Popular image of scientists?

This is more like a collection of notes than a proper posting, I have more than 20 half written posts queued.
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Cartoons and movies: mad scientists, Dexter, lab coats. X-Files and CSI. Medics and forensic scientists are often portrayed in positive light because their purpose can be easily understood to be good.

News/ current affairs: not bad at least on British TV. Reporting on current developments as they influence life directly, medical progress, biology and physics dominate. When interviewed on TV scientists usually claim false authority by claiming to hold the consensus view of the scientific community. News readers most commonly heard to say “Scientists say”, this annoys me greatly because I’m not a climate scientist or bioengineer, etc, they shouldn’t talk for everyone else.

Historical: Newton, Darwin, Einstein?
Einstein is probably the most commonly portrayed scientific icon and image of genius. Andy Warhol, computer games, TV, movies.

We know more about the work they produced than Newton, Darwin or Einstein as people, despite the fact that they are scientific giants. We know more about Einstein maybe because he was more recent.

Metallurgists: Villian in bond movies, Dr. No and Goldfinger. Metallurgists are always the bad guys, be careful.

MTDATA script - driving force

Here is a quick example script to calculate driving force for formation of ferrite from austenite.
–

mu
define system ‘Fe,Cr,Ni,Mo,N,C,Mn’ source tcfe !
% fe Cr Ni Mo N
set w(1) undef w(2) 23.00 w(3) 9.0 w(4) 3.0 w(5) 0.15 !
% C Mn
set w(6) 0.02 w(7) 0.8 !
set w 100 !
classify absent p(*) !
step temp 973 1273 10 !
%
% calculating for FCC
%
classify normal p(FCC_A1) !
compute print brief print mol !
compute print graphics_output !
units temperature celsius !
ordinate gibbs system !
plot tabulate spreadsheet !
%
% calculating for BCC + FCC
%
classify normal p(BCC_A2) !
compute print brief print mol !
compute print graphics_output !
units temperature celsius !
ordinate gibbs system !
plot tabulate spreadsheet !


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This gives the answer in Joules / kg.

Dividing a line

Here is a solution I found for dividing a line in 3 (or any other number of divisions) using a compass and a straight edge.

First construct a line at right angles to the line you want to divide, use the compass to make the line the same length as the first line. Then use the compass to make 2 marks along the second line, and one mark along the first line. Drawing a random circle off to the right is completely optional.

Draw a line to construct a right triangle with the ratio 3:1 between it’s two sides, then construct a line perpendicular to the hypotenuse by drawing two circles centered on the line.

Make another perpendicular line which is perpendicular to the previous one, but also passes through the end of second line we drew. This line will divide the original line, passing through at a third of the distance along.

Either repeat steps to divide the remaining part, set compass to the length of 1/3 we know have found or bisect the remaining portion of line in this case.

This a much easier problem than dividing an angle into 3 equal parts.

Good News for Ugly men and Beautiful women.

A new study shows that physically less attractive men make better partners. In couples were the man was less attractive than the woman, both partners were more supportive to the another.

Full story reported at Yahoo news.

I think these results interested and in need of further experimental validation.

Example script: Making thumbnails

Here is an example script to make jpg thumbnail images from all the jpgs in a directory.

It relies on having the linux ‘convert’ package installed on the machine.


#/bin/sh

for img in `ls *.jpg`
do
convert -sample 25%x25% $img thumb-$img
done


Tempering of Martensite

Stage 1
upto - 250 C - precipitation of eta-carbide, partial loss of tetragonality of martensite.
Steels above 0.25 wt% carbon precipitate hexagonal close-packed eta-carbide within the supersaturated martensite until 0.25 wt% carbon level is reached, martensite preserves some tetragonality. The orientation relationship between the laths or rodlets and the cube planes of the matrix was first described by Jack [1].

Stage 2
200-300 C - decomposition of retained austenite.

Stage 3
200-350 C - replacement of eta-iron carbide by cemeneite,; martensite loses tetragonality

Stage 4
350 C - cementite coarsens and speroidizes, recrystallisation of ferrite.

[1] Steels 2nd Ed, Honeycombe and Bhadeshia, Edward Arnold, 1981, p172.

Images of Tungsten Filament Lamps

Here are some images of various failed tungsten filament lamps. For more details see the report linked at the bottom of the article, this includes captions and discussion.

These micrographs were given to me as part of a project which made up part of my undergraduate degree: Case Study on Tungsten Filament Lamps. In the report it discusses the manufacture of Tungsten filament lamps, some of the physics involved and discusses some alternative light sources that can be used.

The project was taught with great enthusiasm by Prof. G. W. Greenwood.

Biomimetic materials

Biomimetic materials are an attempt to improve technology by looking at nature. It’s true that nature has come up with some of the strongest and lightest materials known. Natural materials often have an optimised design e.g. tree trunks, hedgehog spines, sea shells, spiders webs all of which have inspired people to attempt to replicate their performance.

