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4 more stupidly cool research facilities

…and so we come to the final part of this small series (part 1 here, part 2 here) featuring some of the world’s most impressive research facilities and machines.

1. joint european torus, oxfordshire, uk

(above) ’split image showing interior view of the jet vacuum vessel with a superimposed image of an actual jet plasma, taken with a simple industrial tv camera in the visible spectrum’.

the joint european torus (jet) is the largest nuclear fusion experimental reactor on earth and is also a unique facility for researching fusion technology. jet is an example of a ‘tokamak’, a machine which produces an extremely strong, doughnut shaped magnetic field in order to confine a plasma. in jet’s case these plasmas can reach temperatures in excess of 100 million degrees centigrade. for more photos go here.

2. windshear rolling road wind tunnel, north carolina, usa

who knew aerodynamics research could look so cool? the windshear rolling road wind tunnel is the first of its kind in america and its 1mm thick steel belt can accelerate from 0-180mph in under a minute. unlike current wind tunnels, a machine like this allows engineers to study airflow to a greater degree due to the vehicle’s spinning wheels and resultant drag. some more facts…

- the air in this wind tunnel design flows from the fan to the vehicle, then is collected and returned to the fan in a closed circuit
- the main fan has a diameter of 22 feet, and is rated at 5,100 hp
- at maximum air speed, the fan produces an air flow volume of 2.85 million cubic feet per minute, and its total power consumption is 7 megawatts (one megawatt is equal to one million [106] watts)
- the belt will last up to 5,000 operational hours
- if a vehicle remained on the belt the entire time, it would “travel” approximately 300,000 to 400,000 kilometers
- the “thru-the-belt” measurement system measures the aerodynamic down force under each tire through the belt

3. solae, inazawa city, japan

this incredible looking building, built by the mitsubishi electric corporation, is the world’s tallest elevator shaft and was constructed specifically to enable engineers to research the next generation of high-speed elevators. solae is 173 metres tall and cost $45 million (usd) to complete but is an essential piece of kit when you consider the ever-increasing speeds and heights of elevator shafts: the world’s fastest elevator is currently at taipei 101 and travels at 37.66mph but this will soon be beaten by the elevators at the 800 metre high burj dubai which will reach ear-popping speeds of 42.36mph.

4. the shake table, san diego, usa

this $9 million machine, supporting a huge wind turbine in the photo, is the world’s only large-scale outdoor earthquake platform and, using hydraulics, is capable of shaking a 20 ton object horizontally at realistically high speeds. this kind of research could obviously prove invaluable as specialists will hopefully learn how to build quake-proof structures. it also looks like a massive amount of fun. check out the video from new scientist below or visit the official home of the machine here…

sources: 1, 2, 3, 4

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