science and other stuff

Last night we had a big thunderstorm right above us, I got a 3 minute video that I tried to upload but the upload failed, I got it when it was moving away and I was able to point a camera at it without worrying about rain. The video is very dark, but when the flashes of lightning hit, the whole sky was lit up, it was amazing, and I am not exaggerating, nor am I when I say it was purple, so fucking cool. This is the kind of science I like, not light bulbs powered by lemons or whatever high school science, more like sudden and violent electrostatic discharges that illuminate the sky and roar and make the ground shudder. 100 million volts of energy, neutralising in a fraction of a second. I like lightning, it's big, it's loud, it's flashy, literally, it's my kind of science, the kind of science that inspires, that awes, that terrifies.

Introducing the UNSC ARC 920; most know it as the Railgun. Halo is science fiction, a shooter set in the 26th century. But the Railgun is not science fiction, and that is cool. A Railgun works by running an electromagnetic current along a rail to push a projectile at crazy speed, similar to the expansion of gas pushing projectiles in powder weapons, but with magnets. You're likely to find one in science fiction, but this technology exists, if only in the experimental stage. To some, this is a bad thing, but I am fascinated by military technology, I just love seeing and learning about this stuff; laddish, I know, but I like guns and tanks and shit, and I am intrigued by how it works, the inner mechanisms of machines of war. this post makes me sound a lot more psychopathic than I am, an interest in weapons technology doesn't not equate to an interest in using said technology, similar to history enthusiasts with an interest in the Nazis, an interest in the history of the Nazis doesn't me you a Nazi. sorry that this post got a bit charged, pun intended. but it's 10 to 4 in the morning and I'm bored, so random blog post it is, and I wanted to put up a more sciency post anyway.

on a random note, it might be a bit late, but happy birthday America. I'm not American, so I don't really care, but still, happy birthday.