"A spin-out company from Imperial College London has developed a thermal barrier coating for gas turbine parts that can optically feed back its temperature and ageing status even while the engine is running at full speed.
The main application for the technology is in power-generating gas turbines, where the coating could help to achieve significant efficiency savings.
Ceramic thermal barrier coatings, including yttria-stabilised zirconia, are used for the so-called ‘hot section components’ of gas turbines, such as the blades." Thermal barrier coating could boost efficiency of gas turbines | News | The Engineer
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Crabs use stats
News in Science
Crabs use stats to dodge predators
Monday, 18 April 2011 Anna Salleh
ABC
Fiddler crabs can't see very well so they have to use statistical calculations to distinguish between swooping predators and harmless passing insects, say researchers.
Crabs use stats to dodge predators
Monday, 18 April 2011 Anna Salleh
ABC
Fiddler crabs can't see very well so they have to use statistical calculations to distinguish between swooping predators and harmless passing insects, say researchers.
I granchi e la statistica
"I granchi della famiglia Ocypodidae, per via della loro scarsa capacità visiva, sono in grado di calcolare la probabilità che l'oggetto che stanno osservando possa essere un predatore... Gli occhi di questi granchi sono dotati di una bassissima risoluzione, pari a circa un totale di 8.000 pixel per ogni occhio.... A questa risoluzione, un predatore come un uccello è visibile sotto forma di un semplice e insignificante puntino scuro, e non è possibile distinguere se si tratta di un animale innocuo o potenzialmente pericoloso. Per ovviare alla loro ridotta capacità visiva, i granchi hanno quindi elaborato una strategia che consente loro di calcolare la probabilità che uno di questi puntini scuri possa essere un predatore." by Dita di Fulmine
http://www.ditadifulmine.com/2011/04/granchi-usano-statistica-per-rilevare.html
http://www.ditadifulmine.com/2011/04/granchi-usano-statistica-per-rilevare.html
Raised fields in Bolivia
The image shows the "raised fields" near the Titicaca Lake, in Bolivia.
Note the "snake": eye, tongue and teeth.
This image, obtained after processing a Google Maps image, shows the network of waru-warus, that is, of the "raised fields" - earthworks separated by canals - near Tiwanaku. This is an ancient agricultural technique used by Andean people starting from the first millennium BC. Each raised field is approximately 10 meters large and more than one hundred long.
More on waru-waru
Just lines?
Near the shore of the Titicaca Lake, the raised fields are well preserved.
They are arranged to form symbols, not just parallel lines!
A bird and a lamb? Or other animals?
This image, obtained after processing a Google Maps image, shows some waru-warus, that is, the "raised fields" - earthworks separated by canals. This is an ancient agricultural technique used by Andean people starting from the first millennium BC. Each raised field is approximately 10 meters large and more than one hundred long.
More on waru-waru
arXiv:1009.4602 [pdf] Geoglyphs of Titicaca as an ancient example of graphic design, Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
arXiv:1009.2231 [pdf] Symbolic landforms created by ancient earthworks near Lake Titicaca, Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
Andenes
Andenes are an ancient method to cultivate the Andean highlands.
Here an image from Google Maps.
Ringed Hills
A beautiful collection of images from Google Maps.
http://www.atlantisbolivia.org/ringedhills.htm
Very interesting the top of the hill with concentric rings!
"Many of the hilltops on the Bolivian altiplano have at some time been surrounded by concentric ringed walls and/or irrigation channels and many of these hilltops in turn seem to have suffered from earthquake damage. Closer study suggests that many hilltops originally had concentric ringed irrigation canals, but in many zones these appear to have been destroyed by earthquakes and later generations have reoccupied the land and built walls alongside the former irrigation ditches."
I have searched the "ringed feature south of volcan Quemado". Here it is after processing.
http://www.atlantisbolivia.org/ringedhills.htm
Very interesting the top of the hill with concentric rings!
"Many of the hilltops on the Bolivian altiplano have at some time been surrounded by concentric ringed walls and/or irrigation channels and many of these hilltops in turn seem to have suffered from earthquake damage. Closer study suggests that many hilltops originally had concentric ringed irrigation canals, but in many zones these appear to have been destroyed by earthquakes and later generations have reoccupied the land and built walls alongside the former irrigation ditches."
