A major power drain and overall issue for notebook computers is the cooling system, for as computing power is condensed, more heat is generated. This heat must be removed to avoid potentially damaging temperatures. A new technology is being developed independently in many places to combat this, as reported on in the article “Cool Idea: Fan-Free Technology Could Put a Chill on Hot Laptops” written by Larry Greenemeier and published at Sciam.com. The technology under development is a step forward in the process of the remedying this problem, a fanless air/heat-exchange system.
The specific technology, the electrostatic fluid accelerator (EFA), operates as follows: air at one side of the device is ionized and this ionized fluid is drawn toward a negatively charged electrode at the opposite side of the device. The ionized air brings with it un-ionized air and thereby generates a current of air. A heat sink could be built into the device itself, or it could be easily integrated. In a laboratory setting, one research group constructed an EFA that could develop a similar amount of heat transfer as could a conventional fan, but needed only half the energy input. While researchers are unwilling to explain the function of the unit in more depth, they do concede some faults do exist. Faults included that a basis for mass production does not exist and its longevity is unknown.
Portable electronics cannot become more powerful unless more heat can be efficiently removed. This technology is the logical next step to take in this direction.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Keagan May SIN UFO Saved Earth
In the article, UFO saved Earth posted on May 28, 2009 at many sites including Fox News, Russian scientists believe that they found a control panel of a UFO that they think saved the Earth from a meteor. Dr Yuri Labvin has found a large piece of quartz with markings that look like it has a different language on it. Dr. Labvin has the idea that it might be part of a UFO control panel. It was found in Russia near a place where something exploded knocking down 100 square miles of woods. Nobody really knows what caused the explosion. They also found a certain type of rock that is only made in space. Not everybody believes this idea, one scientist from Britain says they have to test the quartz before they know that it is part of a space ship. I think this is interesting because there might actually be other life forms in the galaxy.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Swine Influenza
The May5,2009 Burlington Free Press the article called Swine Influenza written by Kathy Tam talked about the effects of the swine flu and whare it came from. H1N1comes from Mexico it is found in other countries including the U.S. It Is a viral infection that has adapted from pig to human. The virus can rest on hard surfaces like plastic. You can’t get the swine flu from eating properly cooked pork.
TJ April SIN Spring Peepers
TJ
NGkids
Spring peepers are found in forests and fields near ponds and swamps in Canada and the United States. they are rarely seen, but as temperatures rise they are certainly are heard. they are about 1.5 inches long and have toe pad like suction cups. They feed on bugs. their chirps can often be heard as far as a half-mile away. I like frogs and they are good a eating bugs.
NGkids
Spring peepers are found in forests and fields near ponds and swamps in Canada and the United States. they are rarely seen, but as temperatures rise they are certainly are heard. they are about 1.5 inches long and have toe pad like suction cups. They feed on bugs. their chirps can often be heard as far as a half-mile away. I like frogs and they are good a eating bugs.
Stephen - April SIN - The Hungry Blob at the Edge of the Universe
Stephen Ornes wrote The Hungry Blob at the Edge of the Universe
on April 29,2009, it was published at www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20090429/Feature1. The blob is actually called a Lyman-alpha blob. Astronomer Masami Ouchi and his team believes that this distant galaxy is feeding off of cold gases. Other Astronomers think that these are smaller galaxys coming togeather and make one big galaxy or that this blob is a cloud of gas that is being heated by a huge black hole. This blob is so far away that it is the fourth most distant object ever seen. This blob is seen by a special telescopes that is able to see infrared light coming from space. We can’t see them with our own eyes but you can feel it. Infrared light feels like heat at a distance
on April 29,2009, it was published at www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20090429/Feature1. The blob is actually called a Lyman-alpha blob. Astronomer Masami Ouchi and his team believes that this distant galaxy is feeding off of cold gases. Other Astronomers think that these are smaller galaxys coming togeather and make one big galaxy or that this blob is a cloud of gas that is being heated by a huge black hole. This blob is so far away that it is the fourth most distant object ever seen. This blob is seen by a special telescopes that is able to see infrared light coming from space. We can’t see them with our own eyes but you can feel it. Infrared light feels like heat at a distance
Joshua - April S.I.N. - Sea Shells used to clean up Heavy Metals
In developing countries, millions of people lack access to clean drinking water because companies can’t afford expensive filtration systems. However, according to the article Sea Shells used to clean up Heavy Metals by Michael Reilly, published on msnbc.com on April 27, 2009, a team of researchers, led by Stephan Kohler of the Graz University of Technology in Austria, are currently testing a solution. The solution involves nothing but one of the cheapest, most abundant materials available – seashells.
Kohler and his team are currently trying this system out in factories on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam. The system works by pouring metal and acid-laden water over a bed of crushed clam or mussel shells. The seashells are made from aragonite, a form of calcium carbonate (CACO3). Aragonite swaps its calcium atoms for heavy metals, and the shells, having a pH of 8.3 when dissolved, are naturally basic.
This project started with work done in 2003 by Manuel Prieto of Oviedo University in Spain, who demonstrated that seashells remove cadmium from water. While Prieto removed concentrated cadmium in a laboratory environment, Kohler and his team are expanding that to include other heavy metals, such as lead.
While it’s not likely that developed countries, who can afford more expensive filtration systems, will use seashells to treat water, it could save millions of lives in developing countries. The implications of this are fairly obvious – the quality of life will be significantly improved in those countries due to the increase in drinking water quality.
