Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Swoop on August 20, 2002, 03:34:36 AM
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ok, ok, argumentative title cos I'm in a mood this morning, just read the article, it's cool.
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Boffins at Britain's Ministry of Defence have invented an electric 'force field' designed to protect armoured vehicles against anti-tank grenades.
The 'electrical armour' is designed to vaporise copper projectiles released from grenades on impact before they are able to penetrate a tank's inner hull, the Daily Telegraph reports. The idea is to make tanks less vulnerable to anti-tank launchers, such the RPG-7, which is commonly and cheaply available in the world's trouble spots, such as Afghanistan.
When armaments like RPG-7 grenades hit a tank, a "shaped-charge" warhead blasts a jet of hot copper into a target at around 1,000mph - capable of slicing through a foot of conventional solid steel armour.
The new electric armour is based on a highly charged capacitor connected to two separate metal plates on the tank's exterior. The outer (armour-plated) plate is earthed while the insulated inner plate is live.
When the crew of a tank feel they are under danger, they switch on current to the inner plate, using the tank's internal power supply.
If the tank is unfortunate enough to be hit by a grenade, the jet of copper produced will penetrate both the outer plate and the insulation of the inner plate completing a circuit, which results in the discharge of the capacitor and the vaporisation of most of the copper.
The Telegraph reports that despite the high charge generated by the system, the "electrical load on the battery is no more than that caused by starting the engine on a cold morning".
It sounds bizarre, but the paper reports that in a recent demonstration an armoured personnel carrier protected by the system withstood repeated attacks by rocket grenades that would normally have destroyed it many times over.
Boffins hope to develop the armour further and fit it in Britain's next generation of tanks and armoured personnel carrier. The Pentagon is also reportedly showing a keen interest in work on the technology.
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(http://www.boomspeed.com/swoop/logo_small.jpg)
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Uhhh sounds very interesting, but do you know just how much energy you need to make a powerful enough discharge that lasts just long enough?
So much for polarized hull platings in "Enterprise" :)
I sincerely hope this works, but I'm afraid we don't have the energy source yet. It could be a breakthrough in space travel, since with a powerful "force field", astronauts would be protected from some of the harmful radiation to which they would be exposed in a long trip through space (as in a mission to Mars).
We'll see...
Daniel
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Quote from the above article that you obviously havnt read:
"The Telegraph reports that despite the high charge generated by the system, the "electrical load on the battery is no more than that caused by starting the engine on a cold morning".
(http://www.boomspeed.com/swoop/logo_small.jpg)
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This is good news. Those tin cans (m113s, scimitars...) should have a better chance. untill they find a way around it , that is :)
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Cyrano - we don't have the energy source yet, eh?
So all those fuses in my house don't work after all! It's all just a conspiracy by the electrical supliers to increase their profits! I knew it! ;)
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I didn't express myself clearly. When talking about the energy source I was talking about force fields to protect astronauts from the harmful radiation continuously bombarding spaceships.
Now that is more difficult to shield yourself against :)
As for the shielding of tanks -yes, I read the article-, I understand it's the copper that actually makes the system work.
It also means that if they substitute copper with something less conductive, the circuit wouldn't close, thus rendering the device ineffective.
I mean, Rocket grenade manufacturers are not going to see their product become obsolete, right? ;)
Daniel, aka Cyrano
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Yup thats right. But it does mean than the RPG-7 Mk II (or whatever) will be substantially more expensive and less accessable by terrorists, etc.....for a while.
(http://www.boomspeed.com/swoop/logo_small.jpg)
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Originally posted by Swoop
"The Telegraph reports that despite the high charge generated by the system, the "electrical load on the battery is no more than that caused by starting the engine on a cold morning".
Electrical load on the battery caused by starting a diesel tank engine on a cold morning is quite a lot of electricity...
miko
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There is a key word here called "Capacitor" gents. Charge up a capacitor about the size of your fist and then discharge it using both hands. That is a good way to learn the power of a capacitor. Also, anyone who has ever worked with linear amplifiers should know about discharging a capacitor before attempting to work on such.
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Swoop, Congratulations to Great Britian for developing such a kewl armour system!! Now all you guys need to do is develop a friggin TANK to put it on and you'll be all set. What's the British armoured vehicle now- a Mini Cooper with a moonroof for the shooter to peek through?