The structure of wood has inspired some composite designs to attempt to improve toughness

One major advantage of natural materials are made at ambient temperatures from water based solutions. This suggests it should be possible to make major energy savings if it is possible to use the materials directly or to copy natures manufacturing techniques techniques. There has also been a parallel interest to develop materials for use as electronic or optical devices which ’self-assemble’ fine scale microstructures, to enable the production of materials with novel properties.

The table above illustrates that wood can exhibit better specific moduli than other common engineering materials. This is demonstrated by the fact that wood is still used extensively in construction, especially in smaller buildings such as homes. In the UK although most buildings are brick rather than wood as in some other counties the structure to support the roof and floors is usually made from wood.

One omission from the table is that the specific moduli can be improved by changing the shape of engineering structures, a hollow tube made from steel or aluminium has a much superior specific stiffness than a solid rod (e.g. as used in bicycle frames). (i.e. engineers often have already found the same solutions as nature exhibits).

Porcupine and hedgehogs have developed various solutions for quill structures.

Honeycombe structures are a common solution for applications that need to be light and stiff.

The slides here are from a presention I made as an undergraduate which can be downloaded in full here:
Biomimetic materials presentation

Applying for a Fellow

I’ve yet to be invited to be a fellow/junior research fellow at any of the colleges here… apparently they expect people to apply to them. To encourage them i’ve produced an application form for any colleges that would like me to join. Simply complete the form and return it to me and I will consider you in due course. The deadline for submission is June of each year.

If you are successful in this round, a series of interviews will be conducted, and each college should be prepared to supply a list of references.

Making Steel from Plastic

Another break through by researchers in Australia.

Final Preparation techniques for TEM

Material	Technique	Details	Reference
Fe-Si, S.S.	EW	60% H3PO4, 40% H2SO4, 9V	Tomlinson 1958
Many Steels	E	96% CH3COOH, 4% H2O + 200 g/l CrO3. Stir at 65°C for 1 hr. Cool use at » 10 V. Rinse in alcohol, dip in acetic acid before replacing in electrolyte.	Glenn and Raley 1963
Fe, mild steel	EH	88% CH3COOH, 12% H2O + 170 g/l CrO3, 20 V	Briers et al. 1964
S.S.	EH	5% HClO4, 95% CH3COOH + 20 g/l CrO3 + 10 g/l NiCl2, 50-80V. Stir.	Briers et al. 1964
Many Steels	EIJ	100 g Na2CrO4 per 500 ml CH3COOH, 30-35 V	Shoone and Fischione 1966, Glenn and Schoone 1964
Many Steels	E	H3PO4 + excess CrO3, stand 1 day before using, Low Voltage.	Keown 1970
Fe and S.S.	Disapol	Disapol A2	Phillips and Hugo 1960
Fe-33 Ni	EB	5% HClO4, 95% CH3COOH, 40V	Krauss 1963
Fe, mild steel	Figure of 8	10% HClO4, 90% CH3COOH	Brandon and Nutting 1959a and b
Mild Steel	EP	95% CH3COOH, 5% H2O + 400 g/l CrO3, 1-3V	Ginn and Brown 1965
Bainitic or martensitic Steels	EP	95% (CH3CO)2O, 5% HClO4	Irani and Jones 1966
S.S.	EJ	Dimple: 48% H3PO4, 32% H2SO4, 20% H2O. Final: 54% H3PO4, 36% H2SO4, 10% C2H5OH or H2O	Rowcliffe 1966
Fe-Ti	EIJ	Dimple: 95% CH3COOH, 5% HClO4, 12 V, 20°C. Final: 60% CH3OH, 34% n-butanol, 6% HClO4, 15 V, -50°C	Rack and Cohen 1970
Fe-17 Cr-10 Ni	EP	70% C2H5OH, 20% Glycerol 10% HClO4, -10°C, 5-20 V	Raty et al. 1966
Fe-Si	E	Single crystals. 80% H3PO4, 13% CrO3, 7% H2O, 8V	Gemperle 1963
Fe-Si		High purity material, Disapol AC-1 (AC-2 and D-” also suitable)	Walter and Koch 1962
Fe-Ni	EB	6% H2SO4, 94% H3PO4 + 100 g/l CrO3, 60°C, 0.33 A/cm2	Hammond and Ansell 1964
Fe-Mn	E	70% H3PO4, 30% H2O + 300 g/l CrO3, 65°C. 6V	Roberts 1964
Fe	U	Diamond knife	Phillips 1967
Magnetic iron oxides	Ion	6kV, argon ions	Schmidt et al. 1970
Fe3O4	CJ	80% H2PO4, 20% H2O, 120°C	Wicks 1968

B Bollmann technique

C Chemical Polish

E Electropolish

H PTFE holder

I Immersed (of jets)

Ion Ion Beam thinning

J Jet technique

U Ultramicrotomy

W Window technique

Acetic acid CH₃COOH

Acetic anhydride (CH₃CO)₂O

Cadmium hydroxide Cd(OH)₂

Chromium trioxide CrO₃

Ethanol C₂H₅OH

Hydrochloric acid HCl

Hydrofluoric acid HF

Hydrogen peroxide H₂O₂

Methanol CH₃OH

Nitric acid HNO₃

Ortho-phosphoric acid H₃PO₄

Perchloric acid HClO₄

Potassium cyanide KCN

Potassium ferrocyanide K₄Fe(CN)₆

Sodium hypochlorite NaOCl

Sodium hydroxide NaOH

Sulphuric acid H₂SO₄

Water H₂O

Data from ‘Practical Methods in Electron microscopy, Vol 1, P. J. Goodhew, Ed: Audrey M. Glauert, 1972, North-Holland/ American Elsevier.

