Friday, May 9, 2008

Holography

Have you ever thought of how people will talk to each other in the future? Will we use video? We already use video-Youtube!! Well, one way is Holograms. Holograms are the use of lasers to form a three-dimensional image. By using Holography, a single laser beam is changed into an object and a reference beam. Both of these meet on a special film and are mix to form a hologram that the human eye recognizes as a three-dimensional image. There are many different uses of Holograms. Several I’m sure haven’t even been totally considered yet.

A Hologram is a type of picture. The two are very different; one difference is in the entirely different type of film that is required between the two. The other is how the image is captured. There are several different types of Holograms. One of these is a reflection Hologram. This is where on object is made into a Hologram by using mirrors and reflecting a copy of the image to create a three-dimensional image. This is like the mirror globes that we experimented with earlier in the year.

Another form of Holograms is transmission Holograms. This is where an image is recorded and a Hologram is used to represent it. Based on how the lasers are directed, you can trace a hologram, or the actual object. One other type is the Hybrid Hologram. This is a mix of the other two. These change depending on the use and the source of the Hologram. So there are several different types of holograms, and they are very difficult to understand, so it may help by explaining how they are used.

Holograms are used in architecture. They will build a replica of a building to see how it will stand and how it will look before they begin building. It’s can also be used by anthropologists. Anthropologists are historians that try to dictate what things looked like or how things happened in the past. Biologists also use them because it’s an easy way to scale up microscopic objects. Lasers can be used by a microscope to form a three-dimensional image of what the scientist is looking at.

Other people who use holograms are the armed forces. They will use them to accurately portray a battle scene, or how to use formations in the air force. There are several different uses for Holograms. But where die all of them start? Where did Holograms come from? How did they come to be? Well, it started not too long ago…

The Hologram was first made by Dennis Gabor in 1948. His hologram was started by forming a plane that can be used to form the object. This is formed by using something nearly transparent, but full of particles. This includes things like aerosols and sprays. Then, he placed the object on a screen and had light shone through it. This was called the object light. So this was a very difficult way to make a three-dimensional shape. Why didn’t he just make a cardboard cut-out?

Well, now, Holograms have moved a lot. Other people discovered that if the object light was split and was shone on the plane, that it would clean up the picture. This is done with mirrors and something called a beam splitter. Later, others found out how to add colors to these three-dimensional shapes. So obviously the people who built these had to be complete geniuses. There was a lot of work and effort placed into building them.

So with Holograms being so versatile, how can they be used? In the future, they may be used for communication. They may be able to be used in absence of telephones, like in star wars, when they made laser forms of themselves to talk to one another. Another way could be used in letters. The same person could make a laser replica of them, and then make that in a letter with a sound bit. The laser will show action, while the sound will match and show the message.

Technology has moved a lot from when we were babies in diapers. You never know how things will turn out. Holograms are used in so many different ways, that there are limitless ways to keep them active and useful. Who knows all of the options that can come because of them? Things are constantly changing, and because of them, the world is becoming a better place. Things will become more and more advanced, and things will always be improving.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Renewable Energy

Energy is the one things that controls the economy. With the recent increase in gas prices, it is greatly affecting our cost of living and our quality of life. Each type of energy has its advantages and disadvantages. It's up to us to decide which to use and how. There are so many that it is a difficult task in trying to determining which is the best fuel.

One of the most common forms of renewable energy is that of Solar Power. Solar Power became a large prospect after the Oil Embargo in 1973. With the cost of Gasoline and oil becoming more and more unmanageable, it is a great idea. Unfortunately, there is little research going into the use of Solar Power. One of the greatest difficulties with Solar Power is the simple fact that the sun sets during the night. So how is energy kept and saved for night? Well, the energy when the sun is out can be saved in an axillary unit for use when the sun is out. It would be similar to that of a rechargeable battery. But this idea is far from use, and research is limited, so it's not too far in design. One of the other problems with Solar Power is the panels that are used for harnessing the sun's energy. These panels are very expensive to make, so it's very difficult to get enough of them to make enough energy for ethical use. But these panels have a variety of uses. But due to the sun setting, if people plan to build a "Solar House," they will need a generator or backup battery system for when there are extended times without sunlight.