Big deal. We already have the same thing only we call it a "bug zapper." Same principle as your armor, right? Hell, hblair sits out on his front porch and watches his zapper for hours. If the British want to REALLY invent something they should invent dental care for their masses.
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Originally posted by Elfenwolf
Big deal. We already have the same thing only we call it a "bug zapper." Same principle as your armor, right? Hell, hblair sits out on his front porch and watches his zapper for hours. If the British want to REALLY invent something they should invent dental care for their masses.
Elfie you're a genius to explain the concept using such a simple analogy.
Dental care....lol...
I work with a transplant from the UK here in Texas. He has been here 2 years and has had 4 root canals and other misc work. He likes the dental system here. I wonder what the deal is in the UK?
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Originally posted by rogwar
There is a key word here called "Capacitor" gents. Charge up a capacitor about the size of your fist and then discharge it using both hands. That is a good way to learn the power of a capacitor. Also, anyone who has ever worked with linear amplifiers should know about discharging a capacitor before attempting to work on such.
i heard of a guy who once got his finger blown off by a huge cap for his car stereo. He was wearing a COPPER ring on his finger and while he was messing around with the cap, the current arced through his ring, blew his finger off, and cauterized the wound in a fraction of a fraction of a second.
Keep in mind that this was on a 12 volt (or more correctly 14.4) car system.
Just think of how much energy flows out of the ignition coil in a car (also a form of capicitor). On a 12 volt system with say an 80 amp alternator, that coil can pump out around 30,000 volts of electricity many times per second. (true at low wattage, but still.. if you touch that coil wire you are dead, tossed across the room, or shat your pants hard.)
This system sounds like it could work.
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Now all you guys need to do is develop a friggin TANK to put it on and you'll be all set
If the British want to REALLY invent something they should invent dental care for their masses.
:rolleyes:
(http://www.army.mod.uk/img/equipment/av/images/av_ch2.jpg)
And dental care here is free for most on low income, students, children... Where the hell did this start anyway, Austin Powers or something?
Gatso
BTW whats the most significant thing you bloody useless Yanks have ever come up with? Just wondering. ;)
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Challenger II MBT.... can't remember name of armour but stronger than existing Chobham armour (which was already impenetrable to current MBT shells).
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Polio and smallpox vaccines, penicillin, heart transplants, dynamite, trains, automobiles, airplanes, submarines...
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Originally posted by Kieran
Polio and smallpox vaccines, penicillin, heart transplants, dynamite, trains, automobiles, airplanes, submarines...
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
smallpox and peniccilin vaccines, dynamite
just cause you live on same continent doesnt mean you can claim Canadian inventions.
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Polio and smallpox vaccines, penicillin, heart transplants, dynamite, trains, automobiles, airplanes, submarines...
Of these only the polio vaccine, heart transplants and airplanes are American inventions. There are plenty of american inventions to choose from, especially in the last century. Microchips come to mind. Certainly it cannot be said that our US cousins are useless.
And dental care here is free for most on low income, students, children... Where the hell did this start anyway, Austin Powers or something?
As far as I can tell it came into popular American culture with Austin Powers. It's rapidly become a favourite of my hosts, I'm not sure why. It's in a movie so it must be true, right?
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Originally posted by loser
smallpox and peniccilin vaccines
I had a bad case of peniccilin once. I'm glad the Candians invented a vaccine for it.
-Sikboy
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Originally posted by gatso
:rolleyes:
(http://www.army.mod.uk/img/equipment/av/images/av_ch2.jpg)
And dental care here is free for most on low income, students, children... Where the hell did this start anyway, Austin Powers or something?
Gatso
BTW whats the most significant thing you bloody useless Yanks have ever come up with? Just wondering. ;)
Gatso, Great pic of the British knock-off of the M1-A1. I wonder how many American parts are in that thing? I wonder who makes the ammo it fires? I wonder if its nuts and bolts are Metric or American Standard?? All I was doing was responding to Swoop's claim that you Brits are on the cutting edge of technology. Please, even the French build better military hardware than you guys.
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Doh... its been covered thus I shall hush.
