Hydrogen trains before hydrogen cars.

-  2251  -  Hydrogen trains have already replaced more polluting diesel engines on a line in Germany, and some train companies think the vehicles could be running in Britain as early as 2022.
-
-

-
---------------------- 2251  -  Hydrogen trains before hydrogen cars.
-
-  The UK government cancelled its plans to electrify train lines because there may be a better alternative way to turn British railways electric: hydrogen.
-
-  Hydrogen trains have already replaced more polluting diesel engines on a line in Germany, and some train companies think the vehicles could be running in Britain as early as 2022.
-
-   A third of the UK rail network has been electrified.   Without continuing to electrify the network, the government is faced with the dilemma of how to eliminate diesel trains that produce carbon dioxide and other harmful pollutants.
-
-   If electrifying the rest of the network is deemed too expensive, one potential alternative is to generate electricity on board the train instead of power in overhead lines.. One way to do this is to use fuel cells that combine hydrogen gas with oxygen from the air to produce electricity and water.
-
-  Hydrogen can carry more energy than the same weight of batteries, meaning fuel cell systems could be lighter. They also take less time to refuel than batteries take to recharge and don't have the same high environmental costs from manufacturing.
-
-  The hydrogen gas would need to be compressed into tanks that would usually be stored on the train's roof. By adding a regenerative braking system the train’s momentum could charge batteries that would reduce the amount of hydrogen needed to power the train.
-
-  The high cost of installing overhead wires means that hydrogen trains would likely be a more economic way to electrify railway lines with relatively low volumes of traffic. And it makes sense to experiment with hydrogen trains to uncover any unexpected issues.
-
-  One solution might be to develop bimodal trains that can switch between electricity from overhead wires and fuel cells. This would be especially suitable for the UK rail network, which has many bridges and tunnels that are too low to run overhead cables beneath and very expensive to replace. If electric trains could switch to hydrogen power for sections of track with bridges or tunnels rather than requiring cables, it could considerably reduce the cost of electrification.
-
-  The other problem with hydrogen fuel cells is that the fuel is currently manufactured from methane , or natural gas,  using a process called steam methane reforming that also produces a large output of highly toxic carbon monoxide. This can be converted to carbon dioxide but that means using hydrogen fuel cells still contributes to greenhouse gas emissions.
-
-  A pollution-free way of producing hydrogen is through electrolysis, by passing an electric current through water. In theory, you could use excess wind power and solar to generate this electricity and make the hydrogen a renewable energy source.
-
-  The issue is that electrolysis plants are unlikely to be economic unless they run for a high proportion of the day. This would mean that when there wasn't excess wind to power them, they would need regular electricity from the grid that would make the process highly expensive and not necessarily renewable.
-
-  A second alternative is to use a "thermo chemical" production method that involves reacting water with sulfur and iodine in the presence of heat. The good news is that this method is set to become economical within the next ten years thanks to the development of generation IV nuclear power plants. These high-temperature, small modular nuclear reactors are being developed now in several countries
-
-  Despite the current limits of hydrogen as a transport fuel, as more and more countries undertake further research on the hydrogen economy, its costs will fall substantially, just as they have for solar and wind power. Hydrogen could even eventually come to replace natural gas.
-
-  The difficulty often seen in trying to introduce a new kind of transport fuel is that vehicle owners won't use it without the infrastructure to support it but infrastructure builders won't install it unless there is demand from vehicle owners. A government-funded experiment with hydrogen trains could help overcome this problem and bring the renewable hydrogen economy one step closer to reality
-
-  In January , 2019 , Germany rolled out the world's first hydrogen-powered train, signaling the start of a push to challenge polluting diesel trains with costlier but more eco-friendly technology.
-
-  Two trains began running a 62-mile route between the towns and cities in northern Germany, a stretch normally supported by diesel trains.   Germany plans to deliver another 14 of the zero-emissions trains by 2021.
-
-  These hydrogen trains are equipped with fuel cells that produce electricity through a combination of hydrogen and oxygen, a process that leaves steam and water as the only emissions.  Excess energy is stored in ion lithium batteries on board the train.  The trains can run for around 600 miles on a single tank of hydrogen, similar to the range of diesel trains.
-
-  This new technology is a greener, quieter alternative to diesel on non-electrified railway lines that can help combat air pollution.  Hydrogen trains may be in our future.  Not just pollution but overcrowded highways in big cities may move the development even faster.
-
-  January 31, 2019                             
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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--  email feedback, corrections, request for copies or Index of all reviews
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 --------------------------   Thursday, January 31, 2019  --------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Asteroids visits and impacts

-  2250  -  We have several spacecrafts visiting asteroids right now. January, 2019.  This Review  will summarize the current visits and then get into the history even some that are evident on the Earth and on the Moon.
-
-

-
---------------------- 2250  -  Asteroids visits and impacts
-
-  We have several spacecrafts visiting asteroids right now. January, 2019.  This Review  will summarize the current visits and then get into the history even some that are evident on the Earth and on the Moon.
-
-  Hayabusa I spacecraft visited the asteroid Itokawa in 2005.  It returned with only 2,000 grains of asteroid dust.   This time Hayabusa II reached asteroid Ryugu  on June 27, 2019 with hope of collecting many more samples..  Ryugu’s mission is to blow up a crater and recover a good amount subsurface samples to return to Earth.
-
-  Another space craft OSIRIS-Rex is visiting the asteroid Bennu.  Its mission is to bring back samples by 2023. 
-
-  Both of these asteroids have so little gravity that even sunlight can change their orbits.  The goal is to pick up samples and keep them pristine during their return trip to Earth for laboratory analysis. 
-
-  The purpose of this analysis is to learn more about the origin of the solar system, the origin of the planets, and the origin of life itself? Science already has thousands of samples of asteroids that have reached the surface of Earth.  Hundreds fall each year.  But,  all of these have been coated with the Earth’s atmosphere and burned from ground landings. 
-
-  Pristine samples would tell science what it was like 4,600,000,000 years ago.  Could these carbon-rich asteroids carry the raw ingredients for life?  The organic compounds in the asteroid would hopefully not be contaminated.
-
-  Asteroid Ryugu is only 880 meters across and asteroid Bennu is only 510 meters across.  The slightest pressure on their surfaces will push them off course in their trajectory.
-
-  Even the smallest grains that have already been returned, particles only 50 micrometers across have significantly improved the science for asteroids..  The OSIRIR mission plans to collect up to 2,000 grams of dust samples.  Hayabusa II plan on collecting 100 milligrams at three different locations. 
-
-  Much more science will occur beyond returned surface samples.  Bennu will be analyzed by 3 cameras, a laser altimeter, and 3 spectrometers.  Hayabusa will fire a 2 kilogram projectile into Ryugu’s surface, then collecting the debris. 
-
-   Bennu asteroid  has visited with near Earth passes in 1999, 2005, and 2011. So, radio telescopes have already mapped the surface shape, but less of the details needed for a good landing.  This data was enough to allow calculations on how much sunlight alone is affecting the asteroid’s orbit. 
-
-  Asteroids rumble through space absorbing sunlight on one surface then re-emitting heat later when the surface is not facing the Sun.  That radiating heat alone is enough to change the asteroid’s orbit.  Calculations on this data have determined that Bennu has a 1 in 2,000 chance of hitting the Earth in 2200. 
-
-  We  will see what these missions can tell us there is a lot more to learn. I won’t be here. 
-
-  There is another asteroid , Oumuamua, that has been studied since October , 2017.  Science has been trying to define its trajectory studying the affects of sunlight photons, friction like forces, and magnetic interactions with the solar wind.  Or, the trajectories can also be influenced by venting gas and dust from the surface.
-
-  The sunlight can sublimate ices trapped just below the surface turning the solid ice directly into gas.  This out gassing can in turn generate a tiny amount of thrust.  The path being traced has already concluded that Oumaumau is from outside our solar system.  And, it will leave us after passing through. 
-
-  Spacecraft have studied some 24 asteroids to date.  Halley’s Comet has had 5 spacecraft visits in 1986.  The closest approach to Halley was 850 miles.  The Deep Impact spacecraft visited Tempel 1 in 2005 then coasted by Comet Halley in 2010 to within 430 miles pf its surface.
-
-  Europe’s Rosetta spacecraft visited Comet 67P in 2014.  It orbited the comet and deployed a lander , Philae in November to it surface.  The lander’s batteries only lasted for 64 hours.  But, it did manage to discover organic molecules in the comet’s atmosphere.  It discovered a magnetic field on the comet and temperatures ranging from
 -292 F to -229.  The comet is not quit a rock and not quit an iceberg. 
-
-  Science is also studying the asteroid impacts on our Moon to better understand the history of impacts on Earth.  Even closer to home the comet exploding over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013, was 65 feet in diameter. 
-
-  Asteroid Duende , 100 feet in diameter, passed between the Earth and the Moon, missing us by only 17,000 miles.    It was estimated to weigh 130,000 tons. 
-
-  Some 10,000 years ago the Barringer Meteor Crater impact occurred in Arizona.  It was 300,000 ton asteroid traveling at 29,000 miles per hour. Its impact was equivalent to an explosion of 2,500,000 tons of TNT. 
-
-  Asteroids are mostly rock and metal.   Comets are mostly composed of water, hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, ammonia, and methane. 
-
-  To date the Hayabusa I is the only spacecraft so far to return a sample of a asteroid back to Earth for a pure sample analysis.  The asteroid Itokawa that it visited is basically a rubble pile of stone and metal. 
-
-  The Dawn spacecraft visited the asteroid  Ceres in 2015 which has since been
  re- designated as a Dwarf Planet orbiting the Sun every 4.6 years.  Dawn then visited asteroid Vesta that had a 326 mile diameter.  Request separate Reviews to learn more about Ceres and Vesta.     
-
--------------------------  Other Reviews available.
-
-  2226  -  Asteroid Ryugu.
-
-  2203  -  Asteroid  Bennu.
-
-  2044  -  Asteroid Oumaumau,  this Review lists eleven more reviews about asteroids.
-
-  1923  -  In 2017 50 asteroids passed between us and the Moon.
-
-  1193  -  About the Chicxulub  Crater in the Yucatan, Mexico.
-
-  937  - Spinning Asteroid, teacher’s lesson plan. 
-
-  January 29, 2019                             
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 --------------------------   Wednesday, January 30, 2019  --------------------------
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Everyone is a Manager

