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Writer & Geek episodes

August 12, 2018 048: Jet Engines
Jet engines are awesome, we get that. But how did it all start?
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33 min
August 12, 2018048 - Jet Engines
Love ‘em planes ✈️
Jet engine is a type of internal combustion engine that produces thrust based on a fast moving discharge of hot gases, widely used on airplanes.
History
Hero of Alexandria built Aeopile which was the earliest for of jet engine dating back to 1st century A.D.

It was a steam turbine which rotated when a central water container is heated. Much like a lawn sprinkler.

Was more of a curiousity thing and did not have practical application.

Chinese invented rocket fireworks in the 13th century, but since these were inefficient, did not develop for few more centuries.
The need
The propeller driven airplanes had their limitations in terms of max speed that could be achieved.

Pressure build up while approaching sound barrier caused many of these planes to crash.
Key components
Air intake

Compressor

Gas turbine

Combustion chamber

Exhaust nozzle
Types of Jet Engines
Turbojet: Basically a gas turbine that compresser air through an inlet and compressor. Fuel is mixed with th compressed air in the combustion chamber and the exhaust gases propel the engine forward and also run the compressor. All the ir passes through the inlet into the compressor, the combustion chamber and then through the turbines before escaping out.

Turboprop: Turboprop uses the exhaust to mainly drive a propeller that provides the thrust to move the engine forward. In this type of engine, the jet thrust is augmented by the propeller. They perform extremely well at low speeds. Another type of turboprop called turboshaft utilises all the power to run the propeller and produces almost no jet exhaust. This mainly used to power helicopters.

Turbofan: Turbofan is essentially a turbojet with a giant fan in the front of the compressor. The fan draws more ait and while a part of it enters the inlet, the rest of it goes around the engine providing additional thrust in a way similar to a turboprop. This is the way more efficient than a turbojet. The fan allows greater thrust at low speeds. In passenger jets, the engines have a biger fan and helps in reduced noise and increased efficiency whereas in military aircraft where flight is usually supersonic and noise isn’t a factor, turbofans with smaller fans are used to reduce drag and increase the menouverability of the craft.

Ramjet: Ramjet does not use a compressor instead depends on the air pressure to build up at the inlet duct. As a result, a ramject cannot work in subsonic speeds and requires it to be accelerated to supersonic speeds by a turbojet or a rocket engine. Practical applications are in missiles and unmanned vehicles.
Shoutout
Storiyoh

Podhead

The Musafir Stories - Kochi episode
unsplash-logoOwen CL
33 min
August 05, 2018047 - Pizza
It’s mighty!
Pizza is undoubtedly one of the most loved food in the world. About 7 billion pizzas are consumed across the world every year.
History:
Its history can be traced back to the streets of Naples, Italy in the Dark Ages.

The introduction of tomato and mozzarella cheese revolutionised the art of pizza making.

The first pizzeria was set up in 1830 and is called Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba. Yes, it still exists.

As per legend, Margherita Pizza was invented by Raffaele Esposito in 1889 for Queen Margherita. It was made using tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil leaves which represents the colours of the Italian flag.
Pizza and USA:
G. Lombardi, the first pizzeria in the US was set up in 1905

World War II popularised pizza in the country.

5 billion pizzas consumed by Americans every year.

251,770,000 pounds of pepperoni consumed by Americans every year.

It is a $32 billion business in the country every year.

Pizza results in 41% increase in cheese consumption since 1995 in US.

NASA 3D printed a pizza in 2013 (What? Really?!)
Health Benefits:
Unlike popular belief, pizza is not always unhealthy. If it is made with the right ingredients it can have many health benefits. It reduces the risk of oesophagal, colon, oral cavity, and pharyngeal cancer.
Random facts:
First pineapple pizza (Hawaiian pizza) and the frozen pizza was made in 1962.

Largest pizza was made in 2012 in Rome and it measured 1261 square metres.

Dog Pizza, also known as Heaven Scent Pizza, is made using flour, carrots, celery, and parmesan cheese.

Cambodian Happy Pizza is made using marijuana

Some of the strange pizza flavours include potato chips, ice cream, beer, e-cigarette, and condoms.
What are you waiting for? Go eat some pizza!
unsplash-logoivan Torres
42 min
August 05, 2018 047: Pizza
Pizza is one of the most popular food item in the world, let's see where it came from.
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42 min
July 14, 2018 Bonus - An update
An update
A brief update on the Writer & Geek Show. We have been on a sabbatical since we completed a year of podcasting. But we are using this time to improve our show and our website. We plan to come back with more episodes starting August. Stay tuned!
— Shankar and Vishnu
4 min
June 03, 2018046 - Deconstructing Formula One
The top notch
Formula one is the highest class of racing sanctioned by FIA.

