On Saturday, March 8, 2014 8:40:19 PM UTC-8, Steve Leonard wrote:
On Saturday, March 8, 2014 10:04:13 PM UTC-6, Tony wrote:

Never said it was the flattest, just statistically flatter than a pancake: http://www.improbable.com/airchives/...i3/kansas.html Some do opine that a marble placed on I-70 at the Colorado border would roll to Kansas City. On that note, during the annual Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday for some of you, or International Pancake Day if you follow IHOP's marketing machine) pancake race between Liberal, KS and Olney, England, Olney won again this year for the third year in a row.


Steve and Tony,

My different sense of curiosity had led me to that article when first published - recall they used only one pancake and their first analysis revealed:

"The topographic transects of both Kansas and a pancake at millimeter scale are both quite flat, but this first analysis showed that Kansas is clearly flatter (see Figure 4)." - See more at: http://www.improbable.com/airchives/....bNp5jOSo.dpuf

And then, they explain:
"Measuring the flatness of Kansas presented us with a greater challenge than measuring the flatness of the pancake. The state is so flat that the off-the-shelf software produced a flatness value for it of 1. This value was, as they say, too good to be true, so we did a more complex analysis, and after many hours of programming work, we were able to estimate that Kansas's flatness is approximately 0.9997. That degree of flatness might be described, mathematically, as "damn flat." - See more at: http://www.improbable.com/airchives/....bNp5jOSo.dpuf

"Too good to be true" is code for we didn't find what we wanted to find.

Whatever "more complex analysis" methods used are not elucidated in the article. Try getting that past a third grade science teacher or Bill Nye, the Science Guy.

That's why it's called "Annals of Improbable Research" with "Improbable research" defined as "research that makes people laugh and then think."

"The highest point in Florida is Britton Hill, Lakewood Park in Walton County and is only 345 feet above sea level."
http://www.netstate.com/states/geogr..._geography.htm

My wife returned from a trip to Florida with 2 photos, standing next to road markers: "Rock Reef Pass Elevation 3 Feet" and a breathtaking "Dwarf Cypress Forest 4 Ft." She said she was surprised to make those "summits" without our climbing gear.

While pancake technology may have evolved, I am disappointed in our Kansas Ladies recent performances in the pancake race. Perhaps a more aerodynamically sculptured skillet and a zigzag turbulator syrup design would help. Go for it, could lead to an article in Annals of Improbable Research, or Runner's World, or some free pancakes!

Will be in Lawrence first weekend in October and will keep the soaring suggestions given to Allen in mind.

Thanks for the KSU nickname update.

BTW, did you recognize Milford Reservoir in the SSA Reno Ostiv presentation?