Want to see through walls? Electroboffins build tiny chip in the lab that vibrates at just the right frequency to do it Scientists have crafted a tiny flexible electrical device capable of generating terahertz waves, which could pave the way for new imaging techniques and high-speed communications. Terahertz non-ionizing radiation lies in the electromagnetic spectrum where microwaves and infrared meet. These so-called T-waves, ranging from 0.3 …
Indeed, "productization" is an inexcusably hideous construction. But I think it is intended to mean "implemented and put to use in a product" or "turned from this into a saleable product", or this like, so not quite the same as a bare "production", which does not necessarily have the same implications.
Still, several words to cover the intended meaning would have been better than the single jargonoid one used here.
Except the very early issues (pre 1957), Mad Magazine didn't run ads, with the exception of what we would now call "merch" ... mugs, hats, tshirts, games and the like based on the magazine itself. This was so they could satirize anybody and anything without threats of reprisal.
They did satirize the "standard" comic book adverts like xray specs, two-kid minisubs, sea monkeys, the Charles Atlas workout and etc. in various issues over the years.
"The exterior walls of many homes contain foil-backed fiberglass insulation."
Most new INTERIOR insulation (particularly gypsum panels) are foil backed too.
it's going to to be interesting to see if THz can see through that. I had to put APs in every office of a new building as 5GHz wouldn't even penetrate the walls and 2GHz was only getting between the offices by means of the windows in the doors into the hallway (the doors themselves were foil lined too)
"Most new INTERIOR insulation (particularly gypsum panels) are foil backed too."
Gypsum panels[0] aren't exactly what I would call "insulation", with an R value of 0.83 per inch. The foil backing is a vapo(u)r barrier.
[0] Sheetrock, drywall, plasterboard et ali, depending on jurisdiction.
Let me first clarify the science behind this story:
The researchers take an ordinary, boring high-frequency source (they show data using a 10 MHz source) and send it through their "switch". Each time the "boring source" output exceeds a threshold voltage, their switch turns on very fast, leading to a sharp (picosecond) voltage rise at the output. When the boring source output goes low, the switch output falls again -- although slowly.
When you take that fast rising pulse and send it through a suitable circuit, you can get some very short pulse corresponding to the derivative of the pulse rise. So they can get a very short THz frequency pulse (picosecond duration). Then they have to wait for their boring source to go low and go up to the threshold voltage again before they can get another pulse (100 ns wait time for the 10 MHz boring source).
The great "power" of the source (power = energy / time) is, of course, calculated for the picosecond duration. But when you account for the long wait between the pulses, you'll notice that the average power is not impressive. It's a nanoscale device, so don't get overexcited!
The yadayada on the Great Power of Microwaves is factually correct, but falls into the category of the famous exam answer: "The questions about worms is interesting, because worms have similar shape and mobility to elephant trunks and I can tell you all about elephants ..." Concerning wireless communication, I don't see how a fast switch with very long reset time will help. Maybe some more magic to come...
> Concerning wireless communication, I don't see how a fast switch with very long reset time will help.
Leave that to marketing...
"Tera" means "humongous" to the great unwashed, so anything "Tera" must be vastly harder, better, faster, stronger than "normal" stuff. Never forget the car doesn't have to be fast, it just has to look fast.
You can also use pulsed Terahertz radiation to create advanced aerospace propulsion systems (i.e. direct microwave jetting) OR as a means to create a virtualized waveguide system using the terahertz radiation AS the virtual waveguide and cavity resonator walls for other VERY HIGH AMPLITUDE pulsed or continuous EM waveforms used o facilitate more exotic forms of propulsion.
Ergo, you get that fancy triangular spacecraft we have sitting nicely in our Hangar at YVR which we can use to buzz over-top of and then moon the ISS or "The Green Lady" or "The Pancake Deltoid" with !!! (i.e. we have done that!)
d
Yeah, yeah, we expect readers are smart enough to recognize a science experiment when they see one - it does say in the headline it's lab work, and later on, it's not a commercial product.
I've put a bit at the bottom stressing this, and the nanoscale-ness. It's just cool science at the moment.
C.
“High-frequency, high-power and nanoscale aren’t terms you’d normally hear in the same sentence,” he added.
O dear, may I contradict you? But that sounds rather like the description of the Current US President its brain, or else that other nasty that is not to be sneezed upon that is currently doing the rounds. ... The guy should read a newspaper or something. Be shown the tv.
... Okay, it's not really on topic, but it's true!
Be careful with this kit. I worked on a contract quite some years ago using terra waves for a product inspection control function. I sat in a room with two instruments putting out high power terra waves. After two months my brain was wrecked. It took almost six months to get back to normal function. It wasn't fun at all but at the time I did not notice the effect because my mental acuity became so low.
In general I do have problems with EM and have learned how to avoid or reduce their intensity to my personal tolerance levels. Unfortunately these waves, at least on the system that I worked on, needed a lot of power for useful penetration and that was for medical pill's physical QC.
Please do not delete this post. It is real information.
"I sat in a room with two instruments putting out high power terra waves. "
And the H&S safety assessment for doing this was.....?
There are already well-documented bloody good reasons for being careful around EHF+ frequencies, especially where something even notionally low powered can induce local effects well in excess of safety limits in a small area
For that matter it's probably not a good idea to hang around in the vicinity of very high strength vibrating magnetic fields as they may fuzz your thinking - (lookup Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation)
I can think of - is this could enhance the attacks nation state bad actors are using against diplomatic persons and their aids; like those we've seen in the news ; acquiring mysterious afflictions of bad health and resigning their positions stating they left because of these mysterious maladies caused by such attacks. The causes proposed by the news media included some kind of microwave radiation, or radar - Just a thought!
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