Grains Flowing from a Hopper

This video is of grains that are held in a vertical, 2-D hopper with a hole at the bottom.  As the grains attempt to flow out there are a number of mild jams that occur due to the size and the nature of the grains.  It is also an added bonus that the is polarized light.  Because of the polarized aspect, you can see a flash of light whenever the grains are pushed together.  This example if very similar to the one that was presented in the lab.

Posted at 09:31PM Dec 04, 2008 by thomas stuart mccawley in MediaHunt6  |  Comments[0]

Ice jam

Ice Video

This video illustrates a natural source of jamming:  ice flow on Mimico Creek.  Due to different breaking rates, the ice is seen to build up in a stationary jam, and then return to flowing downstream.  Like we discussed in class, it it likely that bottlenecks (in the form of a narrowing stream, fallen logs, unmelted ice, and other obstacles) played a role in this behavior.  While ice does not display the same sorts of inhibitions that people do (slowing down to avoid collision, etc), varying currents in the stream probably play a role in seemingly "random" build ups.  

Posted at 05:36PM Dec 02, 2008 by Mary Burroughs in MediaHunt6  |  Comments[1]

Simulator of Granular Flow

Video Link

This video simulates the irregularity of granular flow through a "hopper". As the materials flow out, they form a canonical structure which also is formed because of the jamming properties of the material. I think this is a good illustration before Thursday's class, as Dr. Daniels experiments a lot with these kinds of materials (I think).

Posted at 04:11PM Dec 02, 2008 by Adam Keith in MediaHunt6  |  Comments[0]

Traffic!

While this is bascially just a video of an ordinary traffic jam, it was more interesting to me than that.  As you watch, you can get a clear view of how one or two drivers can cause a huge change in the flow of traffic; it is very similar to the Lorenz model, where just a few decimal places made a significant difference in the result.  I also thought that it was neat how the car traffic continued to jam up, while people traffic continued to nonchalantly meander through the cars - in this instance, it was obvious that the size of the particle had an effect on its mobility thru jams.

Posted at 04:02PM Dec 02, 2008 by Molly Wright in MediaHunt6  |  Comments[0]

Black Friday Shoppers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZJVZ2p223o&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeSgBL7gpAk&feature=related (Only watch the first 30 seconds) (Also, I have no idea how to link on a Mac, my bad) <-- Delete afterwards? :D thx I'm not sure how many of you have ever gotten up up three o'clock in the morning to get in line at Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, Circuit City or any other main participate of the phenomena that is the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday. A side note, my father and I do this as a tradition. Most of the time, I don't go to bed the night before, but that's not relevant. What is relevant is that my father and I have another tradition. Making sure people don't cut the line. Because there is nothing more annoying that waiting outside for two hours in the cold to get a HD TV, than to have people pull up ten minutes before the doors open and take advantage of the mayhem that ensues when the doors finally open. Regardless, let's analyze what happens before, during, and after the doors have been open. Like I mentioned before in my personal anecdote, the line starts to form depending on the type of store and what the sale is. People who go for Best Buy will get in line the morning before (missing Thanksgiving with the family which is very tacky. :| ) just to get at the front of the line. The line will continue to form until about a half an hour before the doors open. This is when people start to hang on the other side of the main road (that runs in front of the store) and wait to jump in line. At a certain point (as seen in the video around 0:11-0:20) you can see people start to come out of their cars and jump in line. Around 0:30, all mayhem breaks out and people attempt to push their way through the double doors, creating a bottleneck jam. After the congestion forms, all source of general humanity is lost and the line is disrupted creating chaos. Solution to this mess? Either a) get in line first or b) don't go.

Posted at 03:48PM Dec 02, 2008 by Karin Hurwitz in MediaHunt6  |  Comments[0]

I-880 Traffic Simulation

This video shows a computerized traffic simulation of Interstate 880, connecting San Francisco and Oakland. The video lacks sound effects or narration, but it very thoroughly models the traffic flows along I-880. Traffic simulations are shown at various projected times and from different heights/levels of magnification.

