The quick lens of U.S. Navy sonar technician Ronald Dejarnett was able to capture this Air Force F-22 going supersonic over the Gulf of Alaska as the pilot did his best Top Gun flyby impression. [June 28, 2009
Amazing volcano photo from the space
Amazing volcano photo shows shock wave – MSNBC Articles
Brought by LiveScience:
An amazing new picture from space reveals a volcanic eruption in its earliest stage, with a huge plume of ash and steam billowing skyward and creating a shock wave in the atmosphere.
Sarychev Peak on Matua Island is one of the most active volcanoes in the Kuril Island chain, northeast of Japan.
The new photo was taken June 12 from the International Space Station. NASA says volcano researchers are excited about the picture “because it captures several phenomena that occur during the earliest stages of an explosive volcanic eruption.”
The main plume appears to be a combination of brown ash and white steam, according to a NASA statement. The vigorously rising plume gives the steam a bubble-like appearance.
The surrounding atmosphere has been shoved up by the shock wave of the eruption, scientists said.
Volcano plumes are so chaotic that they produce lightning, as revealed in pictures for the first time earlier this year.
The smooth white cloud on top may be water condensation that resulted from rapid rising and cooling of the air mass above the ash column. This cloud is probably a transient feature, scientists say, with the eruption plume is starting to punch through. The cloud casts a dark shadow to the northwest of the island.
Often, winds high in the atmosphere sheer a volcano’s plume and flatten it out. That didn’t happen with this one.
The photo also shows a ground-hugging plume of light gray ash, probably a mix of hot gas and ash in what volcanologists call a pyroclastic flow, descending from the volcano summit. Pyroclastic flows – deadly to anything or anyone in their paths – are known to be up to 600 degrees and rush across the land at 130 mph.
Commercial airline flights are being diverted away from the region to minimize the danger of engine failures from ash intake.
The last explosive eruption from Sarychev Peak was in 1989.
June 27, 2009
if science isn’t engineering and engineering isn’t science, what do we do at the Faculty of Engineering?
Science Isn’t Engineering; Engineering Isn’t Science
Venn Diagram: Science and EngineeringScience is not engineering. Engineering is not science. They are, however, similar.
Science is assumed to be the study of general truths, the observation of objects and processes, and the discovery of laws that govern the physical world and the phenomena that exist in it. Engineering, on the other hand, is the application of science and mathematics to manipulate the properties of matter and convert the sources of energy that occur in nature as to become useful to people by accomplishing certain tasks.
Sometimes, engineering techniques and tried-and-true devices preceded any raw explanation by science. From an article titled “Don’t ask a scientist to engineer real change” on Tuesday, February 03, 2009: “Take steam engines: They were pumping water out of mines long before a science of thermodynamics was developed to explain how they worked. The engines were what prompted researchers to look into the nature of steam power in the first place.” The article goes further to argue that sometimes, science can get in the way of engineering breakthroughs.
The principles that explain how a battery works, for example, are old news. But a lightweight and cost-effective battery pack with enough juice to power a car over long distances remains an elusive goal.
On the other side of the coin, we have those those that believe that engineering does not supersede science, and science is not the end-all of new technology. From another article of the same day, “Scientists and engineers need each other“:
Sure engineers build bridges, engineer homes to be safe in hurricane winds, and build rockets to the moon. But without some scientist first figuring out the math and science used for the engineering, there would be few engineering creations, and many of them would fall down for faulty assumptions.
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More from Science Isn’t Engineering; Engineering Isn’t Science – Engineerography Blog
June 26, 2009
Really? do dolphins get a lift from delta wing technology?
ScienceDaily (June 26, 2009) — We can only marvel at the way that dolphins, whales and porpoises scythe through water. Their finlike flippers seem perfectly adapted for maximum aquatic agility. However, no one had ever analysed how the animals’ flippers interact with water; the hydrodynamic lift that they generate, the drag that they experience or their hydrodynamic efficiency. Laurens Howle and Paul Weber from Duke University teamed up with Mark Murray from the United States Naval Academy and Frank Fish from West Chester University, to find out more about the hydrodynamics of whale and dolphin flippers.
