Screaming Yellow

These perennials are called Screaming Yellow. They are Baptisia sphaerocarpa.



Planted last year, they are doing well this year. Supposedly they do poorly in the year they are planted but then perk up as shown. We are big perennial fans for the simple reason that you don't have to plant them each year, and many of them look great.

Late Spring Flowers - Peonies smell so good

I wish there was a Sniffr(tm) just like Flickr where you could upload the smell of something. These peonies smell even better than they look. You will just have to go outside and smell your own or just imagine as you look at these pictures.


The ants love them


Three in a row.

More Elements fun

The Knights of the Periodic Table.

(other element fun: Element Letters, Better Gaming Through Chemistry, Elemental, My Dear)

(Cartoon from The Argyle Sweater by Scott Hilburn)

Cool videos of TacSat3 launch from Wallops Launch Site

Here is a followup and cool video of the TacSat3 satellite launch from Wallops Island in Virginia at the tip of the Delmarva peninsula that occurred on Tuesday night. I did not see anything from Delaware, but people in Rockville, Md, Charlottesville, Va, and Wilmington, De claim to have seen the rocket trail. Also, Leesburg, VA, Eldersburg outside of Baltimore, DC, Severn, MD, and even Philadelphia claim sightings. Here is a picture of a rocket trail from Arlington, VA. Picture of a rocket trail from Lusby, MD. Pictures from western shore of Chesapeake bay.

Professional video below from close to Wallops launch site.



If you watch the video closely, and especially in HD (click on the video to got to YouTube), I think you can see the first stage separation and second stage ignition, and then later possibly the second stage separation and third stage ignition. I need to go see one of these in person, since it is so close.

Amateur video below from Rockville, MD. Impressive as this is 120 miles (as the crow flies) northeast of Wallops Island.



(video one via ShoreFireProductions, video two via Jared's Global Microbrand)

Azaleas blooming like crazy

It is azalea blooming time in Wilmington. These bushes looked pretty ragges when we got the house and I still hope to shape them a little going forward.

Put enough blooms on them and they look great. They have been doing better since the removal of a fallen weeping cherry tree, the world's sharpest holly bushes and other stuff that was crowding them out. Enjoy!

Satellite Launch from Wallops tonight at 7:35pm

Here we go again with the launch of a TacSat satellite from the Wallops NASA launch site at the tip of the Delmarva peninsula. The launch is tonight at 7:35pm, though the launch window extends to 11pm. Clear skies mean the weather is probably not a factor, but that isn't what stopped it last time. I will try to glance south at the appropriate time, but tonight I may miss it.

The last time was a bust.

Explosion at Refinery in Claymont felt for miles

It turns out that last night we felt and heard the explosion that occurred at Sunoco's refinery at the PA/DE border just to the northeast of us. I was reading in bed and heard a loud THUMP and thought a branch or something fell on the roof, Lynn thought that the house shook. I got up to look around and see if anything had fallen. I looked out and there was no wind to shake the brnaches and drop the phantom limbs. Now we know what it was.

We are about 5 miles southwest of the refinery as the crow flies. I wonder how they would have gotten all of us sleeping Delawareans out of bed if the ethylene oxide cloud came our way? The ermergency broadcast system tests only seem to occur in the middle of my favorite shows. Even more fun on both Comcast and FIOS they stop the DVR from playing. I suppose it is for our safety.

Baseball curve ball part skill part illusion

It turns out that while curve ball in baseball really does curve a bit due to aerodynamic forces and they way it is thrown, that there is an optical illusion component. Many players claim that a curve ball seems to suddenly break, more than the physical science would seem to indicate. Turns out that is due to the eye shifting between central vision and peripheral vision as the pitch reaches the batter. Researchers from
American University, USC, Dartmouth and the SUNY College of Optometry have put together and excellent application that lets you see the origin of the effect. Try it. When you look at the falling spinning ball head on it appears to fall straight when you look at it with your peripheral vision by staring to the right the ball seems to fall at an angle top the left. Switching between the two viewpoints makes it seem as if the falling ball jumps to the left.

It has been pointed out that curveballs really do curve (see also the essay "The Hell it Don't Curve" and this thesis) but in our Cartesian dualist influenced society it always has to be either-or instead of both. Seems that curveballs do curve and that an optical illusion enhances this effect. This simulation does not appear to be the first of its type. Here is one that focuses on the batter's point of view, and other POV's of your choice.

I would love to see this insight combined with high speed photography of curve balls to see if the comparison holds in real life as with the simulation (already done in the thesis above and elsewhere). Perhaps instead of just a regular baseball one could also use a ball painted half black and half white. Does that enhance the effect? What other variables could you change? I want a machine that throws baseballs with control to change the pitches every which way, a high speed camera and computer to capture the data (It exists). I can always design the experiments, and great minds think alike since much of this has been done, I just don't have the resources or time to follow through.

(via Neatorama's Upcoming Queue, via the Best Visual Illusion of the Year Contest)

TIGERS license plate in Delaware

Spotted this TIGERS Delaware license plate. I know a Detroit Tigers fan in Delaware that would love to have this plate.

Given the location and lack of other Detroit or Michigan identifying information on the car, I expect that we should look more locally for the reference of this license plate, rather than assume it is a Michigan expatriot.

The top contender is the A.I. DuPont Tigers, a high school on the road where I saw this car. Other options that are less likely are the Tigers of Towson in Maryland and the Princeton Tigers in New Jersey.

If you own this car tell us what the reference is in the comments. For you others, what Tigers near Delaware have I missed?

Last night's storms raise Shellpot creek

I love taking pictures of the creek when it is running faster due to rainfall. It is interesting all the time but even more interesting when it rains.

Since I was asleep and it was dark I probably missed the high point for this event last night.

Someday I need to get a webcam pointed at the creek and then we can all watch all the time.