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Past as Prologue: |
“And what will they burn instead of coal?””Water,” replied Harding.
“Water!” cried Pencroft, “water as fuel for steamers and engines! water to heat water!” “Yes, but water decomposed into its primitive elements,” replied Cyrus Harding, “and decomposed doubtless, by electricity, which will then have become a powerful and manageable force, for all great discoveries, by some inexplicable laws, appear to agree and become complete at the same time. Yes, my friends, I believe that water will one day be employed as fuel,that hydrogen and oxygen which constitute it, used singly or together, willfurnish an inexhaustible source of heat and light, of an intensity of which coal is not capable. Some day the coalrooms of steamers and the tenders of locomotives will, instead of coal, be stored with these two condensed gases, which will burn in the furnaces with enormous calorific power. There I believe, then, that when the deposits of coal are exhausted we shall heat and warm ourselves with water. “I should like to see that,” observed the sailor. “You were born too soon, Pencroft,” returned Neb, who only took part in the discussion by these words. |
Condensed Matter Experiments are the ultimate Hydrogen cells: Energy derived from water. |
“The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.” – Arthur C. Clarke |
Category Archives: NYC
experiencing nyc
Audiotron, sound-sensitive wearable electronic art work 1983. Peter Terezakis
Escher, 2013
This project had little to do with my “Fashion and Technology” class except that I was thinking about patterns in nature and those created by man. I admit to missing the lizards I would see almost every day at my home in San Diego and the desert.
This intellectual meandering was my excuse to learn to use both Illustrator and the laser cutter. Someplace I have photos of nested lizards in different colors and thicknesses cut out of plastic
and paper.
Emerson, still relevant
Sheep watching wolves
US Senators Re-Introduce MLP Act to Level Playing Field for Renewable Energy “SAN FRANCISCO — JinkoSolar Holding Co. and First Solar Inc. were among solar companies that surged after four U.S. senators introduced legislation that would let renewable- energy projects qualify for a tax-advantaged corporate structure currently used by oil, natural gas and pipeline projects.” — Reneweable Energy World (Bloomberg) |
What about cutting the tax-advantage structure for the oil industries and putting ALL energy producing entities on the SAME playing field? Closing the loopholes in environmental regulations would be a good start. |
NYT • Sierra Club • Environmental Defense Fund • Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy |
Oil is being traded on the international market. Anyone who thinks that cheap oil and gas is going to selectively benefit Americans, or achieve “energy independence” has drunk deeply from Philip Howard’s cup of hemlock. |
Once the gas and oil wells have been depleted (three to five years?), what will that land be good for? Will it ever again be fit for farming or grazing? |
Waste water from fracking operations has been found to be contaminated with radioactive elements 300 times higher than federal limits for drinking water and exposure. |
If we were alerted that terrorists were intent on poisoning our drinking water or farmlands they would justifiably be met with lethal force. |
Why are the American people – and their elected representatives – allowing the poisoning of their water and their land? |
The deployment and increased development of solar systems on every roof top in America is our current best way to go. At least until LENR or another technology arrives which disrupts the current coal-oil paradigm. |
Once a topic of science fiction, fantasy, and failed dreams, near infinite sources of energy may be near: |
Something needs to change for the better and change before we are paying more for a drink of water than we are for a gallon of gasoline. But this is another chapter in the same story and I will leave this for another series of posts. Peter Terezakis |
Tesla Bifilar Coil 1893 – 2013
UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE NIKOLA TESLA, OF NEW YORK, N.Y.COIL FOR ELECTRO-MAGNETS SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 512,340, dated January 9, 1894.Application filed July 7, 1893. Serial No. 479,804. (No model.)To all whom it may concern:Be it known that I, NIKOLA TESLA, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coils for Electro-Magnets and other Apparatus, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming a part of the same.