P.S. DC is like dangerous... half a sine wave when applied vie current to your little itty bitty receptors for muscule contraction is like a BAD thing. You cant let go...you just hold on till you die. Dont ever short yourself messing w/a car battery.
xBAT
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And I would dispute the airplane as an american invention. Maybe you were the first to strap an engine on but you didn't invent em. I'd maybe give the credit for that to some italian bloke called Michelangelo. :p
Kieran you maybe need to do some more research... Alfred Nobel - Dynamite, Edward Jenner - Smallpox vacine, Alexander Flemming - Penicillin, James Watt - steam engine... the list goes on, none of em American apart from the 1st heart transplant as Pei said.
Elfenwolf you obviously have not got a clue. I think you'll find that 'American Standard' is based on BSW (British Standard Whitworth) which standardised imperial measurements in 1841. I'd be very suprised if there are a significant number of American components in the Challenger II. (RR engine, British gun and British design ammo). You'd better hope we build good hardware coz theres going to be lots of British bits in the F-35. :)
Gatso
and yes the invention of the transistor/microchip is American, I'll give you those two.
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Of course you would dispute the airplane- that's the Brit way. ;) Michaelangelo may have drawn an airplane, but he didn't build, climb into one, and fly it. Same for any of your countrymen. Now Otto Lillienthal might have, but no irrefutable proof has been found- and anyway, he was German (grandfather of Kurt Tank).
I know the steam engine was British, but did the Brits put it on a train first (Tom Thumb)? Or a boat (Robert Fulton)?
I'll give you dynamite, and smallpox- didn't check.
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Television would be another...
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Of course you would dispute the airplane- that's the Brit way. Michaelangelo may have drawn an airplane, but he didn't build, climb into one, and fly it.
Sir George Cayley built and flew a manned "airplane" in the 19th century.
No engine, but gliders are aircraft
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Originally posted by Elfenwolf
Gatso, Great pic of the British knock-off of the M1-A1. I wonder how many American parts are in that thing? I wonder who makes the ammo it fires? I wonder if its nuts and bolts are Metric or American Standard?? All I was doing was responding to Swoop's claim that you Brits are on the cutting edge of technology. Please, even the French build better military hardware than you guys.
Knock-off of the M1-A1? Challenger II was based on Challenger, which was based on the Chieften, which is way before the M1-A1. The Chieften was losely based on the Centurian which was perhaps one of the most successful post WW2 western tanks ever built.
If you don't like British technology then why do you keep buying it? US have bought four different types of British main military aircraft, and not to mention loads of Royal Ordnance designs under licence over the years so I don't see you guys buying French.
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1st heart transplant - Dr. Christian Barnard of S. Africa
Michelangelo never drew an airplane, you are thinking of Leonardo DaVinci
Steam engine was first devised by an anceint greek fellow named Hero.
Polio Vaccine - Jonas Salk (US)
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Hell, even the US was invented by the British. :D
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Originally posted by Thrawn
Hell, even the US was invented by the British. :D
And Canada was just a rejection by the British R&D.
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...and let's not forget the British gave us "buggery". ;)
Oops! Michaelangelo instead of Leonardo *smack*!
I need to wait until I get home to post, instead of slow moments at work...
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Originally posted by midnight Target
And Canada was just a rejection by the British R&D.
LOL! :D
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Originally posted by Sikboy
I had a bad case of peniccilin once. I'm glad the Candians invented a vaccine for it.
-Sikboy
bastage! :D
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Light Bulb
Telephone
Morse Code Telegraph
Artificial Heart
Peanut Butter
The desktop computer - Altair
Sewing Machine
Mass Production with interchangable parts - Eli Whitney
AIRPLANE!
phonograph
Film projector
:D
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Originally posted by midnight Target
Telephone
:D
Will you guys quit it!!
Bell wasn't an American when he invented the phone, he was a Scot.
However I will give you aerosol cheese spray and AH in exchange. ;)
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The Telephone wasn't invented by bell, people, it was an Italian...
Daniel
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American Inventions:
Light Bulb
Joseph Swann, 20 years before Eddison.
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Originally posted by Thrawn
Will you guys quit it!!
Bell wasn't an American when he invented the phone, he was a Scot.
However I will give you aerosol cheese spray and AH in exchange. ;)
Dammit! Bell was just as much an American as Einstein!!!! :mad:
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On the Maxim Biplane's third test run, on July 31, 1894, with Maxim and a crew of three aboard,
the engines and boilers were coaxed to deliver greater and greater pressure until,
when exceeding 42 mph, the whole structure took to the air.
