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Posted on 11/17/2004 9:24:29 PM PST by nwctwx
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Thanks all4one.
Disturbing news articles this morning.
Thank you Fullwave.
Color is a function of the gas that is excited to the point of lasing. Red is helium-neon, while green is, I think carbon (someone, please correct me on this). Infrared lasers, like those used in fiber optics communications, can be dangerous at close range because they are invisible to the eye, but still powerful enough to burn the retina. Green is produced by Argon or Nd:YAG lasers.
Thank you, Velveeta.
Are you saying that there is a gas excited beam inside my laser pointer or my laser gun sight? Or is that only an application or function of a big laser?
Sorry, should have been more specific. Your pointer is most likely a diode laser. The big powerful ones use excited gas ions. I'm not an expert, just a fan, so I can't get into the physics of it like some others here probably can. IIRC, though, the composition of the gas determines the wavelength, hence the color, of the laser.
Still, it's a grand day when I can get him a little bit loose and get him talking about fighting and flying alongside the likes of Greg "Pappy" Boyington over such legendary islands like Guadalcanal or Tarawa Bouganville. The old guy racked up 18 kills and a DFC. So, I'm not knockin' him!
Green lasers are more practically useful for military applications.
You can even buy a green laser pointer for yourself; they run about $100 compared to the few dollars for a red one. Higher visibility and greater range are available in the pointer realm.
Blue-green lasers are the direction that weapons system development has to go.
You are confusing a glider with an ultralight. There are powered ultralights. Little more than an aluminum lawn chair with wings and an engine.
There is an argon laser "sculpture" that is operated from a building near I-805/Miramar Road just north of the University Town Shopping center. It comes on periodically in the evening and can be seen for a long distance. Qualcomm has something similar on one of their building north of Mira Mesa Blvd and east of I-805 in the big industrial park area. This is really not a surprise. Most likely it is new pilots that aren't paying attention to aviation bulletins in the San Diego area.
Thanks for the al-Islah links MamaD. Their planned "demonstration" does not sound good. Will read some more on them.
http://www.nbc-2.com/articles/readarticle.asp?articleid=2058&z=3&p=
~~~bookmark~~~
re: "I only made a speculation on how the damage could have occured."
Non-elastic tubulars - absent a supporting form - do not bend under lateral strain; they buckle at the yield point for their material, at an initiation point determined by several factors. Hence, the PIQ - if in a 'U'-shape, had to have been formed in that shape. A buckle would have resulted in a 'V'-shape.
This completely passes on the natural bottom conditions of a large river which almost always are composed of deep, soft sedimentary deposits that are a naturally occurring result of the water flow over a long course. This point is important because a pipe only 15' long, if very light would not be sufficient to do the damage described, and if very heavy would either sink below the mudline or fall over flat on the natural bottom, since the first 5-10 ft of bottom sediment will be too soft to sustain a heavy object in an upright position.
And, let's not forget that the reported damage occurred in two separate places. Difficult to accomplish with but one pipe end; the other end necessarily requiring a firm support in order to provide the resistance needed to breech the ship's steel hull.
Further, the above completely passes on how scuba divers could have accurately positioned a 15' long piece of pipe of sufficient strength (hence, mass) to effect such a outcome. Manueuvering relatively large, heavy and submerged objects, presumably using lift bags, in open water with a current of presumably 1-3KT and limited visibility is not a trival task; borders on the impossible.
And, let's not forget what a low probability op it would seem to be. If you wanted to take out a ship, there are much easier ways to do it with a higher prob of certainty.
sub6
Interesting, thanks all4one. Just forwarded the article to a friend who is a pilot.
"Pipe Bomb Explodes Outside Elementary School (Downingtown, PA - 12/9/04)"
Too close! Thank God no one was hurt. Bet there will be at least 20 affadavits with educational objectives to home educate filed within the next week in that school district.
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