-  2249  - Everyone is a manager.  This review refers to managers of managers but it can be interpreted ton apply to teachers, coaches, parents, even big brothers.  Experience is a great teacher but you get the learning before you get the lesson.
-
-

-
---------------------------- -  2249  -  Everyone is a Manager 
-
 -  "Everyone is a manager".  "Everyone reports to someone".  Business is more competitive today.  Either "get better" or risk going out of business.  Businesses have responded with:
-
 ------------------------ austerity programs, downsizing
-
 ------------------------ new technologies (innovation)

------------------------- enhanced customer orientation, customer obsessed

------------------------ -"enlighten" management:

------------------------- worker involvement (participative management)

------------------------- quality improvement (TQC)

------------------------ -work harder, work smarter, work longer, continually question traditional approaches
-
-  As Peter Drucker says "the greatest challenge to U.S. business in this decade is the development of its management people.  And, we are totally unprepared for it".
-
-  The survey likewise found, managers having a "lack of clarity  concerning their responsibilities, a lack of input on ways to improve their performance, the absence of on-going performance feedback and systematic performance reviews".
-
-  Here were the 10 assumptions found:
-
-  Assumption: #1 "Managers are self-starting, self-directing and autonomous, or they would not be managers" (You can substitute "professionals" for "managers" throughout).
-
-  In part, to be truly effective managers needed more focus, guidance, and feedback than they were getting.  Although managers  wanted autonomy they wanted clear guidance and regular reassurance they were on track.
-
-Assumption: #2  "Managers worth their salt know what their jobs really entail".
-
-  In fact, without leadership, the subordinate manager has less clarity of purpose and is less effective.
Formal job descriptions are not as important as clear-cut working agreements between you and your boss that accurately reflect your real job and priorities (what we call tactical plans).        ( In fact, job descriptions are often a handicap to this process rather than an asset.  It is the difference between project manage and process management. )
-
-   Assumption: #3  "Good managers know how well they are performing".   Managers want and need regular feedback on their performance.
-
-  Assumption: #4  "Good managers seek out the information they need".   They are pro-active information seekers, however it's unnecessary work if their superiors could eliminate it with better information flow.
-
-  Assumption: #5  " "Goals" are adequate guides for effective managerial action."  Goals do provide a target, but goal setting is characterized by:
-
---------------------------------  the inappropriate nature of the goals
-
----------------------------------  the lack of input in setting the goals
-
---------------------------------  -the ineffective discussion of process and means concerning goal achievement
-
----------------------------------  too many goals "if everything is important, then nothing is really important"
-
----------------------------------  in realistic or stretch goals "give it your best shot"
-
----------------------------------  having incompatible goals
-
-  Goals must be carefully established, provide for mutual input, and include discussion of means and process.
-
-  Assumption: #6  "Competition among managers is good for the soul  and for business.”   The assumption that competition is preferable to cooperation.  In fact, collaboration and cooperation within the organization  are demonstrably better strategies for improving competitiveness in the business arena.  Works on the Warrior’s basketball team as well.
-
-  Assumption: #7  "Meetings and documentation are a central part of a managers job".  "Talk" is the work.  In fact, the average meeting is two times longer than it should be and generates half the results that it could.
-
-  Meetings about projects, programs, procedures, and proposals tend to take precedence over people and productivity.  In fact, meetings and paperwork should be designed to facilitate work and not to reduce time for performance-enhancing activities.
-
-  Assumption: #8  "Management style cannot be changed so there is no point in discussing it with managers".  It is easy to be an "after-the-fact-analyst."  It requires honesty, guts and energy to articulate an effective management style and then to "coach" the person.
-
-  Assumption:  #9  "Formal training and development programs can best accomplish management development."  After most training, they failed to discuss what was learned and  how it can best be implemented.  Managers need formal development, but it is the informal attention of their immediate superior that makes the real difference.
-
-  Assumption: #10  "Formal performance appraisals adequately monitor and guide managerial performance."   The appraisal process must be on-going and must have structure and substance.
-
-  Recommendations:

1)  To focus, a manager needs a clear understanding of goals, responsibilities, and priorities.  Managers should write down their  goals and priorities on a quarterly basis.  Their superiors should do the same, then compare notes.  A discussion better focuses the manager's efforts, keeps the superior informed, and provides a solid basis for evaluating performance.
-
---------------------------------------------  Set S.M.A.R.T. goals together:
-
--------------------------------------------  -Specific
-
---------------------------------------------  -Measurable
-
---------------------------------------------  -Attainable
-
---------------------------------------------  -Results-oriented
-
--------------------------------------------  --Timetable attached (6-month schedule)
-
-  Include a discussion of process and means.  Goals should reflect both quantitative and qualitative aspects of the manager's job.
-
--------------------------------------------  -Face-to-face dialogue is critical
-
--------------------------------------------  -Schedule time for this
-
--------------------------------------------  -One-to-one meetings
-
--------------------------------------------  -Use a subordinate manager's time and energy judiciously
-
--------------------------------------------  -Learn to run effective meetings
-
--------------------------------------------  -Ask:  "Is this paperwork worth the cost of a manager's time?"
-
-   We really do need to challenge our thinking on the way we treat our managers...  It's a lot like a marriage; different times have different demands but you always need to keep talking, sharing values and goals, spending time together to meet each others' needs...or it's divorce...it all goes back to the day-to-day stuff that leads to a long-term survival and success.
-                       
-  January 28, 2019.                   
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-----  Comments appreciated and Pass it on to whomever is interested. ----
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 ---------------------   Monday, January 28, 2019  -------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From the Big Bang and Back Again

-  2248  -  BIG  BANG  -  from there and back again?  Astronomers studying at the fringes of astronomy may help us learn how the Universe came from nothing.  How matter and antimatter separated and our matter Universe could form.  Somehow in the beginning the matter annihilation process moved forward and did not reverse itself back into pure energy.
-
-