The inaugural season was in 1950.

A season consists of races called Grand Prix (Grand Prize in French).

“Formula” is set of rules to be followed by the manufacturers and the drivers.

One of the fastest type of races owing to the aerodynamic design of cars.
History
Grand Prix Motor Racing: A precursor to the modern day Formula One racing.

Started in France in 1894. Involved racing from one town to the next.

Evolved into endurance races.

High rate of fatality owing to poor safety standards.

Post World War II, evolved into Formula One.

Was a medium for car manufacturers to promote their cars. French has special interest in motor cars.

First racing took place on July 22, 1894 organised by Le Petit Journal between Paris and Rouen distance of 126 km.

Count Jules-Albert de Dion won the race in 6 hours 48 minutes at an average speed of 19 km/h (12 mph) and 3 mins the 30s ahead of the runner-up.

James Gordon Bennett Jr., who was the owner of New York Herald, started the Gordon Bennett cup which was an international event with countries participating against each other.

Each country entered up to three cars in the even and the cars were fully manufactured in those particular countries.

Each country had their racing colours (Green for UK, Red for Italy etc.).

After fatalities in the Paris-Madrid race, a closed circuit was used in Ireland at Athy in 1903 and was the first closed circuit race.
Grand Prix
Automobile Club de France organised regular races that were called Grad Prix races starting 1906.

A circuit which was roughly triangular in shape situated in Le Mans was used with a lap distance of 105 km.

A total of six laps were required to be covered per day with a lap taking around an hour of each car.

Use of the circuit was a direct result of the 1903 Paris-Madrid race which resulted in the death of drivers and pedestrians were killed.

Races were mostly nationalistic and had cars with 50hp, 10-15L engines. Each car carried a mechanic along with a driver and they were the only ones allowed to work on the car.

Renault won the Grand Prix by using detachable wheel rims developed by Michelin.
Pre World War II days
Monaco Grand Prix was the first time race grid was determined by using qualifying time rather than using a lucky draw.

By the late 1930s, mechanics had long gone and cars were single seaters. Also, they were 600hp 8 or 16 cylindered monsters by this time.

Mercedes and Auto Union dominated due to support from Nazis.
Post war
Post war, Formula One took shape in 1950.

Due to economic difficulties, 1952 and 53 races were held using Formula 2 cars.

First Word Championship race was held on May 13 in Silverstone, UK.

The first championship was won by Italian Giuseppe (Nino) Farina driving an Alfa Romeo in 1950 defeating Juan Manuel Fangio.

Fangio later went on to win five world championships which were a record for 45 years until Schumacher broke the record in 2003.
The routine
Usually 12 teams compete with two drivers each.

Race weekend consists of free practice, qualifying session and race.

To participate in a race, a driver should complete at least one lap in the free practice session.

Free practice usually happens on Fridays except for Monaco Grand Prix, where the practice happens on Thursday and Fridays are reserved for other activities.

Qualifying consists of three sessions namely Q1, Q2 and Q3. Cars are ranked according to their lap time.

During Q1 and Q2, 7 drivers are eliminated respectively leaving 10 drivers in Q3.

The driver with the fastest time gets the pole position - the first on the grid.

After qualification, cars are inclosed park, meaning that no significant changes can be done to the settings.

Top ten cars have to start using the same tires that they set the lap times on. In few cases they can be replaced by a set of similar tyres subject to approvals.

On the race day, the cars are aligned on the grid according to the grid locations decided as per qualifying on the previous day.

Race is usually held around 2 pm on the Sunday for most of the European races. Some races like Singapore and Abu Dhabi happen during the evenings.

Number of laps is selected so that the total distance is more than 305 km except for Monaco where the minimum race distance is set at 260km. Also the race time cannot exceed 2 hours and in case that happens the race positions at the 2 hour mark would be considered to be the final grid positions.
The car
Engine
The chassis is made using carbon fibre and other ultralight materials to save weight and for safety.

Minimum permissible weight is 728kg including the driver without fuel.

Sometimes ballast was used to add weight and lower the center of gravity.

