Apple’s new campus not attached?
MediaYes, that was a wink to everyone’s favourite journalistic rule. The New York Times ran a story about the new Apple campus last Tuesday, with Thomas Fuller reporting:
CUPERTINO, Calif. — The circular building housing Apple’s headquarters in Silicon Valley is so big, it’s nearly a mile in circumference. So it’s hard to fathom that it is not actually attached to the ground.
This claim has since spread. Ben Gilbert wrote for Business Insider:
Apple’s $5 billion ‘spaceship’ campus isn’t attached, which helps it withstand major disasters like earthquakes.
And for no useful reason whatsoever, here’s Wikipedia on toaster ovens:
Toaster ovens are small electric ovens with a front door, wire rack and removable baking pan. To toast bread with a toaster oven, slices of bread are placed horizontally on the rack. When the toast is done, the toaster turns off, but in most cases the door must be opened manually.
Base isolation is a fantastic idea; watch this GIF by Valentin Shustov to see it in action. Note however the building is still attached to the ground! Not directly attached perhaps, though that’s only if you don’t count the dampeners as part of the structure of the building which is already a stretch.
All I can say, while we can sway while keeping our feet motionless, that doesn’t mean we can levitate. Maybe one day Dr Hook will teach us.
