Are you in the security industry? Using Motorola Walkie Talkies? Need the ability to not have your conversation overheard, or need to silent on an event or restaurant service area, yet still in contact with your team? Do you need to walk and talk, so that you can multitask, or get other tasks completed while you are on the phone?
Then Motorola is the company, and the earpiece, for you and your team.
If you are in security, events or hotel management, you wouldn't necessarily want everyone to be able to see that you are wearing an earpiece, and there are a variety of ways to minimise the “I have a radio in my pocket and I boss people around†kind of look.
First clip the charged radio on to your belt. Select the station or frequency that you will be using. Make sure that the team are all on the same station. Attach the Motorola earpiece to the radio, by slotting the two prongs at the bottom of the cable in to the side of the Motorola walkie talkie. You will see there is a big prong and a small prong, make sure you have them the right way round.
Run the length of the earpiece cord under your shirt, and pop the top out by the collar or top button of your shirt, thereby hiding the wire from site. You will see a clip portion with a little speaker button it. That can be clipped on to your tie, shirt front or collar to allow you to speak in to it easily.
The Motorola earpiece is a curved half moon shape. Make sure the wire is tucked securely in to the casing, as it can sometimes come out during storage and insertion. Clip the half moon shape over the ear and insert the round black earpiece in to the ear. The earpiece is covered with a removable soft cover that can be taken off and washed if the radio’s are used by different people, in the interest of best hygiene practises.
If you are going for minimal look, arrange your hair to cover the earpiece or cord if possible. There are also high security options that run up the back of the neck and over the ear, and come in see through, clear tones to minimise the obviousness of them. These can be secured in to place using see through tape made especially for this purpose.
Motorola also makes very hi-tech options for security personnel, with items that can clip on to sunglasses, shirt cuffs etc, and give a very FBI, protecting the president look, but are extremely functional. They ear buds are also more fitting and are snug in the ear, to allow for better audio.
To speak through the microphone portion bring the unit close to your mouth. Press the button in and wait one second before speaking, to allow time for the radio’s to connect. When you are finished speaking, release the button. Wait for your team member to respond to your message. Remember to talk slowly and clearly. Although Motorola radios are really great quality, you are still a distance away from each other, and things such as mobile phones nearby, thick walls or ceilings, being underground etc can interfere with the signal and reception.
If you are a Motorola mobile phone user, then there are also a wide variety of Motorola earpieces available, that won’t make you look like a call centre agent, or hurt the inside of the ear if you wear them for long periods at a time. The Whisper Smooth Talk, comes with a retractable boom with 4-mic CrystalTalk and offers the user cutting edge clarity and wind noise reduction, especially useful if you are calling from outside, or talking while you are walking.
Bluetooth headsets clip over the ear, and allow you to connect wireless to your phone, which can be in your pocket or bag, and allow you to walk along and talk, without any cables or wires hanging around and getting in the way.
Motorola has been innovating in the phone and walkie talkie industry for many years, and the constant innovation and bettering of their Motorola earpieces and products for ease of use and comfort is inspirational.
Monday, June 22, 2015
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Does The Old Two Cans on a String Thing Actually Work?
It does indeed. The old children’s favourite may have been supplanted somewhat by the relentless march of technology, especially now that almost every kid has a mobile phone and/or access to the Internet, but there is still a lot of fun to be had there.
For those reading this that don’t know, the two cans on a string game involves taking two empty (and preferably washed out) tin cans, the kind you might buy baked beans in, punching a small hole in the bottom of both cans and then threading a length of string in between each hole, tying it in a knot big enough to secure it in the can. Then, when the string is pulled tight, it is possible for one person to speak into the can and another to listen and reply. It also works with polystyrene cups, albeit to a slightly lesser extent. You’d be amazed also at the distance your voice can actually travel using this method.
It is not advisable to use stretchable string for the cans as it just makes life more difficult!
The science behind this game is actually very simple. The vibrations of your voice shake the bottom of the can and that, in turn, vibrates the string. Provided the string is pulled taut and isn’t touching anything, there should be no reason at all for your voice not to travel along the string to be received by your companion at the other end.
In fact, this game actually qualifies as a sort of rudimentary telephone; the theory behind it is very similar.
