Abstract This paper explains that the invention of the steam engine, which led to the steamboat and the steam locomotive, began mankind's technological leap forward that continues today. The author points out that, secondary to the invention of the steamboat was the locomotive steam engine, which allowed direct transportation from cities on the Atlantic Ocean to cities on the Pacific Ocean without having to traverse the Cape of Good Hope in the extreme southern hemisphere, making it more affordable to ship goods and farm products. The paper relates that public transportation was not available in the United States until after the Civil War; its availability was responsible for the creation of the suburbs.
Table of Contents
Transportation Prior to the 19th Century
The Steamboat
The Steam Wagon
Conclusion
From the Paper "How did the invention of the steam engine change the face of American history? The United States was rich in rivers, most especially the Mississippi Rivers that connected the Great Lakes (eventually connected by the Hudson River through the Erie Canal from Chicago to Louisiana. The Louisiana Purchase would have been a poor bargain if it did not include access through the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Until the steamboat became practical, large river barges were poled by hand and smaller boats such were paddled. Both methods were highly labor intensive and slow. Sailboats were not practical outside of the oceans and Great Lakes. Even then, the vessels were dependent on prevailing winds (or lack thereof)."
Tags: steamboat, steam-locomotive, direct, public, power
This paper discusses the use of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans to reduce the need for exploratory surgery and other invasive techniques and to target better radiation therapy in cancer patients.
Abstract This paper explains that Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning is an advanced imaging technique that can differentiate between malignant lesions and benign lesions in almost every process in cancer diagnosis, staging and treatment because PET is more sensitive than CT scanning or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) techniques. The author explains that for PET scanning, the patient is injected with positron emitting radionuclides and placed in a tube and surrounded by a ring of detectors; when one of these high-energy photon rays is detected, the source location can be determined and mapped by a specialized software package. The paper relates that, after radiation and surgery there is considerable damage to surrounding tissue; therefore, it is often difficult to distinguish living cancer cells from morphological changes caused by surgery or tissue death caused by radiation; however, because dead tissue and cancer cells have different glucose metabolism rates, they are easy to distinguish by PET imaging.
Table of Contents
Improving Outcomes for Radiation Therapy
How PET Scanning Works
Radiation Therapy
Using PET to Analyze the Effectiveness of Radiation Treatments
From the Paper "Because PET scanning is based on glucose levels, it is important that these be controlled prior to the scan. Patients are usually told to fast for 4-6 hours prior to the test. However, they can drink water and take any medications that they are on. The goal is to get the base glucose level lower than 160 mg/dL before administering the FDG or other isotope. Patients with diabetes should continue their routine of eating small meals and taking their insulin. Then these small inconveniences, PET imaging is non-invasive and causes little discomfort to the patient."
Abstract This paper explains that the explosion of Chernobyl nuclear reactor in the Ukraine in 1986, has left a legacy that the risks of the using of nuclear power are so negative and so intense that it is often overlooked as the powerful tool. The author points out that the public concern about the use of nuclear power is that an uncontrolled accidental nuclear chain reaction can create so much heat that it resembles some of the most destructive bombs ever made. The paper relates that, although nuclear weapons are certainly the most commonly perceived use of nuclear power, nuclear science also is used to power nuclear vessels and for medical uses such as tumor treatment and tracer techniques.
From the Paper "Of course, there are other medical uses. The benefits must be weighed in relation to the risks when deciding whether to use these medical tools. Although these benefits are clear to some, the effects of nuclear power and their resulting health hazards cause confusion for others. For example, radioactive waste is extremely toxic and is so poisonous that it can affect people 1,000 years into the future. It can damage the kidneys or lungs, and children are especially vulnerable because their cells divide rapidly as they grow. In pregnant women, it can cross the placenta into the bloodstream of the fetus. In plants and animals, the effects can be passed through the food chain. Humans take in these radioactive materials chiefly from drinking water and from plant and animal foods, including milk. Many fallout isotopes that reach the sea and inland waterways eventually end up in concentrated form in the bodies of waterborne animals and plants, becoming a source of concern when they are part of the human food chain."
Abstract The paper begins by explaining basically what radar is and for what it's used. Then the paper recounts the history of radar's development, both theoretically and practically. From the history of radar the paper returns to the question of how it works, but analyzes the physics in depth, and breaks down the operation of each of a radar system's components. The paper finishes with a review of modern applications of different types of radar systems.
