Posted on 03/11/2010 9:46:04 PM PST by grey_whiskers
A new formula allows computers to simulate how new materials behave up to 100,000 times faster than previously possible, and could drastically speed up innovation relating to electronic devices and energy-efficient cars. Princeton engineers came up with the model based on an 80-year-old quantum physics puzzle.
Llewellyn Hilleth Thomas and Nobel laureate Enrico Fermi first theorized in 1927 that they could calculate the energy of electrons in motion based on how electrons are distributed in a material. Knowing that kinetic energy of electrons in a material helps researchers understand the structure and properties of new materials, as well as how they might respond to physical stress.
But the Thomas-Fermi equation was based on a theoretical gas with electrons distributed evenly, and so it could not work for imperfect real materials.
(Excerpt) Read more at popsci.com ...
Cheers!
bfl
can someone explain this in public school english?
thanx
You’re welcome.
They basically reworked/tweaked the formula so that they could build a much larger computer model that could model a substances physical properties a lot better. Instead of a model of 100 atoms, they can model a million atoms, and the bigger the model, the more unique properties you can find out about it. Like maybe finding out something would become an excellent conductor under certain temperatures or circumstances, properties you might not see with a smaller/limited model. Stuff like that.
So like...will this make the next call of duty game pretty bawler??
“So like...will this make the next call of duty game pretty bawler??”
Your game crap is the part of the whole thing I don’t understand!
Actually, i can’t understand people that play games!
I quit that crap by age 4, 69 years ago!
Uh, no. The new materials are not behaving up to 100,000 time faster - the simulation is being calculated up to 100,000 time faster.
So how about: "A new formula allows computers to simulate, up to 100,000 times faster than previously possible, how new materials behave..."
So which companies will capitalize on this the soonest? (Might want to invest their stock, I’m thinking.)
Enrico is my favorite Physicist. He had some huge brass ones when he was messing around at the University of Chicago. I believe he was not quite sure whether he would create a runaway reaction. Holy Moses!
Reminds me of an example from one of my grade school english books: “The hunter shot the deer with the red hat.”
Hic ...I been drinkin sur, but i unerstand ever dam thing in thiss artical
We many finally learn how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsieroll-pop.
LOL You’re becoming one of my favorite Freepers. Though I know that you ‘don’t give a crap’ about that.
So you were 48 years old when the NES hit the scene? I can’t believe you don’t “get” video games!
I was about 10 years old when I first played it; it’s part of my childhood. Now I’m old enough to buy my own games. I play them with my wife and friends, and when my daughters are older, I’ll play with them, too. There’s certainly no harm in it.
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