Erina

I read the following comment on a Telegraph article about Hydrogen power, and the conversation swayed on to Global Warming, and wanted to know if what was written was factually true: The most abundant greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere in decreasing order are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, Chlorofluorocarbons, Hydrofluorocarbons and Perfluorocarbons. Some points that may be of interest: • Without any greenhouse gases, the average temperature of Earth's surface would be about −18 °C, rather than the current average of 15 °C. • The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has increased by almost 50%, from 280 ppm in 1750 to 419 ppm in 2021. The last time the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide was this high was over 3 million years ago. • Carbon Dioxide is only 0.04%, and the other greenhouse gases only make up 0.1% of the Earth’s atmosphere. • Water vapour is the main greenhouse gas element, but it would be hard to live without clouds and rain. It contributes between 36% to 72% to the greenhouse gas effect. Carbon dioxide contributes between 9% to 26%. Methane contributes between 4% to 9% and Ozone 3% to 7%. • Water vapour only has a ‘residency’ of about 9 days. The other gases stay in the atmosphere for much longer. Thus, the other gases have a much greater impact. This is the reason why carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are targeted as they have greater concentrations than the fluorocarbons and stay much longer in the atmosphere than water vapour. • Some gases have a cooling effect, such as sulphur dioxide. Unfortunately, sulphur dioxide (along with nitrogen dioxide) caused acid rain and has been removed from emissions to reduce the impact of acid rain since the 1970s. perhaps the reduction in sulphur dioxide is part of the global warming problem. But putting sulphur dioxide back into the atmosphere is not a good idea. It's not the political position that I am interested in, just the science. Also, if anybody can reference to a primary source on these points that would save me the trouble

I recall a while back now that between them both MIT and Harvard were working on coatings to create a frictionless surface, most notably demonstrated by extracting the last of the ketchup in a bottle: Since 2012 nothing much has come of it. However, predating that back in 2009 there has been continuous experimentation with using a femtolaser to etch into materials to give them hydrophobic properties, so that no new material need be added : http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=3387 I would like to know, for example in an aluminium food can, if any of the metal were to chip away, would that be safe to imbibe or ingest ? Rusted metal will not kill you, even if it touches the foodstuff (a benefit of the surface treatment is that the foodstuff doesn't come into contact with it, as it literally sits on air, and so cannot corrode the material), but I was concerned with respiratory inhalation of stray aluminium particles ?

I have an electric blanket which works on the bassis of halves i.e. my wife and I can control our respective half of the bed, very much like how an induction hob works, it really is night and day. This system as such requires two power outlets to plug into, and whilst we have two available nearby power outlets in the wall, we use a single power plug and I was wondering how safe this was ? The reading I get from one plug (i.e. half of the electric blanket) on the favoured medium setting is: • Volts : 233.8 • Amps : 0.212~0.267 • Watts (hi) : 0.1 • Watts (low) : 61.3 If you could imagine a doubling of this on one plug socket, how safe would this be ? More to the point what is “safe”, and how do I calculate it please ?

Trapped Helium, Nitrogen, Neon and Krypton gasses visually react most unoformly when placed inside an electromagnetic induction field, but they all glow in their respective colours. In order to control the colour outputted a compound e.g. copper chloride can be placed at the discharge point. Although Helium cannot bind to anything, Nitrogen can apparently bind to a boron-based molecule, so would it be possible to combine a gas with a compound to control the colour emitted when exposed to the magnetic field ?

Time. I just don't have it. On a science forum there will likely be those with the knowledge to give me well known names to check up on. Don't troll, just be helpful.

I have been looking into the technique of extracting plant oils with CO2 gas in a controlled atmospheric environment. Usually, plants are steam distilled to extract what is known as essential oils form the plant, but this is not always possible, however with CO2 extraction it can, and with more control. The problem is that there are not a lot of commercial options available, as yet, on the market for this technique, and those which are command a higher price for the same plant. Are there any UK based CO2 extration facilities that could handle volume ?

I read discouraging views about the soap nuts. Interesting.

Can a pankacke wound Tesla coil, used for magnetic induction, be printed on a PCB, much like the following: I understand that the opposing tracks cancel out the magnetic field in this Bifilar arrangement, but even in parallel, does a magnetic field need to be created by a tightly wound wire, or can it be wafer thin as on a PCB please ? To be clear, I am looking to the pass photons through to small pico lights at a reasonable distance of around fifteen centimetres above the transmitter

Hey, no one voted in the poll ! What about red and white, both instinctively lean toward their use i.e. red is always live, and white is neutral (like between the Irish flag). There doesn't seem to be a conflict between the two colours. If completely colour blind then I don't think it wise to fit plugs in the first place, but even then, a vertical length wards stripe along the live would give further differentiation.

