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A N ATOM Y
Squeeze your hand into a fist: that’s about the size of your heart. Now squeeze your hand with the same frequency as your heartbeat (try 70 times per minute). How long you will be able to keep it up? I bet that you’ll stop after a few minutes. It turns out that some of the heart’s muscle tissue is tougher than your hand muscles. But then, how could it be otherwise? A person’s heart beats about a hundred thousand times per day and in that time produces enough energy to lift a whole train.
A N AT O M Y
How does the heart work? The heart is an essential organ of the human body. Scientists say that with age, the heart increases in size directly proportionally to the growth of a person’s own fist. Ancient people thought that the heart was the chief organ which controlled the whole body and so people used to believe everything related to the human condition and relationships was connected with the heart. Now, of course, we understand that this is the work of the brain. Certain expressions emerged, such as “stout hearted,” “a warm-hearted person,” and “I love you with all my heart,” though it would be more accurate to say “I love you with all my brain.”
A person’s heart begins to work when they are still in utero, and it doesn’t stop for a second, in contrast to all the other organs, which start working only after birth and take breaks during sleep. To understand how our Most Important Organ works, we must first understand its structure. The shape of the heart resembles a pear leaning sideways, with the top part tilted towards the lower left, and the base tilted to the upper right. The top of heart is the part whose movements you can feel when you put your hand on your chest. You can also feel it beating from inside your body. You are feeling the movements of the top of
Superior Vena Cava (blood from upper body)
Aorta (to body)
Right Pulmanory Arteries (to right lung)
Right Pulmanory Veins (from right lung)
Left Pulmanory Arteries (to left lung)
Left Pulmanory Veins (from left lung)
Right Coronary Artery Left Coronary Artery Left Ventricle
Right Ventricle Right Marginal Artery
Great Cardiac Vein
Inferia Vena Cava (from lower body)
Abdominal Aorta
Epicardium (outer cardiac muscle) Apex
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the heart each time it contracts. The heart’s contractions are nearly synchronized with your pulse, which you can easily find by touching the inside of your wrist or your neck next to your windpipe. Your pulse is the wave of blood rushing from the heart with each beat to fill your vessels. Your pulse and its rhythm are an indirect, easily accessible reflection of the activity of the heart itself. The heart’s mass constitutes only 0.3% of total body weight. For such a vitally important organ this is almost nothing. In structure this organ resembles a two-storey house. The upper two rooms are called the right and left atria, and the two first-floor rooms are called the ventricles. These four rooms are known as the chambers of the heart.
Superior Vena Cava (blood from upper body)
On each side, between the upper and lower rooms, there is a door called a valve. These valves open and close with each heartbeat. The heart essentially has two pumps, one on each side. The left side picks up oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and sends it out to the rest of the body. The right side receives it back and returns it to the lungs. The heart delivers blood using special vessels: arteries, veins and capillaries. Arteries take blood away from the heart and are located deep below the skin, between your bones. Veins, in contrast, carry blood to the heart. We can actually see veins on our wrists and hands. Our body also has small capillaries — very thin vessels running through our whole body. They help deliver blood to the most secluded corners of the body. Each one is 50 times thinner than a human hair.
Blood flow from upper body
Aorta (to body)
Blood flow from lungs
Blood flow to lungs Blood flow from lungs
Right Atrium Left Atrium Mitral (bicuspid) Valve Left Ventricle Atrioventricular (tricuspid) Valve
Papillary Muscle Interventricular Septum
Right Ventricle
Papillary Muscle
Blood flow to body Blood flow from lower body
Myocardium (inner cardiac muscle) Apex
A N AT O M Y
Blood circulation system
Why does the heart need these four chambers? The two right-hand chambers (the atrium and ventricle) are for pumping venous blood. The two left-hand chambers are for pumping arterial blood. As we have already said, the main function of this vital organ is providing oxygen to all our organs, down to the smallest cells. There is good reason why the work of the heart determines our vital signs. The atria and ventricles take turns filling with blood, forming a regular cardiac cycle which replenishes each section of the heart with a certain portion of blood. This process ends when the valves between the atria and ventricles close, preventing them from overflowing. This process of filling and emptying changes the shape of the heart. The heart pumps up to 6 liters of blood per minute, totaling 8000 liters a day. Over the course of a 70-year life, the heart will pump 175 million liters of blood — for comparison, that’s the amount of oil pumped by the whole world in several months. No modern technology could withstand so much pumping for such a long time.
Gas Exchange
LUNGS Oxygen (O2) R E D B LO O D C E L L S Carbon dioxide (CO2) ORGANS
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What is inside and outside the heart? Now we will learn how the complex, multifaceted, lifelong work of the heart is performed. Most of this work is done by the myocardium, or cardiac muscle, which makes up 94% of the heart’s muscular system. Contraction and relaxation of this muscle occurs with the help of nerves. These nerves extend in separate fibers from the brain, splitting along the way into thinner threads and wrapping around each muscle fiber. Some nerve fibers initiate an immediate muscle contraction, to send blood to the vessels; other nerves, in contrast, relax them in preparation for receiving the next portion of blood. Nerve fibers are controlled by specialized parts of the brain that function automatically. This amazing automatic function allows the heart to independently generate electric impulses. The central nervous system constantly monitors the needs of the body and, if necessary, speeds up or slows down the work of the heart. For example, during physical activity the body needs more oxygen and nutrients, so the initiating impulses are generated more frequently and the heart beats more often. While running very fast, your pulse can reach 130–150 beats per minute. You can feel your cardiac rhythm or heartbeat by putting a hand on your heart or measuring your pulse. The heart also has its own regulating mechanisms that make up the cardiac conduction system. This system regulates the heart’s rhythm, continuing the cycle of heart activity and ensuring that the heart never stops beating.
Cardiac conductive system Sinoatrial (SA) node
Atrioventricular (AV) node
The structure of the conductive system is also composed of branches of thin threads surrounding muscle fiber from all sides. Each heartbeat is a stroke of these fibers against the walls of the chest with every contraction. The mechanical function of the myocardium is achieved thanks to its incredible natural structure, consisting of an abundance of muscle fibers. One cubic centimeter of myocardial tissue has hundreds of thousands of fibers! These muscle fibers are tightly layered in different directions (transversely, laterally and radially). It resembles an electric cable with many small wires (fibers) inside.
Skeletal muscle
Smooth muscle
Cardiac muscle
The outside of the heart is covered with a smooth, shiny, mucous-like membrane. This allows blood to travel more easily as the heart contracts and relaxes. Blood is much thicker than water, thanks to its complex biological components, so the inside of the heart is covered with the same membrane as the outside to allow blood to slide smoothly through it. Though the heart is a part of the body, it is also an independent organ. The brain controls all our muscles except the heart. In addition, a person’s heart also has automaticity. What does this mean? It means that if the heart were separated from the body, but supplied with enough nutrients, it would keep beating rhythmically and effectively, continuing to perform its job. Why? Because the heart has unique muscle cells capable of independently generating electric impulses which force the heart to contract. Each contraction of the heart sends an electric current through the whole body. There is a special device which traces this electrical activity on a graph, called an electrocardiogram (abbreviated ECG). Studying an ECG, doctors can determine a patient’s heart health.
BIOLOG Y
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Very gradually. And a long time ago. Humans’ first pet was the dog (maybe that’s why it’s man’s best friend?). New research suggests that the dog was domesticated 33 thousand years ago, while old research says it was 26 thousand years ago. In any case, in those days our ancestors were still painting on rocks and hunting mammoths. They ate these mammoths and threw their bones away. And where there are bones, there are predators — particularly wolves. There always move in packs and they are not as solitary as, say, bears.
Sheep is the second domesticated animal. It was tamed about 12 thousand years ago in Southwestern Asia for it’s meat and wool (used to make fabric for clothing). The sheep’s ancestor was a rocky mountain bighorn called a mouflon. The mouflon, a rangy (lean) animal with short red wool and huge curved horns, bears no resemblance to today’s plump, curly sheep. Except, perhaps, in its temper: the mouflon is a coward. It is very difficult to catch. How did our ancestors manage to do it?!
Didn’t people chase them away, seeing as they were dangerous? They did. And then the wolves realized that if they did not harm anyone, they would get tasty bones. Meanwhile, people realized that if they did not chase them away, the wolves would protect them from cave bears and saber-toothed tigers, as well as helping them with their hunting. And so their friendship began. But these wolves were still far from today’s terriers, poodles and Dalmatians. Wolves were wolves. And many scientists believe that there were also jackals, and the so-called great dogs (which are extinct today). That means that our current pets are not only former wolves, but also, perhaps, a mixture of other animals. The first wolves attached themselves to people in Southeast Asia, then gradually spread to the Middle East (which includes
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan), Africa, Europe, and then worldwide. By now they were not wolves anymore, but nor were they dogs yet. Well, no, that’s not quite right. De jure (technically, that is, in appearance and body structure) they were wolves, and de facto (in fact, in their behavior) they were dogs. Dogs as a biological species appeared only about 12–15 thousand years ago, when our ancestors transitioned from hunting and gathering to an agricultural society (farming and breeding livestock). Classification of dogs into breeds began about 4,000 years ago. The Saluki, or Persian Greyhound, is considered one of the most ancient breeds, maybe the most ancient one. It apparently emerged about 5,500 years ago. These kinds of large dogs helped people hunt, and smaller dogs, according to scientists, were raised for… food.
BIOLOGY
People started domesticating pigs about 11 thousand years ago in the Middle East. However, at the time it was not a pig yet, but a wild boar. In spite of its vicious temper, this animal provided not only meat, but also its hide, which was used to make shields for warriors and other things; bones, for making tools; and bristles, for brushes. It was worth the risk. Today, domestic pigs are one of the most numerous large mammals in the world. There are around a billion of them!
10 thousand years ago, people who lived in what is now Iran (a Middle-Eastern country) started to domesticate the goat. Or, rather, its ancestor — the Persian wild goat or bezoar. It differs from domestic goat in its reddish color, short wool and very long horns. Also, the bezoar is a night eater. It is at night that it goes in search of lush grass. Generally, they are easy to keep, just like domestic goats. So, our ancestors knew what they were doing when they domesticated this animal. Goats are a source of meat, wool and milk.
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Today the auroch — a primitive wild bull and the ancestor of the cow — is nowhere to be seen: it went extinct. It is believed that the last auroch died of an illness in 1627 near the Polish village Yaktoruv. But the main reason aurochs disappeared is because of human hunting. Fortunately, they left behind their descendants — cows. Take a map, a ruler, and a pencil. Draw a line from Altai (north-east of Kazakhstan) to India and from India to Western Asia (the territory of present-day Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan), and back to Altai. You will get a triangle. It was in this triangle that the cow was domesticated 10 thousand years ago. Only, in Altai and in Western Asia its ancestors were the aurochs, which are extinct today, and in India, they were buffalos called zebu which were later domesticated, 7,000 years ago.
Once our ancestors started cultivating land and sowing seeds, their crops had to be kept somewhere, and so granaries (warehouses for grain storage) were created. Of course, they attracted mice, causing huge damage to the harvest. Then cats — well-known mice catchers — came to the rescue. And there they stayed, alongside people. This happened in the Middle East about 9,500 years ago. More accurately, they were not really cats but their ancestors — African wildcats, also known as Near Eastern wildcats, Nubian cats, and Caffre cats. Unlike other domesticated animals, the cats that live in our homes today (except for pedigree cats) have hardly changed: they are still striped and independent.
A kind of wild bird living today in South and Southeast Asia is thought to be the ancestor of the chicken. Since these birds live in the jungle, they are called junglefowl. They are easily tamed, and people who inhabited the territory of modern India and Southeast Asia took advantage of that 8,000 years ago.
BIOLOGY
An extinct animal called the tarpan is the ancestor of the horse. It was a strong, stocky animal of medium height, with long wavy hair and short mane.
And finally, the horse. It was domesticated 6,000 years ago in Central Asia (on the territory of present-day Kazakhstan).
The tamers of the tarpan were the Botai, a people who were a mixture of Mediterranean, Mongoloid and equatorial (southern) races. At first, the horse was apparently kept solely for its meat and milk. By the way, kumis, which, as you know, is made of mare’s milk, was apparently invented by the Botai people, meaning it is a very ancient drink. Later, the horse was used for help in domestic affairs, in hunting, and in war.
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Domesticated or tamed? Do you think they mean the same thing? Well, they don’t. You can tame a crow, a lion, or a polar bear, but you cannot domesticate them. Generally, very few animals can be domesticated. Our ancestors tried to domesticate many, many animals! Cranes, antelopes, ostriches, pythons, even crocodiles. In antiquity (in the days of ancient Greece and Rome) and the Middle Ages (from the late 5th until the 16th century) different countries’ armies had specially trained elephants that transported soldiers and cargo and terrified the enemy. But “to tame” does not mean “to domesticate.” Tamed animals will help people and are not afraid of them, but they cannot mate in captivity. Domesticated animals
not only breed in captivity, but some are even unable to live without the help of people (though certainly not all). In this they differ from tamed animals. And what’s more, domestic animals look different. As a rule, they are larger than their wild ancestors, due to better feeding. Although sometimes, on the contrary, they become smaller (think of certain breeds of dogs, or ponies). Sometimes there are drastic changes in color. Wild animals are forced to hide, and therefore must camouflage their
appearance. Domestic animals have no such needs. They can be different colors and shades. And animals living among people often have floppy ears. Have you noticed that? Think of dogs, pigs, goats, and some breeds of cats. Wild animals, in contrast, always have ears that stick up, because they always need to be alert and able to hear well, to be able to tell whether there is a bear sneaking through the woods, or a mouse lurking in a hole. Our domestic animals don’t need any of this. And that’s why we love them.
M EG A PI XEL
40x
magnification
Тiger Beetle The Chinese tiger beetle (Latin: Cicindela chinensis) is one of 2,700 species of beetles living, as the name suggests, in China. It is distributed very widely, inhabiting almost every kind of terrestrial habitat. They can be found in deserts and tropical forests, on ocean beaches and mountain peaks. Most of them are terrestrial predators. Thanks to their long and slender limbs, they are able to move with incredible speed — up to 9 km/h (considering the beetle’s size, this is equivalent to a person running at 770 km/h). The beetle is so speedy that during the pursuit of its prey, its brain does not even have time to analyze the rapidly changing images in its vision: for a few seconds the beetle seems to become blind. So, this little predator stops to figure out where it is, then corrects its trajectory and continues the chase. Some small insects take advantage of this feature of the tiger beetle: they freeze in place, and the beetle zips by.
