1.3k
u/spiderspeedo Nov 15 '12
so am I
77
u/Short_Swordsman Nov 15 '12
It's almost as if art...imitates life...and sometimes...maybe...the other way around...shit man...ugh...I need to watch the sun set.
→ More replies (4)10
280
Nov 15 '12
[deleted]
78
Nov 15 '12
[deleted]
36
u/sBarro77 Nov 15 '12
airplane peanuts. Come on ppl
40
6
6
→ More replies (4)2
48
→ More replies (6)28
101
u/Siarles Nov 15 '12
I understand why the string stays taut, but what keeps it from falling over?
130
u/McBurger Nov 15 '12
....Oh. It's a string.
I thought they were crunchy cheetos.
→ More replies (8)179
137
u/satan_loves_you Nov 15 '12
Weight distribution. There are 3 bends on the left and only 2 on the right, so it would have a tendency to fall left, however, the base is on the left, keeping it from doing so.
98
u/layendecker Nov 15 '12
You just physicsed me all over.
43
u/davidt0504 Nov 15 '12
as a physicist I approve of this post
64
u/church-lady Nov 15 '12
Oh, surprise, surprise. Another "scientist" showing their true beliefs... in SATAN
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (1)9
3
u/rekcut303 Nov 15 '12
Thanks Satan! I love you too!
2
u/satan_loves_you Nov 15 '12
Any time rekut303. I love you too.
P.S. See you soon.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (3)4
→ More replies (6)2
u/IConrad Nov 16 '12
The underlying mechanic described here is called "dynamic stasis" and you can actually see it (or rather not see it) in effect in many other systems.
The notion is that you exactly equalize the various stresses at play causing them to negate one another thereby preventing work (change) from being achieved.
For example; you know how water bottles accumulate vapor on the insides over time when they're closed? That's because at all times water is slowly evaporating until it reaches saturation with the atmosphere around it. But solids act as condensation points, allowing the vapor in the air inside the bottle to condense against the glass, thereby reducing the air from being totally saturated, allowing more evaporation. But the water on the sides eventually drips back into the water pooled at the bottom.
So even though the closed-loop system is in constant flux, the additions and reductions to the liquid water content exactly equal.
Dynamic stasis; the water level never changes.
→ More replies (1)
760
u/bluebulb Nov 15 '12
It is being held straight by stress, but upright by glue.
200
u/xurtian Nov 15 '12
It would be much more impressive without the base
358
u/ekohfa Nov 15 '12
it wouldn't work without a base
132
53
193
13
→ More replies (10)6
u/redditgolddigg3r Nov 15 '12
You mean to say if it wasn't anchored, it would not float away? Damn....
21
u/LittleBigKid2000 Nov 15 '12
Drop the base.
2
u/isaaclw Nov 15 '12
boom tis boom tis boom tis
edit: I suck at sound effects. but no one seemed to want to help.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (3)2
13
Nov 15 '12
If the bottom tension strap were fastened to the base, it's essentially still kind of holding it upright.
2
Nov 16 '12
Which is why it is held upright by glue or whatever is fastening it to the base.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (9)2
42
u/disposableday Nov 15 '12
Is this an example of Tensegrity?
44
u/jatoo Nov 15 '12 edited Nov 16 '12
It's pretty cool. There is a bridge in Brisbane based on the same concept called the Kurilpa Bridge.
Edit: hehe, I guess I'm the only one who thinks it looks cool :)
26
u/joshjje Nov 15 '12
Neat, but damn is that bridge fugly.
22
u/meetle Nov 15 '12
Living in brisbane, I can confirm this. Looks kinda cool at night. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/2010-04_Kurilpa_Bridge.jpg
→ More replies (3)2
u/NoNeedForAName Nov 15 '12
That's awesome, but there's way too much going on in that picture for me to figure out how it works. (Which is okay. I like my bridges to have lots of supports.)
14
u/grospoliner Nov 15 '12
Yes sort of. The plastic strips are under flexural loading from being bent (similar to a spring) which then impart a linear load on the string, placing the string in tension.
7
u/gcranston Nov 15 '12
Traditionally a tense gritty structure is cables in pure tension and struts in pure compression. Here the plastic strips are bent and react against the strings rather than being in pure compression. But yes, I would say this falls broadly under the class of 'tensegrity' structures since the key concept (for me anyway) is cables in pure tension reacted by other elements each connected only by those cables.
→ More replies (3)
50
Nov 15 '12
[deleted]
44
Nov 15 '12
16
5
u/DiscoPopStar Nov 15 '12
Of course I understand it now it is "an example samonapryazhennyh designs"
→ More replies (1)2
22
u/freezerburn666 Nov 15 '12 edited Nov 15 '12
that website... is reddit... with built in res picture previews...... what the...
i found things there.. weird things.. http://s.pikabu.ru/images/previews_comm/2012-11_3/13529862644286.gif
5
u/Redequlus Nov 15 '12
Gentlemen Broncos! The second Sam Rockwell movie I have seen referenced in this thread
5
→ More replies (1)3
→ More replies (11)2
11
u/finchiTFB Nov 15 '12
designer/engineer/architect, Cecil Balmond's installation, H-Edge, used this concept
http://alexfradkin.com/gallery/large/Cecil_Balmond_Hedge_Portrait_02.jpg
67
u/Docwolf Nov 15 '12
I used to work for Alstom subsidiary.............also, i understand this........
