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To: Clappy who wrote (47520)	10/14/2005 3:50:50 PM
From: altair19	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 104155

Clapper, I nearly peed my pants laughing when they did the first test shot of the giant cross bow! What a fascinating show. My son happened to be home watch....his first comment was " it's not going to go anywhere! Altair19

To: Clappy who wrote (47520)	10/14/2005 3:56:35 PM
From: Mannie	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 104155

Are there any like him out there now? He may not stack up to Leonardo, also one of my favorites...but Santiago Calatrava builds some amazing structures. I love his bridges... calatrava.com

To: Clappy who wrote (47520)	10/14/2005 7:58:52 PM
From: Bill on the Hill	Respond to of 104155

clapster, i made a little lifter on my kitchen table last winter out of balsa, tinfoil and wire. attached a small copper wire attached to a 17,000 volt ballast. it raised off the table about a half inch. never could get it higher. after a few nights i set my dinner plate on it and broke the balsa. here is where i copied the experiment from. americanantigravity.com check out his website. some of the ideas have a strong science behind them. not just kook ideas. the interviews with lots of inventors and experimental technology advocates. americanantigravity.com

To: Clappy who wrote (47520)	10/15/2005 12:45:06 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 104155

Scientists: Black hole helps spawn stars seattlepi.nwsource.com

To: Clappy who wrote (47520)	10/15/2005 9:46:41 AM
From: Crocodile	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 104155

Clapper~ He believed that all of the answers to are problems lies in nature. that's pretty much how i see things. (i'm a big Leonardo fan too, btw.) doing as much macro photography as i do, i see the patterns and structures in many things... various mollusc shells, sphagnum moss spires, etc... and i'm also very interested in water flow and have shot a lot of DV footage of interesting waves, eddies, and so on... lots of those patterns are repeatedly found in nature, and have been used by architects and engineers through the centuries. a couple of years ago, i was reading quite a bit on anything relating to the relationship between science and nature. unfortunately, i didn't keep a book list -- very bad move, as i have a very bad memory for titles and names of authors. (there are quite a few books that cover this topic quite well. if i happen to think of the titles, i'll post them). however, a couple of days ago, i came across an old email which i sent to a friend who likes to design things and is very into nature. you might find this excerpt kind of fun: just been reading a book of essays by David Quammen and there is a chapter on kayaking that discusses the vortex... fluid dynamics,... etc... There's this one part about Leonardo... and how he was fascinated by water... fluid dynamics, and watched whirlpools, waves, currents, and experimented with dropping things like seeds onto the surface of water to watch fluid dynamics... And he drew many diagrams of his observations. Also, he was the first person... at least first known person to realize that our heart valves are closed by vortex formations in the blood that pumps through them.... Neat, huh? i checked, and am quite sure i wrote the above about one of Quammen's essays in "Wild Thoughts from Wild Places" if you haven't read it, you might enjoy it. ~croc