Table of Contents:
The History of Radar
Robert H. Rines - American Father of Radar
How Radar Works
The Radar Transmitter System
The Oscillator
The Modulator
The Transmitter
The Antenna
Types of Radar
Simple Pulse Radar
Continuous Wave Radar
Phased-Array Radar
Secondary Radar
Modern Radar
References
From the Paper "Parallel developments occurred in a number of countries. The highest frequency at which then-current technology allowed substantial power to be generated was about 30MHz, the top end of the HF band. UK radar development proceeded rapidly from 1935 so that by 1937 the first operational (HF) radars of the Chain Home series were demonstrated. These frequencies were in place at the outbreak of World War II and played a decisive role in the air defence of Britain during the War. Wartime radar development quickly moved on to shorter wavelengths as devices were developed to allow generation and control of the power, but the Chain Home radars remained in service, as originally installed. The Chain Home radars, operating between 25 to 30MHz, on occasions indicated returns from extreme ranges, due to ionospheric reflection beyond the horizon. But they were intended as line-of-sight radars and long-range returns from the distant ground via an ionospheric reflection were generally only a source of confusion. During the War some attempts were made to use the ionospherically propagated signal for long range detections of convoys but no success was achieved (or could be expected) and tests were dropped."
Abstract The paper describes the origins of the telescope. It includes a brief history of the magnifying glass and the first spectacles from which the beginnings of the first telescope evolved. The writer discusses Galileo's part in the development of the telescope and explains the changes from the Galilean model through to the reflecting telescope developed in the mid 1700s. In summation, the paper explains that the telescope has led to other important inventions such as the microscope.
From the Paper "The cost of quality glass had come done enough by the end of the thirteenth century and the quality was reasonable enough that it was becoming a real possibility for people to be aided in their eyesight problems as they reached their middle years. It was discovered by spectacle makers that they were able to enhance vision for people by shaping and polishing glass in such a way that the words were enlarged. This is what is known today as the magnifying glass and had become common by the middle of the thirteenth century. From here came the invention of the spectacles and as the glass lenses were made smaller and it was learnt what could be done by altering shapes and polishing the glass in various ways the beginnings of the telescope evolved."
Tags: galileo, Hans, Lipperhey, astrology, astronomy
Abstract In this paper the author examines the sources available to create power and electricity. He looks at how technology is used to take advantage of the forces of nature available. The paper highlights how up until recently only the power created by falling water has been explored and used successfully in a number of applications. Sun, wind, waves, rivers, tides and the heat from radioactive decay in the earth's core are all looked at as being renew ables, in other words they give continuous sources. The paper concludes with a look at all of the environmental aspects of using these renewable sources, the arguments for and against each one including the aesthetic issues that arise. Introduction Solar Energy Wind Energy Rivers Geothermal Relating Renewable to Base-Load Electricity Demand Environmental Aspects
From the Paper "The main role of solar energy in the future will be that of direct heating. Much of our energy need is for heat below 60oC - e.g. in hot water systems. A lot more, particularly in industry, is for heat in the range 60 - 110oC. [2] Together these may account for a significant proportion of primary energy use in industrialized nations. The first need is readily supplied by solar power much of the time in some places and the second application commercially is probably not far off."
Abstract The paper shows the scientific progression of the creation of earth from tiny particles through to the earth we know today. The paper explains that, once enough atoms gathered together, stars were formed. The writer explains that our earth was the result of the explosion of a star which was too small to sustain the thermo nuclear reactions, so it eventually cooled and became a solid mass. The paper describes two theories of how DNA was created. The writer concludes that the seeds of life, containing DNA, from which all living creatures on earth grew, came from outer space.
From the Paper "How life originated is one of the most debated and most sought after question. Life as we know it requires water and, until one billion years ago, the earth was too hot to sustain liquid water, so we know that life on Earth must have formed within the last one billion years. There is evidence that shows that the oldest life we can detect occurred 500 million years ago. "We now understand that all life on Earth contains DNA, which is a long complex carbon-based strand consisting of billions of molecules. Every plant and animal on Earth has DNA. This DNA contains the instructions of how to grow and replicate itself, thereby creating more life. A single strand of DNA is unbelievably complicated, even in the smallest organisms. How is it possible that such a complicated thing was created in the short span of only one billion years? "According to the "Big Bang" theory, who maintain the belief that life on Earth was created in some primordial soup. Somehow a soup formed consisting of water, carbon and other elements and by chance eventually some of these elements came together in a form, which reproduced itself. The key feature of life it is that is able to create a duplicate of itself. The problem that scientists have faced with this theory is that they have never been able to replicate this primordial soup."