If you happen to be a parent, this game can keep the kids entertained on rainy afternoons, as well as providing a useful scientific lesson for them. I have many happy childhood memories of playing this game. However, it is very important to make sure that the cans have no sharp edges around the inner rim, for older kids, a simple ‘safety brief’ will probably do, but younger kids might be safer with a little electrical or duct tape stuck around the top of the can (in each child’s favourite colour, maybe? Just a thought). It shouldn’t affect the sound too much, if at all.
It’s amazing the fun you can have with a couple of old cans and a length of string. Hope that helps.
For those reading this that don’t know, the two cans on a string game involves taking two empty (and preferably washed out) tin cans, the kind you might buy baked beans in, punching a small hole in the bottom of both cans and then threading a length of string in between each hole, tying it in a knot big enough to secure it in the can. Then, when the string is pulled tight, it is possible for one person to speak into the can and another to listen and reply. It also works with polystyrene cups, albeit to a slightly lesser extent. You’d be amazed also at the distance your voice can actually travel using this method.
It is not advisable to use stretchable string for the cans as it just makes life more difficult!
The science behind this game is actually very simple. The vibrations of your voice shake the bottom of the can and that, in turn, vibrates the string. Provided the string is pulled taut and isn’t touching anything, there should be no reason at all for your voice not to travel along the string to be received by your companion at the other end.
In fact, this game actually qualifies as a sort of rudimentary telephone; the theory behind it is very similar.
If you happen to be a parent, this game can keep the kids entertained on rainy afternoons, as well as providing a useful scientific lesson for them. I have many happy childhood memories of playing this game. However, it is very important to make sure that the cans have no sharp edges around the inner rim, for older kids, a simple ‘safety brief’ will probably do, but younger kids might be safer with a little electrical or duct tape stuck around the top of the can (in each child’s favourite colour, maybe? Just a thought). It shouldn’t affect the sound too much, if at all.
It’s amazing the fun you can have with a couple of old cans and a length of string. Hope that helps.
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
How Dick Tracy Invented the Apple Watch
Apple CEO Tim Cook suddenly became a little boy again as he showed that Apple’s new smart watch will also send and receive phone calls.
“I have been wanting to do this since I was 5 years old,†Cook exclaimed. “The day is finally here.â€
The 54-year-old Cook was harking back to 1965, when any American youngster could tell you that the coolest gizmo around was Dick Tracy’s two-way wrist radio.
The comic strip detective’s creator, Chester Gould, had introduced the futuristic device in 1946, after he scripted Tracy into a jam from which there seemed no credible escape.
Gould decided that he would go high-concept and have Tracy appeal directly to his inky-fingered creator. Gould figured he could then just extricate Tracy from the predicament Manus Dei.
But Gould’s employer, the Chicago Tribune, rejected the idea as a cheat.
Gould then recalled visiting the workshop of an inventor extraordinaire named Al Gross several weeks before. Gross had developed the walkie-talkie when he was barely out of high school. Gross’s more recent projects when Gould stopped by included a two-way radio that could be worn on the wrist like a watch.
Gould now got on the phone to Gross.
“He called and asked if he could use that idea on the wristwatch,†Gross would say in an interview years later. “I told him sure. And he gave Dick Tracy that wristwatch.â€
As a token of his gratitude, Gould presented Gross with the first four panels in which Tracy begins using the soon-to-be-famous gizmo. The device proved to be just the thing for Tracy to extricate himself along with his creator from the predicament.
Do you remember the old dick tracy comics? we're not convinced that Tim cook got the idea from these comics, it's an interesting idea that the whole of apple was built on the idea that one day they would emulate the comic books.
In the comic strip, the two-way wrist radio is created by a young inventor named Brilliant. He develops another seemingly impossible gadget for Tracy conceived by the real-life Gross: a compact, battery-powered video surveillance camera. This is too much for one of the comic-strip mobsters, and Brilliant meets a bloody end in a 1948 installment.
As a token of his gratitude, Gould presented Gross with the first four panels in which Tracy begins using the soon-to-be-famous gizmo. The device proved to be just the thing for Tracy to extricate himself along with his creator from the predicament.
