More Infrared Dorkery!

I couldn't resist the siren call of the infrared camera... okay, actually, my former advisor asked me to pick up some examples of certain phenomena on the infrared for a class he's teaching. Doing it on a cold night is ideal, because there is a greater temperature difference, thus creating more contrast in the IR shots. Also, IR photos during the day show hot surfaces that are heated by the sun, as opposed to heat leaking out of builings. So this is what I spent my Saturday night doing--wandering around in the cold looking at Harvard's buildings, and managing not to get arrested ("... yes, officer, it's an infrared camera, which... uh, no sir, I'm not carrying any weapons.... uh...") And yes, remarkably, I'm still single [smirk]. There were a few shots interesting enough to share.

Do you remember the screwed-up Harvard building (Fogg Museum) that I mentioned in September? Well, I wandered by there on this walk. Remember that it was failing because of air leakage, and condensation inside the walls. This is the optical shot:


And the infrared:


Huh... that would appear to be an air leak, probably behind the cladding, coming from the top corner of the window.

Here's the Maxwell-Dworkin building--funded by Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, and named after their respective mothers.

And guess what--windows (specifically, curtain walls) leak heat like crazy! Who knew?! (admittedly, they probably blast heat at the glass, to prevent condensation).


I randomly ran into Rugburn and Lindsey in Harvard Square--they found the IR camera to be a neat toy as well--here's a portrait of Rugs.


And a subway grate--yep, there's a reason why the homeless sleep on them.


I then stopped by Herrel's ice cream, and used a $5000 precision instrument to demonstrate--why yes--ice cream is actually cold.



Then I took the bus home, and couldn't resist taking a few shots around the house. I had the lights off, and wandered into the living room to get a shot of the radiator, when... whaaa?


Turned on the light... oh, hey there, Clyde-o.


Yeah, a fun Saturday for me.