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Future of Maglev in the US Military
The Hippy of Death writes "An article at The Weekly Standard discusses the current maglev research being funded by the US military. From the article: 'But what if you could drastically reduce the amount of noise a ship makes directly at the source? ...Vibration & Sound Solutions Limited suggested placing mag-lev sensors at the source of the electromagnetic fields, such as motors. The idea was to actually levitate the machinery with an array of electromagnets while using a small amount of power.'"
As an engineer and scientist I oftentimes find myself excited about whatever technologies the military is funding. No, I'm not a proponent of destructive technologies -- even though military advancements oftentimes contribute to destruction (a topic for another conversation). But, what really excites me is the benefit to humanity that stems from such research.
While applying magnetic levitation technologies to engines is a rather roundabout solution, the research will improve humanities knowledge of such technologies in general, potentially expediting the timeframe in which you and I can reap the benefits. Who knows what the future will be? Perhaps we will see MagLev public transportation soon? Or perhaps air travel will be much quieter (now that would be enjoyable)... nevertheless research into the field is necessary.
One interesting note is that MagLev technologies are NOT that difficult to implement. It's really just a control system of an electromagnetic field. OK, so it is difficult, but its nothing new. What advancements we really NEED have to do with:
1.) Efficiency. Superconductivity will reduce the overall power / energy demands of the system.
2.) Reliability. What happens when the power goes out? Does the train / engine / whatever just fall to the ground? This is a BIG consideration.
3.) Safety. Does exposure to such large EM fields cause cancer?
4.) etc.
Despite all of the these concerns I am REALLY excited that this type of research is getting funding... at the very least it is a very practical application!
Well, thats enough for now.
Matthew Wong
http://www.themindofmatthew.com
The submitter didn't even get to the second page.
This technology was originally designed to dampen mechanical vibration in ships like the submitter said, but the Navy wasn't interested (probably because while that would be useful in a cold war, it's not too helpful in the war on terror).
What they're doing now, is using to cushion seats. The article claims some of the speedier boats they use to put marines ashore can pull 8Gs hopping over waves. So they use this technology along with wave height sensors and a fast processor to reduce it to 2-3Gs. Although this sounds new, it's basically the same technique as those active noise cancellation headphones only for lower frequencies and higher amplitudes.
Then the company is trying to expand by putting this into other vehicles like humvees and helicopters. (why in a helicopter?)
I know fools like you typically fail at math and logic and also rarely have a firm grasp on reality. Analyzing the actual dollars spent is worthless. What's important is $ per capita and as a percentage of a countries total GDP.
i g_percap
o rder/2034rank.html
Measured as $ per capita the US is #3 (behind Israel and Singapore):
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/mil_exp_dol_f
Measured as a percentage of GDP the US is #36:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rank
Random countries that spend more (as a % of the GDP): Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Singapore, China, Greece, Chile, Egypt
US Defense spending as percent of GDP from 1940-2000.
But I'm sure whatever you've learned in school (in whatever country you're from) doesn't cover these sort of things. Your ignorant leftist teachers just point out the the US is evil because it spends more money than other countries, as if that has a thread of logic to it.
"The blood of the people is the grease of the system." The more grease the system has, the more it produces; as long as the greasing is limited (limited warfare). War has solved some of the greatest problems ever conceived. As long as the relatively poor & uneducated continue to be at the front lines, the educated will have funding (biggest motivator) and purpose to overcome extremely difficult problems. War won't ever be right, but we wouldn't be where we are today without it.