In the comic strip, the two-way wrist radio is created by a young inventor named Brilliant. He develops another seemingly impossible gadget for Tracy conceived by the real-life Gross: a compact, battery-powered video surveillance camera. This is too much for one of the comic-strip mobsters, and Brilliant meets a bloody end in a 1948 installment.
Gross did enjoy a continuing thrill that had been first sparked when he was still in grammar school. His parents took him on a cruise across Lake Erie from Cleveland to Buffalo, and his destiny was decided when he wandered into the ship’s radio room.
“The radio operator put me on his lap and let me put the earphones on,†Gross would remember. “I heard all of those dots and dashes, and I’ve been interested ever since.â€
Wonderment was joined by wondering, and the result powered a lifetime of prophetic tinkering. Gross followed up the walkie-talkie during World War II with a ground-to-air radio system. The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff credited it with “saving millions of lives by shortening the war.â€
Yet the closest Gross came to fame was as a pioneering Citizens Band radio operator dubbed “the Father of CB.†Even in this he was best known not by his real name but by his handle, Phineas Thaddeus Veeblefetzer.
Not that Gross needed recognition. He was still busy in his workshop right up to the time of his death in late 2000, at the age of 82.
Childhood fascination was at the heart of it all, so it only makes sense that his two way wrist radio would have had a similar effect on youngsters over the years, these notably including little Timmy Cook in 1965.
On Monday, Cook said he had been wanting for half a century to unveil a real-life gizmo that worked just like the one in the comic strip of his youth.
One hopes Cook is aware that the two-way wrist radio was itself inspired by the real-life ideas of a visionary who should be as well-known to us as Jobs or Gates.
Gross observed in his later years, “‘If you have a cordless telephone or a cellular telephone or a walkie-talkie or beeper, you’ve got one of my patents.â€
And now we can posthumously add the Apple Watch.
Source -Â http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/10/how-dick-tracy-invented-the-apple-watch.html
“I have been wanting to do this since I was 5 years old,†Cook exclaimed. “The day is finally here.â€
The 54-year-old Cook was harking back to 1965, when any American youngster could tell you that the coolest gizmo around was Dick Tracy’s two-way wrist radio.
The comic strip detective’s creator, Chester Gould, had introduced the futuristic device in 1946, after he scripted Tracy into a jam from which there seemed no credible escape.
Gould decided that he would go high-concept and have Tracy appeal directly to his inky-fingered creator. Gould figured he could then just extricate Tracy from the predicament Manus Dei.
But Gould’s employer, the Chicago Tribune, rejected the idea as a cheat.
Gould then recalled visiting the workshop of an inventor extraordinaire named Al Gross several weeks before. Gross had developed the walkie-talkie when he was barely out of high school. Gross’s more recent projects when Gould stopped by included a two-way radio that could be worn on the wrist like a watch.
Gould now got on the phone to Gross.
“He called and asked if he could use that idea on the wristwatch,†Gross would say in an interview years later. “I told him sure. And he gave Dick Tracy that wristwatch.â€
As a token of his gratitude, Gould presented Gross with the first four panels in which Tracy begins using the soon-to-be-famous gizmo. The device proved to be just the thing for Tracy to extricate himself along with his creator from the predicament.
Do you remember the old dick tracy comics? we're not convinced that Tim cook got the idea from these comics, it's an interesting idea that the whole of apple was built on the idea that one day they would emulate the comic books.
In the comic strip, the two-way wrist radio is created by a young inventor named Brilliant. He develops another seemingly impossible gadget for Tracy conceived by the real-life Gross: a compact, battery-powered video surveillance camera. This is too much for one of the comic-strip mobsters, and Brilliant meets a bloody end in a 1948 installment.
As a token of his gratitude, Gould presented Gross with the first four panels in which Tracy begins using the soon-to-be-famous gizmo. The device proved to be just the thing for Tracy to extricate himself along with his creator from the predicament.
In the comic strip, the two-way wrist radio is created by a young inventor named Brilliant. He develops another seemingly impossible gadget for Tracy conceived by the real-life Gross: a compact, battery-powered video surveillance camera. This is too much for one of the comic-strip mobsters, and Brilliant meets a bloody end in a 1948 installment.
