Part 3: Extreme Machines - sea

Knock Nevis

Knock Nevis is a big ship. The longest in the world, it turns out. At 458 metres from tip to tip, it surpasses the 443 metres Empire State Building. Even in an age of superlatives, it continues as the ultimate superlative, a ship so huge that four football fields could be laid end to end on its deck.

The Knock Nevis, a ship so huge that when fully laden it cannot pass through the 51.5 km wide English channel that separates England from France. For, when laden, it sits 24.6 metres in the water, a depth great enought to deny entry to most of the world's major ports.

In 1981, it was ready to be put to sea under the name the Sea Wise Giant. It was first operated in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. It was later trabsferred to the Persian Gulf to be used for exporting oil from Iran.

As the timing goes, it launch was not without hassles. Two major oil-producing states of Iran and Iraq were locked in a war. So ship was seen as a military target. As expected, disaster struck soon enough. While sailing the Hormuz Straits in 1986, it was targeted by Iraqi jets. Extensively damaged, it sank in the shallow water of Iran's Kharg Island. In 1988, the Sea Wise Giant, or what remained of it, was bought by Norman International. After major conversions and repairs it was relaunched in 1991 as the Happy Giant. By 1999 it had been sold to the Norwegian company Jahare Wallem to be operated under the name Jahre Viking. In 2009 it was renamed Mont and now waiting for ship breaking.

Oasis of the Seas

Five times bigger than the Titanic The Oasis of the Seas is quite simply the biggest ship ever. It is owned by Royal Caribbean International. This ocean going city has seven 'neighbourhoods' each offers passengers a different taste of luxury. This induces aqua theatre with fountains and lighting shows. There is also an opening park with restaurants and bars. Also the ship has library, three cinemas, many shops and disco clubs.

The vessel Oasis of the Seas has a length of 360 metres and the beam of 47 metres. The height of the vessel Oasis of the Seas is 65 metres, which is the dimension above the water line. That makes it more than 30 percent bigger than the previous supersized cruise ship. The passengers capacity of the vessel is over 6000 guests.

Such large cruise ship needs strong engine. The builders installed six diesel engines, giving the speed to the ship of 42 kilometres per hour in economy mode.

What about submarines?
Please put some interesting information.

Part 2: Extreme Machines - land

Overburden Conveyor Bridge F60

The world's largest machine that can move is Overburden Conveyor Bridge F60. It is located in mining regions of Germany. It was built in East Germany in 1991 by VEB TAKRAF Lauchhammer. And after only 13 months of operation, it was shut down. The machine is owned now by the community and open for tourists.

From technical point of view it is steel giant, which is 502 metres long, 202 metres wide, 80 metres high and 11000 ton heavy. To get an idea of how long this machine is, if the Empire State Building fell over its length would fall about 60 meters shorter than the F60. So the machine is also called 'Lying Eiffel Tower'. Due to enormous dimensions it has 760 wheels which moves on its own set of rails. And an interesting thing is that such a big machine was controlled by only two persons.

Liebherr T 282B dumptruck

In 2004 Liebherr company introduced T282B becoming the largest dumptruck in the world. The massive T282B can haul 400 tons of material. Empty it weights 261 tons and stands 7.4 meters tall. Drivers compare it to driving four bedroom house. Precision mechanics takes six weeks to assemble T282B. The T282B has a monster 90 liter diesel engine that can consume 60 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers, producing 3650 horsepower.

Mammoet truck

Machine does not have to be long like train or have big tires like Liebherr dumptruck to carry large loads. If there is a need to transport hundreds tons weight and tens meters high building it can be transported by one of the most unusual truck ever build. This truck is manufactured by company specializes in transporting huge loads. It is achieved by using self-propelled modular transporters. These units can be joined together in a veriety of configurations depending on the weight and size of load. All the wheels can turn three hundred sixty degrees together or separately, so the transporters can drive in any direction. And everything comes to just a single point of controll, so only one person can operate the system with one or hundreds modules.

These are only several examples. Please post some other examples of huge machines used in the industry.
Have you ever heard about road trails in Australia?

