even allow you to get on the plane (a series of lectures about what to do if your sinus collapses, a hyperbaric chamber ride to have you experience what happens in the case of a rapid decompression of the cabin as the KC-135 is a single hulled plane), and going through that type of training is quite exhaustive. You spend a day in the classroom, then you spend a day learning how to work the emergency equipment and how to breathe through a reverse pressurized mask.

When the day of the ride comes, everybody tells you a few pieces of advice
1. bring jolly ranchers and gum
2. eat bananas and muffins for breakfast (extra credit for eating food coloring) [Ed note: I suppose this way, everything will look super-pretty and colorful IF YOU HURL IT ALL OVER THE FUCKING PLANE]
3. don't look out the window when flying.

As we were climbing for our first drop, I was chewing my gum like mad. The common advice is to get your mouth a little wet and to distract yourself of what was going to happen next. And then, all of a sudden, you lift right off the floor. I, personalily, was terrified on the first drop. I flailed around trying desperately to grab hold of something. I grab onto the floor, and it must have been amusing to see me hanging upside down, trying to pull myself down.

After that, it gets a lot easier. You just float around. Pushing yourself off the walls, and just bounce around. I was busy running an experiment, but it seems as though you will have time to play around.

What they don't tell you is that you will experience portions of negative gravity where you are pulled for the roof. Those freak you out. You're hanging out, chillin' in the air, and then all of a sudden you are rocketing towards the ceiling and pushing yourself off from it. Enterprising people invert themselves at that point, and go walking around up top. But, if you manage to close your eyes and somehow end up upside down, your brain will be convinced that you are right side up. You'll see people who are the other way from you. And then. Oh no. You puke.

The interesting thing about puking (or playing with any liquid) is its fascinating to watch it ooze around. Try it. Squirt some water into the air while you're floating -- it's gorgeous to watch these bubbles float around. and you can poke at it. Catch them. I'ts amazing. If you have a chance also, light a match. The flame makes a perfect sphere. Things you never think you'll see.

Image: photograph of a balloon full of water exploding in zero gravity on NASA's vomit comet (the KC-135 which Raffi discusses above). Link to full-size. The experiment was part of an Imaging and Photographic Technology project between NASA and the Rochester Institute of Technology: Link

Link to previous post: Xeni Flies Zero-G, part 1

Xeni Flies Zero-G

Xeni Flies Zero-G 09/10/2004 02:08 AM
Xeni Jardin: Next week, on Wednesday September 15, I'm going on a zero-gravity flight about 32,000 feet above earth.

The company operating this flight is ZERO-G, whose founder Peter Diamandis is also the man behind the Ansari X-Prize competition. I invited Dr. Diamandis to speak at Wired Magazine's NextFest earlier this year, met him there, and learned he'd been working on this program for more than ten years.

The flight I'm taking next week (for NPR and Wired News) is part of ZERO-G's five-city media launch. Soon, they'll begin a commercial service on specially-equipped Boeing 727-200s. For about $3,000 US, passengers will be able to experience about 20 doses of parabolic weightlessness during a 90-minute trip.

Nothing like this has ever been offered to American consumers before. ZERO-G is the only company with FAA approval to conduct weightless flights for the public within the US.

NASA operates flights similar to this for training astronauts (Link), but not to the public. Space Adventures -- the company that made space tourists out of Dennis Tito and Mark Shuttleworth (and, almost, N'Sync's Lance Bass) -- sells "vomit comet" flight experiences to paying passengers, but they cost closer to $10K and depart from a remote location in Russia. The combined costs of the flight, the prep, and getting to the departure site add up to a hefty five-figure sum. With the launch of this new service in the US, zero-G above the earth will now only cost a few G.

I've never done anything like this before. What will weightlessness feel like? A rollercoaster? Or floating in water, but without the water? When I was little, I used to have lots of recurring dreams about flying -- the dream-sensation of weightlessness felt so vivid, once I half-woke-up and sleep-jumped right off a flight of stairs. How is it that our bodies already know what zero-g feels like? Are we remembering what it felt like to float in utero? That waking dream of flight and floating -- it's something each of us physically understand. I'm looking forward to feeling the real thing.

My grandfather was an amateur astronomer. He taught me a lot of things about stars and space when I was a kid. He was there, downstairs in the living room, when I realized I couldn't fly that day -- about halfway down the stairs. He picked me up, held me in his arms, wiped my tears, and probably had to work really hard at not laughing.

