July 18, 2009
jaytee:
A Space Shuttle Before Dawn
Space flight is so recent in human history. Why haven’t humans been able to do this sooner? And how much work do we have ahead of us?

Stop being lazy. Go learn rocket science.

jaytee:

A Space Shuttle Before Dawn

Space flight is so recent in human history. Why haven’t humans been able to do this sooner? And how much work do we have ahead of us?

Stop being lazy. Go learn rocket science.

June 10, 2008
June 6, 2008

Talked with Ron at Citibank

For the Citi mtvU Card Redemption Form, I can submit anything that shows my name, my school’s name, and my grades (e.g. USC’s STARS report).

May 14, 2008

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they attack you...

Remember Gandhi, first they ignore you; then they laugh at you; then they attack you; then you win. Go Dr. Paul. Remind everyone what it truly is to be American.

http://www.dailytrojan.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticleComments&ustory_id=86045b1a-8e58-4923-85bc-bf67a827ace8

May 13, 2008

High Gas Prices

High prices would encourage conservation better than any environmental regulations. Entrepreneurs would race to develop viable alternate fuels if gas prices rose too much.

What can Congress do to provide Americans with some relief at the pump?  First it can suspend federal gas taxes, which would save consumers nearly 20 cents per gallon.  In the long term, Congress must pass legislation like HR 4004, which I introduced earlier this month.  HR 4004 takes a comprehensive approach by allowing offshore drilling, eliminating regulations that restrict refining, and suspending harmful tax rules that discourage domestic oil production.  If we hope to have a stable, affordable supply of gas, we must allow the free market to operate. 

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/articles/853/a-free-market-in-gasoline/

April 29, 2008
jaytee:  Everytime I see this, I still laugh.

jaytee:

Everytime I see this, I still laugh.
April 18, 2008

Cause of high yield - Nuclear Bombs

The yield of 15 megatons was two and a half times what was expected. The cause of the high yield was a laboratory error made by designers of the device at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

It was expected that lithium-6 isotope would absorb a neutron from the fissioning plutonium, emit an alpha particle and tritium in the process, of which the latter would then fuse with deuterium (which was already present in the LiD) and increase the yield in a predicted manner.

The designers missed the fact that when the lithium-7 isotope (which was considered basically inert) is bombarded with high-energy neutrons, it absorbs a neutron then decomposes to form an alpha particle, another neutron, and a tritium nucleus. This means that much more tritium was produced than expected, and the extra tritium in fusion with deuterium (as well as the extra neutron from lithium-7 decomposition) produced many more neutrons than expected and induced more fission of the uranium tamper, increasing yield.

This resultant extra fuel (both lithium-6 and lithium-7) contributed greatly to the fusion reactions and neutron production, and in this manner greatly increased the device’s yield. The test used lithium with a high percentage of lithium-7 only because lithium-6 was (at the time) scarce and expensive; the later Castle Union test used almost pure lithium-6. Had more lithium-6 been available, the usability of the common lithium-7 might not have been discovered.