Links for 2010-12-03

"A couple of weeks ago, an editor asked me to name my favorite science book from 2010 for a year-end round-up her magazine was putting together. My incredulous response: "You mean you want me to pick just one?" Because let's face it, 2010 has been a banner year for popular science books. [...]
The steady stream of science books hasn't stopped, either, so I thought I'd highlight just a few of the new offerings (mostly math and physics related) that came out this fall -- just in case you're looking for the perfect gift for the science enthusiast in the family. "

"Sorry, but I just couldn't pass this one up. Here is a great question from The Last Word.

How high would you have to drop a frozen turkey so that it is cooked when it lands?

First, some assumptions.

The turkey is made of water and starts off as ice at 0 degrees C.
The turkey is a sphere with a radius of 15 cm. (or generically, I will call it r)
When the turkey falls through the atmosphere, half of the energy dissipated goes into the turkey and half goes into the atmosphere.
I am going to ignore the increase in thermal energy when the turkey hits the ground. Just because.
A turkey is ready if it is at 180 F (82 C)"

"The 250 million cars and trucks on America's roads get a bad rap for being environmentally unfriendly. Climate scientists say that automobiles add an array of greenhouse gases and harmful particulates into the Earth's atmosphere, yet little research has been done to estimate the impact parking spaces -- where those automobiles spend 95 percent of their time -- have on our planet.

"I think it's a surprisingly unknown quantity," said Donald Shoup, a UCLA urban planning professor and author of the book "The High Cost of Free Parking." "[Parking] is the single biggest land use in any city. It's kind of like dark matter in the universe, we know it's there, but we don't have any idea how much there is.""

Because new parents aren't paranoid enough, and need something else to fret about...

"Those students who, from the front of the classroom, look all industrious on their laptops? Were playing games on Facebook, checking their friends' online photo albums, posting messages on what looked to be gaming discussion boards, checking TV listings (and possibly setting their DVRs remotely), buying shoes, scoping out concert tickets, watching a kung fu movie (with the sound muted), and checking in on online discussions for other classes. The one student who was using her laptop during lecture to complete peer reviews of classmates' papers (for another class) seemed like the model of diligence."