Later, after lots of band-aids and kleenex, he explained what gravity was. I remember feeling really sad and crying all over again when he told me, "Honey, people just can't float like that." I wish he could still be here now, and float with me next Wednesday.

Xeni Flies Zero G, #6: Like prom in your
brain

Xeni Flies Zero G, #6: Like prom in your
brain 09/14/2004 03:48 AM
Xeni Jardin: Creative genius and zero-gravity veteran Matt Fraction says,

This is gonna be like prom in your brain.

Like, one of those things you're never, ever gonna forget. You'll tell your kids about it and describe it to people you meet for the rest of your life.

I went to Space Camp. Shut up. I rocked that flight suit, goddammit. Anyway. So, you get -- or got, i dunno if they do it any more -- to sit in this weirdo chair device that looked like a giant C-clamp. [Ed. note: The consumer-oriented space joyride I'll be taking on Wednesday includes no such device; the Zero-G Corporation sells an entertainment/adventure travel experience different than the research-oriented NASA space camp Matt attended.] So you sit in the C-Clamp, with the bottom curl of the C running between your legs like a saddle, and the curve of the C at your back. The top and back of the C were connected to the ceiling by bungee cords and an elaborate weight and pulley system. Now, the bungees were connected to some sort of wheel-strut-track thing thing, like the cars on a roller coaster track, only the track was bolted to the ceiling. And the track went straight forward for about 10, 20 yards or something. Got it?

Okay, so, the important part was the weights. See, the weights, when in cooperation with the bungees, would replicate moon gravity on your body which, if my geek remains on, is 1/6 earth weight? Something like that. So, you'd walk-hop the length of the track in moon-weight with earth muscles. You could leap 15, 20 feet straight into the air and control your fall back down, span yards with every step, and basically kick it Armstrong style until it was the next kid's turn.

It was unlike anything I've ever experienced. It's one of those things that i'm just gonna take with me to my grave, probably the closest I'll ever come to space, in its dippy space camp way, you know?

Anyway. Ever since -- and it's been 15 years now -- my dreams are plagued with strange gravity situations, somewhere between flight and swimming, all because of those five little minutes in that tourist's chair. In my dreams i'm a whirlygig, i'm a helicopter, i have invisible bungee cords connected to god and I can move like superman.

It happens a lot, and my life, waking and sleeping, feels richer and stranger and better because of it.

My fingers are, like, triple-crossed for you. And, hey, not *everyone* throws up on the vomit comet. Oh, and If you want to be, like, totally hardcore, you should bring an iPod (or whatever mp3doohickey you have) and listen to the Ramones. In ZERO-G!

Previous "Xeni Flies Zero-G" posts: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Xeni Flies Zero G #5: Hungarian Zero G
Rhapsody

Xeni Flies Zero G #5: Hungarian Zero G
Rhapsody 09/15/2004 12:12 AM
Xeni Jardin: BoingBoing reader Peter says,

"I was reading about your upcoming adventure with considerable envy when I realized i'd seen something similar in june or so and sure enough, a Hungarian online mag has a first-person account of such a flight right here in budapest. a 20-year old soviet-built Antonov 2 plane is used for the stunt, apparently flown by one of hungary's top fighter pilots (this part is not clear). it's all in hungarian but check out the pictures. it's groovy."

Link

Update: Péter Kelemen says, "Well, the pilot is Gyula VÁRI (former squadron leader), the article says nothing about him being one of Hungary's top fighter pilot. But he is the President of the Hungarian Aeronautical Association. (Link). The flight itself is about 20 minutes in 1000-3000m altitude while having 10-12 weightlessness-sessions of 7-10 sec each. G changes between 0-3 during the flight."

Previous "Xeni Flies Zero-G" posts: 4, 3, 2, 1.

Xeni Flies Zero G #8: Dude, where's my
zenith?

Xeni Flies Zero G #8: Dude, where's my
zenith? 09/15/2004 12:12 AM
Xeni Jardin: Before I first blogged that I'd be heading up on tomorrow's west coast launch of the Zero-G adventure flights, I had no idea so many friends, acquaintances, and BoingBoing readers were already weightless oldtimers -- they'd had similar experiences on board NASA's "vomit comet," which is not offered as a commercial service to the public. Discovering this has been kind of cool. It's like learning that all of these people walking around in your life have some secret extraterrestrial superpower they'd never shared with you before. I feel like I'm about to be initiated into their clandestine little fez-wearing society or something. One of those veterans of freefall was Wired Magazine editor Adam Rogers, who says,

"I flew the Vomit Comet at Johnson Space Center a few years ago. I vomited. But it was supercool. Unsolicited advice: remember the Ender lesson. In a weightless environment, down is whichever way your feet are pointed at the time. Don't orient off the floor of the plane. That way lies upchuck."