It lifted with such force that it broke the restraining track and flew about 200 feet
--then crashed and damaged the plane.
here (http://www.hirammaxim.com/HM_airplane.html)
Ha! see told ya. OK he was born in the US but became a British citizen, we even knighted him.
Anyone know what nationality William S. Henderson was? He filed a patent for a powered aircraft in 1843... thats 60 years before the Wright brothers, I think both these guys beat the Wright brothers for 'inventing' powered fight.
Gatso
BTW to the US for inventing peanut butter. :)
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The 1890s were filled with failed attempts to fly, but Ader and Maxim came
as close as anyone to success. Then the Wright brothers made repeated
successful flights in 1903, but they rode on so much experience with failure.
They were serious, clear-headed men who methodically sorted out all
the things that failure had revealed.
That is from the same site Gatso
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Or even!
In 1804, a British inventor, George Cayley, built the first successful glider. His original craft was a small model. A later full-sized glider carried his coachman, going unwillingly, across a valley. He founded the study of aerodynamics, and was the first to suggest a fixed wing aircraft with a propeller.
Even earlier than Hendersons patent. What constitutes 'inventing' anyway.
MT, OK they were first to do it repeatedly but they were not the first. :p
Gatso
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Americans invented...diamonds made from people!! :eek:
http://www.lifegems.com/
Cripes that's creepy.
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What constitutes 'inventing' anyway
In this case, I would say getting off the ground in one piece. And back on it in one piece. I can throw a chair out into the street, and it would be flight, of a sort, But, not really the same thing.
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Originally posted by easymo
What constitutes 'inventing' anyway
In this case, I would say getting off the ground in one piece. And back on it in one piece. I can throw a chair out into the street, and it would be flight, of a sort, But, not really the same thing.
do it! lol
:D
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So if I put up a website that says an American took out a patent for a powered aircraft in the 1700's, could I link to it and say "There!"? ;)
When I look in the Encyclopedia Britannica, it says the Wright Brothers invented the first successful powered aircraft, though it admits there were others that lay claim to that distinction.
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Originally posted by gatso
BTW whats the most significant thing you bloody useless Yanks have ever come up with? Just wondering. ;)
A little thing called the Declaration of Independence :p
Cobra
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Originally posted by easymo
In this case, I would say getting off the ground in one piece. And back on it in one piece.
Cayley, Maxim and many others beat you to it then. All had succesful landings, some powered some unpowered. Quick.. rewrite the encyclopedia Britannica :D
Gatso
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THE AIRPLANE
In 1858 Ezra J. Warner of Waterbury, Connecticut, patented the first can opener.
Blue Jeans - Levi Strauss
The Frisbee - Now where would we be without THAT???
Susan Hibbard's patent of the feather duster in 1876
The Gas Mask - 1912
Blood Banks and Transfusion Methods
The Lightning Rod - Ben Franklin
The Submarine - 1776 (Turtle)
The Coffee Pot (with sieve for grounds) 1806
The electro-magnetic motor - 1830
The Revolver - Colt
Anesthesia (ether)
Vulcanized Rubber
Oil Well
Repeating Rifle
Roller Skates
Barbed Wire
Typewriter
Peep Show - Edison 1891
Zipper
Air Conditioning
Hydrofoil - Al Bell Again
The Liquid Fueled Rocket - Goddard
Television - Philo Farnsworth 1927
Radio Astronomy - 1931
Nylon
Atomic Pile
Atomic Bomb
Polaroid Camera
Electric Guitar
1st Commercial computer - UNIVAC1
Nuclear Submarine
Laser
Video Game - Pong 1972
Ain't we sumthin?
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Airplane huh ;)
http://canterbury.fare.co.nz/new-zealand/invention/invention-first-flight.htm
First Powered Flight
"Although born a farmer, Richard Pearse's real interest was engineering. Remote in South Canterbury and cut off from the rest of the world and its technology, he built an aircraft in his farm workshop that flew. Before the famous Wright Brothers!
In 1899, Richard Pearse at the age of 22, was already building the all important engine that would make it all happen. Fitted with two cylinders, double acting pistons and stuffing box seals around the connecting rods (as per steam engine) it fired both sides of the pistons at both ends of the stroke, effectively making a four cylindar engine in the space of a twin.
After many disappointments and crashes, he was soon achieving powered takeoff flights of up to 50 metres. His first successful flight on 31 march 1903 predates the Wright Brothers flight by over eight months."
