Children's Day to talk about the tech stalks in the cartoon
It's June 1st Children's Day, the most anticipated day for children. From Pikachu who can launch a "100,000 volt" electric shock, to Transformers competing for the "energy block" of the "Cybertan" planet, to the Xaar flying to explore the energy of outer galaxies ... cartoons accompany generation after generation of children happy childhood. Attentive viewers may find that some plots in the cartoons seem to find a shadow from the real world. So, on this special day, let's talk about the tech stalks in the cartoon.
"Pokemon" Pikachu inspired or from the "discharge master" electric eel
Friends who have watched the cartoon "Pokemon" must be very impressed with the pudgy, chubby little elf, Pikachu. Especially in the battle, it can release electrical energy through the electric bag on the face. Few opponents' "100,000 Volt" tricks make many children envious. However, Pikachu's ability to discharge may not be the author's imagination out of thin air. In nature, there is really a discharge expert like Pikachu-electric eel.
In this regard, Zhao Yahui, an associate researcher at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said in an interview with a reporter from the Science and Technology Daily that there are indeed many types of fish that have a discharge function, both marine fish and freshwater fish. Most of their main discharge organs are derived from muscles. For example, the discharge organs of electric eels are transformed from the tail muscles. The discharge organ is composed of power-generating cells. Under the direction of the nerve center, the power-generating cells reverse the polarization of the nerve layer, thereby generating electric currents, making these cells like a "small battery". Although each power-generating cell can only generate about 0.1 volts, there are about 6000 power-generating cells in an electric eel with a length of 2 meters. When they are connected in series, the measured maximum power generation can exceed 550 volts, thereby achieving corona Even the effect of electrocution other animals. As for why the electric eel does not charge itself, Zhao Yahui explained: "Because the current will choose to pass through the path with the smallest resistance, so when the electric eel is discharged in the water, the current will be transmitted through the water and will not reach itself."
It is worth mentioning that the discharge process of electric eels is pulsed and cannot continue to discharge. This is also similar to Pikachu becoming weak after discharge, and can no longer use the trick for a while.
"Transformers" "energy block" combustible ice may be its real life prototype
The cartoon "Transformers" can be described as the collective memory of the post-80s. It has a 33-year history since its first broadcast in 1984. The main line of the plot is the competition between the Autobots and Decepticons for a small purple square-"energy block".
The small, high-energy "energy block" that robots compete for in "Transformers" can also be found in real life. It is flammable ice.
The scientific name of flammable ice is "natural gas hydrate", which looks like ice cubes. Once it encounters fire, it can burn like solid alcohol, but the burning time is much longer than solid alcohol, and the energy generated is also very huge. Some experts said that the biggest feature of combustible ice is its high energy density. Under the same conditions, the energy it produces is tens of times higher than coal, oil, and natural gas. Taking a common car in life as an example, if a car that uses natural gas as fuel can run 300 kilometers with 100 liters of natural gas at a time, then with the same volume of combustible ice, the car can run 50,000 kilometers.
Combustible ice is a clean fuel, and only carbon dioxide and water are generated after burning. If it replaces fossil fuel, it will help solve the problem of air pollution. Not only that, flammable ice reserves are huge, and they are widely distributed under the ocean floor, permafrost and polar regions of the world. Some experts estimate that the amount of its resources is equivalent to twice the total amount of carbon proven by traditional fossil fuels in the world, and it is a kind of future energy of great strategic significance.
The Purcell ’s exploration of extraterrestrial energy coincides with today ’s countries aiming at lunar energy
In 2110 AD, the earth's energy is nearly exhausted, and environmental pollution is getting worse. In order to realize the exploration of extraterrestrial galaxies, mankind has created the energy exploration spacecraft Sel ... This is the scene in the cartoon "Sail".
The scenes in the cartoon may come into reality in the future. The exploration of the moon by mankind has not stopped. my country has implemented the lunar exploration project. The United States has promoted the "return to the moon" plan. Major world aerospace powers have also proposed ambitious lunar exploration plans. One of the reasons why countries are so passionate about lunar exploration is that modern science has proved that lunar resources have important strategic significance for human survival and development.
According to Ouyang Ziyuan, the first chief scientist of China's lunar exploration project, oil, coal, natural gas and other resources on the earth will eventually run out, and the moon contains rich energy. He said that a "daytime" on the moon is about the same as the first half of the earth. There is no atmosphere, ionosphere, etc. on the surface, which is very conducive to the collection of solar energy. At the same time, there are no buildings on the moon table, and solar panels can be laid indefinitely, and the technology of converting the solar energy of the moon into electric energy and transmitting it to the earth has also been solved.
The unique mineral deposits and energy on the moon are important supplements and reserves for the earth ’s resources. Scientific investigations have proved that there are more than 100 known minerals on the moon, including a large amount of aluminum, magnesium, calcium, titanium, silicon, sodium, chromium, potassium, manganese, zirconium, barium, scandium, niobium, etc. Not on the earth.
Zheng Yongchun, a researcher at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that it would be very expensive to extract resources from outer space and use them on the earth, and some resources, such as gold and platinum, are not necessary to be exploited if their quality is not high. However, some resources, such as helium-3 contained in lunar soil, are now recognized by the world as efficient, clean, safe, and cheap nuclear fusion fuel for power generation, and there is no such thing on the earth, so it is necessary to get it back. It is understood that helium-3 plays an important role in the fields of cooling superconducting magnets in MRI equipment, semiconductors, superconducting experiments, optoelectronics, and laser gyros. But how to get helium-3 back from the moon is the first problem scientists have to solve.
"Utilize the resources of outer space on the spot. This approach may be more scientific and reasonable." Zheng Yongchun emphasized.
"Sailor Moon" V-shaped headwear made of memory alloy can fit the forehead closely
In the cartoon "Sailor Moon", every time the Sailor Moon transforms into a gold glittering V-shaped headgear. This headdress can fit so tightly with the forehead. Some people speculate that it must be made of memory alloy.
In this regard, some experts explained that memory alloy, also known as shape memory alloy, is an alloy material that deforms under certain conditions and can then restore its original shape before deformation. This characteristic is as if the metal has a memory of what it was before, so people call it a memory alloy.
Scientists said that the principle of memory alloys is still unclear. It only knows that it can restore its original shape under certain temperature conditions, and it has more than one million recovery functions. Another unique property of this alloy is the "superelastic" effect at a specific temperature, which is manifested as being able to carry recoverable strain that is several times or even tens of times larger than that of ordinary metals.
Memory alloys are typically represented by nickel-titanium memory alloys and are widely used in medical, construction, aerospace and other fields. For example, the wheels of the new NASA Mars rover will use a non-pneumatic mesh tire made of nickel-titanium memory alloy, which can withstand greater deformation than the aluminum wheels used by the Curiosity. With more loads.
Our reporter Fu Lili