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#1 This is Cool » Boron Nitride » Yesterday 22:07:57

Jai Ganesh
Replies: 0

Boron Nitride

Gist

Boron nitride (BN) is a synthetic compound made of boron and nitrogen, primarily existing in hexagonal (h-BN) and cubic (c-BN) crystalline forms. It is a refractory, high-temperature ceramic with excellent thermal and chemical resistance, with \(h-BN\) having a graphite-like structure that makes it soft and slippery, while (c-BN) is extremely hard. Applications range from high-temperature lubricants and electrical insulators to cutting tools and components in the aerospace and electronics industries.

Boron Nitride (BN) is another high-performance ceramic used in bulletproof armor. Known for its exceptional thermal conductivity and chemical stability, BN provides a unique set of properties that make it suitable for ballistic protection.

Summary

Boron nitride is a thermally and chemically resistant refractory compound of boron and nitrogen with the chemical formula BN. It exists in various crystalline forms that are isoelectronic to a similarly structured carbon lattice. The hexagonal form corresponding to graphite is the most stable and soft among BN polymorphs, and is therefore used as a lubricant and an additive to cosmetic products. The cubic (zincblende aka sphalerite structure) variety analogous to diamond is called c-BN; it is softer than diamond, but its thermal and chemical stability is superior. The rare wurtzite BN modification is similar to lonsdaleite but slightly harder than the cubic form. It has been reported to be 18% stronger than diamond.

Because of excellent thermal and chemical stability, boron nitride ceramics are used in high-temperature equipment and metal casting. Boron nitride has potential use in nanotechnology.  

Properties:

Physical

The partly ionic structure of BN layers in h-BN reduces covalency and electrical conductivity, whereas the interlayer interaction increases resulting in higher hardness of h-BN relative to graphite. The reduced electron-delocalization in hexagonal-BN is also indicated by its absence of color and a large band gap. Very different bonding – strong covalent within the basal planes (planes where boron and nitrogen atoms are covalently bonded) and weak between them – causes high anisotropy of most properties of h-BN.

For example, the hardness, electrical and thermal conductivity are much higher within the planes than perpendicular to them. On the contrary, the properties of c-BN and w-BN are more homogeneous and isotropic.

Those materials are extremely hard, with the hardness of bulk c-BN being slightly smaller and w-BN even higher than that of diamond. Polycrystalline c-BN with grain sizes on the order of 10 nm is also reported to have Vickers hardness comparable or higher than diamond Because of much better stability to heat and transition metals, c-BN surpasses diamond in mechanical applications, such as machining steel. The thermal conductivity of BN is among the highest of all electric insulators.

Boron nitride can be doped p-type with beryllium and n-type with boron, sulfur, silicon or if co-doped with carbon and nitrogen. Both hexagonal and cubic BN are wide-gap semiconductors with a band-gap energy corresponding to the UV region. If voltage is applied to h-BN or c-BN, then it emits UV light in the range 215–250 nm and therefore can potentially be used as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or lasers.

Little is known on melting behavior of boron nitride. It degrades at 2973 °C, but melts at elevated pressure.

Details

Boron nitride (chemical formula BN) is a synthetically produced crystalline compound of boron and nitrogen, an industrial ceramic material of limited but important application, principally in electrical insulators and cutting tools. It is made in two crystallographic forms, hexagonal boron nitride (H-BN) and cubic boron nitride (C-BN).

H-BN is prepared by several methods, including the heating of boric oxide (B2O3) with ammonia (NH3). It is a platy powder consisting, at the molecular level, of sheets of hexagonal rings that slide easily past one another. This structure, similar to that of the carbon mineral graphite (see the Figure), makes H-BN a soft, lubricious material; unlike graphite, though, H-BN is noted for its low electric conductivity and high thermal conductivity. H-BN is frequently molded and then hot-pressed into shapes such as electrical insulators and melting crucibles. It also can be applied with a liquid binder as a temperature-resistant coating for metallurgical, ceramic, or polymer processing machinery.

Related Topics: nitride borazon

C-BN is most often made in the form of small crystals by subjecting H-BN to extremely high pressure (six to nine gigapascals) and temperature (1,500° to 2,000° C, or 2,730° to 3,630° F). It is second only to diamond in hardness (approaching the maximum of 10 on the Mohs hardness scale) and, like synthetic diamond, is often bonded onto metallic or metallic-ceramic cutting tools for the machining of hard steels. Owing to its high oxidation temperature (above 1,900° C, or 3,450° F), it has a much higher working temperature than diamond (which oxidizes above 800° C, or 1,475° F).

Additional Information:

Overview

Boron nitride is a non-toxic thermal and chemical refractory compound with high electrical resistance and low density, commonly found in colorless crystals or white powder. As an advanced ceramic material, boron nitride has a unique structure that gives it properties similar to both graphite and diamond, earning it nicknames like "white graphene" or "inorganic graphite." With its diverse applications and remarkable physical properties, boron nitride is widely studied and used in industries ranging from electronics to cosmetics. In this article, we will explore its properties, density, structure, production methods, and uses.

Properties of Boron Nitride

The structure of boron nitride consists of equal numbers of boron and nitrogen atoms, forming a robust lattice that gives rise to its unique physical and chemical properties. Depending on how the atoms are arranged, boron nitride exists in three main crystalline forms:

* Hexagonal Boron Nitride (h-BN): A layered, graphite-like structure known for its lubricating and insulating properties.
* Cubic Boron Nitride (c-BN): A diamond-like structure with exceptional hardness and oxidation resistance.
* Wurtzite Boron Nitride (w-BN): A rarer form, considered even harder than cubic boron nitride under certain conditions.

Other key properties of boron nitride include:

* High Thermal Conductivity: Essential for heat dissipation in electronics and high-temperature environments.
* Chemical Inertness: Makes it resistant to corrosion by acids, alkalis, and molten metals.
* Low Density: h-BN has a density of ~2.1 g/cm³, while c-BN is denser at ~3.48 g/cm³.
* Electrical Insulation: Ensures reliable performance as a dielectric material.
* High Melting Point: Withstands temperatures up to 2,973°C, making it suitable for extreme conditions.

Production of Boron Nitride

Boron nitride is typically synthesized through chemical reactions between boric acid or boron oxide and nitrogen under controlled conditions. The production methods include:

Hexagonal Boron Nitride (h-BN):
* Produced by reacting boric acid with ammonia in a nitrogen atmosphere.
* Dense shapes are formed through hot pressing due to its poor sinterability.

Cubic Boron Nitride (c-BN):

Created by subjecting hexagonal boron nitride to high pressure and temperature, mimicking the process used to produce synthetic diamonds.

Wurtzite Boron Nitride (w-BN):

Formed under slightly different conditions compared to c-BN, specifically at lower temperatures (~1,700°C).

