Ultrasound is sound with a frequency greater than the upper limit of human hearing, approximately 20 kilohertz (20,000 hertz).Some animals, such as dogs, dolphins, bats, and mice have an upper limit that is greater than that of the human ear and thus can hear ultrasound..

Medical ultrasonography

Medical ultrasonography (sonography) is an ultrasound-based diagnostic imaging technique used to visualize muscles and internal organs, their size, structure and any pathological lesions, making them useful for scanning the organs.

Obstetric sonography is commonly used during pregnancy..

Uterine fibroids

Uterine fibroids (leiomyomata, singular leiomyoma) are the most common neoplasm in females, and may affect about 25 % of white and 50% of black women during the reproductive years.

Fibroids may be removed simply by means of a hysterectomy, but much more favourably by a myomectomy or by uterine artery embolization, which preserve the uterus.

Fibroids, particularly when small, may be entirely asymptomatic.

Generally, symptoms relate to the location of the lesion and its size.

Important symptoms include abnormal gynecologic hemorrhage, pain, urinary frequency or retention, and in some cases, infertility.

During pregnancy they may be the cause of miscarriage, bleeding, premature labor, or interference with the position of the fetus.

Very few lesions are or become malignant.

Signs that a fibroid may be malignant are rapid growth or growth after menopause..

Echocardiography

The echocardiogram is an ultrasound of the heart.

Using standard ultrasound techniques, two-dimensional slices of the heart can be imaged.

The latest ultrasound systems now employ 3D real-time imaging..

Acoustics

Acoustics is the branch of physics concerned with the study of sound (mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids).

A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician.

The application of acoustics in technology is called acoustical engineering.

There is often much overlap and interaction between the interests of acousticians and acoustical engineers.

Acoustics is the science concerned with the production, control, transmission, reception, and effects of sound.

Its origins began with the study of mechanical vibrations and the radiation of these vibrations through mechanical waves, and still continues today.

Research was done to look into the many aspects of the fundamental physical processes involved in waves and sound and into possible applications of these processes in modern life.

The study of sound waves also lead to physical principles that can be applied to the study of all waves. Applications of acoustic technology include music and the study of geologic, atmospheric, and underwater phenomena.

Psychoacoustics, the study of the physical effects of sound on biological systems, has been of interest since Pythagoras first heard the sounds of vibrating strings and of hammers hitting anvils in the 6th century BC, but the application of modern ultrasonic technology has only recently provided some of the most exciting developments in medicine.

The ear itself is another biological instrument dedicated to receiving certain wave vibrations and interpreting them as sound..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

This is a list of the different phases of matter including the more exotic ones.Generally phases of matter are distinguished by the pressure and temperature, transforming into other phases as conditions change to favor existence of the other form, an example is melting and its complement freezing..

Liquid

A liquid is one of the three ordinary phases of matter.

It is a fluid whose shape is usually determined by the container it fills.

Its volume is fixed under conditions of constant temperature and pressure..

Phase (matter)

A phase is a set of states of a macroscopic physical system that have relatively uniform chemical composition and physical properties (i.e.

density, crystal structure, index of refraction, and so forth).

The most familiar examples of phases are solids, liquids, and gases.

Less familiar phases include: plasmas and quark-gluon plasmas; Bose-Einstein condensates and fermionic condensates; strange matter; liquid crystals; superfluids and supersolids; and the paramagnetic and ferromagnetic phases of magnetic materials..

Electrical conduction

Electrical conduction is the movement of electrically charged particles through a transmission medium.

The movement can form an electric current in response to an electric field.

The underlying mechanism for this movement depends on the material. Conduction in metals and resistors is well described by Ohm’s Law, which states that the current is proportional to the applied electric field.

Metals are good conductors because they have unfilled space in the valence energy band.

Another medium, a “perfect vacuum,” contains no charged particles; vacuums normally behave as very good insulators.

However, metal electrode surfaces can cause a region of the vacuum to become conductive by injecting free electrons or ions through either field emission or thermionic emission..

Bose-Einstein condensate

A Bose–Einstein condensate is a phase of matter formed by bosons cooled to temperatures very near to absolute zero (0 kelvin or -273.15 degrees Celsius).

Under such supercooled conditions, a large fraction of the atoms collapse into the lowest quantum state, at which point quantum effects become apparent on a macroscopic scale..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

A quantum number describes the energies of electrons in atoms.Each quantum number specifies the value of a conserved quantity in the dynamics of the quantum system.

Since any quantum system can have one or more quantum numbers, it is a futile job to list all possible quantum numbers.

The question of how many quantum numbers are needed to describe any given system has no universal answer, although for each system one must find the answer for a full analysis of the system.

The most widely studied set of quantum numbers is that for a single electron in an atom: not only because it is useful in chemistry, being the basic notion behind the periodic table, valence (chemistry) and a host of other properties, but also because it is a solvable and realistic problem, and, as such, finds widespread use in textbooks..

Hydrogen-like atom

Hydrogen-like atoms (or hydrogenic atoms) are atoms with one single electron.

Like the hydrogen atom, hydrogen-like atoms are one of the few quantum mechanical problems which can be exactly solved..

Mechanics

Mechanics can be seen as the prime, and even as the original, discipline of physics.

It is a huge body of knowledge about the natural world.

It also constitutes a central part of technology..

Atomic orbital

Atomic orbitals are the quantum states of the individual electrons in the electron cloud around a single atom.

Specifically, atomic orbitals are the quantum states of the individual electrons in the electron cloud around a single atom.

Classically, the electrons were thought to orbit the atomic nucleus, much like the planets around the Sun (or more accurately, a moth orbiting very quickly around a lamp).

However electrons cannot be described as solid particles (as a planet or a moth), so a more accurate comparison would be that of a (huge) atmosphere (the spatially distributed electron) around a (tiny) planet (the nucleus)..

Subatomic particle

A subatomic particle is a particle smaller than an atom: it may be elementary or composite.

Particle physics and nuclear physics concern themselves with the study of these particles, their interactions, and matter made up of them which do not aggregate into atoms. These particles include atomic constituents such as electrons, protons, and neutrons (protons and neutrons are actually composite particles, made up of quarks), as well as other particles such as photons and neutrinos which are produced copiously in the sun.

However, most of the particles that have been discovered and studied are not encountered under normal earth conditions; they are produced in cosmic rays and during scattering processes in particle accelerators..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Mechanics can be seen as the prime, and even as the original, discipline of physics.It is a huge body of knowledge about the natural world.It also constitutes a central part of technology..

Fluid mechanics

Fluid mechanics is the subdiscipline of continuum mechanics that studies fluids, that is, liquids and gases.

It can be further subdivided into fluid statics, the study of fluids at rest, and fluid dynamics, the study of fluids in motion.

Fluids are composed of molecules that collide with one another and solid objects.

The continuum assumption, however, considers fluids to be continuous.

That is, properties such as density, pressure, temperature, and velocity are taken to be well-defined at infinitely small points, and are assumed to vary continuously from one point to another.

The fact that the fluid is made up of discrete molecules is ignored..

Shear stress

In physics, shear stress is a stress state in which the shape of a material tends to change (usually by “sliding” forces — torque by transversely-acting forces) without particular volume change..

Momentum

In physics, momentum is the product of the mass and velocity of an object.

Momentum has the special property that, in a closed system, it is always conserved, even in collisions..

Quantum tunnelling

Quantum tunnelling (or tunneling) is the quantum-mechanical effect of transitioning through a classically-forbidden energy state.

Consider rolling a ball up a hill.

If the ball is not given enough velocity, then it will not roll over the hill.

This makes sense classically.

But in quantum mechanics, objects do not behave like classical objects, such as balls, do.

On a quantum scale, objects exhibit wavelike behavior.

For a quantum particle moving against a potential hill, the wave function describing the particle can extend to the other side of the hill.

This wave represents the probability of finding the particle in a certain location, meaning that the particle has the possibility of being detected on the other side of the hill.

This behavior is called tunneling; it is as if the particle has ‘dug’ through the potential hill..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Surface tension is an effect within the surface layer of a liquid that causes the layer to behave as an elastic sheet.It is the effect that allows insects (such as the water strider) to walk on water, and causes capillary action, for example..

Liquid

A liquid is one of the three ordinary phases of matter.

It is a fluid whose shape is usually determined by the container it fills.

Its volume is fixed under conditions of constant temperature and pressure..

Boiling point

The boiling point of a substance is the temperature at which it can change its state from a liquid to a gas throughout the bulk of the liquid.

A liquid may change to a gas at temperatures below the boiling point through the process of evaporation.

Any change of state from a liquid to a gas at boiling point is considered vaporization..

Evaporation

Evaporation is one of the two forms of vaporization.

It is the process whereby atoms or molecules in a liquid state (or solid state if the substance sublimes) gain sufficient energy to enter the gaseous state.

It is the opposite process of condensation. The thermal motion of a molecule of liquid must be sufficient to overcome the surface tension and evaporate, that is, its kinetic energy must exceed the work function of cohesion at the surface.

Evaporation therefore, proceeds more quickly at higher temperature, at higher flow rates between the gaseous and liquid phase and in liquids with lower surface tension (i.e.

higher vapor pressure).

Since only a small proportion of the molecules are located near the surface and are moving in the proper direction to escape at any given instant, the rate of evaporation is limited.

Also, as the faster-moving molecules escape, the remaining molecules have lower average kinetic energy, and the temperature of the liquid thus decreases.

This phenomenon is also called evaporative cooling.

This is the reason that evaporating sweat cools the human body..

Boiling

Boiling is the rapid vaporization of a liquid, which typically occurs when a liquid is heated to a temperature such that its vapor pressure is above that of the surroundings, such as air pressure.

Thus, a liquid may also boil when the pressure of the surrounding atmosphere is sufficiently reduced, such as the use of a vacuum pump or at high altitudes.

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Optics is a branch of physics that describes the behavior and properties of light and the interaction of light with matter.The field of optics usually describes the behavior of visible, infrared and ultraviolet light..

Electromagnetic radiation

Electromagnetic radiation is a propagating wave in space with electric and magnetic components.

These components oscillate at right angles to each other and to the direction of propagation..

Mechanics

Mechanics can be seen as the prime, and even as the original, discipline of physics.

It is a huge body of knowledge about the natural world.

It also constitutes a central part of technology..

Electromagnetism

Electromagnetism is the physics of the electromagnetic field: a field, encompassing all of space, which exerts a force on those particles that possess the property of electric charge, and is in turn affected by the presence and motion of such particles..

Electrical phenomena

Electrical phenomena are commonplace and unusual events that can be observed which illuminate the principles of the physics of electricity and are explained by them.

Electrical phenomena are a somewhat arbitrary division of electromagnetic phenomena..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

In physics or physical science, acceleration (symbol: a) is defined as the rate of change (or derivative with respect to time) of velocity.It is thus a vector quantity with dimension length/time².