4x
magnification
PH Y SIC S
Many faces
of carbon Carbon is a chemical element that occupies the sixth place in the Periodic Table. Its properties make it a unique and unusual material.
6 First of all, carbon is found in nature in the form of an elementary substance or, in other words, in a free state.
12,011
С carbon
Elementary substance is a substance consisting solely of atoms of one chemical element.
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D
id you know that carbon in a free state is known as diamond, graphite and coal? Yes, don’t be surprised! These are three totally dissimilar substances, but this is carbon. The point is that this chemical element has many allotropic modifications. The uniqueness of carbon atoms is that they can form crystal bonds of different shape.
Allotropic modifications are varieties of one and the same chemical element, having different properties because identical atoms are arranged in different ways.
Such different brothers — diamond, graphite, and coal For example, diamond has a three-dimensional tetrahedral structure where each carbon atom is surrounded by four identical atoms, in other words, they form a regular quadrihedral pyramid. The beauty and symmetry of the diamond structure can be explained by the fact that the carbon atom in diamond has valence equal to IV (four), that is, each carbon atom
must form a chemical bond with four other atoms. Very strong chemical bonds between carbon atoms explain extraordinary hardness of the element. There is no harder substance in nature. In order to understand the arrangement of the diamond crystal lattice, we’ll give an illustrative example.
PHYSICS
Imagine alien warriors having a round body and four arms. Moreover, these arms are of equal length and strength and they are located on the body uniformly and symmetrically. Now imagine that these warriors linked their arms, with one warrior firmly holding by each hand the hands of four other warriors. In this arrangement, each warrior will be in the center of an imaginary cube, surrounded by four comrades. The distances between the warriors are so small that they do not give any chance to enemy’s spies to break through. This is a monolithic army in which all soldiers are equally strong and arranged in a dense three-dimensional formation. There is no weak link in such formation, so it is impossible to deliver a serious blow. Now let’s imagine that each warrior will hold the hands of only three warriors, and the fourth hand will be left free (kept in reserve). In case of such scheme the warriors can only line up in formations with “flat” structure, which are then arranged in parallel layers above each other. This turns in a beautiful parade formation. The tie between the warriors in one formation is very solid and durable, but the tie between formations, unfortunately, is weak. Therefore, no matter how numerous is this army, it will never reach the power of the “diamond” one. It will be easily dissociated into formations, and subsequently destroyed. Using this analogy, we can explain the structure of graphite. Graphite has a planar multilayer atomic lattice, in which carbon atoms lying in one layer (plane) are firmly
Allotropes of carbon
Diamond
Graphite
bound with three other atoms into regular hexagons. But because of the relatively large distance between the layers, the ties between them are weak. For this reason graphite pencils draw: one layer of atoms is easily peeled off from the other and the substance leaves a mark on the paper. Graphite is the basic material for the synthesis of nanodiamonds. Under intense forces of sonication, the molecular structure of graphite is transformed to diamond. If you compare diamond and graphite, you can possibly observe the following paradox: diamond has highest mineralogical hardness equal to 10 points, and graphite — smallest hardness equal to 1 point; diamond conducts neither electricity nor heat, and graphite is a great conductor of heat and electricity. Thus, we can see that carbon atoms occupy strictly defined places in the structure of diamond and graphite. Therefore, they are called crystal modifications of carbon. But if you put carbon atoms unsystematically, disorderly, and randomly, you will obtain coal or other substances, such as coke, carbon black, activated carbon, etc. Such carbon varieties are called amorphous modifications.
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New relatives of diamond Fullerene Fullerene. Fullerene molecule is similar to a soccer ball, the shell of which is made of 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons and consists of 60 carbon atoms. This is the formula of the most stable fullerene С60 named after Richard Fuller, an author of framed structures made of pentagons and hexagons. The discovery of fullerenes, perhaps, is the most surprising discovery of the ХХ century. The group of chemists from England and America (Harold Kroto, Richard Smalley and Robert Curl) won the Nobel Prize for this discovery in 1996. Applications of fullerenes are very diverse. Thus, vitamins, medicinal preparations, various gases and even parts of the genetic code can be placed inside the “ball” (fullerene molecule). In other words, fullerene can be used as a “vehicle” to deliver necessary preparations into the human body cells. Fullerene can also play the role of the “first aider” (an antioxidant) which will cleanse the body of harmful viruses, germs or defective genes.
So, we have considered the most well-known allotropic modifications of carbon — diamond and graphite with an ordered (crystal) lattice and coal disordered (amorphous) lattice. It should be noted that they all are created by nature. Over the past two decades, the fundamental science has made some amazing discoveries associated with new allotropic modifications of carbon. Today carbon has more than six allotropic modifications created by man. Let’s consider the most famous and promising ones.
PHYSICS
Nanotube
graphene
Carbon nanotube is a cylindrical crystal consisting of carbon atoms only. It looks like a graphite plane rolled into a cylinder. Carbon nanotubes are ten times stronger and six times lighter than steel. Despite its seeming fragility, and even delicacy, nanotubes are extremely durable material. Under the strain exceeding critical values, nanotubes are not “torn” or “broken,” but simply rearranged! Depending on the particular scheme of graphite plane rolling, nanotubes can be both conductors and semiconductors! There is good reason to hope that in the near future scientists will learn how to grow nanotubes several centimeters or even meters long! For example, a “wire” as thick as a human hair that can hold the load weighing hundreds of kilograms will find countless applications. A fabric woven from such yarns may have a wide variety of properties, such as impermeability with respect to chemicals and any toxic substances, high strength, electrical conductivity and ability to absorb harmful radiation: from ultraviolet rays to radio waves.
Graphene is a carbon film one atom thick having strictly ordered hexagonal crystal structure. Graphene is a revolutionary material of the XXI century. This is the thinnest, the lightest and the most durable material in the Universe. The carbon plate of graphene one atom thick is more durable than diamond in its properties, and it conducts electricity 100 times better than silicon used to manufacture computer chips. The amount of material weighing a few grams is sufficient to cover a football field. A distinctive feature of graphene is an amazing flexibility — the material can be bent, folded, rolled up. Graphene was discovered by Konstantin Novoselov and Andre Geim working at the University of Manchester. They were awarded the Nobel Prize for this discovery in 2010. At the present day graphene is used in laboratories, but soon it will come into industrial use. It will be useful in creation of batteries for electric vehicles; it can also be used to collect radioactive waste, build bone tissue and even neutralize cancerous growth.
E RU DI T ION
What does the letter R stand for in the name of Isaac Asimov’s character R. Daneel Olivaw?
Evidence of the Lagarfljót worm, supposedly living in Lake Lagarfljót, has circled since 1345. In the the Wikipedia article about the Lagarfljót worm, another creature is also mentioned. Which creature?
January 2009 was unusually snowy in England. This fact was correlated with a sharp increase in the sale of a certain vegetable. What vegetable was it?
Harry Houdini, the greatest illusionist of the twentieth century, was a famous opponent of spiritualism. The great writer Arthur Conan Doyle, on the contrary, believed in the possibility of communicating with spirits. After they met, Conan Doyle decided to prove his case to Houdini. His wife went into a trance and transmitted a message in English from the illusionist’s deceased mother. However, Houdini remained unconvinced. Why?
It is said that the number of students majoring in paleontology has greatly increased thanks to this movie. Name the movie.
Tomesode is a type of female kimono with a short sleeve. It is believed that the tomesode resulted from the tradition of cutting the sleeves of a kimono after a certain event, to make various tasks easier to perform. What is the event?
ANSWERS
Robot
The Loch Ness Monster
Carrot (for snowmen)
Houdini’s mother did not know English
Jurassic Park
Marriage
CH E MIS T RY
Mysterious Water is the most familiar substance on Earth. We deal with it every day, accompanied at every step by this ordinary chemical.
But what do we really know about it? Have we become so used to it that we don’t even appreciate its unique features?
CHEMISTRY
Water in the body
F
or example, a water molecule consists of atoms of hydrogen and oxygen. A simple oxygen molecule (O2) can support combustion, and a hydrogen molecule (H2) is a highly combustible substance. A gaseous mixture of these two substances is very explosive. And yet, when you put these two elements into one molecule, you end up with a substance used for putting out fires!
955%
CONTENT OF
.
IN JELLYFISH
2
BY MASS
002%
There are some living things that are made of 95.5% of water (such as jellyfish). In the human body, the organ containing the highest proportion of water is the brain (77.5%), which controls all the chemical processes inside our body. When the total amount of water in our body is reduced by 2% of our body’s mass, we feel thirsty. At a 4% loss of water, we begin to hallucinate. A loss of 10% leads to death. The less water we have in our body, the more difficult it is for us to live. From a biological perspective it turns out that water is the foundation of life. As the body ages, the amount of water in it decreases: life departs along with water. So what kind of water is suitable for life? Does it have to be absolutely pure, or are some impurities allowed? Remember that water is the most powerful solvent. If we drank absolutely pure water (without any impurities), it would dissolve all vital vitamins and minerals and wash them out of our body. Of course it’s best to avoid drinking dirty water, but nor should you aim for completely pure water, either.
.
ON EARTH
775%
-2% THIRST
.
IN HUMAN BRAIN
-4% FAINTING
60% APPROXIMATELY
IN HUMAN BODY
-7% ORGAN DAMAGE
-10% DEATH
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Hydrogen, which is a component of water, is the most abundant element in the universe, while oxygen, the other element that makes up water, is the most abundant element in the Earth’s crust. FACT
Water: the Universal Solvent Water’s ability to dissolve substances is utilized everywhere, whether for adding sugar to a cup of tea or extracting various concentrates and minerals from soil. Precious metals are separated from soil by dissolving their salts in water; to remove stains from clothing we soak our dirty garments in water; when cooking food we also use water. So what actually happens when something dissolves? Why is water such a good solvent? You already know that a water molecule is made of atoms of hydrogen and oxygen. One electron on the oxygen atom’s external energy level forms a covalent bond with the single electron of hydrogen. The remaining oxygen electron forms another covalent bond with another hydrogen atom, completing
the H2O molecule. In total, oxygen has eight electrons. Six of them are arranged in pairs, leaving the remaining two free to bind with hydrogen electrons (fig. 1a). But how is this related to solubility? It has to do with the water molecule’s structure. Its shape is not straight, because of the oxygen atom’s additional electron pairs which prevent the H-O bonds from straightening out (fig. 1b). And the molecule itself is strongly polarized. Although their bond is covalent, the electrons forming this bond are shifted towards the more electronegative oxygen. It turns out that oxygen has a lot of negative charge, and hydrogen has a lot of positive charge, resulting in polarization: there’s a big “minus” in the middle, and “pluses” along the edges (fig. 2).
hydrogen atoms
This polarization is the reason for the phenomenon known as the hydrogen bond. With these bonds molecules are joined into polarized (fig. 3) units into which any ion can be inserted. A negative or positive ion is placed inside these “vehicles” and feels perfectly fine there. Meanwhile, the dissolved substance does not deteriorate completely. It can easily be extracted through evaporation. The links between molecules, as mentioned above, are called hydrogen bonds. These bonds are weaker than covalent ones. They are continuously being broken and reformed: in a single second, one water molecule collides with other water molecules 10 000 000 000 000 000 times. But because of these bonds, for water to transition from one state to another would demand a lot of energy. For example, heating water requires ten times more energy than heating iron.
fig. 1b
oxygen atom electrons fig. 1a
+ + +
++ + +
fig. 2
++ ++
+ + + fig. 3
water molecule
– – –– –– –– – –– – –
CHEMISTRY Let’s consider some of the properties given to water by the hydrogen bond.
Heat capacity One important physical characteristic of water is its heat capacity. This capacity describes the amount of heat energy that must be absorbed to increase the system’s temperature by one degree. Water’s heat capacity is unusually large in comparison to other liquids, which is why water is capable of supporting a stable climate on our planet. This feature of water protects the Earth’s surface from overheating in the afternoon sunlight and from overcooling at night when water releases the warmth accumulated in the afternoon
back into the air. That’s why the climate of coastal regions is mild, and areas far from oceans and seas have more severe continental climates. For example, summer in the steppe is very hot in the afternoon, but cold at night. If the ocean were filled with, for example, oil, then it would be twice as hot in the afternoon and twice as cold at night, ignoring other side effects.
Density An equally interesting physical property of water is its density. The maximum density of water is 1 kg/l at a temperature of 4ºС. From physics class you know that as a liquid is heated and evaporates, its density decreases, and when it freezes, its density increases. But this is not the case for water. The density of ice is less than that of liquid water: that is, when water freezes, its volume increases.
Density is the ratio of a substance’s mass to its volume. So, when volume increases, density decreases. Formula for density:
DENSITY [greek Rho]
ρ=
m V
MASS (a constant) VOLUME
This is why ice floats on the surface of water, keeping it from freezing solid. Glaciers in oceans act like icy “fur coats” which protect sea creatures from freezing and dying.
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Surface tension Water has the greatest surface tension among liquids (except mercury). This property measures the energy of the interaction of molecules on the surface of a liquid. The higher the energy, the more difficult the bonds are to break. If the surface of water was not so “strong,” it could not climb the trunk of a tree to reach its leaves, covering hundreds of centimetres; insects could not move across the surface of lakes, and the water in reservoirs would very quickly evaporate. The surface tension of water can be reduced by dissolving salt in it. Water with minerals dissolved in it has lower surface tension than pure water, which eases its absorption. That is one more reason why you shouldn’t drink absolutely pure water.
Hot water will turn into ice faster than the cool one at the same time. This paradox is known as the “Mpemba* Effect.” FACT
All these properties of water are anomalous and an exception to the rules, but they also are what make the Earth suitable for life. If even one of the dozens of properties of water didn’t exist, we would not be able to survive on our planet. But they do exist, all because oxygen loves electrons.
