Hannibal’s trip over the Alps in the fall of 218 B.C. is often cited as an amazing feat (which it was), but where was he going and why?
At the age of 26, Hannibal was put in charge of the Carthaginian army in Spain during the period before The Second Punic War. Acting with the approval of his superiors in Carthage, he provoked the Romans into war by attacking the Roman ally Saguntum in Northern Spain. Then, after forming his army, Hannibal crossed the Pyrenees Mountains into Southern Gaul and made his way to the Rhone Valley to block Roman attempts to move an army over land to Spain. As Hannibal crossed the Rhone, the Roman army was arriving at the mouth of the river after being transported there by ship. The Romans were hoping to block Hannibal from any move eastward into Italy, but had not anticipated his rapid advance. When scouts of the two armies encountered each other, Hannibal made the decision to head north rather than fight an enemy of unknown size.
The Amazing Romans and Their Navy
The First Punic War began in 262 B.C, after a series of silly diplomatic failures.
The pre-text for the war was the occupation of the Sicilian city of Messana (now Messina) by a tribe of thugs called the Mamertines. The King of the Greek colony of Syracuse, named Hiero, wanted to return Messana to Greek control, so he sent his army north to attack the city. Defeated in the initial battle, he returned the next year (265 B.C.), taking the surrounding territory and laying siege to Messana. The Carthaginians, observing Hiero’s behavior and not wanting him to get too powerful, decided to get in the game. They sent a garrison to occupy the Messana after convincing the Mamertines they needed protection. No fools themselves, the Mamertines didn’t trust the Carthaginians, so they signed a treaty with Rome. The Romans, for their part, saw the value of an alliance designed to counter a Carthaginian threat to Italy.
“As a multi-purpose 10-megawatt reactor, HIFAR pioneered Australia’s nuclear medicine production and silicon irradiation capabilities, and housed the first neutron beam research instruments – all of which paved the way for the sovereign capabilities we have here at ANSTO today,” Jenkinson noted.
The decommissioning project has been divided into different phases –
Phase A – already commenced, focusing on removing neutron beam instruments, the control room, the fuel assembly station, and other peripheral equipment. The HIFAR circuits and no.1 storage block will be removed in the later stages of Phase A. Stage 1 of Phase A is expected to be completed by 2026.
Phase B – involves the decommissioning of the reactor core, depending on further licensing approvals from ARPANSA and a designated national waste disposal pathway before proceeding.
A major driving factor behind the timing of the decommissioning project is the expertise of the HIFAR team, many of whom are approaching retirement. “It’ll be a fitting send-off for the decades spent working with such an iconic piece of Australia’s scientific and engineering history,” Wheeler added.
This will mark ANSTO’s second successful in-house research reactor decommissioning, following the dismantling of the Moata reactor in 2012, which operated for 24 years until 1995.
Its new strategy creates a “capital-light, high-margin business that will generate revenue from this year.”
According to the company, its amplifiers have more than double pressure levels. They also increase speed by 75 percent when compared with existing gas guns.
First, Light Fusion’s new strategy will partner with other inertial fusion firms. The company will provide its amplifier technology that can “form a critical and complementary part of a commercial fusion power plant, regardless of driver approach,” it explained in its statement. “This replaces previous plans to build its power plant based on a projectile fusion approach.”
The startup will also partner with universities and research institutions for non-fusion applications. This includes a newly announced partnership with NASA and the Open University to explore the potential for using First Light’s amplifier technology for high-velocity impact testing.
Nuclear fusion is a notoriously uncertain field. While the rewards for successful projects would be enormous, there are no guarantees it will work. Outwardly, at least, First Light doesn’t appear to be altering its plans due to a lack of faith in its technology. Instead, its strategy shift is down to a reasonable desire to bring in revenue in the short term as it strives toward its long-term goals.
Owing to this, ground crews are required to constantly reapply radar-absorbing materials (RAM) every three weeks or so. This is time-consuming and contributes to the aircraft’s estimated $60,000 cost every flight.
Solving stealth issues with silk-weaving
In humid areas, especially tropical or coastal areas, the high humidity can impact the bonding of the RAM onto the aircraft, further compromising its performance over time.
