Semiautomatic inspection of microfilm records

Semiautomatic machine inspects microfilm for deficiencies. Advantages of microfilm inspector are uniformity of inspection method, increased speed of inspection, and improved quality through elimination of scratches and finger marks

Apparatus for inspecting microfilm Patent

Apparatus for semiautomatic inspection of microfilmed documents for density, resolution, size, and positio

Magnetic clouds in the solar wind

Two interplanetary magnetic clouds, characterized by anomalous magnetic field directions and unusually high magnetic field strengths with a scale of the order of 0.25 AU, are identified and described. As the clouds moved past a spacecraft located in the solar wind near Earth, the magnetic field direction changed by rotating approximately 180 deg nearly parallel to a plane which was essentially perpendicular to the ecliptic. The configuration of the magnetic field in the clouds might be that of a tightly wound cylindrical helix or a series of closed circular loops. One of the magnetic clouds was in a cold stream preceded by a shock, and it caused both a geomagnetic storm and a depression in the galactic cosmic ray intensity. No stream, geomagnetic storm, or large cosmic ray decrease was associated with the other magnetic cloud

Flying car design and testing

This paper is primarily concerned with the inverted design process and manufacture of a flying car prototype which can overcome the problem of traffic management in the world today. A possible solution to the problem of overcrowded roads would be to design a flying or hovering car. Given technological advances in aircraft construction, navigation and operation, flying cars or personal aircraft are now a feasible proposition. The viability of such a concept was investigated in terms of producing a conceptual design for a two-person carrying flying vehicle, manufacturing a flying prototype followed by ground and initial flight testing

Interplanetary magnetic clouds at 1 AU

Magnetic clouds are defined as regions with a radial dimension approximately 0.25 AU (at 1 AU) in which the magnetic field strength is high and the magnetic field direction changes appreciably by means of rotation of one component of B nearly parallel to a plane. The magnetic field geometry in such a magnetic cloud is consistent with that of a magnetic loop, but it cannot be determined uniquely. Forty-five clouds were identified in interplanetary data obtained near Earth between 1967 and 1978; at least one cloud passed the Earth every three months. Three classes of clouds were identified, corresponding to the association of a cloud with a shock, a stream interface, or a CME. There are approximately equal numbers of clouds in each class, and the three types of clouds might be different manifestations of a coronal transient. The magnetic pressure inside the clouds is higher than the ion pressure and the sum is higher than the pressure of the material outside of the cloud

Fractal structure of the interplanetary magnetic field

Under some conditions, time series of the interplanetary magnetic field strength and components have the properties of fractal curves. Magnetic field measurements made near 8.5 AU by Voyager 2 from June 5 to August 24, 1981 were self-similar over time scales from approximately 20 sec to approximately 3 x 100,000 sec, and the fractal dimension of the time series of the strength and components of the magnetic field was D = 5/3, corresponding to a power spectrum P(f) approximately f sup -5/3. Since the Kolmogorov spectrum for homogeneous, isotropic, stationary turbulence is also f sup -5/3, the Voyager 2 measurements are consistent with the observation of an inertial range of turbulence extending over approximately four decades in frequency. Interaction regions probably contributed most of the power in this interval. As an example, one interaction region is discussed in which the magnetic field had a fractal dimension D = 5/3

A Search for CO in the Local Group Dwarf Irregular Galaxy WLM

We present 12CO J = 1-0 and J = 2-1 observations of the low metallicity (12 + log(O/H) = 7.74) Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy WLM made with the 15 m SEST and 14 m FCRAO telescopes. Despite the presence a number of HII regions, we find no CO emission. We obtain low upper limits on the integrated intensity (I(CO) >= 0.18 K km/s for CO (1-0)). The non-detection is consistent with the result of Taylor, Kobulnicky and Skillman (1998), that dwarf galaxies below a metallicity of ~ 7.9 are not detected in CO emission. WLM shows that this trend continues for low metallicity galaxies even as their metallicities approach 7.9. These results are consistent with the models of the metal poor ISM by Norman and Spaans (1997). By comparing our CO data with observations of star formation in WLM, we find evidence for a high CO to H$_2$ conversion factor.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, accepted by A&

Polyethylene under tensile load: strain energy storage and breaking of linear and knotted alkanes probed by first-principles molecular dynamics calculations

The mechanical resistance of a polyethylene strand subject to tension and the way its properties are affected by the presence of a knot is studied using first-principles molecular dynamics calculations. The distribution of strain energy for the knotted chains has a well-defined shape that is very different from the one found in the linear case. The presence of a knot significantly weakens the chain in which it is tied. Chain rupture invariably occurs just outside the entrance to the knot, as is the case for a macroscopic rope.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figures, to appear on J. Chem. Phy