Abstract This paper takes a look at a proposal to store nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain in Nevada. It examines the supposed advantages of such a proposal as well as its disadvantages and points out that, while the residents of Nevada may benefit economically from an arrangement with the federal government to bury nuclear waste in their state, the benefits would be negligible, especially in comparison to the potential health risks that such a proposal poses.
From the Paper "The power of nuclear reactions was demonstrated in the most conclusive and drastic way possible in 1945, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. But nuclear reactions can be harnessed for peaceful, no-military uses, as well. Namely, nuclear power can be used as a source of energy. One side effect of energy generation by nuclear fission is that waste is produced and this waste is itself radioactive. The storage of the radioactive waste is, therefore, a problem, and one, in fact, with both scientific and political aspects. One state which has been repeatedly mentioned as a place within which radioactive waste could be stored is Nevada. Storing nuclear waste in Nevada has both positive and negative aspects for the state's population. Although Nevada would receive many benefits from storing nuclear waste, in actuality it poses many possible threats to the people living there."
Abstract This paper explains that in the universe, few elements are weirder than black holes, a celestial body made of material so dense that nothing can easily escape its gravitational field, not even light. The author points out, that for decades, theorists considered them mere mathematical constructs, unavoidable consequences of Albert Einstein's theories of relativity; but there is no reason that they cannot exist in nature and, over the last four decades, evidence has mounted that suggests they actually do exist. The paper relates that, although black holes are totally invisible and there is no way to see them directly, they can be detected indirectly (1) by observing the radiation from the bright-burning accretion disks, which radiate on all electromagnetic frequencies especially on the X-ray bands, and (2) by observing their gravitational effects on other objects.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Black Hole Anatomy 101
Surfing the Singularity
From the Paper "Another important feature possessed by many black holes is an accretion disk, a torus around the event horizon formed by infalling matter as it spirals toward the singularity. Because of the energetic nature of the infall-think of the whirlpool formed as water drains from a bathtub-accretion disks usually emit all sorts of radiation, including visible light. The only other features black holes are reliably theorized to possess are angular momentum (rotation) and occasionally the odd electric charge or magnetic polarity, a consequence of eating too many charged particles"
Abstract In the world of science and history there are few great names that can match the name of Stephen William Hawking. Hawking is perhaps one of the best known physicist and mathematicians in history, or at least in modern times. This paper presents a close examination of the life and works of Stephen William Hawking. The writer explores his childhood to help determine how he became what he is today. The writer then examines his adult life, his works and his contributions to the world, as well as some of his more better-known theories and ideas.
From the Paper "Another difference between Hawking and many other scientists throughout the world is that he understands the world's need for laymen terms. Many scientists are reported to be so scientific and mathematically based that their works and words are boring and over the head of everyone but other scientists. Hawking understands the average person is not going to take time to dissect scientific jargon and he put together a book that explains many of the most mind boggling ideas in history in terms that can be understood by the non scientist."
This paper discusses chaos theory based on James Gleick's "Chaos: Making a New Science" and Ian Stewart's "Does God Play Dice?: The Mathematics of Chaos".
Abstract This paper explains that James Gleick believes that chaos theory is revolution in thinking, a major shift from the ordered universe of Newton and even the less mechanical universe of Einstein. The author points out that chaos theory says that the universe is decided on the basis of chance to a great degree and that the aggregate of those chances cannot be predicted or even discerned to allow a clear cause-and-effect assessment. The paper relates that chaos theory says that a small change in a system, which takes place all the time and cannot be tracked or even relied upon, can produce more and more changes until something much greater and unforeseen occurs.
From the Paper "Ian Stewart is trained as a mathematician, while Gleick writes about science for the New York Times. Stewart is British, and Gleick American. They write about the same subject from different points of view. Stewart begins his book noting that the direction for creation has been first from chaos into order, and that physics has now found that order is something of an illusion masking the continuing chaos of reality. He also cites Newton and the Newtonian era as affirming that nature has laws and man can discover what these laws are. The world described by Newton was a clockwork world which operated like a machine, and Stewart discusses the nature of that world and world-view much more directly than does Gleick."
Abstract This paper examines the positive and negative nature of electricity, which was first identified by Benjamin Franklin. This paper details the basics of lightning, which is a natural occurrence, generated through the two interactive processes of tribo-electricity and electrostatic induction. This paper delves into how thunder clouds are formed by ice and water. This paper also contains an illustration, detailing the origins of lightning, as well as a table listing the dielectric constants of various insulators, relevant to this particular topic.