Kohler and his team are currently trying this system out in factories on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam. The system works by pouring metal and acid-laden water over a bed of crushed clam or mussel shells. The seashells are made from aragonite, a form of calcium carbonate (CACO3). Aragonite swaps its calcium atoms for heavy metals, and the shells, having a pH of 8.3 when dissolved, are naturally basic.
This project started with work done in 2003 by Manuel Prieto of Oviedo University in Spain, who demonstrated that seashells remove cadmium from water. While Prieto removed concentrated cadmium in a laboratory environment, Kohler and his team are expanding that to include other heavy metals, such as lead.
While it’s not likely that developed countries, who can afford more expensive filtration systems, will use seashells to treat water, it could save millions of lives in developing countries. The implications of this are fairly obvious – the quality of life will be significantly improved in those countries due to the increase in drinking water quality.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Alex L., The Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster, S.I.N 4-09
As a continuation of the articles “Hall Thruster” and “Ion Thruster”, the third installment will discuss the very latest of this type of technology, the magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thruster. Again, the article “New Dawn for Electric Rockets” by Edgar Y. Choueiri, published on page number 58 of the February 2009 issue of Scientific American was used as the source for data regarding the thruster. First a refresher about the basics of the technology: the magnetoplasmadynamic thruster is a type of electric plasma engine (EPE).
EPE’s in general have characteristics that incline them toward being used in applications where high velocity and/or maneuverability is desired. This type of engine produces little thrust, but can do so over a much greater period of time while requiring a smaller input of fuel; they are limited by this small amount of thrust, for they cannot escape the gravitational field of the earth. In its most simple form, the functioning of an EPE can be described thus: an electrical or magnetic field is generated, into which atoms of gas are introduced. These atoms are ionized creating ions and free electrons that are accelerated out of the engine.
An MPD engine is composed of a shorter hollow cathode placed within a longer cylindrical anode; there is open space between the cathode and anode. Lithium vapor is pumped through the center of the cathode and escapes into the anode, where an “azimuthal” (encircling) magnetic field ionizes the lithium. The same electrical force that was induced to create the magnetic field generates a Lorentz force that accelerates the lithium ions out of the engine. The statistics of the thruster are: flight-tested but not operational, input power is 100-500kW, exhaust velocity is 15-60km/s, thrust is 2.5-25N, and efficiency is 40-60%. This is the most promising of the EPE’s for it has the highest thrust density and allows for modulation of thrust output (throttling) causing more precise control to be realized.
EPE’s in general have characteristics that incline them toward being used in applications where high velocity and/or maneuverability is desired. This type of engine produces little thrust, but can do so over a much greater period of time while requiring a smaller input of fuel; they are limited by this small amount of thrust, for they cannot escape the gravitational field of the earth. In its most simple form, the functioning of an EPE can be described thus: an electrical or magnetic field is generated, into which atoms of gas are introduced. These atoms are ionized creating ions and free electrons that are accelerated out of the engine.
An MPD engine is composed of a shorter hollow cathode placed within a longer cylindrical anode; there is open space between the cathode and anode. Lithium vapor is pumped through the center of the cathode and escapes into the anode, where an “azimuthal” (encircling) magnetic field ionizes the lithium. The same electrical force that was induced to create the magnetic field generates a Lorentz force that accelerates the lithium ions out of the engine. The statistics of the thruster are: flight-tested but not operational, input power is 100-500kW, exhaust velocity is 15-60km/s, thrust is 2.5-25N, and efficiency is 40-60%. This is the most promising of the EPE’s for it has the highest thrust density and allows for modulation of thrust output (throttling) causing more precise control to be realized.
SIN -- Water-resistant Mesh, Orion K. April 2009
Scientists from the Harbin Institute of Technology in China have made a mesh that traps air, making it buoyant (by repelling water), reports Charles Q. Choi in an article entitled Float Your Boat. This article appears on page 28 of the May 2009 issue of Scientific American.
The water retardant mesh is made out of copper wire approximately 200 microns in diameter, with holes of about the same size. First, the researchers submerged the mesh in a solution of silver nitrate, then in acid. This resulted in silver leaf-like structures about seven microns high. The idea for this was found in the hairs of the diving beetle Dytiscus marginalis. The “leaves” trap a “film” of air (the air “sticks to” the leaves), this air film stops water infiltration and gives the mesh its buoyancy. In tests with boats of about an inch square, the leaf covered meshes supported three times as much mass as a mesh without the leaves.
The researchers concede that this repulsion, and resulting buoyancy, would not be enough to float large vessels (such as oil tankers, or even rowboats); however, they say that this could help in development of new miniature aquatic robots.
The water retardant mesh is made out of copper wire approximately 200 microns in diameter, with holes of about the same size. First, the researchers submerged the mesh in a solution of silver nitrate, then in acid. This resulted in silver leaf-like structures about seven microns high. The idea for this was found in the hairs of the diving beetle Dytiscus marginalis. The “leaves” trap a “film” of air (the air “sticks to” the leaves), this air film stops water infiltration and gives the mesh its buoyancy. In tests with boats of about an inch square, the leaf covered meshes supported three times as much mass as a mesh without the leaves.
The researchers concede that this repulsion, and resulting buoyancy, would not be enough to float large vessels (such as oil tankers, or even rowboats); however, they say that this could help in development of new miniature aquatic robots.
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