In SI units, acceleration is measured in meters/second² using an accelerometer. To accelerate an object is to change its velocity, which is accomplished by altering either its speed or direction (like in case of uniform circular motion) in relation to time.

In this strict mathematical sense, acceleration can have positive and negative vals (deceleration).

Any time that the sign (+ or -) of the acceleration is the same as the sign of the velocity, the object will speed up.

If the signs are opposite, the object will slow down.

Acceleration is a vector defined by properties of magnitude (size or measurability) and direction.

When either velocity or direction are changed, there is acceleration (or deceleration).

Kinetic energy

Kinetic energy is energy that a body possess as a result of its motion.

Kinetic energy as it is mathematically written is the “classic statement” of: Kinetic energy is equal to half the mass of an object times its velocity squared..

Torque

In physics, torque can informally be thought of as “rotational force” or “angular force” which causes a change in rotational motion.

This force is defined by linear force multiplied by a radius.

The SI units for Torque are newton metres.

In the U.S., foot-pounds force are also commonly encountered.

The concept of torque, also called moment or couple, originated with the work of Archimedes on levers.

The rotational analogues of force, mass, and acceleration are torque, moment of inertia, and angular acceleration respectively.

The force applied to a lever, multiplied by its distance from the lever’s fulcrum, is the torque.

For example, a force of three newtons applied two metres from the fulcrum exerts the same torque as one newton applied six metres from the fulcrum.

This assumes the force is in a direction at right angles to the straight lever..

Fluid mechanics

Fluid mechanics is the subdiscipline of continuum mechanics that studies fluids, that is, liquids and gases.

It can be further subdivided into fluid statics, the study of fluids at rest, and fluid dynamics, the study of fluids in motion.

Fluids are composed of molecules that collide with one another and solid objects.

The continuum assumption, however, considers fluids to be continuous.

That is, properties such as density, pressure, temperature, and velocity are taken to be well-defined at infinitely small points, and are assumed to vary continuously from one point to another.

The fact that the fluid is made up of discrete molecules is ignored..

Momentum

In physics, momentum is the product of the mass and velocity of an object.

Momentum has the special property that, in a closed system, it is always conserved, even in collisions..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Acoustics is the branch of physics concerned with the study of sound (mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids).A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician.

The application of acoustics in technology is called acoustical engineering.

There is often much overlap and interaction between the interests of acousticians and acoustical engineers.

Acoustics is the science concerned with the production, control, transmission, reception, and effects of sound.

Its origins began with the study of mechanical vibrations and the radiation of these vibrations through mechanical waves, and still continues today.

Research was done to look into the many aspects of the fundamental physical processes involved in waves and sound and into possible applications of these processes in modern life.

The study of sound waves also lead to physical principles that can be applied to the study of all waves. Applications of acoustic technology include music and the study of geologic, atmospheric, and underwater phenomena.

Psychoacoustics, the study of the physical effects of sound on biological systems, has been of interest since Pythagoras first heard the sounds of vibrating strings and of hammers hitting anvils in the 6th century BC, but the application of modern ultrasonic technology has only recently provided some of the most exciting developments in medicine.

The ear itself is another biological instrument dedicated to receiving certain wave vibrations and interpreting them as sound..

Mechanics

Mechanics can be seen as the prime, and even as the original, discipline of physics.

It is a huge body of knowledge about the natural world.

It also constitutes a central part of technology..

Fluid dynamics

Fluid dynamics is the subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that studies fluids (liquids and gases) in motion.

The discipline has a number of subdisciplines, including aerodynamics (the study of gases) and hydrodynamics (the study of liquids)..

Speed of sound

The speed of sound is a term used to describe the speed of sound waves passing through an elastic medium.

The speed varies with the medium employed (for example, sound waves move faster through water than through air), as well as with the properties of the medium, especially temperature.

The term is commonly used to refer specifically to the speed of sound in air.

At sea level, at a temperature of 21 degrees Celsius (70 degrees Fahrenheit) and under normal atmospheric conditions, the speed of sound is 344 m/s (1238 km/h or 770 mph).

The speed varies depending on atmospheric conditions; the most important factor is the temperature.

Humidity has little effect on the speed of sound, nor does air pressure by itself.

Air pressure has no effect at all in an ideal gas approximation.

This is because pressure and density both contribute to sound velocity equally, and in an ideal gas the two effects cancel out, leaving only the effect of temperature.

Sound usually travels more slowly with greater altitude, due to reduced temperature..

Hertz

The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the SI unit of frequency.

One hertz simply means “one per second” (1 / s); 100 Hz means “one hundred per second”, and so on..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

A weapon is a tool which can be used during combat to kill or incapacitate, to destroy property, or to otherwise render resources non-functional or unavailable.

It may be used to attack and defend, and consequently also to threaten or protect.

There are essentially three facets to classifying weapon types: who uses it, how it works, and what it targets..

Projectile

A projectile is any object sent through space by the application of a force.

In a general sense, even a football or baseball may be considered a projectile, but in practice most projectiles are designed as weapons..

Catapult

Catapults are siege engines using an arm to hurl a projectile a great distance.

Any machine that hurls an object can be considered a catapult, but the term is generally understood to mean medieval siege weapons..

Military aviation

Military aviation is used to attack or defend a country through the sky.

There are many types of military aircraft, but the basic types of military aircraft are bombers, fighters, Fighter bombers, Spotter planes, transports, patrol aircraft, trainers, and reconnaissance and observation aircraft..

Cruise missile

A cruise missile is a guided missile which uses a lifting wing and most often a jet propulsion system to allow sustained flight.

Cruise missiles are, in essence, unmanned aircraft.

They are generally designed to carry a large conventional or nuclear warhead many hundreds of miles with excellent accuracy.

Modern cruise missiles normally travel at high subsonic speeds, are self-navigating, and fly low in order to avoid radar detection..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM or LSCM) is a valuable tool for obtaining high resolution images and 3-D reconstructions.The key feature of confocal microscopy is its ability to produce blur-free images of thick specimens at various depths.

Images are taken point-by-point and reconstructed with a computer, rather than projected through an eyepiece.

The principle for this special kind of microscopy was developed by Marvin Minsky in 1953, but it took another thirty years and the development of lasers for confocal microscopy to become a standard technique toward the end of the 1980s..

Scanning electron microscope

The scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a type of electron microscope capable of producing high resolution images of a sample surface.

Due to the manner in which the image is created, SEM images have a characteristic three-dimensional appearance and are useful for judging the surface structure of the sample..

Electron microscope

The electron microscope is a type of microscope that uses electrons to create an image of the target.

It has much higher magnification or resolving power than a normal light microscope. Although modern electron microscopes can magnify objects up to two million times, they are still based upon Ruska’s prototype and his correlation between wavelength and resolution.

The electron microscope is an integral part of many laboratories.

Researchers use it to examine biological materials (such as microorganisms and cells), a variety of large molecules, medical biopsy samples, metals and crystalline structures, and the characteristics of various surfaces..

Spectroscopy

Spectroscopy is the study of spectra, that is, the dependence of physical quantities on frequency.

Spectroscopy is often used in physical and analytical chemistry for the identification of substances, through the spectrum emitted or absorbed..

Scanning tunneling microscope

The scanning tunneling microscope or STM, was invented in 1981 by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer of IBM’s Zurich Lab in Zurich, Switzerland.

t is used to obtain images of conductive surfaces at an atomic scale 2 x 10-10 m or 0.2 nanometre.

It can also be used to alter the observed material by manipulating individual atoms, triggering chemical reactions, and creating ions by removing individual electrons from atoms and then reverting them to atoms by replacing the electrons..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

An aircraft is any machine capable of atmospheric flight.A first division by design among aircraft is between lighter-than-air, aerostat, and heavier-than-air aircraft, aerodyne.

Examples of lighter-than-air aircraft include non-steerable balloons, such as hot air balloons and gas balloons, and steerable airships (sometimes called dirigible balloons) such as blimps (that have non-rigid construction) and rigid airships that have an internal frame.

In heavier-than-air aircraft, there are two ways to produce lift: aerodynamic lift and engine lift.

In the case of aerodynamic lift, the aircraft is kept in the air by wings or rotors (see aerodynamics).

With engine lift, the aircraft defeats gravity by use of vertical thrust.

Examples of engine lift aircraft are rockets, and VTOL aircraft such as the Hawker-Siddeley Harrier.

Among aerodynamically lifted aircraft, most fall in the category of fixed-wing aircraft, where horizontal airfoils produce lift, by profiting from airflow patterns determined by Bernoulli’s equation and, to some extent, the Coanda effect..

Military aviation

Military aviation is used to attack or defend a country through the sky.

There are many types of military aircraft, but the basic types of military aircraft are bombers, fighters, Fighter bombers, Spotter planes, transports, patrol aircraft, trainers, and reconnaissance and observation aircraft..

Automotive aerodynamics

Automotive aerodynamics is the study of the aerodynamics of road vehicles.

The main concerns of automotive aerodynamics are reducing drag, reducing wind noise, and preventing undesired lift forces at high speeds.

For some classes of racing vehicles, it may also be important to produce desirable downwards aerodynamic forces to improve traction and thus cornering abilities..

Seaplane

A seaplane is an aircraft designed to take off and land (correctly, though less commonly termed, “alight”) upon water.

There are two types of seaplane: the floatplane and the flying boat.

A floatplane has slender pontoons mounted under the fuselage.

Two floats are common, but many float planes of World War II had a single float under the main fuselage and two small floats on the wings.

Only the “floats” of a floatplane normally come into contact with water.

The fuselage remains above water.

Some small land aircraft can be modified to become float planes.

In a flying boat, the main source of buoyancy is the fuselage, which acts much like a ship’s hull in the water.

Most flying boats have small floats mounted on their wings to keep them stable.

Seaplanes can only take off and land on water with little or no wave action and, like other aircraft, have trouble in extreme weather..

Jet engine

A jet engine is any engine that accelerates and discharges a fast moving jet of fluid to generate thrust in accordance with Newton’s third law of motion..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Traffic engineering is a branch of civil engineering that uses engineering techniques to achieve the safe and efficient movement of people and goods.It focuses mainly on research and construction of the immobile infrastructure necessary for this movement, such as roads, railway tracks, bridges, traffic signs and traffic lights.

Increasingly however, instead of building additional infrastructure, dynamic elements are also introduced into road traffic management.

These use sensors to measure traffic flows and automatic, interconnected guidance systems (for example traffic signs which open a lane in different directions depending on the time of day) to manage traffic especially in peak hours. The relationship between lane flow (Q) (vehicles per hour) maximum speed (V) (kilometers per hour) and density (K) (vehicles per kilometer) is Q = KV.

