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The Flying Circus of Physics is a book about curious events and effects of the everyday world. This site is an extension of the book.

Spotlight story for this month: Click on the title down below here
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New --- Facebook Flying Circus of Physics site: new videos from me every month. The first in the series: the Cheerios effect. Plus old television videos and many photos. Here is the link. Come for a visit, and consider signing up as a fan of the site.
Jay Waller stories: Physics for
Citations (over 11,000) and links (over 2000) for items in the book (pdf files):
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----  Jearl Walker
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Flying Circus of Physics SpotlightFlying Circus of Physics Spotlight

Large bathtub-like vortexes
Wednesday, May 01, 2013

A draining bathtub will develop a vortex over the drain, which can be amusing. In some settings, however, much larger vortexes can be developed over drains, with far more energy. In fact, in 1990 a bathtub-like vortex almost emptied an entire lake into an underlying salt mine, pulling down large barges and tall trees as if the entire surroundings were disappearing into a netherworld.

Flying Circus of Physics SampleFlying Circus of Physics Sample

Woodpeckers and concussion

A woodpecker hammers its beak into the limb of a tree to search for insects to eat, to create storage space, or to audibly advertise for a mate. During the impact, the rate at which the head slows is about 1000 g’s (1000 times gravitational acceleration). Such a deceleration rate would be fatal to a human or at best severely damage the brain and leave the person with a concussion. Why then doesn’t a woodpecker fall from a tree either dead or unconscious every time it slams its beak into the tree? MORE

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