-
---------------------- 2248 -  From the Big Bang and Back Again
-
-  Immediately after the Big bang only two elements were formed.  Mostly hydrogen and helium.  It took only three minutes for this to happen.  Between 10^-12 and 10^-6 seconds only neutrinos quarks and electrons were formed.  And one second more before they formed the first protons and neutrons.
-
-   Within 20 minutes the expansion of the Universe had cooled the universal soup to where no more atoms or elements could form.  The soup remained so charged with electrons running free between the atomic nuclei it kept photons of light from escaping. 
-
-  Expansion and cooling continued for another 380,000 years before conditions allowed electrons to be captured by nuclei and the soup to become neutrally charged.  That is when the radiation could break free and spread out from the soup of hydrogen and helium atoms that were now elements, no nuclei 
-
-  When atoms entered their lowest energy states they also released energy in the form of gamma radiation.  Today those gamma rays have been stretched by expanding space and are seen today as microwave background radiation. 
-
-  But,  microwaves are not the only way we can look at the expanding universe.  And, it is not just photons of light that we can use  Today we can view the universe in infrared, ultraviolet, x-ray and even gamma ray radiation.  Today, astronomers can even see with neutrinos as well as photons. 
-
-  Trillions of subatomic neutrinos pass through us every second.  But, they have neutral charge and do not interact with any atomic structures as they pass by.  Seeing with neutrinos would be a significant breakthrough for astronomers.  Photons of visible light are what you see from the surface of objects.  They reflect on the outside of an object. 
-
-  If we could see with neutrinos we could see on to the inside of an object.  Astronomers are using the IceCube observatory in the Antarctica to do just that.  This strange telescope came on line in September ,2017.  The telescope is comprised of neutrino detectors suspended in a cubic kilometer of ice. 
-
-  Detection by at least 3 detectors is enough to create a straight line pointing backwards to he source of these high energy neutrinos that can activate detection.  Astronomers have traced the neutrino source back to an energetic blackhole in the center of a galaxy that is 3,700,000,000 lightyears away.  Gamma rays were detected coming from this same source. 
-
-  This first detection was the start of “neutrino astronomy“.  It parallels the discovery of gravitational waves detection that also expands our field of vision  Astronomy is not just photons any more. .  Astronomers are able to bring together the entire electromagnetic spectrum in the search of new discoveries.
-
-  These blackholes are at the centers of all rotating galaxies.  Each blackhole is millions or billions times the mass of the Sun.  Spinning around the central blackhole are gas, dust and stellar debris swirling around at high velocities to avoid being pulled in by the immense gravity at the center. 
-
-  This envelope of spinning debris can itself emit light that escapes the blackhole.  At the poles of this spinning galactic debris are jets of particles escaping at nearly the speed of light.  This is what categorizes the spinning blackhole as a quasar, or a blazar. These jets of materials include neutrinos and when they happen to be pointed at our direction the neutrinos can be detected by the IceCube detectors. 
-
-  Studying at these fringes of astronomy may help us learn how the Universe came from nothing.  How matter and antimatter separated and our matter Universe could form.  Somehow in the beginning the matter annihilation process moved forward and did not reverse itself back into pure energy. 
-
-  Astronomers are challenged to explain how matter could freeze out of this self annihilation soup.  Somehow bubbles of matter-antimatter separated.  Somehow matter was created separately and we just got lucky to come out on the better half.  But, how do we explain where the unlucky half is right now?  Is there another universe somewhere?
-
-  This process must have started with some minuscule difference between a protons and an antiprotons.  The Large Hadron Collider at CERN , Switzerland, is conducting experiments to discovery this miniscule difference. 
-
-  There is a theory that the Higgs Boson field had something to do with the matter freezing out of these bubbles of evolving soup.  Will we ever learn what and where and how we came from.  I am sitting here , typing , and thinking about that.  It is the ultimate puzzle, how did I get here?  Where do I go from here?
-
-  Other Reviews available about the big Bang:
-
-  2242  -  How to understand it?  This Review also lists 10 more reviews about how everything started from nothing.  1258 to 392
-
-  2146  -  Astronomy is seeing history.
-
-  2065 -   The antimatter mystery?
-
-  712  -  The primeval atom?
-
-  376  -  The origins of existence?
-
-  6  -        First creations?
- 
-  January 26, 2019                             
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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--  email feedback, corrections, request for copies or Index of all reviews
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 --------------------------   Saturday, January 26, 2019  --------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How Fast to Orbit?

-  2247  -  How Fast to Orbit?  Speed is what it takes to go into orbit.  It does not matter how big you are, just how fast you are going.  This Review does the math calculations.
-
-

-
---------------------------- -  2247  -  How Fast to Orbit? 
-
-  Speed is what it takes to go into orbit.  It does not matter how big you are, just how fast you are going.  This Review does the calculations.
- 
-  Gravity Probe B is a satellite in orbit 400 miles up.  ( See Review # 1536 to learn the Gravity Probe B mission).  How fast must the satellite be going in order to stay in this orbit.  A satellite in orbit is weightless because it is continuously falling around the Earth.  Its orbit is falling around the curvature of the Earth.  The rate of falling is determined by the acceleration of gravity, not the mass of the satellite.  It is a constant.  The rate of falling is the same for every mass that is in free fall and is at the same distance from the center of Earth, or,  the center of gravity.  The acceleration of gravity near the Earth is 32.2 feet per second per second.  (that is 9.8 m/sec^2)
-
-  The satellite , like the Moon, and the Planets obey Kepler’s laws of motion.  The cube of the radius of orbit is proportional to the square of the period of orbit.  Let’s start with the Moon, that is also in free fall around the Earth:
-
------------------  The period of the Moon’s orbit is 27.32 days.
-
------------------  The radius of the Moon’s orbit is 239,509 miles.
-
-  The cube of the radius is proportional to the square of the period:
-
-  ------------------  (239,509 )^3  =  K* ( 27.32 days)^2
-
--------------------  13/57 *10^15  =  K * (7.464*10^2)
-
-  “K” is the constant of proportionality depending on the units of measurement used, and,  we do not have to know that to solve the period for the satellite.  We know that regardless of mass the ratios are the same.
-
-------------------  Satellite Radius^3 /  Moon Radius^3 //  Time, Ts^2  /  Moon Period^2
-
--------------------  Period for the satellite  =  Ts
-
--------------------  Radius of orbit for the satellite is 400 miles plus the radius of the Earth 3957 miles equals 4,357 miles.
-
-  Now equate the two ratios and solve for Ts:
-
--------------------  (4.357*10^3)^3  /  2.39509 *10^5)^3   =   Ts^2  /  (27.32)^2
-
--------------------  6.02*10^-6  =  Ts^2  /  7.46*10^2
-
-------------------  Ts^2  =  44.93*10-4
-
--------------------  Ts  =  6.7 *10*-2 days
-
--------------------  Ts  =  1.61 hours    (   96.6 minutes ) 
-
-  The time for one complete orbit of the satellite is 1.61 hours.  Now if we know the distance traveled in one complete orbit we can calculate the speed.
-
-  The distance of the orbit is the circumference of a circle which is 2 * pi * r.  The velocity of orbit is distance / time.
-
------------------  v  =  d / t  =  2*pi *r  /  t  =  2*pi*(4,357 miles)  /  1.61 hours.
-
-------------------  v  =  17,004 miles per hour.
-
-  However, this assumes we have a perfect circle for an orbit.  What would be the effect if the satellite had a slightly elliptical orbit?  An elliptical orbit requires that it travel a greater amount of distance in the same amount of time, so it must be going faster during part of the orbit.  Can we do this calculation without assuming the perfect circle orbit?
-
-  With the elliptical orbit the radius of orbit,” r“, changes with the function of time, t. If we construct a coordinate plane with the radius connected from the center of the Earth to the point on the orbit , we can make the radius to to be hypotenuse of a right triangle.
-
------------------  hypotenuse  =  r
-
-----------------  opposite side  =  r * sin a,   where  “ a “ is the angle
-
-----------------  adjacent side  =  r cos a
-
-----------------  Using the Pythagorean Theorem:  r^2  =  (r*sin a)^2  +  (r*cos a)^2
-
-  The radius is rotating as the points move around the elliptical orbit.  The radius is a function of time, r(t), depending on the angularly velocity of rotation.  The angular velocity =  da / dt.  The rate of change of the angle with time.  Restating the distance equation in terms of changes with time:
-
--------------------- r(t)^2  =  (r * sin da /dt * t )^2  +  ( r*cos da/dt * t)^2
-
-  The speed of the satellite is constant, but, the velocity of the satellite is constantly changing, because the direction of travel is constantly changing.  Velocity is the rate of change of distance.  v(t)  =  dr /dt.  If we take the derivative of both sides of the above equation:
-
----------------  v(t)^2  =  ( dr/dt)^2  =  r^2 cos a^2  (dc/dt)^2  +  r^2 *(- sin a)^2  ( dc/dt)^2
-
-   Where:  the derivative of sin a =  cos a dt
-
-   Where: the derivative of cos a  =  - sin a dt
-
-  Speed is the absolute magnitude of velocity.  So, the square of velocity gets us an absolute magnitude and is equivalent to speed.
-
------------------------  (cos a)^2  +  (sin a)^2  =  1
-
-  Again this is the Pythagorean theorem:  opposite^2 / r^2  +  adjacent^2 / r^2  =   1
-
-------------------  v(t)^2  =  r^2 ( da/dt)^2
-
-------------------  v  =  r * da/dt
-
-------------------  velocity  = radius * angular velocity
-
------------------  (da/dt)^2  =  v^2 / r^2
-
-  Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity.  acceleration  =  dv / dt  =  r * (da/dt)^2
-
------------------------------  acceleration  =  r * v^2 / r^2
-
------------------------------  acceleration  =  v^2 / r
-
-----------------------------  In the case of a satellite in continuous orbit the acceleration of orbit must balance with the acceleration of gravity, g. 
-
-------------------------------acceleration  =  g  =  32.2 feet/sec^2
-
------------------------------  v^2  =  g*r
-
-  The constant acceleration of gravity near the Earth is 32.2 feet per second per second, or 79,036 miles per hour ^2
-
---------------------------  v^2  =  32.2 feet /sec^2  * 4.357*10^3 miles * mile / 5,280 feet * (3600 sec)^2 / hour ^2
-
--------------------------  v^2  =  344.4 *10^6 miles^2 / hours^2
-
-------------------------  v  =  18,557 miles per hour.
-
-  The assumption here is that the acceleration of gravity is 32.2 feet /sec^2 at 400 miles altitude.  Assuming that is near to the Earth.  The other assumption was that the orbit was a perfect circle.  Both need some tweaking to get a more accurate answer to how fast the satellite is traveling.  All velocity is relative depending on your assumptions.  But, the satellite must be traveling about 18,000 miles per hour.  It will be traveling slightly faster if its orbit gets closer to Earth and slightly slower when farther away from Earth.
-
-   Now you know “how fast to orbit”.  Works for planets, satellites, and even galaxies.
-
-                       
-  January 25, 2019.                     1780
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-----  Comments appreciated and Pass it on to whomever is interested. ----
---   Some reviews are at:  --------------     http://jdetrick.blogspot.com ----- 
--  email feedback, corrections, request for copies or Index of all reviews
---  to:  ------    jamesdetrick@comcast.net  ------  “Jim Detrick”  -----------
-  https://plus.google.com/u/0/  -- www.facebook.com  -- www.twitter.com
 ---------------------   Friday, January 25, 2019  -------------------------
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Venus - is this an early Earth?

