Probing the future
Article Abstract:
The current public enchantment with the perceived long-range possibilities of superconducting could give way to public disenchantment and frustration. Scientists describe the pressure on them to break barriers and set records as 'immense, unimaginable'. Progress in small-scale, electronics applications appear much more feasible than large-scale magnet and power applications. The critical current densities of the current crop of ceramics meet the requirements of electronics largely due to advances in thin-film processing. Superconducting interconnections and Josephson junctions appear feasible. But future, large-scale applications are still possible. The biggest roadblock to large-scale magnet and power applications may be political. Power transmission lines would operate at only one-tenth to one-eighth of the wire's critical current density. One of the first large-scale applications to materialize could be superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES), due to the Government's massive drive to develop the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI).
Publication Name: IEEE Spectrum
Subject: Engineering and manufacturing industries
ISSN: 0018-9235
Year: 1988
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Part 2: societal reverberations
Article Abstract:
Electromagnetic fields continue to pose a problem for utilities, regulatory agencies, and standards bodies that cannot decide whether to establish limits on them. There are still no hard facts on whether any levels are dangerous to the general public. A series of articles published in The New Yorker magazine in 1989 claimed that many facilities and products that generate high- to low-frequency fields are dangerous. It is suggested that utilities and the US government had tried to hide these facts from the public. Some experts argue that a safety standard needs to be imposed on all products by the government. Others contend that voluntary manufacturer standards would be more practical. The continuing debate and research are sure to throw more light on how magnetic fields affect the human body.
Publication Name: IEEE Spectrum
Subject: Engineering and manufacturing industries
ISSN: 0018-9235
Year: 1990
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Probing Boeing's crossed connections
Article Abstract:
Investigation reveals misconnected circuits and hoses in 94 in-service Boeing aircraft. The crash of a British Midland Airways Boeing 737 in England, en route to Belfast, was incentive for an international inspection of fire protection systems in Boeing aircraft. In two months, 78 instances of miswiring on 74 aircraft were found in fire flagging and extinguishing systems on the Boeing planes. An FAA investigation briefing paper of the Northwest Mountain Region branch stated that there were several areas of concern within the Boeing quality control system. Foul-ups may have occurred during manufacture and during maintenance of the Boeing planes.
Publication Name: IEEE Spectrum
Subject: Engineering and manufacturing industries
ISSN: 0018-9235
Year: 1989
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