Santa Claus. Kwanzaa-bot. The Hanukkah zombie. Icons all.
But I guess the question on most people's minds are, do we need them?
By them, I mean symbols. Symbols of our holidays and our culture, of our society, of who we are as humans. Many would argue that in the year 2008, we're above such silly and cartoonish images. We should be about logic and reason.
But I would say not. Such symbols are apart of who we are. They may not be embraced by all, but to deny their place in our culture would be ludicrous.
Humans are social animals, and much of our culture comes from story telling. Whether the story is still applicable in today's world doesn't matter. People don't say that the Greek story of Prometheus stealing fire from the gods and bringing it down to man is a story that should be gotten rid of, just because we know how to make fire and acknowledge that is only a story.
Modern myth and fantasy are crucial to our society. Not everyone will always believe, but those who do truly appreciate the mythos for what it is. It is a story to help us as humans, and give us insight into ourselves and our nature.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Time to make titanium
Titanium. One of the elements of the periodic table. A valuable metal used for many different things, due to it's strength and light weight.
But what most people don't know is why titanium so valuable. It's not that rare of an ore, in fact it's probably more common than some other metals. What makes is so valuable is because it's hard to melt it down successfully. Titanium has to be melted in an oxygen free environment or else it will catch fire during the process, getting it into a vacuum to melt it down is what's expensive.
But there's been a method found to melt titanium successfully that you could do at your own home, though it is not recommended.
The process is known as thermite reduction, a method commonly used for welding train tracks. Essentially, it is just a reaction between iron dioxide and aluminum that yields a liquid version of that metal. So the theory was to swap the iron dioxide for titanium. But in the intended reaction, there is not enough heat released to melt the titanium.
So a solution was found in the form of additional aluminum(powdered) and calcium sulfate(drywall plaster) to add additional heat to the reaction to successfully melt everything. You also need to add some ground fluorite powder to protect the titanium from the oxygen during the reaction. Oh, and all of this should be done in an old flower pot.
Will I ever do this? Probably not. Am I excited knowing that I could? Extremely.
http://www.popsci.com/node/30347
But what most people don't know is why titanium so valuable. It's not that rare of an ore, in fact it's probably more common than some other metals. What makes is so valuable is because it's hard to melt it down successfully. Titanium has to be melted in an oxygen free environment or else it will catch fire during the process, getting it into a vacuum to melt it down is what's expensive.
But there's been a method found to melt titanium successfully that you could do at your own home, though it is not recommended.
The process is known as thermite reduction, a method commonly used for welding train tracks. Essentially, it is just a reaction between iron dioxide and aluminum that yields a liquid version of that metal. So the theory was to swap the iron dioxide for titanium. But in the intended reaction, there is not enough heat released to melt the titanium.
So a solution was found in the form of additional aluminum(powdered) and calcium sulfate(drywall plaster) to add additional heat to the reaction to successfully melt everything. You also need to add some ground fluorite powder to protect the titanium from the oxygen during the reaction. Oh, and all of this should be done in an old flower pot.
Will I ever do this? Probably not. Am I excited knowing that I could? Extremely.
http://www.popsci.com/node/30347
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
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