Spinner

They Might Be Giants Arrive in 'Stereo'

They Might Be Giants have been making music since 1982, a career that includes fourteen studio albums. In 2002, the band released their first children's album and has since recorded three more records for their educational series. The Brooklyn band is currently on tour supporting their latest release, 'Here Comes Science,' and singer John Linnell will be checking in with his thoughts and musings all along the way.

Why does the sun shine? What is a shooting star? Where have all the flowers gone? They Might Be Giants relentlessly crisscrosses America in our chartreuse microbus, asking the kind of probing musical questions that have earned us all those obscene, angry letters from high school science teachers. Arguments routinely break out en route to our next gig about the nature of the Van Allen radiation belts or whether a human could subsist only on Nutella. Most of us didn't do all that well in school and it is perhaps for this reason that there are never any ultimate conclusions as we careen down the interstate. One of our longer running bus arguments was about how the hell a geostationary orbit works. Nobody was really sure of the correct answer, though we each talked as if we were, which made the debate all the more intense.

Perhaps unfairly, we have been given the opportunity to present our explanation of various scientific matters on a new DVD for truth seekers of all ages called 'Here Comes Science.' Up until this point, TMBG's output has consisted almost entirely of unverifiable poetic assertions such as 'The Statue Got Me High,' 'I Can't Hide from My Mind' and 'Youth Culture Killed My Dog.' With our new release, we have been forced to fact check each claim using methods beyond our old standby "because I said so."

Somehow the ability to entertain while singing about testable information wins the day and our imperfect grasp of the subject is forgiven. Maybe we even score points with the rest of the laymen for our charming naiveté. This might explain why Ira Flatow, who hosts 'Science Friday' on National Public Radio was so friendly to us as we chatted it up with him and played our songs on his show recently. He even deigned to pose for a picture I took of him and Mr. Flansburgh with my old fashioned 3D camera, a 1955 Stereo Realist, which takes a pair of images a few inches apart. To view a stereo photograph in 3D one normally looks through a viewer that merges the two images by sending each to one of your respective eyeballs. There is, however, a way you can enjoy the effect without a viewer but with a little effort. By leaning slightly away from your computer screen and crossing your eyes until the two pictures overlap many of you will be able to see Ira with all the depth he actually possesses in person when he's behind the microphone. Don't worry if you don't get it right away. Stare at the picture and relax. Oh my god! It's like he's right there!


Next week: Fast and Bulbous

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jeremiah

1st of all GPS isn't geo-stationary, it's semi-synchronous. Each satellite orbits the Earth twice a day at about 55 degrees in respect to the equator. The peeps that control GPS only adjust the orbit of every satellite a couple times a year at most (think of bumper bowling). Position information is updated to satellites so software in the recievers know know where the satellites are & how the're drifting in their "lane." There's also some sensors, software, & reaction wheels that usually keep them facing the earth.

Geostationary satellites are MUCH higher than GPS. Because of their height they are synchronous (make 1 orbit a day) and at zero degrees in respect to the equator. For this reason they match the rotation speed of the Earth and seem to "hang" in one position in the sky over the equator. Like GPS there is a bit of "bumper-bowling" going on. Real people typically have to do planning for when & how to bump the orbit to keep it centered around where it's supposed to be.



December 21 2009 at 8:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
tdk

Using the cross-eye method suggested, you should actually see three of the image, with the center one looking three-dimensional. If you're careful, you can hold your hands up in front of the two side images to block them and the middle will remain. You can also employ the divergent-eye method, in which your relax your eyes instead of crossing them, causing the images to merge in the opposite direction. This would probably reverse the effect, placing John in the foreground and Ira in the background. Most of those "magic-eye" (or "stereogram") images employ the latter method for correct viewing, which I have never been able to achieve.

November 21 2009 at 8:13 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to tdk's comment
cmiller

Mike! Hey, man.

I tried the relaxation method, and Flans sinks back into the wall behind him - scary!

November 22 2009 at 7:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Heiditron

I followed your instructions, and boom, there he was in my room. He yelled "get outta my house" at me and then stole five bucks from my purse. Those old cameras are AMAZING.

November 19 2009 at 10:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Emmalee

I don't think my living room is long enough for me to keep backing up. I'll try with my laptop in the hall upstairs. Eventually, I will be so far away that I'll need a telescope. Then I'll see the 3D Flansie and Ira. P.S. Geostationary isn't completely Geostationary. GPS's for your car and using Geostationary satellites. The peeps who control the satellites have to keep calibrating the position every 10-20 seconds. That's why your chartreuse microbus will end up in front of a pole instead of turning left down Elm street.

November 19 2009 at 5:41 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to Emmalee's comment
cmiller

Next week: Fast and Bulbous

As in Capn Beefheart?

November 19 2009 at 12:28 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply