TIZER'S SCIENCE NEWS

[Stanley]

I don't know whether I mentioned this after I heard it on a food programme on R4 But a scientist was talking about the way we 'taste' salt. He said that the main reason sea salt tastes 'better' than highly refined salt is because of the structure of the crystals. His advice was to use the expensive and better tasting sea salt on things where it would still have its structure intact in the mouth. In any case where it is going to be dissolved, say in cooking food, use the refined, cheaper salt. I think the man is right and I have taken notice.

[Tizer]

Cargill produce a special salt differentiated by its 3-D structure: LINK

[chinatyke]

Paper dart planes fly. They have no curved aerofoil surfaces and they stay in the air if the wings are angled upwards and they have velocity (from being thrown). So long as jet engines provide thrust and forward velocity and they are angled in relation to the wings, which they are, then surely you don't need to look for any other explanation. Which also explains why planes can fly upside down and why high powered ones can fly vertically. True, the lower pressure above the wings will lighten the load.
Is it so simple?

[Stanley]

I don't know China but I have seen and read discussions which seem to indicate that even the aeronautical engineers aren't unanimous about the aerofoil effect.

[plaques]

China, what about helicopters they 'fly' without any wings. If aerodynamics was that simple why do they spend millions with wind tunnels and model designs? Take a look at modern 'fan blade' jets with their scimitar shaped blades, Link All too complicated for me.

[Tizer]

Is it so simple?

Yes! You've summarised it neatly, China - at least, that's my understanding. The job's done mainly by the aircraft's nose being tilted towards the sky, an increased `angle of attack'. In the early days, aircraft didn't have enough power to take off and climb so the designers had to rely on the aerofoil effect and therefore those machines couldn't fly upside down. With powerful engines the pilot needs only to increase the angle of attack by pointing the nose towards the sky. If he rolls the plane on its back he still has to point the nose to the sky. This web page has more detail: LINK

[Stanley]

I think this is what they are talking about when they say that modern warplanes couldn't be flown manually, they have to have computers at the controls as they can react far faster than humans.....
Early machines like Cayley's plane and the Wright Flyer hadn't enough power to raise the nose so they warped the wings instead......

[Stanley]

THIS Guardian article is worth reading. It is a warning against self-medicating with supposedly harmless herbal medicines while taking conventional drugs. It can have serious consequences.

[Tizer]

This press release from January has come to my attention...

`Dozens of projects announced as EPSRC welcomes Year of Engineering'
15 January 2018, UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)
As the Year of Engineering gets under way, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has announced support for 28 pioneering new research projects. EPSRC, alongside the UK’s other Research Councils and Innovate UK, is supporting the Year of Engineering, a year-long government-wide campaign to celebrate UK engineering and inspire a new generation into engineering careers.

Throughout 2018, hundreds of organisations across the UK will showcase the world of engineering and look to inspire the next generation of engineers by bringing young people face-to-face with engineering experiences and role models. And as the Year of Engineering is launched today, Monday 15 January 2018, EPSRC has announced an investment of £6.6 million through the Engineering for a Prosperous Nation call to support projects with potentially transformative impact in fields ranging from autonomous vehicles to energy storage and healthcare technology.

As part of the Engineering for a Prosperous Nation call, EPSRC encouraged bids for creative, novel engineering research projects with the potential to contribute to EPSRC’s four Prosperity Outcomes for the UK. Applicants submitted anonymous outline proposals before pitching their ideas in a Dragon’s Den-style interview process. Twenty-eight projects at 17 different universities have been supported, with grants awarded to researchers across all career stages and representing a diverse range of fields.

Research areas include the development of intelligent driver seats to act as co-pilots in autonomous cars; the use of diamond quantum technology to investigate neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease; the use of novel materials to create artificial leaves for use in solar power generation; and the investigation of new solutions to antimicrobial resistance in wastewater systems.

EPSRC’s Chief Executive, Professor Philip Nelson, said: “Engineers are creators, innovators and problem solvers; their pioneering work creates a better future for us all. EPSRC continues to invest in this vision by supporting the engineers of tomorrow, and the projects announced today are testament to our firm belief that novel, transformative research will help to make the UK a more prosperous nation. The Year of Engineering is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the UK’s proud heritage in this field and highlight the impact that engineering has on the UK and the world. Through this, we hope to inspire a future generation to continue and improve on that legacy in the future.”