People have long been taking advantage of water’s ability to expand upon freezing. For example, that’s how structural materials were extracted from rocks in ancient times. Cracks in rocks were filled with water before frosts, and when the water expanded as it froze, it broke the rocks. For the same reason, it is often necessary to replace asphalt highways after a frosty winter because of the cracks that appear.
* This effect is named after Tanzanian schoolchild Erasto Mpemba, who described it to his teacher and was ridiculed by him.
About 80% of the Earth’s surface is water, and only 1% of it is suitable for drinking. FACT
The Indivisible
PH Y SIC S
Take a look around. Observe the things around you. The ink on this page, a passing car on the street, you yourself — as our intuition and common sense tell us, all these things are made of something smaller, fundamental and simple. If you agree, you are correct, to some extent. We say “to some extent” because the particles of the universe are not as easy to understand and describe as we would like them to be. But perhaps it is in this complexity that the true beauty of nature is hidden. Today we are going to talk about atoms.
The history of the indivisible Everything new is actually well-forgotten old. This saying suits our topic to a T. And although the study of the composition of substances emerged relatively recently, the notion that everything is made of indivisible units emerged back in ancient times, in two different corners of our planet. Independently of each other, Indian and Greek philosophers came to the conclusion that it must be impossible to divide a stone into nothingness, and eventually, we would reach a fundamental “building block.” This is an intuitive conclusion that can be reached by anyone looking from a philosophical perspective at the process of division. We encounter division every day. We slice bread and grind up food with our teeth. Every time the pieces become smaller. Can this process continue indefinitely? Obviously not! We will eventually reach something fundamental in the end.
Ancient Greek philosopher Democritus was the first to express the idea. It was he who introduced the notion of the atom in science. The Greek word “to divide” is pronounced “tomos.” By adding the negative prefix “a,” Democritus called his discovery an “atomos” or “atom.” At the end of the 19th century atomic theory (the study of atoms) resurfaced, and the scientists of that time developed the first axiomatic concepts concerning the atom:
1 An atom has a certain weight. ● 2 An atom consists of particles with ●
positive and negative charges, but the atom itself is neutral .
3 Atoms are the elementary parti●
cles of chemical compounds.
The second assertion deals with atom divisibility, that is. the “divisibility of the indivisible.” It may seem paradoxical, but it’s true — an atom consists of even smaller particles, which had not yet been discovered at that time. But historically the original definition remains and it now has a more symbolic nature.
PHYSICS
Models of Atomic Structure In 1902 English scientist Joseph John Thomson created the first atomic model. He presented the atom as homogeneous matter with a positive charge. This matter fills the whole volume of the atom and contains tiny insertions of negative particles, like raisins in a pudding. In the history of science this model is still referred to as the “plum pudding model” or “raisin pudding.” Later the negative particles were named electrons (from the Greek word for “amber”) and the positive ones got the name of protons (from the Greek for “the first, basic”). The unfairly neglected creator of the second atomic model was Hantaro Nagaoka, a pioneer in the field of nuclear physics in Japan. According to Nagaoka, the structure of an atom resembles the planet Saturn, in that it has a massive positively charged nucleus with electrons revolving around it on one plane.
The next model, proposed by Philipp von Lenard, challenged the idea of oppositely charged atomic particles. His hypothesis presented the atom as an assembly of tiny oval magnets, rather than positively and negatively charged particles. This model was rejected immediately because this form was too complicated and energetically unfavorable for the atom’s stability.
The Rutherford’s atom The existence of such diverse atomic models did nothing to elucidate the true nature of atomic structure. But everything changed in 1911, when Ernest Rutherford conducted his famous gold foil experiment. He and his students bombarded a piece of metallic foil with charged particles and then used detectors to catch these particles after the collision.
The Rutherford’s gold foil experiment B C
A
Lead screen with slit
Movable fluorescent screen
B
f α-p
o Beam
ar ticl
es
Gold foil
Radioactive source (radium)
Viewing microscope
Scintillation
Alpha particles
Atoms of gold
Lead box with chamber
What Rutherford expected (if Thomson's model were correct)
C
A Transmitted beam (little or no deflection) B Scattered beam (small deflection) C Scattered beam (large deflection)
Positively charged nucleus
What Rutherford actually observed
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In order to understand how Rutherford knew that the experiment had to be carried out in this manner, let us conduct our own imaginary experiment. Imagine that you are walking through a minefield on a dark night. Your task is to clear up the mines in a certain area. But the problem is that you cannot see anything in the dark, the field is very large and the only equipment you have is a sack of tennis balls. Working with your hands would obviously be dangerous and difficult, so the only solution is to throw the balls at random, and the explosion that follows will tell you whether you hit your target. By throwing enough balls the entire night, you can say with some certainty that the field has been completely demined. The same goes for the atom. At the time there was no equipment for analyzing and observing atomic structure. Everything relied on mental guesswork and theoretical computation. The only accessible method was to “throw” (bombard) the “balls” (charged particles) towards the atom, and their behavior after the collision would explain something. The more particles, the better the statistics and the higher the probability of an accurate result. Some uncertainty was quite justified because experimental physics at the time was much like searching for a black cat in a dark room. The results of the experiment shook the whole world because, as it turned out, none of the existing atomic theories were correct. Rutherford proposed that if the atom was homogeneous, the particles should go through it; in other words, the quantity of the particles sent must be the same as the amount caught by the detector situated opposite. The rule did work but, to the scientists’ surprise, not for all the particles. It turned out that a part of them went a different direction at a certain angle and some even managed to pull a full 360-degree turn and reverse direction! This completely disproved Thomson’s model, which was accepted at the time. Mechanics could provide only one possible explanation for
such a phenomenon: the atom is mostly empty space, with its entire mass concentrated in a very small volume in the centre, so that the particles that hit the centre consequently reversed direction.
A Miniature Solar System Based on Nagaoki’s model and the results of his own experiment, Rutherford developed a planetary model of the atom which is still accepted today. According to Rutherford, the atom has an incredibly tiny and massive nucleus, orbited by electrons like planets around the Sun. Almost 99% of the atomic mass is concentrated in the nucleus, thus explaining the observed collision effect. Their triumph was clouded by one inconsistency. As we know, any movement requires energy. A car needs petrol; an airplane can’t fly without fuel; a hungry horse with have no strength to gallop. An electron is no exception. The planetary model declares that the electron moves along its orbit around the nucleus, but there must come a point when all energy has been consumed — in other words, the electron must fall down on the nucleus eventually! And the atom must then implode, reducing its volume almost 2000-fold. Imagine that when the electron falls on the nucleus, the magazine in your hands will turn into a dot. Energy consumption is preconditioned by movement, and since the electron is a charged particle, it also explains the presence of the electromagnetic field. This field is expanded in the form of an electromagnetic wave that carries energy. All this equals solely expenditures, and therefore falling down is inevitable. But this is absurd, of course: the atom is stable, electrons don’t fall anywhere, but instead continue moving, and your magazine is not going to turn into a dot! Rutherford himself realized that this was a serious blank space, so he assigned this problem to his student, then-unknown theoretician and future Nobel Prize winner Niels Bohr.
The Solar system and atom models comparison
PHYSICS
Atomic models timeline
John Dalton (1808) First to describe atom in modern, scientific sense DOES NOT EXPLAIN ELECTRICITY
IDEA OF “ATOMS”
Joseph Thomson (1897) Thomson’s Plum Pudding Model DOES NOT EXPLAIN WHY SOME OF RUTHERFORD’S ALFA PARTICLES BOUNCED BACK PROTONS & ELECTRONS
Ernest Rutherford (1911) Rutherford shot alfa particles through gold foil; some bounces back! WHY DON’T THE ELECTRONS LOSE ENERGY AND CRASH INTO THE NUCLEUS? THE NUCLEUS
Niels Bohr (1913) Basis for modern atomic model DOSEN’T EXPLAIN QUANTUM MECHANICS
ELECTRON SHELLS
Cobaltum atom depicted above Electrons per shell: 2, 8, 15, 2 (total 27 electrons) Total number of protons: 27
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Bohr’s atom Niels Bohr’s two-year-long study resulted in what are now known as Bohr’s axioms: 1 An atom is usually stable and its electrons remain in a ●
special state of rest, which he called stationary or quan-
tum state. In this state, electrons move along the orbits, that is trajectories, belonging to them, without expending their energy.
2 The electron consumes energy only when jumping from ●
one orbit to another. In other cases there is no change in the electron’s energy.
In other words, electrons “feel safer” in their orbits and they feel “at home” moving along them, without spending any energy. But as soon as the electrons are in any manner made to jump from one place to another, they become “nervous” and radiate or consume energy, depending on the type of jumping. Does it seem a little hard to believe? Any doubts regarding Bohr’s theory will vanish as soon as we look at the atom from the point of view of quantum mechanics, rather than classical laws of physics. As a matter of fact, in physics there is no categorical division into particles and waves because all objects, humans included, possess some wave characteristics. Studying the electron as a wave, scientists have found that in reality the atom radiates nothing in its orbit, there is no electromagnetic field (there is only an electrostatic one), and furthermore, for a wave there is no such thing as “energy expenditure for movement,” i.e. there are no losses at all. Nothing prevents the electron from moving along its orbit for quite a long time, as we have observed ourselves. This specification, together with Rutherford’s classical model, form the modern quantum mechanical or wave model of the atom. According to this model we cannot talk about a specific location or trajectory of electron movement in the atomic radius. The electrons move chaotically at high speeds within the near-nuclear space without any exact trajectory.
Electrons’ jumps inside the atom
4s 2
3p 6
3s 2
2p 6
Take note: the electron is always on an orbital trajectory, meaning it can never be in the interorbital space. It moves between the orbitals instantaneously, in leaps, challenging our classical understanding of movement.
3d 7
n=1
2s 2
1s 2
Electrons at different energy levels possess potential energy. The farther the electron is from the nucleus, the higher the energy is. The electron can switch levels, either absorbing or radiating energy.
When the electron jumps from level n=2 to level n=1, light is radiated, which can be explained by the differences in energy on these levels:
Energy
E 2— E 1 = hʋ Level num.
n=2 n=3 n=4 Level energy increases
Atomic orbitals are the basic building blocks of the atomic orbital model (alternatively known as the electron cloud or wave mechanics model), a modern framework for visualizing the submicroscopic behavior of electrons in matter. The simple names s orbital, p orbital, d orbital and f orbital refer to orbitals with angular momentum quantum number ℓ = 0, 1, 2 and 3 respectively.
Light emission (electron jumps to the lower orbit)
frequency of radiated light
Plank constant
Light absorbtion (electron jumps to the higher orbit)
M EG A PROJ EC T
Wendelstein 7-X W7-X is an experimental stellarator for the study of high-temperature plasma, located in the city of Greifswald, Germany. The goal of the project is to create a nuclear fusion reactor. Similar processes occur in the core of the sun and come with the release of a huge amount of energy. To start the reaction, plasma from a mixture of hydrogen isotopes is heated to temperatures of over 100 million degrees Kelvin. The project was launched in 1994, and in 2014 work on the construction of the reactor was completed. On February 3rd, 2016, scientists were able to create and sustain plasma for 0.25 seconds.
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6 The plasma vessel has 254 ports through which control systems are
connected to it.
1 The plasma flow is closed in a ring and rotates in the chamber.
2 Around the chamber there are two types of magnetic coils, planar and
non-planar. The former create a strong magnetic field, while the latter shape that field.
3 The magnetic field does not allow the plasma flow to come into
contact with the walls of the chamber, thereby protecting them from overheating and breaking down.
5 The stellarator is insulated by the thermal shell of the cryostat, which
produces liquid helium to cool the magnets and their bodies down to superconductivity temperature.
4 The plasma heating system uses microwave heating (ECRH) with
powers of more than 10 megawatts.
M AT H
ABSOLUTE ZERO Who invented zero? How did it become a part of today’s mathematics? Yes, we are talking about the very same zero which we represent with a symbol that looks like the letter “О.” Without it, modern mathematics and the decimal number system would be unthinkable. It seems to all of us living in the 21st century that zero has been around as long as humans have. But actually, the number zero was invented fairly recently.
I want you to count my sheeps!
No problem, Sir!
Hmm... just a minute...
So, how many sheep Phew!
do I have?
B-a-a!
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Non-positional notation The development of mathematics keeps pace with the development of humankind. Mathematics started quite simply with a primitive man who needed a way to count things. For instance, a hunter used gestures and fingers to explain to another hunter that he saw “three mammoths, two days on foot from their settlement, near five rocks.” Soon these gestures were given written form — thus creating the first numbers. As you may guess, primitive people had no need for the concept of zero.
3
Oh WOW!
After all, in nature there is no such thing as “zero mammoths” or “zero rocks.” So the number zero was unnecessary in ancient times. Time passed by and people required more and more numbers. At first, in order to denote a herd of eight cows, people drew eight small lines. When that quantity became, say, one hundred, people started combining objects into groups of 3, 5, 7 and 10 to make counting easier. Human hand anatomy (that is, the fact that a person has five fingers on each hand) was the reason why groups of 5 and 10 were used most frequently.
Then people started grouping tens by tens (which is how hundreds appeared), hundreds by tens (which is how thousands appeared) and so on. To denote these values, special symbols (numbers) were created. For instance, in ancient Egypt, the following symbols were used: SYMBOL
MEANING
DESCRIPTION
1
stroke
10
heelbone
100
coiled rope
1,000
lily (or lotus)
10,000
pointing finger
100,000
toad
1,000,000
man with arms raised
Other values were represented by repeating these numbers. Each number could be repeated from 1 to 9 times. For example, the number 4,622 was represented as follows:
4 6 4622 = 2 2
lotuses ropes heels strokes
= = = =
4000 600 20 2
Note that whatever the sequence of symbols, you will count exactly 4,622. Such counting systems are called non-positional, because the position of the written numbers does not matter. The first counting systems were non-positional . As a rule, these systems did not require the number zero.
