Fun at Work

We had a family fun day over the weekend and no, there are no photos. The company has very strict policies about taking pictures inside. So no images of mom at her work station.
Still it was very successful. One department froze bananas in liquid nitrogen (about 321 degrees below zero) and used the super hard fruit to pound nails into a board. Stretchy gummy worms shatter like eggshells at that temp. That was a big hit with the kids.

But it was the robot welding of metal airplanes that was a hit with most adults. The planes were about 8 inches long and the robot welded the wings and tail to the fuselage in seconds. Just snap parts into a jig and press go.

Another demo was a high speed camera used to slow down the impact of a Nerf bullet wiping out an empty soda can. The spongy Nerf bullet would strike the can and compress slightly before the can started to tip up and jump off the table. This was also very cool. (Personally, I would have liked to have seen slow motion videos of the rope cutting at the Blade show. Maybe I’ll suggest that for the next Family Day.)

For our part in microscopy we showed everyone dead bees. A co-worker brought me a bag full of dead carpenter bees. Don’t ask. I don’t why he was saving bees. They were pretty beat up, but I made do. I wanted to show the adaptation of the third leg to hold pollen. I would then segway to yellow pine and prickly pear cactus pollen. The yellow pine reminds most people of Mickey Mouse.

                                              M-I-C-K-E-Y--- Why? because we like you.....
                                         
The prickly pear cactus had some very interesting surface morphology. My boss wanted to show insect parts so I had a bee’s head mounted so you could see the compound eye. Unfortunately the head fell off the mounting block and is roaming about in the scanning electron microscope.

                                                    LUKE! There's two Death Stars!!


And for a little more detail on the exhaust port weakness............

"If I can just fly down and plant one in that port...."














We didn’t have any give-a-ways, so I suggested we give each child who asked a dead bee. The suggestion wasn’t taken.


For myself, I liked the laser cutting demo. They were making bottle openers by cutting out shapes in steel with a CO2 laser. The beam cut through the steel like a knife blade in balsa wood. Sparks shot up and out and it was magnificent. The laser power peaks at 3200 watts. That’s like lifting a one pound weight 140,800 feet every second.

I’m not sure if that’s actual beam energy or power consumption. Lasers are very efficient at converting light into heat, but not so hot in converting electricity into light. The beam could have been 320 watts of laser energy consuming 3200 watts of electricity. Still, with that power level the only practical safety precaution against exposure is not to be exposed.

BAD MISTAKE......

Here’s an example why manufacturers and the NRA preach safe storage of ammo. Safe storage is defined as “clean, dry, cool and away from un-authorized users.” It’s a .223 from Wolf and the steel case has started to rust.

                      Wolf .223 steel case.   I like 'em.  They feed and function...What's not to like?

Sure, you could wipe the case clean (don’t use a penetrating oil or you could kill the primer) and shoot it, but I wouldn’t. You’re never really sure what will happen.

Of course, in all fairness to Wolf ammo, I know how it was stored: in the wet grass overnight for at least two rainy days. No wonder a little rust showed up. I found it out on the range one morning. It was probably ejected from a rifle when the chamber was cleared.


Still it was a good object lesson: remember to wipe off your carbon steel knives after using them.