Part 1: Extreme Machines - air

Have you ever wondered, what is the biggest airplane, truck or ship in the world? Have you ever seen it? Do you know the answers of all questions, because these are the main questions, which every engineer lover asks himself. I will try to answer these questions in my presentation.

"Spruce Goose"

When America entered the second world war its geographic isolation from the areas of conflict gave a distinct advantage over enemies. This advantage left the time and manufacturing power to deliver unending supply of the materials necessary to wage war. America also had to overcome the vast distances and find safety ways to deliver these materials. At the time, ships were the only way to get the job done. But it was very dangerous because of enemy submarines. America had lost about 800 000 tons of her supply ships to German U-boats. In the heat of World War II America needed a new type of transport witch could haul soldiers and gear across the Atlantic.

The idea for the flying boat came from Henry Kaiser head of one of the largest shipbuilding firms of thee day. Kaiser thought a ship that could fly over the danger might be the answer. Howard Hughes was known as an innovator in aircraft construction and design. So these two men, both legends, began designing a superplane in 1942. The new plane's official name was the Hughes H4 Hercules. But press called it "Spruce Goose" because it was so big no one thought it would fly. The plane took five years to design, build and assemble. Due too war time shortages, the plane was made out of wood. Although the plane was made out of wood, it wasn't spruce like nickname suggest, the plane was in fact made of birch. It was the largest plane ever built at the time weighting 190 tons. Even today it has the largest wingspan of any plane in the world at 97.5 meters. It is also one of the tallest plane ever built. Obviously unusual size and the magnitude of the project was amazing. But there were some unique innovations on the plane that are unusual for that era. For example hydraucli powered low pressure system to move heavy elements like the elevator and hydraulic powered fly controls. Moreover it has eight huge three thousand horsepower engines! It cruise speed would be 220 mph and a flight range of 3000 miles.

Hughes would prove to be a demanding taskmaster during the period of development and construction. His attention to detail, was largely responsible for not being ready to fly until after the war had ended. Howard Hughes was called to Washington D.C. to defend both the project and himself. He had one last thing to prove... that Hercules would fly. On November 2, 1947 the Hughes H4 Hercules flew for 1 mile at 220 kilometers per hour at an elevation of 22 meters. It was it's one and only flight. Spruce Goose still made a huge impression and still famous today. It rests at the Evergreen Aviation museum in McMinnville, Oregon.

Antonov 225

Another flying monster is Antonov 225, world's largest transport aircraft. The Antonov 225 was involved in competition with United States in the race for space. It was designed for the Soviet space program as a machine able to airlift rocket's boosters and carry Buran space shuttle. This metal monster was build in Ukraine in 1988 and in the same year performed its first flight. After that in 1989 An-225 made its international debut by landing at the Paris Air Show with the Buran space shuttle on its back! It also flew during the public days at the Farnborough Air Show in 1990. But a few mounths earlier An -225 made its own history with one orbital flight an unmanned mission in which it circled the Earth twice. Unfortunately to 225 size is not everything. In 1991 Soviet Union collapsed and even size could not save the Antonov 225 from economic problems. The Buran space program was canceled and jet was decommited and placed in storage in 1994. And then reborn from the economic ashes of Soviet Union. The Antonov Group began searching for a way to make the plane profitable.

The plane is now in commercial use. It is used by Antonov Airline for exceptional transport missions. It can carry ultra heavy and oversize transporting objects, such as locomotives and hundreds of tons generators. It has ability to quickly transport huge quantities of emergency supplies or an expeditionary force into combat.

The dimensions of the An-225 are staggering - nearly a football field from nose to tail and wingtip to wingtip. It stands nearly seven storeys height and two heavy duty tractors are required to trawl it from hangar to airfield. Eight avarange sized houses could be stacked inside. If it is comming to lifting havy weight cargo, An-225 can lift up to 250 tons internally or 200 tons on the upper fuselage. To make it possible Ukrainian engineers equipped the An-225 with six turbofan jets. In fact the plane is also rear because it is only one in existence today.

Check if Antonov ever landed in Poland and if answer is 'yes' how many times and where?

What was the heaviest single cargo loaded onto an Antonov 225?

