While nuclear reactors use fission(the breaking apart of atoms) to generate the electricity we require and coal power stations burn coal in order to do this the envisioned nuclear fusion power station will use constructive means to generate our electricity. The challenge, however, is to create a dense enough plasma(ionised gas) to fuel the process.

This is where the Levitated Dipole Experiment(LDX) comes in. This joint experiment between M.I.T. and Columbia University in the U.S.A. aims at creating a second generation plasma generator. It is essentially different to the tokamaks in the way it encapsulates the plasma. The tokamaks forms the plasma and uses a magnet to store it within. The LDX does the opposite. It uses the magnet to capture the plasma around it much the same way a planet,such as Earth, captures ions in it’s magnetosphere. The study of satellites passing through Earth’s magnetosphere formed the basis of this experiment.

With all the many attempts in plasma harnessing we can look forward to seeing fusion plants in the near future. This means less nuclear waste and zero CO2 emissions. The most important element one should take from fusion plants is not so much the environmental benefits but rather the concept of creation to acquire energy as opposed to destruction. A lesson all of humanity can learn from…

Relativity of Simultaneity

The relativity of simultaneity is a concept in physics which describes whether or not an event is simultaneous when the objects in the event are separated by space. As one can see in the animation above the simultaneity of the event is dependant on the position of the observer as well as the observers speed.

Put simply the concept states that if one views an event such as a two bombs exploding in the North Pole the viewer would be able to say the event is in fact simultaneous. When the bombs are moved far apart one would not be able to establish their simultaneity as the space that seperates them creates a case of relativity. If one takes the mentioned example of the bombs but now one bomb is at the North Pole and the other at the South Pole then it could be argued by those closer to the North Pole that the North Pole bomb went off first and the South Pole bomb second and vice versa for those living closer to the South Pole.

It is this delay in perceiving the event that makes it impossible to determine the simultaneity and one could argue that nothing can ever be simultaneous when inspected at an infinitely small scale…

Bridge Tension-Compression Diagram

Sitting in another Structural Design Lecture we see the famous Huygen’s design method. It is said to be the most efficient manner in designing a suspension bridge. Analysing the design for any faults we think again…

San Francisco Bridge

The Huygen’s method for designing a suspension bridge is a simple method. It works on the principle that you use 2 pivot supports that you anchor and join using two tensile cables. The cables hang to form a natural parabola curve and then from the curve one hangs more tensile cables to shorten to span length and to carry the bridge. This is seemingly very efficient and logical, especially when one considers it has been in employ since the 17th century.

The problem with the design is that it works on the assumption that the cable will be working in tension only. Mathematical inspection ,however, reveals that the cable works in both tension and compression, a fact that could be predicted by the curve being a parabola and not a catenary, thus leaving room for improvement. It can be determined then that the amount of steel used in the cable design may be reduced by inserting a formation of truss bars known as the “Hencky Net”. This will then create a more efficient design and can decrease the material required by 0.3%.

While this number is not a drastic one it does lead to the questioning of design principles and efficiency in structural design as one could argue from an economic point of view that the Huygen’s method is more efficient as it lowers economic cost through less manufacturing costs. At this point one is forced to take a step back but in terms of true structural efficiency the Huygen’s suspension design principle are not the most efficient…

Follow this link:

http://hands-on-cern.physto.se/ani/acc_lhc_atlas/lhc_atlas.swf

H1N1

Scientists from Ajou University and Yonsei University in Korea  have discovered that Acidic Ozone Water (AOW) could be used to deactivate the H1N1 virus and stop the infection of it in the human body. When compared to other chemical disinfectants that do the same job AOW is much cheaper to prepare and does not create environment damaging consequences.

AOW was first created in an attempt to find a way to protect humans from bio-weapons should a chemical war ensue. The process of creating AOW is a simply one. One needs to take nuetral water with a PH of 7 and make it acidic to a PH of 4. This is done by adding HCl acid to the water in a mixing ratio of 22g per ton. Once this is acheived we have water which is acidic. Acidic liquid in general has a very good sterilising ability but with it being water means we have Cl ions that help in the sterilisation process.

While this Acidic water partially rendered the H1N1 inactive the virus still had the ability to infect people. They then proceeded to add ozone gas to the mixture at 10mg per litre and what was discovered was that this AOW killed about 430 000 viruses in the environment within 5 minutes. This is due to the ozone oxidising the virus. The acidic water slowed down the otherwise rapid decay of the ozone which allowed it time to get to work on the viruses.

The result is a very effective sterilisation mixture which can be produced quickly and cheaply and distributed much quicker than it’s chemical counterparts. The article on the research is an interesting one…

Han S. Uhm, Kwang H. Lee, and Baik L. Seong. “Inactivation of H1N1 viruses exposed to acidic ozone water.” Applied Physics Letters 95, 173704 (2009).

Tacoma Bridge vs. Resonance

The idea is to place the device onto a car or an aeroplane and allow the wasted energy of vibration to be harnessed and used. While it is very impractical at this point, as it will not allow for the replacement of engines or the like, one can see hope in this. If we had numerous methods of harvesting small amounts of wasted energy then we could combine them all and the energy we would harvest could then start to be enough to make a difference.

At the conference Prof. Andreopoulos will use wind tunnels to show the effectiveness of placement of these devices as he will mount one on the back of a truck and the other on the roof of a car. This will indicate the need for specific use design and could lead to better energy harvesting and efficiency.
Slowly scientists are breaking out of the norm and its usually in times like these that surprises hit us…

You are in a roomful of 35 people. Everyone is asked to shake hands with everyone. How many handshakes will there be?

You are in a classroom with 40 people of varying heights. The teacher/instructor of the room has asked you to exchange papers for the purpose of marking them. However, nobody is allowed to change papers with anyone that is shorter than themself.

How many exchanges will occur?