And reader Kenny says,

"Penn Jillette (of Penn & Teller) wrote a good account of taking a ride on a vomit comet with Billy Gibbons (from ZZ Top)." Link to Learning to Fly, Strip, and Vomit on a 727

Previous "Xeni Flies Zero-G" posts: 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Xeni Flies Zero G #9: You are now free
to float about the cabin.

Xeni Flies Zero G #9: You are now free
to float about the cabin. 09/15/2004 12:12 AM
Xeni Jardin: In about 12 hours, I'll be heading into freefall. Before I go, some sage advice for first-time weightless flyers from BoingBoing pal David Rich, a researcher at the UC Berkeley Microgravity Combustion Labs. WTF are Microgravity Combusion Labs? Glad you asked. David says,

"The focus of our work is flammability behavior of materials that could be used for the construction of space craft or facilities on the moon or Mars. We generally look at composite materials like carbon fiber or fiberglass since these have seen increased usage in spacecraft design owing to their high strength and light weight. Unfortunately these materials burn more readily than metals. They also have different burning behavior in zero gravity than on the ground. For these reasons, an understanding of their behavior under conditions found in space craft is important. [Research missions aboard the NASA KC-135 "vomit comet'] allow us to simulate those conditions for short periods and gain some understanding of material flammability behavior. I've been on two previous campaigns and I'm scheduled for an aditional set of flights in October. We are scheduled to send this project up on the ISS in 2007."

And for those about to float, David says:

"Sit with your back against one wall of the aircraft with your head completely motionless for the first few parabolas. Each time you enter the low gravity period you will float up the side of the aircraft so have something to grab and stabilize yourself. Many people find the 2g pullup period to be the nausiating part so continue staring at the opposite side of the aircraft well into the pullup period.

After a few of those you can start moving around but no sudden head movements especially during the pullup. Try not to get your head into an orientation of looking at your feet or above your head, and no rapid head movements.

NASA provides participants with Scopolomine (an anti-nausea medication) and Pseudoephedrine (a stimulant to combat drowsiness resulting from the Scopolomine). I took more than the flight MD's recomended on the first day to play it safe. I strongly suggest you take these medications.

Some frequent fliers eat ginger snaps on the morning of the flight. I ate a light breakfast of yogurt and granola with green tea and that seemed to keep my stomach calm.

If you get sick, don't get discouraged, just sit against the wall for a few more parabolas until you feel better. If you really have a problem, they will get you back to a seat and things should improve. Above all, don't get too stressed about the prospect of getting sick, being relaxed is very helpful."

While the combo of Scopalamine and Dexedrine are a popular measure against "protein loss" (we're talking spacespeak for heave, hurl, keck, lose it, puke, regurgitate, retch, ruminate, spew, spit up, throw up, upchuck), I'm not taking any scopedex speedballs tomorrow morning. In part, because Zero-G Corp.'s "adventure travel" flights seem to focus more on creature comfort -- they're designed for maximum fun, in contrast with the NASA flights, which function more as research missions. It's my understanding that the parabolas will be shorter in duration, and fewer in number (15-20, instead of 30-40) than on the KC-135 flights. These and other factors may reduce the likelihood of lost lunch. Then again, maybe not.

But instead of amphetamines and belladona derivatives (not that there's anything wrong with 'em) I'll be packing ginger chewing gum at the recommendation of NPR "Day to Day" host Noah Adams, and a fist full of Jolly Ranchers I received from the elderly Italian lady who lives next door. She said they always calm her stomach mid-flight. I think she's been holding out on me. All along, I had her pegged as a mild-mannered, arugula-growing, opera-loving, pistachio-cake-baking WWII refugee from Palermo. Secretly, lo these many years, she's been logging those frequent zero-G flyer miles behind my back. That's the thing about experienced space-travelers (Swift Float Veterans for Truth?) -- you just never know. Until they hit you with the secret handshake.

Finally, a moment of sigfile zen. Snipped from the contrails of David Rich's emails:

Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.
HENRY DAVID THOREAU
Walden, 1854.

Image: 1957 ad for "Rid-Jid" ironing tables -- Link to more background on the ad.