Boron nitride can be manufactured in various forms, including powders, bars, rods, and plates. The material’s density and grade (e.g., A, AX, 05, HP, M) vary depending on its intended application, ensuring adaptability across industries.

Uses Of Boron Nitride

Boron nitride's unique structure and density enable it to serve a wide range of applications across multiple industries. Its versatility stems from its various crystalline forms, including hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), cubic boron nitride (c-BN), and wurtzite boron nitride (w-BN). These forms collectively contribute to its exceptional performance in challenging environments. Below are the key applications of boron nitride.

Industrial and Manufacturing:

Boron nitride is widely used in cutting and grinding tools for hard materials such as hardened steel and wear-resistant cast iron, thanks to its high hardness and chemical stability.

Its thermal conductivity and resistance to molten metals make it a preferred material in high-temperature furnaces, vacuum systems, and thermal spraying applications.

Electronics and Optics:

The material's low dielectric constant, excellent thermal stability, and electrical insulation properties make it suitable for use in semiconductor heat sinks and as a substrate material for graphene-based devices.

In the optics industry, boron nitride's ability to resist oxidation and its high thermal conductivity enable its application in advanced optical coatings and electronics.

Automotive and Aerospace:

Hexagonal boron nitride is commonly used for creating seals and insulating components in the automotive industry, such as oxygen sensors and thermal shields.

Its lightweight density and structure contribute to its use in aerospace materials where weight reduction and thermal resistance are critical.

Cosmetics and Medical:

Boron nitride’s lubricious nature and non-toxicity make it ideal for cosmetics, including eye shadows, foundations, and lipsticks, where it improves smoothness and spreadability.

Emerging research suggests potential applications in the biomedical field, such as implants and biocompatible coatings.

Other Applications:

Boron nitride is frequently used in the production of coatings for tools and molds to enhance their wear resistance.

It also finds applications in ceramics, paints, resins, and high-performance alloys.

boron_nitride_5.svg

#2 Re: Dark Discussions at Cafe Infinity » crème de la crème » Yesterday 17:26:52

2370) Murray Gell-Mann

Gist:

Work

During the 1950s and 1960s, new accelerators and apparatuses helped identify many new elementary particles. In theoretical works from the same period, Murray Gell-Mann classified particles and their interactions. He proposed that observed particles are in fact composite, that is, comprised of smaller building blocks called quarks. According to this theory, as-yet-undiscovered particles should exist. When these were later found in experiments, the theory was accepted.

Summary

Murray Gell-Mann (born September 15, 1929, New York, New York, U.S.—died May 24, 2019, Santa Fe, New Mexico) was an American physicist, winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1969 for his work pertaining to the classification of subatomic particles and their interactions.

At age 15 Gell-Mann entered Yale University, and, after graduating from Yale with a B.S. in physics in 1948, he earned a Ph.D. (1951) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His doctoral research on subatomic particles was influential in the later work of the Nobel laureate (1963) Eugene P. Wigner. In 1952 Gell-Mann joined the Institute for Nuclear Studies at the University of Chicago. The following year he introduced the concept of “strangeness,” a quantum property that accounted for previously puzzling decay patterns of certain mesons. As defined by Gell-Mann, strangeness is conserved when any subatomic particle interacts via the strong force—i.e., the force that binds the components of the atomic nucleus. Gell-Mann joined the faculty of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena in 1955 and was appointed the Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Theoretical Physics in 1967 (emeritus, 1993).

In 1961 Gell-Mann and Yuval Ne’eman, an Israeli theoretical physicist, independently proposed a scheme for classifying previously discovered strongly interacting particles into a simple orderly arrangement of families. Called the Eightfold Way (after Buddha’s Eightfold Path to Enlightenment and bliss), the scheme grouped mesons and baryons (e.g., protons and neutrons) into multiplets of 1, 8, 10, or 27 members on the basis of various properties. All particles in the same multiplet are to be thought of as variant states of the same basic particle. Gell-Mann speculated that it should be possible to explain certain properties of known particles in terms of even more fundamental particles, or building blocks. He later called these basic bits of matter “quarks,” adopting the fanciful term from James Joyce’s novel Finnegans Wake. One of the early successes of Gell-Mann’s quark hypothesis was the prediction and subsequent discovery of the omega-minus particle (1964). Over the years, research has yielded other findings that have led to the wide acceptance and elaboration of the quark concept.

Gell-Mann published a number of works on this phase of his career, notable among which were The Eightfold Way (1964), written in collaboration with Ne’eman, and Broken Scale Variance and the Light Cone (1971), coauthored with K. Wilson.

In 1984 Gell-Mann cofounded the Santa Fe Institute, a nonprofit centre located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, that supports research concerning complex adaptive systems and emergent phenomena associated with complexity. In “Let’s Call It Plectics,” a 1995 article in the institute’s journal, Complexity, he coined the word plectics to describe the type of research supported by the institute. In The Quark and the Jaguar (1994), Gell-Mann gave a fuller description of the ideas concerning the relationship between the basic laws of physics (the quark) and the emergent phenomena of life (the jaguar).

Gell-Mann was a director of the MacArthur Foundation (1979–2002) and served on the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (1994–2001). He also was a member of the board of directors of Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Details

Murray Gell-Mann (September 15, 1929 – May 24, 2019) was an American theoretical physicist who played a preeminent role in the development of the theory of elementary particles. Gell-Mann introduced the concept of quarks as the fundamental building blocks of the strongly interacting particles, and the renormalization group as a foundational element of quantum field theory and statistical mechanics. Murray Gell-Mann received the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions and discoveries concerning the classification of elementary particles and their interactions.

Gell-Mann played key roles in developing the concept of chirality in the theory of the weak interactions and spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking in the strong interactions, which controls the physics of the light mesons. In the 1970s he was a co-inventor of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) which explains the confinement of quarks in mesons and baryons and forms a large part of the Standard Model of elementary particles and forces.

Life and education

Gell-Mann was born in Lower Manhattan to a family of Jewish immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, specifically from Czernowitz in present-day Ukraine. His parents were Pauline (née Reichstein) and Arthur Isidore Gelman, who taught English as a second language. Gell-Mann married J. Margaret Dow in 1955; they had a daughter and a son. Margaret died in 1981, and in 1992 he married Marcia Southwick, whose son became his stepson.

Propelled by an intense boyhood curiosity and love for nature and mathematics, he graduated valedictorian from the Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School aged 14 and subsequently entered Yale College as a member of Jonathan Edwards College. At Yale, he participated in the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition and was on the team representing Yale University (along with Murray Gerstenhaber and Henry O. Pollak) that won the second prize in 1947.

