Global telescope networks for astronomy education

Ever wanted to give school students or the public a closer look at the stars, without worrying about the vagaries of the UK weather? Paul Roche and Rachel Dodds from the Faulkes Telescope Project explain how you can do just that – without even leaving the classroom!     

Large-Eddy Simulation Of Neutral Turbulent Flow Over Rough Sinusoidal Ridges

The requirements for a credible large-eddy simulation of neutral, turbulent flow over hills with an aerodynamically rough surface are discussed, in order to select a suitable case for simulation. As well as providing adequate resolution within the dynamically important inner region, obtaining a realistic upstream or undisturbed mean velocity profile is also of critical importance. A distributed drag canopy formulation has been introduced to the model to allow it to obtain such a profile while resolving very close to the rough surface. Simulations have then been performed of flow over ridges of varying heights. The results from the steepest case, which is just on the verge of separation, are compared with wind-tunnel observations. It is shown that the large-eddy simulation results are in much better agreement with the experimental data than are the results from a simple first-order mixing-length closure model. An encouraging lack of sensitivity of the simulation results to numerical resolution is also demonstrated.     

A comparative allometric study of the morphometry of the gills of an alkalinity adapted cichlid fish,Oreochromis alcalicus grahami,of Lake Magadi,Kenya

A morphometric analysis of the gills ofOreochromis alcalicus grahami has been carried out on specimens from ecologically distinct lagoons and a water-holding tank of Lake Magadi, a highly alkaline salt lake situated in a volcanically active region of the southern part of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya. The data were compared with those fromOreochromis niloticus, a close relative that lives in fresh water and with data from other fresh water and marine fish. Our primary goal was to identify the possible adaptive features which enable the fish to survive in an environment characterized by severely fluctuating levels of oxygen, a condition exacerbated by factors such as high temperature, alkalinity and osmolarity. The specimens ofO. a. grahami from the south-western lagoons of the lake had gills better adapted for gas exchange with a body mass specific diffusing capacity for oxygen which was about 2 times greater than that of the gills of the specimens from the fish spring lagoons and 2.5 times that of those from the water-holding tanks. Some parameters of the gills ofO. a. grahami, e.g. the gill filament length and number of gill filaments are significantly greater than those ofO. niloticus but the number of secondary lamellae, area of secondary lamellae and the diffusing capacity of the gills are similar in the two species. Compared with most other fish, the gills ofO. a. grahami appear to be particularly well adapted for gas exchange especially by having a thin water-blood barrier. Perhaps in no other extant fish have the gills had to be so exquisitely designed to meet environmental extremes and regulate complex and at times conflicting functions such as gas exchange, iono-regulation, acid-base balance and nitrogenous waste excretion as inO. a. grahami     

P total,P_{H_2 O} and the occurrence of cummingtonite in volcanic rocks

The phenocryst assemblage of cummingtonite, orthopyroxene, quartz, titanomagnetite and ilmenite in rhyolites of New Zealand has been used to calculate P _total and . The values of P _total and depend strongly upon whether an ideal mixing, or an ordered, model is used for the solid-solutions, but in both cases P _total.The rhyolite magma contained over 9 per cent water (by weight) when the cummingtonite phenocrysts precipitated, and possibly as much as 12 per cent, so that it is surprising that one of these rhyolites is a coherent lava. The calculated values of P _total and are very sensitive to uncertainty in both the composition of the solid-solutions and temperature. Calculations show that >0.7–0.8 P _total for cummingtonite to precipitate in rhyolites, and that iron-rich olivine and cummingtonite could only exist in rhyolites over a small temperature range at a pressure near 5 kilobars. Hornblende phenocrysts co-existing with fayalitic olivine in rhyolites accordingly have a very low activity of Mg₇Si₈O₂₂(OH)₂.     

Toxins in the red Whelk

A case of poisoning following consumption of Neptunea occurred in Scotland in 1970. The organism is caught in traps with the Edible Whelk where it constitutes less than 0·5% of the catch. Toxin in the salivary gland demonstrated by mouse bioassay could be distinguished from PSP toxin. It is concluded that the public health risk from consumption of the Edible Whelk is negligible.     

The economic analysis of raft foundations

An approximate method, using a simplified soil model, for predicting the behaviour of raft foundations subjected to applied vertical forces and moments will be outlined. Results obtained for circular rafts of finite rigidity are compared with those obtained, from more rigorous solutions, by other authors. Satisfactory agreement is obtained for the surface settlements and raft bending moments over a wide range of soil inhomogeneity. Finally, the versatility of the method of analysis is illustrated for an unusual asymmetrical structure. Computed total and differential settlements are shown to be in reasonable agreement with measured values and those predicted by an independent plane strain finite element analysis.