"Beam me up, Scotty!"
Posted on 07/27/2009 11:22:27 AM PDT by saganite
Oxford scientists have created a transparent form of aluminium by bombarding the metal with the world’s most powerful soft X-ray laser. ‘Transparent aluminium’ previously only existed in science fiction, featuring in the movie Star Trek IV, but the real material is an exotic new state of matter with implications for planetary science and nuclear fusion.
In the journal Nature Physics an international team, led by Oxford University scientists, report that a short pulse from the FLASH laser ‘knocked out’ a core electron from every aluminium atom in a sample without disrupting the metal’s crystalline structure. This turned the aluminium nearly invisible to extreme ultraviolet radiation.
''What we have created is a completely new state of matter nobody has seen before,’ said Professor Justin Wark of Oxford University’s Department of Physics, one of the authors of the paper. ‘Transparent aluminium is just the start. The physical properties of the matter we are creating are relevant to the conditions inside large planets, and we also hope that by studying it we can gain a greater understanding of what is going on during the creation of 'miniature stars' created by high-power laser implosions, which may one day allow the power of nuclear fusion to be harnessed here on Earth.’
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
Captain, the dilithium crystals cannot handle the drain.
Do you have the re-edited version of ST-V titled "In Thy Image"?
That one was done by Jack Marshall before his involvement with the "New Voyages" fanfilms. It "re-imagines" The Final Frontier as a television pilot complete with fades to black (for commercials), music, and sound effects from the original series and that classic “still frame” end credit sequence. At only 63 minutes, this re-edit tosses the more embarrassing parts of Shatner's film and renders it much more bearable.
If you've not yet seen it, try searching for a torrent file - it's out there.
Thanks.
Pabst is nothing like making love in a canoe. Besides you only “rent” beer.
Right. Scotty made that years ago.
“Just remember where we parked.”
>>The funny part was he was obviously an excellent typist.<<
Yeah, that wasn’t lost on me either. The other funny one was in a later movie, some generals were in the office of the president of the federation making their case for an invasion of some sort and they put up a tripod and used FLIP CHARTS!!!
Yes, they were very colorful, but still... :)
Based on what I saw in “did you know” part three, on youtube, I came to the conclusion that mankind, barring some catastrophic war or the return of the Lord, will, within 50 or 60 years, unlock ALL the secrets of how our current universe functions. We will be able to control matter as easily as the Star Trek replicator creates whatever you want.
And I am not talking nanotech as we currently see it. I mean the ability to understand all aspects of the known universe and how it functions. With that knowledge it becomes easy to manipulate.
Man progresses, technologically, exponentially. It has really ramped up the last 20 years, but the last 100 was more than pretty much the entire history of mankind. The next 50 will be mind boggling.
I believe the word was quaint, not crude.
I can’t go along with you on that. Example: I have been hearing since I was a child that we would have Nuclear Fusion power plants in 20 years. That was 50 years ago and I’m still hearing it.
The one with Spock's brother was quite a stinker, wasn't it? IIRC, the working title for the following Star Trek moved was "Star Trek X+1, 'The Apology!'"
Mark
You know what this breakthrough means?
See-through soda cans.
I’m still waiting for the Presidential candidate who pledged transparency in his administration to become Transparent.
Yeah, I understand where you are coming from on that one. In the early 60’s they also believed that in a few years computers could EFFECTIVELY translate any language to any other. But we’re not really very close, even though computers have dramatically improved in processing power.
That said, sometimes the breakthrough’s come. In this case it was the remarks in the youtube video about the anticipated strides in computing power coupled with my own belief that computers dramatically increase the speed at which humans advance in knowledge.
I have no doubt whatsoever that if you were to be projected only 15 years in the future that the world would appear to work via magic.
That is not all that bold a prediction. If you were to project an average person from 60 years ago to today, they would FIRMLY believe it was due to magic.
I base this all on my belief that man advances exponentially and I see it as the last few days of the analogous “work for a guy for a penny a day but double the pay every day for 30 days”.
The penny’s per day for the first few thousand years of man’s recorded history have built up to those last few days.
The guy earns 2 cents on the second day, but $10,500 on the 21st day. I think of that as the 1800’s. Now, I see us as at the 29th day and we are at $2,685,000. The next three days (maybe ten years) will be fascinating. It is a parabolic curve and eventually goes straight up without ever touching the verticle axis.
Heck, I'd be happy if they just got voice recognition transcription in English more accurate. As a court reporter, I can't even get it to recognize my own voice with much more than a 98% accuracy on non-legal, non-technical testimony. Throw in doctor's testimony or other technical/professional testimony, the recognition drops drastically. Throw in an Indian, German, Mexican, South Korean or even a Texas/Deep Southern accent with technical/professional testimony, and you might as well have a monkey in a box typing along with the audio.
As I keep telling my reporters, 98% accuracy on a page that has 200 words, means that at least two words per page are wrong. Kick that up to a 200-page transcript (approximately three hours of in-court time) and you've already made at least 600 mistakes.
The voice recognition system that we use .. Dragon .. even with sustained voice training and with an as tightly-worded dictionary as possible still occasionally gives me "the elephants on the fence" as opposed to the "the elements of the offense".
And you're waiting for translation from one language to another? There's definitely going to have be more of a breakthrough than just processing power.
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RESISTOR
Swear allegiance to the flag, whatever flag they offer;
Never hint at what you really feel.
Teach the children quietly for, someday, sons and daughters
Will rise up and fight while we stood still.
Der Elite Møøsënspåånkængrüppen ØberKømmändø (EMØØK)
“Swear allegiance to the flag, whatever flag they offer;”
Mike and The Mechanics.......way beyond their time apparently.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep7W89I_V_g
Traficant is out in Sept. Hope he gets right back into politics.
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