Smarter than the average dice, don’t you think? Just an inch long yet weighing a nicely solid 14 grams, these 7-sided polished bronze stainless steel dice from The Trinket Emporium have a pleas...
https://carnotcycle.wordpress.com/2024/04/01/special-in-every-way-7-sided-dice/
The replacement of wood by coal as the world’s main source of energy stoked the engine of the industrial revolution as the world entered the 19th century. It was known that a flammable gas coul...
https://carnotcycle.wordpress.com/2024/01/01/thermodynamic-thoughts-on-coal-gas/
Measuring radon levels in indoor spaces needs a device such as the one illustrated which performs continuous monitoring. This is because levels can and do fluctuate considerably. While the short-...
https://carnotcycle.wordpress.com/2023/11/01/assessing-radon-risk-in-your-home/
In January 2020, this blog ran a post about Direct Air Capture (DAC), a somewhat misleading term that came into use for processes designed to extract carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. ...
Ever since the works of J. Willard Gibbs were first published, people have struggled to understand him. Back in 1892 Lord Rayleigh, by all accounts a capable physicist and mathematician, complain...
https://carnotcycle.wordpress.com/2023/06/01/the-official-guide-to-understanding-gibbs/
The above photograph shows the largest jet engine in commercial use at the time of writing (March 2023) – the General Electric GE9X high-bypass turbofan developed exclusively for the Boeing 777...
https://carnotcycle.wordpress.com/2023/04/01/atmospherics-and-jet-engine-performance/
In all the years I have been getting on airplanes, I have never really thought about the jet engines that provide the propulsion to fly me from A to B. Until one day not so long ago when I happen...
https://carnotcycle.wordpress.com/2023/02/01/thermodynamic-thoughts-on-jet-engines/
I am not a frequent flier, but I have spent enough time flying at altitude to start thinking about the difference in pressure between the air outside the window and the air inside the cabin. Exce...
https://carnotcycle.wordpress.com/2022/12/01/flying-high-thoughts-on-oxygen-supply-at-altitude/
One of the many statements of the Second Law of Thermodynamics is the following: Spontaneous changes are those which, if carried out under the proper conditions, can be made to do work. The probl...
Perovskite Solar Cells (PSCs) are a fast-advancing solar technology with a promising combination of high efficiency and low production costs. The big challenge for PSCs is long-term stability and...