Observation on limited access facilities suggests that up to a maximum flow, speed does not decline while density increases, but above a critical threshold, increased density reduces speed, and beyond a further threshold, increased density reduces flow as well..

Civil engineering

In modern usage, civil engineering is a broad field of engineering that deals with the planning, construction, and maintenance of fixed structures, or public works, as they are related to earth, water, or civilization and their processes.

Most civil engineering today deals with power plants, bridges, roads, railways, structures, water supply, irrigation, environmental, sewer, flood control, transportation, telecommunications and traffic.

In essence, civil engineering may be regarded as the profession that makes the world a more agreeable place in which to live. Engineering has developed from observations of the ways natural and constructed systems react and from the development of empirical equations that provide bases for design.

Civil engineering is the broadest of the engineering fields, partly because it is the oldest of all engineering fields.

In fact, engineering was once divided into only two fields, military and civil.

Civil engineering is still an umbrella term, comprised of many related specialities..

Road-traffic safety

Road-traffic safety aims to reduce the harm (deaths, injuries, and property damage) resulting from crashes of road vehicles traveling on public roads.

Harm from road-traffic crashes is greater than that from all other transportation modes (air, sea, space, off-terrain, etc.) combined..

Transport

Transport or transportation is the movement of people, goods, signals and information.

The field of transport has several aspects: loosely they can be divided into a triad of infrastructure, vehicles, and operations..

Fluid dynamics

Fluid dynamics is the subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that studies fluids (liquids and gases) in motion.

The discipline has a number of subdisciplines, including aerodynamics (the study of gases) and hydrodynamics (the study of liquids)..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

The process of circuit design can cover systems ranging from national power grids all the way down to the individual transistors within an integrated circuit.For simple circuits the design process can often be done by one person without needing a planed or structured design process, but for more complex designs, teams of designers following a systematic approach with intelligently guided computer simulation are becoming increasingly common.

As circuit design is the process of working out the physical form that an electronic circuit will take, the result of the circuit design process is the instructions on how to construct the physical electronic circuit.

This will normally take the form of blueprints describing the size, shape, connectors, etc in use, and artwork or CAM file for manufacturing a printed circuit board or Integrated circuit..

Integrated circuit

A monolithic integrated circuit (IC) or often referred to as a microchip or simply chip is a miniaturized electronic circuit (consisting mainly of semiconductor devices, as well as passive components) which has been manufactured in the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material..

Construction

In project architecture and civil engineering, construction is the building or assembly of any infrastructure on a site or sites.

Although this may be thought of as a single activity, in fact construction is a feat of multitasking.

Normally the job is managed by the construction manager, supervised by the project manager, design engineer or project architect.

While these people work in offices, every construction project requires a large number of laborers, carpenters, and other skilled tradesmen to complete the physical task of construction. For the successful execution of a project effective planning is essential.

Those involved with the design and execution of the infrastructure in question must consider the environmental impact of the job, the successful scheduling, budgeting, site safety, availability of materials, logistics, inconvenience to the public caused by construction delays, preparing tender documents, etc..

Graph drawing

As a branch of graph theory, Graph drawing applies topology and geometry to derive two- and three-dimensional representations of graphs.

Graph drawing is motivated by applications such as VLSI circuit design, social network analysis, cartography, and bioinformatics.

Graphs are usually represented pictorially using dots to represent vertices, and arcs to represent the edges between connected vertices.

Arrows can be used to show the orientation of directed edges.

Note that this graphical representation (a graph layout or an embedding) should not be confused with the graph itself (the abstract, non-graphical structure)..

Electric power

Electric power is the amount of work done by an electric current in a unit time.

When a current flows in a circuit with resistance, it does work.

Devices can be made that convert this work into heat (electric heaters), light (light bulbs and neon lamps), or motion, i.e.

kinetic energy (electric motors)..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

A heat pump is a machine which moves heat from a low temperature reservoir to a higher temperature reservoir under supply of work..

Boiling point

The boiling point of a substance is the temperature at which it can change its state from a liquid to a gas throughout the bulk of the liquid.

A liquid may change to a gas at temperatures below the boiling point through the process of evaporation.

Any change of state from a liquid to a gas at boiling point is considered vaporization..

Air conditioning

An air conditioner (AC or air-con) is an appliance or mechanism designed to extract heat from an area using a refrigeration cycle.

In construction, a complete system of heating, ventilation and air conditioning is referred to as HVAC..

Heat

In physics, heat is a form of energy associated with the motion of atoms, molecules and other particles which comprise matter; generally defined as energy in motion.

The amount of heat exchanged by an object when its temperature varies by one degree is called heat capacity..

Power station

A power station or power plant is a facility for the generation of electric power.

At the centre of nearly all power stations is a generator, a rotating machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy by creating relative motion between a magnetic field and a conductor..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

An industrial robot is an automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose manipulator programmable in three or more axes.The field of industrial robotics may be more practically defined as the study, design and use of robot systems for manufacturing (a top-level definition relying on the prior definition of robot).

Typical applications of industrial robots include welding, painting, ironing, assembly, pick and place, palletizing, product inspection, and testing, all accomplished with high endurance, speed, and precision.

The most commonly used robot configurations for industrial automation, include articulated robots, SCARA robots and gantry robots.

In the context of general robotics, most types of industrial robots would fall into the category of robot arms..

Robot calibration

Robot calibration is the process of identifying the real geometrical parameters in the kinematic structure of an industrial robot, i.e., the relative position and orientation of links and joints in the robot.

A calibrated robot has a higher absolute positioning accuracy than an uncalibrated one, i.e., the real position of the robot end effector corresponds better to the position calculated from the mathematical model of the robot.

Absolute positioning accuracy is particularly releveant in connection with robot exchangability and off-line programming of precision applications.

Besides the calibration of the robot, the calibration of its tools and the workpieces it works with can minimize occurring inaccuracies and improve process security..

Robotic surgery

Robotic surgery is the use of robots in performing surgery.

Three major advances aided by surgical robots have been remote surgery, minimally invasive surgery, and unmanned surgery.

Major potential advantages of robotic surgery are precision and miniaturization.

Further advantages are articulation beyond normal manipulation and three-dimensional magnification.

Some surgical robots are autonomous, and they are not always under the control of a surgeon.

They are only sometimes used as tools to extend the surgical skills of a trained surgeon..

Nanorobotics

Nanorobotics is the technology of creating machines or robots at or close to the scale of a nanometre (10-9 metres).

More specifically, nanorobotics refers to the still largely theoretical nanotechnology engineering discipline of designing and building nanorobots.

Nanorobots (nanobots or nanoids) are typically devices ranging in size from 0.1-10 micrometres and constructed of nanoscale or molecular components.

As no artificial non-biological nanorobots have so far been created, they remain a hypothetical concept at this time.

Another definition sometimes used is a robot which allows precision interactions with nanoscale objects, or can manipulate with nanoscale resolution.

Following this definition even a large apparatus such as an atomic force microscope can be considered a nanorobotic instrument when configured to perform nanomanipulation.

Also, macroscale robots or microrobots which can move with nanoscale precision can also be considered nanorobots..

Humanoid robot

A humanoid robot is a robot with its overall appearance based on that of the human body.

In general humanoid robots have a torso with a head, two arms and two legs, although some forms of humanoid robots may model only part of the body, for example, from the waist up.

Some humanoid robots may also have a ‘face’, with ‘eyes’ and ‘mouth’.

Androids are humanoid robots built to resemble a male human, and Gynoids are humanoid robots built to resemble a human female..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Nanomedicine is the medical application of nanotechnology and related research.It covers areas such as nanoparticle drug delivery and possible future applications of molecular nanotechnology (MNT) and nanovaccinology..

Nanorobotics

Nanorobotics is the technology of creating machines or robots at or close to the scale of a nanometre (10-9 metres).

More specifically, nanorobotics refers to the still largely theoretical nanotechnology engineering discipline of designing and building nanorobots.

Nanorobots (nanobots or nanoids) are typically devices ranging in size from 0.1-10 micrometres and constructed of nanoscale or molecular components.

As no artificial non-biological nanorobots have so far been created, they remain a hypothetical concept at this time.

Another definition sometimes used is a robot which allows precision interactions with nanoscale objects, or can manipulate with nanoscale resolution.

Following this definition even a large apparatus such as an atomic force microscope can be considered a nanorobotic instrument when configured to perform nanomanipulation.

Also, macroscale robots or microrobots which can move with nanoscale precision can also be considered nanorobots..

Nanoparticle

A nanoparticle (or nanopowder or nanocluster or nanocrystal) is a microscopic particle with at least one dimension less than 100 nm.

Nanoparticle research is currently an area of intense scientific research, due to a wide variety of potential applications in biomedical, optical, and electronic fields. Nanoparticles are of great scientific interest as they are effectively a bridge between bulk materials and atomic or molecular structures.

A bulk material should have constant physical properties regardless of its size, but at the nano-scale this is often not the case.

Size-dependent properties are observed such as quantum confinement in semiconductor particles, surface plasmon resonance in some metal particles and superparamagnetism in magnetic materials. The properties of materials change as their size approaches the nanoscale and as the percentage of atoms at the surface of a material becomes significant.

For bulk materials larger than one micrometre the percentage of atoms at the surface is minuscule relative to the total number of atoms of the material.

The interesting and sometimes unexpected properties of nanoparticles are not partly due to the aspects of the surface of the material dominating the properties in lieu of the bulk properties. Nanoparticles exhibit a number of special properties relative to bulk material.

For example, the bending of bulk copper (wire, ribbon, etc.) occurs with movement of copper atoms/clusters at about the 50 nm scale.

Copper nanoparticles smaller than 50 nm are considered super hard materials that do not exhibit the same malleability and ductility as bulk copper.

The change in properties is not always desirable.

Ferroelectric materials smaller than 10 nm can switch their magnetisation direction using room temperature thermal energy, thus making them useless for memory storage.

Suspensions of nanoparticles are possible because the interaction of the particle surface with the solvent is strong enough to overcome differences in density, which usually result in a material either sinking or floating in a liquid.

Nanoparticles often have unexpected visible properties because they are small enough to confine their electrons and produce quantum effects.

For example gold nanoparticles appear deep red to black in solution. Nanoparticles have a very high surface area to volume ratio.

This provides a tremendous driving force for diffusion, especially at elevated temperatures.

Sintering can take place at lower temperatures, over shorter time scales than for larger particles.

This theoretically does not affect the density of the final product, though flow difficulties and the tendency of nanoparticles to agglomerate complicates matters.

The large surface area to volume ratio also reduces the incipient melting temperature of nanoparticles..

Heat shock protein

Heat shock proteins (HSP) are a group of proteins the expression of which is increased when the cells are exposed to elevated temperatures..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

A microchip is an identifying integrated circuit placed under the skin of a dog, cat, or other animal.The chips are about the size of a large grain of rice and are based on a passive RFID technology.

