Friday, January 31, 2020
Thursday, January 30, 2020
Aviate, Navigate, Communicate: 6 Pilot Rules That Everyone Should Live By
In the aviation world, this is a common approach to all flying situations, especially emergency conditions. Aviation studies have found that pilots get so focused on solving a problem in an emergency that they sometimes forget to fly the airplane. In one accident involving Eastern Airlines Flight 401, the pilots became so distracted by a burned-out indicator light in the cockpit that they actually flew the airplane into the ground. The axiom “Aviate, Navigate, Communicate” teaches pilots to fly the airplane first, then navigate, and once the situation is under control, communicate.
We can employ a similar tactic if we face an emergency on the ground: Act first, get your bearings, and then call home!
2. ALWAYS LEAVE YOURSELF AN “OUT”:
Probably the most important rule for pilots, leaving yourself an “out,” means never getting into a situation you can’t get out of safely. Never get yourself backed into a corner with nowhere to go. Pilots do this by planning for alternate routes, taking extra fuel and always looking for an emergency landing spot, even when there isn’t an emergency.
Whenever you make a decision, make sure you leave yourself another option in case things don’t go as planned.
3. NOTHING FLIES WITHOUT FUEL:
An airplane obviously won’t fly without fuel, and humans can’t fly without energy.
Whether you get your energy from endless cups of coffee or a healthy diet, it’s important to feed the system so it keeps running.
4. TAKE-OFF IS OPTIONAL, LANDING IS MANDATORY
True in the most literal sense for pilots, this rule applies to everyone. Don’t take off unless you’re sure you can land! This can also be interpreted as: Don’t start a project unless you’re sure you can follow through, or always finish what you started.
5. STAY OUT OF THE CLOUDS:
Nobody likes to get rained on! Pilots are taught everything they need to know about weather, thunderstorms and clouds, and they know it’s best to stay out of the clouds. Clouds can mean turbulence, embedded rain or thunderstorms and lack of visibility. Flying into a cloud on a visual flight is risky — you can no longer see other airplanes, towers or mountains, for example.
Stay out of the clouds in the real world, too: Avoid trouble and steer clear environments in which you can’t see clearly enough to make it through to the other side without crashing.
6. NEVER LET AN AIRPLANE TAKE YOU SOMEWHERE THAT YOUR BRAIN DIDN’T GET TO FIVE MINUTES EARLIER.
Instrument pilots in particular are taught to “stay ahead of the airplane” to avoid trouble. Staying ahead of the airplane means knowing exactly where you are and where you’re going at all times. Pilots are always planning the next step, preparing for the airplane’s arrival before it arrives. This keeps pilots aware of their position in the clouds and prevents them from losing track of the airplane’s position as it flies along without any visual reference to the ground.
Preparing for the future and knowing exactly what you plan to do before you do it will serve you well in all aspects of life.
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(Thanks, Melody!)
THROWBACK THURSDAY - "I never really thought about this before..."
(Originally published on February 24, 2015)
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If you replace the W in Where, What, and
When with a T, you answer the question.
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Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Hypnotic Video of Striped Eel Catfish Walking in Unison Across the Ocean Floor
As adults, the striped eel catfish is highly venomous and can inflict real pain. But while they’re still growing, the full power of their venom hasn’t set in. “The young ones can only produce a mild version of the venom, tingling the fingers of the people putting their hands in the school (which we don’t recommend you do!),” writes the Abyss Dive Center Bali.
With this information in hand, it makes sense that they’re ganging up and make sure the entire group is safe rather than taking on predators alone. Together, the move as one and make for a formidable opponent. If you look closely at the video, you’ll notice that the individual fish aren’t static. Instead, they each move up and down as the mass moves forward—almost like a waterfall of catfish. As each fish hits the sand, their barbed faces look like little feet scurrying along.
Schools of young striped eel catfish can reach up to 100 individuals. As they get older, they’ll then move into a more solitary lifestyle. These fish typically stay to themselves or, at most, live in a group of up to 20. They spend their days hiding under ledges and stirring up sand to find crustaceans, mollusks, and worms. But until then, they can enjoy this time together with their peers, flowing through the water and warding off anyone who dares get in their way.
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Vanishing Images
Stare at this picture 20-30 seconds(-ish), and you’ll begin to see it vanish, bit by bit.
It's called the Troxler Effect, named after the man who discovered it: Ignaz Paul Vital Troxler, in 1804.
What happens here is that your visual system constantly adapts to all the external stimuli. This is why after spending a few moments in the dark, you start to see a little better. This capability allows you to be in different lighting conditions, while still maintaining a pretty accurate estimate of the lightness and colour of objects.
So if you fixate on a certain point, after approximately 20-30 seconds, stimuli which fit in your peripheral vision will fade away and disappear. The effect is most powerful for some colours and patterns, and is more powerful the farther the object is from your center of fixation.
Here is another example of the phenomenon: the spots in the “lilac chaser” illusion fade away after several seconds when the black cross is stared at long enough.
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It's called the Troxler Effect, named after the man who discovered it: Ignaz Paul Vital Troxler, in 1804.
What happens here is that your visual system constantly adapts to all the external stimuli. This is why after spending a few moments in the dark, you start to see a little better. This capability allows you to be in different lighting conditions, while still maintaining a pretty accurate estimate of the lightness and colour of objects.
So if you fixate on a certain point, after approximately 20-30 seconds, stimuli which fit in your peripheral vision will fade away and disappear. The effect is most powerful for some colours and patterns, and is more powerful the farther the object is from your center of fixation.
Here is another example of the phenomenon: the spots in the “lilac chaser” illusion fade away after several seconds when the black cross is stared at long enough.
(via)
Website Wednesday 20.5
Website Wednesday
a subsidiary of Skip's House of Chaos
(The 234,453rd Most Interesting Man in the World)
"From the Large Intestine of the Internets,
through the Sphincter of Electronic Mail,
peeing like a baby on a changing tableinto the brisk digital wind..."
a subsidiary of Skip's House of Chaos
(The 234,453rd Most Interesting Man in the World)
"From the Large Intestine of the Internets,
through the Sphincter of Electronic Mail,
peeing like a baby on a changing tableinto the brisk digital wind..."
I’m not saying that you shouldn’t trust the Internet,
but there is an alarming discrepancy between the
number of iPad’s I’ve won and the number of iPad’s I own.
Top of the heap: Stunning Photos From the 2019 Ocean Art Contest (Thanks, Billy!)
The Making of Caddyshack
Aviate, Navigate, Communicate: 6 Pilot Rules That Everyone Should Live By (Thanks, Melody!)
20 Best Life Hacks to Get You Through Winter
The Decade in Review
Here's Why You Can't Remember Some of Your Dreams
These 12 old-school skills are becoming obsolete. Does it matter?
How long would it take to fall through the Earth?
Lake Michigan shipwreck would be world's most intact wooden schooner ever found (Thanks, Laura!)
The changes coming to Facebook
15 Excel Formulas That Will Help You Solve Real-Life Problems
Interesting Facts About the Apple Campus (Tip O'the hat, David)
The Sacred Cows of Life and Work (thanks, Lisa!)
A Weird Holiday Falls On Your Birthday And Here's What It Is (Thanks, Debb!)
5 Most Secret Military Bases in the World
Sammy or Lincoln for Mayor? (Thanks, Spidermonkey)
The Average Human Body Temperature Is No Longer 98.6°
An interactive tool that guesses your name
A fan-created archive of 380,000 "Jeopardy!" clues
Love you, mean it. Let's do lunch. Have your people call my people. Ciao, bella.
- Skip ಠ_ಠ
Website Wednesday archives
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