How To See A Mirage

What, you've never seen a mirage before? Fear not, they are actually not as incredibly rare as some may think. In fact, you might see one today if you know where to look!

Things You Will Need

• A hot, sunny day
• Protection from the sun
• A loooong stretch of road, preferably over a hill*
• A camera, if you're up to it

*Safety note - If you are on foot or on a bike, please please do not attempt to observe a mirage in traffic. You can get seriously hurt. It's best to choose an unused road, or better still, observe from inside a moving car while someone else is driving.

Steps

• 1. Go to the very end of your chosen area and stand facing it.
• 2. Make sure your observation spot is safe, i.e. devoid of traffic and other hazards.
• 3. Crouch down slowly, keeping your eyes on the stretch of road in front of you. At some point you will start to see wisps of grey stretching out horizontally. If there's a hill, just climb the hill from the other side, watching out for said phenomenon.
• 4. Adjust your height until the wispy lines develop into clear "reflections". They will resemble patches of water on the road.
• 5. Admire your mirage! (And take some snapshots if you have a camera handy.)

What you see is an inferior mirage, because the mirror image is under the original one. It is caused by light being bent by a layer of hotter air near the ground, and is actually due to refraction, not reflection. See the links for more on mirages.

How did I think of this? Well I see them every single day in summer. There's a hilly stretch of road on the way to school, so they dance into view whether I ask nicely or not. Guess it's a comfort of living in the subtropics.

Further Reading:

• Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirage
• An Introduction to Mirages: http://mintaka.sdsu.edu/GF/mirages/mirintro.html

Umbrella Survey

It's been raining ever since we got back from the picnic. Not the heavy kind, more like a fine drizzle that goes on for ever and ever. It can drive one insane.

Anyway fearless people like us are unaffected by a bit of drizzle. We cycle every day to school, rain or none. So one arm has to do the job of holding up the umbrella. The question is, which one?

You'd think that would be easy. The stronger hand steers the bike while the weaker one does the easier job of brolly-holding...therefore most people should hold the umbrella in their left hands, right?

Think again.

According to a brief (and whimsical) survey conducted by me in the rain on Thursday 3rd of April during the lunch rush:

of the 94 people on bicycles holding an umbrella, 43 (45%) did so using their left hands, while 51 (55%) did so using their right hands.

That's almost neck-and-neck. Perhaps it matters so little that it's entirely up to statistics. In that case, I'd bet 50/50.

I'll put it up for further pondering.

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For your information/curiosity: I hold mine in my right hand.

And yes, I DO do such weird things on impulse.