The Solar Furnace
|
|
|
Scroll down for comments:
|
|
9
comments
|
READ RECENT POSTS:
|
Extreme Small Boats & Yachts: Retro Coolness I'll Float Away, Hallelujah! |
|
Biscotti Bits Mixed Links & Images Incl. "Animals vs. Reporters" |
|
The Lady Vanishes Stealing the Most Famous Painting in the World |
|
"Dark Roasted Blend" - All Kinds of Weird and Wonderful Things, Discovered Daily!" DRB is a top-ranked and respected source for the best in art, travel and fascinating technology, with a highly visual presentation. Our in-depth articles in many categories make DRB a highly visual online magazine, bringing you quality entertainment every time you open your "feed" reader or visit our site. Connect with us and become part of DRB on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google Plus; make sure to subscribe to our updates. Our mobile site: http://mobile.darkroastedblend.com. You can also read us on iPad, as part of Flipboard popular free app, under "Cool Curators" category - see here. |
COMMENTS::
|
SF ART & BOOK REVIEWS: Don't miss: The Ultimate Guide to NEW SF&F Writers! Fiction Reviews: Classic Cyberpunk: Extreme Fiction Short Fiction Reviews: Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness" (with pics) New Fiction Reviews: The Surreal Office |
READ MORE RECENT POSTS:
|
Awesome & Weird Chocolate, Part 2 Incredible, bizarre and (mostly) yummy chocolate ideas |
|
London Necropolis Railway Exploring little-known, morbid slice of London history |
|
Topological Marvel: The Klein Bottle in Art Impossible shape with no distinct "inside" or "outside" |
|
The Cutest Animals: Awww Update In our tough world we need a shot of cuteness... |
|
Glory of Early Aviation (1930s-1960s) Vintage Air Travel Posters and Airline Nostalgia |
|
Sleek Vintage Salon Hair Dryers Chrome Coolness, Gentle Breeze and Space Age Fashion |
|
Awesome Armoured Trains and Rail Cruisers Great symbols of power and "stable stagnation" |
|
Strange Deep-Sea Diving Suits Under Pressure... and Enjoying It |
|
The Golden Age of Cigar Box Art Elaborate Old Cigar Boxes: Visual & Historical Treat |
|
Thrill Ride: Bumper Cars Wonderful vintage & adapted bumper cars |
|
Futuristic Aircraft Update Inspiring, radical designs... |
|
Strange Eye Exam Charts Offbeat Optometry: Testing, Testing... |
|
Drinking of Absinthe: Dancing with the Green Fairy The Bohemian Realm of Absinthiana |
|
The Last Victorian Leviathan Steam Ship The "Great Eastern", one of the most spectacular ships ever built! |
|
World's Strangest Vehicles, Part 1 The Very Opposite of "Soccer-Mom Minivans" |
|
Some of the Biggest Spills & Accidents "Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes." |
|
Fictional Currency & Imaginary Money Money that’s literally out of this world |
|
The Ghosts of Antarctica: Abandoned Stations & Huts Entering "The Thing" and "The Mountains of Madness" territory... |
CATEGORIES:
airplanes | animals | architecture | art | auto | boats | books | cool ads | funny pics | famous | futurism | food
gadgets | health | history | humour | japan | internet | link latte | military | music | nature | photo | russia | steampunk
sci-fi & fantasy | signs | space | sports | technology | trains | travel | vintage | weird
9 Comments:
About the Solar Furnace, the first one in the Modern Age was set operating in Lisbon, Portugal, in that distant year of 1904. The inventor was a jesuit priest, Father Manuel Gomes Himalaya and the demonstration was in the presence of the King of Portugal. The invention, called «Pyrheliophero» (literally «solar fire furnace») was later presented in the United States, at the Universal Exibition of St. Louis in 1904. There, it received the Grand Prix.
The enourmous machine was capable of fusing steel and stone at a staggering 3500ºC.
After the Exibition, it was destroyed in a misterious warehouse fire, still in St. Louis.
Returning to Portugal, Father Himalaya received support from the King, but short afterwards - in 1908 - the King and his Heir were assassinated and everithing went down the drain with the following (1910) republican revolution.
The artistic Periodic Table...
While it’s a fun idea and some of the artwork is very good, it really does show the difference between (the bulk of) artists and scientists.
Take, for example, the text that goes with caesium.
[caesium]…can be produced solely by nuclear reactions.
Not true, it’s a naturally occuring element, though there’s noticeable amounts of radioactive caesium in the environment that /has/ come from man made nuclear sources.
[caesium]…is strong enough to etch glass, flesh and bone.
No, its hydroxide is.
…it is one of the most biologically hazardous components of radioactive waste and nuclear fallout,
No, it’s not as readily absorbed as many other radiopollutants.
Really, I despair of the standard of scientific education that leads to someone being unable to glean even basic information about something without reading some sentences out of context and getting the wrong end of the stick.
Lavoisier used a solar furnace in the 1770s to burn a diamond so he could prove it was made of carbon.
Quite right, Skipweasle. But I mentioned the priest's furnace because it was the first to produce temperatures in excess of 3000ºC, which are similar, although far superior to those produced by the modern contraption depicted in the movie.
Lavoisier's furnace was unable to produce temperatures higher than 1800ºC - which is remarkable in 1770 - and was a relatively small furnace, compared to the gigantic Pyrheliophoro, capable of melting a huge block of basalt.
Regarding the picture of the bent propeller ...
It is an actual photo. Most cameras with a slit shutter or a two curtain shutter as in SLR cameras will show this effect.
The exposure of the photo begins at the top and the shutter moves down in the shape of a small horizontal slit whose width is dependent on the exposure time. The propeller turns during this time. Therefore the propeller will look bent, because the blades will move and change position during the exposure of each fractional part of the whole image.
Great info on solar furnace, and this "bent propeller" bit was unexpected... Thank you.
Solar furnaces have been around long before the 1930s - in the 1770s
Lavoisier used one to burn a diamond to prove it was made of carbon.
Link
@skipweasel:
I despair of (sic) the English writing skills of people who post comments on blogs…
Vá lá!...Dêem um desconto a quem não tem o inglês como sendo a sua língua nativa. Ou acham preferível todos nós começarmos a escrever posts em 'estrangeiro'?
Post a Comment
<< Home