Gross did enjoy a continuing thrill that had been first sparked when he was still in grammar school. His parents took him on a cruise across Lake Erie from Cleveland to Buffalo, and his destiny was decided when he wandered into the ship’s radio room.
“The radio operator put me on his lap and let me put the earphones on,†Gross would remember. “I heard all of those dots and dashes, and I’ve been interested ever since.â€
Wonderment was joined by wondering, and the result powered a lifetime of prophetic tinkering. Gross followed up the walkie-talkie during World War II with a ground-to-air radio system. The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff credited it with “saving millions of lives by shortening the war.â€
Yet the closest Gross came to fame was as a pioneering Citizens Band radio operator dubbed “the Father of CB.†Even in this he was best known not by his real name but by his handle, Phineas Thaddeus Veeblefetzer.
Not that Gross needed recognition. He was still busy in his workshop right up to the time of his death in late 2000, at the age of 82.
Childhood fascination was at the heart of it all, so it only makes sense that his two way wrist radio would have had a similar effect on youngsters over the years, these notably including little Timmy Cook in 1965.
On Monday, Cook said he had been wanting for half a century to unveil a real-life gizmo that worked just like the one in the comic strip of his youth.
One hopes Cook is aware that the two-way wrist radio was itself inspired by the real-life ideas of a visionary who should be as well-known to us as Jobs or Gates.
Gross observed in his later years, “‘If you have a cordless telephone or a cellular telephone or a walkie-talkie or beeper, you’ve got one of my patents.â€
And now we can posthumously add the Apple Watch.
Source -Â http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/10/how-dick-tracy-invented-the-apple-watch.html
Thursday, May 14, 2015
UK SURGEON EXPERIMENTS WITH OCULUS RIFT TO MAKE ‘VIRTUAL SURGEON’
A British surgeon wants to make the operating room virtual with the Oculus Rift headset.
Dr. Shafi Ahmed, a laparoscopic and colorectal surgeon, has already worked to integrate Google Glass into his lessons as an associate dean at the Barthes of London Medical School.
As co-founder of the tech company Medical Realities, Ahmed now wants to use the virtual reality system Oculus Rift to create the “Virtual Surgeon,†a pilot program that would allow medical students to practice surgeries inspired by actual operations before setting foot into an operating room.
Ahmed and his team presented Virtual Surgeon at the wearable technology show this week.
“It’s very easy to train people in a correct operation,†Ahmed told ABC News on Friday. “It’s not so easy when things go wrong. … We’re all put in situations where things can go wrong.â€
Last month, Ahmed took the first steps towards creating that program by making a 360-degree video of an operation.
Anyone wearing an Oculus Rift headset could then be able to get an immersive view of the laparoscopic procedure when the video is played back.
The virtual reality experience of Oculus Rift is a better simulation for students, Ahmed said, because it can more easily mimic a real operating room.
“It’s as close as you can get to replicating it,†he said, noting that education should always embrace the newest technology and a virtual reality operating room could be the next major tool for students.
The Oculus Rift headset has not been made available to consumers yet, but the company was acquired by Facebook for $2 billion last year. The headsets have already been utilized by a range of people, from real estate agents to driving instructors and fitness companies.
The oculus Rift has huge potential, this is a great one where it can save lives. Much like pilots, racing drivers and firefighters use simulators to improve training this is a good thing, the only issue will be the standard of the software used with the headset.
Original source -Â http://kticradio.com/abc_health/uk-surgeon-experiments-with-oculus-rift-to-make-virtual-surgeon-abcid35269105/
Dr. Shafi Ahmed, a laparoscopic and colorectal surgeon, has already worked to integrate Google Glass into his lessons as an associate dean at the Barthes of London Medical School.
As co-founder of the tech company Medical Realities, Ahmed now wants to use the virtual reality system Oculus Rift to create the “Virtual Surgeon,†a pilot program that would allow medical students to practice surgeries inspired by actual operations before setting foot into an operating room.
Ahmed and his team presented Virtual Surgeon at the wearable technology show this week.
“It’s very easy to train people in a correct operation,†Ahmed told ABC News on Friday. “It’s not so easy when things go wrong. … We’re all put in situations where things can go wrong.â€
Last month, Ahmed took the first steps towards creating that program by making a 360-degree video of an operation.