Microchips have been particularly useful in the return of lost pets..

Psychiatric service dog

A Psychiatric Service Dog is a dog that helps its handler, who has a mental (psychiatric) disability.

Examples of mental disabilities that sometimes qualify a person for a service dog include, but are not limited to: Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Autism, Anxiety Disorder, and Schizophrenia..

Hypoallergenic

Hypoallergenic is the characteristic of provoking fewer allergic reactions in allergy sufferers.

Hypoallergenic means to have a decreased tendency to cause allergies; hypo means less, not none.

Hypoallergenic pets still produce allergens, but because of their coat type or absence of fur, typically produce less than others of the same species.

People with severe allergies and asthma might still be affected by a hypoallergenic pet..

Spaying and neutering

Spaying and neutering are the respective surgical processes of female and male animal sterilization, to keep them from producing offspring.

Neutering is sometimes used to refer to the surgery in either males or females.

The process in males is also referred to as castration, or gelding..

Companion dog

Companion dog usually describes a dog that does not work, providing only companionship as a pet, rather than usefulness by doing specific tasks.

Many of the toy dog breeds are used only for the pleasure of their company, not as workers, but any dog can be a companion dog, and many working types such as retrievers are enjoyed in North America primarily for their friendly nature as a family pet..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine medical imaging technique which produces a three dimensional image or map of functional processes in the body.PET is both a medical and research tool.

It is used heavily in clinical oncology (medical imaging of tumors and the search for metastases), for clinical diagnosis of brain diseases such as dementias.

PET is also an important research tool to map human brain and heart function.

To conduct the scan, a short-lived radioactive tracer isotope which decays by emitting a positron, and which has been chemically incorporated into a metabolically active molecule, is injected into the living subject (usually into blood circulation).

There is a waiting period while the metabolically active molecule (most commonly fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), a sugar, for which the waiting period is typically an hour) becomes concentrated in tissues of interest; then the research subject or patient is placed in the imaging scanner..

Functional neuroimaging

Functional neuroimaging is the use of neuroimaging technology to measure an aspect of brain function, often with a view to understanding the relationship between activity in certain brain areas and specific mental functions.

It is primarily used as a research tool in cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology.

Common methods include positron emission tomography (PET), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), multichannel electroencephalography (EEG) or magnetoencephalography (MEG), and near infrared spectroscopic imaging (NIRSI).

PET, fMRI and NIRSI can measure localized changes in cerebral blood flow related to neural activity..

Bone scan

Bone imaging is a study to visually detect bone abnormalities.

Such imaging studies include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), X-ray computed tomography (CT) and especially nuclear medicine.

In the latter case the patient is injected with a small amount of radioactive material such as 600 MBq of technetium-99m-MDP and then scanned with a Gamma camera, a device sensitive to the radiation emitted by the injected material. About half of the radioactive material is localized by the bones.

The more active the bone turnover, the more radioactive material will be seen.

Some tumors, fractures and infections show up as areas of increased uptake.

Others can cause decreased uptake of radioactive material. About half of the radioactive material leaves the body through the kidneys and bladder in urine. The period from injection to completion can last over 4 hours.

Actual images are taken for about 30 to 70 minutes.

Sometimes late images are taken at 24 hours after injection. Pregnant patients should consult with a physician before consenting to radioactive injections..

Nuclear medicine

Nuclear medicine is a branch of medicine and medical imaging that uses unsealed radioactive substances in diagnosis and therapy.

These substances consist of radionuclides, or pharmaceuticals that have been labelled with radionuclides (radiopharmaceuticals).

In diagnosis, radioactive substances are administered to patients and the radiation emitted is measured..

Microchip implant (animal)

A microchip is an identifying integrated circuit placed under the skin of a dog, cat, or other animal.

The chips are about the size of a large grain of rice and are based on a passive RFID technology.

Microchips have been particularly useful in the return of lost pets..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Materials science is an interdisciplinary field involving the properties of matter and its applications to various areas of science and engineering.It includes elements of applied physics and chemistry, as well as chemical, mechanical, civil and electrical engineering.

With significant media attention to nanoscience and nanotechnology in the recent years, materials science has been propelled to the forefront at many universities, sometimes controversially.

In materials science, rather than haphazardly looking for and discovering materials and exploiting their properties, one instead aims to understand materials fundamentally so that new materials with the desired properties can be created.

The basis of all materials science involves relating the desired properties and relative performance of a material in a certain application to the structure of the atoms and phases in that material through characterization..

Metallurgy

Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and of materials engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements and their mixtures, which are called alloys..

Mechanical engineering

Mechanical engineering is a very broad field of engineering that involves the application of physical principles for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems..

Civil engineering

In modern usage, civil engineering is a broad field of engineering that deals with the planning, construction, and maintenance of fixed structures, or public works, as they are related to earth, water, or civilization and their processes.

Most civil engineering today deals with power plants, bridges, roads, railways, structures, water supply, irrigation, environmental, sewer, flood control, transportation, telecommunications and traffic.

In essence, civil engineering may be regarded as the profession that makes the world a more agreeable place in which to live. Engineering has developed from observations of the ways natural and constructed systems react and from the development of empirical equations that provide bases for design.

Civil engineering is the broadest of the engineering fields, partly because it is the oldest of all engineering fields.

In fact, engineering was once divided into only two fields, military and civil.

Civil engineering is still an umbrella term, comprised of many related specialities..

Hygroscopy

A hygroscopic substance is one that readily attracts water from its surroundings, through either absorption or adsorption.

Examples include honey, glycerin, ethanol, methanol, concentrated sulfuric acid, and concentrated sodium hydroxide (lye).

Calcium chloride is so hygroscopic that it eventually dissolves in the water it absorbs: this property is called deliquescence.

Materials and compounds exhibit different hygroscopic properties, and this difference can lead to detrimental effects, such as stress concentration in composite materials..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Forensic science (often shortened to forensics) is the application of a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to the legal system.This may be in relation to a crime or to a civil action.

The use of the term “forensics” in place of “forensic science” could be considered incorrect; the term “forensic” is effectively a synonym for “legal” or “related to courts.”.

Forensic toxicology

Forensic toxicology is the use of toxicology to aid medicolegal investigation of death and poisoning.

Many toxic substances do not produce characteristic lesions, so if a toxic reaction is suspected, visual investigation may not suffice..

Double blind

The double blind method is an important part of the scientific method, used to prevent research outcomes from being ‘influenced’ by the placebo effect or observer bias.

Blinded research is an important tool in many fields of research, from medicine, to psychology and the social sciences, to forensics.

Blinding is a basic tool to prevent conscious and unconscious bias in research..

Engineering geology

Engineering Geology is the application of the science of geology to the understanding of geologic phenomena and the engineering solution of geologic hazards and other geologic problems for society..

Psychopathology

Psychopathology is a term which refers to either the study of mental illness or mental distress or the manifestation of behaviours and experiences which may be indicative of mental illness or psychological impairment.

The many different professions may be involved in studying mental illness or distress.

Most notably, psychiatrists and clinical psychologists are particularly interested in this area and may either be involved in clinical treatment of mental illness, or research into the origin, development and manifestations of such states, or often, both.

More widely, many different specialties may be involved in the study of psychopathology.

For example, a neuroscientist may focus on brain changes related to mental illness.

Therefore, someone who is referred to as a psychopathologist, may be one of any number of professions who have specialised in studying this area. Psychiatrists in particular are interested in descriptive psychopathology, which has the aim of describing the symptoms and syndromes of mental illness.

This is both for the diagnosis of individual patients (to see whether the patient’s experience fits any pre-existing classification), or for the creation of diagnostic systems (such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) which define exactly which signs and symptoms should make up a diagnosis, and how experiences and behaviours should be grouped in particular diagnoses (e.g.

clinical depression, schizophrenia). Psychopathology is not the same as psychopathy, which has to do with antisocial personality disorders and criminality..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Mechanical engineering is a very broad field of engineering that involves the application of physical principles for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems..

Machine

A machine is any mechanical or organic device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of tasks.

It normally requires some energy source and accomplishes some sort of work.

Functioning physical machines are always less than 100% efficient..

Metallurgy

Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and of materials engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements and their mixtures, which are called alloys..

Circuit design

The process of circuit design can cover systems ranging from national power grids all the way down to the individual transistors within an integrated circuit.

For simple circuits the design process can often be done by one person without needing a planed or structured design process, but for more complex designs, teams of designers following a systematic approach with intelligently guided computer simulation are becoming increasingly common.

As circuit design is the process of working out the physical form that an electronic circuit will take, the result of the circuit design process is the instructions on how to construct the physical electronic circuit.

This will normally take the form of blueprints describing the size, shape, connectors, etc in use, and artwork or CAM file for manufacturing a printed circuit board or Integrated circuit..

Mechanics

Mechanics can be seen as the prime, and even as the original, discipline of physics.

It is a huge body of knowledge about the natural world.

It also constitutes a central part of technology..

Traffic engineering (transportation)

Traffic engineering is a branch of civil engineering that uses engineering techniques to achieve the safe and efficient movement of people and goods.

It focuses mainly on research and construction of the immobile infrastructure necessary for this movement, such as roads, railway tracks, bridges, traffic signs and traffic lights.

Increasingly however, instead of building additional infrastructure, dynamic elements are also introduced into road traffic management.

These use sensors to measure traffic flows and automatic, interconnected guidance systems (for example traffic signs which open a lane in different directions depending on the time of day) to manage traffic especially in peak hours. The relationship between lane flow (Q) (vehicles per hour) maximum speed (V) (kilometers per hour) and density (K) (vehicles per kilometer) is Q = KV.

Observation on limited access facilities suggests that up to a maximum flow, speed does not decline while density increases, but above a critical threshold, increased density reduces speed, and beyond a further threshold, increased density reduces flow as well..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

The process of circuit design can cover systems ranging from national power grids all the way down to the individual transistors within an integrated circuit.For simple circuits the design process can often be done by one person without needing a planed or structured design process, but for more complex designs, teams of designers following a systematic approach with intelligently guided computer simulation are becoming increasingly common.

As circuit design is the process of working out the physical form that an electronic circuit will take, the result of the circuit design process is the instructions on how to construct the physical electronic circuit.

This will normally take the form of blueprints describing the size, shape, connectors, etc in use, and artwork or CAM file for manufacturing a printed circuit board or Integrated circuit..

Integrated circuit

A monolithic integrated circuit (IC) or often referred to as a microchip or simply chip is a miniaturized electronic circuit (consisting mainly of semiconductor devices, as well as passive components) which has been manufactured in the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material..

Construction

In project architecture and civil engineering, construction is the building or assembly of any infrastructure on a site or sites.

Although this may be thought of as a single activity, in fact construction is a feat of multitasking.

Normally the job is managed by the construction manager, supervised by the project manager, design engineer or project architect.

