Linear Variable Differential Transformers (LVDTs)

What is Linear Displacement Measurement?

Linear displacement is movement in one direction along a single axis. A position or linear displacement sensor is a device whose output signal represents the distance an object has traveled from a reference point. A displacement measurement also indicates the direction of motion.  A linear displacement typically has units of millimeters (mm) or inches (in.) and a negative or positive direction associated with it.

Microturbines

Introduction and Summary

Microturbines are small electricity generators that burn gaseous and liquid fuels to create highspeed rotation that turns an electrical generator. Today’s microturbine technology is the result of development work in small stationary and automotive gas turbines, auxiliary power equipment, and turbochargers, much of which was pursued by the automotive industry beginning in the 1950s. Microturbines entered field testing around 1997 and began initial commercial service in 2000.

New Trends in the Insulation Technology of Rotating High Voltage Machines

INTRODUCTION:
    The driving force of material and process development in the insulation technology of rotating high voltage machines has changed in the last five to ten years. Being mainly technology driven in the past, cost has become more and more the determining factor in the industry. Improvements in products or processing are only accepted if they reduce overall cost. On the other hand, high voltage motors and generators are long-life capital goods and a reduction in reliability cannot be tolerated. Any development of new insulating materials has to reflect these facts to be successful in the market.

Humidity changes color of birds' feathers, biologists discover

Tree swallows' iridescent feathers change from blue-green to muted yellow when exposed to humidity. The plumage reverses to previous color tones as humidity decreases.
    This discovery by Chad Eliason, a University of Akron integrated bioscience Ph.D. program student, and Dr. Matthew Shawkey, assistant professor of biology and integrated bioscience, is published in the Sept. 27 issue of Optics Express, the international journal of optics.
    The finding has implications ranging from technology (color and vapor sensors) to biology (mate choice), according to the researchers.

Gravitational interaction of antimatter

Abstract:
    This paper formulates gravitational interaction between matter and antimatter by applying the referenced model.
    Until now, there is no experimental evidence on the gravitational behaviour of antimatter. While we may be confident that antimatter attracts antimatter, we do not know anything on the interaction between matter and antimatter. We investigate this issue on theoretical grounds. Starting from the CPT invariance of physical laws, we transform matter into antimatter in the equations of both electrodynamics and gravitation. In the former case, the result is the well-known change of sign of the electric charge. In the latter, we find that the gravitational interaction between matter and antimatter is a mutual repulsion. This result supports cosmological models attempting to explain the Universe accelerated expansion in terms of a matter-antimatter symmetry.