Gell-Mann graduated from Yale with a bachelor's degree in physics in 1948 and intended to pursue graduate studies in physics. He sought to remain in the Ivy League for his graduate education and applied to Princeton University as well as Harvard University. He was rejected by Princeton and accepted by Harvard, but the latter institution was unable to offer him needed financial assistance. He was then accepted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and received a letter from Victor Weisskopf urging him to attend MIT and become Weisskopf's research assistant. This would provide Gell-Mann with the financial assistance he required. Unaware of MIT's eminent status in physics research, Gell-Mann was "miserable" and in characteristic dark irony, said he first considered suicide.

Gell-Mann received his Ph.D. in physics from MIT in 1951 after completing a doctoral dissertation, titled "Coupling strength and nuclear reactions", under the supervision of Weisskopf.
Subsequently, Gell-Mann was a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton in 1951, and a visiting research professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign from 1952 to 1953. He was a visiting associate professor at Columbia University and an associate professor at the University of Chicago in 1954–1955, before moving to the California Institute of Technology, where he taught from 1955 until he retired in 1993.

Gell-Mann died on May 24, 2019, at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

gell-mann-13216-portrait-medium.jpg

#3 Re: Dark Discussions at Cafe Infinity » Greatest Mathematicians from 1 CE ... » Yesterday 17:04:24

24) Lodovico Ferrari

Lodovico de Ferrari (2 February 1522 – 5 October 1565) was an Italian mathematician best known today for solving the quartic equation.

Biography

Born in Bologna, Lodovico's grandfather, Bartolomeo Ferrari, was forced out of Milan to Bologna. Lodovico settled in Bologna, and he began his career as the servant of Gerolamo Cardano. He was extremely bright, so Cardano started teaching him mathematics. Ferrari aided Cardano on his solutions for quartic equations and cubic equations, and was mainly responsible for the solution of quartic equations that Cardano published. While still in his teens, Ferrari was able to obtain a prestigious teaching post in Rome after Cardano resigned from it and recommended him. Ferrari retired when young at 42 years old, and wealthy.  He then moved back to his home town of Bologna where he lived with his widowed sister Maddalena to take up a professorship of mathematics at the University of Bologna in 1565. 

Cardano–Tartaglia formula

In 1545 a famous dispute erupted between Ferrari and Cardano's contemporary Niccolò Fontana Tartaglia, involving the solution to cubic equations. Widespread stories that Tartaglia devoted the rest of his life to ruining Ferrari's teacher and erstwhile master Cardano, however, appear to be fabricated. Mathematical historians now credit both Cardano and Tartaglia with the formula to solve cubic equations, referring to it as the "Cardano–Tartaglia formula".

#4 Re: This is Cool » Miscellany » Yesterday 16:44:02

2422) Nebula

Gist

A nebula is a giant cloud of dust and gas in space, which can be a birthplace for new stars or the remnants of a dying star. The term is Latin for "mist" or "cloud" and was once used for any diffuse-looking object, but today specifically refers to these interstellar clouds. Nebulae are often regions of star formation, where gas and dust clump together to form new stars and planetary systems. 

A nebula is a giant cloud of dust and gas in space, located between stars. These clouds can be the birthplace of new stars, earning them the nickname "star nurseries," or they can be the remnants of dying stars, such as from a supernova explosion. Gravity causes the material within a nebula to clump together, eventually leading to the formation of stars and planets. 

Summary

A nebula (Latin for 'cloud, fog'; pl. nebulae or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral, or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regions, such as the Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula. In these regions, the formations of gas, dust, and other materials "clump" together to form denser regions, which attract further matter and eventually become dense enough to form stars. The remaining material is then thought to form planets and other planetary system objects.

Most nebulae are of vast size; some are hundreds of light-years in diameter. A nebula that is visible to the human eye from Earth would appear larger, but no brighter, from close by. The Orion Nebula, the brightest nebula in the sky and occupying an area twice the angular diameter of the full Moon, can be viewed with the naked eye but was missed by early astronomers. Although denser than the space surrounding them, most nebulae are far less dense than any vacuum created on Earth ({10}^{5} to {10}^{7} molecules per cubic centimeter) – a nebular cloud the size of the Earth would have a total mass of only a few kilograms. Earth's air has a density of approximately {10}^{19} molecules per cubic centimeter; by contrast, the densest nebulae can have densities of {10}^{4} molecules per cubic centimeter. Many nebulae are visible due to fluorescence caused by embedded hot stars, while others are so diffused that they can be detected only with long exposures and special filters. Some nebulae are variably illuminated by T Tauri variable stars.

Originally, the term "nebula" was used to describe any diffused astronomical object, including galaxies beyond the Milky Way. The Andromeda Galaxy, for instance, was once referred to as the Andromeda Nebula (and spiral galaxies in general as "spiral nebulae") before the true nature of galaxies was confirmed in the early 20th century by Vesto Slipher, Edwin Hubble, and others. Edwin Hubble discovered that most nebulae are associated with stars and illuminated by starlight. He also helped categorize nebulae based on the type of light spectra they produced.

Details

A nebula is any of the various tenuous clouds of gas and dust that occur in interstellar space. The term was formerly applied to any object outside the solar system that had a diffuse appearance rather than a pointlike image, as in the case of a star. This definition, adopted at a time when very distant objects could not be resolved into great detail, unfortunately includes two unrelated classes of objects: the extragalactic nebulae, now called galaxies, which are enormous collections of stars and gas, and the galactic nebulae, which are composed of the interstellar medium (the gas between the stars, with its accompanying small solid particles) within a single galaxy. Today the term nebula generally refers exclusively to the interstellar medium.

In a spiral galaxy the interstellar medium makes up 3 to 5 percent of the galaxy’s mass, but within a spiral arm its mass fraction increases to about 20 percent. About 1 percent of the mass of the interstellar medium is in the form of “dust”—small solid particles that are efficient in absorbing and scattering radiation. Much of the rest of the mass within a galaxy is concentrated in visible stars, but there is also some form of dark matter that accounts for a substantial fraction of the mass in the outer regions.

The most conspicuous property of interstellar gas is its clumpy distribution on all size scales observed, from the size of the entire Milky Way Galaxy (about {10}^{20} metres, or hundreds of thousands of light-years) down to the distance from Earth to the Sun (about {10}^{11} metres, or a few light-minutes). The large-scale variations are seen by direct observation, and the small-scale variations are observed by fluctuations in the intensity of radio waves, similar to the “twinkling” of starlight caused by unsteadiness in Earth’s atmosphere. Various regions exhibit an enormous range of densities and temperatures. Within the Galaxy’s spiral arms about half the mass of the interstellar medium is concentrated in molecular clouds, in which hydrogen occurs in molecular form (H2) and temperatures are as low as 10 kelvins (K). These clouds are inconspicuous optically and are detected principally by their carbon monoxide (CO) emissions in the millimetre wavelength range. Their densities in the regions studied by CO emissions are typically 1,000 H2 molecules per cubic cm. At the other extreme is the gas between the clouds, with a temperature of 10 million K and a density of only 0.001 H+ ion per cubic cm. Such gas is produced by supernovae, the violent explosions of unstable stars.