Anyone wearing an Oculus Rift headset could then be able to get an immersive view of the laparoscopic procedure when the video is played back.
The virtual reality experience of Oculus Rift is a better simulation for students, Ahmed said, because it can more easily mimic a real operating room.
“It’s as close as you can get to replicating it,†he said, noting that education should always embrace the newest technology and a virtual reality operating room could be the next major tool for students.
The Oculus Rift headset has not been made available to consumers yet, but the company was acquired by Facebook for $2 billion last year. The headsets have already been utilized by a range of people, from real estate agents to driving instructors and fitness companies.
The oculus Rift has huge potential, this is a great one where it can save lives. Much like pilots, racing drivers and firefighters use simulators to improve training this is a good thing, the only issue will be the standard of the software used with the headset.
Original source -Â http://kticradio.com/abc_health/uk-surgeon-experiments-with-oculus-rift-to-make-virtual-surgeon-abcid35269105/
Monday, May 11, 2015
Lost Copy Of Shakespeare's First Folio Discovered
A lost copy of Shakespeare's First Folio has been discovered in Northern France.
The First Folio is the name commonly given to the 1623 collection entitled Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories Tragedies. The book contains 36 plays, a great many of which had never been published prior to 1623, which makes The First Folio an extremely important document, as it represents the only original source for all subsequent printings/performances of many of Shakespeare's works, such as The Tempest, The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of The Shrew, Twelfth Night and Julius Caesar.
Counting this new addition, there are only 233 first edition copies of this book left in the world, and each have small textual variations that shed new light on Shakespeare's writing style, creative process and (possibly) his personal life.
The book was discovered in the public library of Saint-Omer, a small town near Calais. Prior to this, it had been held in a Jesuit college in the town. It was moved to the library following The French Revolution, which ended in 1799.
In addition to being a major literary event in its own right, the discovery of the book has sparked new debates as to The Bard's religious affiliation.
For over 150 years, some scholars have suggested that Shakespeare had links to secret Catholic sects that were outlawed (and severely punished) in the 16th and early 17th centuries.
Elizabethan England was officially a Protestant country and Catholics were brutally suppressed under this regime. Proponents of this theory cite examples in Shakespeare's writing (in particular King Richard The Second) and the presence of the mysterious William Shakeshafte at the home (and later in the last will and testament) of Alexander Hoghton, a known underground Catholic.
This previously unknown First Folio is thought to have made its way to France in the possession of Edward Scarisbrick, a well-known English Catholic who is believed to have studied at Saint-Omer in the 1630's. Scarisbrick was known to go by the name Nevill â€" and this book is inscribed with the same name.
The Jesuit College that originally owned the book sheltered Catholic exiles and also trained Englishmen who wished to become priests. Today, the institution still exists, although it has been relocated to Lancashire.
Other works of Shakespeare have also been discovered in the Jesuit College at Douai, Northern France.
Of course, this evidence alone merely proves that English exiles enjoyed reading Shakespeare. As Dr. Martin Wiggins, a senior fellow at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-Upon-Avon told The Independent, “He was admired and studied by English Catholics. We already knew that. Now we have more evidence. That doesn't mean that Shakespeare was himself a Catholic sympathiser,â€
The book will be put on display in Saint-Omer as part of an exhibition of old English texts, something that is expected to draw tourism from interested parties.
Dr. Wiggins has also suggested that the copy, which has been annotated with stage directions by an unknown party, probably represents the earliest known school production of Shakespeare.
The First Folio is the name commonly given to the 1623 collection entitled Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories Tragedies. The book contains 36 plays, a great many of which had never been published prior to 1623, which makes The First Folio an extremely important document, as it represents the only original source for all subsequent printings/performances of many of Shakespeare's works, such as The Tempest, The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of The Shrew, Twelfth Night and Julius Caesar.
Counting this new addition, there are only 233 first edition copies of this book left in the world, and each have small textual variations that shed new light on Shakespeare's writing style, creative process and (possibly) his personal life.
The book was discovered in the public library of Saint-Omer, a small town near Calais. Prior to this, it had been held in a Jesuit college in the town. It was moved to the library following The French Revolution, which ended in 1799.
