Sunday, December 29, 2019

What a Fulgurite Is and How To Make One

The word fulgurite comes from the Latin word  fulgur, which means thunderbolt.  A fulgurite or petrified lightning  is a glass tube formed when electricity strikes sand. Usually, fulgurites are hollow, with a rough exterior and smooth interior. Lightning from thunderstorms makes most fulgurites, but they also form from atomic blasts, meteor strikes and from man-made high voltage devices falling onto the ground. Fulgurite Chemistry Fulgurites typically form in sand, which is mostly silicon dioxide. The melted sand forms a glass that is called lechatelierite. Lechatelierite is an amorphous material that is considered to be a mineraloid, similar to obsidian. Fulgurites come in a range of colors, including translucent white, tan, black and green. The coloration comes from impurities in the sand. Make a Fulgurite - Safe Method Fulgurites occur naturally, but there are a couple of ways you can make petrified lightning yourself.  Dont put yourself at risk of a lightning strike! The best way to make a fulgurite is to be safely indoors when its stormy outside. Check the weather forecast to find out when lightning activity is expected. Radar is good or refers to special maps for your area that record lightning strikes. You must complete preparation for a fulgurite several hours (or longer) before the storm arrives.Drive a lightning rod or length of rebar into the sand about 12 inches to 18 inches and extending up into the air. You can set up colored sand or some granular mineral besides quartz sand if you prefer. There is no guarantee lightning will strike your lightning rod, but you improve your chances if you select an open area where the metal is higher than the surroundings. Choose an area far from people, animals or structures.When lightning approaches, be far away from your fulgurite project! Do not check on whether you make a fulgurite until several hours after the storm has passed.The rod and sand will be extremely hot after a lightning strike. Use care when checking for a fulgurite so that you dont burn yourself. Fulgurites are fra gile, so dig around it to expose it before removing it from the surrounding sand. Rinse excess sand with running water. Rocket Fulgurites You can go the Ben Franklin route making a fulgurite by drawing the lightning down to a bucket of sand. This method involves launching a D model rocket toward a thunderhead that is estimated to be due to discharge. A spool of thin copper wire connects the bucket to the rocket. While said to be quite successful, this method is extraordinarily dangerous because the lightning doesnt just follow the wire back to the bucket. It additionally follows the wire and the area around it back to the trigger used to launch the rocket... and you! Simulated Lightning Fulgurites A safer, though someone expensive method, is to use an xfmr or transformer to force man-made lightning into silica or another oxide. This technique fuses the sand into lechatelierite, although it is much more difficult to achieve the branched effect seen in natural fulgurites.

Saturday, December 21, 2019

A Brief Note On Police Double Standard And The Media

I am writing my paper on police double standard. It came to my attention that when police are in the media, they are portrayed as the bad guy. I asked myself if that is the case, or is that the media perception. The police are in a position to protect and serve the community. The community should feel nothing but security and trust towards a police officer right? I am also aware that the media can also mislead and also contribute to the community feeling negative towards the cops. Very rarely do you see a cop doing an act of kindness, and that footage blowing up in the media. I am writing about double standard, depending in the cops of course, will single out blacks and Hispanics, according to numerous media footage. Also you hear of†¦show more content†¦In 1985, we had the first women chief of police. And in 2000, compromised 13 percent of all officers. (http://womenandpolicing.org/history/index.asp) The dates were cited to show the progress that women have accomplished through the eras. It has been a rocky road for our colleagues. Regardless of our accomplishments we only make a small percentage of the police department. The reasons are not written but rather just carried throughout the years. Many women have to excel higher than male counterparts just to be considered good enough. In Riverside County, there is an effort to hire more women and a very small part make it through. Mostly in the fitness test, fail. Women that are hired, are inevitably resented by their male colleagues and many are harassed. In the workforce, women encounter what is called a â€Å"glass ceiling†, which is a term to identify what many women feel oppressed to go for a higher position, as they dread their male counterparts opinions. Women have always had obstacles and I feel that it’s a shame, because women can be a great attribute. In my opinion women are less likely to use excessive force, last longer and will in the long run invest more with the community because they are more prone to listen. Minorities Minorities are also prone to the double standard. In 2008, blacks were more likely than white and Hispanics to experience use of force. An estimated 84% who experienced use of force reported that the police acted

