I'll BE BACK !!

Hello,

Yes like the terminator I'm back. Actually I do not go anywhere. I am back writing and looking after my long ignored blog. Like I have said in another blog, yes I have more than one, I do not stop thinking and living. It is just that life intrudes and I feel I have nothing to really contribute, so I stay silent. Now I am known to be expressive of my views. I have the firm belief that everyone is entitled to my opnion. However I am beginning to realize when I post something on the web it takes on a life of its own.

Since it lives after we have written it I want to be very sure when I write things down that they are worthy. My ideas are usually what I have been thinking about for years and so are well thought out. I have said it before and no doubt will say it again and again, not a day goes by that I do not hink about my penultimate favourite subject ROBOTS.

Orion and the Big D

    Early in the morning in the summer a wonderful vista appears in the southern sky. It is well before sunrise and the stars are visible in the sky like beautiful diamonds in all their splendour. I know a little about astronomy and so I recognize some of the constellations, though I have a feeling I should know more. Now astronomy is a most fascinating subject, and observing the night sky is very exciting. However this study is complicated because of the nature of our wonderful universe. The stars are in constant motion and so are we on the planet earth. As such the constellations appear to move when in actuality, we have moved. So the stars that appear in the morning in the summer appear late at night in the winter.

    One constellation that is very recognizable is Orion, the hunter. All you have to find are the three stars that are almost in a perfect straight line, these are his belt, He has two stars above his belt and two stars below his belt and these are his arms and legs , respectively. Only recently, on an especially clear night have I seen the far flung stars that make up his spear and shield. Many a morning,as I walk to the streetcar stop, do I look up and greet my old friend Orion.

    Now another set of stars that is easier to pick out is the Big Dipper, After searching the northern sky you will eventually see a group of stars that look like a big dipper. An interesting fact about this constellation is that, if you connect the stars on the far side with an imaginary line and extend this line, you will almost hit another star. This bright is Polaris the north star. This star is where the axis of the tilted earth would go if it was extended for several light years. As such this star never moves. All the other stars appear to rotate.

    This measure of the distance, the light year boggles the mind. Light travels at 300,000,000 m/s. So you can imagine how far it travels in one years time. When we see the stars each night we are actually seeing the light from that star. That light has taken a journey, sometimes hundreds of years, as measured from earth, to reach our retinas. So it is humbling when you realize that you are actually looking at the past. A moment long passed for the star itself, but new to us. I read a book recently about science and the author stated that the universe started with the famous Big Bang Theory. It all began about 15 billion years ago, The light energy called photons were created just after the initial pop. Now according to the Theory of Relativity several things happen when you travel at the speed of light. One of the things that happens is that time stops flowing. So to a photon that has traveled from the place of the beginning to earth no time has passed. However to us billions of years have come and gone. Now there is no one on this photon to be aware of no time passing, however it is still fascinating to consider.

    A book by Robert Jastrow details the life of the universe and how the galaxies and stars were formed. He explained how stars evolved from the stellar gas that existed everywhere. This gas was composed of the first element , Hydrogen. As gravity condensed the star more and more internal forces took over to counteract the squeeze of the gravity.  The stars became large nuclear furnaces and in the process of producing more energy changed the element hydrogen. Through nuclear reactions great energy was released and the by product was helium. Eventually all the hydrogen was used up and the star had to burn, so to speak the helium. As such more  and more elements were created, until all the fuel was used up and the star could no longer fight the power of gravity. The increased pressure becomes to much for the mass in the star and it explodes. All the elements created are spread out into the universe. From this stuff other stars are made and at times planets as well. Our sun is one of those second generation stars and it is awe inspiring when you realize that the elements that make up your body were once inside a star. We are star stuff!!

    Humans seem to be at the focal point of life. We are not too small and we are not too big. Our connection to the stars is then our deep connection to the macrocosm.
 

Water , water everywhere !!

Water Molecule

We are blessed to exist on a planet that is covered with so much water. As a species we evolved here on earth, as such a good percentage of our physical makeup is water. It has been said that if you remove the water from our bodies there would be left, at most a few kilograms of common elements. In a Star Trek the Next Generation episode there existed microscopic life forms. These life forms were very intelligent and learned how to reconfigure the universal translator. After they had scanned us they called humans, giant bags of mostly water. Well not the most flattering description, but very accurate.

Water is so common that we often do not give a first thought , let alone a second. There is an abundance of salt water. Fresh water, because of our disgusting habit of pouring filth into it , is becoming harder to find and even harder to keep clean. Water is composed of two elements. The first is the most common element in the universe. It is the very first element found in the periodic table; hydrogen. The second element is one thing we need to survive. We literally could not take a breath without it. It is of course ; oxygen. The latter element tends to react well with some elements. One such element that reacts is iron, known by its chemical name, ferrum, and it produces ferric oxide, otherwise know as rust. Here is an example that can be used to see this action. The next time you eat an apple do not throw away the remaining core. Leave in a place you  where can observe it. In just a few minutes you will see the surface slowly change colour. From the pure white, a brownish-red colouration appears. Apples are a rich source of iron, an important nutrient that forms part of our blood. When exposed, by removing the outer skin the apple begins to rust. Quite fascinating when you think about it.

Now water is also know by its chemical name H2O. Ice , as frozen water is a solid and is less dense than the liquid and floats at the waters surface. As such on the very cold days ice will form on rivers and streams , however it will not freeze completely through. Think about this, the life that exists in the water, such as fish can still swim. Have you ever observed how water freezes ? It begins to form long needle like structures. They form all over the place and grow and grow to cover the entire surface.

I  have always wondered why, when I used to leave a dish with sticky, hard to remove food that seemed glued to the side of the dish, in water overnight, was easy to clean the next morning. It was not until high school that a wonderful chemistry teacher, Mr. Westwater told me the reason. Please look at the diagram that begins this piece. The the atoms line up in the water molecule is similar to a big ball, which is the oxygen atom, with two little balls, the two hydrogen atoms, that bunch up at one side. This happens because of the nature of the chemical bond. Note the ions have a charge before they join. The oxygen ion is negative and the hydrogen ions are postive. Now the water molecule has no charge, however look at the way it is configured. As such one side of the water molecule is ever so slightly negatively charged, while the other side is ever so slightly positively charged. The assumption is that food particles, made of complex and simple compounds also have small charges associated with them. During the night the water molecules are attracted to the food particle and attach. Even in a small dish ,at room temperature the huge number of water molecules are attracted , jostled, replaced. In a few hours the particles loosen up nicely.


Did you know that you cannot compress water to a great extent. Think of that the next time you water the lawn. The surface tension in water allows you to float a metal paper clip. This same surface tension allows water to creep up small, narrow tubes. In this way plants and trees can take in the water they need to survive.


So in conclusion even the simplist of things is truly fascinating. I feel that this simple, common compound connects me to the microcosm that surrounds us all.
    

Here is a video of my Robot Tipsy. He is one of the older BEAM robots I had built a few years back. He worked ever so well and I would feed him with light and he would run ever so slowly. Unfortunately I moved from the basement to the top floor of my house. In the process of the move Tipsy hit the ground so hard that he broke. After almost a year I repaired him. One day I noticed something the basement could never offer , bright I mean really bright sunshine. So I rigged a very shakey platform and watched as Tipsy moved. His solar panel loves the sun and he triggers so quickly that it suprised and delighted me. As you can see he went faster than I thought he would and fell. However he was alright though it took me a little longer. The reason I call him Tipsy is that in his present configuration he has a tends to tip over.