In addition to being a major literary event in its own right, the discovery of the book has sparked new debates as to The Bard's religious affiliation.
For over 150 years, some scholars have suggested that Shakespeare had links to secret Catholic sects that were outlawed (and severely punished) in the 16th and early 17th centuries.
Elizabethan England was officially a Protestant country and Catholics were brutally suppressed under this regime. Proponents of this theory cite examples in Shakespeare's writing (in particular King Richard The Second) and the presence of the mysterious William Shakeshafte at the home (and later in the last will and testament) of Alexander Hoghton, a known underground Catholic.
This previously unknown First Folio is thought to have made its way to France in the possession of Edward Scarisbrick, a well-known English Catholic who is believed to have studied at Saint-Omer in the 1630's. Scarisbrick was known to go by the name Nevill â€" and this book is inscribed with the same name.
The Jesuit College that originally owned the book sheltered Catholic exiles and also trained Englishmen who wished to become priests. Today, the institution still exists, although it has been relocated to Lancashire.
Other works of Shakespeare have also been discovered in the Jesuit College at Douai, Northern France.
Of course, this evidence alone merely proves that English exiles enjoyed reading Shakespeare. As Dr. Martin Wiggins, a senior fellow at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-Upon-Avon told The Independent, “He was admired and studied by English Catholics. We already knew that. Now we have more evidence. That doesn't mean that Shakespeare was himself a Catholic sympathiser,â€
The book will be put on display in Saint-Omer as part of an exhibition of old English texts, something that is expected to draw tourism from interested parties.
Dr. Wiggins has also suggested that the copy, which has been annotated with stage directions by an unknown party, probably represents the earliest known school production of Shakespeare.
Friday, May 8, 2015
Ocean-Going Enterprise Sets Sail Next Year
At the time of writing, we know more about the surface of Mars than we do about the delicate complexities of our terrestrial oceans.
However, next year, a daring and innovative new project is seeking to change all that.
Sea Orbiter, referred to be some as the “starship Enterprise for the water†will be a new type of ocean-going research vessel, a moving laboratory that will hopefully allow Human scientists better access to the world's oceans than ever before.
Designed by French architect Jaques Rougerie, Sea Orbiter will allow scientists to study everything from underwater archaeological sites to the migration patterns of marine life. It is also expected to extensively map the ocean floors beneath it and to allow divers to work continually on deeper dives than ever before.
Diving to a depth greater than 50 meters or so can cause decompression illness (DCI) and the only way to traverse this obstacle is via saturation diving, which involves prolonged immersion in hyperbaric pressure chambers. Aboard the Sea Orbiter, however, the entire bottom deck will feature hyperbaric pressure levels so that divers can regularly dive to greater depths, but still enjoy a comfortable standard of living when out of the water.
Theoretically, this means that divers will be able to reach depths of up to 100 metres, day after day, simply by remaining in Sea Orbiter's bottom deck. Also, because the researchers will be diving via a special bay on the underside of the craft, they will be unencumbered by obstacles like bad weather and lack of daylight. In fact, due to this advancement, Sea Orbiter is expected to give researchers unprecedented access to as-yet unknown deep-sea creatures that are only observable at night.
Technology wise, the design appears to have been influenced by the International Space Station (ISS), another innovative project that allowed researchers to reside in their chosen location for long periods of time, something that is always a great boon to scientific research.
Sea Orbiter will also boast mini, remote-operated submarines, as well as a manned submersible capable of reaching depths up to 1,000 metres and an unmanned drone that will be capable of venturing an astonishing 6,000 metres below sea level.
The design of the craft itself is also equally innovative; in fact, the word genius could be applied with little/no hyperbole present. Basically, the craft's tall, conical shape will render it almost impossible to tip, allowing Sea Orbiter to brave even the most violent ocean storm and emerge unscathed.
In fact, Sea Orbiter is far more stable than most other seafaring vessels. The saucer section in the middle of the craft, and the keel directly below it, are both far denser than seawater itself, which would normally be enough for it to sink like a stone, however, the upper portion of the vessel is designed to be exceptionally buoyant and will only be fashioned from the lightest possible materials, meaning that although two thirds of Sea Orbiter will be perpetually submerged, the vessel itself should never actually capsize or sink.
