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Post by mikegarrison on Feb 5, 2017 21:04:33 GMT -5
Did you know there was a whole family of famous Bernoullis? Daniel is probably the one you are thinking of. His buddy was the much more important Leonhard Euler.
Euler had 13 children, but most of them died early. After his wife of 39 years died, he married her half-sister. He wrote many of his most famous mathematical works after he went completely blind. The base of the natural logarithm is named after him ("e"). He made other geniuses look normal.
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Post by Sorry Ass Sal on Feb 6, 2017 8:17:46 GMT -5
Hey Mike, what would (or could) happen if a plane is not de-iced before takeoff and gets airborne?
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Post by mikegarrison on Feb 6, 2017 9:26:25 GMT -5
Hey Mike, what would (or could) happen if a plane is not de-iced before takeoff and gets airborne? Ice builds up on the wings, which changes the shape of the airfoils and makes them not work as well. Many planes have anti-ice features that keep the ice from building up in flight, but these don't work as well when the airplane is sitting on the ground in a storm. And if a plane does not have anti-ice features, flying into icing conditions can lead to a crash if the wings lose too much lift.
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Post by Northern lights on Feb 7, 2017 19:54:57 GMT -5
I saw a thing today, not one of my make believe things, a real thing. Electric powered airplanes. It said they could serve the same purpose as helicopters, but in a more practical manner.
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Post by mikegarrison on Feb 7, 2017 20:04:37 GMT -5
I saw a thing today, not one of my make believe things, a real thing. Electric powered airplanes. It said they could serve the same purpose as helicopters, but in a more practical manner. Yes, but where does that electricity come from? Batteries are heavy; there is a strict limit to how much solar energy hits an airplane; and if you use fuel to generate the electricity then you have to make sure the overall efficiency of the system is not lower than directly burning the fuel in a turbine engine.
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Post by Northern lights on Feb 7, 2017 22:04:57 GMT -5
Speaking of batteries, and going back to my belief the military is 20 years ahead of the curve, I came across something about 10 years ago. A privately held battery manufacturing company claimed to have new technology. They maintained there product was 1/10th the size, and had 10x the power of lithium batteries. They were intending to go public, after product testing and acceptance for market. It interested me because at the time I played around with stocks a bit, and thought this was a good opportunity, if they went public. Then they just dropped off the map, gone. There were some reports that the US military had bought them out.
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Post by mikegarrison on Feb 7, 2017 22:16:31 GMT -5
Speaking of batteries, and going back to my belief the military is 20 years ahead of the curve, I came across something about 10 years ago. A privately held battery manufacturing company claimed to have new technology. They maintained there product was 1/10th the size, and had 10x the power of lithium batteries. They were intending to go public, after product testing and acceptance for market. It interested me because at the time I played around with stocks a bit, and thought this was a good opportunity, if they went public. Then they just dropped off the map, gone. There were some reports that the US military had bought them out. Don't believe everything you hear from companies that are trying to sell their stock. BTW, did you actually mean "power", which relates to energy released per unit time? Or did you mean energy itself?
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Post by Sorry Ass Sal on Feb 7, 2017 22:19:08 GMT -5
Speaking of batteries, and going back to my belief the military is 20 years ahead of the curve, I came across something about 10 years ago. A privately held battery manufacturing company claimed to have new technology. They maintained there product was 1/10th the size, and had 10x the power of lithium batteries. They were intending to go public, after product testing and acceptance for market. It interested me because at the time I played around with stocks a bit, and thought this was a good opportunity, if they went public. Then they just dropped off the map, gone. There were some reports that the US military had bought them out. Not directly related, but in terms of advanced technology, I had a college professor who believed that there is technology for a light bulb that can last many years (I forgot how many he said- but he thought it was a long time, decades worth). But, he stated, why would you put out a product that would run you out of business? I guess to make up for lack of regular sales, these "decade light bulbs" would have to go for what we consider to be a crazy price for one bulb and therefore we would never buy it.
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Post by mikegarrison on Feb 7, 2017 22:21:57 GMT -5
Speaking of batteries, and going back to my belief the military is 20 years ahead of the curve, I came across something about 10 years ago. A privately held battery manufacturing company claimed to have new technology. They maintained there product was 1/10th the size, and had 10x the power of lithium batteries. They were intending to go public, after product testing and acceptance for market. It interested me because at the time I played around with stocks a bit, and thought this was a good opportunity, if they went public. Then they just dropped off the map, gone. There were some reports that the US military had bought them out. Not directly related, but in terms of advanced technology, I had a college professor who believed that there is technology for a light bulb that can last many years (I forgot how many he said- but he thought it was a long time, decades worth). But, he stated, why would you put out a product that would run you out of business? I guess to make up for lack of regular sales, these "decade light bulbs" would have to go for what we consider to be a crazy price for one bulb and therefore we would never buy it. Uh ... are you talking about LED bulbs?