Intentionally I haven't written anything about passenger planes. So what is the largest passenger plane?

Japan part3

Today, in my last part I'll show you some other (less controversial) “best” things in Japan.

Now you should probably know some of the most unusual Japanese festivals, but have you ever wonder what do they watch in TV? Obviously not “m jak milosc”.
They have something better, something that could destroy entire TVP, TVN and even POLSAT.
This thing is Japanese TV (Japanese Game Show).

HUMAN TETRIS


There was an American version of the show (Hole in the Wall) – I bealive I watched it on TV4 but was it better than Japanese version?



Ok, but this one was (or maybe is) broadcasted in Poland so it's probably not strange at all.
Maybe one of these?

This basically just leaves me speechless.






Well, I'm not sure what this one is about


Japanese gameshows aren't famous only in Japan or on Youtube, in fact they are also famous in USA.. so they made they own "Japanese game show"



For more examples of unusual Japanese game shows visit http://listverse.com/2008/04/25/15-incredible-japanese-show-videos/

Questions:
What's your favorite show?
Would you like to participate in one of them? if yes which one?
Have you ever wondered what they watch on TV?

Things then and now - Japan part2

In this part I'd like to show you a few more interesting and unusual Japanese festivals, something that you probably don't know after HKJ.

Without a doubt, one of the most remarkable festivals in the world is Kanamara Matsuri ang. “Festival of the Steel Phallus” (sometimes refereed as “the Penis Festival”).
Kanamara Matsuri takes place in the beginning of April.



Nowadays, this festival become touristic attraction for thousands of people.
Japan is probably the only place where such festival can take place without protests and scandals.



As you can see main theme if the event is penis reflected in all kinds of forms (illustrations, candy, decorations).

Another, probably less famous is Hōnen Matsuri which is Japanese for "Harvest Festival" (Hōnen means rich harvest, Matsuri means festival).
Like Kanamara Matsuri it's also fertility festival.
Hōnen Matsuri is celebrated every March 15.

This festival is somehow similar to Kanamara Matsuri, you can also find all kinds of food and souvenirs in phallus shape.





The Hōnen Matsuri festival and ceremony celebrate the blessings of a bountiful harvest and all manner of prosperity and fertility.
Some say, the best is a festival that takes place in Komaki a town located about 45 minutes north of Nagoya.


Something worth mentioning is a fact that it's not just one festival, in facts it's there are two: vagina festival and the very next day penis festival.
Penis festival main event starts in shrine where 2.5 meter long wooden phallus is carried (in procession) to another shrine called Tagata Jinja.



Festival ends after procession, when everyone gathers near Tagata Jinja shrine waiting for the mochi nage when the crowd is showered with mochi (small rice cakes) thrown down by the officials from raised platforms.
I found some numbers, penis festival attracts (official) about 100,000 tourists.





Questions: Do you think it'd be a good idea to bring that kind festival to Poland?
Would you buy wooden or candy penis/vagina? ;)
Would you go to this festival?

Things then and now - Japan part1

When you think about Japan you probably imagine something like:



or ;)


And you're probably right. Japan and Japanese culture is modern but (in many cases) still very traditional.

An a interesting detail worth mentioning is how Japanese culture was sustainable by design, we also can use word “eco” as economical or ecological.
If you're interested, here's a link to the full article http://www.designobserver.com/changeobserver/entry.html?entry=12958



Since Edo period (about 1600-1870) a lot have changed. Now Japan is one of the most advanced country, with still many traditional customs survived.
One of them is (festival) Hadaka Matsuri – what mens literally naked festival

Hadaka Matsuri takes place in January and is a type of festival in which participant should wear almost no clothes, usually fundoshi (“traditional Japanese undergarment for adult males”) or something what would we call pants.

Naked festivals are held in many places around Japan every year, usually in the summer or winter. Every year, approximately 9,000 men participate in this festival. Originated in Okayama, it's most famous festival.



In Japan, the month of January is a time of ritual purification ( often using cold water). During the winter season thousands of men are marching through the streets and shrines to celebrate the New Year in this uniquely Japanese way. The entire month of January features dozens of these naked festivals.