Classes of nebulae

All nebulae observed in the Milky Way Galaxy are forms of interstellar matter—namely, the gas between the stars that is almost always accompanied by solid grains of cosmic dust. Their appearance differs widely, depending not only on the temperature and density of the material observed but also on how the material is spatially situated with respect to the observer. Their chemical composition, however, is fairly uniform; it corresponds to the composition of the universe in general in that approximately 90 percent of the constituent atoms are hydrogen and nearly all the rest are helium, with oxygen, carbon, neon, nitrogen, and the other elements together making up about two atoms per thousand. On the basis of appearance, nebulae can be divided into two broad classes: dark nebulae and bright nebulae. Dark nebulae appear as irregularly shaped black patches in the sky and blot out the light of the stars that lie beyond them. Bright nebulae appear as faintly luminous glowing surfaces; they either emit their own light or reflect the light of nearby stars.

Dark nebulae are very dense and cold molecular clouds; they contain about half of all interstellar material. Typical densities range from hundreds to millions (or more) of hydrogen molecules per cubic centimetre. These clouds are the sites where new stars are formed through the gravitational collapse of some of their parts. Most of the remaining gas is in the diffuse interstellar medium, relatively inconspicuous because of its very low density (about 0.1 hydrogen atom per cubic cm) but detectable by its radio emission of the 21-cm line of neutral hydrogen.

Bright nebulae are comparatively dense clouds of gas within the diffuse interstellar medium. They have several subclasses: (1) reflection nebulae, (2) H II regions, (3) diffuse ionized gas, (4) planetary nebulae, and (5) supernova remnants.

Reflection nebulae reflect the light of a nearby star from their constituent dust grains. The gas of reflection nebulae is cold, and such objects would be seen as dark nebulae if it were not for the nearby light source.

H II regions are clouds of hydrogen ionized (separated into positive H+ ions and free electrons) by a neighbouring hot star. The star must be of stellar type O or B, the most massive and hottest of normal stars in the Galaxy, in order to produce enough of the radiation required to ionize the hydrogen.

Diffuse ionized gas, so pervasive among the nebular clouds, is a major component of the Galaxy. It is observed by faint emissions of positive hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulfur ions (H+, N+, and S+) detectable in all directions. These emissions collectively require far more power than the much more spectacular H II regions, planetary nebulae, or supernova remnants that occupy a tiny fraction of the volume.

Planetary nebulae are ejected from stars that are dying but are not massive enough to become supernovae—namely, red giant stars. That is to say, a red giant has shed its outer envelope in a less-violent event than a supernova explosion and has become an intensely hot star surrounded by a shell of material that is expanding at a speed of tens of kilometres per second. Planetary nebulae typically appear as rather round objects of relatively high surface brightness. Their name is derived from their superficial resemblance to planets—i.e., their regular appearance when viewed telescopically as compared with the chaotic forms of other types of nebula.

Supernova remnants are the clouds of gas expanding at speeds of hundreds or even thousands of kilometres per second from comparatively recent explosions of massive stars. If a supernova remnant is younger than a few thousand years, it may be assumed that the gas in the nebula was mostly ejected by the exploded star. Otherwise, the nebula would consist chiefly of interstellar gas that has been swept up by the expanding remnant of older objects.

Additional Information

A nebula is a giant cloud of dust and gas in space. Some nebulae (more than one nebula) come from the gas and dust thrown out by the explosion of a dying star, such as a supernova. Other nebulae are regions where new stars are beginning to form.

A nebula is a giant cloud of dust and gas in space. Some nebulae (more than one nebula) come from the gas and dust thrown out by the explosion of a dying star, such as a supernova. Other nebulae are regions where new stars are beginning to form. For this reason, some nebulae are called "star nurseries."

How do stars form in a nebula?

Nebulae are made of dust and gases—mostly hydrogen and helium. The dust and gases in a nebula are very spread out, but gravity can slowly begin to pull together clumps of dust and gas. As these clumps get bigger and bigger, their gravity gets stronger and stronger.

Eventually, the clump of dust and gas gets so big that it collapses from its own gravity. The collapse causes the material at the center of the cloud to heat up-and this hot core is the beginning of a star.

Where are nebulae?

Nebulae exist in the space between the stars—also known as interstellar space. The closest known nebula to Earth is called the Helix Nebula. It is the remnant of a dying star—possibly one like the Sun. It is approximately 700 light-years away from Earth. That means even if you could travel at the speed of light, it would still take you 700 years to get there!

How do we know what nebulae look like?

Astronomers use very powerful telescopes to take pictures of faraway nebulae. Space telescopes such as NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope have captured many images of faraway nebulae.

nebula3.en.jpg

#5 Dark Discussions at Cafe Infinity » CO2 Quotes » Yesterday 16:00:28

Jai Ganesh
Replies: 0

CO2 Quotes

1. It's not as though we can keep burning coal in our power plants. Coal is a finite resource, too. We must find alternatives, and it's a better idea to find alternatives sooner then wait until we run out of coal, and in the meantime, put God knows how many trillions of tons of CO2 that used to be buried underground into the atmosphere. - Elon Musk

2. The nuclear approach I'm involved in is called a traveling-wave reactor, which uses waste uranium for fuel. There's a lot of things that have to go right for that dream to come true - many decades of building demo plants, proving the economics are right. But if it does, you could have cheaper energy with no CO2 emissions. - Bill Gates

3. Ventilation is needed to ensure we get air disbursed throughout the Station. Air stagnates without flow, so it is essential to have good ventilation so one doesn't end up in a bubble of CO2 by accident and then not be able to breathe. - Sunita Williams

4. CO2 is the exhaling breath of our civilization, literally... Changing that pattern requires a scope, a scale, a speed of change that is beyond what we have done in the past. - Al Gore

5. Even if producing CO2 was good for the environment, given that we're going to run out of hydrocarbons, we need to find some sustainable means of operating. - Elon Musk

6. You're never going to get the amount of CO2 emitted to go down unless you deal with the one magic metric, which is CO2 per kilowatt-hour. - Bill Gates

7. Almost every way we make electricity today, except for the emerging renewables and nuclear, puts out CO2. And so, what we're going to have to do at a global scale, is create a new system. And so, we need energy miracles. - Bill Gates.