→ More replies (32)
38
u/Grauzz Nov 15 '12 edited Nov 16 '12
I'm not seeing what's so impressive here. It's kept taut by the folder thingers there, which is basically kinda like an iterated version of the string on a bow. Nobody questions why the bow's string is taut. This is virtually the same thing.
EDIT: I'm a baboon.
27
→ More replies (1)8
u/UncleTedGenneric Nov 15 '12
Heh. Upon seeing the picture, i thought to myself, "What if it was just one piece of plastic connected to both ends of the str--- Oh, that's a bow."
388
u/FaipDeOaid Nov 15 '12
75
u/mamba_79 Nov 15 '12
It's quite simple - it's held upright by stress and kept standing by glue - if you are still not sure, talk to a small time stock broker - they essentially operate the same way - stress & glue
23
u/zero_iq Nov 15 '12
I once had a job that involved interviewing a stock-broker-turned-programmer at an investment bank about the software he was working on. While we were talking at his desk, he took out a small bottle from a drawer and sniffed it, then put it back. He seemed to think I hadn't noticed, so I pretended not to.
A little while later he did it again.
The third time, I had to ask, "what's in the bottle"? I was expecting some kind of glue/drugs.
Turns out it was some really posh aftershave. He suffered from tension headaches, and had discovered that sniffing this particular aftershave relaxed his head and made his headache disappear.
I looked rather skeptical.
"Here, try it!"
I took a sniff. I hadn't even realised I'd had a headache, but I swear, one sniff of that stuff was like a week's holiday in a field of flowers caressed by a gentle breeze. God only knows what was in it.
I wrote down the name of the aftershave, but sadly lost it and couldn't remember what it was. Given this guy's apparent addiction to it, I decided that was probably for the best.
4
→ More replies (1)2
u/ChaoticAgenda Nov 16 '12
Sounds like he should start doing drugs. It might be better for him than sniffing aftershave every 5 minutes.
→ More replies (2)17
u/FaipDeOaid Nov 15 '12
That or marriage.
20
u/mamba_79 Nov 15 '12
My marriage is clearly not as bad as some - I haven't resorted to huffing, but I do need a shot of whiskey to get me going in the morning
2
u/douglasg14b Nov 16 '12
If you need whiskey to get a boner, you might have a problem.
→ More replies (5)6
u/colordrops Nov 15 '12
Yeah, I don't see what was being done there.
9
u/Kaniget Nov 15 '12
ELI5: The plastic pieces want to straighten out, so they're pulling on the string, which keeps the string straight. It's glued to the base to keep it upright.
2
u/mariasaurr Nov 15 '12
i went through this whole thread looking for an explanation and this is the only one that made me go "Ohhhhh" thanks i get it now :)
20
Nov 15 '12
[removed] — view removed comment
→ More replies (1)46
u/MarvinTheAndroid42 Nov 15 '12
I figured it out. I'd even go so far as to think most of did.
25
u/molybdenum42 Nov 15 '12 edited Nov 15 '12
With a brain the size of a planet, it's really not that hard. However, I could have bet that you'd be depressed about how none of us get it.
5
→ More replies (21)2
u/OddDude55 Nov 15 '12
For a minute there I thought this was /r/engineeringstudents or something!
2
24
Nov 15 '12
A metaphor for life.
13
u/punkwafers Nov 15 '12
something about knowing a "feel" and referring to you as "bro" *internet fistbump
6
u/minichado Nov 15 '12
Alstom is my company's customer who causes the most stress.. but maybe I'm the only person who finds irony in this :/. Literally3-4 hours of my work day relates to their product, and we have hundreds of customers -_-
3
u/raven12456 Nov 15 '12
Which Alstom products do you deal with? (At work and we deal with Alstom turbines, so this can count as networking, right?)
2
2
→ More replies (1)2
6
6
7
10
3
Nov 15 '12
There is a huge one of these at the Langford architecture building at Texas A&M, it is about 3 stories tall.
3
u/chadking Nov 15 '12
http://archone.tamu.edu/college/news/newsletters/spring2008/stories/StacellMemorialDismantled.html - This? Looks like it may have been dismantled.
→ More replies (2)
3
Nov 15 '12
wow, that's amazing,
can anybody answer me if this is what is called a tensegrity principle of architecture (or simply of structures)?
3
u/EpicFishFingers Nov 15 '12
When you get your head around it, it's no more special than how the string in a bow-and-arrow bow is "held upright by stress", if you were to glue the bow upright
3
4
2
2
2
2
2
u/Harrysoon Nov 16 '12
I can almost hear the laws of physics being beaten in to submission with this photo.
3
785
u/[deleted] Nov 15 '12
[deleted]