Monday Links from the Bench vol. DCXXXV

[WTFH]

I wasn't envisaging the parachutist would be wearing it on their back, like that James Bond jet pack, but having it some way above their head, maybe ten or twenty feet above them, near the top of a strong chain or cord and held there during the fall by a small drogue shute above the pack.

Reading how some of the testing was done, I'm not convinced that it would be possible to have a drone 20ft above in certain circumstances

[OwlHoot]

I suspect a jet pack parachute might have slightly skewed the results of the BMJ study, as the weight may have caused injury. The study's finding was clear that a parachute does not prevent death or injury when jumping from a plane.

I wasn't envisaging the parachutist would be wearing it on their back, like that James Bond jet pack, but having it some way above their head, maybe ten or twenty feet above them, near the top of a strong chain or cord and held there during the fall by a small drogue shute above the pack.

[WTFH]

I wonder if anyone has tried to develop a reliable "jet pack parachute", i.e. a small umbrella-sized drogue shute holding aloft just below it on a chain or thick nylon cord a miniature jet pack that would fire for few seconds at the last moment before impact to slow down the person or object enough to avoid injury or damage, if that makes sense.

Obviously the jet pack would have to fire slightly outward, to avoid frying the person or object below, and it would need a pretty reliable indication of approaching ground or water, and maybe distinguish trees or pylons and suchlike that were not a true surface! But then again, dense tree cover might be a problem, because you would want to slow down, rather than crash through a load of branches at almost 200 MPH!

I suspect a jet pack parachute might have slightly skewed the results of the BMJ study, as the weight may have caused injury. The study's finding was clear that a parachute does not prevent death or injury when jumping from a plane.

[OwlHoot]

We jumped from planes without parachutes (and lived to tell the tale) - HT to WTFH for this important research into Randomised Controlled Trials from the BMJ: ”’Would you be willing to jump out of this plane without a parachute?’ For the last year we’ve posed this question, mid-flight, to dozens of unsuspecting travellers seated on commercial aeroplanes… Our attempts to recruit in-flight passengers to our ambitious trial were first met with quizzical looks and incredulity.” The full paper: Parachute use to prevent death and major trauma when jumping from aircraft: randomized controlled trial

I wonder if anyone has tried to develop a reliable "jet pack parachute", i.e. a small umbrella-sized drogue shute holding aloft just below it on a chain or thick nylon cord a miniature jet pack that would fire for few seconds at the last moment before impact to slow down the person or object enough to avoid injury or damage, if that makes sense.

Obviously the jet pack would have to fire slightly outward, to avoid frying the person or object below, and it would need a pretty reliable indication of approaching ground or water, and maybe distinguish trees or pylons and suchlike that were not a true surface! But then again, dense tree cover might be a problem, because you would want to slow down, rather than crash through a load of branches at almost 200 MPH!

[*]Altruism in birds? Magpies have outwitted scientists by helping each other remove tracking devices - The birds are on to us, and they aren’t happy: ”When we attached tiny, backpack-like tracking devices to five Australian magpies for a pilot study, we didn’t expect to discover an entirely new social behaviour rarely seen in birds… As our new research paper explains, the magpies began showing evidence of cooperative ‘rescue’ behaviour to help each other remove the tracker.”

2022-02-24 Incredible moment magpie is seen barking and whimpering like a DOG to get homeowner's attention

although it's not clear why the magpie wanted the homeowner's attention, unless they regularly feed it

[NickFitz]

Bit late today as I had to drop the Corolla off for its MOT, but at least that meant I could pop into Greggs on the walk back

• Secrets of the Little Blue Box - From Esquire in 1971, a look at early phone phreakers: ”You can call next door by way of White Plains, then over to Liverpool by cable, and then back here by satellite. You can call yourself from one pay phone all the way around the world to a pay phone next to you. And you get your dime back too.”
• Defending the City: An Overview of Defensive Tactics from the Modern History of Urban Warfare - From earlier this month, an unexpectedly timely article from the Modern War Institute: ”History provides some innovative ideas that will allow a force to improve the quality of its urban defense. The following tactics were used during real-world urban battles and proved to be effective in support of an overall urban area defense plan. They include both conventional and unconventional measures that will assist in improving both hasty and deliberate urban defenses.”
• We jumped from planes without parachutes (and lived to tell the tale) - HT to WTFH for this important research into Randomised Controlled Trials from the BMJ: ”’Would you be willing to jump out of this plane without a parachute?’ For the last year we’ve posed this question, mid-flight, to dozens of unsuspecting travellers seated on commercial aeroplanes… Our attempts to recruit in-flight passengers to our ambitious trial were first met with quizzical looks and incredulity.” The full paper: Parachute use to prevent death and major trauma when jumping from aircraft: randomized controlled trial.
• UK-made bendable 6502 MCU has 16,000 thin-film transistors - And HT to DoctorStrangelove for this one: ”The fastest bendable 8bit thin-film microcontroller was describe at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference this week… Called Flex6502, is has 16,000 0.8µm gate-length IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide) transistors over a 4.5 x 5.5mm active area.” No word on whether Elite has been ported to it yet, though it only runs at 71.4kHz so don’t expect high frame rates
• Interactive Map of Election Violence Events in England and Wales, 1832–1914 - ”The map (access link above) displays English and Welsh election violence that occurred during the 20 General Elections between 1832 and 1914. It contains nearly 3,000 events, ranging from outright riots, involving multiple deaths, to minor incidents, such as the breaking of windows.” Beware fake news, though: one incident very close to me in 1880 states ”A Conservative magistrate, and other Conservative voters, were assaulted by 'winder boys' who threw soil at them. Police were told that a riot was raging, but when they appeared they found the streets calm.”
• The Russian invasion of Ukraine will have myriad impacts on spaceflight - You’ve probably already heard about Russia saying it might drop the ISS on our heads; Eric Berger goes into more depth about the implications of the current situation for space exploration: ”While it is very early in this crisis, this article will attempt to draw the broad outlines of how this conflict may impact spaceflight. As the situation is dynamic and the political landscape is tumultuous, please note that rapid changes are possible.”
• Influenza lineage extinction during the COVID-19 pandemic? - Just for a change, some possible good news: ”The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has seen a notable global reduction in influenza cases of both influenza A and B viruses. In particular, the B/Yamagata lineage has not been isolated from April 2020 to August 2021, suggesting that this influenza lineage may have become extinct, which may provide opportunities for improving availability and effectiveness of influenza vaccines.”
• Euler’s 243-Year-Old ‘Impossible’ Puzzle Gets a Quantum Solution - More strange stuff from the mathematical physicists: ”A surprising new solution to Leonhard Euler’s famous '36 officers puzzle' offers a novel way of encoding quantum information.”
• Altruism in birds? Magpies have outwitted scientists by helping each other remove tracking devices - The birds are on to us, and they aren’t happy: ”When we attached tiny, backpack-like tracking devices to five Australian magpies for a pilot study, we didn’t expect to discover an entirely new social behaviour rarely seen in birds… As our new research paper explains, the magpies began showing evidence of cooperative ‘rescue’ behaviour to help each other remove the tracker.”
• Odd Books - ”Here you may read all about some very strange books including those pictured and many more.” Sounds good
  
  

Happy invoicing!