- 2246  -  Venus our sister planet.  What is it really like there?  What are the “gravity waves”  spotted in its upper atmosphere?  Could Venus ever have had conditions that could support life?  Could this tell us about the likelihood of finding life on similar bodies like these exoplanets?  What is the history and the math used to study the planet next door? 
-
-

-
-----------------------------  2246  -  Venus -  is this an early Earth?
-
-  By 2019 astronomers have discovered thousands of exoplanets in other solar systems.  Many of these planets are orbiting their stars much like Venus is orbiting our star.  These planets which have similar size and orbits may be studied using the closer observation of Venus in our own planetary system.
-
-  Could Venus ever have had conditions that could support life?  Could this tell us about the likelihood of finding life on similar bodies like these exoplanets? 
-
-  Astronomers use the transit system and the brightness dimming that occurs as exoplanets orbit their star.  Using a little math they can determine the size of the planet and the distance it is orbiting.  From this they can determine “habitable zones” where a rocky planet could have liquid water on its surface.   Venus at one time was in one of these habitable zones.
-
-  The sun’s luminosity increases with age and at one point Venus began experiencing extreme surface temperatures that created a runaway greenhouse effect that boiled away its oceans. Does Venus today represent the end state for all habitable planets too close to heir sun.? 
-
-  Today Venus has a thick noxious atmosphere.  Clouds of sulfuric acid blanket the skies. The atmospheric pressure is equivalent to being 3,000 feet below Earth’s oceans.  The atmosphere’s carbon dioxide has become a super fluid  midway from being a gas and a liquid. 
-
-  Venus lacks a magnetic field that could repel the soar wind.  Surface temperatures are hot enough to melt rocks, over 800 degrees Fahrenheit.   Plate tectonics is in the early stages of formation on Venus.  Surface subducton is beginning and plumes of molten rock are rising to the surface. 
-
-  Could Venus upheaval gives us clues to the conditions that eventually allowed life to emerge on Earth.
-
-  Venus is our sister planet.  The second planet from the Sun.  It is also known as the Evening Star, or the Morning Star.  It is always lower on the horizon because the tilted orbits of the Earth and Venus only allow it to rise a maximum of 47 degrees above the horizon.
-
-  The Venus atmosphere moves much faster that the planet itself.  Venus rotates once ever 243 days.  Winds on Earth only move 10 to 20% the speed of the planet  On Venus the winds are much faster that the planet’s rotation.
-
-  “ Gravity Waves” are upheavals in the Venus atmosphere caused by these winds colliding with the planet’s surface features.  ( Not to be confused with “ Gravitational Waves” caused by merging rotating Blackholes that create gravitational waves spreading across the Universe.  These gravitational waves were recently detected by the two LIGO observatories.)
-
-  The atmosphere of Venus is composed mostly of carbon dioxide and the atmospheric pressure at the surface is almost 100 times greater than that on Earth.
-
-  Why do we call Venus a twin sister planet?
-
-  Venus is similar size:
-
------------  Venus radius  ----------  3,760 miles  -------  Earth  -----  3,960
 ------------  Venus mass  -----------  82%  Earth mass
------------  Venus gravity  ----------  91%  Earth gravity
------------  Venus density  ----------  same as Earth density.
-
-  Venus and Earth had similar planetary evolution.  But,  the Earth has liquid water and an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere.  Venus’s atmosphere is 97% carbon dioxide.
-
-  CO2 is a powerful greenhouse gas elevating temperatures to 864 degrees Fahrenheit.  Hot enough to melt lead.  Venus is covered in highly reflective sulfuric acid clouds.
-
-  The slow rotation means Venus lacks a magnetic field.  The surface pressure is so high it would be like being under a half-mile ocean ( 900 meters).  The Venus terrain is as varied as the Earth’s  but, the surface is bone dry.  All the water vaporized billions of years ago.  The Sun’s ultraviolet light broke apart water ( H2O ) into hydrogen (H2), Hydroxide  (OH)  and oxygen (O2).
-
-  Sulfur dioxide discovered in the atmosphere is good evidence that Venus is volcanically active.  If granite could be found on the surface that is a good indication that Venus once had oceans.  Venus is a terrestrial planet orbiting in the Sun’s habitable zone.  It has a metal core and silicate crust.
-
------------------  Planet rotation  -----------  243.025 days
-
------------------  Planet year  ---------------  224.65  days
-
-  ---------------  Venus orbit  ----------------  67,000,000 miles from the Sun
-
-----------------  Earth orbit  ------------------  93,000,000 miles
-
-  Venus has the  most circular orbit found in the Solar System. Its  orbit closest to Earth is 25,500,000 miles.  Venus’s rotation is retrograde relative to the other planets.  It takes the Sun 117 days to rise in the west and return to the same point in the sky.
-
-  The explanation for the Venus rotation is that in early evolution history Venus was impacted by another large planet.  This happened to Earth 4.3 billion years ago, and, that is how our Moon was formed.  Consequently the impact gave Venus day that is 2,800 hours long.
-
-  The ancient Greeks called Venus “ morning star “Phosphorus”, meaning “ bringer of light”.  They called the evening star “ Hesperos”  meaning “ star of the evening”.  When they realized it was the same star they renamed it “ Aphrodite” meaning “ goddess of love”.  It was the Romans that renamed it “ Venus”.
-
-  It was Nicholas Copernicus in the 16th century that realized that Venus did not circle the Earth.  We both circle the Sun.  It was Galileo and his crude telescope that first realized the phases of Venus were like the phases of the Moon.  They depending on which side was facing the Sun.
-
-  Venus spends 9 ½ months as our Evening Star and another 9 ½ months as our Morning Star.  Venus transited the Sun in 2012.  Before that in 2004.  But, the next transit not until 2117.  In 1663  Scottish mathematician James Gregory calculated the Earth-Sun distance using trigonometry using these the transit measurements.
-
-  Other Reviews available about the planet Venus:
-
-  1925  -  Venus our sister planet .  See 2246 for and update on Venus, February, 2019.
-
-  1873  -  Venus and Mercury
-
-   1778  -  Venus must have some resurfacing hiding many old crater scars.
-
-   1729  -  Walk with Venus on a Starry night .  This review lists 7 other reviews about Venus.  For example:
-
-  1368  -  The reflectivity of Venus is 75%.  Compared to Earth’s 29%.
-
-  945  Venus greenhouse effect.
-
-  587  -  Venus is tilted just 3 degrees for perpendicular. 
-
-  1480  -  Learn how to calculate the Venus transit of the Sun.  It happened in 2012.  The transit took 67 hours on June 12.  The next transit is in 2117.   These transit measurements were first made in 1761, then again in 1769 making a calculation for the Earth - Sun distance to be 93,726,000 miles.  Today our precise measurement is 92,955,000 miles.
-
-    Here is some more math just for fun:
-
--------------  #1865  -  Equations
-------------   #1844  -  Pascal’s wager
-------------  # 1780  -  How fast to orbit?
-------------  #1750  -  Math for fun.
-------------  #1661  -  Food for the brain
-------------  #1650  -  Combinations
-------------  #1638  -  Rent or buy
-------------  #1565  -  How fast is a satellite?
-------------  #1521  -  Powerful equations
-------------  #1467  -  Growth and decay of money.
--------------  #1459  -  Modular math
--------------  #1281  -  Solving problems , lists 14 additional reviews about math.
-
-  January 25, 2019           1925
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----  Comments appreciated and Pass it on to whomever is interested. ----
---   Some reviews are at:  --------------     http://jdetrick.blogspot.com ----- 
--  email feedback, corrections, request for copies or Index of all reviews
-  to:   -------    jamesdetrick@comcast.net  ------  “Jim Detrick”  -----------
-  https://plus.google.com/u/0/  -- www.facebook.com  -- www.twitter.com
 -----   707-536-3272    ----------------   Friday, January 25, 2019  -----
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Nuclear Power transitioning to wind and solar