Friday, December 13, 2019

Summary of “An Historical Preface to Engineering Ethics” Free Essays

Summary of â€Å"An Historical Preface to Engineering Ethics† Michael Davis, in his article â€Å"An Historical Preface to Engineering Ethics† clarifies some misconceptions about engineering and distinguishes the differences between science and engineering by showing progressions through history. He makes a point to disprove engineer turned historian, Eugene Ferguson on his criticism that engineers have no consideration for human welfare by proving that not only do engineers have a deep consideration for human welfare, but that all of Ferguson’s criticisms of engineering are actually compliments given engineers’ military origin. Davis first depicts the progression of the definition of technology from ancient Greece to modern times, showing how the reverence of technology and thus engineering has grown over time. We will write a custom essay sample on Summary of â€Å"An Historical Preface to Engineering Ethics† or any similar topic only for you Order Now The modern day definition being the study of how to make manual labor easier, and the ancient Greece definition being the study of manual labor, and since mental labor is more respected than manual labor, engineering has become better respected over time. He disqualifies the misconception that science preceded technology and is therefore older and better than engineering by showing how some inventions predated the science that explains them. He even argues that engineering is better than science because it applies scientific knowledge to make things useful. Davis clarifies that engineering is not the same as technology. Technology being the creation of tools, and engineering being the planning and instruction for others to implement that creation. He shows the history of engineering and how it started in the military, branching out from France to other countries, progressively sophisticating over time. Beginning with engineers in the infantry, creating weapons such as catapults and artillery, France eventually found need of a congregation of the engineers. They founded an organization called the corps du ge’nie, which proved very useful in increasing the flow of knowledge and skills and providing records for later use. In just a few short years, they were acclaimed all over France for their advances in military construction. Davis shows that the basis of all modern day engineering originated from the corps and officially started in the 1700’s when they finally came to understand what they could do as engineers and what they wanted to do. After this, he proceeds to show how he Ecole Polytechnique school, which practically perfected engineering curriculum, was formed in France and how it’s curriculum was adopted by the US. The first engineering school in the US, the West Point military academy, was founded on this curriculum. Davis includes these facts about history, not only to differentiate between science and engineering and to clarify misconceptions about engineering, but also to disprove historian Eugene Ferguso n’s criticism of engineering. Ferguson criticizes engineering as unethical; he believes that engineers do not care about human welfare. Davis agrees with Ferguson’s points about engineers, but argues that they are not criticisms, but compliments and that engineers do in fact have a deep consideration for human welfare. Ferguson criticizes engineers for being efficient, creating labor-saving devices, putting control into systems, favoring the majority, and treating engineering as a means to an end rather than a means to satisfying human welfare. Davis argues that the first four are actually commendable qualities given engineers’ military origins, and that engineers do hold human welfare paramount and have since very early in their history. Since very early in engineering’s history human welfare has been held paramount. From almost the very beginning, even back in the 1700’s, human welfare was of great importance to engineers. The Ecole Polytechnique in France was noted for their regard for human welfare back in the 1700’s and England had the same attitude as France in regard to this as well. In 1828, Thomas Trigold, a member of The British Institution of Civil Engineers was asked to define civil engineering and he defined it as an art of directing Nature for the convenience of man. Davis states that these beliefs still hold true in today’s society, the only thing that differs is the engineers’ code of ethics, to stay consistent with ordinary morals as they differ. Davis argues that even before engineers created a code of ethics involving human welfare that they were not unethical, because they were not expected to hold it paramount, and that they were not unmoral, because not holding the public welfare as paramount is not unmoral in any ordinary sense of morality. Davis ultimately concludes that engineers’ do have high consideration for human welfare. Through historical references, definition contrasts, and counterargument, Davis provides a solid argument that engineering at its core is based upon the advancement of man, and thus human welfare. Word Count: 767 Citation: Davis, Michael. â€Å"An Historical Preface to Engineering Ethics. † Science and Engineering Ethics 1995: 33-44. Print. How to cite Summary of â€Å"An Historical Preface to Engineering Ethics†, Essay examples