Previous "Xeni Flies Zero-G" posts: 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Xeni Flies Zero G, #7: Remaindered
particles, radio waves

Xeni Flies Zero G, #7: Remaindered
particles, radio waves 09/14/2004 11:17 AM
Xeni Jardin: Come on -- you saw this one coming. BoingBoing pal and resident Obscure Smut Scout Vann Hall says,

"I'd been holding off on sending this in hopes someone else would beat me to it -- right now it looks as if my most enduring legacy will be as "the person most-often thanked on BoingBoing entries having to do with sex" -- but to no avail. There's an adult title from 1999 -- "The Uranus Experiment: Part 2," from Private -- that included a brief scene filmed in zero-G, supposedly onboard what had previously been a Soviet counterpart to the Comet. It also received a somewhat tongue-in-cheek (he says, somewhat tongue-in-cheek) nomination for the 2000 Nebula Awards, which led to the following coverage: Link 1, Link 2."

BoingBoing reader Gary says,

"I assume, of course, that when Xeni has completed her mission she will want to purchase all of the official Zero G swag. I particularly like the Break the Law t-shirt: Link. Not to be confused with this Think Geek T-shirt that the rest of us poor folks will have to make do with: Link."

Reader Chris says,

"I wanted to point out that there is a less expensive way to experience the feeling of a parabolic flight. go and rent a helicopter. you should be able to get a seat small one (like the R22 or R44) for 75-150 bucks. ask the pilot to gain speed and climb at the same time, then after 30 seconds to push it down. you will be lifted out of your seat for a good second, if done right. nowhere near a parabolic flight (where you will be weightless for much longer) but it's the feeling alright."

And on today's edition of the NPR program "Day to Day" show, I speak with host Alex Chadwick about all of the weird pieces of zero-g-prep advice that well-meaning friends and neighbors offer when they hear you're about to float on a weightless commercial joyride. Link to archived audio for today's program, available after 12pm PT.
Previous "Xeni Flies Zero-G" posts: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Gravity

Gravity 08/27/2004 01:47 PM
Are LCD prices finally starting to drop? Costco.com has a Sceptre 20.1" with DVI, VGA, S-Video, Composite, and USB for...

No Gravity

No Gravity 03/29/2005 04:39 AM
Linux RPM version

"No Gravity"

"No Gravity" 09/18/2004 08:51 AM

Gravity Simulator

Gravity Simulator 05/18/2004 04:42 PM
First Release

Tonal Gravity

Tonal Gravity 06/24/2005 06:57 PM
George Russell is probably the foremost American composer. He was jazz's first theoretician, and remains its most important innovator. His ideas led directly to the conception of three seminal jazz albums in 1959: Miles Davis's Kind of Blue, John Coltrane's Giant Steps, and Russell's own New York, New York. For the first time in nearly a decade, Russell has released a new recording. Today he turns 82.

Gravity Lamp

Gravity Lamp 09/22/2004 08:39 AM

This "Gravity" lamp from one of our favorite design houses Front is a concept design that detects when you enter and exit a room, perking up straight and shining brightly upon your arrival, and slowly drooping down to slumber when after you leave. This is appealing not only because it gives the lamp a sense of personality - albeit a sycophantic one centered around its need for its master's approval - but because it takes us one step closer to the real future we all crave, where each night we retire to our own personal version of Pee Wee's Playhouse.

Read - Gravity [FunFurde]

Farewell to Gravity

Farewell to Gravity 09/17/2004 06:08 AM
Wired News Sep 17 2004 9:54AM GMT

Funfurde: gravity.

Funfurde: gravity. 09/24/2004 01:55 PM
The lamp that stands to attention .. idea for a lamp

funfurde.blogspot.com/2004/09/gravity.html
track this site | 3 links

Gravity Graphics

Gravity Graphics 08/31/2004 11:25 AM
First Release: grfxgrav-1.0

Gravity Board X

Gravity Board X 11/11/2003 05:46 PM
GBX v1.0 UPDATE

Zero Gravity Flights for the Rest of Us

Zero Gravity Flights for the Rest of Us 09/14/2004 02:28 PM

Extreme Gravity Racing

Extreme Gravity Racing 08/27/2004 01:33 PM

Extreme Gravity Racing Series: Did you like soapbox racing when you were a kid? Wish you could do it again?

Well, you can, although now it has the ominous sounding name of "Extreme Gravity Racing" and some high-powered competitors, like this entry from Porsche. (As much as I like Porsche, the Volvo entry is perhaps the coolest-looking of the bunch.)

