Tom Vales, a professor at Suffolk University, kindly came in and talked to us about several devices that use different types of energy.

The first example was a Stirling engine, named after Robert Stirling in 1816.

It was invented as a substitute for steam engine. Steam engines were used for running water/mills, however, it wasn’t the best quality or most efficient. The machine would even fracture and blow up! High pressure steam could severely injure people.

The engine is a hot air engine that moves hot and cold air to generate heat. So, it works on differential in temperature and a difference of 4 degrees makes the engine run. It is comprised of a displacer and a power piston and is about 80% efficient. It is used for pumping water and many other applications.

The second example was the Peltier engine. This engine uses two dissimilar metals, bismuth and copper, joined together. Once you apply heat to one side and cold to another, it generates electricity. However this device is not very efficient, it is actually under 40%. The most popular use is for computers, used to cool down internal components.

The next example is a Mendocino motor, named after the place where it was invented Mendocino California. This engine has 4 solar cells and 2 coils of wire. As light hits the solar cell it generates current, which then reacts with field magnet and turns the cell 90 degrees. It keeps turning and starts the process over, keeping the cell in perpetual motion. It floats due to electric levitation.

We also used a piezo igniter, similar to gas grill ignitor. Inside is small piece of quartz crystal with wires attached. The button (igniter) pushes on the face of the crystal. If you squueze it in one direction, the crystal generates voltage on the other side. It is used on radio transmitters. The piezoelectric effect is understood as the linear electromechanical interaction between the mechanical and the electrical state in crystalline materials with no inversion symmetry. Piezoelectricity is found in useful applications such as the production and detection of sound, or generation of high voltages.

We proceeded to talk about Nikola Tesla, which was an inventor, engineer, physicist, and futurist with over 700 patents, but is best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electrical supply system. Professor Vales preached about how Tesla was an unsung heroe and much greater than Edison. He could have made millions but only cared about inventing. Vales brought in a Tesla Coil, which was primarily built to conduct wireless energy. At high frequencies, the skin effect is created, which sends signals right over your skin, so you dont even feel it. The coil also turns a light bulb into plasma globe. Early doctors believed it had medicinal powers so it was used on patients for various reasons, however, it did absolutely nothing.

The nuclear disaster was a series of unfortunate events that occured at the Fukushima I Nuclear power plant propelled by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in March of 2011. It was the largest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl and the second to measure a level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale. Such an event should have been predicted and planned for, although officials found gaps in the plants safety procedures. Even though there was a natural disaster that fueled this unfortunate situation, this event was ruled as a man-made disaster since it could have been prevented.

Chairman Kiyoshi Kurokawa stated, “Its fundamental causes are to be found in the ingrained conventions of Japanese culture: our reflexive obedience; our reluctance to question authority; our devotion to ‘sticking with the program’; our groupism; and our insularity.”

The Tepco Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident was the result of collusion between the government, the regulators and Tepco. They effectively betrayed the nation’s right to be safe from nuclear accidents. The main problems were deficiencies in their regulatory and organizational systems and the lack of developing basic safety requirements. This was not caused by the incompetency of any one individual, but rather, the whole organization, “Had there been a higher level of knowledge, training, and equipment inspection related to severe accidents, and had there been specific instructions given to the on-site workers concerning the state of emergency within the necessary time frame, a more effective accident response would have been possible…Sections in the diagrams of the severe accident instruction manual were missing.”

Safety procedures that could have been taken to prevent a disaster in case of an emergency, like the tsunami:

• Protecting emergency power supplies, including diesel generators and batteries, by moving them to higher ground or by placing them in watertight bunkers
• Establishing watertight connections between emergency power supplies and key safety systems
• Enhancing the protection of seawater pumps and/or constructing a backup means to dissipate heat

The total release from the entire Fukushima disaster, in terms of Cesium-137(which along with strontium-90 are the two primary substances preventing Chernobyl being inhabited), is approximately 1.5 × 10¹⁶ becquerels (Bq) of Cesium-137 released.

Becquerel (Bq)

• One disintegration per second of a radioactive material, also defined as “The activity of a quantity of a radioactive material in which one nucleus decays per second.”

The cleanup operation will take decades and may cost hundreds of billions of dollars.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18718486

http://carnegieendowment.org/files/fukushima.pdf

The Severity of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster: Comparing Chernobyl and Fukushima