Huygens' Clock Puzzle Solved

PhotoGuy writes "Okay, I haven't heard of this puzzle either until now, but it sounds like a fascinating phenomenon. According to this article:Huygens had two clocks side by side and he found that even when they began out of sync, they soon got into a rhythm where the pendulum on one moved as if it were a mirror image of the other.The article is pretty light on the explanation, noting only the conditions required (small relative mass of the pendulums [pendula?], relatively close speed of the clocks), and not really addressing the physics behind it. " There's a great site at Georgia Tech that explains the puzzle in more detail.

Comments

Everything was already discovered...

[Kopretinka]

It seems that Huygens' was the first observation of a phenomenon known now at the subatomic scale as particle coupling. The youngsters (Hawking et al) can still learn a few tricks from the guys of the past. 8-)

Re:Interesting.

[lkeagle]

Black magic... nothing more...

We really have no clue how any action at a distance works. There's plenty of hypotheses out there, but nothing with a shred of proof.

Doesn't mean they're wrong though... Who knows, the explanation with the most truth could involve tiny little quantum midgets on horseback sending messages between particles...

But what are the quantum midgets made out of?!?!?

Oh dear, the search never ends,

~Loren

from the tick-tock-tick-tick-tock dept.

[Tharsis]

That's a weird clock you have:)

Re:Periods

[ez76]

My g/f in high school used to start her period on exactly the same day as all the other girls on her soccer team - amazing

This is actually how the first period of a soccer game usually begins. Moreover, all the girls usually start at the same time. Something with pheromones ...

Re:Periods

[sql*kitten]

Harem, because a man could impregnate his entire Harem in a single day since they all became fertile on the same day.

More likely because a harem would be an environment in which many women lived together without much contact with the outside world.

I mean, some of these sheiks were reputed to have dozens of women in their harems. No way he could impregate them all on the same day , at least not with the technology that existed at the time.

Nowadays, for that sort of thing, we have Cowboy Neal...

Re:Hoax

[Sarcazmo]

gravitational attraction between objects that weigh a couple ounces? You have to be kidding.

Unreasonable analogy

[srichman]

Am I the only person who was instantly reminded of menstrual cycle synchronization?

Summary of findings

[bkocik]

"Huygens deduced that the crucial interaction for this effect came from ``imperceptible movements'' of the common frame supporting the two clocks."

[snip]

"As Huygens surmised, the platform motion is the culprit"

Summary:
Huygens, 1657: "I think the frame is wiggling."

GATech, 1995: "Yes, the frame is wiggling."

What an amazing scientific mystery that was...

=)

Re:Periods

[Gannoc]

I mean, some of these sheiks were reputed to have dozens of women in their harems. No way he could impregate them all on the same day , at least not with the technology that existed at the time.

Sounds like a great premise for a Fox reality game show.

They NURSE?!?!?!

[Anonymous Coward]

women in our local zoo here who have their periods synchronized with those of the female apes they nurse.

Somehow, I doubt that the women there actually nurse the apes. Even if human milk was actually good for apes, I'd think they would use breast pumps, wouldn't they?

Of course, if I'm wrong, I'm sure the videos would sell well on those bestiality porno web sites :o)

In other news...

[Nate Fox]

the decades old question of why Guinness bubbles 'float' down the glass has been solved. Actually took some high end fluid modelling software to figure it out :)
http://articles.thetechmag.com/articles/?0,0372,01 31010,00.html
Also a press release here: http://www.fluent.com/about/news/pr/pr5.htm