This is not ideal, and engineers from the U.S. and China have long believed a more structural solution could be found. And that’s precisely what a team of Chinese researchers have done.
According to their paper, published in the Chinese journal Knitting Industries, the answer could lie in a dual-layer composite fabric inspired by Han Dynasty jacquard looms. This silk-weaving technique dates back to at least the 2nd century BC.
“Those Han looms weren’t just for luxury,” an unnamed Beijing-based science historian told the South China Morning Post (SCMP). “They were like early binary computers, storing weaving codes in physical memory. Today’s military engineers seem to have revived that wisdom,” they added.
Archaeologists trace jacquard’s origins to the Shang dynasty (1600- 1046 BC) looms, on which artisans wove geometric patterns using manual “multi-heddle” systems. These later evolved into sophisticated machines with up to 120 heddle rods – a technology preserved in the world’s first jacquard weaving machine unearthed at Chengdu’s Laoguanshan Tombs.
The team found that integrating conductive yarns into a warp-knitted “double-sided jacquard” structure enabled the new RAM to absorb 90.6% of radar waves in the 8-26GHz spectrum, outperforming conventional coatings. According to the team led by Professor Jiang Qian, the material is a “marriage of ancient patterning and modern electromagnetism.”
Hiero promptly made a treaty with the Carthaginians, and they agreed to destroy Messana the next year (264 B.C.). The Romans got two legions to Messana in with great difficulty, after their rented ships had problems with the wind and tides. They raised the siege of Messana, scared Hiero back to Syracuse, and defeated the Carthaginians. Under pressure from Rome, Hiero sued for peace, which was granted, and he was required to pay a fine.
The Carthaginians decided they did not appreciate the aggressiveness of Rome so they prepared an army, placed it in Acragas, and sent their navy in support. Carthage had the best navy in the western Mediterranean at that time -- built out of the requirement to protect its trade routes with outlying colonies. No country was in a position to challenge the Carthaginian Navy.
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Hannibal’s trip over the Alps in the fall of 218 B.C. is often cited as an amazing feat (which it was), but where was he going and why?
At the age of 26, Hannibal was put in charge of the Carthaginian army in Spain during the period before The Second Punic War. Acting with the approval of his superiors in Carthage, he provoked the Romans into war by attacking the Roman ally Saguntum in Northern Spain. Then, after forming his army, Hannibal crossed the Pyrenees Mountains into Southern Gaul and made his way to the Rhone Valley to block Roman attempts to move an army over land to Spain. As Hannibal crossed the Rhone, the Roman army was arriving at the mouth of the river after being transported there by ship. The Romans were hoping to block Hannibal from any move eastward into Italy, but had not anticipated his rapid advance. When scouts of the two armies encountered each other, Hannibal made the decision to head north rather than fight an enemy of unknown size.
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!summarize #paulmanafort #peace #zelenskyy #war #ukraine #russia
The Amazing Romans and Their Navy
The First Punic War began in 262 B.C, after a series of silly diplomatic failures.
The pre-text for the war was the occupation of the Sicilian city of Messana (now Messina) by a tribe of thugs called the Mamertines. The King of the Greek colony of Syracuse, named Hiero, wanted to return Messana to Greek control, so he sent his army north to attack the city. Defeated in the initial battle, he returned the next year (265 B.C.), taking the surrounding territory and laying siege to Messana. The Carthaginians, observing Hiero’s behavior and not wanting him to get too powerful, decided to get in the game. They sent a garrison to occupy the Messana after convincing the Mamertines they needed protection. No fools themselves, the Mamertines didn’t trust the Carthaginians, so they signed a treaty with Rome. The Romans, for their part, saw the value of an alliance designed to counter a Carthaginian threat to Italy.
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“As a multi-purpose 10-megawatt reactor, HIFAR pioneered Australia’s nuclear medicine production and silicon irradiation capabilities, and housed the first neutron beam research instruments – all of which paved the way for the sovereign capabilities we have here at ANSTO today,” Jenkinson noted.
