4 more stupidly cool research facilities

[Saki Steve]

A find on a website i was surfin


some of the world’s most impressive research facilities and machines.

1. joint european torus, oxfordshire, uk


(above) ’split image showing interior view of the jet vacuum vessel with a superimposed image of an actual jet plasma, taken with a simple industrial tv camera in the visible spectrum’.

the joint european torus (jet) is the largest nuclear fusion experimental reactor on earth and is also a unique facility for researching fusion technology. jet is an example of a ‘tokamak’, a machine which produces an extremely strong, doughnut shaped magnetic field in order to confine a plasma. in jet’s case these plasmas can reach temperatures in excess of 100 million degrees centigrade. for more photos go here.

2. windshear rolling road wind tunnel, north carolina, usa




who knew aerodynamics research could look so cool? the windshear rolling road wind tunnel is the first of its kind in america and its 1mm thick steel belt can accelerate from 0-180mph in under a minute. unlike current wind tunnels, a machine like this allows engineers to study airflow to a greater degree due to the vehicle’s spinning wheels and resultant drag. some more facts…

- the air in this wind tunnel design flows from the fan to the vehicle, then is collected and returned to the fan in a closed circuit
- the main fan has a diameter of 22 feet, and is rated at 5,100 hp
- at maximum air speed, the fan produces an air flow volume of 2.85 million cubic feet per minute, and its total power consumption is 7 megawatts (one megawatt is equal to one million [106] watts)
- the belt will last up to 5,000 operational hours
- if a vehicle remained on the belt the entire time, it would “travel” approximately 300,000 to 400,000 kilometers
- the “thru-the-belt” measurement system measures the aerodynamic down force under each tire through the belt

3. solae, inazawa city, japan



this incredible looking building, built by the mitsubishi electric corporation, is the world’s tallest elevator shaft and was constructed specifically to enable engineers to research the next generation of high-speed elevators. solae is 173 metres tall and cost $45 million (usd) to complete but is an essential piece of kit when you consider the ever-increasing speeds and heights of elevator shafts: the world’s fastest elevator is currently at taipei 101 and travels at 37.66mph but this will soon be beaten by the elevators at the 800 metre high burj dubai which will reach ear-popping speeds of 42.36mph.

4. the shake table, san diego, usa



this $9 million machine, supporting a huge wind turbine in the photo, is the world’s only large-scale outdoor earthquake platform and, using hydraulics, is capable of shaking a 20 ton object horizontally at realistically high speeds. this kind of research could obviously prove invaluable as specialists will hopefully learn how to build quake-proof structures. it also looks like a massive amount of fun. check out the video from new scientist below or visit the official home of the machine here…

[Silvia Surfer]

sweet. i read about the fusion reactor in popular science. they didnt mention it looked badass.

[sil]

Not gonna lie that elevator building looks awesome.

[Saki Steve]

5 more cool places is found


otherwordly structures, massive machines, surreal technologyc.

some incredible beasts have been constructed in the name of research and below are 5 of the most immediately intriguing. there are plenty more out there which will be highlighted in the near future as ifm making this a series of sorts. let me know if you have any in mind for the next collection.

on to the brilliancec

1. super kamiokande detector, kamioka observatory, japan






an old favourite on the intertubes, this 50Œ000 ton cylindrical ering-imaging water cerenkov detectorf can be found at the kamioka mozumi mine in japan - 1Œ000m underground. clever people built the machine to detect neutrinos, proton decay and cosmic rays: this is done using the 12Œ000-ish photomultiplier tubes (extremely sensitive light detectors) visible on all walls of the eultra-purified water-filledf tank. to offer further explanation would reveal my scientific ineptitude. instead, go here for a nicely simplified explanation and here for some incredible hi-res photos large enough to incapacitate the average pc.

2. benefield anechoic facility, california, usa








first of all (in case you donft know) an anechoic chamber is a room which has been filled with sound absorbing materials in order to minimise all reflections from internal surfaces, thus making the space echo-less. more commonly these rooms are used to test and research sound equipment due to the lack of any such interference affecting the equipmentfs output. the benefield anechoic facility you see above is the largest anechoic chamber on earth and, rather than using acoustically absorbent materials, is filled with radiation absorbent materials in the form of 816Œ000 foam cones designed to minimise the reflection of radio frequency signals. to read more, look here.

3. the z machine, sandia national laboratory, new mexico, usa




the z machine is the largest x-ray generator on earth and is believed by many as the key to understanding controlled fusion.

ethe z machine uses a short burst of intense electricity - only a few 10 billionths of a second long - that forces an ionized gas to implode. the process is called a z-pinch because the pulse creates a magnetic field that squeezes particles in the vertical direction, which math books usually label as the gz-axis.h at the center of the z-pinch, in the space of a small soup can, gas particles race at each other at a million miles an hour. the collisions result in X-rays and extremely high temperatures.f

in 2006 the machine unexpectedly produced plasmas with temperatures in excess of 3.6 billion ‹f. thatfs hotter than the core of our sun.



4. very large array, new mexico, usa





arranged on an enormous y-shaped set of tracks on the plains of san augustin is the every large arrayf, a collection of 27 radio antennas used primarily by astronomers around the world. each antenna weighs 230 tons and can be moved by way of the 3 13 mile long tracks, giving a total of 4 different configurations, the data from all 27 antenna can then be combined to give the resolution of an antenna whopping 22 miles across. the 2nd picture, from google maps, gives you some idea of the scale of the observatory.

the direct link to the vla on google maps is here. the vla website is here.


5. large hadron collider, cern, switzerland/france





the large hadron collider, when completed very soon, will be the largest particle collider on earth, one of the intentions being to recreate the slightly hot conditions that occured immediately after the big bang, in turn resulting in the observation of the egod particlee. the huge circle in the 1st photo is the location of the lhc tunnel, located approximately 100m below ground and measuring 27km in circumference. in the tunnel are 2 parallel tubes, each carrying protons in opposite directions at near the speed of light using the surrounding superconducting magnets. to carry on with this explanation could take days and a lot of mistakes so you should continue reading about this mammoth machine here.

[Saki Steve]

5. large hadron collider, cern, switzerland/france starting this beast up aready, hello end of the world

[Silvia Surfer]

they tested the collider succesfully i thought. but yeah alot of people were afraid it would do some "the mist" type shit.

[Saki Steve]

ever consider they are trying to make a black hole. anyone concernd