If Sea Orbiter is successful, this design is expected to become the model for a great many future ships.
Solar and wind power will keep Sea Orbiter's engines running, with biofuel on standby for use as needed. This means that Sea Orbiter will be one of the greenest post-industrial vessels ever to sail the oceans of the world and, once again, could become a valuable prototype for the oceangoing vessels of the future.
Heavily influenced by the works of Jules Verne and the pioneering naturalist work of filmmaker and explorer Jaques Cousteau, Jaques Rougerie has designed underwater environments for much of his career, even participating in a World Record setting 71-day stint under water. His work to date has included sub aquatic museums and laboratories and glass bottom research vessels.
He has also created workable designs for underwater habitats such as houses and even entire villages.
Construction of the Sea Orbiter is expected to be completed by 2016, but the project's success still hinges on funding. To date, the French government has provided most of the development money, but the project has also been backed by numerous corporate sponsors and even a public crowd-funding campaign.
If Sea Orbiter's initial mission is successful, Rougerie and his team are planning to build an entire fleet of Sea Orbiters, which could potentially make their collective task the most comprehensive study of the Earth's oceans that has ever been undertaken.
However, next year, a daring and innovative new project is seeking to change all that.
Sea Orbiter, referred to be some as the “starship Enterprise for the water†will be a new type of ocean-going research vessel, a moving laboratory that will hopefully allow Human scientists better access to the world's oceans than ever before.
Designed by French architect Jaques Rougerie, Sea Orbiter will allow scientists to study everything from underwater archaeological sites to the migration patterns of marine life. It is also expected to extensively map the ocean floors beneath it and to allow divers to work continually on deeper dives than ever before.
Diving to a depth greater than 50 meters or so can cause decompression illness (DCI) and the only way to traverse this obstacle is via saturation diving, which involves prolonged immersion in hyperbaric pressure chambers. Aboard the Sea Orbiter, however, the entire bottom deck will feature hyperbaric pressure levels so that divers can regularly dive to greater depths, but still enjoy a comfortable standard of living when out of the water.
Theoretically, this means that divers will be able to reach depths of up to 100 metres, day after day, simply by remaining in Sea Orbiter's bottom deck. Also, because the researchers will be diving via a special bay on the underside of the craft, they will be unencumbered by obstacles like bad weather and lack of daylight. In fact, due to this advancement, Sea Orbiter is expected to give researchers unprecedented access to as-yet unknown deep-sea creatures that are only observable at night.
Technology wise, the design appears to have been influenced by the International Space Station (ISS), another innovative project that allowed researchers to reside in their chosen location for long periods of time, something that is always a great boon to scientific research.
Sea Orbiter will also boast mini, remote-operated submarines, as well as a manned submersible capable of reaching depths up to 1,000 metres and an unmanned drone that will be capable of venturing an astonishing 6,000 metres below sea level.
The design of the craft itself is also equally innovative; in fact, the word genius could be applied with little/no hyperbole present. Basically, the craft's tall, conical shape will render it almost impossible to tip, allowing Sea Orbiter to brave even the most violent ocean storm and emerge unscathed.
In fact, Sea Orbiter is far more stable than most other seafaring vessels. The saucer section in the middle of the craft, and the keel directly below it, are both far denser than seawater itself, which would normally be enough for it to sink like a stone, however, the upper portion of the vessel is designed to be exceptionally buoyant and will only be fashioned from the lightest possible materials, meaning that although two thirds of Sea Orbiter will be perpetually submerged, the vessel itself should never actually capsize or sink.
If Sea Orbiter is successful, this design is expected to become the model for a great many future ships.
Solar and wind power will keep Sea Orbiter's engines running, with biofuel on standby for use as needed. This means that Sea Orbiter will be one of the greenest post-industrial vessels ever to sail the oceans of the world and, once again, could become a valuable prototype for the oceangoing vessels of the future.
Heavily influenced by the works of Jules Verne and the pioneering naturalist work of filmmaker and explorer Jaques Cousteau, Jaques Rougerie has designed underwater environments for much of his career, even participating in a World Record setting 71-day stint under water. His work to date has included sub aquatic museums and laboratories and glass bottom research vessels.