One kind of energy that isn't discussed in common is Geothermal Energy. Geothermal Energy is using the planet's heat to create energy for use. It is used to heat buildings and many other things. The use of Geothermal Energy started in ancient times. Has anyone heard of a hot spring? Well, that's Geothermal Energy at work. More recently, it has been used to create electricity. This first started in Italy, where scientists built a generator that worked off of steam that is generated by the earth. There are several different countries that use Geothermal Energy, and surprisingly, the US is one of them. There are four different sources of Geothermal Energy: Magma, Hydrothermal, Hot Dry Rock, and Geopressure. Hydrothermal is generally the most common, because it uses water and the earth's heat to create energy. It depends of the kind of vent that the water comes out of. Depending on the vent, you can have dry and wet energy. Dry is where the water comes out in the form of vapor, and wet is where there is heated water. This is relatively inexpensive to use, but it costs a lot while building the utilities. This is because you need several different things, like the power plant, and the battery well, which is where the water is kept. The overall cost is cheaper, because it a steadier source of energy.

Tidal Power is using kinetic energy for more practical energy. It uses the moons' gravitational energy of pulling an pushing the waves for our use. The most common way of getting this energy is when the high tide comes in and moves out. When the tide move, the water is moved through turbines, which spin and create kinetic energy. This kinetic energy is then transformed into electrical energy using generators. Tidal power was first started to be used around the eighteenth century. And unlike other sources of energy that may damage or take up the surrounding area, Tidal Power is safe and very energy efficient.

Since the 1970's, it has been researched into using the ocean for many other uses. Scientists began to look to the waves for energy. Since then, they have created ideas that can actually be demonstrated and considered for use. There is a large amount of energy available, but unfortunately, very little of this can actually be used. This is because of the change in tide, and because waves greatly vary in strength. The other problems is the facilities that would harness this power. Could they handle the weather demands? This is a relatively new idea, and like most, it needs improvement. But I believe that it can be of great use in the future.

There are several different options open to us for getting energy. These don't have half the costs on the environment as the ones that we currently use. There are several great ideas out there, and with them, several jobs. Maybe that would be a great career field to enter? There are so many options, and we haven't even thought of them all yet...

Friday, April 25, 2008

The Ocean

The ocean is a very strange and wondrous thing. It is one of the wonders of the world that man has yet to explore completely. One of the parts that has yet to be fully explored is the deep ocean. Who knows what really lies there? How important is the deep area of the ocean?

Deep in the ocean, there lies Hydrothermal Vents. These are areas where there lies molten rock that meets the ocean. When the water meets the rock, it begins to steam, and is a great place for animals and other organisims to live. An example of a Hydrothermal Vents is a Black Smoker. The smoke that comes from the vent forms and is the color black. Around these Hydrothermal Vents, there lies Chemosynthetic Bacteria. These bacteria gain their energy from the chemicals that come from the vent. They are eaten by others, and creates a food chain. The first discovery of these vents occured in 1977.

The larger animals that live near these vents migrate from vent to vent to keep a constant flow of food and energy. One way that they migrate is using the deep-sea currents. At the poles, water becomes very salty and cold. This cold water sinks to the bottom of the ocean because it becomes more dense. It will continue to sink until it reaches a level of water of equal density. Once it matches densities, it will start to spread out. It begins to flow toward the equator, where it becomes warmed and begins to raise. The water moves toward the equator because of the top-sea currents. So a chain forms of warm and cold water. The animals use this current and "ride" it to other vents.

Due to the extreme pressure due to the water, there are very few animals that can survive. These are specialized animals that are used to the water. These animals contain: Giant Squid, Octopi, Grenader Fish, Sabertooth glowfish, and many clams and mollusks. Most of these animals either have an extremely hard outer shell, or are boneless; so they can survive the pressure with relative ease and with little to no stress on their bones (Because they have none).