There is a belief (Shinto) that Shin-otokoa , a Naked Man absorbs all bad luck evil deeds and bring good luck in the new year to the men who touch him – no one is sure, but the ritual may commemorate the end of a plague, as the Naked Man takes on the ills of the community and is then expelled from it.



It is a great honour to be chosen as the Shin-otokoa. In preparation for the event he must undergo many prification rites and shave all the hair from his body.
Only the men dressed in fundoshi and sandals are allowed to touch the Shin-otokoa, special bodyguards line the route to splash cold water over them as the Naked Man draws near. This has the dual purpose of restraining the wild impulses of the "touchers" while creating an aura of mystery.



Some other facts:

sometimes mud is involved

Some locations are dedicated to young men's (or rarer still, women's) hadaka matsuris. This is more common in Western Japan.

Most naked festivals limit participation to adult males, but many have separate events where youth may participate

The nature of these festivals, could be controversy, but it's not usually an issue in Japan. In fact, when participants get naked, it is usually considered a healthy, sacred act, and not indecent.


Questions: Have you ever heard or participated in any unusual festivals?
Are there any in Poland?

Augmented reality - Part 3 – Where is it going?

Augmented reality has really picked up momentum in 2009. Nonetheless, we’re still a long way from the Minority Report-style sci-fi dream that people imagine when they hear the term “augmented reality”. The researchers agree that this field is just getting warmed up and augmented reality will one day bring us a truly connected world.

Augmented reality still has some challenges to overcome. For example, GPS is only accurate to within 9 meters and doesn't work as well indoors, although improved image recognition technology may be able to help.

People may not want to rely on their cell phones, which have small screens on which to superimpose information. For that reason, augmented-reality capable contact lenses and glasses will provide users with more convenient, expansive views of the world around them. Screen real estate will no longer be an issue. In the near future, you may be able to play a real-time strategy game on your computer, or you can invite a friend over, put on your AR glasses, and play on the tabletop in front of you.

Augmented reality is certainly a major step toward the virtual world intersecting with the physical, enhancing our perception, and providing clues about underlying data that we would not normally understand.

Thank you for your attention. I hope you found my presentation interesting.

Questions

• Do you think that augmented reality can improve our lives and how?
• What possible downsides of augmented reality can you think of?

Sources

• http://www.digitaltrends.com/features/ge-augmented-reality-iphone-app-past-present-and-future-how-it-impacts-our-lives/
• http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/what-is-augmented-reality-iphone-apps-games-flash-yelp-android-ar-software-and-more/
• http://computer.howstuffworks.com/augmented-reality.htm

Augmented reality - Part 2 - Software and applications

Today I’ll provide some more information about augmented reality starting with:

Software

For consistent merging real-world images from camera and virtual 3D images, virtual images should be attached to real-world locations in visually realistic way. That means a real world coordinate system, independent from the camera, should be restored from camera images. That process is called Image registration. Augmented reality image registration uses different methods of computer vision, mostly related to video tracking.

Usually those methods consist of two parts. First interest points, or fiduciary markers, or optical flow detected in the camera images. In the second stage, a real world coordinate system is restored from the data obtained in the first stage. Some methods assume objects with known 3D geometry(or fiduciary markers) present in the scene and make use of those data. In some of those cases all of the scene 3D structure should be precalculated beforehand. If not all of the scene is known beforehand there are techniques that can be used for mapping fiduciary markers/3D models relative positions.

Where augmented reality can be applied?

• Advertising - Marketers started to use AR to promote products via interactive AR applications.
• Support with complex tasks - Complex tasks such as assembly, maintenance, and surgery can be simplified by inserting additional information into the field of view.
• Navigation devices - AR can augment the effectiveness of navigation devices for a variety of applications
• Military and emergency services - AR can be applied to military and emergency services as wearable systems to provide information such as instructions, maps, enemy locations, and fire cells.
  
• Prospecting - In the fields of hydrology, ecology, and geology, AR can be used to display an interactive analysis of terrain characteristics.
• Architecture - AR can be employed to simulate planned construction projects
• Sightseeing - Models may be created to include labels or text related to the objects/places visited. With AR, users can rebuild ruins, buildings, or even landscapes as they previously existed.
• Collaboration - AR can help facilitate collaboration among distributed team members via conferences with real and virtual participants.
• Entertainment and education - AR can be used in the fields of entertainment and education to create virtual objects in museums and exhibitions, theme park attractions and games.