While these people work in offices, every construction project requires a large number of laborers, carpenters, and other skilled tradesmen to complete the physical task of construction. For the successful execution of a project effective planning is essential.

Those involved with the design and execution of the infrastructure in question must consider the environmental impact of the job, the successful scheduling, budgeting, site safety, availability of materials, logistics, inconvenience to the public caused by construction delays, preparing tender documents, etc..

Graph drawing

As a branch of graph theory, Graph drawing applies topology and geometry to derive two- and three-dimensional representations of graphs.

Graph drawing is motivated by applications such as VLSI circuit design, social network analysis, cartography, and bioinformatics.

Graphs are usually represented pictorially using dots to represent vertices, and arcs to represent the edges between connected vertices.

Arrows can be used to show the orientation of directed edges.

Note that this graphical representation (a graph layout or an embedding) should not be confused with the graph itself (the abstract, non-graphical structure)..

Electric power

Electric power is the amount of work done by an electric current in a unit time.

When a current flows in a circuit with resistance, it does work.

Devices can be made that convert this work into heat (electric heaters), light (light bulbs and neon lamps), or motion, i.e.

kinetic energy (electric motors)..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM or LSCM) is a valuable tool for obtaining high resolution images and 3-D reconstructions.The key feature of confocal microscopy is its ability to produce blur-free images of thick specimens at various depths.

Images are taken point-by-point and reconstructed with a computer, rather than projected through an eyepiece.

The principle for this special kind of microscopy was developed by Marvin Minsky in 1953, but it took another thirty years and the development of lasers for confocal microscopy to become a standard technique toward the end of the 1980s..

Scanning electron microscope

The scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a type of electron microscope capable of producing high resolution images of a sample surface.

Due to the manner in which the image is created, SEM images have a characteristic three-dimensional appearance and are useful for judging the surface structure of the sample..

Electron microscope

The electron microscope is a type of microscope that uses electrons to create an image of the target.

It has much higher magnification or resolving power than a normal light microscope. Although modern electron microscopes can magnify objects up to two million times, they are still based upon Ruska’s prototype and his correlation between wavelength and resolution.

The electron microscope is an integral part of many laboratories.

Researchers use it to examine biological materials (such as microorganisms and cells), a variety of large molecules, medical biopsy samples, metals and crystalline structures, and the characteristics of various surfaces..

Spectroscopy

Spectroscopy is the study of spectra, that is, the dependence of physical quantities on frequency.

Spectroscopy is often used in physical and analytical chemistry for the identification of substances, through the spectrum emitted or absorbed..

Scanning tunneling microscope

The scanning tunneling microscope or STM, was invented in 1981 by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer of IBM’s Zurich Lab in Zurich, Switzerland.

t is used to obtain images of conductive surfaces at an atomic scale 2 x 10-10 m or 0.2 nanometre.

It can also be used to alter the observed material by manipulating individual atoms, triggering chemical reactions, and creating ions by removing individual electrons from atoms and then reverting them to atoms by replacing the electrons..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Tornadoes, cyclones, and other strong winds damage or destroy many buildings.Here are some architectural design considerations..

Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale is a scale classifying most Western Hemisphere tropical cyclones that exceed the levels of “tropical depression” and “tropical storm” and thereby become hurricanes..

Hurricane preparedness

Hurricane preparedness includes actions taken before a tropical cyclone strikes to mitigate the damage and personal danger such storms can cause.

Making existing structures earthquake resistant

Seismic retrofitting is the modification of existing structures to make them more resistant to seismic activity, ground motion, or soil failure due to earthquakes.

Seismic retrofit techniques will vary with the nature of the structure, soil conditions, local topography, and distance from various faults.

A nearby minor fault, capable of generating only a small earthquake, may be more dangerous to a structure than a distant major fault.

In some cases, structures have been built spanning faults, and an appropriate retrofit may be to attempt to keep the portions together or to remove or make a spanning portion flexible..

Fujita scale

The Fujita scale (F-Scale), or Fujita-Pearson scale, rates a tornado’s intensity by the damage it inflicts on human-built structures and sometimes on vegetation..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Engineering Geology is the application of the science of geology to the understanding of geologic phenomena and the engineering solution of geologic hazards and other geologic problems for society..

Geotechnical engineering

Geotechnical engineering is concerned with the engineering properties of earth materials.

Geotechnical engineers investigate the soil and bedrock below a site to confirm their engineering properties as they will relate to the proposed costruction..

Traffic engineering (transportation)

Traffic engineering is a branch of civil engineering that uses engineering techniques to achieve the safe and efficient movement of people and goods.

It focuses mainly on research and construction of the immobile infrastructure necessary for this movement, such as roads, railway tracks, bridges, traffic signs and traffic lights.

Increasingly however, instead of building additional infrastructure, dynamic elements are also introduced into road traffic management.

These use sensors to measure traffic flows and automatic, interconnected guidance systems (for example traffic signs which open a lane in different directions depending on the time of day) to manage traffic especially in peak hours. The relationship between lane flow (Q) (vehicles per hour) maximum speed (V) (kilometers per hour) and density (K) (vehicles per kilometer) is Q = KV.

Observation on limited access facilities suggests that up to a maximum flow, speed does not decline while density increases, but above a critical threshold, increased density reduces speed, and beyond a further threshold, increased density reduces flow as well..

Earthquake liquefaction

Earthquake liquefaction, often referred to simply as liquefaction, is the process by which saturated, unconsolidated soil or sand is converted into a suspension during an earthquake.

The effect on structures and buildings can be devastating, and is a major contributor to urban seismic risk.

Ancient earthquakes have caused liquefaction, leaving a record in the sediments (paleoseismology)..

Geologic fault

Geologic faults or simply faults are planar rock fractures which show evidence of relative movement.

Large faults within the Earth’s crust are the result of shear motion and active fault zones are the causal locations of most earthquakes.

Earthquakes are caused by energy release during rapid slippage along faults..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Forensic science (often shortened to forensics) is the application of a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to the legal system.This may be in relation to a crime or to a civil action.

The use of the term “forensics” in place of “forensic science” could be considered incorrect; the term “forensic” is effectively a synonym for “legal” or “related to courts.”

Forensic toxicology

Forensic toxicology is the use of toxicology to aid medicolegal investigation of death and poisoning.

Many toxic substances do not produce characteristic lesions, so if a toxic reaction is suspected, visual investigation may not suffice..

Double blind

The double blind method is an important part of the scientific method, used to prevent research outcomes from being ‘influenced’ by the placebo effect or observer bias.

Blinded research is an important tool in many fields of research, from medicine, to psychology and the social sciences, to forensics.

Blinding is a basic tool to prevent conscious and unconscious bias in research..

Engineering geology

Engineering Geology is the application of the science of geology to the understanding of geologic phenomena and the engineering solution of geologic hazards and other geologic problems for society..

Psychopathology

Psychopathology is a term which refers to either the study of mental illness or mental distress or the manifestation of behaviours and experiences which may be indicative of mental illness or psychological impairment.

The many different professions may be involved in studying mental illness or distress.

Most notably, psychiatrists and clinical psychologists are particularly interested in this area and may either be involved in clinical treatment of mental illness, or research into the origin, development and manifestations of such states, or often, both.

More widely, many different specialties may be involved in the study of psychopathology.

For example, a neuroscientist may focus on brain changes related to mental illness.

Therefore, someone who is referred to as a psychopathologist, may be one of any number of professions who have specialised in studying this area. Psychiatrists in particular are interested in descriptive psychopathology, which has the aim of describing the symptoms and syndromes of mental illness.

This is both for the diagnosis of individual patients (to see whether the patient’s experience fits any pre-existing classification), or for the creation of diagnostic systems (such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) which define exactly which signs and symptoms should make up a diagnosis, and how experiences and behaviours should be grouped in particular diagnoses (e.g.

clinical depression, schizophrenia). Psychopathology is not the same as psychopathy, which has to do with antisocial personality disorders and criminality..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

An aircraft is any machine capable of atmospheric flight.A first division by design among aircraft is between lighter-than-air, aerostat, and heavier-than-air aircraft, aerodyne.

Examples of lighter-than-air aircraft include non-steerable balloons, such as hot air balloons and gas balloons, and steerable airships (sometimes called dirigible balloons) such as blimps (that have non-rigid construction) and rigid airships that have an internal frame.

In heavier-than-air aircraft, there are two ways to produce lift: aerodynamic lift and engine lift.

In the case of aerodynamic lift, the aircraft is kept in the air by wings or rotors (see aerodynamics).

With engine lift, the aircraft defeats gravity by use of vertical thrust.

Examples of engine lift aircraft are rockets, and VTOL aircraft such as the Hawker-Siddeley Harrier.

Among aerodynamically lifted aircraft, most fall in the category of fixed-wing aircraft, where horizontal airfoils produce lift, by profiting from airflow patterns determined by Bernoulli’s equation and, to some extent, the Coanda effect..

Military aviation

Military aviation is used to attack or defend a country through the sky.

There are many types of military aircraft, but the basic types of military aircraft are bombers, fighters, Fighter bombers, Spotter planes, transports, patrol aircraft, trainers, and reconnaissance and observation aircraft..

Automotive aerodynamics

Automotive aerodynamics is the study of the aerodynamics of road vehicles.

The main concerns of automotive aerodynamics are reducing drag, reducing wind noise, and preventing undesired lift forces at high speeds.

For some classes of racing vehicles, it may also be important to produce desirable downwards aerodynamic forces to improve traction and thus cornering abilities..

Seaplane

A seaplane is an aircraft designed to take off and land (correctly, though less commonly termed, “alight”) upon water.

There are two types of seaplane: the floatplane and the flying boat.

A floatplane has slender pontoons mounted under the fuselage.

Two floats are common, but many float planes of World War II had a single float under the main fuselage and two small floats on the wings.

Only the “floats” of a floatplane normally come into contact with water.

The fuselage remains above water.

Some small land aircraft can be modified to become float planes.

In a flying boat, the main source of buoyancy is the fuselage, which acts much like a ship’s hull in the water.

Most flying boats have small floats mounted on their wings to keep them stable.

Seaplanes can only take off and land on water with little or no wave action and, like other aircraft, have trouble in extreme weather..

Jet engine

A jet engine is any engine that accelerates and discharges a fast moving jet of fluid to generate thrust in accordance with Newton’s third law of motion..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Automotive aerodynamics is the study of the aerodynamics of road vehicles.The main concerns of automotive aerodynamics are reducing drag, reducing wind noise, and preventing undesired lift forces at high speeds.

For some classes of racing vehicles, it may also be important to produce desirable downwards aerodynamic forces to improve traction and thus cornering abilities..

Aerodynamics

Aerodynamics (shaping of objects that affect the flow of air, liquid or gas) is a branch of fluid dynamics concerned with the study of forces and gas flows.