#6 Jokes » Apple Jokes - VI » Yesterday 15:38:20

Jai Ganesh
Replies: 0

Q: How many grams of protein are in an apple pi?
A: 3.14159265...
* * *
Q: What is red and goes putt, putt, putt?
A: An outboard apple.
* * *
Q: What can a whole apple do that half an apple can't do?
A: It can look round.
* * *
Q: What is worse than finding a worm in your apple?
A: Finding one in your caramel apple, which costs about 35 cents more, on average.
* * *
First apple: You look down in the dumps. What's eating you?
Second apple: Worms, I think.
* * *

#7 Re: Jai Ganesh's Puzzles » General Quiz » Yesterday 15:09:16

Hi,

#10621. What does the term in Geography Cenote mean?

#10622. What does the term in Geography Census-designated place mean?

#8 Re: Jai Ganesh's Puzzles » English language puzzles » Yesterday 14:56:01

Hi,

#5817. What does the verb (used without object) deign mean?

#5818. What does the noun deism mean?

#9 Re: Jai Ganesh's Puzzles » Doc, Doc! » Yesterday 14:40:59

Hi,

#2502. What does the medical term Hemolysis mean?

#13 Science HQ » Dubnium » 2025-10-20 19:29:57

Jai Ganesh
Replies: 0

Dubnium

Gist

Dubnium (Db) is a synthetic, highly radioactive chemical element with atomic number 105. It is a transuranic element, meaning it does not occur naturally and must be produced in a laboratory by bombarding other elements. The most stable known isotope, (268Db), has a half-life of approximately 16 to 28 hours. Due to its radioactivity and extremely short half-life, it has no practical uses and is only used in scientific research.  

It has never been found naturally and only a small number of atoms have been produced in laboratories. Its chemistry and appearance are not known with any certainty, although the chemistry is believed to be similar to tantalum. Dubnium is too rare to have any commercial or industrial application.

Summary

Dubnium is a synthetic chemical element; it has symbol Db and atomic number 105. It is highly radioactive: the most stable known isotope, dubnium-268, has a half-life of about 16 hours. This greatly limits extended research on the element.

Dubnium does not occur naturally on Earth and is produced artificially. The Soviet Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) claimed the first discovery of the element in 1968, followed by the American Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in 1970. Both teams proposed their names for the new element and used them without formal approval. The long-standing dispute was resolved in 1993 by an official investigation of the discovery claims by the Transfermium Working Group, formed by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, resulting in credit for the discovery being officially shared between both teams. The element was formally named dubnium in 1997 after the town of Dubna, the site of the JINR.

Theoretical research establishes dubnium as a member of group 5 in the 6d series of transition metals, placing it under vanadium, niobium, and tantalum. Dubnium should share most properties, such as its valence electron configuration and having a dominant +5 oxidation state, with the other group 5 elements, with a few anomalies due to relativistic effects. A limited investigation of dubnium chemistry has confirmed this.

Details

Dubnium (Db) is an artificially produced radioactive transuranium element in Group Vb of the periodic table, atomic number 105. The discovery of dubnium (element 105), like that of rutherfordium (element 104), has been a matter of dispute between Soviet and American scientists. The Soviets may have synthesized a few atoms of element 105 in 1967 at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia, U.S.S.R., by bombarding americium-243 with neon-22 ions, producing isotopes of element 105 having mass numbers of 260 and 261 and half-lives of 0.1 second and 3 seconds, respectively. Because the Dubna group did not propose a name for the element at the time they announced their preliminary data—a practice that has been customary following the discovery of a new element—it was surmised by American scientists that the Soviets did not have strong experimental evidence to substantiate their claims. Soviet scientists contended, however, that they did not propose a name in 1967 because they preferred to accumulate more data about the chemical and physical properties of the element before doing so. After completing further experiments, they proposed the name nielsbohrium.

In 1970 a group of investigators at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory of the University of California at Berkeley announced that they had synthesized isotope 260 of element 105, whereupon they proposed the name hahnium for the element, in honour of Otto Hahn, the discoverer of nuclear fission. The American team could not duplicate the Soviet experiment; but, when its members bombarded californium-249 with the nuclei of nitrogen-15 atoms, they produced “hahnium-260,” which had a half-life of about 1.6 seconds. As further evidence of their discovery, the scientists at Berkeley measured the amount of energy emitted by “hahnium-260” as it decayed, as well as the elements produced in the process; these characteristics were quite different from those of previously known elements in the periodic system. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry ultimately determined that the element be named dubnium.

Element Properties

atomic number  :  105
mass of most stable isotope  :  260.

Additional Information:

Appearance

A highly radioactive metal, of which only a few atoms have ever been made.

Uses

At present, it is only used in research.

Biological role

Dubnium has no known biological role.

Natural abundance

Dubnium does not occur naturally. It is a transuranium element created by bombarding californium-249 with nitrogen-15 nuclei.

Bohr-model-of-dubnium-Electrons-arrangement-in-dubnium.png

#14 This is Cool » Silica » 2025-10-20 17:17:11

Jai Ganesh
Replies: 0

Silica

Gist

Silica is the common name for silicon dioxide (SiO2), a naturally occurring mineral composed of one silicon and two oxygen atoms. It is the most abundant mineral in the Earth's crust, found in sand, granite, and rocks, and is used in a wide array of products including glass, concrete, and electronics. Silica is generally safe but can be a choking hazard, and inhaling fine airborne dust from certain industrial activities can lead to serious lung diseases like silicosis. 

Silica is used in a wide range of applications, including glass manufacturing, construction (cement, concrete), electronics (semiconductors, microchips), and industrial processes like water filtration and chemical manufacturing. It also functions as a common food additive, a desiccant in moisture-absorbing packets, and a component in products like pottery, ceramics, and even some cosmetics and supplements.

Summary

Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula SiO2, commonly found in nature as quartz. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one of the most complex and abundant families of materials, existing as a compound of several minerals and as a synthetic product. Examples include fused quartz, fumed silica, opal, and aerogels. It is used in structural materials, microelectronics, and as components in the food and pharmaceutical industries. All forms are white or colorless, although impure samples can be colored.

Silicon dioxide is a common fundamental constituent of glass.

Natural occurrence:

Geology

SiO2 is most commonly encountered in nature as quartz, which comprises more than 10% by mass of the Earth's crust. Quartz is the only polymorph of silica stable at the Earth's surface. Metastable occurrences of the high-pressure forms coesite and stishovite have been found around impact structures and associated with eclogites formed during ultra-high-pressure metamorphism. The high-temperature forms of tridymite and cristobalite are known from silica-rich volcanic rocks. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand.

Biology

Even though it is poorly soluble, silica occurs in many plants such as rice. Plant materials with high silica phytolith content appear to be of importance to grazing animals, from chewing insects to ungulates. Silica accelerates tooth wear, and high levels of silica in plants frequently eaten by insects may have developed as a defense mechanism against predation.