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For more examples visit: 35 awesome augmented reality examples

Questions

• How in your opinion augmented reality can affect our lives now and in the future?
• Have you ever used something which was utilizing concepts of augmented reality?

Sources

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality
• http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/what-is-augmented-reality-iphone-apps-games-flash-yelp-android-ar-software-and-more/

Augmented reality - Part 1 - Introduction

Hello and welcome!
This week I'll try to throw some light on the topic of augmented reality. This is a very wide issue and my posts will be only a tip of an iceberg. I hope that I'll succeed in providing you some basic information and encourage you to investigate more on this by yourselves. Let's begin.

What is augmented reality?

The goal of augmented reality is to add information and meaning to a real object or place. Unlike virtual reality, augmented reality does not create a simulation of reality. Instead, it takes a real object or space as the foundation and incorporates technologies that add contextual data to deepen a person’s understanding of the subject.

How it works?

A range of technologies can be used for augmented reality. Many augmented reality projects use headgear or a similar device that projects data into the user’s field of vision, corresponding with a real object or space the user is observing. In the case of a technical course on PC maintenance, for example, augmented reality might overlay a schematic diagram onto the inside of a computer, allowing people to identify the various components and access technical specifications about them. PDAs or other portable devices can use GPS data to provide users with context— including visual, audio, or text-based data—about real objects or places. Augmented reality is not merely a companion text or multimedia file but a technology designed to “see” a real object or place and provide the user with appropriate information at the right time. Augmented reality is designed to blur the line between the reality the user is experiencing and the content provided by technology.

Hardware

The main hardware components for augmented reality are: display, tracking, input devices, and computer. Combination of powerful CPU, camera, accelerometers, GPS and solid state compass are often present in modern smartphones, which make them prospective platforms for augmented reality.

Display

There are three major display techniques for Augmented Reality:

• Head Mounted Displays - places images of both the physical world and registered virtual graphical objects over the user's view of the world
• Handheld Displays - Handheld Augment Reality employs a small computing device with a display that fits in a user's hand
• Spatial Displays - Instead of the user wearing or carrying the display such as with head mounted displays or handheld devices; Spatial Augmented Reality (SAR) makes use of digital projectors to display graphical information onto physical objects.

Tracking

Modern mobile augmented reality systems use one or more of the following tracking technologies: digital cameras and/or other optical sensors, accelerometers, GPS, gyroscopes, solid state compasses, RFID, wireless sensors. Each of these technologies have different levels of accuracy and precision.

Computer

Camera based systems require powerful CPU and considerable amount of RAM for processing camera images. Wearable computing systems employ a laptop in a backpack configuration. For stationary systems a traditional workstation with a powerful graphics card. Sound processing hardware could be included in augmented reality systems.

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That’s it for the beginning. In my next post I’ll write about software and applications of augmented reality.

Here are some videos to catch the idea:

Questions

No specific questions today :) Just write down your thoughts.

Sources

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality
• http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7007.pdf

ADVERTISING - PART III

In the last part I decided to dive into the work that is done by the ad people. They need to consider many factors before they try to persuade we need a concrete product. They need to plan how to sell it to us in the most efficient manner. The process includes, thinking about the target customers, their needs, dreams, problems, their self-image etc. As they want to encode deeply in our minds one message: you are what you buy. That is what advertising is about. After careful analyses they find the way to communicate to us, that if we buy what they offer, we will enhance our self-perception and how other perceive us, too. How this communication works? It is mostly based on brand image, which according to Wikipedia is” typically the attributes one associates with a brand, how the brand owner wants the consumer to perceive the brand”. Then the product is also linked in its features and way it is being advertised to the values of the brand itself. It is so, that we buy the products that we identify ourselves with. So under the condition that certain brand’s values apply to ours and the ideal-me image( the way we would like to be), there is a large chance that it will become our shelf choice in a supermarket or any other shop. I must stress, however, that it of course takes place on an unconscious level. Therefore, I buy Apple I’m trendy, innovative and independent person. I eat Winiary I value tradition, family and trusty products. I drive Alfa Romeo I have fine taste for design, I’m sexy and like unpredictable adventure (and I can afford mending;)). Marlboro and the cowboy association is also a good example. Nike is about overcoming obstacles and being able to win with ones frailty. Diverse brands target their products to a more mainstream consumers, some are aimed at concrete groups of consumers. There are different means of sculpting such an image- it can be for example done with a simple usage of colours, which indisputably shape our mood and reception of certain phenomena- as Aristotle said “perception begin with the eye”!





