Spelunking the Universe
Archive for May, 2009
Turbine Brakes?
2 years ago
by Rico Penguin
in General
(Image from: toolmonger)
The vehicle above moves hundreds of tons of material and can stop exceptionally fast. It is moved and stopped both by coils instead of break pads. Now I’m not a scholar in the mechanics but my understanding is that for propulsion the coils are far more delicate and accurate than your general motor system in a car. While this might not be efficient for smaller vehicles it is necessary for something this absolutely monstrous.
But here is the thing, this thing generates enough energy each day by itself to power an entire home for a year. The problem is the energy is just fed off through the vents opposite the drivers seat. This to me seems like a very important energy source that is utterly ignored. Some sort of cartridge system where they would remove a large power pack during each dump and replace it (preferably using a robotics system because of the heat involved).
In fact I’m extremely curious how effective this system would be in everyday cars. When you talk about speeds reached on a highway it would seem to me that substantial levels of energy would be drawn each time a car had to stop. Likewise if this system can stop this many ton vessel it should have absolutely no trouble stopping a car. Likewise I haven’t read anything in the way of repairs for these pieces so I would postulate that they have much better life spans than current breaking systems.
It’s an intriguing idea that has got me wanting to know more about the mechanics of those coils. As it stands they look like a fantastically overlooked source of energy. It is certainly not renewable energy but it takes something otherwise negative and adds a nice layer of positive to it. Anyone with information can drop it by the Ask Rico link up top. I’d be very appreciative.
A New (Improved?) Update Plan for the Site
2 years ago
by Rico Penguin
in General
Each day will be themed. This doesn’t require too much further explanation I’m sure. So without further Adieu here is what is planned for at least the entirety of this quarter (so a month or 30+ updates from this post).
Mondays become Museum and Architecture Mondays.
Simply enough I will discuss museums of interest, my projects in the matter, and personal opinions on the subject. This will change with the next quarter but for now this’ll be on Mondays. I’m sure there is plenty to discuss and it is some fascinating stuff.
Tuesdays become Technology Tuesdays.
Generally I’ll be discussing video games but I might mention anything from new vehicles, energy, convenience, to military grade arms. Whatever catches my fancy that I think would be interesting to research and discuss with the folks that visit here.
Wednesdays become Renaissance Wednesdays.
I don’t know if you ever realized this (it was a shock to me honestly) but the Renaissance is actually quite fascinating. From the rampant plagiarism to the very mathematical approach to art it is a generation of people that get either far too little credit or far too much credit for the wrong reason. I’m sure that I can convey across some of the impressively presented information that I’ve been dealing with this quarter.
Thursday become Artsy Thursdays.
Are poorly photo shopped pictures your fancy? Do you enjoy seeing poorly drawn maps or the occasional attempt at whit via a web comic strip? Well I’ve learned a bit of photo shop and I have now got access to a working scanner. So Thursdays will be your day indeed.
Fridays become Dinosaurs Friday.
One of my favorite subjects, Dinosaurs are absolutely fascinating creatures, to their credit they tend to expand the boundaries of what we figure any one creature would do given enough time. With each new fossil we get ever closer to understanding a world that sadly may never be seen again.
Saturdays become Something Saturday.
Not unlike that painful subject on Jeopardy this will be the potpourri day here. Anything random and interesting that I can find. Now to be fair this might happen any day on top of the other stuff that is designated but specifically Saturday’s will be random and hopefully enjoyable.
Sundays become Spatial Sunday.
The seemingly infinite expanse that surrounds our tiny blue speck. Sundays will end each week with a discussion of something fascinating involving our universe and will subsequently prepare everyone for another humbling week into subjects that generally unfold on our planet. It helps set the scope for just how amazing and yet trivial all things on Earth have, can, and will be. Good stuff.
So that’s it for today. I ‘may’ update again tonight about the discussion that was on hand for MnA but I’m a bit busy. This was in its own right a bit big for just being a status update.
7 Days of Dinosaurs (Day 3)
2 years ago
by Rico Penguin
in General
Characteristics of Ornithischia
There are some important things to know about Ornithischia when you are confronted by them. Well firstly I’d check your BAC but after that remember that all of them are Herbivores. Keep in mind that generally speaking you are more likely to be killed by Herbivores than Carnivores (they are aggressive enough to dwarf the hunger of many Carnivores). The had something called Ossified tendons up and down their spines. Now I don’t quite understand what this is yet. I’d look online but frankly I’m hoping to have it unraveled to me in the course. An image from future slides is as follows.
It is even nice enough to point out the tendons, you’ll notice the cross hatching of them. Fascinating stuff. They possessed a horny bill on the front of their lower jaw. Think Triceratops if you want a quick (and relatively universal) visual.
Finally they had their backwards pointing pubis bones. Which was more birdlike, which if memory serves, is where the orni comes in.
Now I’m going to have to actually put the rest of these on hold. I’ve been stepping beyond my knowledge level in these latest questions and there is no reason to misinform myself and others. But this will most certainly be re-touched on.
So unlike the dinosaurs this shouldn’t end up extinct, just delayed. Who knows what tomorrow holds.
Final Filler(sy)
2 years ago
by Rico Penguin
in General
I’m hoping this will be the last time I have to do a filler for the page. My internet has been borking off and on all day and while trying to get that worked out it didn’t dawn on me that I should prepare my post so I could just send it once I got this all working.
Tomorrow will be both day 3 and 4 of 7 Days of Dinosaurs to make up for this travesty 
.
I appreciate everyone visiting and this summer I’m sure will be very entertaining. I have plans in order to create an online game that should be quite entertaining once its all in order. However I’ll leave this for later on a day when I really feel energized to discuss the project. In other news the Swine Flu isn’t looking too promising as the next black death, so I’d stop preparing your end-of-the-world signs and wait for the Trout TB Outbreak or perhaps the Cow Cold.
7 Days of Dinosaurs (Day 2)
2 years ago
by Rico Penguin
in General
What are the distinctions between the Sauropod groups Brachiosauridae, and Diplodocidae?
This one is probably going to be short but it’ll be fun. You likely saw some images last time so I won’t repost them however the skulls are different.
From the first group of Camarasaurs you have the Camarasauridae (which we aren’t learning about) and the Brachiosauridae which we are. Of these the special characteristics consist of demarcated snouts (check a dictionary I actually don’t know haha), chisel-like teeth in the entire mouth, they have longer front limbs than back ones, and finally they are heavier than the Diplodocidae (and Titanosaurs in general).
Now unintuitively so the Titanosaurs are as stated before lighter than the Camarasaurs, of which the Titanosaurs comprise two different sub groups. You have the Titanosauridae which we aren’t interested in (because its not part of the Exam) and the Diplodocidae. With the Diplodocidae you have special traits of long broad noses, nostrils on the top of their head as opposed to front, pencil-like teeth instead of chisel like (big difference trust me), teeth at the front of the jaw (looks pretty weird to me brown skull on last post set is of this), long and slender fellows, and they have a V-shaped neural spine on the neck that is pretty neat. If it doesn’t come up later, that neural spine is likely for the attachment of that ligament from the previous post. When thinking of cranes you get a general idea of how handy a series of wires like that would be.
I believe that is it for now. I hope you enjoyed this little foray into information about dinosaurs. Oh and so you get SOME sort of visual fun out of this lemme grab an image from our slides for you.
Good stuff.