I have searched the "ringed feature south of volcan Quemado". Here it is after processing.
Another ringed structure
Images obtained by Google Maps
Alpaca
In the "The Continuum encyclopedia of animal symbolism in art", by Hope B. Werness, we can find a very interesting discussion on Alpaca.
Waru-warus near the lake
This image, obtained after processing a Google Maps image, shows the network of waru-warus, that is, of the "raised fields" - earthworks separated by canals - near the Titicaca Lake (Huata, Puno, Peru). This is an ancient agricultural technique used by Andean people starting from the first millennium BC. Note that the structure of the network is created after a careful planning.
Each raised field is approximately 10 meters large and more than one hundred long.
arXiv:1009.4602 [pdf] Geoglyphs of Titicaca as an ancient example of graphic design, Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
arXiv:1009.2231 [pdf] Symbolic landforms created by ancient earthworks near Lake Titicaca, Amelia Carolina Sparavigna
Radial structures at Rodadero
As discussed in some previous posts on "qochas", these structures had and have an agricultural function. Some qochas had a ceremonial use too. At Rodadero (Cusco) we find the huge Qocha Chincanas.
Near the parking of this archaeological site, where it is placed the statue of the White Christ, the satellite imagery (Google Maps) shows two radial/circular structures as those used for agricultural purposed near Titicaca lake.
Near the parking of this archaeological site, where it is placed the statue of the White Christ, the satellite imagery (Google Maps) shows two radial/circular structures as those used for agricultural purposed near Titicaca lake.
Near Qenko and Rodadero
One of the beautiful examples of the Incaic culture in the Cusco region are the ruins of Qenko, located approximately 6 kilometers from the capital of the area, Cusco. Qenko is near the Rodadero, a giant rock hill with numerous stairwells and benches carved into the stone. The hills near Qenko and Rodadero are used as cropfields. During this weekend I was studying qochas (lakes, ponds) and searching for ceremonial qochas in Peru, when I saw by means of Google Maps this hill. After image processing to enhance details, it seems that this hill possesses many concentric structures, as a qocha. May be it is another ceremonial qochas near Cusco.
Geoglyphs of Titicaca
28 p. Book Geoglyphs Titicaca SparavignaImages of geoglyphs near Titicaca Lake. The ancient artificial landscape
with geoglyphs is an important example of an engineering graphic design
for an age and place where no written documents existed. Geoglyphs
are created by a network of earthworks, which constitute the remains
of an extensive ancient agricultural system. It can be seen by means
of the Google satellite imagery on the Peruvian region near the Titicaca Lake.
Public Category: Research Reads: 2657 Published: 10 / 09 / 2010 Share Add to Collections
Public Category: Research Reads: 2657 Published: 10 / 09 / 2010 Share Add to Collections
Landforms of Titicaca: Near Sillustani
18 p. Landforms of Titicaca: Near Sillustani, Book by A.C. SparavignaTerraced hills, a network of earthworks, sometimes creating geoglyphs,
and ancient ruins are the structures we can observe with the satellites
imagery of Google Maps. After the previous publications on the
earthworks and geoglyphs , let us survey specific area with more
details. Here we show satellite imagery, enhanced with freely
available image processing software, of the area near Sillustani,
the peninsula of the Laguna Umayo, in Puno region of Peru.
Besides Sillustani, interesting places are the
Mesa Isla and Atuncalla.
Public Category: Research Reads: 286 Published: 10 / 27 / 2010
Public Category: Research Reads: 286 Published: 10 / 27 / 2010
Landforms of Titicaca: Amazing land
18 p. Landforms Titicaca Amazing Land by AC SparavignaThe areas of Huata, Coata and Paucarcolla, near the Titicaca Lake,
are covered by amazing drawings. For these regions, Google Maps
has enough high resolution to have a detailed survey.
In the book, the reader can see a show of images obtained
by enhancing the satellite imagery.
Each image has coordinates and scale.
Public Category: Research Reads: 207 Published: 10 / 28 / 2010
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