Prior to 2006, cars had V10 engines with 3 litre engines producing close to 1000 hp with top speeds reaching 375kph.

In 2006, FIA came up with a rule that stated all cars must have a naturally aspirated (no turbocharger or supercharger) 2.4 litre V8 engines. Turbochargers were banned in 1989.

Since 2014, engines are 1.6l turbocharged for an improved fuel efficiency of 29%.

In 2009 engines were limited to 18,000 rpm for engine reliability.

Engines consume close to 450lof air per second.

Engine is located between driver and the rear axle and forms a structural support of the car.

In 2004, engines were required to last a race weekend and subsequently the number of engines that could be used for a season were reduced to 8 and now to 3. That means an engine has to last for more than one race which would reduce the cost and make the units more reliable.
-Fuel used is similar to normal petrol with a controlled mix and FIA requires fuel suppliers to submit samples for testing and can ask for a sample at any time during the course of a season.
Transmission
All cars have a semi-automatic gearbox with 8 forward and 1 backward gears.

Carbon-titanium is used to make gearbox and is connected right behind the engine.

Paddles behind the steering wheels are used to upshift and downshift.

Clutch is controlled by electro-hydraulics except when starting from a standstill when the driver operates a lever in the steering wheel.

Limitations exist on the number of gearboxes over a season as well. Gearboxes must complete six consecutive races before being replaced.
Steering wheel
Steering wheel houses many controls including gear shift, rev. limiter, fuel mix controller etc.

Data related to various parameters are also displayed in LCD displays on the wheel.

They weight around 1.3kg and can cost up to $50,000.
Tyres
Tyres used are:
Hypersoft

Ultrasoft

Supersoft

Soft

Medium

Hard

Superhard

Intermediate(for partially wet conditions)

Wet (rain tyres)
During rain, wet tyres can remove almost 250l of water a second from the track.
Other systems
Aerodynamics are controlled by using spoilers in the front and rear.

If the throttle is let go, the aerodynamic drag will slow down the car at the same rate at which a sports car decelerates under breaking.

KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) is used to give the car additional boost and stores the energy dissipated while braking.
Some facts
Car costs anywhere between 6 to 8 millions.

Around 800 parts.

Engine normally lasts for few races. Earlier it was an engine per week. Revs up to 16,000 - 18,000 RPM.

Tyres last for around 90-120 km.

Can accelerate from 0 to 160 kph back to 0 in 4 sec.

Drivers lose close to 3-4 kg every race.

At 130 kph, car has a downforce equal to its weight and can go upside down in a tunnel. Flight principles reversed.

Roughly 2600-3000 gear shifts, Monaco has the most number of shifts.

1200 litres of fuel is used per race weekend. Efficiency of 70l/100km.

Brake discs reach temperatures of 1000°C, exhaust pipe reaches 900°C and tyres reach 130°C during a race.

Champagne tradition started in 1950, locals fans presented a three litre bottle of champagne to the race winner Fangio.

In 1966, Jo Siffert in 24 hours of Le Mans opened a bottle of champagne which wasn’t sufficiently cooled. The cork flew up and resulted in the drink splashing on everyone. This tradition continues to this day with the exception of Bahrain Grand Prix where it champagne is replaced with sparkling fruit juice.