-  2245  -Nuclear Reactors  -  The UK and France are in a major shift out of nuclear power and into renewable energy sources like wind and solar.  Here is where they are with this transition in 2019.
-
-

-
----------------------   2245 -  Nuclear Power transitioning to wind and solar
-
-  Toshiba and Hitachi have walked away from UK nuclear power projects forcing the UK government to reassess the pro-nuclear bias of its energy policy.  Europe as a whole has recognized that nuclear power is no longer cost competitive with renewable energy.
-
-  There is easily enough solar and wind energy available to make up for the cancellation of the nuclear projects and to produce the low-carbon electricity required to make the 2030 carbon emissions targets achievable.
-
-  The country's incentives and regulations favor developing more power plants driven by natural gas which has reduced emissions by over two-thirds since 1990.
-
-  The UK needs to cut power emissions from about 265grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour in 2017 to under 100grms by 2030. That is by 62% in ten years.  The government had been substantially relying on nuclear power to do this, having originally identified eight sites for new plants.
-
-  Despite much larger government incentives than those available for renewables, most private nuclear builders are now steering clear, having seen the problems with new plants in the US, Japan and France. The only two projects still in progress are a joint venture by EDF of France and CGN of China.  Both EDF and CGN are foreign state-owned companies.
-
-    In 2018, 19% of the UK's electricity was generated by nuclear plants. With most existing plants due to retire over the next few years.  Solar and wind generation could easily more than make up for this. Renewables' share of generation has reached 30% in 2018 and is due to reach 35% in 2020.
-
-  The government provides incentives for renewable energy projects through so-called “contracts for difference” (CFD) auctions in which the most competitive bidders are granted contracts to supply electricity at fixed prices. This year, it is set to auction some new offshore wind farm contracts.
-
-  With the UK nuclear power plans in tatters, the government is trying to double down on wind and solar.  With offshore wind currently providing about 7% of generation.  The reason why more renewables are not on the cards is because the Treasury is keen to limit energy incentives.
-
-  If all 27 gigawatts of offshore wind power schemes in various stages of planning got contracts, it would supply around one-third of the total electricity requirement. Coupled with the remaining nuclear power and the renewables that are already on stream, that would reach the 75% of power that needs to be coming from these low-carbon source by 2030 to achieve the emissions targets.  Instead, gas-fired power looks set to supply around half of UK electricity by 2030, compared to 40% at present.
-
-  One government justification for being less generous to renewables is that unlike gas or nuclear, they do not provide a constant power source.  They only generate when the wind is blowing or the sun is shining. Proponents of renewable energy counter that you can reduce the generating capacity required by increasing the use of batteries to store power on the grid and by incentives consumers to use more power overnight when demand is lower.
-
-  One other option that attracts less attention is that you also get spare capacity from small gas engines or open-cycle turbines. These can be built quickly and would only be sparingly needed in a system mostly supplied by renewables.
-
-  The government policy is offering large incentives to new nuclear, gas-fired power and also shale gas extraction, but,  not many are actually being developed. Meanwhile the cheapest options, onshore wind, solar and offshore wind,  are being discriminated against. The collapse of the UK's nuclear power plans should be an opportunity to think again. decarbonising power is instead falling off the agenda.
-
-  In France similar nuclear power shifts are occurring.  France plans to shut down 14 of the country's 58 nuclear reactors currently in operation by 2035, of which between four and six will be closed by 2030.
-
-   France would close its remaining four coal-fired power plants by 2022 as part of the country's anti-pollution efforts.
-
-  France relies on nuclear power for nearly 72 percent of its electricity needs, though the government wants to reduce this to 50 percent by 2030 by developing more renewable energy sources.
-
-  France would aim to triple its wind power electricity output by 2030, and increase solar energy output fivefold in that period.   A third of the country's reactors could be shut under plans to scale back the amount of electricity produced from nuclear power.
-
-  In 2015 a law was passed obliging the government to reduce the proportion of electricity generated from nuclear power from around 75 percent to 50 percent by 2025.
To reach this target France is going to have to close a certain number of reactors.
-
-  The closures could be as high as 17 reactors.  France has 58 nuclear reactors operated by state-owned EDF, which produces some of the lowest-cost electricity in Europe.  The country earns around $3.4 billion per year from exports to neighboring countries.
-
-  The nuclear power network was once a source of national pride, but support fell after the Fukushima plant disaster in Japan in 2011 and the government is trying to encourage the transition to renewable energy technology.  Many of the plants were built in the 1970s and 80s in response to oil-price shocks.
-
-  Nuclear power faces lengthy safety vetting processes, hefty investment and political challenges to gain extensions in its operating life.  Renewable energy is challenged to come on line fast enough to fill the gap.
-
-  Other Reviews available about nuclear power:
-
-  2231  -  This review presents the dark side of nuclear power in the US, nuclear waste. 
-
-  2225  -  Nuclear Energy in the US is the only cost effective energy source that will reduce green house emissions.  All the other sources are evaluated but lack the capacity.
-
-  701  -  Nuclear energy is ready for a come back in the US.  The 400 plants in the world will grow by 168 by 2020.
-
-  689  -  Nuclear terrorism potential is evaluated.
-
-  636 -   Iran enriches uranium.
-
-  January 22, 2019                             
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---   Some reviews are at:  --------------     http://jdetrick.blogspot.com ----- 
--  email feedback, corrections, request for copies or Index of all reviews
-  to:   -------    jamesdetrick@comcast.net  ------  “Jim Detrick”  -----------
-  https://plus.google.com/u/0/  -- www.facebook.com  -- www.twitter.com
 --------------------------   Thursday, January 24, 2019  --------------------------
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ANTIMATTER - What is it really?

-  2244  -  Matter is a mystery that we do not know how to explain. When the Big Bang occurred, our standard model predicts that there should have been an equal amount of matter and antimatter created.  If it all came from nothing it has to add up to nothing.  There needs to be equal amounts of matter and antimatter.
-
-