Via MetaFilter.

Click here to comment on this entry

Mother of all gravity games 0.12

Mother of all gravity games 0.12 07/12/2004 01:57 PM
A 2D gravity game.

Mother of all gravity games 0.14

Mother of all gravity games 0.14 08/27/2004 01:24 PM
A 2D gravity game.

Mother of all gravity games 0.1

Mother of all gravity games 0.1 12/15/2003 06:54 PM
A 2D gravity game.

Mother of all gravity games 0.9

Mother of all gravity games 0.9 05/21/2004 07:00 AM
A 2D gravity game.

Mother of all gravity games 0.11

Mother of all gravity games 0.11 06/22/2004 06:05 AM
A 2D gravity game.

Mother of all gravity games 0.10

Mother of all gravity games 0.10 06/04/2004 05:32 PM
A 2D gravity game.

Mother of all gravity games 0.8

Mother of all gravity games 0.8 04/12/2004 04:51 PM
A 2D gravity game.

NASA Gravity Probe Launched

NASA Gravity Probe Launched 04/20/2004 04:46 PM

Brits bet on gravity wave discovery

Brits bet on gravity wave discovery 09/01/2004 04:36 AM
Literally

MSNBC - Zero-gravity flights go
mainstream

MSNBC - Zero-gravity flights go
mainstream 09/20/2004 04:31 AM
Zero-gravity flights go mainstream .. I'm already saving the money up .. Woo-hoo!

msnbc.msn.com/id/5992077
track this site | 2 links

Popping water balloons in zero gravity

Popping water balloons in zero gravity 02/12/2004 06:13 PM
I love these quicktime movies of water balloons being popped in space. Link (via Good Morning Silicon Valley)

OSDL: Linux center of gravity?

OSDL: Linux center of gravity? 01/09/2004 09:58 PM
NewsForge learned recently, as a result of electronic conversations with an anonymous (but well-known) Linux kernel hacker, that chatter among some kernel hackers reflects a degree of distrust of OSDL, the Open Source Development Lab. This report airs the major issues identified in those conversations and allows OSDL the opportunity to respond to them. We also asked IDC analyst Dan Kusnetzky and two kernel hackers who work for OSDL, Linus Torvalds and Andrew Morton, to weigh in with their own comments on OSDL's role and behavior.

ZERO-G Zero Gravity Experience -
Parabolic Flights

ZERO-G Zero Gravity Experience -
Parabolic Flights 09/19/2004 09:56 AM
ZERO-G Zero Gravity Experience - Parabolic Flights

nogravity.com
track this site | 3 links

Gravity May Lose Its Pull (Los Angeles
Times)

Gravity May Lose Its Pull (Los Angeles
Times) 12/22/2004 01:22 AM
Los Angeles Times - It was in 1980 that John Anderson first wondered if something funny was going on with gravity.

HOWTO make a gravity-defying room

HOWTO make a gravity-defying room 03/24/2005 02:22 PM
David Pescovitz: Two UC Berkeley students explain how they transformed their co-op room into a mind-bending, gravity-defying suite of surreality:

The way this all got started was that my friend and i were sitting around at dinner chatting about what to do for the upcoming room-to-room party. We went through a whole bunch of ideas for room themes. And then — you know how, sometimes when you're bored, you look up and imagine what it would be like if gravity turned upside down and you got to walk around on the ceiling? (Does everyone have this daydream?) Anyway, we both mentioned it at the same time, and then it dawned on us that we could make it happen. Or a variant, anyway. I think sideways actually works better than upside-down, because then you can integrate real people into the scene in strange ways.

Link (via Fark)

Gravity Probe B: Delay in Space and Time

Gravity Probe B: Delay in Space and Time 12/31/2003 09:39 AM
Space.com Dec 31 2003 8:13AM ET

Gravity Lamp -- lighting design concept

Gravity Lamp -- lighting design concept 09/22/2004 12:33 AM
Xeni Jardin: The "Gravity" lamp reclines and goes to sleep when you're not in the room. When you enter, it awakens, stands up, and turns on.

Fun Furde says, "The Gravity is equal parts cute and creepy. Cute because it's sort of like a pet that's happy to see you when you come home. Creepy because it's a lamp that moves by itself! No idea if they're actually going to make this or how much it will cost if they do. Or how they keep the lightbulb from smashing when it hits the ground."

Link.
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