Interesting Items...

[MontysEvilTwin]

Just how can they test it at -500 °C?

Good point. Since absolute zero is -273.15°C that would be quite an achievement! Presumably they mean -50°C?

 

[Black Hole]

I think it should read -50 to +125 °C. How somebody came to stick in an extra zero is a mystery, although it may be deliberate to get attention (like the shops with deliberate mistakes in their signs knowing that some people will go in to point it out).

Would it not become a superconductor long before then and not really need the gold plating?

Well, if we ignore the fact that -500°C is not achievable, are you sure a Be-Cu alloy is capable of becoming a superconductor? Not all conductive materials have zero resistance at 0K (and who knows what happens at negative K!). The gold plating isn't directly there for its conductive properties - it is there for its resistance to oxidation, and therefore to maintain a clean contact.

 

[Trev]

Well, if we ignore the fact that -500°C is not achievable, are you sure a Be-Cu alloy is capable of becoming a superconductor? Not all conductive materials have zero resistance at 0K (and who knows what happens at negative K!).

No, not sure at all, but it's possible that it would at -500. (again ignoring the fact....)

The gold plating isn't directly there for its conductive properties - it is there for its resistance to oxidation, and therefore to maintain a clean contact.

Yes, but the BeCu would melt before the gold leaving no substrate for the gold to be plated on to.

 

[Black Hole]

Beer for physicists - get down to your local Asda (seems very pricey though):

 

[EEPhil]

Tinned beer - yeuch!
Give me a good bottled beer instead.
Oh, I forgot, I'm an engineer not a physicist, so it isn't meant for me.

 

[Trev]

Don't yo do atoms in your line of business then. I thought everyone did.

 

[MikeSh]

Don't yo do atoms in your line of business then. I thought everyone did.

Physicists = quantum/relativistic
Engineers = Newtonian

... as a broad brush

 

[prpr]

Beer for physicists

But does the light go off when you shut the door?

Tinned beer - yeuch!
Give me a good bottled beer instead.

Quite.

 

[Black Hole]

But does the light go off when you shut the door?

I've seen no evidence that it's a Thomson Lamp, so it must be in a quantum superposition. Unless, one day, I open the door and the lamp is off...

 

[Trev]

If that happens, the bulb is likely blown.

 

[gomezz]

Physicists = quantum/relativistic
Engineers = Newtonian

... as a broad brush

In which case

Mechanics = Quantum

 

[Black Hole]

Mechanics = "If all I have is a hammer, I'll treat everything like a nail"

 

[EEPhil]

Mechanics = "If all I have is a hammer, I'll treat everything like a nail"

Deja vu all over again - The Birmingham screwdriver.

 

[Black Hole]

Indeed; it was apropos.

 

[EEPhil]

If that happens, the bulb is likely blown.

Not necessarily. Sometimes the door switch of my refrigerator ices up and sticks. So I open the door and - darkness.

 

[trog]

On sale here from August for £356.59

 

[Trev]

Wonder what size pic is possible and how ling the battery lasts.

 

[trog]

Wonder what size pic is possible and how ling the battery lasts.

"The projector offers a resolution of 4K UHD 3,840 x 2,160 at 60 FPS, and brightness of 1,500 ANSI Lumens, while delivering a projection size of between 32 in (81 cm) and 360 in (914 cm) from a distance range of 2.6 ft (0.8 m) to 29.5 ft (9 m). The battery module also delivers up to eight hours battery life off a single charge"
https://newatlas.com/n-tech-4k-portable-wireless-projector-indiegogo/53316/

Some other specs here
https://www.itsagadget.com/2018/02/n-tech-4k-projector.html

 

[Black Hole]

My Qumi Q5 went tits-up recently...

 

[Black Hole]

For the H2G2 aficionados: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09tbl2s

Hilarious (people who believe there is free energy all around us just waiting to be tapped, but the energy industry doesn't want us to know about): https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09rzs61