-
---------------------- 2244  -  ANTIMATTER -  What is it really?
-
-   None of our world is supposed to exist. Nothing in this world is supposed to be here, according to our “best theories” in physics.
-
-  Matter is a mystery that we do not know how to explain. When the Big Bang occurred, our standard model predicts that there should have been an equal amount of matter and antimatter created.  If it all came from nothing it has to add up to nothing.  There needs to be equal amounts of matter and antimatter.
-
-This would have occurred because the intense temperature and density spurred new particles, as per the famous e=mc².  This equation tells us that matter and energy are interchangeable so that you can get mass from energy and energy from mass. According to physicists, it was light that became the atoms that make up our worlds.
-
-  Scientists have succeeded in turning light into matter by means of radiation beams. The radiations beams were smashed together until they resulted in two particles: matter, and antimatter.
-
-  To understand antimatter, each positive hydrogen atom has an antimatter counterpart known as anti-hydrogen. It has exactly the same mass and, other than having an opposite charge, behaves in exactly the same way. When matter particles and antimatter particles meet they annihilate each other in powerful bursts of energy. After creating these particle pairs, the universe would have then cooled, awash only in plumes of radiation, pure energy.
-
-  And yet here we are with the fact that every particle didn’t have an anti-particle pair, and, that there was an imbalance known today as “baryon asymmetry“.
-
-  The starship Enterprise from Star Trek is powered by a matter-antimatter warp drive. If we had real world ships fueled by antimatter they would help us achieve speeds anywhere from 50 to 80% the speed of light.
-
-  Normal matter is a term that is relative; if we had been made of antimatter we would have considered that to be “normal matter” and what we consider normal matter now to be “antimatter”.  We say Normal Matter is made of protons and electrons. In antimatter this changes to antiprotons and positrons, respectively.
-
-  Positrons and electrons are inseparable in the sense that they are the two possible outcomes of vibrations in the electron field, one outcome positive and the other outcome negative. You can’t have one without the other just as you can’t have up without a down. When they come together, it creates the most efficient reaction known to physics.  No wonder the starship Enterprise was using it for propulsion around the universe.
-
-  At 100 times more effective than a hydrogen bomb, a couple of pounds of antimatter colliding with a couple of pounds of matter would cause an explosion 3,000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bombing of World War II. Even a single gram of antimatter would match the power of a nuclear bomb and would give us enough energy to launch a rocket into orbit.
-
-   Needless to say, the potential for this material is enormous. And while we can make it in a lab, with our current technology it takes a billion times more energy to make antimatter than what we can get back from it. That single gram mentioned before would cost an astonishing $25,000,000,000 to produce.
-
-  At CERN’s Antimatter Factory rooms are filled with the constant humming of machinery. Inside there’s the cold metal structures and looming blocks of concrete set out around the machines. High energy particle collisions produce antiprotons which are then bound with positrons to create anti-hydrogen.
-
-  While individual anti-particles are fairly easy to come by, it’s fully formed anti-atoms that are rare and greatly sought after. The anti-hydrogen produced in these labs is held in place by a magnetic field so it doesn’t come into contact with any matter whatsoever. The result would be annihilation. These days researchers are able to hold antimatter in place for months at a time, giving them ample time to make observations.
-
-  What physicists are hoping to find is differences between matter and antimatter that would explain the baryonic asymmetry. But so far the pairs seem to act identical to one another.  they react to magnetic forces in the same way, absorb the same frequency of light, and even behave identically during the famous double-slit experiment.
-
-  However, research has shown that certain particles prefer to settle as matter over anti-matter, though there’s no clear reason for this preference.
-
-  Kaons are an example of this phenomenon. When particles are presented with the possibility to become either a kaon or an anti-kaon, they choose the former much more of the time than they choose the latter, even though the chances of becoming either should be split evenly.
-
-  This strange behavior is known as a CP-violation, charge conjugation parity symmetry, or the fact that the laws of physics should be the same for matter and antimatter atoms. Particles called B mesons were found to also be capable of CP-violation.
-
-  Kaons are K mesons:  Kaons are sub-atomic particles made up of a strange quark and an up or down antiquark.  A long lived neutral kaon decay observations into two pions resulted in the discovery of the first CP violation.
-
-  CP violation:  Symmetry between matter and antimatter is known as charge parity symmetry.  It states that matter and antimatter are treated alike .  If not , then there must be a CP violation. 
-
-   B-Mesons: The  B-meson is a meson composed of a bottom quark and a strange quark.  A meson is a subatomic particle that transmits the strong interaction force binding the atomic nucleus together. 
-
-  These CP violations, along with certain conditions and aspects of thermodynamics present during the Big Bang, could be responsible for the asymmetry we see today. A theorized set of particles and their anti counterparts with different decay channels would also help explain why there’s a bigger inclination for matter over antimatter inour universe today.
-
-  Theories on antimatter included that it was hidden within black holes but this is an unlikely theory since the total mass of black holes in the universe amounts only to .007% of the universe’s total energy. There is 700 times more matter than there is mass for these blackhole giants.
-
-  The search for antimatter began in the late 1920’s when it was mathematically theorized during Paul Dirac’s attempt to reconcile quantum mechanics and general relativity.
-
-  CERN is not the only place antimatter can be found. It’s also present in cosmic rays and flowing out from the center of our own Milky Way galaxy.  Small amounts of antimatter occur naturally in the decay of radioactive isotopes.  Anti-electrons are used in medical hospital PET scans to see inside your body, similar to X-rays. 
-
-  It’s strange to imagine entire galaxies made from antimatter.   Yet it is entirely possible. Antimatter can gather just as matter does to form planets, stars, and even people. Maybe, just maybe, there exist constellations and cosmic bodies out beyond our current reach that would annihilate us upon contact. Some theoretical physicists do believe this mystery can exist in unknown regions of the universe.
-
-  But if this were the case, the point at which matter and antimatter met in the intergalactic medium would be a place of extreme violence and energy as the two came into contact. We don’t see this sort of activity anywhere in the universe, even on a smaller scale. It shows us that, as far as we can tell, 99% of the universe is made of matter.
-
-The reason for our existence, the existence of anything, remains a fascinating unknown even in science.  You can thank your lucky stars you are made of matter and so are your friends.
-
-  ( Other Reviews are available on the subject, antimatter.  All available upon request.)
-
-
-  1892  -  Energy is converted into matter every day in our upper atmosphere.
-
-  This Review lists 11 more reviews about the antimatter in the appendix.
-
-  1746  -  Does antimatter really exist?
-
-  1393  -  Does antimatter really exist?  We know that the center of our Milky Way Galaxy is still producing antimatter, and the resulting Gamma Rays.
-
-  1303  -  Why look for antimatter in he Antarctic.
-
-  1272  -  Teaching the science of antimatter.
-
-  1149  -  Why does matter outnumber antimatter?
-
-  971  -  Notes from  lecture about the Standard Linear Accelerator lecture on antimatter.
-
-  607  -  Antimatter is all around us.
- 
-  January 23, 2019                             
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---   Some reviews are at:  --------------     http://jdetrick.blogspot.com ----- 
--  email feedback, corrections, request for copies or Index of all reviews
-  to:   -------    jamesdetrick@comcast.net  ------  “Jim Detrick”  -----------
-  https://plus.google.com/u/0/  -- www.facebook.com  -- www.twitter.com
 --------------------------   Wednesday, January 23, 2019  --------------------------
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SPACE - What is it really?

-  2243-  Space is not empty.  Space is not a vacuum.  Space tends to curve in the presence of objects with mass. When space curves matter falls into this curvature due to the force of gravity generated by the mass causing the curvature.  The theories of quantum gravity attempt to reconcile the theory of general relativity with the theory of quantum mechanics by looking at space in a variety of new ways.
-
-

-
---------------------- 2243  -  SPACE  -  What is it really?
-
-  We think of space as a void, a vacuum, the place between the x, y and z axes on a graph in which matter exists but which is filled with nothingness.
-
- In 1915 Einstein released his theory of General Relativity and introduced the world to the idea that space tends to curve in the presence of objects with mass. When space curves matter falls into this curvature due to the force of gravity generated by the mass causing the curvature.
-
-  Gravity does not exist without mass and mass does not exist without gravity.
-
- The theories of quantum gravity attempt to reconcile the theory of general relativity with the theory of quantum mechanics by looking at space in a variety of new ways in an attempt to uncover what is really meant by this ‘curvature’ and how gravity works on the quantum scale.
-
-  One property of space which a theory of quantum gravity would have to explain is the phenomenon of the redshift of light. In our everyday lives we know that as a siren passes us and recedes into the distance that the pitch is altered due to the Doppler Effect. The reason for this is because sound waves are vibrations in the air molecules in the space between ourselves the observer and the siren producing the sound.
-
-   As the observer doesn’t move and the siren does, the sound waves have to travel through, on average, a larger number of air molecules which have to vibrate in order to produce the sound. As the number of air molecules increases, the pitch decreases and the sound eventually fades into nothingness.
-
-  The big question here is as to whether or not a similar thing is happening in space and this raises the question as to what light must be moving through in order for it to exhibit this redshift and blueshift that we observe.
-
-   So what has to be filling space for this effect to occur? We know that space is filled with an enormous number of neutrinos ,electrically neutral particles with a very small mass.   Could these neutrinos be causing this Doppler shift in light?
-
-  Physics tells us that neutrinos are only considered to interact via the weak nuclear force and therefore not with photons.   Photons are the force-carrying particle (or, ‘boson’) for the electromagnetic force.
-
-  Quantum theory, and especially the theory of Loop Quantum Gravity, tells us that space needs to be quantised (to have a particle basis), in order to explain these effects. It seems neutrinos are out.   The particle that we’re looking for has to be something different, perhaps this particle (also given the name ‘graviton’) is something very mysterious which we need very large particle accelerators to be able to detect.

