Updates and Good News

In the wake of being still for a month, once again I am here with the almost recent improvements:

Me and my companion John Conway have simply had our first presentation in an experimental gathering, at the Dinosaurs- a Historical Perspective gathering at the Geological Society in London. Our "gig" constituted a banter and a colossal notice about the diverse ways pterosaurs (antiquated flying reptiles,) were imagined and depicted throughout the most recent century-and-a large portion of palaeo studies. Continue watching this space, I will post it online soon!

In alternate news, equity predominated (an uncommon occasion) in Turkey as the infamous Turkish creationist Adnan Oktar, otherwise known as Harun Yahya, was imprisoned under charges of shaping a criminal association. Other than distributed painful duplicates of 30's American creationist tracts and opening dodgy "creation displays" left and right, Harun Yahya and co. were debilitating individuals with shakedown, working a funny, religiously-tinted prostitution ring and attempting to subvert the courts that oppressed them. No love lost!

Ramjets

Ramjets can be classified according to the type of fuel, liquid or solid; and the booster. In a liquid fuel ramjet (LFRJ), hydrocarbon fuel (typically) is injected into the combustor ahead of a flameholder which stabilises the flame resulting from the combustion of the fuel with the compressed air from the intake(s). A means of pressurizing and supplying the fuel to the ramcombustor is required, which can be complicated and expensive. Aérospatiale-Celerg designed an LFRJ where the fuel is forced into the injectors by an elastomer bladder which inflates progressively along the length of the fuel tank. Initially, the bladder forms a close-fitting sheath around the compressed air bottle from which it is inflated, which is mounted lengthwise in the tank.

This offers a lower-cost approach than a regulated LFRJ requiring a turbopump and associated hardware to supply the fuel. A ramjet generates no static thrust and needs a booster to achieve a forward velocity high enough for efficient operation of the intake system. The first ramjet-powered missiles used external boosters, usually solid-propellant rockets, either in tandem, where the booster is mounted immediately aft of the ramjet, e.g. Sea Dart, or wraparound where multiple boosters are attached alongside the outside of the ramjet, e.g. SA-4 Ganef. The choice of booster arrangement is usually driven by the size of the launch platform. 

A tandem booster increases the overall length of the system, whereas wraparound boosters increase the overall diameter. Wraparound boosters will usually generate higher drag than a tandem arrangement. Integrated boosters provide a more efficient packaging option, since the booster propellant is cast inside the otherwise empty combustor. This approach has been used on solid, for example SA-6 Gainful, liquid, for example ASMP, and ducted rocket, for example Meteor, designs. Integrated designs are complicated by the different nozzle requirements of the boost and ramjet phases of flight. Due to the higher thrust levels of the booster, a differently shaped nozzle is required for optimum thrust compared to that required for the lower thrust ramjet sustainer.

This is usually achieved via a separate nozzle, which is ejected after booster burnout. However, designs such as Meteor feature nozzleless boosters. This offers the advantages of elimination of the hazard to launch aircraft from the ejected boost nozzle debris, simplicity, reliability, and reduced mass and cost, although this must be traded against the reduction in performance compared with that provided by a dedicated booster nozzle.

Ramjet

A ramjet, sometimes referred to as a stovepipe jet, or an athodyd, is a form of airbreathing jet engine using the engine's forward motion to compress incoming air, without a rotary compressor. Ramjets cannot produce thrust at zero airspeed and thus cannot move an aircraft from a standstill. Ramjets therefore require some other propulsion system to accelerate the vehicle to a speed where the ramjet begins to produce thrust. Ramjets require considerable forward speed to operate well, and as a class work most efficiently at speeds around Mach 3. This type of jet can operate up to speeds of Mach 6.

Ramjets can be particularly useful in applications requiring a small and simple engine for high speed use, such as missiles, while weapon designers are looking to use ramjet technology in artillery shells to give added range: it is anticipated that a 120-mm mortar shell, if assisted by a ramjet, could attain a range of 22 mi (35 km).They have also been used successfully, though not efficiently, as tip jets on helicopter rotors.

Ramjets are frequently confused with pulsejets, which use an intermittent combustion, but ramjets employ a continuous combustion process, and are a quite distinct type of jet engine.

Parasites: A Documentary

Parasites! Parasites! Parasites!
At long last, my new documentary about this most misunderstood group of creatures is complete.

The world's longest tapeworm!
A worm that modifies the behavior of its host!
Crustacean relatives that replace the tongue, or hitch a ride on the eyes of fish!
Fish that burrow into people's genitals!
People who eat tapeworms as an additional source of protein!

It's all here. And all you've got to do is to watch it on the Parasites Website.
Enjoy!