For myself I never understood the relationship of Brown and Blue wires in the BS1363 plug, which Britain adopted from the EU standard. It may cost money, may also infuriate some, but I feel that Red for live, and Black for neutral makes more sense. Would it not make more sense to switch back to those colours, is it not more instinctive ?

Would it be fair to say that there is a similar approach in thinking between Laminar flow and how a laser behaves i.e. all things “pulling together”. I understand Laminar flow to be fluid particles following in smooth adjacent layers with little or no mixing. Whilst optical light waves pass in a coherent frequency and waveform to focus light on to a tight spot, essentially “all pulling together”. How can the two definitions be brought together ? I tried looking this up from the water side of things, and came across diffusion when paired with fluid flow, is this how flow is measured i.e. calculated by how much resistance it is met with, I don’t think light is measured like that ? I’m not really sure, but I’m interested..

So no then. Well, why do folk bang on about letting the sunlight clean clothes ?

I'm placing this under organic because it pertains to Britains former colliery waterways. Is it possible to add Flocculants to Britains former colliery spoil waterways to rejuvenate them back to their original state ? I understand that soft rock on the British coastline will contain sediment, along with limestone, which will give the water a natural cloudy appearance, but there is still much colliery spoil that could be dealt with. There is a wonderful video here of something similar being done in a river bordering Peru and Bolivia : If it were that easy then surely the U.K. government (given the chemistry was invented by a British Chemist, one Philip Souter) should have chosen to do so ? Are these things ever that easy ?

I suppose the answer is yes, but if so then why don't more people do it ? Not everybody washes their clothes every day, so this could be a really good option to make them last longer. I know that it was popular one time to microwave underwear, so it's not like there isn't a market for it. Take towels for example. Most folk don't live inside a hotel, so they don't have new towels every day, and once the towels are exposed to the heat and moisture in the air bacteria begins to grow, perhaps that would be a good example of using UV light. So is it worth getting a couple of lamps to maybe blast clothes after a wash, just to be sure, or for accent clothing like scarves and gloves that don't often get washed.

I like to experiment. I had it on hand so I tried and and just didn't think anything of it, ordering it time after time. Besides, it was all-bills-included at that place anyway. I checked the prices and they're the same, so I think it's a good idea. However, what does it do to complement the soap, with the ingredients listed above regarding washing clothes ?

So it's the energy from the conversion process persuades everything but the most stubborn to come its way, like Genghis Khan and his army passing through.

So it's settled, I don't need to concern myself with Sodium Tetraborate (Boron, Sodium, and Oxygen) and can, at first, focus on the soap's ingredients, along with the Sodium Bicarbonate. I used to heat NaHCO3 in the oven to >200ºC, which would make it a lot lighter, as it would dissolve in water better, was that Na2CO3 ? I did it because I used to live in a hard water area, but could never be sure if it really did the job better, and when I moved, it was an extra step I just stopped. What would the Sodium Bicarbonate do in tandem with the soap in the wash that the soap itself could not do, what is its function ?

Apologies, I don't know what my problem is. That should have read : "So what is going on, are the solids dissolving into the liquid?"

I found that in 14 litres of tap water 4tbsp of bicarbonate of soda will remain stable at pH8. @studiot : I read bad reviews on the soaps nuts, perhaps they need to be incorporated into a soap mix rather than thrown into the washing machine ? @chenbeier : What kind of Butter, Almond Butter ? Rapeseed Oil left me a little uneasy after reading how it is made : https://www.smartholistics.co.uk/news-blog/the-dark-side-of-rapeseed-oil/ I've seen recipes online calling for three main ingredients: • NaHCO₃ • Soap : https://www.thesoapery.co.uk/collections/melt-and-pour-soap-bases/products/castile-liquid-soap-base-organic • Borax (Sodium Tetraborate : boron, sodium, and oxygen) The soap I am most comfortable with is from the Castle brand, which contains Aqua, Potassium Oleate, Potassium Cocoate, Glycerin, Potassium Citrate, Citric Acid. I think I’ll skip the Borax as it cannot be ingested (even though it can apparently be used for toothpaste?!) and just go with Bicarb and the Castle soap. TOTAL INGREDIENT LIST • NaHCO₃ • Aqua • Potassium Oleate • Potassium Cocoate • Glycerin • Potassium Citrate • Citric Acid That’s a lot of changes ! How does that compare to Persil now ? • Potassium Oleate : an emulsifier/surfactant to prevent separation. • Potassium Cocoate : a natural surfactant, which spreads molecules apart to reduce surface tension and release trapped dirt and grease. • Glycerin : a humectant to allow the skin to breathe and not dry out. • Potassium Citrate : I cannot be sure, it’s either a fire suppressant or the same thing as Citric Acid ?! • Citric Acid : balancing agent and preservative. nb. Chemical company Triveni Interchem reports that dead bodies of bees and Pogonomyrmex ants emit potassium oleate as they decay. Other insects respond to the smell of this chemical by removing the body of the dead insect from the nest or hive. If you brush the body of a live bee or ant with oleic acid, other insects will remove it from the hive or nest as if it were dead. ref : https://healthfully.com/side-effects-of-sodium-carbonate-6166685.html This isn’t too bad of a list, and I shall try it without the Borax, what do you think ? I also found some Shea Butter for a decent price, but I don’t think that I need it with the Castle Soap : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shea-Butter-1kg-Refined-Natural/dp/B07G2J7758/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=the+soapery+butter&qid=1628710353&sr=8-7 I would like to add some fragrance, in the form of an essential oil, but being volatile there's not much point.