-  We could  take the view that this particle ought to be something that we know interacts via the force of electromagnetism. This would include any and all charged particles in the standard model of particle physics, such as the quarks, the electron and the electrons heavier counterpart particles the Tau and the Muon.
-
-   There exists a host of these particles along with a variety of other composite particles in space, so it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that these particles may be causing this Doppler Effect in light.
-
-  However, in cosmology we refer to the universe as being both homogeneous and isotropic, and it is this isotropic characteristic of the universe which seems to suggest that other particles, such as cosmic ray particles are not the cause of this Doppler shift as their distribution is not homogeneous in space (not evenly distributed) and therefore it would cause the redshift to not also be isotropic (to look the same in different directions).
-
-   Entities known as ‘secondary electron densities’ are the cause of these Doppler Shift effects  These electron densities fit the bill of weakly-interacting massive particles (WIMP’s).   Electrons comprising the electrical and gravitational fields of objects absorb and then emit photons as an object approaches, or moves away from, another object and thereby causes a shift in the energies of photons.
-
-   We know due to quantum electrodynamics that photons interact with electrons.  They are absorbed and then emitted again, and that quantum electrodynamics is in agreement with special relativity.
-
-  If you were to take everything out of space, would you still have space? What would happen if you were able to remove all the radiation (particles of light, radio waves, gamma rays etc), all the neutrinos, all the cosmic rays and all the matter, what would you be left with?
-
-  It may be that you’re left with something called a Higgs vacuum.   You may in fact be left with a naked singularity.   But in reality you would not be left with space, as you need something to fill space to be able to measure it.
-
-   It may be the case, as is considered to be the case with dark energy, that it is the radiation itself that forms the backdrop against which we see the stars in the night sky. It is what we consider to be gravity fighting against this force pulling everything apart.
-
-  It may also even be the case that secondary electron densities allows gravity-causing electrons to act in exchanges of energy between different parts of the universe, with the photons acting in a way similarly.
-
-   It may even be the case that these ‘exchanges’ made by electrons cause the universe to expand in different parts and collapse in other parts. It may be that the universe is infinite, that it expands for a time in some places, and that then in other places it collapses back in on itself before exploding back out once again.  God only knows.  We need to keep working on these theories.  Our education is incomplete.
-
-  (More reviews on this subject are available if you are interested)
-
-  2074  -  Space is much todo about nothing.  There is much more nothing in this world then there is something. 
-
-  2049 -  The furthest star we can see is because we get the help of an intervening galaxy that acts as a gravitational lens, a magnifying glass
-
-  2019  -  The expanding universe.  There is a cosmic web interconnecting all the galaxies with massive voids in between.  Space s not nothing.  Expanding your mind to keep up with astronomy. 
-
-  2039  -  If we can accelerate a starchip to 20% the speed of light we could get to the nearest planets in 20 years.
-
-  2029  - Dust in outer space. Could this dust contain life?  This Review lists 11 more reviews about space.
-
-  January 23, 2019                             
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---   Some reviews are at:  --------------     http://jdetrick.blogspot.com ----- 
--  email feedback, corrections, request for copies or Index of all reviews
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 --------------------------   Wednesday, January 23, 2019  --------------------------
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BIG BANG - How can we understand it?

-  2242  -  How to understand the Big Bang.  You can’t.  Even Einstein couldn’t.   To understand the Big Bang you need to understand beyond Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. General relativity is the most revolutionary scientific advance of the 20th century. It is the best we have got.
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----------------------- 2242  -   BIG  BANG  -  How can we understand it?
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-   To understand the Big Bang you need to understand beyond Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. General relativity is the most revolutionary scientific advance of the 20th century.
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-  It has been 82 years since Einstein put forth his theory. It’s been tested in scores of experiments and has always passed with flying colors and is now firmly established as our premier guide to understanding how gravity operates. Moreover, it is part of the foundation of Big Bang cosmology. And it is because of general relativity that we know the Big Bang was nothing like an explosion of space, time, matter, and energy
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-  Albert Einstein developed general relativity in order to make his theory of special relativity include the effects of gravity. It is a better way than Sir Isaac Newton’s  understanding how gravity works.  One of these realms that separates the two theories was the Black Hole. The other was the shape and evolution of the universe itself.
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-  Big Bang cosmology says that the universe came into existence between 10 to 20 billion years ago, and that from a hot dense state has been expanding and cooling ever since.  Big Bang cosmology is based on Relativity being accurate over an enormous range of scales in time and space. General relativity has made these specific predictions:
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-  1…The entire orbit of Mercury rotates because of the curved geometry of space near the sun. The amount of ‘perihelion shift’ each century was well known at the time Einstein provided a complete explanation for it in 1915.
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-  2…Light at every frequency can be bent in exactly the same way by gravity. This was confirmed in the 1919 Solar Eclipse for optical light using stars near the Sun’s limb, and in 1969-1975 using radio emissions from star-like quasars also seen near the limb of the Sun. The deflection of the light was exactly as predicted.
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-  3…Clocks run slower in strong gravitational fields. This was confirmed using high-precession hydrogen maser clocks flown on jet planes and on satellites.
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-  4…Gravitational mass and inertial mass are identical. This prediction has been confirmed to within 1 part in a trillion of the exact equality required by General Relativity.
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-  5…Black holes exist. Although these objects have been suspected to exist since they were first introduced to astronomers in the early 1970’s, it is only in 1992 that a critical acceptance threshold was crossed in the astronomical community. It was when the Hubble Space Telescope observations revealed monstrous, billion-sun black holes in the cores of nearby galaxies.
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-  6…Gravity has its own form of radiation which can carry energy.  In 1975 astronomers discovered two pulsars orbiting each other, and through careful monitoring of their precise pulses during the next 20 years, confirmed that the orbiting system is loosing energy at a rate within 1 percent of the prediction by General Relativity  based on the emission of gravitational radiation.
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- 7…A new force exists called ‘gravito-magnetism’. Just as electric and magnetic fields are linked together a spinning body produces a magnetism-like force called “gravitomagnetism“. Relativity predicts that rotating bodies not only bend space and time, but also make empty space spin.
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-  8…Space can stretch during the expansion of the universe. This was confirmed by Edwin Hubble’s detection of the recession of the galaxies in 1929. More recently in 1993 astronomers have confirmed that the angular sizes of distant radio sources shrink to a minimum then increase at greater distances exactly as expected for a dilating space. This is not predicted by any other cosmological model that does not also include the dilation of space as a real, physical phenomenon.
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-  We have now boxed ourselves into a corner. If we accept the successes of General Relativity.  It is the theory which satisfies all known tests to date.
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-  The Big Bang is:
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-  1)  A pre-existing sky or space into which the fragments from the explosion are injected;
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-  2)   A pre-existing time we can use to mark when the explosion happened;
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-   3)   Individual projectiles moving through space from a common center;
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-   4)   A definite moment when the explosion occurred;
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-   5)   Something started the Big Bang.