M AT H
Positional notation The disadvantages of non-positional notations were awkwardness and impracticality. For instance, let’s imagine the representation of two numbers: 3,000 and 2,998. These numbers differ only by two units, and representation of these numbers in traditional Arabic figures will take up the same space on a sheet of paper. But let’s have a look at how they would be represented in a non-positional ancient Egyptian system:
3000 =
– single units
2998 =
How did people deal with this problem? Let us go back to ancient Babylon, where an important event took place which changed mathematics: the discovery of positional notation. Babylonian mathematicians realized that they actually needed only two symbols to represent all numbers: a vertical wedge to represent single units and a horizontal wedge to represent tens (they used a sexagesimal [base-60] numeral system, which we will explain later). How did they come up with this idea? First, let us recall that, when performing calculations, people tried to group objects: tens of tens into hundreds, tens of hundreds into thousands and so on. Babylonian
You make me feel ten times stronger!
mathematicians found it convenient to group objects by 12 into 5 groups (remember the number of fingers?). That is how the sexagesimal numeral system appeared ( 1 2 × 5 = 60 ). Why did they choose 60 as the basis for calculation, when 10 seems more convenient? Actually, we use this system when measuring time (60 minutes = 1 hour, and so on). The number 60 was chosen because it is a superior highly composite number ( 2 × 2 × 3 × 5 = 60 ), compared to 10 ( 2 × 5 = 10 ). What did Babylonian numbers look like?
– tens
1
11
2
12
3
13
4
14
...
10
...
21
...
...
20 102 warriors? 12 warriors? 1002? 1020? Or one warrior plus two more?
Oh, darling, without you I’m n o t h i n g. Atta the enemcyk with warriors
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59
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How did Babylonians represent the number 62, for instance? Let’s try to figure it out. It looks like this:
Looking in the table at the left, we can see that this notation has the following meaning — “1 2 .” But why? We wanted 62! Take it easy — you’re on the right track, but pay attention to the space between these numbers and remember that depending on the position, numbers can acquire additional meaning. Well, the leftmost unit indicates the number of complete groups. In our case it means that the value contains 60 units. Then we have another 2. As a result,
means 1 × 60 + 2 = 62 . Quite simple. But how can we distinguish between 2 and 61?
Visually, they are almost identical (not everyone will notice the space). At first, Babylonians simply tolerated this problem and had to guess which number it was based on context. But eventually they decided that this gap should be replaced by a symbol, and that is how zero appeared. Only it looked a bit different:
The Indian contribution The number zero which is used nowadays came to us along with Arabic numerals, which in turn came from India. At first zero was represented by a circle slightly smaller than the other numbers. An early example was found in a recording of the number 270, inscribed in the year 876 on a wall in the Indian city Gwalior.
Later, Indian mathematicians Brahmagupta, Mahavira and Bhāskara wrote that if you subtract a number from itself, you will get
zero. This is the familiar definition of this number: i.e. zero is not just the absence of a number, but a separate number unto itself which can be used in calculations. Now just ten digits could be used to represent any number of any size. It was a mathematical revolution. The first name for zero was the Indian word “śūnya” (empty). The Arabs translated it as “sifr,” which then became an Italian “zefiro,” and finally became French “zero.” But even after finding out about this “eastern curio” (zero), European scientists hesitated to use it, as this number did not enumerate anything! Italian mathematician Leonardo Fibonacci was one of the first who took an interest in the Indian numeral system, and it allowed him to make a series of significant discoveries and laws. But his attempts to popularize such a convenient way of recording and calculating did not have much effect on medieval scholars. Even in the 16th century mathematicians still avoided using zero, clinging to the ancient numerical system and relying on abacuses.
Leonardo Fibonacci Fibonacci’s Liber Abaci (“The Book of Calculation”) is a treatise on arithmetic, which provided the first explanation of not only the nuts and bolts of numbers and their applications, but also the foundation of the study of equations, i.e. algebra. In the preface, Leonardo wrote that, having studied all systems of calculation, he found the HinduArabic numeral system to be the most convenient.
ASIA
ARABIA
INDIA
Experience has shown, however, that the discovery of zero was as crucial and progressive as the invention of the wheel. Bankers and merchants immediately latched onto this simple and convenient system, as they were counting real money and not extracting imaginary roots of imaginary numbers in a dusty library. As early as the 15th century, common, uneducated folks were using Indian numbers to perform calculations, outpacing scholars by centuries. These ten symbols, including zero, were finally accepted into European science only in the early 18th century.
There are two methods of using zero, both of which are very important. The first is to use it as a gap digit designation in our positional decimal numeric system. The second method is to use it as a number which we represent as 0.
M AT H
Properties of zero Zero (from Latin “Nullus” — none) is both a digit and a number.
Zero has no sign.
Zero is a number separating positive numbers from negative on the number line.
-4 -3 -2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
You cannot divide by zero!
Zero is an even number, as when it is divided by 2, an integer zero is obtained. Zero is an integer.
Multiplication of zero by any other number results in zero:
a×0=0×a=0 The expression
0:0
When zero is subtracted from any number, the same number is obtained:
has no meaning.
a–0=a
Zero is a neutral element in addition. Any number, when added to zero, will remain the same:
a+0=0+a=a
Division of zero by any nonzero number results in zero:
0:a=0
where a is nonzero.
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words, our problem has no solution, and the expression itself has no meaning. This meaninglessness is expressed by the well-known phrase “We cannot divide by zero.” But can we divide zero by zero? Let’s again assume that we can:
0 =x 0
It follows that
and this equation is successfully solved. For instance, we can take x = 0 , and then we get 0 × 0 = 0 . But let’s not be hasty. Let’s take x = 1. We get 0 × 1 = 0. Hence, 0 : 0 = 1? In this way we can take any other number and get 0 : 0 = 5 , 0 : 0 = 51 8, etc. We cannot narrow it down to one number and claim that 0 divided by 0 corresponds to this number. That being so, we have to acknowledge that this expression also has no meaning. It appears that even zero cannot be divided by zero.
The last two properties of zero deserve our special attention. Any grown-up remembers from school that we cannot divide by zero. But no one ever explained why. We just can’t, period! Well, if we can’t, then we can’t. Let’s try to sort it out. Let us assume that we can divide by zero. Let’s try dividing any number by zero:
7 =x 0
It follows that
0×x=0
0
0
WTF?
0×x=7
In other words, we have to find a number which, when multiplied by 0, will result in 7. But we know that when a number is multiplied by 0, we get zero. It means that no such number exists. In other
NEWS BREAKING
Let’s prove that 1 ● 2 ●
We have the numbers a and b — they are nonzero, and, a is equal to b. a=b Let’s multiply both sides of the equation by a: a2 = a × b
6 ●
We get: a+b=b
7 ●
According to the statement of the problem we have a = b. Let’s substitute a with b, and obtain: b + b = b 2b = b Let’s divide both sides of the equation by b: 2b b = b b
3 ●
Let’s subtract b2 from both sides: a2 — b2 = a × b — b2
8 ●
4 ●
Let’s transform this equation: (a + b) × (a — b) = b × (a — b)
9 ●
5 ●
Let’s reduce (divide) both sides of the equation by (a — b): (a + b) × (a — b) = b × (a — b) (a — b) (a — b)
We see that 2 = 1, which is what we were supposed to prove.
But it’s crystal clear that 2 cannot be equal to 1, which means that there is an error in our solution. And now, a task for you: find the error.
A S T RONOM Y
In school, you saw a model of the solar system, with the Sun in the middle, surrounded by the planets. Well, that’s not accurate. Or, rather, that is accurate, but it’s not the whole truth. In fact, outer space is much more complicated. And moreover, much vaster. So, where does our world begin and where does it end? Buckle up tight! We are going on a journey across the Universe!
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The atmosphere You know, of course, that the atmosphere is a layer of gases or air surrounding the Earth. If our planet had no atmosphere, we would not be able to breathe. Our first stop is at the boundary between our atmosphere and the airless void that is outer space. Our rocket slows down when it reaches about 100 km from the Earth, or more specifically, from sea level: this is the Karman line. It is named after the American scientist Theodore von Karman, who was the first to determine that this is the very distance from the Earth’s surface at which the atmosphere is so thin that no aeronautical vehicles can fly there, unless they reach escape velocity — 7.9 km/s. Escape velocity is the minimum speed at which a rocket will not fall back to Earth, but will start to move around it in an orbit. But, technically, our atmosphere does not end there. The Karman line is followed by two more layers of atmosphere — the exosphere and the thermosphere, which extend up to 10 thousand km from Earth. But the gas is so thin there that we will not count these layers.
E xo s p h e r e 700–10 000 km
Thermosphere 80–700 km
The Karman line
Mesosphere 50–80 km
S t ra t o s p h e r e 13–50 km
ozone layer
Tr o p o s p h e r e 0–12 km
ASTRONOMY
The boundary of the solar system And now let’s return to our planets — or rather, to the school model of them. The model’s main problem is in size. If it reflected the real position of things, it would have to be the size of a small city! Imagine that this city starts with a football stadium. The Sun is in the center of our model: place it near one of the goalposts. The four terrestrial planets — Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars — make up the inner part of the solar system which extends until the asteroid belt, the large collection of asteroids located between Mars and Jupiter. Mercury will be located a little beyond the center of the football field; Venus will go past it and land somewhere among the audience. Earth will end up in the parking lot, and Mars will be on the next block. The other neighborhoods will sequentially be occupied by the planets of the outer solar system: Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. The last, the eighth planet — Neptune — will be on the outskirts of the city. Here our spaceship will slow down, but we will not stop. Because that is not the end: the boundary of our solar system is farther away than you would believe. We have passed the large planets. They are followed by the Kuiper belt, home to the dwarf planets — Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris. We have made it to the mysterious Oort Cloud, a cluster of various icy objects such as asteroids. Nobody has ever seen the Oort Cloud, and yet scientists believe that it exists. The outer boundary of the Oort cloud, the Hill sphere, is two light years away from us — that’s 18.92 trillion km. That is the very outer edge of the solar system. At this point, our city analogy has already lost its meaning, since the whole Earth wouldn’t be big enough to fit such a model of our solar system. However, in general, scientists still consider the boundary of the solar system to be not the Oort Cloud or the Hill sphere, where the Sun’s gravitational pull is no longer felt, but the place known as the heliopause, where solar wind — a stream of electrically charged particles emitted by the Sun — stops. This spot is much closer than the Hill sphere, about 130 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun.
Sun Mercury Venus Earth Mars
Asteroid belt
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Compare the sizes
The Kuiper belt
The Kuiper belt
Oort Cloud
Oort Cloud
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The Local Stellar Nursery
The Orion Arm and the Local Bubble
That is another name for the Local Interstellar Cloud — an accumulation of gas, plasma and dust in which stars are born. Its size is about 30 light years, or 283.8 trillion km. It is through one such cluster that our solar system is now moving — yes, trust me, we are never sitting still in space. And that’s our next stop. We entered this cloud between 44 and 150 thousand years ago and we will leave it in another 10–20 thousand years, when we move into a neighboring, larger G-cloud. Our star neighbors — Vega and Arcturus — are there now.
All these clouds appeared as a result of ancient supernova outbursts, which is a stage in the evolution of a star when it abruptly changes its brightness, while a large quantity of gas and dust from the outer shell of the star is ejected into space. And so these clouds formed the Local Bubble, a region of rarefied hot gas stretching 300 light years (2,838 trillion km). And we have been moving through it for no less than 5 or even 10 million years. But we are still flying in our spaceship. Our next stop is the Orion Arm, which includes the Local Bubble. The Orion Arm is one of the branches of the Milky Way system. You know that our galaxy is a spiral and consists of a nucleus and its adjacent branches, or arms. Its thickness is approximately 3,500 light years (33,110 trillion km), and its length — 11 thousand light years (104,060 trillion km).
Local Cloud G-cloud
Scu
tum en –C
tau
t ta
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ASTRONOMY
The Milky Way and Company It’s about 26 thousand light years from the center of our galaxy to us, and to the opposite edge is another 24 thousand light years. But the full diameter of the Milky Way is 100 thousand light years. There, on the edge of our galaxy, we will make our next stop. Of course, our spacecraft is imaginary, because in order to cover such enormous distances, we would need to not only move at close to the speed of light, but also live for billions of years. We are flying through intergalactic space until we reach the Milky Way subgroup, as it is called, which includes our large galaxy and another 14 dwarf and irregular galaxies. The subgroup of the Milky Way extends for 500 thousand light years and makes up part of the Local Group of galaxies bound together by their own force of gravity. This subgroup, apart from the 47 small galaxies, includes the Andromeda Nebula, close to us, and the Triangular Galaxy, which is the third largest after the Milky Way and the Andromeda Nebula. The diameter of the Local Group is a full 4 million light years (37,840,000 trillion km), but we are going to fly just 1 million light years (9,460,000 trillion km) to reach our next stop — the outskirts of the Local Group.
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Local Supercluster Here we find ourselves in an area comprising no less than one hundred clusters similar to the Local Group, plus another 30 thousand individual galaxies. Here we face completely inconceivable distances: the diameter of the Local Supercluster, also called Virgo Supercluster, is 200 million light years (it is 1,892 quintillion kilometers — a number with 18 zeros)! The most distant galaxy that scientists can observe today has a complicated name — GN-z11. It is at a distance of 32 billion light years from Earth (302,720 quintillion kilometers) and is currently thought to be the most ancient galaxy in the Universe, though astronomers are constantly discovering something new and are likely to discover other, much more remote galaxies. GN-z11 is our next stop.
Gn-z11
The Cosmic Microwave Background
The Andromeda Galaxy also known as NGC 224, is a spiral galaxy approximately 2.5 million light-years from Earth. It is the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way.
The cosmic microwave background is cosmic heat radiation which has been around since the Big Bang. You may remember the widely accepted hypothesis that at first the Universe was infinitesimally small, and then began to grow rapidly, as though it exploded. So the boundary of the cosmic heat radiation that we can see is 46 billion light years from us, or 435,160 quintillion km. But the Universe is continuing to expand, so the distance to its apparent edge is constantly growing. Is it possible for our spacecraft to exceed the speed of this expansion, if it is also part of the universe? Oh, and does this “edge” really exist? And if so, what is beyond it? Some scientists believe that there are other parallel universes. But how can we reach them, and, more importantly, is it even possible? As of now, the answers to these questions remain unknown.