The decommissioning project has been divided into different phases –
Phase A – already commenced, focusing on removing neutron beam instruments, the control room, the fuel assembly station, and other peripheral equipment. The HIFAR circuits and no.1 storage block will be removed in the later stages of Phase A. Stage 1 of Phase A is expected to be completed by 2026.
Phase B – involves the decommissioning of the reactor core, depending on further licensing approvals from ARPANSA and a designated national waste disposal pathway before proceeding.
A major driving factor behind the timing of the decommissioning project is the expertise of the HIFAR team, many of whom are approaching retirement. “It’ll be a fitting send-off for the decades spent working with such an iconic piece of Australia’s scientific and engineering history,” Wheeler added.
This will mark ANSTO’s second successful in-house research reactor decommissioning, following the dismantling of the Moata reactor in 2012, which operated for 24 years until 1995.
Its new strategy creates a “capital-light, high-margin business that will generate revenue from this year.”
According to the company, its amplifiers have more than double pressure levels. They also increase speed by 75 percent when compared with existing gas guns.
First, Light Fusion’s new strategy will partner with other inertial fusion firms. The company will provide its amplifier technology that can “form a critical and complementary part of a commercial fusion power plant, regardless of driver approach,” it explained in its statement. “This replaces previous plans to build its power plant based on a projectile fusion approach.”
The startup will also partner with universities and research institutions for non-fusion applications. This includes a newly announced partnership with NASA and the Open University to explore the potential for using First Light’s amplifier technology for high-velocity impact testing.
Nuclear fusion is a notoriously uncertain field. While the rewards for successful projects would be enormous, there are no guarantees it will work. Outwardly, at least, First Light doesn’t appear to be altering its plans due to a lack of faith in its technology. Instead, its strategy shift is down to a reasonable desire to bring in revenue in the short term as it strives toward its long-term goals.
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Owing to this, ground crews are required to constantly reapply radar-absorbing materials (RAM) every three weeks or so. This is time-consuming and contributes to the aircraft’s estimated $60,000 cost every flight.
Solving stealth issues with silk-weaving
In humid areas, especially tropical or coastal areas, the high humidity can impact the bonding of the RAM onto the aircraft, further compromising its performance over time.
This is not ideal, and engineers from the U.S. and China have long believed a more structural solution could be found. And that’s precisely what a team of Chinese researchers have done.
According to their paper, published in the Chinese journal Knitting Industries, the answer could lie in a dual-layer composite fabric inspired by Han Dynasty jacquard looms. This silk-weaving technique dates back to at least the 2nd century BC.
!summarize #f22 #engineering #military #aeronautical
“Those Han looms weren’t just for luxury,” an unnamed Beijing-based science historian told the South China Morning Post (SCMP). “They were like early binary computers, storing weaving codes in physical memory. Today’s military engineers seem to have revived that wisdom,” they added.
Archaeologists trace jacquard’s origins to the Shang dynasty (1600- 1046 BC) looms, on which artisans wove geometric patterns using manual “multi-heddle” systems. These later evolved into sophisticated machines with up to 120 heddle rods – a technology preserved in the world’s first jacquard weaving machine unearthed at Chengdu’s Laoguanshan Tombs.
The team found that integrating conductive yarns into a warp-knitted “double-sided jacquard” structure enabled the new RAM to absorb 90.6% of radar waves in the 8-26GHz spectrum, outperforming conventional coatings. According to the team led by Professor Jiang Qian, the material is a “marriage of ancient patterning and modern electromagnetism.”
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Hiero promptly made a treaty with the Carthaginians, and they agreed to destroy Messana the next year (264 B.C.). The Romans got two legions to Messana in with great difficulty, after their rented ships had problems with the wind and tides. They raised the siege of Messana, scared Hiero back to Syracuse, and defeated the Carthaginians. Under pressure from Rome, Hiero sued for peace, which was granted, and he was required to pay a fine.
The Carthaginians decided they did not appreciate the aggressiveness of Rome so they prepared an army, placed it in Acragas, and sent their navy in support. Carthage had the best navy in the western Mediterranean at that time -- built out of the requirement to protect its trade routes with outlying colonies. No country was in a position to challenge the Carthaginian Navy.
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