-  All of these elements to our visualization of the Big Bang are completely false according to Relativity. 
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-  Preexisting Space?  There wasn’t any!  The mathematics of Relativity state that 3-dimensional space was created at the Big Bang itself, at ‘Time Zero’.   It was a ‘singular’ event in which the separations between all particles everywhere, vanished. This is just another way of saying that our familiar 3-dimensional space vanished.
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-  Theorists studying the “Theory of Everything” have modified this statement somewhat. During its earliest moments, the universe may have existed in a nearly incomprehensible state which may have had more than 4 dimensions, or perhaps none at all.
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-  Relativity’s mathematics treats both space and time together as one object called ‘space-time’ which is indivisible. At Time Zero plus a moment, you had a well defined quantity called time. At Time Zero minus a moment, this same quantity changed its character in the mathematics and became ‘imaginary’.  In a famous quote by Einstein, “…time and space are modes by which we think and not conditions in which we live”.
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-  Space is not where individual objects are moving out from a common center.  Curved space distorts the paths of particles, sometimes in very dramatic ways.  To explain this many have used the expanding balloon as an analogy to the expanding universe.
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-   As seen from any one spot on the balloon’s surface, all other spots rush away from it as the balloon is inflated. There is no one center to the expansion on the surface of the balloon that is singled out as the center of the Big Bang.
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-  This is very different than the fireworks display which does have a common center to the expanding cloud of cinders. The balloon analogy, however, is not perfect, because as we watch the balloon, our vantage point is still within a preexisting larger arena that Relativity says never existed for the real universe.
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-  The center of the Big Bang was not a point in space, but a point in time! It is a center, not in the fabric of the balloon, but outside it along the 4th dimension…time. We cannot see this point anywhere we look inside the space of our universe out towards the distant galaxies.
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-   We can’t see time! We can only see it as we look back in time at the ancient images we get from the most distant objects we can observe. We see a greatly changed, early history of the universe in these images but no unique center to them in space.
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-  What if I told you that you could decrease the distance from your house and the Washington Monument by ‘standing still’ and just letting space contract the distance away? Relativity predicts exactly this phenomenon, and the universe seems to be the only arena we know today in which it naturally occurs.
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-   Like spots glued to the surface of the balloon at eternally fixed latitude and longitude points, the galaxies remain where they are while space dilates between them with the passage of time. There is no reason at all we should find this kind of motion to be intuitive.
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-  If space is stretching like this, where do the brand new millions of cubic light years come from popping out from one moment to the next? The answer in Relativity is that they have always been there. To see how this could happen.
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-  Space is not ‘nothing’ according to Einstein, it is merely another name for the gravitational field of the universe. He once said, “Space-time does not claim existence on its own but only as a structural quality of the gravitational field.   If you could experimentally turn-off gravity with a switch, space-time would vanish as well“.
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-  The gravitational field at one instant is wedded to itself in the next instant by the incessant quantum churnings of the myriad of individual particles that make up the gravitational field itself.
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-  The gravitational field is knit together, quantum by quantum, from perhaps even more elemental building blocks, and it is perhaps here that we will find the ultimate origin for the expansion of the universe and the magical stretching of space. We hope the much anticipated Theory of Everything will come up with this explanation.
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-  Our universe emerged from an infinite density, zero-space ‘Singularity’ at Time Zero.  But physicists now feel very strongly that this instant was smeared out by any number of quantum mechanical effects, so that we can never speak of a time before about 10^-43 seconds after the Big Bang. That is certainly very short period of time.
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-  “There is no ‘There’ there”, at 10^-43 seconds  Before the Big Bang, “There was no ‘When’ there” either. The moment dissolves away into some weird quantum fog.  Time may actually become bent into a new dimension of space and no longer even definable in this state. Ordinary Relativity is unable to describe this condition and only some future theory combing Relativity and quantum mechanics , the Theory of Everything,  will be able to tell us more.
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-  What started the Big Bang?  Relativity can tell us nothing about the stages leading up to the Big Bang  Time itself may not have existed.  This remains the essential mystery of the Big Bang which seems to transcend every mathematical description we can create to describe it.
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-  All of the logical frameworks we know about are based on chains of events or states. All of our experiences of such chains in the physical world have been ordered in time. Even when the mathematics and the theory tell us ‘What happened before the Big Bang to start it?’ is not logical.
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-   We are haunted by the circumstances far removed from the greater physical world we are now exploring. No wonder it all seems so alien and complex.
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-  (More reviews on this subject are available if you are interested)
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-  2146  -  Astronomy is seeing history. Lists 14 more reviews about the Big Bang.
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-  1242  -  How does spacetime change at the micro level?  The uncertainty fluctuations remain wavy at the micro level and inversely proportional to the time resolutions of our measurements.  The more we learn we find the less we know. 
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-  1241  -  How can space and time be related?
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-  1258  -  How much space is in our Solar System?
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-  814  -  Fast speed and short time?  What are the limits?
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-  2074  -  Much to do about nothing.
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-  1006  -  Is time slowing down?
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-  854  -  Time, GPS, and entropy?
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-  842  -  Pressed for time?
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-  784 -  Time is what God created to keep everything from happening all at once. 
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-  392  -  Time dilation using the Pythagorean Theorem.
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-  January 22, 2019                           
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---   Some reviews are at:  --------------     http://jdetrick.blogspot.com ----- 
--  email feedback, corrections, request for copies or Index of all reviews
-  to:   -------    jamesdetrick@comcast.net  ------  “Jim Detrick”  -----------
-  https://plus.google.com/u/0/  -- www.facebook.com  -- www.twitter.com
 --------------------------   Tuesday, January 22, 2019  --------------------------
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Do You Need Some Moon Eclipse Party Trivia?

-  2241  -  Moon Eclipse  -  The total eclipse of the Full Moon occurs this Sunday night at 9:00 PM, December 20 - 21.  If you have a party you may need some trivia to keep things lively because it takes 1 ½ hours for the Earth’s shadow to cross the Moon
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------------------------ -  2241  -   Do You Need Some Moon Eclipse Party Trivia?

-  The Moon contains some interesting facts that make for an interesting conversation at your Moon eclipse party on the 20th of December, 2019.  See Review 1228 for details about the astronomy events in December, but, here is trivia just about our Moon.
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-  The total eclipse of the Full Moon occurs this Sunday night at 9:00 PM, December 20 - 21.  If you have a party you may need some trivia to keep things lively because it takes 1 ½ hours for the Earth’s shadow to cross the Moon. 
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-  We tend to take the Moon for granted.  We know it circles the Earth every month and there are phases of the Moon from New Moon to Full Moon.  But the Full Moon does not occur the same day every month.  That is because the Moon’s orbit is once every 27.55 days.  That does not match up exactly with our 30 and 31 day months.  In fact, once in a Blue Moon we have two Full Moons in the same month.  The devil is in the details.
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-   The Full Moon looks very bright in the night sky.  It is a mirror for the bright sunlight that is coming from behind us.  However, the Moon is only reflecting 7% of the sunshine that strikes its surface.  By comparison the Earth reflects 37% of the sunlight.  A Full Earth would be 5 times brighter then the Full Moon.  The Sun would be 450,000 times brighter.
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-  The Full Moon appears brightest when it is directly overhead at midnight on December 20th.  That is because it is a few percent closer and you are viewing it through less atmosphere, as much as 13% less depending on the angle you are viewing toward the horizon.  It also appears brighter when the air is dry.  Water vapor will scatter the moonshine making it appear dimmer.
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-  With a telescope or binoculars you can easily resolve on arc second on the Moon.  One arc second on the Moon’s surface corresponds to 1 mile of resolution.  The diameter of the Moon is 1800 arc seconds.  This is ½ degree in diameter the same as the Sun.  You can see over 30,000 craters on the Moon, if you have time to count them.  By comparison the Earth has about 200 visible craters.
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-  The Moon does not orbit the center of the Earth.  The Earth and the Moon share a common center of gravity.  That spot is 1,000 miles below your feet when the Moon is directly overhead.  This spot is still 2,900 miles above the center of the Earth.
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-  The Moon has a circular orbit that turns slightly more elliptical during a New Moon and a Full Moon.  That elliptical shape rotates around the Earth completing a cycle every 9 years.  As a consequence of this elliptical rotation the Moon never returns to the same starting point after each orbit.  If you were in outer space and tracing out the Moon’s orbit about the Earth the tracing would look like the petals of a daisy.
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-  The Moon moves through the sky its own diameter every hour, going west to east.  It is traveling 2,237 miles per hour and its diameter is 2,160 miles. So, it travels its own diameter every hour.  This makes it easy to predict where it will be a few hours later in the sky.
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-  The Earth has a 23 ½ degree tilt compared to the plane of the orbits of the other planets.  The Moon chooses to orbit with the other planets and not with the Earth.  The Moon does not orbit the equator of the Earth.  That is the reason that its path, which is near the elliptic, is higher and lower on the horizon much like the Sun and the other planets.
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-   However, the Moon does not stay on this perfect plane.  Again it wobbles.  It completes one wobble every 18.61 years and the tilt of the wobble is up to 5 degrees.  Looking at the Moon and the Sun-Earth plane from outer space the Moon’s orbit would trace out a wobble like a dropped dish rattling on the floor.
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-  This wobble results in the Full Moon being 5% higher in the night sky at certain times of the 19 year cycle.  On the 21st of December, 2010, the Full Moon is the highest it gets in the sky for that year.  At 12:01 A.M. on the 21st the total eclipse will begin replacing the 120 stars you can see in the sky with 2,600 stars as the darkness brings them out.
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-  The angular size of the Moon in the sky varies from 25 arc minutes to 27 arc minutes during the month.  We tend to estimate that at ½ degree.  It is one of the largest moons in the Solar System.  4 others are larger, but, our Moon is larger than the wannabe planet Pluto.  The Moon is 27% the size of the Earth in diameter.  Few people believe that when they first learn that the Moon is ¼th the size of the Earth.
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-  Best wishes for a clear nights and a Happy New Year.
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-   See Review 64  -  What You Did Not Know about our Moon, to learn more.
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-  Review 1899  -  The far-side of the moon.  This review also list 8 more reviews about our Moon. 
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-  January 21, 2019.       1232             
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-----  Comments appreciated and Pass it on to whomever is interested. ----
---   Some reviews are at:  --------------     http://jdetrick.blogspot.com ----- 
--  email feedback, corrections, request for copies or Index of all reviews
---  to:  ------    jamesdetrick@comcast.net  ------  “Jim Detrick”  -----------
-  https://plus.google.com/u/0/  -- www.facebook.com  -- www.twitter.com
 ---------------------   Monday, January 21, 2019  -------------------------
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