Some benchtop test chambers resemble household microwaves in more than just superficial ways. One wonders, in viewing of such a benchtop chamber, if a technician who was performing tests wouldn’t have done just as well with a microwave instead of an expensive benchtop chamber. While that might sometimes seem like the Continue reading
The James Webb Space Telescope project is off the chopping block. That’s according to an article in Time Magazine from February 13th. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the project (it’s okay if you’re not), the JWS Telescope is the successor to the Hubble Telescope. For those of you who don’t know about the Hubble Telescope, it’s a telescope that currently orbits the Earth and takes pictures of objects in outer space. Hubble has taken some of the best-known pictures of far off Continue reading
Artist’s Impression of the Venus Rover
Some scientists believe that the climate of Venus used to resemble Earth’s current climate. Instead of a blanket of sulfuric acid clouds, it too may have had puffy white clouds of water vapor and an atmosphere that may have been hospitable to life. Today, Venus’s atmosphere is composed primarily of carbon dioxide, which has made the planet a giant greenhouse. Many probes and flybys have been sent to Venus by humans over the last 50 years or so, and the ambient pressure and Continue reading
A moment ago, I was reading about Robert Smithdas, the first deaf and blind person ever to be awarded a master’s degree. After reading about him, I couldn’t help but think back to my time in college – how it could be difficult, how little ambition and drive I sometimes seemed to have and how I sometimes couldn’t wait for class to end so I could go out with friends – and I can’t help but feel a combination of personal shame (for having taken my experience of sight and sound for granted) and admiration. I can’t imagine learning what a word is without hearing or sight, let along combining words, word problems, math problems and all of the other things that Continue reading
I have lived in the Midwest all my life. There are a lot of things I enjoy about life here, and the climate is near the top of my list. I love the variability; hot enough for beach days in the summer, cold enough for snow hikes and sledding in the winter, temperate enough in the spring and fall. One of the consequences of that variability, though, is that products designed for use in those climates have to be able to withstand the harshness of the conditions. For example, automobiles used in Continue reading
When I look around my desk, I see a wide range of commercial products that have become standard utilities in offices and other kinds of places of business. My computer, for example, is composed of a wide variety of now common and comparatively inexpensive materials like plastic and a variety of metals. I often think how outrageous the idea of affordable computers might have seemed to an electrical engineer just 30 years ago. The same could be said for my phone, the printers in our office and all sorts of other commercial utilities whose Continue reading
Since developing advanced technologies such as underwater breathing equipment, high-altitude flight and space flight, humans have encountered many natural barriers to exploration. However, as each of these barriers presents itself, soon after we seem to find ways to breach them. Take the example of deep-sea diving. At first glance, it doesn’t seem like there should be much to the process, assuming you can get your air supply to come under water with you. But upon embarking on this frontier, it becomes apparent that additional complications, such as decompression sickness and the crushing pressures of deep water, are natural forces to be Continue reading
Successful environmental test chamber manufacturers have to demonstrate manufacturing aptitude in a variety of ways. Considering this fact, companies that are in the test chamber manufacturing business operate under some of the most demanding conditions in industry. Especially in the case of companies that manufacture entire test chamber systems, there’s no room for error. Companies that make faulty test chambers can pose a risk to the success of Continue reading
The manned space program has been and continues to be among humanity’s most shining accomplishments. The efforts made by all of the participating nations are without precedent in history; never before have people from all over the planet joined together to try and expand the horizon of possibility for our species. Under harsh conditions and in the face of great personal peril, a community of visionaries has worked tirelessly, often without significant recognition, to explore space, to understand the earth’s origins and its place in the universe and ultimately to gain a better Continue reading