 |
Oil Lens
Oil held in tension in an enclosing force field, used as an optical component. (Read the full article)
| "If you check the old (1930s) 3 volume set, Amateur Telescope Making by Scientific American you will find that there were water lenses. In the majority of achromatic lenses there is a front lens that is double convex and a back lens that is plano-concave. The front lens has a lower optical density (index of refraction). In *general* as the optical density of a material is higher, the increase in the amount that it disperses color is proportionally greater than the increase in the index of refraction. So the plano-concave element is made of an optically denser glass which cancels half of the magnification and effectively all of the color dispersal. The front element is called "crown" glass and is a pure form of window glass. The back element is generically called "lead" glass because the first such glasses had lead dissolved in them, which handled the color dispersal but was dark and absorbed light. Better glasses are now used.
But there was a compromise. Water has a lower optical density than crown glass. Some telescopes were made, even as late asthe 19th century where the back element was crown glass and the front element was a thin curved surface like the crystak of a pocket watch. That was filled with water.
Another note: Newton experimented with a prism made of 2 flat pieces of glass set like a trough. He filled it with water and measured the index of refraction and the color dispersal. Then he filled it with water with a chemical salt in it to increase the optical density. He discovered that the increase in color dispersal was exactly in proportion to the increase in refraction. He then formally reported to the world that an color corrected lens was impossible. He had had the bad luck to pick a material that was an exception. Newton's standing was so high that it was 75 years before anyone retested the matter.
That's still not a force field adjusted lens, though.
" (dhm 11/5/2005 7:31:57 AM ) |
| "As a child [around 15 years ago] i remember seeing a picture in a local philippine newspaper. Scientists tried out water lenses as a solar power heat source. Water was shaped by placing it in plastic bags under tension. Efficiency and focus was terrible but they could build lots of these for a very small cost. The pic shows one bag the size of your hand burning a 2 by 4 wood support " (Vince 12/21/2005 4:07:31 AM ) |
Leave a comment:
Tediously, spammers have returned. Please send your comments to @technovelgy and I'll post them. Thanks!
Current News Articles
Golf Ball Test Robot Wears Them Out
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'
Boring Company Vegas Loop Like Asimov Said
'There was a wall ahead... It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
Rigid Metallic Clothing From Science Fiction To You
'...support the interior human structure against Jupiter’s pull.'
Is The Seattle Ultrasonics C-200 A Heinlein Vibroblade?
'It ain't a vibroblade. It's steel. Messy.'
Roborock Saros Z70 Is A Robot Vacuum With An Arm
'Anything larger than a BB shot it picked up and placed in a tray...'
A Beautiful Visualization Of Compact Food
'The German chemists have discovered how to supply the needed elements in compact, undiluted form...'
Bone-Building Drug Evenity Approved
'Compounds devised by the biochemists for the rapid building of bone...'
Secret Kill Switch Found In Yutong Buses
'The car faltered as the external command came to brake...'
Inmotion Electric Unicycle In Combat
'It is about the size and shape of a kitchen stool, gyro-stabilized...'
Grok Scores Best In Psychological Tests
'Try to find out how he ticks...'
PaXini Supersensitive Robot Fingers
'My fingers are not that sensitive...'
Congress Considers Automatic Emergency Braking, One Hundred Years Too Late
'The greatest problem of all was the elimination of the human element of braking together with its inevitable time lag.'
