| science
and technology |
japan rocks and rolls to earthquakes and typhoons
An easily undestandable report from Japan.
“this saturday niigata prefecture [...] were often not much weaker
than the original three quakes? were still continuing this morning.
the main three shocks were felt in far off tokyo and measured around
6.9 on the richter scale (kobe was about 7.2). however, almost nobody
in japan has even heard of richter. they use their own home grown system
called "shindo", which in many ways is far more useful to
the average bod.”
The report includes explanations, a map, and links.
the web address for the article above
is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science0410.php#japan_quake |
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kryptonite
- well, positronium actually
“The real excitement, though, is this: If electrons or protons
collide with their antimatter counterparts, they annihilate each other.
In so doing, they unleash more energy than any other known energy source,
even thermonuclear bombs.
“The energy from colliding positrons and antielectrons "is
10 billion times [...] that of high explosive," Edwards explained
in his March speech. Moreover, 1 gram of antimatter, about 1/25th of
an ounce, would equal "23 space shuttle fuel tanks of energy."
Thus "positron energy conversion," as he called it, would
be a "revolutionary energy source" of interest to those who
wage war." ”
—
“A new generation of military explosives is worth developing,
and antimatter might fill the bill, Lynn told The Chronicle: "If
we spend another $10 billion (using ordinary chemical techniques), we're
going to get better high explosives, but the gains are incremental because
we're getting near the theoretical limits of chemical energy."
“Besides, Lynn is enthusiastic about antimatter because he believes
it could propel futuristic space rockets.”
There is much more detail in this copiously
illustrated lecture. [PDF document.]
the web address for the article above
is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science0410.php#kryptonite |
| robot
report [pdf]
- “Is recovery around the corner? Robot orders in first half
of 2003 were up by 26% to the highest level ever recorded
- Worldwide growth in the period 2003-2006 forecast at an average annual
rate of 7.4%
- Household robots are starting to take off
- UNECE issues its 2003 World Robotics survey”
—
“And not hire people? In Germany, for instance, the prices of
robots relative to labour costs have fallen from 100 in 1990 to 34 in
2002 and to 17 when taking into account the radically improved performance
of robots.
In North America, the relative price dropped to 24 and to about 12 if
quality improvements are taken into consideration. "Falling or
stable
robot prices, increasing labour costs and continuously improved technology
are major driving forces which speak for continued massive robot investment
in industry", concludes Jan Karlsson.
Even in developing countries like Brazil, Mexico and China, robot investments
are starting to take off at an impressive rate.”
Much information, with tables and charts.
the web address for the article above
is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science0410.php#robot_report |
| starcatcher—why
it crashed
“The Genesis space capsule that crashed into the Utah desert
last month failed because four pencil stub-size gravity switches designed
to trigger the release of the spacecraft's parachutes were installed
backward, NASA officials said [...]”
—
“ When Genesis decelerated entering Earth's atmosphere, a plunger
inside the switch was supposed to compress with the rising G-forces,
closing a circuit, Ryschkewitsch explained. As the craft descended further
and slowed, the pressure would relax, breaking the circuit and activating
a trigger to deploy the drogue parachute.
“Because the design drawings called for the switches to be installed
backward, Ryschkewitsch said, neither the primary set nor the backups
could do their jobs. Ryschkewitsch said the switches are so small that
investigators needed to X-ray the part to verify they were improperly
installed.”
Murphy’s
Law: “If there are two or more ways to do something and one
of those results in a catastrophe, then someone will do it that way.”
Not to be confused with Finagle’s Law: “Anything that can
go wrong, will go wrong.”
related material
sundust catcher returns
wednesday, live mid-air stunts included
sundust catcher
— update, not wonderful
sundust catcher—update
2, there is hope
the web address for the article above
is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science0410.php#genesis_crash |
powering
spaceship one - the x-prize winner
Very impressively, on, relatively, a shoe-string budget, SpaceShipOne
has won the Ansari X-Prize for being the first within a window of two
weeks to successfully make two flights to 100 kilometres attititude, carrying
a three-person payload.
The X-Prize
web-cast is still available at xprize.org [Windows Media, unfortunately].
Note how nothing approaching this web-cast has been shown on the fossil
media, except in the shortest and most superficial segments.
The web-cast gives a lot of easy-to-understand information on the technical
details about the ship and the flight.
One of the many significant differences between this flight and those
of the leviathan NASA shuttles is the composition of the propellant used:
“All rocket motors have some form of "fuel" and an
"oxidizer". In solid rocket motors the oxidizer is embedded
into the fuel (like an Estes rocket motor) and when lighted will burn
until depleted. In liquid rockets the oxidizer is usually liquid oxygen
and the fuel another liquid like hydrogen or kerosene. In our
hybrid motor we use Nitrous Oxide (N2O or laughing gas) as an oxidizer
and hydroxy-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB or rubber) as the fuel. Both
of these can be safely stored without special precautions and will not
react when put together. Finally N2O has the nice quality of self-pressurizing
when at room temperature so that the space ship doesn't need complicated
turbo pumps or plumbing to move the oxidizer into the combustion chamber.”
For take-off, Space
Shuttles use solid fuel composed of:
- fuel - atomized aluminum (16 percent)
- oxidizers - ammonium perchlorate (70 percent)
- catalyst - iron oxide powder (0.2 percent)
- binder - polybutadiene acrylic acid acrylonite (12 percent)
- curing agent - epoxy resin (2 percent)
the web address for the article above
is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science0410.php#gas_and_tyres |
| world’s
second largest known mushroom
 |
“Swiss scientists have discovered what they
think may be the biggest mushroom in Europe, a monster fungus the
length of eight football pitches and mostly lurking underground.
“The mushroom, [an "Armillaria
ostoyae" or honey mushroom] which covers a whopping 35
hectares (86 acres) area in a Swiss national park near the eastern
town of Ofenpass is thought to be more than 1000 years old, forestry
experts say.”
—
“One reason why the fungus may have survived for so long undetected
and untroubled is that it is only edible when young, and even then
is not a favourite with lovers of mushrooms.” |
and
the world's biggest fungus?
Another armillaria ostoyae, it was found in the Malheur National Forest
in eastern Oregon, USA.
“Officially known as Armillaria ostoyae, or the honey mushroom,
the fungus is 3.5 miles across and takes up 1,665 football fields. The
small mushrooms visible above ground are only the tip of the iceberg.
“Experts estimate that the giant mushroom is at least 2,400 years
old, but could be 7,200 years old.”
—
“The honey mushroom uses tentacles, called rhizomorphs, to take
water and nutrients from roots, killing trees.
“The process benefits the ecosystem by creating clearings where
new plants grow. Animals, such as woodpeckers, live in the dead tree
trunks. Mushrooms also recycle nutrients.”
the web address for the article above
is
https://www.abelard.org/news/science0410.php#honey_fungus |