The solution of an aerodynamic problem normally involves calculating for various properties of the flow, such as velocity, pressure, density, and temperature, as a function of space and time.

Understanding the flow pattern makes it possible to calculate or approximate the forces and moments acting on bodies in the flow.

This mathematical analysis and empirical approximation form the scientific basis for heavier-than-air flight..

Drag (physics)

For a solid object moving through a fluid or gas, drag is the sum of all the aerodynamic or hydrodynamic forces in the direction of the external fluid flow.

It therefore acts to oppose the motion of the object, and in a powered vehicle it is overcome by thrust..

Fluid dynamics

Fluid dynamics is the subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that studies fluids (liquids and gases) in motion.

The discipline has a number of subdisciplines, including aerodynamics (the study of gases) and hydrodynamics (the study of liquids)..

Automobile emissions control

Automobile emissions control covers all the technologies that are employed to reduce the air pollution-causing emissions produced by automobiles..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Solar panels are devices for capturing the energy in sunlight.The term solar panel can be applied to either solar hot water panels (usually used for providing domestic hot water) or solar photovoltaic panels (providing electricity)..

Biomass

Biomass is organic non-fossil material, collectively.

In other words, ‘biomass’ describes the mass of all biological organisms, dead or alive, excluding biological mass that has been transformed by geological processes into substances such as coal or petroleum..

Electricity generation

Electricity generation is the first process in the delivery of electricity to consumers.

The other three processes are electric power transmission, electricity distribution and electricity retailing.

The demand for electricity can be met in two different ways.

The primary method thus far has been for public or private utilities to construct large scale centralized projects to generate and transmit the electricity required to fuel economies.

Many of these projects have caused unpleasant environmental effects such as air or radiation pollution and the flooding of large areas of land. Distributed generation creates power on a smaller scale at locations throughout the electricity network.

Often these sites generate electricity as a byproduct of other industrial processes such as using gas from landfills to drive turbines..

Power station

A power station or power plant is a facility for the generation of electric power.

At the centre of nearly all power stations is a generator, a rotating machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy by creating relative motion between a magnetic field and a conductor..

Solar radiation

Solar radiation is radiant energy emitted by the sun, particularly electromagnetic energy.

About half of the radiation is in the visible short-wave part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

The other half is mostly in the near-infrared part, with some in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum [1].

The portion of this ultraviolet radiation that is not absorbed by the atmosphere produces a suntan or a sunburn on people who have been in sunlight for extended periods of time..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons, primarily coal, fuel oil or natural gas, formed from the remains of dead plants and animals.In common dialogue, the term fossil fuel also includes hydrocarbon-containing natural resources that are not derived from animal or plant sources.

These are sometimes known instead as mineral fuels.

The utilization of fossil fuels has enabled large-scale industrial development and largely supplanted water-driven mills, as well as the combustion of wood or peat for heat.

Fossil fuel is a general term for buried combustible geologic deposits of organic materials, formed from decayed plants and animals that have been converted to crude oil, coal, natural gas, or heavy oils by exposure to heat and pressure in the earth’s crust over hundreds of millions of years.

The burning of fossil fuels by humans is the largest source of emissions of carbon dioxide, which is one of the greenhouse gases that allows radiative forcing and contributes to global warming.

A small portion of hydrocarbon-based fuels are biofuels derived from atmospheric carbon dioxide, and thus do not increase the net amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere..

Hydrocarbon

In chemistry, a hydrocarbon is any chemical compound that consists only of the elements carbon (C) and hydrogen (H).

They all contain a carbon backbone, called a carbon skeleton, and have hydrogen atoms attached to that backbone..

Combustion

Combustion or burning is a complex sequence of chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat or both heat and light in the form of either a glow or flames.

Rapid combustion is a form of combustion in which large amounts of heat and light energy are released.

This often occurs as a fire.

This is used in a form of machinery, such as internal combustion engines, and in thermobaric weapons.

Combustion is double replacement, on the other hand a chemical reaction is single replacement.

Slow combustion is a form of combustion which takes place at low temperatures.

Respiration is an example of slow combustion..

Power station

A power station or power plant is a facility for the generation of electric power.

At the centre of nearly all power stations is a generator, a rotating machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy by creating relative motion between a magnetic field and a conductor..

Coal

Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by underground mining or open-pit mining (strip mining).

It is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock.

Often associated with the Industrial Revolution, coal remains an enormously important fuel and is the largest single source of electricity world-wide.

In the United States, for example, the burning of coal generates 50% of the electricity consumed..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Nuclear fission is a process in nuclear physics in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei as fission products, and usually some by-product particles.Hence, fission is a form of elemental transmutation.

The by-products include free neutrons, photons usually in the form gamma rays, and other nuclear fragments such as beta particles and alpha particles.

Fission of heavy elements is an exothermic reaction and can release substantial amounts of useful energy both as gamma rays and as kinetic energy of the fragments (heating the bulk material where fission takes place).

Nuclear fission produces energy for nuclear power and to drive explosion of nuclear weapons..

Nuclear reaction

In nuclear physics, a nuclear reaction is a process in which two nuclei or nuclear particles collide, to produce different products than the initial particles.

In principle a reaction can involve more than two particles colliding, but such an event is exceptionally rare.

If the particles collide and separate without changing, the process is called an elastic collision rather than a reaction.

A nuclear reaction can be represented by an equation similar to a chemical equation, and balanced in an analogous manner.

Nuclear decays can be represented in the same way..

Radioactive decay

Radioactive decay is the set of various processes by which unstable atomic nuclei (nuclides) emit subatomic particles (radiation).

Decay is said to occur in the parent nucleus and produces a daughter nucleus.

This is a random process, i.e.

it is impossible to predict the decay of individual atoms..

Isotope

Isotopes are forms of an element whose nuclei have the same atomic number–-the number of protons in the nucleus–but different mass numbers because they contain different numbers of neutrons..

Nuclear power plant

A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. Nuclear power plants are base load stations, which work best when the power output is constant (although boiling water reactors can come down to half power at night).

Their units range in power from about 40 MWe to over 1200 MWe.

New units under construction in 2005 are typically in the range 600-1200 MWe.

As of 2006 there are 442 licensed nuclear power reactors in operation in the world, operating in 31 different countries.

Together they produce about 17% of the world’s electric power..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

A fuel cell is an electrochemical device similar to a battery, but differing from the latter in that it is designed for continuous replenishment of the reactants consumed; i.e.it produces electricity from an external fuel supply of hydrogen and oxygen as opposed to the limited internal energy storage capacity of a battery..

Biomass

Biomass is organic non-fossil material, collectively.

In other words, ‘biomass’ describes the mass of all biological organisms, dead or alive, excluding biological mass that has been transformed by geological processes into substances such as coal or petroleum..

Propellant

A propellant is a material that is used to move an object by applying a motive force.

This may or may not involve a chemical reaction.

It may be a gas, liquid, plasma, or, before the chemical reaction, a solid.

Common chemical propellants consist of a fuel, like gasoline, jet fuel and rocket fuel, and an oxidizer.

In aerosol spray cans, the propellant is simply a pressurized vapour in equilibrium with its liquid.

As some gas escapes to expel the payload, more liquid evaporates, maintaining an even pressure..

Catalysis

In chemistry and biology, catalysis is the acceleration (increase in rate) of a chemical reaction by means of a substance, called a catalyst, that is itself not consumed by the overall reaction.

A catalyst decreases the activation energy of a chemical reaction.

Catalysts participate in reactions but are neither reactants nor products of the reaction they catalyze.

An exception is the process of autocatalysis where the product of a reaction helps to accelerate the same reaction.

They work by providing an alternative pathway for the reaction to occur, thus reducing the activation energy and increasing the reaction rate..

Alternative fuel vehicle

Alternative Fuel Vehicle refers to a vehicle that runs on a fuel other than traditional gasoline or diesel; any method of powering an engine that does not involve petroleum.

Due to a combination of heavy taxes on fuel, particularly in Europe, tightening environmental laws, particularly in California, and the possibility of further restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions, work on alternative power systems for vehicles has become a high priority for governments and vehicle manufacturers around the world. Current research and development is largely centered on “hybrid” vehicles that use both electric power and internal combustion.

Other R&D efforts in alternative forms of power focus on developing fuel cells, alternative forms of combustion such as GDI and HCCI, and even the stored energy of compressed air. The use of alcohol as a fuel for internal combustion engines, either alone or in combination with other fuels, has been given much attention mostly because of its possible environmental and long-term economical advantages over fossil fuel. Both ethanol and methanol have been considered for this purpose.

While both can be obtained from petroleum or natural gas, ethanol may be the most interesting because many believe it to be a renewable resource, easily obtained from sugar or starch in crops and other agricultural produce such as grain, sugarcane or even lactose.

Since ethanol occurs in nature whenever yeast happens to find a sugar solution such as overripe fruit, most organisms have evolved some tolerance to ethanol, whereas methanol is toxic.

Other experiments involve butanol, which can also be produced by fermentation of plants. A hybrid vehicle uses multiple propulsion systems to provide motive power.

This most commonly refers to gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, which use gasoline (petrol) and electric batteries for the energy used to power internal-combustion engines and electric motors.

These powerplants are usually relatively small and would be considered “underpowered” by themselves, but they can provide a normal driving experience when used in combination during acceleration and other maneuvers that require greater power. A hydrogen car is an automobile which uses hydrogen as its primary source of power for locomotion.

These cars generally use the hydrogen in one of two methods: combustion or fuel-cell conversion.

In combustion, the hydrogen is “burned” in engines in fundamentally the same method as traditional gasoline cars.

In fuel-cell conversion, the hydrogen is turned into electricity through fuel cells which then powers electric motors.

With either method, the only byproduct from the spent hydrogen is water.

A small number of prototype hydrogen cars currently exist, and a significant amount of research is underway to make the technology more viable.

A solar car is an electric vehicle powered by solar energy obtained from solar panels on the car.

Solar cars are not a practical form of transportation; insufficient power falls on the roof of a practically sized and shaped vehicle to provide adequate performance..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons, primarily coal, fuel oil or natural gas, formed from the remains of dead plants and animals.In common dialogue, the term fossil fuel also includes hydrocarbon-containing natural resources that are not derived from animal or plant sources.

These are sometimes known instead as mineral fuels.

The utilization of fossil fuels has enabled large-scale industrial development and largely supplanted water-driven mills, as well as the combustion of wood or peat for heat.

Fossil fuel is a general term for buried combustible geologic deposits of organic materials, formed from decayed plants and animals that have been converted to crude oil, coal, natural gas, or heavy oils by exposure to heat and pressure in the earth’s crust over hundreds of millions of years.

The burning of fossil fuels by humans is the largest source of emissions of carbon dioxide, which is one of the greenhouse gases that allows radiative forcing and contributes to global warming.

