Neutrinos. Faster than light and unaffected by ordinary matter, the idea of a neutrino communications transceiver could be a possibilty. So instead of dragging fibre optics across the seabed for miles and miles and all the technical challenges that brings to light, such technology could channel a stream of encoded neutrinos straight through the center of the earth, unhindered, without the need for focusing or amplification.
Current research into crystalline structures such as sapphire for detecting neutrinos is not exactly successful…yet. There is also a big problem in actually producing them, one theory (that we all are familiar with) is that if a crystal can detect such illusive particles and oscillate, then the same crystal if oscillated in the same manner, will produce neutrinos, these can then be encoded and directed more precisely than a laser.
“A neutrino beam a few centimetres wide and with the same energy as a 20-watt light bulb would interact with normal matter so infrequently, it would lose barely a few million billionths of its power as it journeyed through the Earth!” [1]
Oddly, Pirelli (Yes The Tyre Manufacturer) are providing funding for the project, they are a world leader in fibre optics, something that would be superceded by this technology so it makes sense they want a piece of it. Naturally there is sceptism but also enthusiasm out there on this subject, but all the same it’s kinda cool this sort of research is being undertaken, although the product of this research is unlikely to affect our lives for many years, if not decades, if at all.
[1] Matin Durrani – New Scientist vol 182 issue 2443
September 27th, 2011
“Severe storm warnings have been issued by the Met Office as fears grow that Hurricane Katia could hit Britain bringing gale force winds, flooding and transport chaos.” – Rings out the Daily Telegraph on Friday 9th September.
I’m looking back to “The Great Storm” of 1987, called so because it wasn’t a hurricane, it just had hurricane force winds from time to time and it didn’t form from a tropical cyclone, it formed from a depression in the Bay of Biscay, warnings however, were somewhat muted, especially the previous evening’s weather report from Michael Fish famously slamming down callers who were asking if a Hurricane was coming. One thing I do remember clear as day, is my Mum going shopping a couple of weeks before the storm, when she returned she told me of an old lady who was tightening her stockings with a sixpence coin as my Nan apparently used to, she approached my Mum in a queue of people mumbling, she told her that her son in Scotland had telephoned her and told her to ‘batten down the hatches’ as a storm was coming. The oddity of the circumstances of how my Mum received this information and then told me as soon as she got home, bolsters my beliefs that things are not what they seem.
I reckon it might get a bit windy with some rain…that is all.
September 9th, 2011
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Wahey Bank Holiday!!! Although I was supposed to be on call I wangled it off by conspiring with a fellow engineer… Sorted 😉
Anyway now I’m moving stuff around on the PC, backing up some recent stuff for when I upgrade…hahaha! With money the way it is, that is a slight falicy. What to do today, hmmmmm… I’m going to dissapear into the woods for a while and organise a few things to get done next week, I am off work you see…For 5 Days!!! WOOHOO!
Would love to set a radio up but with no one on the other end any more it seems a bit like my energies could be put to better use in other areas, regrettably. I have mentioned the idea to Lisa that she could do the Novice course, which wouldn’t take a long time and is relatively easy, but she just isn’t interested, which is fair enough.
At times though I do get the feeling I am having my personailty sapped from my soul while all my interests are dispersing and becoming diluted in the way things are. I guess it’s up to me to get up again and soldier on regardless, getting back to the gym will help, so will staying on diet. All stuff for my list.
May 30th, 2011
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