May 24, 2004

Slow down and observe the cocoa


Had a good weekend... and I even achieved most of my goals for a change! I came to a stop on Sunday at about 5:00 with the realization that my queue was empty... it was weird.

Didn't go shopping or get the kitchen or living room cleaned up, but dang, everything else got done! Even wrote a nice, fluffy, 8-page Chapter 15, Communication, in just a few hours. Nice! Well, it was mostly an advertisement for Jan Axelson's books... I should write him and have him give me presents or something for that.

Monday is, as always, a bit of a slow start at work. And I noticed that I am normally in a state of motion... zip! Zow! Stuff to do! As I put white powder into my tea I noticed the convenction currents in it...

I remember once I read about hexagonal cells in convection currents in hot liquids. A long time ago, I noticed these exact same things in a piping hot cup of good cocoa... using a powdered cocoa in coffee, actually, I think. The powder didn't entirely dissolve, so it was in suspension. And the fluid was really nice and hot, so it had good motion.

The suspension of particles was held in these hexagonal cells, with the convection occuring in the coffee-filled walls. It was great! I only ever saw it the one time, though I haven't really tried since.

My tea didn't develop convection cells, but then, it wasn't that hot after sitting on my desk for ten minutes.

I though, though, that sometimes it is nice to just slow down and observe the details around you... science is everywhere, and even the simplest and most common thing can have hidden secrets if you just slow down and look.

Posted by Edwin at May 24, 2004 08:56 AM
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