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Modern X-ray detectors

Level of difficultyMedium
Reading time11 min
Views2K

Wilhelm Röntgen discovered X-ray November 8th 1895, when he did experiments with cathode rays in a vacuum tube. To capture and save images of the shadows from the X-rays, he used ordinary photoplates. Fortunately, sensitive to visible light silver based photoemulsions turned out to be sensitive to the X-ray too. These photoplates became the first X-ray detectors.

More than 100 years of scientific progress led to the creation of a number of various detectors for recording X-ray images. Developments of the microelectronics and semiconductor manufacturing technologies are crucial for development of the modern X-ray detectors. These detectors can transform the energy of the X-ray photon directly to the electrical signal. They allow capturing detailed, digital, high-resolution X-ray images.

Digital images are easy to work with. For example one can merge multiple macro images into an image of the whole object and represent monochrome images in false colors like Simon Procz did with this X-ray image of a flower he did in 2012.

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Total votes 2: ↑2 and ↓0+5
Comments0

Prospects for the development of modern GTP and an alternative way of their development

Level of difficultyMedium
Reading time14 min
Views253

We wrote this article in an attempt to figure out what technical level gas turbine installations are currently at, as well as to understand what the prospects for their development are. At the same time, in our manuscript, we tried to consider an alternative energy conversion scheme that will increase energy efficiency, which will allow for more efficient use of natural resources. We are not completely sure that the alternative scheme presented by us will be workable, since many factors that may affect its operation have not yet been investigated. But as the Chinese philosopher said, "you can't travel a thousand li without taking the first step." We ask the Habr community to read our article, we hope for a constructive conversation.

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Total votes 1: ↑1 and ↓0+1
Comments0

What is to see under the Black Sun of Giedi Prime?

Level of difficultyEasy
Reading time6 min
Views1.5K

The director Denis Villeneuve and cinematographer Greig Fraser in their Dune: Part Two movie made a curious decision to film the scenes on the surface of the Giedi Prime planet in the infrared spectrum. It turned out to have interesting aesthetics and there are some interesting related physics to discuss and speculate about how realistic the look of it is.

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Total votes 5: ↑5 and ↓0+7
Comments0

Unveiling the Technological Odyssey: Evolution of Weather Forecasting

Level of difficultyEasy
Reading time3 min
Views289

Weather forecasting has come a long way from the days of observing the sky and relying on folklore to predict upcoming conditions. Advancements in technology have revolutionized how we perceive, understand, and forecast weather patterns. From the early barometers to modern satellites and supercomputers, each innovation has significantly enhanced our ability to predict weather accurately. Let's take a journey through the evolution of weather forecasting technology and explore how it has transformed over the years.

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Total votes 2: ↑2 and ↓0+3
Comments0

Symphony of Clouds: Interpreting Nature's Weather Signals

Level of difficultyEasy
Reading time3 min
Views261

In the vast expanse of the sky, clouds weave an intricate tapestry that holds invaluable insights into the workings of our atmosphere. Far from being mere adornments adrift on the winds, clouds are dynamic entities that serve as indispensable harbingers of weather patterns. Their varied forms and movements offer a window into the ever-changing conditions of our atmosphere, allowing meteorologists to unravel the mysteries of weather forecasting with increasing precision.

Clouds, in their multitude of shapes and sizes, provide vital clues about atmospheric conditions, from temperature and humidity to air pressure and wind patterns. By understanding the different types of clouds and their characteristics, meteorologists can decipher the language of the skies, predicting everything from clear skies to impending storms.

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Total votes 2: ↑2 and ↓0+3
Comments0

Unveiling Switzerland: A Must-Visit Travel List

Level of difficultyEasy
Reading time4 min
Views432

Switzerland: the very name conjures up images of pristine alpine landscapes, picturesque villages, and a sense of tranquility that seems to permeate the very air you breathe. It's a country that's often synonymous with beauty, precision, and adventure. Whether you're a nature enthusiast, a history buff, or simply seeking to indulge in some of the finest chocolates and cheeses the world has to offer, Switzerland has something for everyone. So, if you're planning a trip to this enchanting land, here's a curated list of must-visit destinations and experiences that will make your journey truly unforgettable. 

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Total votes 2: ↑1 and ↓1+2
Comments0

Chasing a dream: How to become Adventure Builder and make giant spider robot with your own hands

Level of difficultyEasy
Reading time12 min
Views485

Have you ever wondered how difficult it is to turn something you have in mind into a real product? For example, would you be surprised to see someone controlling a huge iron robot spider that can turn on the spot and walk obediently to his pilot's directions?

To realize his idea, this persistent designer overcame many obstacles: he invented the mechanism himself, mastered the skills of aluminum welding, laser cutting, 3D printing, created a reduced prototype and built one. His project stands out even among the most interesting self-made devices you've read about.

Please sit back and relax while reading this rather lengthy article. During the scrolling through, you will learn about some remarkable inventor and his resourcefulness, irrepressible life energy and practical advice to help you realize your dreams, and someone, perhaps, will be pushed to tell about his own project.

Become the adventure builder
Total votes 3: ↑3 and ↓0+3
Comments0

Interview with Stephanie Planque from Covalent Bioscience

Reading time8 min
Views614

What is ageing? We can define ageing as a process of accumulation of the damage which is just a side-effect of normal metabolism. While researchers still poorly understand how metabolic processes cause damage accumulation, and how accumulated damage causes pathology, the damage itself – the structural difference between old tissue and young tissue – is categorized and understood pretty well. By repairing damage and restoring the previous undamaged – young – state of an organism, we can really rejuvenate it! It sounds very promising, and so it is. And for some types of damage (for example, for senescent cells) it is already proved to work!