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Well Vulcan... IF this is true, it happened in the Southern Hemisphere Where up is down. So Pearse actually flew a controlled crash. Sorry mate.
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Heh, this is cool. A major thread from a one line starter. And no-one's sworn at anyone yet!
:D
I love fishing early in the morning!
(http://www.boomspeed.com/swoop/logo_small.jpg)
P.S. No ya didnt invent the fishing rod.
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Oh comon Midnight, given the size of the USA is that all?
New Zealand Inventions (other than the airplane):
- The self-sealing lid
- The stamp vending machine
- The wide-toothed shearing comb
- The bobby pin
- Velcro
- The electric fence
- Luggage carousels
- The jet boat
- Pavlova
- bungee jumping (well we took it a step further than wrapping vines round your ankles)
Then theres:
- NZ contains more bookstores and golf courses per capita than any other country.
- NZ has more sheep per capita than any other country in the world. In 1997, the sheep numbered about 47.4 million.
- New Zealand is the first country in the world to see the sunrise.
- New Zealand boasts the most southerly railway station, vineyard, pub and country capital (Wellington) in the world.
- NZ's largest city, Auckland, hosts more boats per capita than any other city in the world.
- NZ's capital, Wellington, boasts more restaurants per capita than even New York City.
- NZ is the most wired (with access to the internet) nation on the face of the earth. Wellington, in particular, ranks number 1 as the most wired city in the world on per capita basis.
- New Zealand has the second highest rate of car ownership in the world on a per capita basis
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and americans invented
sex in an elevator
latex condoms
penecillin
pin up girls
zods sex wax and the skeg
the conversion van
the mile high club
nylons
mae west (all types)
..and baseball.
the british invented
cricket
and their pals up country invented golf.
unforgiveable.
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Penecillian?
Alexander Fleming was also a Scot.
Scots invented a bunch of stuff.
I wish you Yanks would stop stealing inventing rights from every one else. You guys should be proud of your own inventing accomplishments...like nukes, and spam.
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Originally posted by Vulcan
Oh comon Midnight, given the size of the USA is that all?
New Zealand Inventions (other than the airplane):
- The self-sealing lid
- The stamp vending machine
- The wide-toothed shearing comb
- The bobby pin
- Velcro
- The electric fence
- Luggage carousels
- The jet boat
- Pavlova
- bungee jumping (well we took it a step further than wrapping vines round your ankles)
Then theres:
- NZ contains more bookstores and golf courses per capita than any other country.
- NZ has more sheep per capita than any other country in the world. In 1997, the sheep numbered about 47.4 million.
- New Zealand is the first country in the world to see the sunrise.
- New Zealand boasts the most southerly railway station, vineyard, pub and country capital (Wellington) in the world.
- NZ's largest city, Auckland, hosts more boats per capita than any other city in the world.
- NZ's capital, Wellington, boasts more restaurants per capita than even New York City.
- NZ is the most wired (with access to the internet) nation on the face of the earth. Wellington, in particular, ranks number 1 as the most wired city in the world on per capita basis.
- New Zealand has the second highest rate of car ownership in the world on a per capita basis
A kiwi split the atom too....
In 1858 Ezra J. Warner of Waterbury, Connecticut, patented the first can opener....The Lightning Rod - Ben Franklin
The Submarine - 1776 (Turtle)
The Coffee Pot (with sieve for grounds) 1806
The electro-magnetic motor - 1830
The Revolver - Colt
You forgot Oprah +Dr Phil, Jerry Springer and the WWF Midnight! :D
Tronsky
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Originally posted by Swoop
Heh, this is cool. A major thread from a one line starter. And no-one's sworn at anyone yet!
:D
I love fishing early in the morning!
(http://www.boomspeed.com/swoop/logo_small.jpg)
P.S. No ya didnt invent the fishing rod.
Go to Hell, Swoop!!!:D
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Yeah Tronski, but you gave us "Simon".:cool:
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Originally posted by midnight Target
Light Bulb
Telephone
Morse Code Telegraph
Artificial Heart
Peanut Butter
The desktop computer - Altair
Sewing Machine
Mass Production with interchangable parts - Eli Whitney
AIRPLANE!
phonograph
Film projector
:D
Live from Rio at an internet cafe ;)
Don't forget light beer as well :D
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War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength, George Orwell
and in what year was that? :D :D :D