Silica is also the primary component of rice husk ash, which is used, for example, in filtration and as supplementary cementitious material (SCM) in cement and concrete manufacturing.

Silicification in and by cells has been common in the biological world and it occurs in bacteria, protists, plants, and animals (invertebrates and vertebrates).

Prominent examples include:

* Tests or frustules (i.e. shells) of diatoms, Radiolaria, and testate amoebae.
* Silica phytoliths in the cells of many plants including Equisetaceae, many grasses, and a wide range of dicotyledons.
* The spicules forming the skeleton of many sponges.

Details

Also called silica sand or quartz sand, silica is silicon dioxide (SiO2). Silicon compounds are the most significant component of the Earth’s crust. Since sand is plentiful, easy to mine and relatively easy to process, it is the primary ore source of silicon. The metamorphic rock, quartzite, is another source.

Silicon (Si) is a semi-metallic or metalloid, because it has several of the metallic characteristics. Silicon is never found in its natural state, but rather in combination with oxygen as the silicate ion  in silica-rich rocks such as obsidian, granite, diorite, and sandstone. Feldspar and quartz are the most significant silicate minerals. Silicon alloys include a variety of metals, including iron, aluminum, copper, nickel, manganese and ferrochromium.

Description

Also called silica sand or quartz sand, silica is made of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Silicon compounds are the most significant component of the Earth’s crust. Since sand is plentiful, easy to mine and relatively easy to process, it is the primary ore source of silicon. The metamorphic rock, quartzite, is another source.

Silicon (Si) is a semi-metallic or metalloid, because it has several of the metallic characteristics. Silicon is never found in its natural state, but rather in combination with oxygen as the silicate ion - in silica-rich rocks such as obsidian, granite, diorite, and sandstone. Feldspar and quartz are the most significant silicate minerals. Silicon alloys include a variety of metals, including iron, aluminum, copper, nickel, manganese and ferrochromium.

Relation to Mining

In almost all cases, silica mining uses open pit or dredging mining methods with standard mining equipment.  Except for temporarily disturbing the immediate area while mining operations are active, sand and gravel mining usually has limited environmental impact.

Uses

Ferrosilicon alloys are used to improve the strength and quality of iron and steel products. Tools, for instance, are made of steel and ferrosilicon.

In addition to tool steels, an example of “alloy steels,” ferrosilicon is used in the manufacture of stainless steels, carbon steels, and other alloy steels.  An alloy steel refers to all finished steels other than stainless and carbon steels. Stainless steels are used when superior corrosion resistance, hygiene, aesthetic, and wear-resistance qualities are needed.

Carbon steels are used extensively in suspension bridges and other structural support material, and in automotive bodies, to name a few.

Silicon is used in the aluminum industry to improve castability and weldability. Silicon-aluminum alloys tend to have relatively low strength and ductility, so other metals, especially magnesium and copper, are often added to improve strength.

In the chemicals industry, silicon metal is the starting point for the production of silianes, silicones, fumed silica, and semiconductor-grade silicon. Silanes are the used to make silicone resins, lubricants, anti-foaming agents, and water-repellent compounds. Silicones are used as lubricants, hydraulic fluids, electrical insulators, and moisture-proof treatments.

Semiconductor-grade silicon is used in the manufacture of silicon chips and solar cells. Fumed silica is used as a filler in the cement and refractory materials industries, as well as in heat insulation and filling material for synthetic rubbers, polymers and grouts.

Silica is used in ceramics and in making glass.

Silicon is considered a semiconductor. This means that it conducts electricity, but not as well as a metal such as copper or silver. This physical property makes silicon an important commodity in the computer manufacturing business.

Additional Information

Silica is a compound of the two most abundant elements in Earth’s crust, silicon and oxygen, SiO2. The mass of Earth’s crust is 59 percent silica, the main constituent of more than 95 percent of the known rocks. Silica has three main crystalline varieties: quartz (by far the most abundant), tridymite, and cristobalite. Other varieties include coesite, keatite, and lechatelierite. Silica sand is used in buildings and roads in the form of portland cement, concrete, and mortar, as well as sandstone. Silica also is used in grinding and polishing glass and stone; in foundry molds; in the manufacture of glass, ceramics, silicon carbide, ferrosilicon, and silicones; as a refractory material; and as gemstones. Silica gel is often used as a desiccant to remove moisture.

quartz1.jpg

#15 Re: Dark Discussions at Cafe Infinity » crème de la crème » 2025-10-20 16:41:20

2369) Bernard Katz

Gist:

Work

The nervous systems of people and animals consist of many nerve cells with long extensions, or nerve fibers. Signals are conveyed between cells by small electrical currents and by special substances known as signal substances. The transfers occur via contacts, or synapses. In the 1950s Bernard Katz studied how impulses in motor neurons activate muscular activity by measuring variations in electrical charges. For example, he showed how the signal substance acetylcholine in synapses is released in certain amounts.

Summary

Sir Bernard Katz (born March 26, 1911, Leipzig, Germany—died April 20, 2003, London, England) was a German-born British physiologist who investigated the functioning of nerves and muscles. His studies on the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine—which carries impulses from nerve fibre to muscle fibre or from one nerve ending to another—won him a share (with Julius Axelrod and Ulf von Euler) of the 1970 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.

After receiving a medical degree from the University of Leipzig in 1934, Katz immigrated to England, where he pursued advanced studies at University College in London, taking a Ph.D. in 1938. Upon receiving a Carnegie fellowship, he studied in Australia (1939–42) and then served in the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II. He returned to University College in 1946 and from 1952 to 1978 was professor and head of the biophysics department. Katz was knighted in 1969.

Katz wrote Electric Excitation of Nerve (1939), Nerve, Muscle and Synapse (1966), and The Release of Neural Transmitter Substances (1969). He and his associates made numerous discoveries concerning the chemistry of nerve transmission, including the role of calcium ions in promoting the release of neurotransmitter substances and the fact that quanta of these substances are being released constantly at random intervals.

Details

Sir Bernard Katz (26 March 1911 – 20 April 2003)[2] was a German-born British physician and biophysicist, noted for his work on nerve physiology; specifically, for his work on synaptic transmission at the nerve-muscle junction. He shared the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 1970 with Julius Axelrod and Ulf von Euler. He was made a Knight Bachelor in 1969.

Life and career

Katz was born in Leipzig, Germany, to a Jewish family originally from Russia, the son of Eugenie (Rabinowitz) and Max Katz, a fur merchant. He was educated at the Albert Gymnasium in that city from 1921 to 1929 and went on to study medicine at the University of Leipzig. He graduated in 1934 and fled to Britain in February 1935.