OUR COSMIC Earth
Solar System
Observable Universe
Local Superclusters
ADDRESS LINE Interstellar Neighborhood
Milky Way Galaxy
Virgo Supercluster
Local Galactic Group
0
(TIME BEGINS)
BIG BANG
10 –32 sec. QUARKS, ELECTRONS
–6
10 sec. NEUTRONS, PROTONS
3 min. HYDROGEN & HELIUM NUCLEUS
380 000 DARK AGES
ONLY ATOMS OF HYDROGEN AND HELIUM EXIST
300 mln FIRST STARS
1 bln PROTOGAL A X Y
9 bln FORMATION OF SOL AR SYSTEM AND E ARTH
13.82 bln PRESENT TIME
THE
E X P A N S I O N OF THE U N I V E R S E TIMELINE (in years after the Big Bang)
Q& A
Does it matter from where on Earth a rocket launches into space?
Answer: yes
Plesetsk
63° North latitude
212m/s Cape Canaveral 28° North latitude
409m/s
Baikonur
46° North latitude
317m/s Kourou
5° North latitude
463m/s
Equator 0° latitude
465m/s Vector of the speed of the spacecraft Vector of the speed of the Earth’s rotation
Useful vector component Kourou
T
he Earth is a rotating spherical object, so bodies on the surface of our planet move in a circle around the Earth’s axis. When moving in a circular orbit, the velocity of an object follows the formula: Constant Pi
2πR v= T Earth’s rotation
Radius of rotating trajectory
period (24 hrs)
The larger the radius of rotation, the higher the velocity. This simple physical law is the
basis of the principle of selecting a site for a rocket launch from Earth. The closer the objects are to the Earth’s equator, the greater the radius of the circle around which they revolve, and, consequently, the higher the rotational velocity. When launching a rocket, this particular effect can help save up to 30% of propellant, which may reduce the cost of launching or increase the mass of the payload. It is therefore advantageous to launch a rocket from a place as close to the equator as possible.
Cape Canaveral
Plesetsk Baikonur
THE NORTH POLE
S CI - FI
THE
Martian
The era of great discoveries and colonization is not over yet. People are still looking for opportunities to find, conquer and settle uncharted territories. But since there is not a scrap of nonprivatized land left in the world, humanity has started looking to settle beyond our planet.
IN
this regard, Mars suits us best: its relative proximity will require the lowest energy costs from the people of Earth (with the exception of Venus). The flight there along the most efficient semi-elliptical orbit takes about 9 months, and flight time rapidly decreases with an increase in the initial velocity, as the length of the trajectory is reduced.
Why? There are several reasons to colonize Mars, but scientists emphasize the following: scientific reasons: to create a permanent base for the exploration of Mars, its satellites, and ultimately other planets of the solar system; extracting valuable mineral resources; solving demographic problems on Earth, i.e. resettlement; creating the “Cradle of Humankind” in the event of a global catastrophe on Earth.
How will it happen? We already have the space technology to send an expedition to the red planet with everything necessary for the initial period: provisions, equipment, and protection. Only one problem remains unresolved: protection from radiation during the long flight. Several potential expeditions are currently solving this problem, and at the same time collecting money and putting together a team of future Martians. Perhaps the first flight to Mars will happen in the next few decades. The first Mars explorers will be greeted by severe environmental conditions. A person can only survive a few minutes on the planet’s surface without protective equipment. But in fact, you can find places on Earth that have very similar conditions to those on Mars. For instance, the atmospheric pressure at an altitude of 34,668 meters — the record point reached by a hotair balloon with a team on board (May 4th, 1961) — is about twice the maximum pressure on the surface of Mars.
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chronicles
In addition, the problems of oxygen and nourishment on Mars can theoretically be solved. Recent studies have shown that the planet has ice deposits, soil suitable for growing plants, and carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere which can be converted into oxygen using potassium superoxide (KO2). (Actually, astronauts use this method already.)
Of course, as always, there are disadvantages. People will face great hazards on their path towards the settlement of Mars. Besides cosmic radiation, the hazards include high temperature differentials, meteor showers, low atmospheric pressure, and dust storms. People will have to adapt to Mars’s gravity and to changes in their metabolism, and solve many other physiological problems. Such travel and exploration definitely cannot be called easy or fun. Moreover, it will be a one-way trip. The expedition will not be able to go back to Earth.
But overcoming difficulties has always driven human civilization forward. After all, what could be more exciting that the fate of a true pioneer?
SIMILARITIES
BETWEEN MARS AND EARTH
Recent NASA studies have confirmed the presence of water on Mars. Thus, conditions on Mars seem to be sufficient to sustain life.
Mars’s total surface area is about 30% of Earth’s. BTW it is approximately equal to the area of Earth which is covered by land.
A Martian day lasts 24 hours 39 minutes 35.244 seconds, which is very close to an Earth day.
The properties of Martian soil (its pH ratio, the presence of chemical elements necessary for plants, and some other characteristics) are close to those of Earth, so plants could theoretically be cultivated in Martian soil.
The chemical composition of common Martian minerals is more varied than on other celestial bodies near Earth. According to space commerce company 4Frontiers Corporation, there are enough minerals to supply not only Mars, but also the Moon, Earth and the asteroid belt.
Mars’s axial tilt is 25.19°, and Earth’s is 23.44°. As a result, there is a change of seasons on Mars, just as on Earth, though it lasts almost twice as long, since the Martian year is 1.88 times longer than the Earth year.
Mars has an atmosphere. Despite the fact that its density is only 0.007 of Earth’s, it gives some protection from solar and cosmic radiation, as well as aiding in the aerodynamic deceleration of a spacecraft, which has already been proved in practice.
There are places on Earth where the natural conditions are similar to those on Mars. During the summer months, at Mars’s equator it can get as warm as on Earth (+20 °C). There are also deserts on Earth similar in appearance to the Martian landscape.
DIFFERENCES
Gravity on Mars is about 2.63 times lower than on Earth (0.38 g). It remains unknown whether it is enough to avoid health problems resulting from weightlessness.
Water, due to the low atmospheric pressure, boils on Mars at a temperature of +10 °C. In other words, water transforms very quickly from ice to vapor, almost skipping the liquid phase.
Mars’s surface temperature is much lower than that of Earth. The maximum temperature is +30 °C (at noon on the equator), and the minimum temperature is –123 °C (at the poles in winter). Meanwhile, the atmospheric surface layer temperature is always below zero.
The magnetic field of Mars is 800 times weaker than that of Earth. Together with its thin atmosphere (100–160 times thinner than Earth’s atmosphere), this increases the amount of ionizing radiation reaching its surface.
Since Mars is farther from the Sun, only half as much solar energy reaches its surface as on Earth.
The atmospheric pressure on Mars is too low for people to survive without pressure suits. Living quarters on Mars will have to be equipped with airlock chambers that can maintain the atmospheric pressure of Earth. Similar structures are set up on spaceships.
The Martian atmosphere consists mainly of carbon dioxide (95%). Therefore, despite its low density, the partial pressure of CO2 on the surface of Mars is 52 times greater than on Earth, which may help keep vegetation alive.
Background radiation on Mars is 2.2 times higher than background radiation at the International Space Station and approaches the established safety limit for astronauts.
Mars has two natural satellites: Phobos and Deimos. They are much smaller and closer to the planet than the Moon is to the Earth. These satellites can be useful when testing options for asteroid colonization.
The presence of perchlorates in Martian soils, discovered by the Phoenix Mars lander near the north pole of Mars in 2008, casts some doubt on the possibility of growing Earth plants in the Martian soil without additional experiments or without artificial soil.
1b
1c
1d
1e
Views from the surface of the planet TRAPPIST-1 d (top) and f (below) (an artist’s rendition)
1f
1g
1h
M EG A DIS COV E RY
Is there life on Mars TRAPPIST? By early 2017, astronomers reliably confirmed the existence of 3,583 exoplanets, and the total number of such planets in our Milky Way galaxy is estimated to be 100 billion. And, according to estimates, up to 20% of them are “earth-like.” Of particular interest is a single star in the constellation of Aquarius — TRAPPIST-1. It is located at a distance of 39.5 light years from the Sun. 7 planets orbit this star, 3 of them in the habitable, or “Goldilocks” zone. This zone is defined by the assumption that the conditions on the surface of the planets within it are close to conditions on Earth, and that there is liquid water on them. These factors dramatically increase the chance of life existing on these planets. “This discovery could be a significant piece in the puzzle of finding habitable environments, places that are conducive to life. Answering the question ‘are we alone’ is a top science priority and finding so many planets like these for the first time in the habitable zone is a remarkable step forward toward that goal,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA.
T ECHNOLOG Y
How the turbine overcame The turbine is the second most important technological invention of mankind after the wheel. At first glance, it even seems strange that the turbine wasn’t invented in ancient times, just after the wheel, but in fact it appeared only in the 19th century. It’s surprising that people spent centuries on this invention, which nowadays we can’t live without.
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the steam engine H
owever, upon closer inspection, we can see that the turbine, as a technological reality that changed the energy image of the world, appeared not only when inventive genius had matured and related technologies had been developed, but also when humanity’s demand for large energy appeared. The turbine is an engine with a rotating attachment — a rotor — and continuous workflow. It is used to extract thermal energy from steam or transform gas from different types of fuel (diesel, natural or synthetic) into mechanical work. In water, or, in other words, hydraulic turbines, the mechanical energy of water is con-
verted into the energy of the turbine shaft. The principle of turbine operation is quite simple: the flow of water, steam or gas passes through the guide vanes onto the curved blades fixed on the circumference of the rotor, and, acting upon them, turns the rotor. The resulting mechanical power can be used through the rotor, such as for the rotation of an electrical turbine generator, or for other mechanisms. If the working fluid of the turbine is steam, then it is a steam turbine; if gas, a gas turbine; if water, a hydraulic turbine. But the simplicity of describing the operation principle masks the extreme difficulty and complexity of manufacturing it.
The ability to produce millions of hydro- and thermodynamic, material and other things is considered the most important indicator of a state’s technological development, and the turbine itself is the embodiment of technical excellence, the top tier of human skills.
TECHNOLOGY
Warm greetings from appeared in the late Middle Ages again. It would be surprising if drawings of irrepressible Leonardo da Vinci would not have illustrated a picture of such water engine. It was called a smoke jack. Turbine wheel that was rotated by outgoing gases was installed in the chimney of the furnace (i.e., in fact, It was already active gas turbine), and the wheel, in its turn, rotated the roasting jack with the carcass.
Examples of old steam engines
Hero’s proto-turbine
P
roto-turbine, a modern turbine ancestor, was invented by the great Greek engineer and mathematician Heron. In the 2nd century BC, he connected a boiler and a sphere with incurved discharge tubes using steam-conductive supports. The steam from the heated boiler got into the sphere rotating under the influence of the reaction thrust created by the steam coming out of the tube. As if having fun, Heron managed to adapt the invention as an actuator driving the figures on the temple altar and opening the door. Then, he named it “aeolipile” in honor of Aeolus, the god of wind. Information about the prototypes of turbine
Heron was a Greek mathematician and engineer. Hero published a well recognized description of a steampowered device called an aeolipile (sometimes called a “Hero engine”). Leonardo da Vinci
(1452—1519) was a greatest Italian polymath, who expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas: from painting and literature to math and engineering.
The invention of the steam boiler, without which existence of the steam turbine would be meaningless, dates back to 1680.
Steam engine with Collmann’s valve-gear mechanism
French physicist and inventor Denis Papin worked with the great Christiaan Huygens in Paris at the steam-driven pis-
ton pump to create instrument vacuum. It was him who realized that it is more technologically correct to generate steam in a boiler, and then feed it separately into the mechanism using this steam. The 18th century started the enginebuilding era. In 1750, Hungarian Janos Segner, professor at the University of Göttingen, proposed the idea of a water engine which, along with the pressure and weight, would use the energy of water jet reactive motion. Great Leonhard Euler, a member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences commented in regard to this idea in several papers. He suggested ways to improve the turbocharged engine — and thus predestined the creation of an effective reaction-type hydraulic turbine in 1832 by French engineer Benoît Fourneyron.
Watt’s vertical steam engine
Compound steam engine with electrical generator
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the ancient world James Watt
(1736—1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer. Creator of Watt steam engine which became a symbol of the Industrial Revolution. It is known that in 1769, five years before the official invention of the steam engine, British James Watt also worked out options for steam turbine construction. But technological risks were great for that time. Turbine construction required highstrength fast-rotating assemblies and parts (common patterns of steam leakage from the nozzles and its behavior in the turbine, i.e. physics of the process, could not be taken into account but it was already clear that the steam turbine is most effective at high speeds), high-pressure steam generating boilers and many other things. Having considered all of these risks, Watt focused on universal steam engines which became the technological support of the industrial revolution. As a result, it was steam engine
that prepared the industrial base for creation of steam and gas turbines. Decades later, when the competitive threat from turbines hung over the invention of Watt, the latter referring to the impossibility of such a scenario, adduced
an argument that such high speeds of machine elements movement are commonly unachievable: “What kind of competition are we talking about if nobody, without the help of God, can make working parts move at a speed of 1,000 feet per second?”
World hit with efficiency of 3% It’s interesting that in the midst of the steam-engine revolution in 1791, Englishman John Barber received the first patent for an invention of a gas turbine unit (GTU). He was going to use it as an engine for a horseless carriage. But though the Barber’s turbine already had all the features of the modern GTU, it could hardly see the light at that time. This was not only due to design flaws: science, metallurgical engineering, and machine-building industry did not reach the maturity that would allow the creation of such complex mechanisms operating at huge temperatures. In the early 19th century it seemed that the steam engine was winning. It gave an
impulse to the industrial revolution. According to historians, in 1810, there were about 5,000 steam engines in Great Britain. Metal working machines were used in the industry with increasing popularity, production of machinery grew; in 1788– 1820, the demand for iron increased approximately sixfold, and coal consumption increased tenfold for 50 years starting from 1785. All that required new transport technologies, and they were not long in coming — it was in the mid-20s of the last century that locomotives, railroad and steamships were invented. But by the last third of the 19th century it became clear that the old hegemony of
Barber’s steam engine. The machine was equipped with chain drive, areciprocating gas compressor, a combustion chamber and a turbine.