If you were interested in branding have a look at some basic information at Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand


So, as it was said every brand communicates some values and If they correspond to yours you are most likely to choose it without being aware of the impact. Now, have a look at people from advertising industry talking about their jobs and issues, I have in short presented above:












Q:
So, tell me, what are your impressions?
How much, do you guys think, you are influenced by ads?
Do you at all try to think over your choices or you simply don’t care?
What are your brand choices and what do you think they say about you?


Thanks for attention and I hope you liked it.

History and future of ion engines

The idea of ion propulsion was invented by and American rocket pioneer Dr. Robert H. Goddard, who explained the theory of this kind of propulsion in 1906. The first experiments with ion thrusters were carried out by Robert Goddard at Clark University from 1916–1917. First working engine for space use, was constructed by team led by Harold Kaufman, an American physicist who worked for NASA, in 1960. First space tests was run in 1964 in specially created probe called SERT-1 (Space Electric Rocket Test). It takes 31 minutes, as it was planned, and successfully ended.


First commercial uses of ion engines were started by Soviets. Since 1972 ion engines were used by them for satellite stabilization. Since then until late 1990s 118 ion thrusters completed their missions. But none of them was used as a main engine.

First satellite with ion thruster as a main engine was American Deep Space 1. It was launched from Cape Canaveral on October 24, 1998. During a highly successful primary mission, it tested 12 advanced, high-risk technologies in space. In an extremely successful extended mission, it encountered Comet Borrelly and returned the best images and other science data ever from a comet.

Deep Space 1 proved that ion technology is stable, fast and economic. After success of the Deep Space 1 mission European Space Agency decided to use this kind of thruster in their satellites. So far it was used by them in 3 missions (Artemis, GOCE and Lisa Pathfinder missions). Also Japanese space agency decided to use ion thruster in their Hayabusa satellite which successfully rendezvoused with the asteroid 25143 Itokawa.


The new ion technology can be also used in Mars exploration. Using traditional rockets, which burn chemical fuel to produce thrust, it will take about six months to reach the Red Planet. To reduce this time in 2005 NASA developed new kind of ion engine called called VASIMR (Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket). VASIMR can change 6 months journey to 90 days. Scientists thinks that after improvement, it can be reduced even to 39 days. In 2012 NASA is planning first space tests of VASIMR from International Space Station. Maybe it will be a key element for our future Mars exploration.