Full list of projects funded through the Engineering for a Prosperous Nation call:

· CoTRE – Complexity Twin for Resilient Ecosystems, EP/R041725/1
Led by: Dr Weisi Guo, University of Warwick

· Randomness: A Resource for Real-Time Analytics, EP/R041431/1
Led by: Dr Nicholas Polydorides, University of Edinburgh

· iSeat – Towards an Intelligent Driver Seat for Autonomous Cars, EP/R037795/1
Led by: Dr Bani Anvari, University of Southampton

· Improving Protocol Standards for a More Trustworthy Internet, EP/R04144X/1
Led by: Dr Colin Perkins, University of Glasgow

· Bandwidth and Energy Efficient Compact Multi-Antenna Systems for Connected Autonomous Vehicles, EP/R041660/1
Led by: Dr Petros Karadimas, University of Glasgow

· Q-NEURO: Diamond Quantum Technology for the Investigation of Neurological Disease, EP/R034699/1
Led by: Professor Richard Jackman, UCL

· Healing Tissues via Programmable DNA Nanotechnology, EP/R041628/1
Led by: Dr Ben Almquist, Imperial College London

· REALiTY: REmoving Allergens with pLasma TechnologY, EP/R041849/1
Led by: Dr James Walsh, University of Liverpool

· Nanoparticle Imaging Method for Drug Discovery and Cancer Therapy in Humans, EP/R04192X/1
Led by: Professor Richard Bayford, Middlesex University

· Born Slippy: A Tribological Discourse on Hysterosalingography as a Therapeutic Treatment for Infertile Women, EP/R041407/1
Led by: Dr Karl Dearn, University of Birmingham

· Engineering Novel Imaging Technologies for Reproductive Health: Transforming IVF Outcomes, EP/R041814/1
Led by: Dr Sumeet Mahajan, University of Southampton

· In-shoe Sensory Systems to Assess and Avoid Diabetic Foot Disease, EP/R041776/1
Led by: Dr Pete Culmer, University of Leeds

· Automatic Cell Fate Engineering Using Microfluidics Devices, EP/R041695/1
Led by: Dr Lucia Marucci, University of Bristol

· INSHEP: Intelligent RF Sensing for Falls and Health Prediction, EP/R041679/1
Led by: Dr Francesco Fioranelli, University of Glasgow

· Artificial Transforming Swimmers for Precision Microfluidics Tasks, EP/R041555/1
Led by: Dr Thomas Montenegro-Johnson, University of Birmingham

· When the Drugs Don’t Work… Manufacturing our Pathogen Defences, EP/R036748/1
Led by: Dr Candice Majewski, University of Sheffield

· Engineering Halide Perovskites for Artificial Leaves, EP/R035407/1
Led by: Dr Salvador Eslava, University of Bath

· Bioinspired Green Manufacturing of Next Generation Energy Storage Materials, EP/R041822/1
Led by: Dr Siddharth V. Patwardhan, University of Sheffield

· Freeform Composites: Breaking Free from the Mould, EP/R041733/1
Led by: Professor Patrick Fairclough, University of Sheffield

· Ahead of the Curve: Engineering Simulation for Computers of the Future, EP/R04189X/1
Led by: Dr Steven Lind, The University of Manchester

· Renaissance of Alloys: Nanocrystalline Bimetals, EP/R041768/1
Led by: Professor Thomas Polcar, University of Southampton

· Carboglass: Transformative Engineering Materials for Reduced Energy and Waste Consumption, EP/R036225/1
Led by: Dr Paul Bingham, Sheffield Hallam University

· Biopolymer Treatment for Stabilisation of Transport Infrastructure, EP/R041903/1
Led by: Dr Paul Hughes, Durham University

· Tackling AMR in Wastewater Systems with Sneaky Bacteria, EP/R036705/1
Led by: Professor David Graham, Newcastle University

· Harnessing Free Energy – the Microbial Way, EP/R041644/1
Led by: Dr Jan Dolfing, Newcastle University

· Development of a Novel Self-healing Composite for Sustainable and Resilience Concrete Infrastructure, EP/R041504/1
Led by: Dr Mingzhong Zhang, UCL

· SPINE: Resilience-based Design of Biologically Inspired Columns for Next-Generation Accelerated Bridge Construction, EP/R039178/1
Led by: Dr Mohammad Mehdi Kashani, University of Southampton

· PLAIN-GG: Phase-Locked Atomic INterferometers for Gravity Gradiometry, EP/R041806/1
Led by: Dr Matt Himsworth, University of Southampton

https://www.epsrc.ac.uk/newsevents/news ... gineering/

[Stanley]

Too much for a bear of little brain to digest but I get the point! How well are the government supporting these initiatives? Does Brexit affect them?