In 2005, a BAR Honda car set an unofficial speed record of 413kph at Bonneville Speedway.
Image: Pixabay
1 hr 7 min
June 03, 2018 046: Deconstructing Formula One
Formula 1 is a crazy motorsport, not just driving around in circles.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
1 hr 7 min
May 27, 2018045 - Pioneer 10: The Lost Traveller
Note: NASA was established in 1958 as opposed to 1959 as mentioned by Shankar.
Pioneer 10 (Pioneer F) was the first aircraft to give humans an insight into the planet Jupiter and its moons. It was the first mission to Jupiter. It was part of the Pioneer program, a series of United States unmanned space missions launched between 1958 and 1978.
Objectives:
Document Jupiter, its environment and its moon (mainly Europa, Callisto, Io, Ganymede) through photographs (Jovian System)
Study the solar wind, cosmic rays, heliosphere, and far reaches of the Solar System
Explore the atmosphere and radioactivity of the planet
Study the outer Solar System and heliosphere exploration
Study the asteroid belt
History
Gary Flandro, an aerospace engineer, conceived a mission to exploit a rare outer planets’ alignment.
The space probe was manufactured by TRW Inc. They were given a combined $380 million contract in 1970 to build Pioneer 10 and 11.
It took 25 million man-hours
As per a TRW engineer, “This spacecraft is guaranteed for two years of interplanetary flight. If any component fails within that warranty period, just return the spacecraft to our shop and we will repair it free of charge.”
Spacecraft and Design:
Six 76-centimetres long panels attached to a 36-centimetres bus to form a hexagonal structure. It could host eight to eleven instruments which were protected in a honeycomb aluminium structure. The orientation of the probe was controlled by the use of propellant (conical scanning). Aluminized mylar and kapton blankets (insulation coating) for passive thermal control. It carried 36 kilograms of liquid hydrazine monopropellant with a total launch mass of 260 kilograms.
It used four SNAP-19 radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) powered by plutonium-238. The spacecraft needed 100 Watts to power all the equipment. At launch, it provided a combined 155 W, and 140 W while in transit to Jupiter. By 2001, it became 65W leading to operation of only selected instruments.
Mission computation was largely performed on Earth with the commands transmitted to the spacecraft. It had a meagre capacity of 6,144 bytes, a limited form of a processor, two command decoders and one distributor which required ground control to prepare commands in advance.
Plaque:
Pioneer 10 contains a gold plaque which provides information about the origin of the spacecraft. Designed by Dr Carl Sagan and Dr Frank Drake, it was drawn by Linda Salzman Sagan. The plaque consists of diagrams of a man and a woman, completely nude. It also has the diagram showing the position of our solar system in the galaxy and the chemical information about hydrogen.
Scientific Instruments:
Infrared Radiometer - Evaluated heat output and cloud temperature from Jupiter

Quadri-spherical Plasma Analyzer - Detect particles of solar wind

Cosmic Ray Telescope (CRT) - Collect data on the composition and energy ranges of cosmic rays

Helium Vector Magnetometer (HVM) - Measured the interplanetary magnetic field, solar wind interaction with Jupiter’s magnetic field, and Jovian magnetic field.

Geiger Tube Telescope (GTT) - Survey the electrons and protons present in the radiation belts of Jupiter along the spacecraft’s path.

Trapped Radiation Detector (TRD) - To detect light emitted by particles

Imaging Photopolarimeter (IPP) - Build visual images of the planet by looking at it through red and blue lights.

Meteoroid Detectors

Charged Particle Instrument (CPI) - Detect cosmic rays

Asteroid/Meteoroid Detector (AMD)

Ultraviolet Photometer - Determine the quantity of hydrogen and helium in space and the atmosphere of Jupiter.
Dates:
Launched on March 2, 1972, 01:49:00 UTC from the Space Launch Complex 36A in Florida aboard an Atlas-Centaur launch vehicle.

Launch vehicle accelerated for 17 minutes reaching a speed of 51,682 km/h (32,114 mph).

Reached interplanetary space ninety minutes after launch

The initial spin rate of 30 rpm, reduced to 4.8 rpm after the extension of three booms.

Passed the Moon in eleven hours

Crosses the orbit of Mars on June 1972

Entered the asteroid belt on July 15, 1972 - left the inner solar system

Closed asteroid at 8.8 million kilometres with 307 Nike on December 2, 1972.

Left asteroid belt on February 15, 1973 (7 months) (first spacecraft)

Began photographing Jupiter on November 6, 1973, at 25 million kilometres range. (Total of about 500 photographs transmitted)

Closest approach to Jupiter - December 4, 1973, at 132,252 kilometres per hour

Crossed orbit of Saturn: 1976

Crossed orbit of Uranus: 1979

April 25, 1983: Crossed the orbit of Pluto

June 13, 1983: Crossed the orbit of Neptune

March 31, 1997: End of mission at 67 AU from the Sun

Last signal: January 23, 2003 - 12 billion kilometres away from the Earth.

Final attempt to contact Pioneer 10 made on the evening of March 4, 2006
Jupiter:
Pioneer 10 was able to help the scientists with the following:
It figured out that the magnetic field of Jupiter is inverted compared to that of the Earth.

Display real-time images of Jupiter back to earth (The broadcast received an Emmy award)

Images of the Red Spot which is being observed by humans for about two centuries. Believed to be in existence for over 350 years.

Study the amount of radiation dissipated by Jupiter. The radiation made the space probe send out false commands.

Io orbiting within a cloud of hydrogen which extends up to 805,000 kilometres.