ADVERTISING - PART II

In this part I would like to discuss basic tricks that has long been studied by psychologists and proved to be successful tools in encouraging people to buy. As we buy, but not always the things we need, but rather those that we want. And we want them because something or someone persuaded us that they are inevitable for our wellbeing and good self-perception.
Let’s begin with Reciprocity. Have you ever felt obliged to return a favour or be nice to someone mutually? Advertisers know that people are prone to reciprocate kindness. That is why we are offered free samples/ trial versions of goods or shop clerks will assist us for considerable time, till you feel “you have to buy something”. It works for some of us more , for some less, but it does.
Principle of Scarcity is another to name. Have you ever encountered offers limited in time? Sales, end of collections, last items, “offer valid till the depletion of stock” or “till 30th of May”. Although they might not have seriously considered such a purchase before, customers feel they need to hurry, because the shop might run out of the product. If it is scarce, then it is good, valuable and everyone wants to have it, it seems to be communicating.
Using an image of some in Authority is also a good strategy. People seems to believe that people who hold some authority , are knowledgeable or famous are good sources of information and recommendation. Especially those wearing uniforms (doctors, policeman, dentists or elegant suits like brokers) are more prone to influence us than ordinary people. What’s more, Paris Hilton will sell much more shampoo than Mrs Kowalski, no matter how pretty and convincing she is -placing a celebrity in an ad will bring considerable increase in gains.
Consensus is about making people believe that everyone else does it- and yes, we want to behave like majority, as it affirms our choices. “It's the new sensation crossing the country” or” It’s a bestseller” are common for this method. We are all familiar with Media Markt ads “Nie dla idiotów”. So, all the clever people buy in Media Markt! Hmm, let me think, I’m not and idiot.. I should buy where the clever people do... Of course that is a simplified example, but it works more or less like this.
Commitment is getting people “invest” a little (commit) and then they are more likely to make another step ,which is consistent to the previous. For example, often sales people ask “ Do you Madam/Sir consider yourself a frugal person”, you say yes, “then you will surely be interested in our offer”. Or you agree to fill in a survey and that already makes your first step toward buying agiven product without even being aware. If we invest our time to go through a long printed ad, we will feel more committed to buy.
Additionally, we can talk about Greed. That is why we often subscribe to chain ad programmes that are send via emails, because we think there is a way to go through a shortcut, pay less or even win.
Last, but not least is simply Liking. We Prefer to buy what we like (that is obvious), and we like what is familiar! That is why we are under constant repetition of same songs in the radio or the same ads with catchy slogans. And aswe become familiar, we start to like something and then purchase it. I’m sure some of you heard a song for the first time and hated it, but after a repetitory listening thought it was quite catchy. We also prefer to to buy from people we know(therefore like)- again well known celebrities’ images will serve their purpose.
Have a look at Dr Cialdini observations from his research:






Q:
Can you uncover this methods in the ads you know?
Does it seem familiar?

ADVERTISING - PART I

Advertising is all around us. Hardly could one imagine his/her life without being bombarded with numerous ads trying to persuade us to purchase different articles that we usually don’t need. Many methods of advertising goods and services exist and contemporary market seeks the best ones to pocket best profits. According to marketing definitions, advertising is a paid promotion of goods, services, companies and ideas. It could be concluded that such a promotional strategy is aimed to make us familiar with options, attributes of products. Nonetheless, we are all quite aware of the fact that numerous tricks, psychological means are used manipulate us into buying this instead of that. Still, as I found out in many conversations, people believe they are not susceptible, claiming such tricks do affect other people, but not them. I bet most of you would say with confidence, that they are more or less in control of what is their purchase choice. However, you might be mistaken, or let’s say a little overconfident. Advertising industry exercises different methods and I encourage you to become familiar with them and therefore more in control of your choices. I will present you with some common tricks: so called “supermarket psychology” , then discuss some psychological basics and at last investigate “ you are what you buy” tactic.

Packaging is obviously an advertising tool to differentiate one product from another, but did you know that it may convey much more. Usage of shapes, colours, fonts or images may communicate to you that this products represents some certain values. They are displayed so you can attribute it to yourself. Utilizing green will immediately make a product more healthy and the brand more environmental friendly. If you care, you are probably more prone to buy such a brand instead of a more mainstream looking one- and you do it without much thought! Images of half-naked women advertise goods from beauty products to food, cars, vacation and beer. But nudity sells everything, so why not? Were you aware that when a merchandiser wants to communicate a drop in prices he will do it different way depending on the price of the good? With cheaper things, let’s take a chocolate bar, the reduction in the price will be announced in percentage ( Snickers, now 20% cheaper!). It makes a bigger impact than saying that it is 25 grosz cheaper. With cars instead they always communicate the reduction in exact amount of money( Out now, discount for previous year Hondas is 5,400 Pln). Sounds better that 3% discount, doesn’t it. And I don’t intend to say that customers can’t count but such a trick is enough to catch your attention and consider a purchase. Such methods are countless, for different sectors distinguish. Here have a look at two clips discussing consumer behavior psychology:








Q:
Do you guys, spend much time thinking over your purchases or you are spontaneous customers?

How does it vary for different sorts of goods?