TECHNOLOGY the steam engines came to an end. Two industries demanded innovations in the engine building. Shipbuilders realized that reciprocating steam engines had almost reached their limit. It was no longer possible to meet the increasing demands of ships for energy by increasing the capacity of the engine — steam engine becoming irrationally bulky and heavy. The second sector — electric-power industry — was only starting up, but its victorious march already began. In 1888, Russian engineer Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky constructed a three-phase alternator with a rotating magnetic field — a basis of modern electric-power industry — and proposed a three-phase induction motor — a new basic universal engine for the industry.
Use of the steam engine with 3–5% efficiency for electricity generation made the very existence of the steam-power electric-power industry meaningless. At the same time, the hydro-power plant, in contrast to the heat power plant, cannot be built anywhere. Watt’s machine had a very low efficiency — 3–7% — due to the complex process of producing rotary motion. First, steam pushed the piston from which the movement was transmitted through the rod, drive arm and crank to the main shaft. Due of the numerous mechanical transformations more than 90% of the fuel energy literally went down the tubes. Compared with reciprocating steam engines using reciprocating motion of the piston, turbines are more compact and have a simpler structure. Prior to the development of the steam Having equal steam flow rate, the capacity and efficiency of turbine, the electricity was mainly the turbine are several times higher than those of the produced by generators working on steam engine.
hydraulic turbines, primarily those created by Fourneyron, the efficiency of which reached 80%.
I
n 1883, Swedish engineer Gustaf Laval managed to create the first working steam turbine. He designed it for a milk separator which needed a propeller rotating at a high speed. Laval developed a flexible rotor that could operate with a bearing mechanism at speeds of several thousand rpm. His second invention was a cone nozzle: the steam flowed out of it and expanded sharply increasing in volume, which caused the increase in the rate of the steam jet running to the blades, and the entire turbine rotated at a high tangential velocity of 419 m/s. The real success of steam turbines in power and shipbuilding industries is associated with the name of Englishman Charles Parsons, who was not only a talented inventor, but also a very enterprising businessman. Charles Parsons invented a cost-effective multi-stage turbine. Blades of different sizes were arranged in several rows on the turbine shaft. A simple idea that all steam power shall be divided into several portions and operated in series in each stage formed the basis of Parsons’ invention. This principle is used in all modern turbines. Industrial use of steam turbines started as soon as Parsons created the first multi-stage steam turbine
B. M. Stafford & Sons locomotive
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Advertising trick of Turbinia Gustav de Laval
(1845—1913) was a Swedish engineer and inventor who made important contributions to the design of steam turbines and dairy machinery.
Charles Parsons
( 1845—1931) was an Anglo-Irish engineer best known for his invention of the compound steam turbine.
An experimental vessel built by Charles Parsons to demonstrate the benefits of his revolutionary design of steam turbines. The hull of TURBINIA was built by Brown & Hood at Wallsend
with a power of 10 h. p. (18,000 rpm) with an efficiency of 12% in 1884. It’s interesting that he expected to immediately use his turbine with a power generator. About three hundred of these turbines were operated at power plants in 1889, and the first power plant with steam turbines was built in the territory of the German Elberfeld in 1899. Whilst the electric power supply orders were on the rise, the more conservative shipbuilders played a waiting game. But Parsons was a first-class PR expert. After
the construction of Turbinia, the first steam turbine-powered ship reaching the speed of 59 km/h, in 1894, he risked his position and freedom. During sea holiday in honor of the anniversary of Queen Victoria’s accession to the throne Parsons’ steamship appeared just in front of the Royal Navy. No combat craft of Her Majesty could catch up with the impudent Turbinia. Ranks of the Admiralty that ignored Parsons earlier, immediately ordered two warships with turbine units of 11,500 h. p.
cold section
air inlet
compression
In 1904, the fastest battleships in the world — Dreadnaught — went into production. Since then, steam turbines have formed the basis of the cogeneration industry and the marine power industry. Nowadays steam turbines with efficiency of 47% generate more than 70% of the world’s electricity at HPPs and NPPs, and their installed capacity reaches 2,500 GW. And speaking about gas turbines — it’s an entirely different story. We can discuss them next time.
hot section
combustion chambers
Turbine workflow
exhaust
M EG A PI XEL
Smart Volkswagen Volkswagen’s electric car Sedric was first unveiled on March 6 at the Geneva Motor Show. It is the first car in the company’s history at «Level Five,» the highest level of autonomy, which completely eliminates the need for a human driver. It has neither pedals, nor a steering wheel, nor a driver’s seat. All management functions are entrusted to artificial intelligence. By 2025 Volkswagen intends to release at least 30 similar models of electric vehicles.
T ECHNOLOG Y
Varanasi INDIA Abu Dhabi UAE
San Francisco USA
Chongqing CHINA
Nagoya JAPAN
Nanjing CHINA Muscat OMAN
Hawaii USA
New York USA Tulsa USA
Phoenix USA
Dayton USA
Mandalay MYANMAR
Ahmedabad INDIA
17 STAGES >40,000 km 23 DAYS OF ACTUAL FLIGHTS >550 FLYING HOURS 3.8m3 UNPRESSURIZED AND UNHEATED COCKPIT
Seville SPAIN
Abu Dhabi UAE
Cairo EGYPT
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It sounds like science fiction: a plane that flies around the clock without stopping. An exciting renewable energy project which challenges the limits of technology – it’s the Solar Impulse!
TECHNOLOGY
I
n the 20th century, humanity conquered the sky, constructing airplanes, blimps, and helicopters. But even so, people still relied on the power of the Earth — these flying machines needed oil from deep underground, for the production of petroleum and kerosene to fuel propeller and jet airplanes. And what about hot air balloons, you might ask? They don’t use any flammable materials, right? Actually, that’s not true: the envelope of a hot air balloon is filled with air, and these balloons, which can travel far and change direction in midair, can only take off and stay afloat as long as the air in the envelope is heated. The need to always carry heating fuel was a problem Swiss scientist Bertrand Piccard was familiar with. In 1999, he and his co-pilot Brian Jones completed the first non-stop flight around the globe on the balloon Breitling Orbiter 3, in which they covered 45,755 kilometers in 20 days minus two hours. They had taken almost 4000 kilograms of combustible gas propane for heating; when they landed, only 40 kg remained. That amount would have been sufficient for only two more hours of flight — any longer and they would have had to risk an emergency landing. That was the moment when Piccard thought, why not try to perform a round-the-world flight without any fuel, on an airplane relying solely only on sunlight to run its engines?
A Moped Engine with Jumbo-Jet Wings The idea itself had nothing technically impossible about it. There were already several models of solar-powered aircraft, but they could only fly during the day. But for a long journey, this plane would need to fly at night as well. Why? Because a solar-powered plane flies very slowly. How does such a plane even work? Its wings and part of its body are covered with solar cells. These cells convert the sun’s energy to electric power, which is used to spin the propellers. It isn’t too much energy, especially when collected from a small wing surface area, so the engines are low-powered, meaning that in one day, it is only possible to cover a small distance.
Bertrand Piccard decided that the solarpowered airplane would need batteries, and if the energy collected during the day was sufficient for flight at night, the plane would be able to fly as far and as long he wanted. But there was a problem — if the batteries were to be carried in the air, additional power would be required for the now-heavier craft to take off. Where would this power come from? He would have to increase the number of solar panels on the wings, thereby increasing the overall size of the aircraft. The engineers who had gathered around the Swiss scientist began to calculate whether such a machine could be constructed. It turned out that in order to carry
400 kg of batteries, the whole plane could weigh under 1,600 kg, around the weight of a typical passenger car. To fit all 12,000 necessary solar cells, the wingspan would need to be 64 meters, almost as wide as the wingspan of a regular full-sized, 150-ton airliner. And in order to take off, it would be sufficient to use only four 10 horsepower engines (to spin propellers 3.5 meters in diameter) — the same power as is generated by the gasoline motors of the small mopeds teenagers ride these days. In many aircraft engineering offices, Bertrand Piccard was told that the technical requirements for such an airplane were preposterous, and that it would be absolutely impossible to build using ordinary
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THE PL AN FOR THE SOL AR IMPULSE’S FLIGHT ACROSS THE USA IN 2013 New York Washington San Francisco
St. Louis
Phoenix
Bertrand Piccard (left) and André Borschberg prepare for their round-the-world journey. Abu Dhabi, January 2015 Dallas
aircraft engineering materials available at the time. But the persistent Piccard managed to involve high-technology companies in the project, by persuading them that they would not only achieve something important for all humanity, but would also get a chance to test their advanced technologies and demonstrate their possible applications to the public. The companies shared their best inventions with the Solar Impulse: special carbon fiber reinforced
plastics to make the airplane body very light, the most efficient electric motors and batteries, and the best solar cells available. The solar-powered airplane had a unique onboard computer system which estimated the flight parameters and transmitted all necessary information to the pilot and ground services. Over the course of the project, its engineers created approximately 60 new technological solutions in the realm of materials and solar energy.
The team is undertaking maintenance work on Solar Impulse 2 in preparation of the wintering in Hawaii. Following a damage to the batteries the plane will continue the round-the-world adventure in April 2016
Almost There Several years later, in 2009, Piccard’s friend and partner pilot André Borschberg finally revved the engines of the first Solar Impulse, and got off the ground at a take-off speed of 35 km per hour. Bringing skeptics to shame, the solar-powered aircraft gained a height of over eight kilometers and reached the speed of 70 km per hour. Shortly after its preliminary tests in 2013 the Solar Impulse performed a flight lasting several days across North America, taking off from San Francisco and landing in John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. Most importantly, Piccard proved that the plane could fly on batteries at night: in one flight it remained in the air for 26 hours, and its batteries still had 10 percent of their charge left after the night flight. Although theoretically such a plane could stay in the air indefinitely, the craft was not suited for the round-the-world flight of Piccard’s dreams. To start with, the solar cells were not protected from longterm water damage. Humans themselves were also a weak link: for instance, in the longest part of the planned journey, they would have to fly non-stop for five days and nights from China to the Hawaiian Islands
TECHNOLOGY
Body Made of carbon fiber, which is three times lighter than paper
Antenna
Transmission
Wings
Cockpit
Four nacelles, each housing an electric motor and battery. At night the 70 HP motors work off of the batteries, whose mass totals 633 total kilograms
A solar panel made of 17 thousand solar cells. During the day it supplies the electric motors with renewable energy.
An unpressurized, unheated, but well-insulated cabin 3.8 cubic meters in size, designed for a single pilot and 5–6 days of continuous flight.
1 ●
FACTS SOLAR IMPULSE 2
2 ●
3 ●
ABOUT THE
1 Oxygen supply system for a high-altitude flight
2 The pilot receives emergency notifications through a vibrating bracelet
3 The seat is equipped with a
parachute, an inflatable raft, and even a toilet
72m
At a mass of just 2300 kg (the same as a passenger car), the Solar Impulse 2 has a wingspan bigger than a Boeing 747!
Take-off and landing happen at night to avoid turbulence
During the day the plane reaches an altitude of 8500 m, gathering solar energy and reaching a maximum speed of 140 km/h
At night the Solar Impulse 2 descends to 1500 m and slows down to save energy and reduce stress on the pilot
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over the Pacific Ocean. The pilots needed to eat, drink, and go to the bathroom this whole time, meaning they would need to take more food. The small cockpit of the first solar-powered airplane was not nearly comfortable enough to ensure the normal work of two pilots. So, they decided to build a second airplane that could cross the ocean: the Solar Impulse 2. It was presented in spring 2014. It was a more advanced machine than the first. The weight of the airplane body was 2,300 kg, made of 82% solid carbon fiber reinforced plastic, three times lighter than notebook paper. And this is with a jumbo-jetsized wingspan of 72 meters. The wings, whose surface area totaled almost 270
square meters, fit 17,248 solar cells, providing energy for the entire machine. The electric power they produced was sufficient for the operation of all four 70 horsepower engines and for charging the batteries, which weighed 633 kilograms. The new cockpit was more comfortable for the crew: the cabin, which was expanded and extended up to 3.8 meters, maintained constant pressure, was equipped with a more comfortable toilet in the pilot’s seat, and the seats themselves could be unfolded for sleeping or temporarily put away. The Solar Impulse 2 could travel at 90 km/h at low altitude and up to 140 km/h at a height of 8.5 kilometers, at which it was supposed to make its first round-the-world journey.
On March 9, 2015 in Abu Dhabi at 7:12am local time, the Solar Impulse 2 started its round-the-world flight. Initially the route was divided into 12 stages, but it was later corrected due to weather. There were other difficulties as well, such as damage to the solar panels during the flight from Japan to the Hawaiian Islands. Or, during the longest flight without refueling in human history, when Piccard and Borschberg covered 7,200 kilometers in 118 hours, the batteries overheated because the layer of insulation was too thick. The repairs took approximately two months. Finally, on July 26, 2016, they landed in the Abu Dhabi airport and successfully completed their roundthe-world flight.
INNOVAT ION
Soichiro’s Childhood In his village Komyo in Shizuoka Prefecture, Soichiro spent all his time in his father’s forge. His father often bought broken bicycles, repaired them, and sold them to neighbors, so Soichiro grew up playing with bicycle parts and his father’s tools. When he was older, he helped repair bicycles himself. Soichiro Honda recalls that his most vivid memory from childhood was when an automobile stopped in their village one day. From that day on, the boy dreamed of building his own cars.
Just after finishing his eighth year of school, the 16-year-old teenager left home. He walked over 350 km from Soichiro to get a job in Tokyo in a recently opened car repair shop. Of course, at first he was just an errand boy at the owner’s workshop, but a year later he got a chance to prove himself: a powerful earthquake caused a terrible fire in the workshop. Soichiro bravely wheeled three cars out of the burning building. As a show of gratitude, the owner allowed his young apprentice to begin working on an automobile of his own. In those days, there was no assembly line, and each car was built individually. Honda’s first car was a race car called the “Curtiss.” In 1924, Honda and the Curtiss won an automobile race in Tsurumi, when he was just 18 years old.
