There has been four and a half days of Easter holidays so far and I have done no homework or revision at all so far. But its about to get very serious now that I have tidied. This is important for two reasons, the first being that I now have space to work and the other is that I found the coloured fine line drawing pens so I'm expecting my productivity to double at least!
I have at least booked my accommodation for Sussex and Nottingham though! I got a bit of a shock when I found that the prices for Sussex are the same as they are for Nottingham but Nottingham includes all my food and Sussex is self catered. And also when I read that they cannot guarantee that I will get accommodation on Campus since Sussex is my insurance and therefore I may stay with a host family in the nearby town. I really can't imagine that!! I guess I had better get revising so that I get the grades for Nottingham!
Whilst tidying I found a newspaper insert from December 2010 which was all about future technologies and the such like. I can't believe it took me over a year to read but it's actually probably slightly better this way. For example, my favourite article in it was all about piezoelectric threads in clothing to generate electricity using the kinetic energy transferred when we move. Another application could be in carpets schools and shopping centres or in 'trees' to use both wind and sun energy. The article then went on to make various jokes about plugging in your pants but I forgave them for that because it seems a perfect solution to greenhouse gases and depleting fuel stocks. Although I suppose production of the threads is an important factor in the renewablity... Anyway its good to have read it now since I actually understand how piezoelectric crystals work now! Basically by deforming the crystals, the charges are rearranged and a current flows. This works the other way too, so that by applying a current the crystals deformed. When this occurs at the correct frequency ultrasound waves are produced. But that's off topic! I am a little confused since the article says that the technology is inexpensive but the Internet says platinum wires must be used?! At the end of the article it says that the fibres should be on the market in a few years so I think I'll hide the article somewhere so that I can find it during my next clear out!
PS. The university of Bolton website is possibly the least useful website I have ever tried to use! I realise I'm about a year late but I couldn't find anything about the piezoelectric threads!
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