A small portion of hydrocarbon-based fuels are biofuels derived from atmospheric carbon dioxide, and thus do not increase the net amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere..

Hydrocarbon

In chemistry, a hydrocarbon is any chemical compound that consists only of the elements carbon (C) and hydrogen (H).

They all contain a carbon backbone, called a carbon skeleton, and have hydrogen atoms attached to that backbone..

Combustion

Combustion or burning is a complex sequence of chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat or both heat and light in the form of either a glow or flames.

Rapid combustion is a form of combustion in which large amounts of heat and light energy are released.

This often occurs as a fire.

This is used in a form of machinery, such as internal combustion engines, and in thermobaric weapons.

Combustion is double replacement, on the other hand a chemical reaction is single replacement.

Slow combustion is a form of combustion which takes place at low temperatures.

Respiration is an example of slow combustion..

Power station

A power station or power plant is a facility for the generation of electric power.

At the centre of nearly all power stations is a generator, a rotating machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy by creating relative motion between a magnetic field and a conductor..

Coal

Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by underground mining or open-pit mining (strip mining).

It is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock.

Often associated with the Industrial Revolution, coal remains an enormously important fuel and is the largest single source of electricity world-wide.

In the United States, for example, the burning of coal generates 50% of the electricity consumed..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Electric power is the amount of work done by an electric current in a unit time.When a current flows in a circuit with resistance, it does work.Devices can be made that convert this work into heat (electric heaters), light (light bulbs and neon lamps), or motion, i.e.

kinetic energy (electric motors)..

Volt

The volt (symbol: V) is the SI derived unit of electric potential difference.

The number of volts is a measure of the strength of an electrical source in the sense of how much power is produced for a given current level..

Electricity

Electricity is a property of matter that results from the presence or movement of electric charge.

Together with magnetism, it constitutes the fundamental interaction known as electromagnetism.

Electricity is responsible for many well-known physical phenomena such as lightning, electric fields and electric currents, and is put to use in industrial applications such as electronics and electric power..

Capacitor

A capacitor is an electrical device that can store energy in the electric field between a pair of closely spaced conductors (called ‘plates’).

When voltage is applied to the capacitor, electric charges of equal magnitude, but opposite polarity, build up on each plate.

Capacitors are used in electrical circuits as energy-storage devices.

They can also be used to differentiate between high-frequency and low-frequency signals and this makes them useful in electronic filters..

Torque

In physics, torque can informally be thought of as “rotational force” or “angular force” which causes a change in rotational motion.

This force is defined by linear force multiplied by a radius.

The SI units for Torque are newton metres.

In the U.S., foot-pounds force are also commonly encountered.

The concept of torque, also called moment or couple, originated with the work of Archimedes on levers.

The rotational analogues of force, mass, and acceleration are torque, moment of inertia, and angular acceleration respectively.

The force applied to a lever, multiplied by its distance from the lever’s fulcrum, is the torque.

For example, a force of three newtons applied two metres from the fulcrum exerts the same torque as one newton applied six metres from the fulcrum.

This assumes the force is in a direction at right angles to the straight lever..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Distributed generation is a new trend in the generation of heat and electrical power.The concept permits the “consumer”, who is generating heat or electricity for their own needs, to send their surplus electrical power back into the power grid or share excess heat via a distributed heating grid..

Power station

A power station or power plant is a facility for the generation of electric power.
At the centre of nearly all power stations is a generator, a rotating machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy by creating relative motion between a magnetic field and a conductor..

Biomass

Biomass is organic non-fossil material, collectively.In other words, ‘biomass’ describes the mass of all biological organisms, dead or alive, excluding biological mass that has been transformed by geological processes into substances such as coal or petroleum..

Geothermal power

Geothermal power is the use of geothermal heat for electricity generation.

It is often referred to as a form of renewable energy, but because the heat at any location can eventually be depleted it technically may not be strictly renewable..

Electricity generation

Electricity generation is the first process in the delivery of electricity to consumers.

The other three processes are electric power transmission, electricity distribution and electricity retailing.

The demand for electricity can be met in two different ways.

The primary method thus far has been for public or private utilities to construct large scale centralized projects to generate and transmit the electricity required to fuel economies.

Many of these projects have caused unpleasant environmental effects such as air or radiation pollution and the flooding of large areas of land. Distributed generation creates power on a smaller scale at locations throughout the electricity network.

Often these sites generate electricity as a byproduct of other industrial processes such as using gas from landfills to drive turbines..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

In science and technology, a battery is a device that stores chemical energy and makes it available in an electrical form.It consists of one or more voltaic cells, each of which is composed of two half cells connected in series by the conductive electrolyte.

Even if never taken out of the original package, disposable (or “primary”) batteries can lose two to twenty-five percent of their original charge every year..

Volt

The volt (symbol: V) is the SI derived unit of electric potential difference.

The number of volts is a measure of the strength of an electrical source in the sense of how much power is produced for a given current level..

Alternative fuel vehicle

Alternative Fuel Vehicle refers to a vehicle that runs on a fuel other than traditional gasoline or diesel; any method of powering an engine that does not involve petroleum.

Due to a combination of heavy taxes on fuel, particularly in Europe, tightening environmental laws, particularly in California, and the possibility of further restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions, work on alternative power systems for vehicles has become a high priority for governments and vehicle manufacturers around the world. Current research and development is largely centered on “hybrid” vehicles that use both electric power and internal combustion.

Other R&D efforts in alternative forms of power focus on developing fuel cells, alternative forms of combustion such as GDI and HCCI, and even the stored energy of compressed air. The use of alcohol as a fuel for internal combustion engines, either alone or in combination with other fuels, has been given much attention mostly because of its possible environmental and long-term economical advantages over fossil fuel. Both ethanol and methanol have been considered for this purpose.

While both can be obtained from petroleum or natural gas, ethanol may be the most interesting because many believe it to be a renewable resource, easily obtained from sugar or starch in crops and other agricultural produce such as grain, sugarcane or even lactose.

Since ethanol occurs in nature whenever yeast happens to find a sugar solution such as overripe fruit, most organisms have evolved some tolerance to ethanol, whereas methanol is toxic.

Other experiments involve butanol, which can also be produced by fermentation of plants. A hybrid vehicle uses multiple propulsion systems to provide motive power.

This most commonly refers to gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, which use gasoline (petrol) and electric batteries for the energy used to power internal-combustion engines and electric motors.

These powerplants are usually relatively small and would be considered “underpowered” by themselves, but they can provide a normal driving experience when used in combination during acceleration and other maneuvers that require greater power. A hydrogen car is an automobile which uses hydrogen as its primary source of power for locomotion.

These cars generally use the hydrogen in one of two methods: combustion or fuel-cell conversion.

In combustion, the hydrogen is “burned” in engines in fundamentally the same method as traditional gasoline cars.

In fuel-cell conversion, the hydrogen is turned into electricity through fuel cells which then powers electric motors.

With either method, the only byproduct from the spent hydrogen is water.

A small number of prototype hydrogen cars currently exist, and a significant amount of research is underway to make the technology more viable.

A solar car is an electric vehicle powered by solar energy obtained from solar panels on the car.

Solar cars are not a practical form of transportation; insufficient power falls on the roof of a practically sized and shaped vehicle to provide adequate performance..

Electricity

Electricity is a property of matter that results from the presence or movement of electric charge.

Together with magnetism, it constitutes the fundamental interaction known as electromagnetism.

Electricity is responsible for many well-known physical phenomena such as lightning, electric fields and electric currents, and is put to use in industrial applications such as electronics and electric power..

Fuel cell

A fuel cell is an electrochemical device similar to a battery, but differing from the latter in that it is designed for continuous replenishment of the reactants consumed; i.e.

it produces electricity from an external fuel supply of hydrogen and oxygen as opposed to the limited internal energy storage capacity of a battery..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Biomass is organic non-fossil material, collectively.In other words, ‘biomass’ describes the mass of all biological organisms, dead or alive, excluding biological mass that has been transformed by geological processes into substances such as coal or petroleum..

Biomass (ecology)

In ecology, biomass refers to the cumulation of living matter.

That is, it is the total living biological material in a given area or of a biological community or group..

Power station

A power station or power plant is a facility for the generation of electric power.

At the centre of nearly all power stations is a generator, a rotating machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy by creating relative motion between a magnetic field and a conductor..

Electricity generation

Electricity generation is the first process in the delivery of electricity to consumers.

The other three processes are electric power transmission, electricity distribution and electricity retailing.

The demand for electricity can be met in two different ways.

The primary method thus far has been for public or private utilities to construct large scale centralized projects to generate and transmit the electricity required to fuel economies.

Many of these projects have caused unpleasant environmental effects such as air or radiation pollution and the flooding of large areas of land. Distributed generation creates power on a smaller scale at locations throughout the electricity network.

Often these sites generate electricity as a byproduct of other industrial processes such as using gas from landfills to drive turbines..

Distributed generation

Distributed generation is a new trend in the generation of heat and electrical power.

The concept permits the “consumer”, who is generating heat or electricity for their own needs, to send their surplus electrical power back into the power grid or share excess heat via a distributed heating grid..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Electricity is a property of matter that results from the presence or movement of electric charge.Together with magnetism, it constitutes the fundamental interaction known as electromagnetism.

Electricity is responsible for many well-known physical phenomena such as lightning, electric fields and electric currents, and is put to use in industrial applications such as electronics and electric power..

Electric power

Electric power is the amount of work done by an electric current in a unit time.When a current flows in a circuit with resistance, it does work.

Devices can be made that convert this work into heat (electric heaters), light (light bulbs and neon lamps), or motion, i.e.

kinetic energy (electric motors)..

Volt

The volt (symbol: V) is the SI derived unit of electric potential difference.

The number of volts is a measure of the strength of an electrical source in the sense of how much power is produced for a given current level..

Capacitor

A capacitor is an electrical device that can store energy in the electric field between a pair of closely spaced conductors (called ‘plates’).

When voltage is applied to the capacitor, electric charges of equal magnitude, but opposite polarity, build up on each plate.

Capacitors are used in electrical circuits as energy-storage devices.

They can also be used to differentiate between high-frequency and low-frequency signals and this makes them useful in electronic filters..

Torque

In physics, torque can informally be thought of as “rotational force” or “angular force” which causes a change in rotational motion.

This force is defined by linear force multiplied by a radius.

The SI units for Torque are newton metres.

In the U.S., foot-pounds force are also commonly encountered.

The concept of torque, also called moment or couple, originated with the work of Archimedes on levers.

The rotational analogues of force, mass, and acceleration are torque, moment of inertia, and angular acceleration respectively.

The force applied to a lever, multiplied by its distance from the lever’s fulcrum, is the torque.

For example, a force of three newtons applied two metres from the fulcrum exerts the same torque as one newton applied six metres from the fulcrum.