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Sochiro Honda has more than 100 patents to his name, including new engine designs for both motorcycles and automobiles
His own approach to studying At 21 years old, Honda received his first patent: he proposed making the spokes in car wheels not from wood, but from metal. By this point, Honda was already the head of one branch of a successfully developing auto shop in the small town of Hamamatsu. Honda invested his work income, profits from his patent, and his family savings into the development of piston rings, whose design and composition he was trying to improve by making them more durable and resistant to the engine’s high temperatures. But it was a bust. He didn’t have enough knowledge, and so he returned to his studies, enrolling at the Hamamatsu School of Technology. He didn’t study for long, attending only classes that he considered useful, and he didn’t always take his exams.
Soichiro Honda never got his diploma: he was expelled for academic failure. However, he walked away from this experience having not only gained knowledge, but having learned how to learn. From then on, Soichiro learned everything he needed to know for his work in books and magazines. In 1936, Soichiro Honda almost died in a race car competition in a suburb of Tokyo on the Tama River. His car, a full lap ahead of the others, traveling at the breakneck speed of 120 km/h, collided with an opponent’s car that had spun out of control. For three months doctors fought for Honda’s life, but they could not restore him to full health, and our hero was forced to retire from motor racing, and later, from work.
I N N O VAT I O N
Coming to life of Honda But Soichiro Honda did not give up, and in 1937 he opened his own business, Tōkai Seiki, where he produced piston rings (by this time he had perfected them) and spare parts for cars and motorboats. Before long he became Toyota Motor Company’s main supplier, which provided Honda with a considerable income. But in 1945 a US bombardment of Hamamatsu devastated the city. The factory was ruined, as was Japan’s economy. Soichiro was forced to sell the remains of his own business to the Toyota company, and to go back to his hometown, where he founded a new company, the Honda Technical Research Institute. Following their sound defeat in World War II, Japan became less interested in sports cars. Soichiro Honda was one of the first to recognize this, and so he started producing simple and
In 1948, Honda’s business got a new name – Honda Motor Company – and Honda himself was already working on a new project: the Dream motorcycle, with a 98 cc, 3 hp two-stroke engine. Two years later, he came out with the four-stroke motorcycle, which quickly conquered the Japanese market. In less than ten years, Honda Motor Company became the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Japan. But the greatest glory for Soichiro Honda and his company came in 1958, when the US market unveiled the legendary Super Cub motorcycle. The design of the new bike was based on the concept of a “fun-filled family vehicle for the middle class, where men, women, youngsters, and old folks will all feel comfort-
A dream come true: the first Honda automobile – N360
The simple and easy Super Cub motorcycle: even your grandma could ride it…
cheap “motorized bicycles,” nicknamed “choo-choo” for its noisy engine. The motor was made from a small engine taken from scrap military equipment and adapted for domestic fuel, turpentine. For the gas tank, Honda used an ordinary rubber hot water bottle. Later, he replaced the original engine with a two-stroke gasoline one of his own design. Within two years he had collected and sold about 1.5 thousand of his mopeds, which had become very popular among the rural population.
able behind the wheel.” Super Cub was the complete opposite of the expensive, macho Harley-Davidson, whose owners fancied themselves the heroes of the “Hell’s Angels.” The high quality of the Japanese equipment, plus a substantial cost advantage definitively secured Honda’s victory, and his company became a world leader in the sale of motorcycles. And then Soichiro Honda decided it was time to achieve his long-held dream: he was going to produce automobiles.
In spite of the warnings of professional consultants, 1967 marked the premiere of the Honda automobile – the Honda N360, which featured the best technical elements of the Honda CB450 motorcycle. It was a compact, two-door, front-wheel drive car with an air-cooled, four-stroke, 354 cc, 31 hp two-cylinder engine. The new car quickly gained recognition from auto enthusiasts, and competitors had to step aside to make room for the new brand.
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Soon after, Honda once again defied public opinion, which told him that it was impossible to produce high-quality cars in the US. In the middle of the 1970s, he built a factory in Marysville, Ohio, where he began producing the Honda Accord, with the same unchanged Japanese level of quality. It was this model whose sales, in the late 1980s, surpassed those of other automakers of the US market.
Thanks to its phenomenal success, Soichiro Honda became the first Japanese car manufacturer whose name was entered into the American Automotive Hall of Fame.
Honda Clarity is the first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle available to retail customers Loyalty to the Honda tradition: technical perfection and elegance – the modern Honda Fury motorcycle
Contrary to the circumstances In the 1970s the world economy was hit by another economic crisis. At this moment, Soichiro made what seemed to all like a poorly timed move, as Toyota and Nissan were in a slump: he introduced a new car to the market. It was the Honda Civic, with a 600 cc two-cylinder engine, with record-low gas consumption and high fuel efficiency - just 6 liters per 100 kilometers.
Soichiro Honda has credited his success to the fact that he was never afraid of failure and, although he often made errors and miscalculations, he never made them twice. Honda’s self-balAccording to Honda, behind every success ancing motorcyare one hundred mistakes and failures, and cle, which was exhibited at the victory comes only from the relentless pursuit of goals so high that others may beCES 2017, won three awards lieve them unattainable.
ECONOMIC S
THE EVOLUTION OF
MONEY Our English word “money” comes from the Latin “Moneta,” the title of the Roman goddess Juno. The ancient Romans minted coins in Juno Moneta’s temple, and she was thought to protect city funds. Today, when you buy an ice cream cone, you pay for it with real “money,” so to speak. That’s interesting enough. But even more interesting is the history of where money came from.
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One bull and three shells What do you want in exchange for this ceramic jug? Two spears, a wolfskin and four arrows. That’s too much. I can only offer a sheep! Why would I need a whole sheep? I would take half…
М
his is the sort of conversation our ancestors might have had a few thousand years ago. What a complicated life! Just try to decide if it’s worth it or not to trade your neighbor your ceramic jug for the hind leg of a mammoth. Things were tough without money. And in fact, that’s why it appeared: to avoid confusion and ensure that everyone would have enough. Imagine a blacksmith who could only forge spears and swords. A piece of meat might “cost,” say, two hare-skins and five apples. But what if the blacksmith simply didn’t have them? People had to either give each other things for free or incur debts. It was certainly problematic. People needed something universal, that could be used in any situation. And on top of that, it had to be something small, light, and easy to carry around, and not perishable like bananas or a leg of lamb. And so the concept of money was born. The first cash equivalents were small cowrie shells from the southern seas (nowadays often found in souvenir shops). However, they weren’t worth much. One bull could cost thousands and thousands of shells. People drilled holes in them to make beads and wore them as heavy necklaces. Anyone would agree that this system too was problematic. But apart from shells there was another popular “currency”: animal hides and fur. Depending on where on the planet people lived and what they had at hand — livestock, honey, sugar, salt, cocoa beans, tobacco leaves and even slaves! — all this was used as money. Imagine what a mess it must have been!
E CO N O M I C S
“Filthy Lucre”
The ancient Greek tetradrachm (ca. 490 BCE) was made from a rough piece of silver with an embossed stamp on it: on one side was the portrait of the war goddess Athena, and on the reverse, an owl (a symbol of wisdom) and the inscription “ΑΘΕ” — short for “ΑΘΕΝΑΙΟΝ,” or, “belonging to the Athenians.”
Chinese money is some of the oldest in the world. Before the Chinese invented round coins, they used money in the form of knives and even shovels. The only thing left unchanged was the hole for threading them together on a string.
Gradually people began to make money in the form of coins. At first they were just small bits of metal. Real coins appeared about 2,500 years ago somewhere in the region of modern Turkey. They were made out of gold, copper and silver, and stamped with a special seal that left an imprint on the metal. The silver and copper coins were cheaper, while the gold ones were the most expensive. And so the concept of “denominations” arose, denoting the value of different coins. The idea was picked up by others countries, who began chiseling out metal coins of their own. But this approach was still not very convenient (although, as you know, coins still exist today). Metal coins are heavy, and, more importantly, they are hard to hide — and of course thieves never sleep. That’s why banks were invented (places to keep money). People deposited their gold in these banks, and in exchange could take a receipt confirming their ownership of this gold. People settled accounts using these receipts. Later this became the first instance of
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paper money. Each note was labeled with the corresponding amount of gold stored in the bank. Later, people started simply printing banknotes directly, of the sort which we still use today. But people were still not satisfied. Take, for example, a person wanting to buy a huge flock of sheep. In order to pay for it, he would need a large bundle of money, so enormous that it might not even fit in his bag. Yet again, this transaction was not only inconvenient, but unsafe. Then people invented a new kind of money, that cannot be held in your hands, and only exists in your bank account. The plastic credit card your mother uses to pay for groceries at the supermarket is an example of this kind of money.
What is electronic money? QIWI, PayPal, WebMoney — surely you’ve heard these names or hear in the future. This is all kinds of electronic money — is the same money as usual — they can pay for goods and services. The only difference that electronic money, you can use the Internet, and to open an account in the payment system from you is not asked any documents. Advantages of electronic money — the ability to maintain production payment almost immediately and without leaving your home or office. Have electronic money and its drawbacks. Electronic wallets can hack and steal the contents. However, this does not insured and conventional tional money — can get a normal wallet. What types of e-money? In terms of the form of electronic money may exist in the form of only one of information within computer networks (network-based) — and may have even more and bind to the payment and identification smart card (card-based) .With the standpoint of anonymous e-money are to compulsory requirement of the user (first sonalizirovannye) personalization and without such a requirement (anonymous).
What is a cashless transaction? In the modern world monetary transactions happen not only between people (individuals), but also between companies (enterprises or organizations), also called “legal entities.” And large companies make large payments, which amount to hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars. For such financial procedures it is altogether impossible to use banknotes — they would have to transport the money in wagons, protect it with security battalions, and spend weeks recounting it. These are the situations where it helps to make transactions with the help of banks and cashless transfers. Almost all companies have bank accounts in which they store their money and with which they conduct their transactions: the bank does not transport any money or count out any bills, but simply transfers from one account to another: that is, one account’s balance is reduced while the other’s increases.
Zimbabwe is the most striking example of hyperinflation in modern times. As a result of the printing press US $1 becoming equivalent to the staggering sum of Z$ 2 621 984 228
E CO N O M I C S Top 10 most frequently used currencies. Can you name them all?
It takes all kinds… All this is well and good within the country. But what about payments between states? After all, there is a huge amount of money in the world, and each country has its own national currency. Here are just a few: afghanis, baht, won, hryvnia, dinars, dongs, crowns, lira, marks, pesos, som, shillings, dollars, yuan … The dollar is the only one which exists in over twenty different forms in various countries, but there are still many varieties of francs, pounds, rupees … In short, the world has a vast number of different currencies, but we haven’t yet come up with one unified one. After all, every country wants to have their own money. However, in most of the world, US dollars and euros are considered to be a kind of universal currency. It makes the situation a little simpler, but not much. You have to use so-called “exchange rates”: for example, 1 euro is worth 1.48 New Zealand dollars, while 1 Japanese yen is worth only 0,012 of the same dollars. And so it goes for all the world currencies in relation to one another.
Why can’t we just print more money? As a result of falling oil prices and faulty economic policy, there has been a rapid devaluation of the Venezuelan currency, the bolivar. The government, in an attempt to fix the situation, printed more bolivars, causing hyperinflation.
The Vietnamese dong is one of the cheapest currencies in the world. The exchange rate is about 22 thousand dong per US dollar.
“If you are at the store with your mother and she only bought you a little ball and doesn’t want to buy everything else in sight, you must stand up straight, heels together, arms outstretched, and open your mouth wide and shout ‘ah’!’ This is the advice the famous children’s author Grigory Oster gives to children whose parents keep telling them “there’s no money.” It’s just a joke, of course. But in all seriousness, why can’t we print money until there’s enough for everyone? For example, for you to buy a new phone. Well, here’s why. Imagine that the government has printed a lot of money, piles and piles of it, and gives everyone as much as they want. What will people do? Naturally, they’ll start buying cars, apartments, toys, and phones. Soon everything will be sold, but there will still be money leftover. But suddenly it will be useless — just paper, which won’t buy anything else, because there are no goods left. In this situation we say that this money has “depreciated.” The same applies to all kinds of money, not just cash. After all, there is nothing left to buy.
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Economic problems arise when there is an imbalance between the supplies of money and goods/services. Inflation occurs when there is more money in the economy than things to be purchased with it.
GOODS SERVICES D E F LATI ON
MONEY MASS
Deflation is the opposite phenomenon, when there is less money than there are goods.
In reality, the process of depreciation is a little more complicated, but the bottom line remains the same. If there is twice as much money as there are goods, then the goods will just become twice as expensive. If three times as much money is printed, products will become more three times more expensive. Economists (specialists who study the role of money in society) call the process of printing money “money creation” and depreciation is called “inflation.” That is, for the same amount of money, you can now buy less than you could previously buy with that same money.
Money outside the law What if you started printing money yourself? Don’t even think about it! Such people are called counterfeiters and can face harsh punishment, even the death penalty. Only the government can print money, or else we’d be in a real pickle. There would be too much money and it would instantly become worthless. No one would even want to work — why would you, if you can just print as much money as you want? Because of this, banknotes are very difficult to counterfeit. They are produced with special equipment, and made with watermarks (patterns on banknotes which are only visible when you hold them up to the light), metallic strips, and special ink and marks that can only be seen with an ultraviolet light. All these measures are taken because having extra money in circulation would create problems for the whole country. Inflation would result immediately (neither people nor companies would be able to determine their actual income and expenses). No wonder economists call money the blood of the economy. The “body,” that is, the state, needs a certain balance, a particular quantity of “blood.” Otherwise it will become “sick.” If there is not enough “blood,” there will not be enough money for meeting basic needs; if there is too much money, the cost of everything increases.
New Zealand has low levels of counterfeiting by international standards, but that doesn’t mean we can forget about checking our banknotes. ALL WASHED UP Polymer notes and their inks are water resistant. There should not be any blotches or running of the inks.
RIP INTO IT Polymer notes are tough, but most counterfeits are only paper. Moderate force should not start a tear in the note.
FEEL FOR REAL Polymer notes have raised printing, which can be felt when you run your fingers over it.