He has also created workable designs for underwater habitats such as houses and even entire villages.
Construction of the Sea Orbiter is expected to be completed by 2016, but the project's success still hinges on funding. To date, the French government has provided most of the development money, but the project has also been backed by numerous corporate sponsors and even a public crowd-funding campaign.
If Sea Orbiter's initial mission is successful, Rougerie and his team are planning to build an entire fleet of Sea Orbiters, which could potentially make their collective task the most comprehensive study of the Earth's oceans that has ever been undertaken.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Experts Investigate Antares Rocket Explosion
Experts are presently investigating the destruction of the unmanned space rocket Antares, which exploded during its launch on Tuesday, October 28th. Official investigations began on the 29th, but no definite cause for the accident has been identified so far.
Almost immediately upon leaving the launch pad at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, Antares became engulfed in flames and was destroyed in midair. The falling wreckage caused considerable damage to the launch pad itself.
Although the cargo was lost, there were no casualties.
Antares was carrying around 5,000lbs (2,200 kgs) of supplies, which were intended for the six astronauts currently occupying the International Space Station. The rocket's cargo included over 1,300lbs (600kg) of dried food, as well equipment for various scientific experiments.
Despite the loss of important supplies and equipment, the astronauts aboard the ISS will still have enough provisions to continue their work.
Frank Culbertson, executive vice-president of Orbital Sciences Corp, the firm that built the rocket, is confident that the cause of the explosion will soon be determined. He told BBC News that,
"We will understand what happened, hopefully soon, and we'll get things back on track (...) we've all seen this happen in our business before, and we've all seen the teams recover from this, and we will do the same."
Mr. Culbertson has also urged locals not to go “souvenir hunting†along the beach, as the rocket had been carrying hazardous materials.
Some business experts are now predicting that Orbital may suffer greatly in the face of harsh competition to supply the ISS.
The investigation could take weeks, or even more, before analysts are satisfied that they have found the root cause of the problem.
In any instance, it seems highly likely that the investigators will place considerable emphasis on the rocket's AJ-26 engines, which were used to lift Antares from the launch pad.
Earlier versions of these same engines were developed for Russia's N1 moon missions, which came to an ignominious end after all four launch attempts failed. The second attempt, in 1969, resulted in a calamity that completely destroyed both the rocket and the launch tower.
Another of these power units actually exploded during ground testing earlier this year.
Whatever the cause, this malfunction is expected to set any further Antares rocket launches back for a considerable amount of time.
Almost immediately upon leaving the launch pad at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, Antares became engulfed in flames and was destroyed in midair. The falling wreckage caused considerable damage to the launch pad itself.
Although the cargo was lost, there were no casualties.
Antares was carrying around 5,000lbs (2,200 kgs) of supplies, which were intended for the six astronauts currently occupying the International Space Station. The rocket's cargo included over 1,300lbs (600kg) of dried food, as well equipment for various scientific experiments.
Despite the loss of important supplies and equipment, the astronauts aboard the ISS will still have enough provisions to continue their work.
Frank Culbertson, executive vice-president of Orbital Sciences Corp, the firm that built the rocket, is confident that the cause of the explosion will soon be determined. He told BBC News that,
"We will understand what happened, hopefully soon, and we'll get things back on track (...) we've all seen this happen in our business before, and we've all seen the teams recover from this, and we will do the same."
Mr. Culbertson has also urged locals not to go “souvenir hunting†along the beach, as the rocket had been carrying hazardous materials.
Some business experts are now predicting that Orbital may suffer greatly in the face of harsh competition to supply the ISS.
The investigation could take weeks, or even more, before analysts are satisfied that they have found the root cause of the problem.
In any instance, it seems highly likely that the investigators will place considerable emphasis on the rocket's AJ-26 engines, which were used to lift Antares from the launch pad.
Earlier versions of these same engines were developed for Russia's N1 moon missions, which came to an ignominious end after all four launch attempts failed. The second attempt, in 1969, resulted in a calamity that completely destroyed both the rocket and the launch tower.
Another of these power units actually exploded during ground testing earlier this year.
Whatever the cause, this malfunction is expected to set any further Antares rocket launches back for a considerable amount of time.
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