Katz went to work at University College London, initially under the tutelage of Archibald Vivian Hill. He finished his PhD in 1938 and won a Carnegie Fellowship to study with John Carew Eccles at the Kanematsu Institute of Sydney Medical School. During this time, both he and Eccles gave research lectures at the University of Sydney. He obtained British nationality in 1941and joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1942. He spent the war in the Pacific as a radar officer and in 1946 was invited back to UCL as an assistant director by Hill. For three years until 1949, the Katz family lived with Hill and his wife Margaret in the top flat of their house in Highgate.

Back in England he also worked with the 1963 Nobel prize winners Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley. Katz was made a professor at UCL in 1952 and head of the Biophysics Department; he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1952. He stayed as head of Biophysics until 1978 when he became emeritus professor.

Katz married Marguerite Penly in 1945. He died in London on 20 April 2003, at the age of 92. His son Jonathan is Public Orator of the University of Oxford.

Research

His research uncovered fundamental properties of synapses, the junctions across which nerve cells signal to each other and to other types of cells. By the 1950s, he was studying the biochemistry and action of acetylcholine, a signalling molecule found in synapses linking motor neurons to muscles, used to stimulate contraction. Katz won the Nobel for his discovery with Paul Fatt that neurotransmitter release at synapses is "quantal", meaning that at any particular synapse, the amount of neurotransmitter released is never less than a certain amount, and if more is always an integral number times this amount. Scientists now understand that this circumstance arises because, prior to their release into the synaptic gap, transmitter molecules reside in like-sized subcellular packages known as synaptic vesicles, released in a similar way to any other vesicle during exocytosis.

Katz's work had immediate influence on the study of organophosphates and organochlorines, the basis of new post-war study for nerve agents and pesticides, as he determined that the complex enzyme cycle was easily disrupted.

Collections

Katz's son Jonathan presented the personal archive of his father to University College London in 2003. The collection includes biographical documents, correspondence, notes on lectures, publications, and research material.

katz-13222-portrait-medium.jpg

#16 Dark Discussions at Cafe Infinity » Co-operation Quotes » 2025-10-20 16:16:10

Jai Ganesh
Replies: 0

Co-operation Quotes

1. If you will work in co-operation, forgetting the past, burying the hatchet, you are bound to succeed. - Muhammad Ali Jinnah

2. Stop-and-search has the potential to cause immense resentment and honesty to the police, with all the implications that has for generating distrust and ending co-operation from the public, if it is not used fairly. - Theresa May

3. A sincere and steadfast co-operation in promoting such a reconstruction of our political system as would provide for the permanent liberty and happiness of the United States. - James Madison

4. There is no doubt that this government and this country are benefiting from the reforms that we brought in the 1980s, and that couldn't have been done without the co-operation of the trade union movement. - Bob Hawke

5. I want Infosys to be a company which is globally respected and in where people belonging to different nationalities, races and religious beliefs will work with intense competition but utmost courtesy, dignity and co-operation in adding greater value to our stakeholders day after day. - N. R. Narayana Murthy

6. We are ready to engage in international co-operation against terrorism with a view to safeguarding national interests and regional security and stability. - Li Peng

7. Europe has found itself confronted with fresh challenges - challenges of a global character, the nature of which is directly connected with changes in the international climate and the difficulties of seeking new models for co-operation. - Boris Yeltsin

8. We can realise a lasting peace and transform the East-West relationship to one of enduring co-operation. - George H. W. Bush

9. If co-operation is a duty, I hold that non-co-operation also under certain conditions is equally a duty. - Mahatma Gandhi.

#17 Re: Jai Ganesh's Puzzles » General Quiz » 2025-10-20 15:51:30

Hi,

#10619. What does the term in Geography Cay mean?

#10620. What does the term in Geography Celestial pole mean?

#18 Re: Jai Ganesh's Puzzles » English language puzzles » 2025-10-20 15:39:39

Hi,

#5815. What does the adverb de jure mean?

#5816. What does the noun deliberation mean?

#19 Re: Jai Ganesh's Puzzles » Doc, Doc! » 2025-10-20 15:07:21

Hi,

#2501. What does the medical term Fatty liver disease (FLD) mean?

#20 Jokes » Apple Jokes - V » 2025-10-20 14:33:51

Jai Ganesh
Replies: 0

Q: What kind of apple has a short temper?
A: A crab apple.
* * *
Q: What do you get when you cross an apple with a Christmas tree?
A: Pineapple.
* * *
Q: What is the left side of an apple?
A: The part that you don't eat.
* * *
Q: How do you make an apple puff?
Chase it round the garden.
* * *
Q:  What do you get if you cross a jogger with an apple pie ?
A: Puff pastry !
* * *

#24 Re: This is Cool » Miscellany » 2025-10-20 00:01:25

2421) Elevator phobia

Gist

Elevator phobia, or elevatophobia, is an intense, irrational fear of elevators that can stem from claustrophobia (fear of enclosed spaces), acrophobia (fear of heights), or fear of malfunctions. Symptoms include intense anxiety and panic attacks, and it can lead to avoiding elevators by taking the stairs, even in high-rise buildings. Overcoming it often involves techniques like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or exposure therapy, along with relaxation methods and breathing exercises. 

Summary:

Where Elevator Phobias Might Originate

It’s different for each person, but there are some common elevator phobia origins. They include the following.

Agoraphobia – This is when someone fears being stuck somewhere that is nearly impossible to escape from. Individuals with agoraphobia could fear the elevator because it closes them in and they begin to panic that they won’t be able to get out again.
Claustrophobia – This is when someone fears being in enclosed spaces. Elevators are typically small in size, making people feel tightly enclosed when they are in them.
Previous Experiences – Whether someone had a previous experience with an actual elevator, or the enclosed space of the elevator makes him or her relive a past trauma, previous experiences could cause fear in someone when riding an elevator.
Hollywood – Even though everyone understands a movie is just a movie, those that include frightening elevator scenes can tell the subconscious that elevators are scary, leading someone to avoid riding in them.

How to Overcome an Elevator Phobia

One of the best ways to overcome many phobias is to understand the thing or situation one is afraid of. Someone might speak with an elevator maintenance worker to learn how the elevator works, then observe it for a time or two before trying to take a ride. If you have tenants who have anxiety surrounding elevators, it may be helpful to call in your elevator maintenance company.

If the phobia is quite extreme, a psychologist may be able to provide more insight on getting over a fear of elevators. If someone lives or works somewhere that an elevator is necessary on a regular basis, this might be a great option.

Details

If you get anxious or panicky while on an elevator, or you go out of your way to avoid taking elevators altogether, you are not alone! Many people have a fear of elevators. If this is you, read on to learn more about this problem and how you can overcome it.