Posted at 03:04AM Dec 01, 2008 by Daniel Evan Piephoff in MediaHunt6  |  Comments[0]

Traffic Simulation

There is a good video of a traffic simulation seen here. Similar to in the video that was included in the readings you can see that the location of the jam is moving against the flow of the traffic. Included in the info was a link to an applet available here. This is a very good applet which can simulate many different traffic situations to show how and where the jamming occurs.

Posted at 02:47AM Dec 01, 2008 by Timothy Michael Dannenhoffer in MediaHunt6  |  Comments[0]

River Basin Fractals

It has long been debated about how useful fractals actually are to the math/science world; it's agreed that they are fascinating, but do they tell us anything?  We have learned throughout the class that fractals can be found everywhere in nature, and I feel that this gives them meaning.  I feel that Mandelbrot is correct in saying that fractals are more than just "pretty pictures," and that they can in fact help us understand things that we were once unable to model in any form.  In this video, the speaker describes one way that fractals are used to help us understand river basin formation, which is an important factor in the lives of many people and animals.

Posted at 10:44PM Nov 18, 2008 by Molly Wright in MediaHunt6  |  Comments[0]

Fibonacci and Fractal Markets

This video has some interesting ideas about how the fibonacci set and spirals in general relate to the fluctuations of the stock market. If the golden ratio appears in so many natural applications, why not in the stock market? One analyst observes that the bull markets and bear markets are related by the fibonacci ratio in both time and price. The essential idea is that, the stock market is a measure of a population's productive capacity, and since the golden ratio appears in many other aspects of populations, this sequence can arise in a pattern of species prosperity. A bit long, but worth it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE2Lu65XxTU

Posted at 08:32PM Nov 18, 2008 by Garik Cruise Sadovy in MediaHunt6  |  Comments[0]

Fractals and Finance?

In economics, charts based on the market prices are made using the diagram below.

Here is an example of one of the charts:

Candlestick simple patterns

There are multiple forms of candlestick chart patterns, with the simplest depicted at right. Here is a quick overview of their names:

1. White candlestick - signals uptrend movement (those occur in different lengths; the longer the body, the more significant the price increase)
2. Black candlestick - signals downtrend movement (those occur in different lengths; the longer the body, the more significant the price decrease)
3. Long lower shadow - bullish signal (the lower wick must be at least the body's size; the longer the lower wick, the more reliable the signal)
4. Long upper shadow - bearish signal (the upper wick must be at least the body's size; the longer the upper wick, the more reliable the signal)
5. Hammer - a bullish pattern during a downtrend (long lower wick and small or no body); Shaven head - a bullish pattern during a downtrend & a bearish pattern during an uptrend (no upper wick); Hanging man - bearish pattern during an uptrend (long lower wick, small or no body; wick has the multiple length of the body.
6. Inverted hammer - signals bottom reversal, however confirmation must be obtained from next trade (may be either a white or black body); Shaven bottom - signaling bottom reversal, however confirmation must be obtained from next trade (no lower wick); Shooting star - a bearish pattern during an uptrend (small body, long upper wick, small or no lower wick)
7. Spinning top white - neutral pattern, meaningful in combination with other candlestick patterns
8. Spinning top black - neutral pattern, meaningful in combination with other candlestick patterns
9. Doji - neutral pattern, meaningful in combination with other candlestick patterns
10. Long legged doji - signals a top reversal
11. Dragonfly doji - signals trend reversal (no upper wick, long lower wick)
12. Gravestone doji - signals trend reversal (no lower wick, long upper wick)
13. Marubozu white - dominant bullish trades, continued bullish trend (no upper, no lower wick)
14. Marubozu black - dominant bearish trades, continued bearish trend (no upper, no lower wick)

Chart and description from Wikipedia - Candlestick simple patterns
Also, here is a video to explain how these charts are related to the Fibonacci sequence:
Fibonacci, CandleStick Patterns, Support and Resistance

Posted at 09:09PM Nov 17, 2008 by Cathalyn Van Deusen in MediaHunt6  |  Comments[0]