The physics that destroys your bicycle. And the one that saves it.
Ten episodes. One lab. The same laws of the universe.
Scientific Noir is a series of 10 episodes applying real physics — thermodynamics, materials mechanics, tribology, signal analysis — to the daily work of a bicycle workshop in Trujillo, La Libertad, Peru.
Each episode starts from a precise physical concept, with its formula in navigable MathML, and connects it to specific phenomena that mechanics and cyclists face: bearing wear, chain fatigue, corrosion from the coastal climate, efficiency loss in transmission.
This is not superficial science communication. It is the physics happening inside your bicycle while you ride through La Libertad, written by the person who repairs it every day.
Every creaking bearing confirms the second law. Entropy never negotiates.
Load distributed over area decides whether metal resists or yields.
Repetition accumulates invisible damage. The Wöhler curve does not lie.
ΔG < 0: iron oxidation is spontaneous. Coastal climate amplifies every reaction.
The Stribeck curve determines how much power your transmission loses each kilometer.
Exponential degradation does not wait for you to notice it. Trujillo's environment lambda is severe.
Every noise is a signal waiting to be read. Diagnosis is information extraction.
Maintenance introduces negentropy. The workshop is the only source of negative Φ_S.
When all parts work in phase, the system recovers its original coherence.
Nothing truly ends. The cycle returns. The Miner counter advances with every pedal stroke.
Outside the 10-episode series: two reads on what welding does to each frame material and what to ask before repairing it.
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