Research Notes: Agriculture Canada

Nine flavonol glycosides occur in various soybean cultivars with gene t1 resulting in kaempferol and T1 controlling the presence of quercetin plus kaempferol (Buttery and Buzzell, 1973). The sugars of these glycosides have been identified and four flavonol glycoside genes have been studied (Buzzell and Buttery, 1973, and unpublished). A monoglucoside is the basic glycoside; it is present even when the four genes are recessive

P3_9 Scooby and Shaggy: Metabolic Miracles

In the cartoon `What's New Scooby-Doo?' the characters Shaggy and Scooby are seen to eat large volumesof food without gaining any weight. Their effective temperatures in order to radiate away the excess energywere calculated to be T_Sh ~ 97 ± 033 °C for Shaggy, and T_Sc ~ 140 ± 43 °C for Scooby. It was concludedthat under normal circumstances, the subjects would perish of extreme hyperthermia. It was also notedthat Shaggy could survive if he was able to sweat continuously at the maximum rate for a human

P3_1 On the feasibility of neutrino sails

In this paper we consider whether a neutrino sail, a sheet of material absorbing neutrinos and gaining thrust from their momentum change, is a viable method of spacecraft propulsion. We calculate the thrust that could be achieved per unit area and compare this to that possible using a photon solar sail. We also calculate the thickness of sail necessary assuming that there are no special conditions under which the cross section for neutrino interactions with nuclei can be increased. We find that a thickness of 34000 light years would be necessary if a sheet of osmium were used, whereas neutron star matter could achieve this at 189 km thickness. We conclude that a neutrino sail is not a practical method of propulsion

P3_7 Cavorite Pt 3: Varying the Size of the Sheet

A continuation of The Cavorite Series, in which we explore the effects of a fictional substance which is “opaque to gravitation”. In this paper we examine the effects of varying the radius of the Cavorite sheet. As expected, the point at which the g experienced by a test particle returns to close to normal Earth g increases with the radius of the Cavorite. However, we found that even a Cavorite sheet of 1 km radius would not be enough to vent the atmosphere

P3_6 Cavorite Pt 2: the Gravity of the Situation

We continue to explore the gravitational and atmospheric effects of Cavorite, a fictional material that is “opaque to gravitation”, by attempting to form a simplified gravitational model of the situation. This gravitational model was found to define the range at which gravitational acceleration will return to near normal as between 0.02 and 12 m. Further research is required to truly model the gravitational acceleration due to Cavorite

P3_3 On the Atmospheric Effects of Cavorite

We estimate the gravitational and atmospheric effects of a fictional substance known as Cavorite, a material proposed by H.G. Wells that is “opaque to gravitation”. We conclude that for a Cavorite sheet of radius 1 m the impact on the gravitational acceleration is only meaningful at less than 12 m above the plate, and is insignificant at heights greater than this. Therefore, the atmosphere is unlikely to vent away as claimed

P3_4 Elysium: Where'd the Atmosphere Go?

This paper determines whether the Elysium space station, from the 2013 film Elysium[1], could maintain an atmosphere. We found that Elysium, with a radius of 20 km[2], would not hold onto its atmosphere unless high wind speeds (183 ms^-1, 324 ms^-1, and 443 ms^-1; for the atmospheric rotations tested) are to be endured by its inhabitants

P3_5 On the minimum mass for a Death Star's power system

We examine the minimum mass necessary to build the power system for a "Death Star", as shown in the "Star Wars" series of films, using current technology. Considering its powerplant as a Carnot engine we are able to find a balance between the necessary mass of reactor and heat radiators so as to reduce the overall mass of the Death Star's power system to 6.8 x 10^25 kg, approximately 930 times the mass of Earth's moon (to 2 significant figures)

P3_2 Terminal velocities due to relativistic Doppler effects

We find the speed of a spacecraft at which the radiation pressure ahead of the craft from blue-shifted starlight will be enough to balance the propulsive force of its engines. We found that the drag force obeys P=(4*pi/3)*(((V/c)+1)^2*I_0/(c*(1-(V/c)))), calculated the terminal velocity of the Project Daedalus 2nd stage to be (100-4.6x10^-19)%c, and found that at the craft's planned cruise speed, 0.12c, only 1.1x10^-15N of drag results from this effect