Journal reference:
- Weber, P. W., Howle, L. E., Murray, M. M. and Fish, F. E. Lift and drag performance of odontocete cetacean flippers. J. Exp. Biol., 212, 2149-2158
Adapted from materials provided by The Journal of Experimental Biology, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS. Original article written by Kathryn Knight.
June 26, 2009
Research makes professors better teachers
News: The Mystery of Faculty Priorities – Inside Higher Ed
Research makes professors better teachers? – it’s not a statement – it’s a question
June 26, 2009
some numbers we didn’t know about cycling in a row
This was measured in the General Motors Wind Tunnel in 1996, and on the track using the SRM crank dynamometers. The lead rider in a 4-man pace line uses about 2 to 3 percent less energy than they would if riding solo.The next in line needs about 71 percent of the lead rider’s power, and the third and fourth riders about 65 percent. See “Racing cyclist power requirements in the 4000-m individual and team pursuits”, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, v31, no.11, pp 1677-1685, 1999. J.P. Broker, C.R. Kyle and E.R. Burke.More from cycling tips
June 22, 2009
Thats’ what we need for PIV – new shiny and high quantum efficiency CMOS sensor
A 5.5-megapixel sCMOS sensor from Andor Technology based on the sCMOS process
A type of megapixel image sensor developed by scientists at Andor Technology in Northern Ireland, Fairchild Imaging in the US and PCO in Germany made its debut at the Laser Conference and Exhibition in Munich this week.
Read more on Picture perfect – News – The Engineer
June 21, 2009
Could be serious breakthrough in the way of measuring fluids – acoustics passes further than light
News ArticleA sonic boom in the world of lasers
A sonic boom in the world of lasersIt was an idea born out of curiosity in the physics lab, but now a new type of ‘laser’ for generating ultra-high frequency sound waves instead of light has taken a major step towards becoming a unique and highly useful 21st century technology.
Scientists at The University of Nottingham, in collaboration with colleagues in the Ukraine, have produced a new type of acoustic laser device called a Saser. It’s a sonic equivalent to the laser and produces an intense beam of uniform sound waves on a nano scale. The new device could have significant and useful applications in the worlds of computing, imaging, and even anti-terrorist security screening.
Where a ‘laser’,(Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation), uses packets of electromagnetic vibrations called ‘photons’, the ‘Saser’ uses sound waves composed of sonic vibrations called ‘phonons’. In a laser, the photon beam is produced by stimulating electrons with an external power source so they release energy when they collide with other photons in a highly reflective optical cavity. This produces a coherent and controllable shining beam of laser light in which all the photons have the same frequency and rate of oscillation. From supermarket scanners to DVD players, surgery, manufacturing and the defence industry, the application of laser technology is widespread.
Read more: Nottingham University
June 21, 2009
Join us at the 1st COST Workshop on “Particles in turbulence”
This project is supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).
June 19, 2009
Winds of change in the University of Western Ontario
Faculty of Engineering – The University of Western Ontario – Home Page
This is DOME:
in which tornados will be simulated at almost 1:1 scale. How the flow will be measured? Do you have any idea? write to us.
The world’s first hexagonal wind tunnel, home to research that will protect us from storms and harness the power of wind, will be built at The University of Western Ontario, supported by funding announced today from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). The project, led by Western Engineering professor Horia Hangan, received $9.5 million toward the total cost of $23.6 million.
The Wind Engineering, Energy and Environment (WindEEE) Dome’s unique shape will make it the first facility capable of physically simulating spinning wind systems such as tornadoes. These and other forms of wind cannot be created in traditional wind tunnels.
The WindEEE Dome will be used to understand pollutant and contaminant dispersal, wind effects on agricultural crops and forests, optimal positioning for wind farms and turbines, and for measuring the impact of wind on buildings, wind turbines and agricultural crops.“The WindEEE Dome will produce many scientific knowledge breakthroughs and world-first discoveries. This exciting science will save lives, and it will be done right here in London,” says Holder. “Western continues its position as a global player which will attract and retain brilliant minds in London.”