Today in our virtual studio, somewhere between cold, rainy Saint-Petersburg and warm, sunny Huston, we meet Stephanie Planque! For those of you who are not familiar with her, here is a brief introduction.

Stephanie Planque was awarded the PhD in 2009 by the University of Texas-Houston Medical School for her advances in applying electrophilic analogs of proteins to decipher the beneficial and harmful functional effects of catabodies. She then expanded her focus to vaccination and therapeutic catabody identification using proprietary electrophilic target analogs. Her work was published in 49 peer-reviewed scientific articles, she has numerous national/international conference presentations. She moved fulltime as a co-founder to Covalent Bioscience in 2018 to focus on rapidly translating their electrophilic vaccine/catabody technologies to clinical reality.

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Total votes 4: ↑3 and ↓1+3
Comments0

Uniform gravity, can it exist?

Level of difficultyMedium
Reading time3 min
Views1.1K

3.What's an ugly smiling face?

It's the cat from curved space.

V. Komen, I. Tikhonenkov

Here we are discussing in general the majority of metrics for a stationary gravitation fields in one dimension. The only accepted approach so far to apply the equations of field (A. Einstein):

10
Total votes 3: ↑2 and ↓1+2
Comments0

Uniform gravity, can it exist?

Level of difficultyMedium
Reading time3 min
Views989

Uniform gravity, can it exist?

1. The motion of a free particle-like cat

V. Komen, I. Tikhonenkov

Good morning! You've woke up. Having prepared coffee and toasts of bread you are drifting from a kitchen to a table before a large wall TV. The left hand keeps a small plate with toasts and the right one controls coffee level within your beloved mug. The life is plotted out for ten seconds to come. But Ervin is already worried that you, as usual, made conspiracy and decided not to share your breakfast with him. So the damned cat thrusts himself across you pass, hits your legs. By the next moment the plate, toasts and the mug are falling. And – yes! All those precious things reached a floor level by the same time. Physics...It's how it shows up, unexpected. And we used to identify ourselves as physicists. The unexpected thing is that we still do. It's whence our motivation originates. We cannot pass by any falling objects quietly.

15
Total votes 2: ↑2 and ↓0+2
Comments0

Langton's ant: a mystery cellular automaton

Reading time4 min
Views2.8K

The life of Langton's Ant seems sad and lonely, but, as we'll soon discover, he is not ready to put up with such an outrageous situation and is trying his best to escape. American scientist Christopher Langton invented his ant back in 1986. Since then, no one has been able to explain the strange behavior of this mysterious model...

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Total votes 8: ↑8 and ↓0+8
Comments3

The Collatz conjecture is the greatest math trick of all time

Reading time4 min
Views3.5K

On the Internet and in non-fiction literature you can often find various mathematical tricks. The Collatz conjecture leaves all such tricks behind. At first glance, it may seem like some kind of a trick with a catch. However, there is no catch. You think of a number and repeat one of two arithmetic operations for it several times. Surprisingly, the result of these actions will always be the same. Or, may be not always?

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Total votes 7: ↑7 and ↓0+7
Comments2

PyGMTSAR is Next Generation Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) Software for Everyone

Reading time6 min
Views2.8K

Do you need to produce satellite interferometry results for your work or study? Or should you find the way to process terabytes of radar data on your common laptop? Maybe you aren't confident about the installation and usage of the required software. Fortunately, there is the next generation of satellite interferometry products available for you. Beginners can build the results easily and advanced users might work on huge datasets. Open Source software PyGMTSAR is available on GitHub for developers and on DockerHub for advanced users and on Google Colab for everyone. This is the cloud-ready product, and it works the same as do you run it locally on your old laptop as on powerful cloud servers.


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Total votes 1: ↑1 and ↓0+1
Comments0

Conceptogram as a method to create more effective technical documentation

Reading time5 min
Views1.2K

Konstantin Kotelnik, an analyst at Innotech, ponders over making technical documentation easier to understand for developers and helping the clip-thought generation work effectively with large quantities of data. Read the article to find out about the potential emergence of a graphical IT-Esperanto and the standardisation of technical language.

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Total votes 2: ↑2 and ↓0+2
Comments0

Common misconceptions about space-grade integrated circuits

Reading time27 min
Views21K

Space exploration was always fascinating, and recent developments have reignited the interest to the heights never seen since the last man stood on the Moon. People argue about Mars exploration and features of spaceships as their grandparents would’ve done if the internet existed fifty years ago. I’m an electronics engineer working in the aerospace industry, so I know a thing or two about the technical background of this stuff — and I see that these things aren’t common knowledge, and people often have significantly skewed ideas about the reasons behind many things and decisions. Namely, I’d love to speak of some misconceptions about radiation hardened integrated circuits and the means of protection from radiation-induced damage.

So, let's start our journey
Total votes 15: ↑15 and ↓0+15
Comments35

Tensodrone that do not break, and what does architecture, robotic manipulator and copter have in common

Reading time8 min
Views1.7K
We had ten broken drones in a year, test flights twice a day, three PhDs in the team, a prototype of sushi sticks and a desire to find a way to stop hitting drones.

Very controversial, very unusual, very strange, but it works! At the intersection of architecture, collaborative robotics and unmanned aerial vehicles. 

Introducing: Tensodrone™.



Tensodrone is a multi-rotor UAV of a new design with collision protection, made on the principle of tensegrity. This approach allows for the combination of the protective cage and the airframe in one structure, increasing impact resistance with less weight. The project is a vivid example of the interaction of various teams of the Center for Competences of the National Technology Initiative in the field of «Robotics and Mechatronics» established at the Innopolis University in 2018.
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