Ion engine

Ion engine is new kind of spacecraft propulsion which opens new opportunities of space exploration. It's brand new, innovative and incredibly technically advanced way of providing spaceship movement. It can be a key element in human race to reach the Mars.



First ion engine was built by Glenn Research Center in 1960, but because of inadequate technology, it couldn't be used in space programs until now. It is based on ion propulsion technology which involves ionizing a gas to propel a spaceship. The method, how ion engine works is quite complex. At the beginning atoms of xenon gas, used as fuel, using electricity are deprived to get ionized. Then using electromagnetic field ions, made from atoms before, are accelerated high speed and shot out of the engine. This enormous speed of ions gives a thrust. The xenon ions travel at about 35 km/s. This is about 10 times faster than the exhaust from chemical rocket engines, so the ion propulsion gives about 10 times as much of a push to the spaceship as chemical propellants do. That means that it takes only one tenth as much fuel for an ion engine to work as it does for a chemical propulsion system so it's really economic. Another advantage is a fact that ion propulsion system is compact in comparison to conventional chemical engine system.



Ion engine is not of value for spacecrafts that require high acceleration, and it often will not be worthwhile for space missions that can be done quickly using conventional propulsion systems, such as missions to the moon or space stations, but for missions with high energy requirements such as mission to Mars, the low but steady acceleration of ion propulsion wins out over the less efficient bursts from chemical alternatives.

The Past and The Future of Explorers PART III

At the beginning of mankind, people may have looked up at the sky, stars and moon and thought nothing of what lay above them. For most of our history, we believed that we were at the centre of the Universe. That belief was based mainly on our religious ideas – people thought themselves to be not just at the centre of everything, but they believed to be the centre of everything themselves. They believed that everything in existence was provided for their benefit. The acquirement of the knowledge that Earth is just a small part of something much, much larger and has allowed us to mature beyond that misunderstanding. People began to wonder about what was there, and soon about how to get there. Looking back, countless hours were spent to get us where we are now.

In the 18^th Century people started coming up with ideas for space travel and for basic aviation. Some of the ideas back in those days consisted of a hot-air balloon, a parachute or movable wings. It is quite obvious to us living in the present that those designs never would have worked. In the early 20^th Century people were still spending a unspeakably huge amounts of time and money to create a simple aircraft, not even knowing its potentials. The Wright brothers achieved that in 1903. In 1926, Robert H. Goddard launched the world's first liquid-propelled rocket. The rocket, which was dubbed "Nell", rose just 41 feet during a 2.5-second flight that ended in a cabbage field, but it was an important demonstration that liquid rockets were possible. That one achievement would eventually lead to the development of space travel.

Direct space exploration began over a quarter of century later in October of 1957. It was then that the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite. It was also the Soviet Union that launched the first man into space. This man was Yuri Gagarin. History was made on April 12, 1961, when he successfully orbited the earth at the speed of about 17,000 mph in the Votsok 1. The mission lasted 108 minutes, and it was considered an enormous breakthrough in space travel. Unfortunately, after this mission, Gagarin was killed in a test airplane crash.

Right after the Soviet Union's spectacular space travel success, the United States decided to join the ''space race'', but they decided to take it a step further. Project Apollo began in October 1968 with the launch of Apollo 11, headed by Neil Armstrong, who became the first human being to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969. Other astronauts that accompanied Armstrong on this mission were Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins. In later missions, the Apollo project landed a total of 6 people on the moon.

Other space missions of great significance were for example: the first in history travel into space of a woman, Valentina Vladimora Nikolayeva Tereshkova, in 1963; Sputnik 1, which was the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth (later destroyed by aerodynamic frictional heat upon it's return to Earth's atmosphere); and the launch of Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, which were sent out to Jupiter in August and September 1977.

Future plans of scientists include using antimatter as a form of fuel. The only problem with antimatter is that it doesn't naturally exist, therefor it has to be made in labs. It is also very unstable, only being able to stay intact for several billionths of a second. Antimatter has a large chance of becoming the ultimate super fuel since only 100 milligrams of it could easily power a space shuttle through its whole mission.

In the years to come, people will continue to launch new satellites and explore the great unknown. There is undoubtedly still a lot more to for us to discover in space.