I have been relying on washing my clothes with bicarbonate of soda and white vinegar (separately) for a few years now, and wondering now if it’s actually leaving my clothes as clean as I thought ? I cannot send a sample off to a lab to be tested for bacterial growth, so I thought that I would go though Persil’s ingredients list to see what they were using and how they justified it, as well as how Bicarbonate of Soda and White Vinegar compares ? I originally went this route to cut out all the man made chemicals that I didn’t understand. If I understand them better, I may well make my own washing powder, just with the least amount of chemicals to get the job done. HOW I PRESENTLY DEFINE CLEAN • No musty odour (bacteria) HOW I PRESENTLY WASH MY CLOTHES • Soak towels in a tub overnight in 10-14 litres of water, with 500ml of White Vinegar (Acetic Acid : 5%) @ pH 4-5 • Wash in a 40ºC cycle to rinse away the vinegar (already having achieved all it can in the tub overnight) • Throw in 2tbsp of Bicarbonate of Soda into a second 40ºC cycle • Dry on a radiator in one day, or line-drying WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW • Assess whether the clothes contain Bacteria or Fungi which is acidphile, neutrophile or alkophile in order to know how to treat them • How to destroy Bacteria / Fungi with the least amount of chemical compounds and not leave them dormant • Soap (sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide) breaks the cell walls of bacteria, can bicarbonate of soda emulate that, or come close ? WHAT I ALREADY HAVE A BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF • The NHS recommends washing clothes at 60ºC to kill bacteria, but 90ºC leaves no stone unturned. However, only cottons can take that temperature, so I need a chemical solution • White Vinegar (Acetic Acid : ~5%) may not be enough to kill bacteria and could even be a food source for them, leaving them dormant (whilst soaking, separately from the bicarb) • Soaps and detergents contain strong surfactants which are much better at destroying the lipid bilayers of Bacteria • A virus has no metabolism so it cannot produce smell, the smell is Bacteria e.g. from a towel Now I know that bicarbonate on it’s own cannot compete, but how much better is a commercial option versus a far more basic compound in a 60ºC wash ? PERSIL : SURFACANTS • C12-15 Pareth-7 : An ingredient which helps to clean or remove dirt and oil, creating foam when used with water • MEA-Hydrogenated Cocoate : An ingredient which helps to clean or remove dirt and oil, creating foam when used with water • MEA-Dodecylbenzenesulfonate : An ingredient which helps to clean or remove dirt and oil, creating foam when used with water • Sodium Lauryl Sulfate : An ingredient which helps to clean or remove dirt and oil, creating foam when used with water ref : https://www.unilever.co.uk/wiop/products/persil/persil-3in1-biological-detergent-capsules.html How does Sodium Bicarbonate compare with the above surfacants ?

Do what's going on is the solid is dissolving into a liquid ?

It was me. I'm surprised that the forum doesn't allow for folk to see that.

Perhaps Diffractive Optics has something to do with it ? It was Czech : http://rayform.ch/lumieresucree ...actually it was at the EPFL, so it was a Swiss invention after all : https://lgg.epfl.ch/publications/2012/caustics/ArchitecturalCaustics_AAG.pdf

Yes, and I don't know where it went, I just can't find it with any keyword searches. The glass looks clear, but the company logo is projected onto the wall. One would have expected the company to better market themselves. I was sure that it was Swiss ?

I think that there is a Swiss company that can etch any company logo or text into glass in such a manner that the glass appears clear to the human eye, until light projects the image on to a surface behind it. I just can't find that company, is this real or did I imagine it ?