Physical Sciences

In 1947, after WWII, there was an excess of pure metallic sodium. The sodium was commonly being used to make synthetic rubber as a substitute for natural rubber supplies. There were 10 tons of this highly reactive solid sodium. The transportation of these sodium barrels were considered to be a high risk, so there were no carriers willing to transport them in order to sell. The solution was to dump these sodium barrels into a lake in Washington. They did not want to cause harm, so they chose Lake Lenore since it is an alkaline lake that contained no fish. Once the sodium was dumped in the lake, there were large explosions and the pH level drastically changed, making the lake much more basic due to the sodium hydroxide formed. The explanation of this disposal in 1947 can be explained through the properties of sodium and chemical reactions.

On May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg arrived hours behind schedule at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey due to inclement weather with wind, rain, and possible lightning. The landing of the Hindenburg with these types of conditions was against regulations, but by the time the Hindenburg began its landing the weather was clearing up. The Hindenburg seems to have been traveling at a fairly fast speed for its landing and for some reason, the Captain attempted a high landing from a height of about 200 feet. Soon after the mooring lines were set, some eyewitnesses reported a blue glow on top of the Hindenburg followed by a flame towards the tail section of the craft. The flame was almost simultaneously succeeded by an explosion that quickly engulfed the craft causing it to crash into the ground killing 36 people. Spectators watched in horror as passengers and crew were burned alive or jumped to their deaths. As Herb Morrison announced for the radio, "It's burst into flames.... Get out of the way, please, oh my, this is terrible...Oh, the humanity and all the passengers.” In 37 seconds the great Hindenburg had completely burned. Of the 91 people on board, 36 had died.

An empty tanker car was steam-cleaned, sealed, and left overnight. Overnight, the outside temperature decreased. At a certain point, the massive, sturdy tanker car imploded in on itself in an instant. What forces could have caused the tanker car to implode? How can changes at the molecular level lead to such incredible forces on the scale of a railroad tanker car?

To learn more about the threats of nuclear testing to human health, during the 1950's the Committee for Nuclear Information conducted a baby tooth survey. This survey emerged out of concern that nuclear testing in the atmosphere, as part of nuclear weapons development, could cause long-term health risks. As part of the survey, parents were asked to mail in their children's baby teeth for testing. As a result of a study of more than 30,000 baby teeth, mostly from children from St. Louis, Missouri, it was determined that a spike in radioactive Strontium-90, a chemical element that resembles the important nutritional element Calcium, was found in the teeth examined in the study. This was concerning because Strontium-90 was released in the atmosphere as a bi-product of the nuclear testing and was incorporated along with (and in place of) Calcium into the bones and teeth of developing unborn babies and continued even after birth. Because Strontium-90 has a half-life of 28 years, it was believed that these nuclear tests had unnecessarily resulted in what amounted to unnecessary and potentially harmful (e.g., potentially cancer causing) exposure to radioactivity over the life of these children.

Voyager 2, was launched by NASA in the summer of 1977 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It, along with Voyager 1, were to conduct closeup studies of Jupiter and Saturn, Saturn's rings, and the larger moons of the two planets. However, because of a once in a 175 year alignment of the planets, Voyager 2 was able to "swing from one planet to the next without need for an onboard propulsion system", to not only visit Jupiter and Saturn as originally planed when launched, but to also visit Uranus and Neptune. This spacecraft's flight path bent and increased its velocity enough to reach each subsequent planet using a "gravity assist" technique. Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited Uranus and Neptune. On Aug. 25, 2012 (35 years after leaving Cape Canaveral), Voyager 1 left our Solar System and entered interstellar space. Voyager 2 will soon join Voyager 1 as the first human made objects to enter interstellar space.

A wireless charger first needs to have an AC current moving though a coil of wire. This current will create a changing magnetic field and then this changing magnetic field will produce a voltage in another coil of wire that is near it. The amount of voltage that is created is based on the number of turns of the coil and the strength of the magnetic field.

One of the most familiar images of Yosemite National Park is Half Dome, the park’s tallest granite peak at nearly 5,000 feet. While thousands may have made the trek with nothing but sore leg muscles to show for it, clear warnings are posted that a climb here could be deadly, because Half Dome is a gigantic natural lightning rod. On July 27th, 1985, five men set out to climb Half Dome. When a storm hit, they sought shelter. The summit took a direct hit. Millions of volts of electricity arced over the wet stone surface—into the rock enclosure. The lightning strike killed two of the hikers and two others suffered massive internal injuries along with third degree burns. The fifth hiker was in motion when the lightning struck. Because little of his body was in contact with the rock, he did not ground the lightning’s electrical charge, and he escaped with minor injuries.

Temperatures can reach up to 122°F in Phoenix, Arizona, during the summer months. The interiors of parked cars left out in the heat can reach temperatures that are far higher. In fact, if you place a baking tray full of cookie dough on the car's dashboard, they will cook! This occurs because of several different ways heat can transfer and be trapped.

Boats or Vessels pose a significant threat to whales. If a whale is struck by a vessel going over 10 knots, it will like lead to a lethal encounter for the whale. For those whales, like the right whale that is critically endangered, these lethal encounters with individual whales have even bigger consequences. To address this issue, researchers have developed buoys that can detect whale calls. These detected whale calls are mapped to whale calls on record, specifically those of more endangered species of whales. When detected an alert can be sent to vessels within the vicinity of the detected whale(s), where the vessel can be slowed to avert these lethal encounters.