• Random,  Science

    The Coriolis Effect and Confusion

    The Coriolis Effect is a fictitious force that seems to act on an object moving in a rotating frame of reference. For example, the Earth rotates, so something moving on Earth (on large distance scales) will seem to have a fictitious force acting on it. The Coriolis Effect does not dictate whether a toilet flushing or a bathtub draining does so with the water circulating clockwise or counterclockwise depending on which hemisphere you are in. That is dictated by the structure of the basin and how the water is moving as it is placed into the basin. Veritasium and SmarterEveryDay have a video explaining this, and then they experiment with…

  • Random,  Science

    Test

    Test The Usual Colors of the Sky Why is the sky blue? Why are sunsets red? The answers and explanations to these questions can be found fairly easily on the internet. But there are many subtle “Wait a minute…”-type questions in between the cracks that seem to necessitate subtle answers and more “difficult” searching around the internet to find those answers. So, why is the sky blue? No, but first, what color is sunlight? Visible light generally is from 390 nm (violet) to 720 nm (red). Visible sunlight is a mix of these colors at the intensities we see in the figure above. , with maximum eye sensitivity at 555…

  • Random

    The Curiously Inscrutable Principles of Trade Mechanics of Europa Universalis 4 (aka another EU4 trade guide)

    Prologue   My goal here is to explain from first principles the fundamentals of trade mechanics in EU4.  This will not attempt to be a comprehensive guide on all aspects of trade, but it does attempt to be a comprehensive guide and tutorial on the mechanics of trade nodes and merchants.  I will try to explain the system from the ground up as well as communicate an intuitive understanding and interpretation.  I will attempt to be rigorous with the mechanics but will be more brush-strokey with tactics, strategy, and modifiers (since modifiers just complicate things and in application are a part of strategy).  My hope is to explain the basics…