CHECK FOR THE CHANGE The colour of the bird changes when the note is tilted, with a rolling bar going diagonally across.
IT’S A SERIAL Each note has an individual serial number printed horizontally and vertically and these numbers match exactly. If the serial numbers are missing, or if you have several notes with the same serial number on all of them, some or all of those notes could be counterfeit.
DOES IT GLOW? Most commercial papers used in forgeries glow under an ultraviolet light, but our notes use special inks which look dull except for specific features that glow brightly. For example, the front of each genuine note includes a fluorescent patch showing the denomination.
CHECK OUT THE WINDOWS Inside the large clear window is a hologram featuring a fern and a map of New Zealand. It also contains the same bird featured on the left-hand side of the note. There is also an embossed print denomination below the hologram.
ECONOMIC S
The Theory of Pocahontas There are some stories so incredible that they seem fictitious, but in reality they reflect real events from the past. One such story is the life of Pocahontas, the daughter of a Native American chief. You probably already know this story from books or movies. But today we are going to look at it from a scientific perspective and try to understand why some populations flourish and others fail.
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The Conquest of America The events which would shape the princess’s life were set into motion long before she was born. Since 1492 Spain had started to explore and conquer Central and South America. Christopher Columbus was the first governor of these new territories. The colonizers treated native tribes with cruelty: they kidnapped and tortured their chiefs to force them to hand over all their gold. Later the colonizers began to exploit the second wealth of America — its abundant population. The Spanish enslaved the natives living in their colonies and made them work in silver mines. In economic language this kind of approach is called (to put it mildly) violent principles of interaction. Nevertheless, it brought results, and their colonization of America led to Spain’s unprecedented accumulation of wealth and power.
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E CO N O M I C S
At first, settlers tried to control the locals using violent force. But everything went wrong.
A new player About 100 years later, a new player joined the game of “Colonize America”: Britain. But there was a problem — all of Central and South America had been conquered by the Spaniards, and the English were left only with the North, famous for its harsh conditions. The first British settlers tried to copy the strategy of their Spanish peers and subdue the locals using violent force. But everything went wrong. They did not succeed in capturing the chief: the head of the local tribe was hostile and wary, and was unwilling to negotiate. And not a trace of gold or silver was found. Time passed, the first winter came, and the settlers’ food supplies ran out. They decided they needed to change their tactics. They had to find a way to survive by their own labour and grow their food independently. It was then that John Smith, one of the leaders of the first British settlers, was captured by Native Americans while out looking for food for his people. The Native Americans were going to smash his skull, but their brave princess Pocahontas interfered. She protected the prisoner by covering his head with hers, and no one dared to hurt the chief’s daughter.
The story of Pocahontas and the events that followed helped economists answer the question: “What makes a society flourish?” Then John Smith was captured by the Native Americans. They were going to smash his skull.
We will never know exactly why she decided to save the pale-faced stranger or whether it really even happened (some historians have doubts) but it is a proven fact that the participants in this event played a crucial role in the development of friendly relations between the natives and settlers. Pocahontas learned English and married an Englishman who grew tobacco, and, as the settlers recall, this union helped pave the way for the peaceful cohabitation of the two peoples, at least for a time.
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A new approach John Smith played an equally important role: he was the first to realize that the Spanish method of colonization was not going to work here because there was neither gold nor an abundance of natives in the area. Furthermore, the local tribe’s chief banned trading with the white people, causing a severe famine among the settlers. A letter from around that time has been preserved, written by John Smith to the directors of the Virginia Company. In his letter Smith explained the impracticality of their initial plans, and asked for some people to be sent to the settlement who knew how to till the land and build hous-
es. Smith persuaded the company that the settlers would have to survive by their own labour, without relying too much on the riches of nature or the submission of the Native Americans. The Virginia Company, founded specifically for trade and colonization in North America, listened to his appeals and changed their strategy, but not in the way Smith had hoped for: if they couldn’t get the Native Americans’ gold or labour, the Company would exploit the settlers themselves. The new governor of Jamestown introduced a strict work schedule for all residents: they were worked to the bone but received scant rations in return. As a
But Pocahontas protected the prisoner.
result, settlers began fleeing from Jamestown, heading for free territories where they could work for themselves. Whereas during the previous winter the settlement population decreased due to hunger and disease, in the following year it decreased because of people running away.
The recipe for success It took the Company twenty years to realize that the only way to prevent the settlement from vanishing was not forced exploitation but providing people with favourable living and working conditions. Finally the Virginia Company announced a new plan:
Under the new governor, the settlers were worked to the bone.
Finally the Virginia Company made a new plan, giving every settler a plot of land and complete freedom of action. As a result, settlers began fleeing from Jamestown.
12 years later
E CO N O M I C S every settler received a plot of land proportional to the size of his family, and also had complete freedom of action. This strategy attracted more and more Englishmen, who began growing crops to sell (the most popular one being tobacco). It was profitable for these settlers to bring the best tools with them, invent more efficient ways of tilling the land, select the most fertile plants to yield better harvests and earn more money, since everything was theirs and would not be seized by the Company.
How to create a prosperous society Modern economists Daron Acemoğlu and James Robinson tell this story while trying to answer the following question: “How do you create a prosperous society?” How can neighbouring countries and cities with similar conditions be so different? In one place people live comfortably and at least ten years longer than those next door. What’s going on? The economists gathered all sorts of data: religion, ethnic make-up, traditions,
availability of natural resources, geographical factors and so on. After comparing all of them, Acemoğlu and Robinson concluded that the main factor in a society’s development and prosperity is not a certain religion, its history or its geography but a particular set of accepted rules of interrelations within that society. This is exactly what happened in the history of North and South American colonization. Any society, whether a school class or an entire country, lives according to certain generally accepted rules. However, there always are some people who make the most important decisions. If everyone or almost everyone participates in making these decisions, it is called an inclusive institution, but if only a small group decides everything, it is an extractive institution. In their research, Acemoğlu and Robinson show that only the countries with inclusive rules develop and achieve prosperity. Inclusive institutions stimulate people to perform higher-quality work. For example, if a child, rather than their parents, chooses the sport they want to play, the child will train much better. In
countries with prevailing inclusive institutions, prominent rules of interrelations include “the inviolability of private property” and “equality before the law,” which ensure each person’s right to own and control the results of their own labour. These rules guarantee that the more you work, the richer you become and nobody can take your wealth away from you. On the contrary, in countries with dominating extractive institutions, citizens do not control the results of their labour. In this case people do as little work as possible because working better will still not improve their position. Such a society cannot develop. As we can see, the story of Pocahontas helped economists Daron Acemoğlu and James Robinson to conclude that if a society wants to be developed, it must involve people in the decision-making process. This should not be treated as the only correct conclusion, as science is constantly developing. But have a look at the societies we live in and consider whether their rules are inclusive or what could be done to make them that way.
E RU DI T ION
Science still can not explain their behavior. Some say they come to the surface for faster movement. Others say they are reacting to the vibrations caused by precipitation, which sound similar to the vibrations made by moles. What are they?
Arthur Clarke expressed regret that from a race of creators we have become a race of beholders. All the blame, according to Clark, lies with this. What is it?
The Summer Olympic Games unofďŹ cial program in Paris in 1900 included shooting them. In ancient times, the Greeks reported the names of the winners of the Olympic Games with their help. Name them.
Surprisingly, according to statistics, more than a hundred of these people are arrested each year in the United States for arson. Name them.
Drug lord Pablo Escobar made huge amounts of money, most of which he stored in cellars. Every year he had to deduct 10% of his total revenue because of these. It comes ďŹ rst in a cycle of 12. Name it.
In 1709, Antoine Watteau participated in a competition for the Prix de Rome award, but the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture gave him only second place. Three years later Watteau tried again to win the Prix de Rome, and his work was so good that the Academy did not give him the award, but still distinguished Watteau. How?
G EOG R A PH Y
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The Most Terrifying Places on Earth You can find between one and six deadly poisonous snakes in just one square meter of Ilha da Queimada Grande in Brazil. There are nearly as many bloodthirsty pirates in the East African country of Somalia. You’ll find broken naked dolls and teddy bears hanging on trees on the Island of the Dolls in Mexico. We are about to tell you about the most frightening corners of the world.
Danakil Desert ETHIOPIA
Or “Hell on Earth,” as this terrible place is called in Northeast Africa. It is hot here: air temperatures can reach 63°C, and soil temperatures — 70°C. And there are volcanoes. And sulfur lakes (sulfur is a chemical released by volcanoes and used in pyrotechnics). And a lot of wild Afar tribes (an East African ethnic group) ready to kill for a piece of bread and two or three dollars. Accumulation of salt crystals and muddy puddles of vibrant slimy green: this is sulfur and its compounds (complex chemical substances consisting of simpler ones, in this case of sulfur). Toxic gases break out of the ground. Inhaling them for too long will result in death. The reason for all this? There is a large tectonic fault across the Danakil Desert dividing the great African lithospheric plate in half (the Earth’s crust, as you remember, is made of tectonic plates that move very slowly and collide against each other). That’s why this territory is quaking all the time — because of volcanoes and earthquakes. And what’s more, it quakes out of fear.
GEOGRAPHY
Ilha da Queimada Grande Also known as Snake Island. At first glance, it seems to be a little paradise, located just 35 kilometers from the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Everlasting summer, palm trees, the Atlantic Ocean…and it’s teeming with snakes. Hordes of them, coiled on the ground and hanging from the trees. Not just ordinary snakes, but some of the most poisonous snakes in the world. And what’s more, highly aggressive ones.
BR A ZIL
They are called tree pit vipers: incredibly fast, strong, and deadly poisonous animals. Their bite brings not just death but decay of the entire body, from the skin to the bone. A stricken man would die bleeding, in terrible pain. Once people tried to make a banana plantation from this “island of paradise,” but the snakes attacked anyone who tried to set foot on their “property.” One day people even built a lighthouse nearby and settled a lighthouse keeper and his family there. Those poor people lasted only three days. Their bodies were found in the woods, not far from the lighthouse. They probably tried to escape from the deadly tree pit vipers, but were unsuccessful. Today the island is closed to the public. Only the most desperate tourists and fishermen dare to swim up to it at a short distance to see the coiling knots of lancehead snakes (another name for the tree pit viper, whose head resembles the point of a lance). The snakes feed on migratory birds dropping in for the night.
BOLIVIA
Death Road Otherwise known as the Road of Fate. This godforsaken place is nestled in the mountains of Bolivia, immersed in the tropics. This winding roadway, almost 70 kilometers long, runs along a precipice 600 meters deep. Meanwhile, the width of the road is barely over three meters and even narrower in some places. The people who travel here are not only daring bikers addicted to extreme sports, but also ordinary citizens who are forced to take it as the only road from the town of Coroico to Bolivia’s capital, La Paz. They travel by buses and trucks, many of them every day. Every year this already tight, muddy road, overgrown with slippery moss, is washed out by tropical rains lasting a few months in a row. The picture is completed by constant fog — common in these areas — which hinders drivers from steering their vehicles. No wonder Death Road kills at least 200–300 people every year.
GEOGRAPHY
The Church of Bones This Catholic church is called an ossuary. It is situated in Sedlec, a suburb of Kutná Hora in the Czech Republic. It is attractive in appearance and from the outside looks like an unremarkable chapel. But, as Shrek told us, it’s what’s inside that counts. And inside, the church is decorated with…human bones and skulls. They are everywhere — on the walls and ceiling, and the chandeliers and even the signature of the craftsman are made of skulls. In total about 40 thousand human skeletons were used to finish the church! It all began in 1278, when the abbot of the local monastery named Heinrich brought a little “holy land” from Golgotha
(the hill in modern-day Israel where Jesus Christ was crucified) and scattered it along the territory of the monastery. From then on, the demand to be buried here was overwhelming — every citizen of Kutná Hora wanted to rest here after death. As time passed there were so many dead people that there was no free space left in the cemetery. So the skeletons were dumped directly into the chapel. In 1870, the old aristocratic family of Schwarzenberg that bought this land decided to organize the mess. They found a craftsman named František Rint who created a real masterpiece from the pile of bones.
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MEXICO
Island of the Dolls It is also called the island of dead dolls. Ugh! There are about a thousand or more dolls here. But wait — here’s how it happened. In the 1950s an ordinary Mexican worker, Julian Barrera, decided to move to a desert island not far from the center of Mexico’s capital, Mexico City. It was not a good place. People said that the ghost of a girl who had drowned in a nearby canal haunted the place. We know
there is no such thing as ghosts, but Julian Barrera believed in them, and so he began seeing them. Instead of leaving the island, the man had a strange idea — to hang near his house a doll with a missing hand that he had found in the canal. He must have thought that by doing so, he would protect himself from ghosts. It didn’t help. So then Barrera began to collect broken toys — exchanging them with children for sweets, looking for them in garbage — and hung them on trees around the island. Over time, the island turned into a real museum of broken toys. Ragged dolls, with empty eye sockets, dirty and moldy, one-handed and one-legged. Barrera wanted to make the island safer and instead created something bone-chilling. And the man’s own death was no less eerie. He is said to have drowned in the same canal as the girl from the legend. Today the island is visited by many tourists who sometimes bring broken dolls with them in order to “butter up” the ghosts. But no one dares to spend the night here.
E RU DI T ION
In 2011, psychologist Daniel Kahneman conducted a study that showed that the top 25 experts on Wall Street are no more effective than chimpanzees at doing this. The Wikipedia article about this process mentions a “randomness generator.” Name this process.
The effect when people quickly forget information that can be easily found on the Internet is named after a famous company. Name the company.
The second person in history to go over this in a barrel ended up dying by slipping on an orange peel. Its name is from an Iroquois word meaning “thundering water.” What is it?
In a comic poem, Thomas Hood says that this month has no flowers, bees, butterflies, and much more. What month is the poem dedicated to?
Despite its name, this pizza was invented in Canada, and its distinctive ingredient, according to one site, “brings thoughts of warm shores.” Name this pizza.
Two-time world champion in snooker Mark Williams, from Wales, is this. In Turkey and Romania you cannot get a driver’s license if you are this. If you are what?
ANSWERS
Flipping a coin
Niagara Falls
NOvember
Hawaiian Pizza
Color blind
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