Visual Statistics - a Powerful Mathematical View of the World

Hans Rosling: Watch the end of poverty

With the right mathematical tools, starting with numerical data and using visual representation, Hans Rosling, a Swedish statistician, present an alternative view of the geopolitical world.

Auditory & Visual Patterns: The Raspyni Brothers Juggle at TED (Feb. 2008)

Starting at 11:30 (min:sec) of the video clip, listen to the sound of the juggling pins as they hit the jjgglers' palms - the rhythm is an auditory pattern. Freeze frame the video and see their trajectories. These are visual geometric patterns. The two types of patterns coincide.

clipped from www.youtube.com Raspyni Brothers: Welcome to Vaudeville 2.0

Marching Band - Visual and Audio Pattern

UCLA Marching Band Strike Up the Band For UCLA

Drumline - An Audio Pattern People Enjoy

2006 UCLA Drumline

The Wave - Thousands of People Sharing Fun, Clip No. 2

Alabama A-Day Game 2007: Crowd Doing The Wave

Thousands of people enjoy doing and watching the wave. The sense of comradeship and sharing is most powerful. But the the beautiful pattern created by the synchronized crowd is magnificent.

The Wave - Thousands of People Sharing Fun, Clip No. 1

Thousands of people enjoy doing and watching the wave. The sense of comradeship and sharing is most powerful. But the the beautiful pattern created by the synchronized crowd is magnificent. You can hear the excitement in the voice of the woman.
[USC vs. Arizona State Football Game]

USC vs. Arizona State - Football Game Wave!

Shoelace Tying

I am always amazed at the ingenuity of the human mind. I've always been interested in and even fascinated by knots and tying. I've known several ways of tying shoelaces and did not give it much thought. I considered it so simple, once it was tied, the shoelace knot is one of the most basic knots. nothing to it.

Wrong!

Several years ago, when my son was in first grade I was awed by one of his classmates, a second grader, when I saw how she tied her shoelaces in a single, fluid motion. I asked her to repeat it and she did but her fingers always moved too fast for my eyes to catch the details of her action. The result, however, was the familiar knot. She told me that this is the only way she knew to tie her laces.

Then I came across this video and I learned how to tie my shoelaces in the same way.

It's not difficult and you can do it too and fascinate your friends.

100-Meter Sprint/Dash -- a Source for Interesting Calculations

Asafa Powell Bonita Jamaica Fastest
Originally uploaded by Bonita Jamaica

On Sept. 9, 2007, Asafa Powell broke his own 100-meter sprint/dash world record, his new record is now 9.74 sec. This race and his record can be a source for interesting calculations:

1. How many steps it takes the runners to cover 100 m?

2. What is the average step size?

3. What is their speed in terms of mph?

4. How much time during the race they spend in the air (as oppose to touching the ground)?

This can be evaluated/estimated by viewing the video frame by frame.

I believe it is more than half the time.

Look at it another way, with respect to distance, not time:
Most of the 100-meter distance he covers while he is airborne. If so, in a sense, with respect to distance, he is flying. But this is a misrepresentation because he must touch the ground every step in order to propel his airborne self for the next segment of his “flight.”

5. Assuming that Asafa Powell's weight is still 88 kg (per Wikipedia's older article), then:

5.1. What is his acceleration?

5.2. How much force he spent?

5.3. How much energy?