…While the concept of dark matter had been proposed by Fritz Zwicky back in 1933, it was Rubin and her colleague Kent Ford who provided firm evidence in the 1960s and 1970s…
Scientists have figured out how to use nuclear waste as an energy source, converting radioactive gas into artificial diamonds that could be used as batteries.
These diamonds, which are able to generate their own electrical current, could potentially provide a power source for thousands of years, due to the longstanding half-life of the radioactive substances they’re made from.
“There are no moving parts involved, no emissions generated, and no maintenance required, just direct electricity generation,” says geochemist Tom Scott from the University of Bristol in the UK.
“By encapsulating radioactive material inside diamonds, we turn a long-term problem of nuclear waste into a nuclear-powered battery and a long-term supply of clean energy.”
SSSSSSCIIIIIIEEENNNNCEEEEEE!
So basically science has given us a common staple of fantasy - crystals that have real tangible power. I will now assume all fantasy stories with power crystals and gems are post apocalyptic.
This kind of news makes my day!
chaotic good
Ye-152A at rest at an airfield (Date and location unknown)
I have seen these early MiGs with the central, protruding inlet cones since I was a child and never really wondered why those cones are there as compared to the blunt nosed MiG 15
or the F-86 Sabre
Yesterday I came across this exact question on Quora and it shed some light on why those nose cones are so prominent. The answer of course is that the MiG 15 and the F-86 were subsonic while the MiG 21, 23 and the above pictured Ye-152 are supersonic.
The plane goes supersonic, but all conventional jet engines - except for scramjet - require subsonic air to operate. There is some serious slowing down of air required because supersonic air does not treat turbines nicely.
The inlet cone diverts the sonic shockwave away from the inlet. The tip of the inlet cone - also called the spike - creates a conical sonic shockwave. The jet pushes this shockwave in front of itself while flying supersonic. The spike is shaped to keep this supersonic boom away from the engine intake.
As the aircraft accelerates this shockwave gets squeezed narrower to the point where it threatens to bite the lip of the inlet. High mach airplanes like the SR-71 pull the spike backwards to keep the shockwave diverted from the inlet even at high mach speeds.
Depending on speed the air entering the inlet is already subsonic or low supersonic. Behind the cone is a diffuser that allows the air to expand slowing it further down and bleeder valves to get rid of excess air if needed.
Modern supersonic aircraft achieve the same effect with a series of adjustable (or fixed geometry) shock ramps. These basically divert air to generate turbulence that creates shock waves to make sure the supersonic to subsonic translation happens before the air hits the engine fans.
Further reading: how supersonic inlets work.
- July 20th, 1969 - Apollo 11
It was 47 years ago today that man first set foot upon the moon. We salute the incredible spirit and determination of the thousands upon thousands of men and women that contributed to man’s greatest achievement in exploration.
An international team of researchers has found backed up the growing hypothesis that the Big Bang was actually a ‘Big Bounce’, meaning that the Universe didn’t pop into existence. Instead, it simply started expanding again after contracting fully.
If correct, the team’s findings might explain how the Universe transitioned from contraction to expansion, a debate that has been raging over the Big Bounce hypothesis since it was first introduced nearly 100 years ago.
Before we get into the new findings, let’s take a quick overview of what the Big Bounce is. Put simply, it’s a hypothesis that was created to explain how the Universe formed.
???????
You really do learn something new every day
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