Lightning current waveform measuring system

An apparatus is described for monitoring current waveforms produced by lightning strikes which generate currents in an elongated cable. These currents are converted to voltages and to light waves for being transmitted over an optical cable to a remote location. At the remote location, the waves are reconstructed back into electrical waves for being stored into a memory. The information is stored within the memory with a timing signal so that only different signals need be stored in order to reconstruct the wave form

Single wall carbon nanotube double quantum dot

We report on two top-gate defined, coupled quantum dots in a semiconducting single wall carbon nanotube, constituting a tunable double quantum dot system. The single wall carbon nanotubes are contacted by titanium electrodes, and gated by three narrow top-gate electrodes as well as a back-gate. We show that a bias spectroscopy plot on just one of the two quantum dots can be used to extract the addition energy of both quantum dots. Furthermore, honeycomb charge stability diagrams are analyzed by an electrostatic capacitor model that includes cross capacitances, and we extract the coupling energy of the double quantum dot.Comment: Published in Applied Physics Letters 4 December 2006. http://link.aip.org/link/?APL/89/23211

Contribution to Cherenkov Resolution from Knock-on Electrons

Calculations of the mean and standard error of the added Cerenkov component from knock-on electrons for sample counters with refractive indices ranging from n = 1.03 to n = 1.49 are presented. We find that this contribution to the Cerenkov resolution is significant, but not dominant, for typical detector parameters

Study of helium transfer technology for STICCR: Fluid management

The Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) is a long life cryogenically cooled space based telescope for infrared astronomy from 2 to 700 microns currently under study and planned for launch in the mid 90's. SIRTF will operate as a multi-user facility, initially carrying 3 instruments at the focal plane. It will be cooled to below 2 K by superfluid liquid helium to achieve radiometric sensitivity limited only by the statistical fluctuations in the natural infrared background radiation over most of its spectral range. The lifetime of the mission will be limited by the lifetime of the liquid helium supply, and is currently baselined to be 2 years. Candidates are reviewed for a liquid management device to be used in the resupply of liquid helium, and for the selection of an appropriate candidate

Illustrating phallic worship: uses of material objects and the production of sexual knowledge in eighteenth-century antiquarianism and early twentieth-century sexual science

This is the final version of the article. Available from Taylor & Francis via the DOI in this record.This article reveals previously overlooked connections between eighteenth-century antiquarianism and early twentieth-century sexual science by presenting a comparative reading of two illustrated books: An Account of the Remains of the Worship of Priapus, by British antiquarian scholar Richard Payne Knight (1750–1824), and Die Weltreise eines Sexualforschers (The World Journey of a Sexologist), by German sexual scientist Magnus Hirschfeld (1868–1935). A close analysis of these publications demonstrates the special status of material artefacts and the strategic engagement with visual evidence in antiquarian and scientific writings about sex. Through its exploration of the similarities between antiquarian and sexual scientific thought, the article demonstrates the centrality of material culture to the production of sexual knowledge in the Western world. It also opens up new perspectives on Western intellectual history and on the intellectual origins of sexual science. While previous scholarship has traced the beginnings of sexual science back to nineteenth-century medical disciplines, this article shows that sexual scientists drew upon different forms of evidence and varied methodologies to produce sexual knowledge and secure scientific authority. As such, sexual science needs to be understood as a field with diverse intellectual roots that can be traced back (at least) to the eighteenth century.All authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Wellcome Trust [grant numbers NC110388, 106654/Z/14/Z and 106653/Z/14/Z]

The mission oriented terminal area simulation facility

The Mission Oriented Terminal Area Simulation (MOTAS) was developed to provide an ATC environment in which flight management and flight operations research studies can be conducted with a high degree of realism. This facility provides a flexible and comprehensive simulation of the airborne, ground-based and communication aspects of the airport terminal area environment. Major elements of the simulation are: an airport terminal area environment model, two air traffic controller stations, several aircraft models and simulator cockpits, four pseudo pilot stations, and a realistic air-ground communications network. MOTAS has been used for one study with the DC-9 simulator and a series of data link studies are planned in the near future