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| Saturday, February 07, 2009 |
| dbA |
My uncle has a sound level meter, and I'm borrowing it because this has fascinated me for quite awhile, going back to high school physics class. What makes this particularly exciting isn't the running around measuring my home, although there was plenty of that:
- Turns out that computer is as loud as I thought -- from 48 db to 57 in the living room
- The quietest spot in the house I could find was a pretty-darn-quiet 28 db.
The main reason it's exciting is because I can now quite scientifically evaluate the effects of putting the Durabak floor liner into my car, compared to bare floor. I'll test it again when I put the Dynamat on, and once again when the window rubber is replaced.
I also got a chance to put the new engine to pace. Turns out it is, in fact, the fastest motor I've had yet. It goes from 0-60 in about ten seconds and peaks at between 80-85 miles per hour. Not bad, and enough for freeway driving, which is what I wanted.
My results from today's tests (results in parenthesis are with the windows rolled down):
Car off, fuel pump only: 50db (50db)
Starting: 95 (95db)
Idle: 82 (83.5)
Running: 90-94 (95-101)
Accelerating: 100-104 (102-107)
@ 80 MPH: 103 (104)
Peak dbA levels: 104 (110)
For a list of examples of db levels, check out my previous post. My car is about as loud as an alarm clock at idle, and as loud as a chainsaw when accelerating. OSHA would not permit a business to have employees drive my car for more than an hour of highway driving. The goal, then, should be to get my car's noise levels down to about 90 db (which I think is possible).
By comparison, the Prius (which is an extraordinarily quiet car) has the following noise levels in the same conditions:
Car off: 31
Starting: 56
Idle: 54
Running: 65
Accelerating: 73
Stereo at 2: 62
Stereo at 4: 72
Stereo at 6: 80
Stereo at 8: 87
Stereo at 10: 92.5
A/C blower on LO: 46
A/C blower on MED: 61
A/C blower on HI: 71
To be continued ...Labels: Leelu, physics, science, Yoshimi |
posted by Steve @ 9:50 PM  |
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| Sunday, October 26, 2008 |
| Religion and Science |
I often hear the argument that science is trying to destroy religion and vice versa. This is a pity, because science has nothing to do with religion, any more so than my field (graphic design) has to do with cooking. Science is a method of understanding. As a field, it is simply uninterested in what any religion has to say: you follow the scientific method, period.
Therefore, any time a scientist talks about religion, his background in science should be completely ignored. Listen only to the logic of the arguments.
Similarly, if you hear someone with a religious background talking about science, their religious background has nothing to do with science.
This is the reason that Creationist doctrines are absurd: They use religious principles to make scientific conclusions. This makes no more sense than using graphic design principles to make political decisions. Science is a method of reasoning; it should not be viewed as in any way threatening to religion. There are some scientists who may attack religion, but they are speaking outside of their field. This is fine, just as it's acceptable for me to speak on religion as a graphic designer, but again -- their background has nothing to do with their religious arguments.
It is true, however, that most of the attacking comes from one side. The unfortunate habit of Creationists and other unreasonable religious people to take science's progress (and in particular critics of religion who are scientists) as attacks on religion stews religious fervor on the murky-minded, creating a tension that is completely unnecessary. Both sides feel threatened, and strike back or create political defenses; all sound and fury over absolutely nothing.
Blame for this can be equally shared by scientists and pastors too eager to dabble in things they don't understand but whose field gave them God complexes. Similarly, blame for the war over nothing lays on them both as well.Labels: Christians, idiots, politics, religion, school, science |
| posted by Steve @ 12:45 PM |
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| Saturday, January 05, 2008 |
| Cattle farts = Global warming |
Some headlines, you just can't make up.
It's so awesome, I have to pee.Labels: cows, joke, news, science |
| posted by Steve @ 1:58 AM |
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| About Me |
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Name: Steve
Home: Tucson, Arizona, United States
About Me: I like to think about things, and I occasionally like to write what I think.
See my complete profile
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