The Edge's Fringe Number: e

atu2 blog pointed me toward this interesting article about The Edge's "sound" and a transcendental number: e

Derek White ends his article "U2's Natural Logarhythm: Exponential Decay in the Delay of The Edge's Guitar":

"And the question still remains as to "why e?" In the case of the plants, the golden ratio allows them to optimally space leaves on an axis for maximum sun exposure. There is a physical reason. But why the delay ratio of e sounds most appealing, still remains to be determined. I am not sure I want to know."

About "e", from Wikipedia:

The number e is irrational; it is not a ratio of integers. Furthermore, it is transcendental; it is not a root of any non-zero polynomial with rational coefficients. The numerical value of e truncated to 40 decimal places is:

2.7182818284590452353602874713526624977572...

What does all this mean, Walter? Do you know that Peter and Fauxlivia have U2 concert tickets? Hmmmmm....

Shots from (near)Space for $150

Gizmodo pointed me to these MIT students who launched a camera to near space with a balloon for $150. Almost 18 miles high! They used a Canon point & shoot running CHDK software to take the photos. This is the same software that allows me to use my Canon SD1000s for 3D pictures. Cool!
Check these guys out. I only wish the camera had pointed down more. FF to about the 2:40 mark to see the balloon pop and descend. That's less boring.