From the Paper "In a thunder cloud, the two dissimilar materials are ice and liquid water. Most thunderclouds' bottoms are at about 5km above Earth's surface, where it is usually sufficiently cold to freeze any liquid water. Powerful winds circulate up and down the interior of a thunderstorm, bearing up small drops of freezing water which collide with descending hail stones. Even though these two objects are made from water, the fact that one is large and solidly frozen while one is small and only partially frozen means that they occupy different positions on the tribolectric scale. The hail stones tend to become negatively charged and the smaller particles positively so. The negative charge accumulates at the base of the thunderstorm, and the positive at its top. In essence, thunderstorms act like immense Van de Graaff generators."
Abstract This clearly written paper presents an understanding into the basic physiology of the eye and how it responds to light which in effect begins the visual process. The writer of this paper delves into the anatomy of the eye as well as the brain's association to the concept of light. The writer contends and explains why the human eye is basically a fully functioning, self contained camera with a never ending supply of power. The eye functions mainly by permitting light to pass through the cornea which acts in the same manner as a camera's aperture. The writer delves into the field of evolution by contending that sight and vision are a crucial aspect in mankind's evolutionary progress. This paper also contains three illustrative graphics relevant to this particular topic.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
Light and the Sun
Human Eye Anatomy
Vision Function
Conclusion
References
From the Paper "Our planet is as it is because of the main function of the sun. The sun is the center and most likely the most critical part of our solar system because of the light it offers to feed our planet and drive all life. There is little doubt from a scientific perspective that our planet would be greatly altered without the sun and most likely would have no life. For living creatures to evolve, expand and thrive, they have had to learn to function on the ideas or concepts of sensing light in some way.
This notion applies to all living creature on our planet and therefore could be considered to be an almost universal law. Consider that all plants utilize light through the concept of photosynthesis to feed themselves and mammals and other life forms utilize light to hunt, mate and preserve themselves through the cycles of light that are present."
This paper discusses the possibility of more accurately forecasting weather through the application of Edward Lorenz' chaos theory as based on James Gleick's book "Chaos: Making a New Science".
Abstract This paper explains that James Gleick in his book "Chaos: Making a New Science" reports the work of meteorologist and pioneer of the chaos theory, Edward Lorenz, to computerize the forecasting of weather based on physical laws. The author points out that Gleick explains, even though the straight-forward mathematical attempt by Lorenz to find weather averages was a "failure", Lorenz discovered that the phenomenon of climate instability was related to the chaos theory. The paper relates that Lorenz' two non-linear discoveries are (1) that models of chaotic systems have an exquisitely sensitive dependence on initial dependence called the butterfly effect and (2) that even simple systems can show complex, chaotic behavior proving that the "clockwork" universe doesn't exist.
Table of Contents
Gleick's Belief of the Possibility to Forecast Weather
The Butterfly Effect
Nonlinear and Linear Systems
Similar to Predicting the Motions of Planets
Link between Aperiodic Behavior and Unpredictable Behavior
Thermal Convection
From the Paper "The very act of predicting weather is "fragile" when it comes to computer modeling, even though the data may be "reasonable trustworthy" and the laws of science are "purely physical" (20). But the computer modeling of weather patterns and air movement and temperatures and all the other ingredients that go into the stew, are only good for a day or two; "beyond two or three days the world's best forecasts" are / were speculative, and "beyond six or seven," Gleick writes, "they were worthless." Why were they worthless? "The Butterfly Effect was the reason.""
Abstract This paper discusses how Hawking succeeds in introducing the average layperson to the physical principles of the material universe. It offers examples from the book to further qualify and express this point.
From the Paper "Hawking also tries to make his theories funny and relevant to every day life today, as well as introduce speculations of what will happen to the universe, long after his text's first readership has passed into eternity. Hawking even mentions the effect of airline food on human life expectancy, a sobering thing to reflect upon for one who engages in as much air travel as Hawking! But there are also more serious, vital references to how understanding physics can impact human life on earth in the relative short term as well as in space and far into the future. Hawking describes how statistical evidence points to the physical limits of population growth and electricity being reached on earth by the year 2600. But by applying the same statistical principles to knowledge as to population growth, to take a more comforting view of things, predicted human knowledge of how to preserve energy reserves could potentially carry the human race forward, faster to possibly attain solutions to this problem of geometric physical expansion."
Tags: physics, principles, introduction, literature
