Last week in class we enjoyed a presentation by Mr. Tom
Vales. He is an inventor, scientist, and Suffolk University Professor. Mr.
Vales brought with him many cool gadgets and performed demonstrations of these
for our class where we got to see actual science and innovation in action!

The first thing that Mr. Vales shared with us was called the
Peltier Device.  This is depicted below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This device looks almost like a fan and runs simply because
one cup has hot water and the other has cold.

Next up was the Sterling Engine aka the hot air engine. This was invented by Reverend
Sterling in 1816 for steam engines. This device was also used in submarines because
it served as a quiet power source. Mr. Vales also shared that in Maine the
Sterling Engine is even used to generate energy for some parts of the state.
When used as an energy source it is 80% efficient which is remarkable. This
device runs on a temperature differential and as  you can see is very handy and versatile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. Vales also talked about the traditional BBQ lighter and
how it is a mechanism composed of quartz crystal and 2 wires. It is actually
called the Piezoelectric BBQ lighter so you can share that tidbit with all of
your friends and family that at your next cookout!
Another interesting demonstration was  seeing the Mendocino Motor in action. It is
basically a floating magnet that’s shaft sits on a magnetic field. When light
shines on the device it will spin. Mr. Vales shared with us that although many
say that this device has no real practical use or function it actually does
because it is a fantastic teaching tool to teach about solar energy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final demonstration, and my personal favorite was the
Tesla Coil. This device is what gave us the power grid so it is a pretty
profound invention. This was just a small Tesla coil but they can be extremely
large as well. All the coil is, is bent copper magnet wire around a hollow
bucket which is connected to on oscillator. One neat thing about the energy
given off by the coil is that if something is held up to the spark by a person
they will not get shocked. This is because the energy can’t effect the skin
because it does not run through it just over it. But, if you were to touch the
actual spark with your hand you would get burned! Mr. Vales held objects like a
glass tube filled with neon and nuclear vapor up to the spark coming out of the
coil and it would light up. I really liked when he help up the plasma dome to
the coil and this demonstration is depicted below:

 

 

 

 

 

The Indian Point nuclear plant is located in Buchanan, New
York. The first reactor at the plant was built run in 1962 and since then the
plant has been the main source of electricity for NYC and the suburbs around
it. Recently however, there have been a lot of problems at the plant which has
caused it to come under fit; now there is a great debate on whether or not the
plant should remain open. Next I will outline for you the pros and cons of
shutting down Indian Point nuclear plant.

Pros:

– Shutting down the plant would mean the state would be
forced to come up with new ways to provide energy to its inhabitants. This
would mean that energy policy would change and hopefully for the better; where
more earth friendly and sustainable sources would be put into practice.

-Nuclear plants can be very dangerous as illustrated by the
Fukishima disaster in Japan (see previous blog post)

-It is unrealistic to believe that if there was some type of
disaster where the area around the plant had to be evacuated that individuals
would be able to in a safe and timely manner without any problems occurring.
Therefore if the plant were to be shutdown this type of situation could be
avoided.

-If the plant could feasibly be replaced with renewable energy
sources such as solar or wind power plants this would be greatly beneficial for
the environment.

Cons:

-Because the plant supplies such a large amount of energy;
2,000 megawatts to 25% of NYC and the surrounding county an alternative plan
would take years to come up with.

-Implementing a replacement method would be very difficult
and expensive.

-There would be a lot more power failures experienced by New
Yorkers if the plant were to be shutdown.

-Dismantling reactors is a tough job and rather expensive.
This is because they are made up of huge parts and radioactive material as well.
It is estimated that the cost to decommission only one reactor would be a cost
of 4 million to 1 billion dollars.

-Radioactive contamination that may occur from the
dismantling of the reactors could pose a threat in safety to those in the area.

-The plant could be replaced with other controversial power
supply options like a natural gas plant which has its own list of environmental
cons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

References:

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/i/indian_point_nuclear_power_plant_ny/index.html

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/03/surviving-without-indian-point-is-it-doable/

2/01/13/nyregion/vision-for-cheap-power-even-if-indian-point-nuclear-plant-is-closed.html?_r=1&ref=atomicenergy

We are rather fortunate that we are living and going to
school in a place like Boston where we have all of these amazing learning tools
right around the corner from us. A prime example of this is how MIT is just one
T-stop and short walk away from us. I am really glad that our class got the
chance to go on the MIT Fusion Lab Tour because I learned and saw things that I
never had before.

The tour started with us learning a little background
information on what fusion actually is; which before this I really had no clue!
Since a young age I was taught that there are three states that matter can be
found in; a solid, liquid, and gas. Leave it to an MIT student to teach me that
there is a fourth state of matter, PLASMA. Matter changes from one state to the
next by a process of heat/energy being added to it so, when heat/ energy is
added to gaseous matter it turns into plasma. Plasma is what is manipulated in
a fusion reaction and that is why it is so important.

 

 

 

 

 

We know that the process of fusion occurs naturally in the
sun and stars. This process is actually what keeps these celestial bodies lit
up. By studying these natural fusion processes scientists have been working tirelessly
to recreate the same thing in a lab setting. This is what the MIT Fusion Lab is doing.

MIT’s most remarkable device is Alcator C-mod which is a tokamak.
Tokamak in Russian means toroidal magnetic chamber. This device confines plasma
in a doughnut shape and operated with a really strong magnetic field. At the
MIT Fusion Lab they work with this device in the hopes of containing nuclear
power; the same process as aforementioned that powers our sun and stars. Being
able to do this would be hugely beneficial because fusion produces very little
waste and would provide a nearly limitless supply of energy. This would be a
great direction for the world to move in because it would help us with many of
the current problems we are dealing with when it comes to sustainability and
global warming.

Here are some pictures I took while the tour:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Above is a picture of the control room which would got to spend a lot of time in)