On-ramp Bottleneck

When traffic is merging from an on-ramp onto a highway, a bottleneck can occur.  This video shows cars merging onto the highway in slow moving traffic. Because there is no space between cars on the highway, the cars on the on-ramp have to come to a stop and wait to merge.  This leads to a line of stopped cars on the on ramp.  Bottlenecks occur when there is insufficient space for the cars on the road.

Posted at 01:23AM Dec 04, 2008 by Samantha Baughman in MediaHunt5  |  Comments[0]

Traffic

 

[Read More]

Posted at 12:26AM Dec 04, 2008 by Brooke bernard in MediaHunt5  |  Comments[0]

Traffic Simulator

Simulator,

this simulator, already linked, may be used to highlight some key points pertaining to traffic jams. 

This simulation allows one to control a small section of imaginary highway.  Ideally, one would be able to model the jamming that has been proven experimentally to occur without bottlenecks.  These jams arise from the small fluctuations in driving made by the operators, and unfortunately will not arise in this simulation.  However, these non-bottleneck jams have been proven to occur when the traffic density reaches a certain critical point.  While one can not adjust the density very subtly through the slight non-uninformities of the vehicles velocities and driving styles that trigger true jams, one may still control the density.

By setting the incoming cars to a constant amount, and the cars entering from off ramps to zero, one creates a stable stream.  The density may be increased at the on ramp by adding a single car.  while very crude, it very roughly simulates the "phase change" occurring at the critical density.  at this point, a jam will appear behind the car that will persist until the number of all incoming cars has been significantly reduced.

Posted at 11:52PM Dec 01, 2008 by Jeffrey Fowler in MediaHunt5  |  Comments[0]

[Jams]

Intestinal Blockage

This is an image of intestinal blockage due to the congestion of parasitic roundworms. It is cause by the worms invading and multiplying the the host. This cause cause death because of the interuption of bodily functions.

Posted at 11:35PM Dec 01, 2008 by Detric Robinson in MediaHunt5  |  Comments[0]

Calculations of Jamming and Blood Clotting

I've linked a video here that describes superficially the process of blood clotting through a graphic model, but the graphics are quite good. This is a very important kind of jam, as it can mean the difference between life and death, but what can we say about blood clots and their likeliness of forming?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjjEiVeYRNg&feature=related

In addition, here is a link that will take you to an article about some engineers that came up with a model of dense granular flows that can depict some of the aspects of jams. This knowledge has important implications for medical problems such as blood clots.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080425130102.htm

Posted at 05:20PM Dec 01, 2008 by Garik Cruise Sadovy in MediaHunt5  |  Comments[0]

Shockwave traffic jams recreated for first time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Suugn-p5C1M/

The video is of an experiment performed in Japan, trying to determine why traffic jams happen.  They had a number of cars driving around in a large circle, all trying to maintain a speed of 30 km/h.   Even though the cars were trying to go the same speed they repeatedly bunched up causing traffic jams.  It is interesting to watch the ripple effects that happen after the backups start. 

Posted at 12:07AM Nov 28, 2008 by thomas stuart mccawley in MediaHunt5  |  Comments[0]

The Fibonacci Sequence and Financial Markets

This video describes the fractal nature of the Fibonacci sequence, and how it can be applied to natural systems as well as financial markets. It shows how certain plants only branch in numbers equivalent to those in the sequence, and how the sequence models many aspects of our population. So if it can model our population, it can model the markets of our population as well. The idea is a bit of a stretch, but it is presented in a very interesting way.

Posted at 09:17PM Nov 24, 2008 by Daniel Evan Piephoff in MediaHunt5  |  Comments[0]

Fractals in the Stock Market

 The idea that there could be fractals in the stock market is certainly an interesting idea. Think about it. Imagine  a world where you could predict which stocks would fall, which would rise, and when they would do that. People could make a fortune if they truly knew what they were doing. And, as seen above, many of the stock market graphs over years, months, or days, take on a general, fractal shape.

Posted at 02:41PM Nov 24, 2008 by Asia Murphy in MediaHunt5  |  Comments[0]

Simulated Swaying Bridge

Video Link

Although it is possible to simulate different situations in which a bridge might sway or swing it is difficult to know exactly what factors could cause a catastrophic failure to occur. In the Tacoma Bridge case, several different measures were taken to reduce wave propagation through the bridge. Unfortunately this simulation does not show how these precautions might affect the bridge; either positively or negatively. In any case, such models improve understanding of bridge designs and possibly, bridge failures.

Posted at 12:56PM Nov 16, 2008 by Adam Keith in MediaHunt5  |  Comments[0]

Orbit of Planets

This video is interesting because it shows how precise all the planet's orbit are. None of them ever overlap or negatively affect any of the others. They are also all traveling at different speeds. The model also shows comets orbiting the sun. The orbitals of the comets aren't centered like the planets are. Their orbitals are also tilted differently around the sun. They can also cross the orbits of planets. "link":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrODEmei-wA&feature=related

Posted at 12:23AM Nov 14, 2008 by Samantha Baughman in MediaHunt5  |  Comments[0]

First Image of a Planet!

Today in class I said that astronomers "saw" planets in other solar systems by detecting the oscillations in the brightess of their. As of today, however, it turns out that I was wrong: see this NY Times article for details on the breaking news!

Posted at 11:00PM Nov 13, 2008 by DANIELS, KAREN in MediaHunt5  |  Comments[0]

Birth of the Solar System

This video describes how the solar system may have been created. It suggests that our solar system may have been created by the explosion of a star. It also discusses the big bang theory which states that the universe may have been created by a large explosion.

Posted at 07:01PM Nov 13, 2008 by Brooke bernard in MediaHunt5  |  Comments[0]

Figuring out how the universe works

video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaqlYzjGWTQ

This video is about the Hadron Collider, and how it was built to understand how the universe was created, going back to the Big Bang Theory.  The collider was built to see what happens when two atoms collide.  Scientists believe the results may lead to a better understanding of how the universe started.  However, there is some speculation that the collider could create a black hole that would engulf the earth.

Posted at 02:55AM Nov 13, 2008 by Jacob Brennan in MediaHunt5  |  Comments[0]

Hypothesis behind orbital variance

VIDEO

This video is a representation of the "Nice model", created by several international scientists to model the variation in the orbitals of the outer planets due to trillions of gravitational encounters with small objects in space.  The video shows an interesting phenomena after 878 million years when orbital resonance between Saturn and Jupiter result in catastrophic separation of the orbitals.  This hypothesis conflicts with the "Celestial Disharmonies" article in that it says that the separation between orbitals tends to reach a maximum separation and then becomes closer again (not a catastrophic result).  Also, while the article does not present a clear theory behind the chaotically changing orbitals, it does present the fact that most particulates in space would not influence the system as a whole.  

Posted at 12:47AM Nov 13, 2008 by Mary Burroughs in MediaHunt5  |  Comments[0]

Millenium Bridge

One of the readings on the Millenium bridge in London. A video of it swaying from side to side as people walk across can be seen  Here .  The supposed reason for this is that the motion of the bridge caused the people to walk in step and the shifting of weight pushed it side to side. You can see that the people on the bridge seem to have lateral movement.

Posted at 08:44PM Nov 12, 2008 by Timothy Michael Dannenhoffer in MediaHunt5  |  Comments[0]