Generated an infrared map of Jupiter which showed that it radiated more than the radiation it received from the Sun.
Miscellaneous Points:
Pioneer Anomaly - Acceleration towards the sun ((8.74±1.33)×10−10 m/s2). Resulting in 4000 km deficit per year.
To collect radiation environment information of Jupiter, the encounter trajectory was maximised. It could have damaged the space probe.
First to find helium presence in the interplanetary medium and sodium and aluminium presence in the solar winds
Size of the particle not more than 1mm. (not as bad as previously thought)
As of 2016, travels at 26,900 km/h, 10 billion miles (114.07 AU) away from the Earth.
Travels around 2.54 AU per year. (1 AU = 150 million kilometres)
If course unaffected, Pioneer 10 will reach Aldebaran in two million years
Additional Sources:
Pioneer story
17776
The Pioneer Plaque:

By Vectors by Oona Räisänen (Mysid); designed by Carl Sagan & Frank Drake; artwork by Linda Salzman Sagan - Vectorized in CorelDRAW from NASA image GPN-2000-001623, Public Domain, Link
Relative size of solar system:
Image: Wikipedia
50 min
May 27, 2018 045: Pioneer 10 - The Lost Traveller
Pioneer 10 travelled beyond solar system, it continues into the unknown.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
50 min
May 20, 2018044 - Bizarre history of birth control
Birth control is a method or a device that is used to prevent pregnancy. Though safe and effective birth control came into existence only in the 20th century, ways to prevent pregnancy have been devised since ancient times. Birth control has been the centre of many controversies as well.
For pregnancy to occur, sperm must flow up the vagina, through the cervical opening into uterus into one of the fallopian tubes. If an egg is present in the tube, one sperm could fertilise it. Contraceptives either block the sperm kills it before it reaches uterus or prevents ovulation.
History of birth control
Cave paintings from 15,000 years ago in France apparently depicted condoms.

Ebers Papyrus, an Egyptian medical papyrus from around 1550 BC and Kahun Papyrus from 1850 BC have documented some form of birth control from the ancient Egyptian times. These used honey, acacia leaves etc to be placed in the vagina to block sperm.

Chinese used Mercury and Lead cocktail that lead to sterility, brain damage, kidney failure and death.

Things like acacia gums were used to be placed inside the vagina. Acacia has spermatocide properties.

Other ways were to cover the vagina using gummy substances, sodium carbonate and a mixture made of crocodile dung.

Less effective coitus interruptus (withdrawal) was also practiced.

Greek physician Soranus advised women to hold their breath and sneeze after the intercourse in 200 A.D.

Botanist Theophrastus mentioned the use of Siphilium, a plant that could induce abortion and had contraceptive abilities. It grew scarcely near the city of Cyrene (Libya) and it’s scarcity made it valuable more than it’s weight in Silver in 1st century B.C.

Indians used a combination of rock salt, honey and elephant dung.

Olive oil and cedar oil combinations were used in Greece.

Steaming technique using hot stones and medicated solutions were used to kill sperms. Later a modification using a pipe to push steam into vagina was used in medieval Europe, which often resulted in burns.

An Indian tradition of sitting on a steaming pot of onion and water was used by Jewish women in Manhattan.

Lactation for a longer time was also used as way to prevent pregnancy.

During middle ages, women believed tying weasel testicles to their thighs would prevent pregnancy.

Giacomo Casanova used partially squeezed lemon halves as cervical cap. Team of Australian scientists found out that lemon juice could indeed kill sperms.

Animal intestines condoms were widely used in 1600s and in 1700s, linen was also used. They weren’s throw away stuff.

In the mid-1800s vulcanised rubber was patented and condoms came into use.

Anti-obscenity laws prevented women from gaining access to condoms in the 19th and early 20thcenturies. Lizol and Coke were used. Diet coke was effective in killing sperm but not fast enough.

In 1960, oral pills were approved.

IUDs came in subsequent years.

In 2016, German carpenter Clemens Bimek patented a device that is implanted into scrotum which has a switch to control ejaculation.
Birth control movement
Birth control was discussed and was a major political issue in Britain in the 19th century.

Economist Thomas Malthus wrote in 1798 about the effect of population on the economy.

Birth control movement advocated the use of contraceptives to allow sexual intercourse without pregnancy.

Starting 1880s birth rate reduced with the use of condoms that were effective and inexpensive.

During the later part of the 1900s, more countries gained the right to be able to sell contraceptives more freely.
Image: Pixabay
40 min