Different Phobias Related to Elevators

A fear of elevators can stem from what’s known technically as a “specific phobia.” About 12.5% of adults in the United States will have a specific phobia in their lifetime. There are different types of specific phobias that can be associated with elevators, as you’ll see described below.

If you have a specific phobia, you’ll experience anxiety symptoms when in the presence of the feared object or situation. These include increased heart rate, shortness of breath, sweating, and nausea.

The phobias related to elevators are:

Claustrophobia

Claustrophobia is the fear of small, confined spaces. It can be triggered by many different places ranging from trains to tunnels to elevators. For many people, being in a small elevator, particularly if it is crowded, might trigger feelings of panic related to claustrophobia.

Cleithrophobia

Cleithrophobia is the fear of being trapped. It is a fear of a situation, rather than a specific place. This phobia is not specific to elevators but is commonly triggered by them. In an elevator, you might feel trapped if you think you might not be able to open the doors or get out. The lack of control over escaping is the defining feature of this phobia.

Acrophobia

Acrophobia is the fear of heights. This might be activated by elevators in tall buildings or skyscrapers. People with acrophobia might have trouble working or living in tall buildings with elevators because of the fear of being high off the ground. If you have acrophobia and live in an area like New York City, where you frequently encounter tall buildings with elevators, you might find it difficult to navigate your daily life.

Basophobia

Basophobia is the fear of falling. While an aversion to falling is a natural human instinct, people with basophobia have an intense fear of falling that is out of proportion to the situation. You might have trouble riding in elevators if you are afraid of the elevator suddenly falling, despite the safety features built into elevators.

Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia is a fear of being in places or situations that might cause feelings of helplessness, anxiety, or panic. You might have trouble leaving your home or other places that feel safe if you have agoraphobia. Going into public or riding an elevator might trigger feelings of panic for someone with this phobia.

Causes of a Fear of Elevators

Previous negative experiences:

You might have a fear of elevators because of a previous scary experience riding in one. For example, you might have been stuck in an elevator for a prolonged period of time. Or maybe you were in an elevator that stalled between floors or felt like it suddenly dropped. Any of these types of experiences could potentially trigger a fear of elevators.

Misconceptions about elevator safety:

Many myths or misunderstandings about elevators and their safety can worsen a fear of elevators. Here are some common misconceptions about elevators:

Running out of air:

A common myth is that elevators only hold a certain amount of air. You might therefore fear that if you get stuck you will have trouble breathing. However, elevators are not air-tight and do not have a limited supply of oxygen! Feelings of breathlessness on elevators are more likely related to panic attack symptoms rather than actually running out of air.

Elevator cable safety:

Some people believe that elevators are suspended by a single rope. This is false. Elevators are constructed with multiple steel cables that allow for safe movement up and down. Learn more about elevator cables here.

Elevators can free-fall:

Many people with a fear of elevators might believe that elevators can free-fall if something goes wrong. This is not the case. Elevators have safety features, both electronic and mechanical, that prevent this type of occurrence.

Safety Tips for Riding in Elevators

When riding in an elevator, it is important to take general safety precautions to ensure a smooth ride. Here are some tips to follow:

* Never hold a door open with your hand or an object. If you need to keep a door open, press and hold the “Door Open” button.
* If you are trying to catch the elevator and the door is closing, don’t stop it. Keeping the doors from closing could result in you getting injured.
* Don’t step onto an elevator if it seems overcrowded. Wait for the next one!
* If the door doesn’t open when the elevator stops at your floor, press the “Door Open” button. If the door doesn’t open after a few seconds, press the “Help” or “Emergency” button and wait for assistance.
* If a problem arises, try not to panic! Take a few deep breaths and press the “Emergency” button.

Additional Information

As a more modern invention, it has no official Greek "phobia" name; however, the fear of elevators is relatively common. According to the National Elevator Industry, Inc., elevators provide 18 billion passenger trips in the U.S. each year with millions of passengers repeatedly arriving safely at their destination. Yet, many people feel at least a slight nervousness when contemplating an elevator ride.

In some people, the fear of elevators is triggered by an existing phobia, but the fear often appears alone. Like any phobia, the fear of elevators ranges from mild to severe.

Fear of Elevators: Are Elevators Safe?

For those of us who work in the elevator industry, it’s hard to imagine anyone having a fear of elevators. Seeing these machines at work and knowing the evolution of elevators, we wouldn’t think twice when stepping into the cab. Yet, we know that elevator phobias are very real, and media is partially to blame for that. Films will often portray elevators in a way that is not accurate in the slightest. Thankfully, we are here to assure you that none of the extreme scenarios you see on the big screen are possible.

In movies, hoistway doors will open when they shouldn’t, characters will get stuck in elevators for days and a superhero will need to save the cab from free falling down the shaft. It may seem like a harmless way to move the plot along, but myths like these contribute to the fear of elevators that a number of commuters suffer from. Elevators are a part of daily life, so being afraid of them can inhibit many from experiencing the ease that they bring to tenants.

So how do you overcome your fear? Perhaps learning more about the many safety features that elevators have is a good place to start.

Are Elevators Safe?

Over the course of one day, elevators will globally carry 325 million people to their destinations. The worldwide popularity of the passenger elevator can be traced directly to its roots in safety. Before the 1800s, elevators were seen as a convenient way to move heavy items or as an attraction.

This all changed at the World’s Fair in 1853 when an inventor showcased his newest idea in front of a crowd. He stood in an elevator and had his assistant cut the cable that was holding him up. To their amazement, he only dropped a couple of feet — his new safety device caught the cab. This revolutionary invention is what we now call a “safety” activated by a governor. It is a component in every elevator you’ve ever ridden in.

Since the debut of the mechanical safety and overspeed governor, elevators have constantly evolved to become the safest form of vertical transportation — even better than stairs. Next time you are debating whether or not to take the stairs, take these safety features into account!

Blond-woman-anxious-about-elevator.jpg?w=1002&ssl=1

#25 Dark Discussions at Cafe Infinity » Clue Quotes » 2025-10-19 15:20:06

Jai Ganesh
Replies: 0

Clue Quotes

1. My theory is that if you look confident you can pull off anything - even if you have no clue what you're doing. - Jessica Alba

2. My parents were simpletons. Everyday living was a big thing in that small village where I was born. They had no clue about music. - Ilaiyaraaja

3. There's too many people in seats of power who just haven't got a clue what they're doing. They're bean counters, and it just pisses me off because consequently our kids go to see math movies. - Pierce Brosnan

4. I have no clue why, but maybe sometimes when there's someone you don't hear from, it's the person you want to hear from the most. - Janet Jackson

5. That idea of URL was the basic clue to the universality of the Web. That was the only thing I insisted upon. - Tim Berners-Lee

6. I wasn't trained as an actor at all. I had studied painting in America and had no clue about acting when I came back. - Deepti Naval.

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