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Post by Sorry Ass Sal on Feb 7, 2017 22:24:54 GMT -5
Not directly related, but in terms of advanced technology, I had a college professor who believed that there is technology for a light bulb that can last many years (I forgot how many he said- but he thought it was a long time, decades worth). But, he stated, why would you put out a product that would run you out of business? I guess to make up for lack of regular sales, these "decade light bulbs" would have to go for what we consider to be a crazy price for one bulb and therefore we would never buy it. Uh ... are you talking about LED bulbs? No, my prof was talking about something else. On the list of things I know a lot about, light bulbs are very low. I don't remember exactly what he described.
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Post by mikegarrison on Feb 7, 2017 22:56:00 GMT -5
Uh ... are you talking about LED bulbs? No, my prof was talking about something else. On the list of things I know a lot about, light bulbs are very low. I don't remember exactly what he described. Well my point is that LEDs last for decades (potentially, anyway), cost quite a bit more than the old incandescent bulbs did, and yet companies make and sell them. So depending on when you heard this little tale from your professor, he quite likely may have been talking about LEDs. They used to be really, really expensive -- but like almost every other thing made out of silicon, their cost has fallen exponentially. There was a law that said it was no longer allowed to make and sell the incandescent bulbs, which is part of why LEDs have become so popular. But partly it's because if somebody can make a profit selling the LEDs, then it doesn't matter whether the established lightbulb manufacturers would like to retain their old business. They don't have that choice. They only really have the choice of whether they are the ones who sell the LED bulbs or somebody else is.
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Post by BearClause on Feb 8, 2017 15:20:21 GMT -5
I saw a thing today, not one of my make believe things, a real thing. Electric powered airplanes. It said they could serve the same purpose as helicopters, but in a more practical manner. Yes, but where does that electricity come from? Batteries are heavy; there is a strict limit to how much solar energy hits an airplane; and if you use fuel to generate the electricity then you have to make sure the overall efficiency of the system is not lower than directly burning the fuel in a turbine engine. The hydrogen fuel cell demonstrator was electric. I guess a small battery was there to smooth out the power delivery. Still - I thought it was only in the air for about a half hour because that was about the limit with the available fuel. It was basically a modified glider. I know a bigger tank is possible, but then that runs into the issue you stated about increasing the fuselage size and the consequent increased drag.
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Post by BearClause on Feb 8, 2017 15:47:42 GMT -5
No, my prof was talking about something else. On the list of things I know a lot about, light bulbs are very low. I don't remember exactly what he described. Well my point is that LEDs last for decades (potentially, anyway), cost quite a bit more than the old incandescent bulbs did, and yet companies make and sell them. So depending on when you heard this little tale from your professor, he quite likely may have been talking about LEDs. They used to be really, really expensive -- but like almost every other thing made out of silicon, their cost has fallen exponentially. There was a law that said it was no longer allowed to make and sell the incandescent bulbs, which is part of why LEDs have become so popular. But partly it's because if somebody can make a profit selling the LEDs, then it doesn't matter whether the established lightbulb manufacturers would like to retain their old business. They don't have that choice. They only really have the choice of whether they are the ones who sell the LED bulbs or somebody else is. I'm guessing that prof may have said that long before practical ambient LED lighting was possible. The big thing that allowed for LEDs to be practical for ambient lighting was the blue LED. Red and green LEDs were common, but with blue they could be combined to make white(ish) light. I was just starting out in the electronics industry when they started to ship. The developers ended up getting a Nobel Prize in Physics. www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2014/press.htmlAs for incandescents - they're still available in the US to some degree. However, they're not the traditional types that could power an old-style EZ Bake Oven. 12V high-efficiency halogen lighting is still available. I've seen some Edison screw incandescents at Target. They were slightly higher efficiency halogen lamps, but they were also pretty expensive. This 4-pack is selling for $6. The average life is maybe double that of the old-fashioned bulbs. www.target.com/p/ge-40-watt-energy-efficient-halogen-light-bulb-4-pack-soft-white-frosted/-/A-15118225I think GE kind of missed the boat on high efficiency lighting. They're kind of like Kodak that way, as in "Why mess with something that's making us tons of money?" Someone at GE actually developed the first visible light LED, but they might not have thought of it as doing much beyond indicator lights. In the end I think they're now mostly trading on the name by purchasing from a supplier and slapping on their name on CFLs, LEDs, and other high-efficiency lighting. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_HolonyakMost automotive lighting is still incandescent, although LEDs are increasingly being used for signal lights, daytime running lights, and even a few headlamps. HIDs are arc lamps.
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Post by BearClause on Feb 10, 2017 14:25:24 GMT -5
I guess back to planes.....
How important are tires? I've heard of issues where tires have been linked to fires, like Air France 4590 (tire blew up and chunks damaged the fuel tanks) and Mexicana 940 (brakes were sticky and tire caught on fire since it was filled with regular air instead of nitrogen).
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Post by mikegarrison on Feb 10, 2017 18:10:25 GMT -5
I guess back to planes..... How important are tires? I've heard of issues where tires have been linked to fires, like Air France 4590 (tire blew up and chunks damaged the fuel tanks) and Mexicana 940 (brakes were sticky and tire caught on fire since it was filled with regular air instead of nitrogen). I am not an expert on tires. Sorry.
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