This article is about German tv advertisements for sugar pills according to the teachings of Wilhelm Heinrich Schüßler. Since this is a German phenomenon and superstition I will not translate it to English.
Category: Science
Optical illusions
On National Geographic there is right now a science show called Brain Games. Even though a lot of the contents is not new, there was one optical illusion which really fascinated me: Look at the full image, look at the red circle, look at the yellow circle… (image found at Mighty Optical Illusions)
PISA – what’s wrong with Sweden
The Swedish education system used to be a good example, but looking at the new PISA results, Sweden is among the countries with the strongest deterioration in school education in reading, mathematics and science. The only thing Sweden has achieved is to narrow the gap between top and low performers – obviously by lowering the… Continue reading PISA – what’s wrong with Sweden
MOSFETs – what the datasheet doesn’t tell you
I am planning to construct a logarithmic current meter and were yesterday doing some simulations with LTspice. Using a logarithmic converter you can span a wide range of currents with a single readout without the necessity to switch ranges. Of course this has disadvantages as well, but if you know what you are doing it… Continue reading MOSFETs – what the datasheet doesn’t tell you
Pandora’s Promise (The movie)
Yesterday I had the opportunity to watch a screening of the movie Pandora’s Promise at Uppsala University. After the movie there was a panel debate including the director of the film, Robert Stone. Since there was a lot of noise around the movie on the internet I was looking forward to see the film for… Continue reading Pandora’s Promise (The movie)
Notes from the student lab
Every place in our course laboratory is equipped with an analog oscillsocpe and a Metex Universal System. This instrument consists of a power supply with two fixed and a variable outpur voltage, a multimeter, a function generator and a frequency counter. This sounds nice and it usually is – most of the time the instrument… Continue reading Notes from the student lab
About filters and cut-off frequencies
A good question was brought up by my students in the lab exercise in the course Electronics I yesterday: What actually makes the cut-off frequency of a filter circuit (1st order) so special? Why do we look out for a point which happens to be located or a factor of under the amplitude of the… Continue reading About filters and cut-off frequencies
City of Stralsund flogs unique library collection
Money has to be saved everywhere these days, but should a public entity be allowed to flog the family silver? The city of Stralsund, UNESCO world heritage site, has recently silently and covertly sold off a unique library collection. An online petition was started with the aim to revoke this action: https://www.openpetition.de/petition/online/rettet-die-stralsunder-archivbibliothek
The customer is always right…
…sorry German language only
A fluxgate magnetometer – a prestudy
Just a few days ago I read up about variations in the magnetic field of earth and how these can be used to detect northern lights. Since there have been sightings of northern lights quite recently even in major parts of Germany I became interested in the topic. A common type of magnetometer is based… Continue reading A fluxgate magnetometer – a prestudy