Table and Chemical names generated from Latex using ‘tth’ command.

Self Healing Rubber

A self healing material has been developed, rather than having large molecules cross-linked with covalent bonds as in vulcanized rubber, this polymer is based upon smaller molecules which are ‘cross-linked’ by weaker ‘hydrogen bonding’. After the band is cut the two halves can be placed back together, after around 1 hour the original strength is recovered - presumably the molecules are fairly mobile and some diffusion occurs to remove the evidence of the breakage.

This work new material has been reported in ‘Nature’.

Liquid Nitrogen Explosion

Example of one of the dangers of using cyrogenic/ compressed gases, rapid expansion caused by the boiling of nitrogen releases a huge amount of energy.

A message from the Zinc promotion board

Jmol

Jmol is an opensource software for 3D visualisation of molecules, it’s written in Java, it runs as a applet and there are some nice demo’s on the projects homepage.

http://jmol.sourceforge.net/

Mtdata Script example 3

Calculates equilibrium between ferrite austenite cementite and liquid phases and outputs a brief results and results in mole fractions and then a graph to screen.


:Script By Sourabh Chatterjee May 2006
mu
def sys ‘Fe,C,Mn,Si,Al,P,Mo,Cu’ source plus sub_sgte !
class abs p(*) !
class nor p(bcc_a2,fcc_a1,cementite,liquid) !
set w 100 !
set w(2) 0.36 w(3) 1.96 w(4) 0.5 w(5) 2.0 w(6) 0.022 w(7) 0 w( 0.52 !
step temp 1573 1873 10 !
com pri ea_st_re !

compute print brief print mole !

compute print graphic !
plot go !


Air

I went to see Air and they were awesome.

The special guests were “Au Revoir Semone” an indie pop combo hailing from New York, the band members are Erika Forster, Annie Hart and Heather D’Angelo.

Making Graphs

`I found’ another tool for making graphs, called rlplot, this uses a spreadsheet like gui interface. If automation isn’t necessary and you don’t need the flexibility this may be a good alternative to gnuplot for one off publication quality graphs. rlplot can export graphs to eps and svg formats.

Data can be imported from csv file and saved as a workbook. Graphs can also be saved.

It’s possible to make all sorts of graphs that aren’t really simple or possible to make with gnuplot. Like the infamous Pi charts.

http://mathewpeet.org/images/pi.svg
My first rlplot graph

rlplot is made using qt so I expect it can be available on windows or mac aswell as in linux.

Goodbye Diana

Hello have exclusively are publishing the final Pictures of Diana.

Thank goodness this story is finally finished!

Strange that they didn’t wait for the investigation to be over, but i’m not going to complain.

Pava-rot-ti

Luciano Pavarotti has died, from cancer of the pancreas, and been buried this week. Pavarotti was launched into popular culture singing the opening of Italia 90 (Football World Cup (Soccer!!)) and performing with Plácido Domingo and José Carreras. He subsequently did much to popularise classical music, and performed also with many popular singers, whilst retaining his identity as an opera singer.

As used by BBC for opening of their TV coverage of the 1990 World Cup, with his signature tube Nessun Dorma:

Three Tenors Performace:

ITALIAN;
Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma!
Tu pure, o, Principessa,
nella tua fredda stanza,
guardi le stelle
che fremono d’amore
e di speranza.

Ma il mio mistero e chiuso in me,
il nome mio nessun sapra!
No, no, sulla tua bocca lo diro
quando la luce splendera!

Ed il mio bacio sciogliera il silenzio
che ti fa mia!

(Il nome suo nessun sapra!…
e noi dovrem, ahime, morir!)

Dilegua, o notte!
Tramontate, stelle!
Tramontate, stelle!
All’alba vincero!
vincero, vincero!

1980 Performace in New York

ENGLISH
None must sleep! None must sleep!
And you, too, Princess,
in your cold room,
gaze at the stars
which tremble with love
and hope!

But my mystery is locked within me,
no-one shall know my name!
No, no, I shall say it as my mouth
meets yours when the dawn is breaking!

And my kiss will break the silence
which makes you mine!

(No-one shall know his name,
and we, alas, shall die!)

Vanish, o night!
Fade, stars!
At dawn I shall win

Pavarotti’s last performance, at the opening of the 2006 Winter Olympics:

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Addendum 6 October 2007

Pavarotti performed with many popular artists in his concert, Pavarotti and friends. Here he performs with the remaining members of Queen, ‘Too much love will kill you’ written by Brian May.