Big science

Jccarlton · Post by **Jccarlton** » Wed May 23, 2012 2:10 am

Pictures of Jefferson Labs and the Free Electron Laser from last weekend's open house:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... d1bbbbbf41

GIThruster · Post by **GIThruster** » Wed May 23, 2012 7:51 pm

Very cool! What are the donuts on a rope in the 16th pic?

hanelyp · Post by **hanelyp** » Thu May 24, 2012 1:40 am

Do you mean

?
That's currently image 20. I think those are microwave driven particle accelerator tubes.

Jccarlton · Post by **Jccarlton** » Thu May 24, 2012 11:27 am

hanelyp wrote:Do you mean
?
That's currently image 20. I think those are microwave driven particle accelerator tubes.

Essentially correct. Those are superconducting RF cavities. They are made from niobuim and kept in 2k liquid helium.

krenshala · Post by **krenshala** » Thu May 24, 2012 3:09 pm

Niobium? I don't think I want to know the pricetag for making them.

They sure look like a very interesting piece of hardware, though.

Tom Ligon · Post by **Tom Ligon** » Thu May 24, 2012 6:11 pm

The embodiments of free electron lasers that I've seen consist of what is basically a cyclotron with a device called a "wiggler" installed on one straight leg of the racetrack. The wiggler is usually illustrated as a device like the one in the picture.

The goal is to introduce a transverse wave in the stream of electrons. The result is a highly tunable laser, handy for readjusting faster than the Borg can compensate.

ladajo · Post by **ladajo** » Thu May 24, 2012 10:14 pm

Those pesky Borg and their modulating shields.

We should just use a Battleship.

KitemanSA · Post by **KitemanSA** » Fri May 25, 2012 11:38 am

ladajo wrote:We should just use a Battleship.

Did you see "American Warships", the SyFy channel "Battleship" knock-off? It wasn't horribly bad.
"We" beat the aliens by using a museum battleship (USS Iowa, BB-61) that worked only cuz it had no integrated circuits which the aliens could fry.

Tom Ligon · Post by **Tom Ligon** » Fri May 25, 2012 12:39 pm

No chips the aliens could fry ... isn't that the tech of "Battlestar?"

I must admit I've never toured the Iowa, but I have toured the Missouri and the Wisconsin. Both were still listed as commissioned and potentially returnable to active duty at the time. So when I arrived in the Missouri's "bat cave" I got a shock when I saw all those computer screens glowing with Microsoft Windows. I mean, who wants to go into battle with computers more concerned with installing new updates to Adobe than with defending the ship?

But I was assured that the PC's were just there to keep the crew entertained. The real equipment was switched off while tourists were coming thru.

Although electronically upgraded, I believe the Iowa Class are still equipped with the WWII-vintage analog fire control systems.

krenshala · Post by **krenshala** » Fri May 25, 2012 2:14 pm

Considering how well those fire-control computers worked, I'm not surprised they kept them.

djolds1 · Post by **djolds1** » Fri May 25, 2012 8:05 pm

ladajo wrote:Those pesky Borg and their modulating shields.

We should just use a Battleship.

Nah.

Nuke 'em from orbit. Its the only way to be sure.