The sea contains several different geographical structures. One of these are the Abyssal Plain, which is a large area of nothing. And Sea Mounts, which are undersea moutains. Submersive Canyons are fissures that go down to reach the molten rocks. These are the Hydrothemal Vents. Other major themes are: Continental Shelves, Coral Reefs, Volcanic Islands, and Deep Ocean Trenches, which are where the continental plates are forced under one another. The Canyons occur where the plates separate.

The deep ocean is a habitat that houses several different species. Most of them survive around Hydrothermal Vents and use deep-sea currents to travel. There are many other mysteries that the sea holds. Who knows, there may be a Lost City of Atlantis. It may be a long time before the world really finds out.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

The Big Bang

Have you ever wondered how everything got to be the way it was? What made the entire universe? What could have created the mass of matter and energy that made all of what we know? The most common explanation is the Big Bang.

Supposedly, a large, humongous explosion created the universe. This occurred in what is estimated to be about 15 Billion years age. Everything was standing still at a single point. This point was formed by what is called vaccuum fluctuation and squeezed everything into the size of a dime. What was everything before it? Nobody really knows, and nobody probably will. There is no way to find out, unless there is some way to travel back in time, but who knows if there would be a way back.

Contrary to popular explaination, The big bang isn't really an explosion. It's really a system of movement of matter throughout the entire universe. So it's like osmosis. Matter moved from an area of high concentration to that of low concentration. From this expanision of matter, the rest of the universe was created. The origin of the Big Bang theory came from a scientist of the name of Edwin Hubble. He stated that the universe is constantly expanding, and that all the galaxies are moving farther away from each other; otherwise known as the Inflation Theory.

From the big bang, photons were developed. From these photons came quarks, both positive and negative. Quarks formed protons, electrons and neutrons, and these furthermore made atoms. As everyone knows, atoms make up everything. Then, from the Big Bang and the creation of atoms, there could be the formation of living creatures. This is called the Chemosynthetic Theory. It basically says that when the planet was created, the atoms and molecules formed proteins and macromolecules (the stuff that makes essential body parts). From these, came more complex molecules, and eventually came bacteria. Then, according to Evolution, came human beings. So the Big Bang is verifiable when it comes to evolution and the creation of human beings. However, religion has a different view.

Through religion, it is believed that God created everything. Very simple, God said let it be, and it was. So the two are constantly butting heads. But recently, there was a new development of Intelligent Design. Intelligent Design is a mix between the two. It's where God created the world, and through Evolution and Natural Selection, came the current human beings. But who knows who's right or wrong.

I don't know where to stand on this. There are many loop holes in both of them. There is no for sure way to really understand this. Even is someone was able to see it, how could they describe it? There are so many other things in the world that are a mystery. Might as well add another one on the list. How the universe was created is going to forever be a mystery. Well, at least to me. But, at least they have options for how we got here...

Friday, April 11, 2008

Comparing Solar Systems and Galaxies

There are thousands of bodies of mass in the universe. These bodies of mass can range from giant galaxies to an individual solar system or even just a single star. Have you ever looked up at the stars at night and just wondered what was up there? Well, there's a lot up there.

A solar system can be defined as a system of bodies orbiting around a star. Solar systems can also have several other systems that are located in them. In our solar system, we have several systems. These systems are the planets and the moons or satellites that surround and orbit around them. These systems revlove around the sun in elliptical motions. These motions follow all of the laws of physics. They each revolve around the sun, and each have their own revolution.

In these solar systems, there can be several types of bodies. There can be physical, terrestial bodies, or there can be gas bodies. An example of a terrestial body is the earth. The earth is made of rock with a metallic core. An example of a gas body is Jupiter. There is no metallic center, and there is a very low density. There can also be smaller bodies in the solar system. These include astroids, comets, and meteors. These can range in materials and origin. These are formed when a star is formed. When there is an explosion that forms a star, the matter that surrounds it gets superheated and begins to form into bodies. These bodies then cool down and eventually morph into what we call planets.

Galaxies are the other major part of the universe.