[Stanley]

See THIS for an ABC report on research done at Newcastle University (NSW) on a serious disease which is decimating the frog population world-wide. They have discovered that adding swimming pool grade salt to ponds prevents the deadly fungus getting hold.
See also THIS report on a study conducted by Exeter university to examine the transmission of an Oestrogen mimicking chemical widely used by industry. Their conclusion is that if you buy products packaged using plastic containing the chemical Bisphenol the contamination is almost impossible to avoid. So give up ready meals!

[Tizer]

The frog report is great news if the salt really doesn't affect the frogs or other wildlife. The bisphenol A issue has been rumbling on for decades and many studies have been done, some finding OK and some suggesting concern. It's a problem of dealing with something present at very low levels where slight changes in other factors might cause identical studies to give opposing results. The important question should be `do we really need bispenol A?'

[Stanley]

Quite......

[Stanley]

Can you remember me getting quite excited when I read Norman Davies' book 'The Isles' and learned about Cheddar Man, the oldest known skeleton in Britain and found that the local schoolmaster Mr Targett had the same mitochondrial DNA? See THIS Guardian article for an account of new research using the most modern techniques that show he was dark skinned and blue eyed and almost certainly originated from the Mediterranean or even further south.
Racists take note! This man was one of the earliest Britons.

[Tizer]

...he was dark skinned and blue eyed and almost certainly originated from the Mediterranean or even further south. Racists take note! This man was one of the earliest Britons.

To prevent any misunderstanding, let's make that `he was dark skinned and blue eyed and his ancestors almost certainly originated from the Mediterranean or even further south. Whether he can be classed as one of the earliest Britons depends on what is meant by `early' and by `Britons'. Cheddar Man dates to around 10,000 years ago but there had been humans in Britain for several hundred thousand years. The difference is that they were driven out during the Ice Ages but Cheddar Man arrived just after those cold times.

[Stanley]

Quite right Tiz and more precise.... Thanks for the clarification.

[Tizer]

Thanks for taking it in the manner in which it was meant.
(The polite discourse must be a shock to anyone who's used to the bigger internet forums! )

[Stanley]

They think we are boring. That's why we don't attract trolls, they are too thick to understand what we are on about. Remember the bloke who came on and said that any site that had a topic 'What did we have for tea?' was pathetic?
For instance.... See THIS Science News article about the flight characteristics of Humming Birds. I find stuff like this riveting. Thank god people are out there looking into these esoteric matters. Who knows, we may learn from the birds!

[Bodger]

Tizer, what's the theory behind this project ? https://www.waterliberty.com/products/m ... dry-system

[plaques]

By claiming to make the water more 'slippery?' they also separate you from £70.89. making your wallet light and easier to manage. Although the 'Blue balls may help to keep your washing apart during the wash its exactly as it says on the tin 'a load of b...s.

[Tizer]

Bodger, Plaques has said it all! Here's a quote from a debunking site: "The best that can be said of magnetic laundry balls is that they help agitate the fabrics, but you can accomplish the same thing by dropping a rock into the washing machine. Otherwise, these devices are worthless." Have a look at this article: LINK The manufacturers have forced us into using far too much detergent by selling it in those individual doses and the best thing would be to simply use less detergent and forget about magnets. Here's another debunking site that will brighten your day... Sniggle.net

[Stanley]

Why do the words gullible and snake oil come to mind?

[Tizer]

Two papers published almost simultaneously on wireless communication using terahertz frequency to solve the shortage of bandwidth...

American study...
`Advances Open New Frequency Range for Wireless Communications' LINK

Australian study...
`The Future of Wireless Communications is Terahertz' LINK

[PanBiker]

UK Radio Amateurs who hold full licences can apply for a NOV (Notice of Variation) to allow access to this area of the spectrum (above 275Ghz) for experimentation.

RSGB - Microwaves/Terahertz Innovation

[Stanley]

Go straight to Petaherz Ian!