Tuesday, September 10, 2024

Two skiers in the Egyptian Desert, 1939

 




3 comments:

  1. What's the coefficient of friction between sand and wood? Does particle size and shape matter? What material is best for the skis (steel?)? Y'know, all giggles aside, one could come up with a pretty decent physics dissertation proposal here. And the on-site real world investigation might be fun. (Well known example: Carl Djerassi studying warm water marine critters to find new steroids. Yep, he got paid to spend time in the Caribbean....)

    Ya gotta make a contribution (new knowledge) to get a Ph.D. Nobody said it had to be a USEFUL one. Though that's sorta implied, and enforced, at least in the hard sciences.

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    1. U.C Davis has an ongoing study of the water clarity of Lake Tahoe. They have a PhD who actually gets paid a couple of hundred grand a year to putt around on the lake all summer in a small yacht. Nice work if you can get it.

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  2. Most sand skiing, at least down slope, uses water skis.

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