Cheap Energy Investment

[Scott S]

This may be the real future of power production..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...ors-los-alamos

Scott S

[Ron61]

Scott,

Now that sounds like a good idea to me. A small town like this one could get one and let the people just pay the maintenance of the lines and such and that would reduce the power needed from the dam. It should also greatly reduce our electric rates and improve the loss of power during the Winters as they wouldn't have the main lines coming from the power station at the dam through the trees where a blown over tree breaks them.

Ron

[Bobcat]

Coal fired plants can have safety issues that nuclear ones don`t . I remember going to a plant once when I was a young engineer and seeing the side of the building blown out . Seems the boiler went out and the coal dust mixture kept coming in ( someone screwed up ) ... when they tried to reignite it , there was a major blast . Point is , anything can be dangerous if proper procedures aren`t followed .I haven`t heard of any nuclear techs that have been killed in power plant incidents .... doesn`t mean it hasn`t happened .. but I haven`t heard of any .
BTW , I`m a big fan of using nuclear energy .... used to be an engineer with GE and worked on several nuclear projects .
Most people don`t understand it and can be manipulated easily by emotional scare tactics .

[Ronbo]

According to Einstien, light can't be slowed down. C = "constant" or speed of light.

Any slowing is in fact your method of measuring changing ie: a foot grows shorter, a second grows longer.

This what you were looking for Ron?

[bomelia]

Originally Posted by Ronbo

According to Einstien, light can't be slowed down. C = "constant" or speed of light.

Any slowing is in fact your method of measuring changing ie: a foot grows shorter, a second grows longer.

This what you were looking for Ron?

Ronbo, beg to differ. What is "constant" is the "max" speed. Light in fact can be slowed down. It is what is behind the effect we call refraction (why your arm looks bent under water when viewed from above the water).

If you like, I can provide many sources to help with this concept.

Btw, light can go all the way to zero. In that case, it is called "absorbtion" and is one of the reasons things get hot in the summer.

Mike

[Ronbo]

Actually that was cast in doubt by a recent experiment. (light being particle flow) Light travels in "waves". Look for references to the "double aperture" experiment. (the results blew away a lot of what were thought to be facts about light)

Light is a very odd thing, it behaves like nothing else and seems to constantly defy attempts to write rules for it's behavior. Something very magical about that perticular chunk of the electro-magnetic specrtum. (if it even really is part of the spectrum)

For example gravity has yet to be proven to have any effect on electro-magnetic waves. Cosmic radiation zips right through anything, possibly even black holes.

What's really freaky are those "blasts" of cosmic radiation that devistate everything in their path for millions of light-years. These were discovered a few years ago. Good thing is we'd never know what hit us if the Earth was in the path of one.

[bomelia]

Weird things aside, the speed of light is specified as measured in a vacuum. Light slows down in denser mediums (like water) thus giving rise to the phenomena known as refraction.

Mike

[Wes Tausend]

Originally Posted by Ronbo

Actually that was cast in doubt by a recent experiment. (light being particle flow) Light travels in "waves". Look for references to the "double aperture" experiment. (the results blew away a lot of what were thought to be facts about light)

Light is a very odd thing, it behaves like nothing else and seems to constantly defy attempts to write rules for it's behavior. Something very magical about that perticular chunk of the electro-magnetic specrtum. (if it even really is part of the spectrum)

For example gravity has yet to be proven to have any effect on electro-magnetic waves. Cosmic radiation zips right through anything, possibly even black holes.

What's really freaky are those "blasts" of cosmic radiation that devistate everything in their path for millions of light-years. These were discovered a few years ago. Good thing is we'd never know what hit us if the Earth was in the path of one.

I don't think quite true, Ron. I believe light is considered to be both an electro-magnetic wave as well as a particle (wavicle ) and it is certainly bent by gravity. That was pivotal in Einstein's General Theory assertion that gravity is an acceleration. Of course the General Theory still has some loose ends.

And max light speed occurs in a vacuum. In all other instances, it is slower. I think Mike is correct.

Wes

...

[Ronbo]

It's not the particles themselves that slow down. (they always travel at the speed of light) It's the way they travel, kinda like a zig-zag. Electricity does the same thing. BTW the referance to a CRT is wrong the deflection coils re-direct an electron beam which hits phosphorus on the tube face which then generates light. Magnetisum has no proven effect on light. Gravity which is a displacement of space can alter the path of light but can neither slow or speed up it's travel. At least as far as the particles are concerned, The "wave" is what is effected. (if this makes sense)

Wavicle is right. I'll have to see if I can find an online article about the apature experiment.

Problem is we're talking about theories, built on top of other theories. Then something comes along disproving a core theory which means everything built on it is now in question.

I have a theory if I keep talking about this I'll get a headache.