In electric apparatus or systems in which alternating currents are employed the self-induction of the coils or conductors may, and in fact, in many cases does operate disadvantagely by giving rise to false currents which often reduce what is known as the commercial efficiency of the apparatus composing the system or operate detrimentally in other respects. The effects of self-induction, above referred to, are known to be neutralized by proportioning to a proper degree the capacity of the circuit with relation to the self-induction and frequency of the currents. This has been accomplished heretofore by the use of condensers constructed and applied as separate instruments. My present invention has for its object to avoid the employment of condensers which are expensive, cumbersome and difficult to maintain in perfect condition, and to so construct the coils themselves as to accomplish the same ultimate object. I would here state that by the term coils I desire to include generally helices, solenoids, or, in fact, any conductor the different parts of which by the requirements of its application or use are brought into such relations with each other as to materially increase the self-induction. I have found that in every coil there exists a certain relation between its self-induction and capacity that permits a current of given frequency and potential to pass through it with no other opposition than that of ohmic resistance, or, in other words, as though it possessed no self-induction. This is due to the mutual relations existing between the special character of the current and the self-induction and capacity of the coil, the latter quantity being just capable of neutralizing the self-induction for that frequency. It is well-known that the higher the frequency or potential difference of the current the smaller the capacity required to counteract the self-induction; hence, in any coil, however small the capacity, it may be sufficient for the purpose stated if the proper conditions in other respects be secured. In the ordinary coils the difference of potential between adjacent turns or spires is very small, so that while they are in a sense condensers, they possess but very small capacity and the relations between the two quantities, self-induction and capacity, are not such as under any ordinary conditions satisfy the requirements herein contemplated, because the capacity relatively to the self-induction is very small. In order to attain my object and to properly increase the capacity of any given coil, I wind it in such way as to secure a greater difference of potential between its adjacent turns or convolutions, and since the energy stored in the coil considering – the latter as a condenser, is proportionate to the square of the potential difference between its adjacent convolutions, it is evident that I may in this way secure by a proper disposition of these convolutions a greatly increased capacity for a given increase in potential difference between the turns. I have illustrated diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings the general nature of the plan which I adopt for carrying out this invention. Figure 1 is a diagram of a coil wound in the ordinary manner. Let A, Figure 1, designate any given coil the spires or convolutions of which are wound upon and insulated from each other. Let it be assumed that the terminals of this coil show a potential difference of one hundred volts, and that there are one thousand convolutions; then considering any two contiguous points on adjacent convolutions let it be assumed that there will exist between them a potential difference of one-tenth of a volt. If now, as shown in Figure 2, a conductor B be wound parallel with the conductor A and insulated from it, and the end of A be connected with the starting point of B, the aggregate length of the two conductors being such that the assumed number of convolutions or turns is the same, viz., one thousand, then the potential difference between any two points in A and B will be fifty volts, and as the capacity effect is proportionate to the square of this difference, Following out this principle, I may wind any given coil either in whole or in part, not only in the specific manner herein illustrated, but in a great variety of ways, well-known in the art, so as to secure between adjacent convolutions such potential difference as will give the proper capacity to neutralize the self-induction for any given current that may be employed. Capacity secured in this particular way possesses an additional advantage in that it is evenly distributed, a consideration of the greatest importance in many cases, and the results, both as to efficiency and economy, are the more readily and easily obtained as the size of the coils, the potential difference, or frequency of the currents are increased. Coils composed of independent strands or conductors wound side by side and connected in series are not in themselves new, and I do not regard a more detailed description of the same as necessary. But heretofore, so far as I am aware, the objects in view have been essentially different from mine, and the results which I obtain even if an incident to such forms of winding have not been appreciated or taken advantage of. In carrying out my invention it is to be observed that certain facts are well understood by those skilled in the art, viz: the relations of capacity, self-induction, and the frequency and potential difference of the current. What capacity, therefore, in any given case it is desirable to obtain and what special winding will secure it, are readily determinable from the other factors which are known. What I claim as my invention is: A coil for electric apparatus the adjacent convolutions of which form parts of the circuit between which there exists a potential difference sufficient to secure in the coil a capacity capable of neutralizing its self-induction, as herein before described. A coil composed of contiguous or adjacent insulated conductors electrically connected in series and having a potential difference of such value as to give to the coil as a whole, a capacity sufficient to neutralize its self-induction, as set forth. NIKOLA TESLA Witnesses: Robt. F. Gaylord |
Malthus
Malthus had a vision that humanity would be unable to continue a path of unchecked growth as it would outstrip its resources, specifically with respect to a society’s ability to feed itself. With a current estimated population of seven billion, heading toward nine billion in twenty years it could be that island Earth and Easter Island have more in common than ocean and sky.
Peter Terezakis
ITPme.info • http://www.terezakis.com
“We now know that the fundamental triggers for the Arab spring were unprecedented food price rises. The first sign things were unravelling hit in 2008, when a global rice shortage coincided with dramatic increases in staple food prices, triggering food riots across the middle east, north Africa and south Asia. A month before the fall of the Egyptian and Tunisian regimes, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reported record high food prices for dairy, meat, sugar and cereals.” – The Guardian
2013 the quest continued….
When I graduate (or along the way) maybe I will understand why:
• A lobbyist was invited to present to a class whose syllabus clearly states that guest speakers would be, “…leaders drawn from the artistic, non-profit and commercial sectors of the new media field…”
• How the nuclear industry proposes to safely dispose of radioactive waste (for 1/2 of eternity) when society can’t figure out how to properly dispose of plastic picnic utensils.
• Why public utilities are allowed to raise the price per kilowatt hour when ratepayers are using less (not more) electricity.
• Why millions of dollars are spent developing capital-intensive power generation facilities hundreds of miles from consumers: instead of using existing infrastructure to develop power generation and distribution within cities and suburbs.
• How over six billion dollars of foreign investment in fracking operations within the United States is deemed a good investment in the future of our land by elected officials (possibly related to the answer of question one?).
• What the plan is to quickly and safely evacuate Southern California’s Orange and San Diego Counties within a 90 mile radius of the San Onofre Nuclear power plant (built 1964) in the event of a Fukushima style event.
I have a lot of other questions and no answers.
Peter Terezakis
ITP, Tisch School of the Arts
New York City
We’re not in San Diego anymore…
Gone is the human-scaled architecture of San Diego and the pattern of rainfall only during a few winter months.
< It’s not always raining![/caption]
Peter Terezakis
Tisch School of the Arts
http://www.terezakis.com
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