There are several types of galaxies, they come in different shapes due to gravity. There are Elliptical Galaxies, Spiral, Lenticular, and irregular galaxies. Elliptical Galaxies are low density and have very little matter inside them. They range greatly in size, yet are some of the oldest in the universe. Spiral Galaxies have a largely dense outer area that is full of dust and other gases. There are characteristic arms that branch off from the center of the galaxy. But the center is full of stars, yet devoid of other matter. A Lenticular is sort of a mix between a Spiral and a Elliptical galaxy. There is a large bulge in the center, yet there are no arms. They have been called armless spirals. Irregular Galaxies are the oddballs of the bunch. There are no distinct characteristics, and they have any shape imaginable. The main difference between a solar system and a galaxy is that in a galaxy, there aren't any bodies that surround a center star. There also is no center star in a galaxy, there are thousands in the center.

Galaxies form from a mix of gases that begin to rotate, and as they rotate, gravity forms. This gravity forms a center that causes the gases to collapse inward. They then increase in rotation, which forms a galaxy. So next time you look up at the stars, you can know what is really up there and where they come from.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Comparing Stars

Stars are very mysterious. They are composed of only gases, yet they are able to hold their own gravity. Most bodies need to have more mass to accomplish this. But by this gravity, the star pulls itself inward, and attempts to condense or collapse. This would occur, but due to the pressure that the gases exert, the star is unable to collapse, which forms a star. During most of the stars life, or the "Main Sequence", the main reactions occur near the center and create nuclear energy. The phase that occurs before the "Main Sequence" is the "Contraction" phase, where the center of the star is unable to create enough heat to form reactions, but due to the gravity, the star begins to collapse, and forms pressure, which builds up heat to get to the "Main Sequence." Through the "Main Sequence" the star uses up the energy in the center, and there is no more reactions occur. But because of the lack of reactions, there is no longer pressure in the star, and then it collapses. This is the basic life cycle of a star. This is good to know because there are many different types of stars.

Red Giant: A red giant is a star near the ending of its Main Sequence. It does not have reactions occurring in the center of the star, and they mainly occur in the outer regions of the star, but these are not powerful enough to fuse and create the necessary energy to survive too long. The star begins to contract in upon itself, and the outer shell moves into the center of the star and begins to use up the outer gases and begins to swell. This is what makes it a "giant". The reactions become even hotter that it was previously due to the new energy source, which makes it red due to the immense heat.

The Sun: Our sun is obviously one of the main attractions of our solar system. It has been active for what scientists believe to be about 4.6 billion years. This allows the sun to be active for several years. About 5 million to be exact. So this means that it is about 3/4 of the way through its Main Sequence. After that, the sun will grow to become a Red Giant. But after the Red Giant stage, there is one other stage that follows.

White Dwarf: After a star has used up all of its energy, it collapses and becomes a white dwarf. It starts by removing all of the material from within itself and forms a nebula. Then it begins to cool down, which can take thousands upon billions of years. These are the result of a medium to low energy stars. They are very common in our own galaxy, the Milky Way. The mass of a White Dwarf can be over the Chandrasekhar limit, which is the limit of the weight of a White Dwarf. But this equals about one and a half of our own sun. Most of the White Dwarf are about half of the Chandreadekhar limit though.

Black Holes: Black Holes are supposedly collapsed massive stars. Stephen Hawking is one of the great idealist about Black Holes. He came up with the Paradox Theory. This is based on where there are several different dimensions that if matter is thrown into a black hole, it will be expunged into an alternate dimension. This new dimension does not have a black hole at that location. There was a lot of scepticism about this Theory, and he knew it. So he came up with another theory, and is still working on maintaining that theory.

The stars that form Black Holes are about 10-15 times more massive than our own sun. They are relatively small, and are hard to locate. But there is some research being done and they believe that there is a black hole in the center of each Galaxy. This is what causes the galaxies to rotate all of the matter surrounding it. So it's similar to the our solar system, but on a much larger scale. There is still a lot to learn about Black Holes and there are several different theories and beliefs about them. Which do you believe?

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Hey, in case anyone was wondering how to invite, here's how:

1. Log into your blog
2. Go to customize
3. Go to Settings
4. Go to permission (Top Left Tab)
5. Enter e-mail addresses
6. Click Add Authors
7. Click Invite

You may want to e-mail the person personally just so they know what it is so they know what to do.