This assumes the force is in a direction at right angles to the straight lever..

Electrical phenomena

Electrical phenomena are commonplace and unusual events that can be observed which illuminate the principles of the physics of electricity and are explained by them.

Electrical phenomena are a somewhat arbitrary division of electromagnetic phenomena..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

In physics, heat is a form of energy associated with the motion of atoms, molecules and other particles which comprise matter; generally defined as energy in motion.The amount of heat exchanged by an object when its temperature varies by one degree is called heat capacity..

Heat pump

A heat pump is a machine which moves heat from a low temperature reservoir to a higher temperature reservoir under supply of work..

Boiling point

The boiling point of a substance is the temperature at which it can change its state from a liquid to a gas throughout the bulk of the liquid.

A liquid may change to a gas at temperatures below the boiling point through the process of evaporation.

Any change of state from a liquid to a gas at boiling point is considered vaporization..

Temperature

Temperature is the physical property of a system which underlies the common notions of “hot” and “cold”; the material with the higher temperature is said to be hotter.

Physically, temperature is a measure of the random agitation of matter and ambient photons, under the effect of thermal fluctuations..

Kinetic energy

Kinetic energy is energy that a body possess as a result of its motion.

Kinetic energy as it is mathematically written is the “classic statement” of: Kinetic energy is equal to half the mass of an object times its velocity squared..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Denaturation is the alteration of a protein shape through some form of external stress (for example, by applying heat, acid or alkali), in such a way that it will no longer be able to carry out its cellular function.Denatured proteins can exhibit a wide range of characteristics, from loss of solubility to communal aggregation.

Proteins are very long strands of amino acids linked together in specific sequences.

A protein is created by ribosomes that “read” codons in the gene and assemble the requisite amino acid combination from the genetic instruction, in a process known as translation.

The newly created protein strand then undergoes post-translational modification in which additional atoms or molecules are added, for example copper, zinc, iron.

Once this post-translational modification process has been completed, the protein begins to fold (spontaneously, and sometimes with enzymatic assistance), curling up on itself so that hydrophobic elements of the protein are buried deep inside the structure and hydrophilic elements end up on the outside.

The final shape of a protein determines how it interacts with its environment..

Protein folding

Protein folding is the process by which a protein structure assumes its functional shape or conformation.

All protein molecules are heterogeneous unbranched chains of amino acids.

By coiling and folding into a specific three-dimensional shape they are able to perform their biological function..

Protein structure

Proteins, similar to carbohydrates and lipids, are made up of such elements as carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

They are amino acid chains, made up from 20 different L-alpha-amino acids, also referred to as residues, that fold into unique three-dimensional protein structures.

The shape in which a protein naturally folds is known as its native state, which is determined by its sequence of amino acids.

Under 40 residues the term peptide is frequently used.

A certain number of residues is necessary to perform a particular biochemical function, and around 40-50 residues appears to be the lower limit for a functional domain size.

Protein sizes range from this lower limit to several thousand residues in multi-functional or structural proteins.

However, the current estimate for the average protein length is around 300 residues.

Very large aggregates can be formed from protein subunits, for example many thousand actin molecules assemble into an actin filament.

Large protein complexes with RNA are found in the ribosome particles, which are in fact ‘ribozymes’..

Protein biosynthesis

Protein biosynthesis (Synthesis) is the process in which cells build proteins.

The term is sometimes used to refer only to protein translation but more often it refers to a multi-step process, beginning with amino acid synthesis and transcription which are then used for translation.

Protein biosynthesis, although very similar, differs between prokaryotes and eukaryotes.

The events following biosynthesis include post-translational modification and protein folding.

During and after synthesis, polypeptide chains often fold to assume, so called, native secondary and tertiary structures.

This is known as protein folding. Amino acids are the monomers which are polymerized to produce proteins.

Amino acid synthesis is the set of biochemical processes (metabolic pathways) which build the amino acids from carbon sources like glucose.

Not all amino acids may be synthesised by every organism, for example adult humans have to obtain 8 of the 20 amino acids from their diet. The amino acids are then loaded onto tRNA molecules for use in the process of translation..

Heat shock protein

Heat shock proteins (HSP) are a group of proteins the expression of which is increased when the cells are exposed to elevated temperatures..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

A chemical compound is a chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemically bonded chemical elements, with a fixed ratio determining the composition.The ratio of each element is usually expressed by chemical formula.

For example, water (H2O) is a compound consisting of two hydrogen atoms bonded to an oxygen atom. The atoms within a compound can be held together by a variety of interactions, ranging from covalent bonds to electrostatic forces in ionic bonds.

A continuum of bond polarities exist between the purely covalent bond (as in H2) and ionic bonds.

For example H2O is held together by polar covalent bonds.

Sodium chloride is an example of an ionic compound..

Organic chemistry

Organic chemistry is the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and synthesis of organic compounds that by definition contain carbon.

It is a specific discipline within the subject of chemistry.

Organic compounds are molecules composed of carbon and hydrogen, and may contain any number of other elements.

Many organic compounds contain nitrogen, oxygen, halogens, and more rarely phosphorus or sulphur.

Current trends in organic chemistry are chiral synthesis, green chemistry, microwave chemistry and fullerene chemistry..

Molecule

In general, a molecule is the smallest particle of a pure chemical substance that still retains its composition and chemical properties.

In chemistry and molecular sciences, a molecule is a sufficiently stable, electrically neutral entity composed of two or more atoms..

Chemical bond

A chemical bond is the physical phenomenon of chemical substances being held together by attraction of atoms to each other through sharing, as well as exchanging, of electrons -or electrostatic forces.

In general, strong chemical bonds are found in molecules, crystals or in solid metal and they organize the atoms in ordered structures.

Weak chemical bonds are classically explained to be effects of polarity, or the lack of it, of strong bonds..

Oxidizing agent

An oxidizing agent (also called an oxidizer or oxidant) is referred to as a chemical compound that readily transfers oxygen atoms or a substance that gains electrons in a redox chemical reaction.

Because the process of oxidation is so widespread (explosives, chemical synthesis, corrosion), the term oxidizing agent has acquired multiple meanings..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

A chemical compound is a chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemically bonded chemical elements, with a fixed ratio determining the composition.The ratio of each element is usually expressed by chemical formula.

For example, water (H2O) is a compound consisting of two hydrogen atoms bonded to an oxygen atom. The atoms within a compound can be held together by a variety of interactions, ranging from covalent bonds to electrostatic forces in ionic bonds.

A continuum of bond polarities exist between the purely covalent bond (as in H2) and ionic bonds.

For example H2O is held together by polar covalent bonds.

Sodium chloride is an example of an ionic compound..

Organic chemistry

Organic chemistry is the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and synthesis of organic compounds that by definition contain carbon.

It is a specific discipline within the subject of chemistry.

Organic compounds are molecules composed of carbon and hydrogen, and may contain any number of other elements.

Many organic compounds contain nitrogen, oxygen, halogens, and more rarely phosphorus or sulphur.

Current trends in organic chemistry are chiral synthesis, green chemistry, microwave chemistry and fullerene chemistry..

Molecule

In general, a molecule is the smallest particle of a pure chemical substance that still retains its composition and chemical properties.

In chemistry and molecular sciences, a molecule is a sufficiently stable, electrically neutral entity composed of two or more atoms..

Chemical bond

A chemical bond is the physical phenomenon of chemical substances being held together by attraction of atoms to each other through sharing, as well as exchanging, of electrons -or electrostatic forces.

In general, strong chemical bonds are found in molecules, crystals or in solid metal and they organize the atoms in ordered structures.

Weak chemical bonds are classically explained to be effects of polarity, or the lack of it, of strong bonds..

Oxidizing agent

An oxidizing agent (also called an oxidizer or oxidant) is referred to as a chemical compound that readily transfers oxygen atoms or a substance that gains electrons in a redox chemical reaction.

Because the process of oxidation is so widespread (explosives, chemical synthesis, corrosion), the term oxidizing agent has acquired multiple meanings..

“This article is brought to you by Gus Woltmann”.

Denaturation is the alteration of a protein shape through some form of external stress (for example, by applying heat, acid or alkali), in such a way that it will no longer be able to carry out its cellular function.Denatured proteins can exhibit a wide range of characteristics, from loss of solubility to communal aggregation.

Proteins are very long strands of amino acids linked together in specific sequences.

A protein is created by ribosomes that “read” codons in the gene and assemble the requisite amino acid combination from the genetic instruction, in a process known as translation.

The newly created protein strand then undergoes post-translational modification in which additional atoms or molecules are added, for example copper, zinc, iron.

Once this post-translational modification process has been completed, the protein begins to fold (spontaneously, and sometimes with enzymatic assistance), curling up on itself so that hydrophobic elements of the protein are buried deep inside the structure and hydrophilic elements end up on the outside.

The final shape of a protein determines how it interacts with its environment..

Protein folding

Protein folding is the process by which a protein structure assumes its functional shape or conformation.

All protein molecules are heterogeneous unbranched chains of amino acids.

By coiling and folding into a specific three-dimensional shape they are able to perform their biological function..

Protein structure

Proteins, similar to carbohydrates and lipids, are made up of such elements as carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.

They are amino acid chains, made up from 20 different L-alpha-amino acids, also referred to as residues, that fold into unique three-dimensional protein structures.

The shape in which a protein naturally folds is known as its native state, which is determined by its sequence of amino acids.

Under 40 residues the term peptide is frequently used.

A certain number of residues is necessary to perform a particular biochemical function, and around 40-50 residues appears to be the lower limit for a functional domain size.

Protein sizes range from this lower limit to several thousand residues in multi-functional or structural proteins.

However, the current estimate for the average protein length is around 300 residues.

Very large aggregates can be formed from protein subunits, for example many thousand actin molecules assemble into an actin filament.

Large protein complexes with RNA are found in the ribosome particles, which are in fact ‘ribozymes’..

Heat shock protein

Heat shock proteins (HSP) are a group of proteins the expression of which is increased when the cells are exposed to elevated temperatures..

Protein biosynthesis

Protein biosynthesis (Synthesis) is the process in which cells build proteins.

The term is sometimes used to refer only to protein translation but more often it refers to a multi-step process, beginning with amino acid synthesis and transcription which are then used for translation.

Protein biosynthesis, although very similar, differs between prokaryotes and eukaryotes.

The events following biosynthesis include post-translational modification and protein folding.

During and after synthesis, polypeptide chains often fold to assume, so called, native secondary and tertiary structures.

This is known as protein folding. Amino acids are the monomers which are polymerized to produce proteins.

Amino acid synthesis is the set of biochemical processes (metabolic pathways) which build the amino acids from carbon sources like glucose.

Not all amino acids may be synthesised by every organism, for example adult humans have to obtain 8 of the 20 amino acids from their diet. The amino acids are then loaded onto tRNA molecules for use in the process of translation..

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