ELECTROSTATICS NEWSLETTER
Sept/Oct, 2000 No.152
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Every ESA President writes as least one monthly message on the subject of weird science in the ESA. This month is my turn. During August, I was on tour in the countryside about an 1.5 hours east of London -- the land of Stonehenge, crop circles, and a site of prehistoric artifacts known as Avery. The town abuts numerous stone monoliths and rock patterns that would be as famous as Stonehenge were they not spread over a 2-mile circle that requires the tourists to walk. One of the highlights of our tour was a demonstration around two large, rectangular, stone monoliths, separated by about five meters, each about the size of a car standing on end. Placement of these stones must have been no easy task several thousand years ago. The guide displaced two divining rods made from a thin, rigid cardboard tube about 15 cm long and 1.5 cm wide with a narrow hole down its axis. Inside the tube, which functioned as a handle, was one leg of an L-shaped piece of heavy copper wire about the thickness of coat hanger wire. The guide held the handles of two rods vertically while orienting the remaining legs of each L in the horizontal, forward-pointing direction. The following sketches are my poor artist’s rendition of the two rods:
As the guide explained, the two large stones lie directly on something called a “lay line”, an imaginary line that extends from the south-western tip of Britain, through Stonehenge, and onward toward the east coast. It is the longest straight line that one can draw through the UK. Many prehistoric sites, crop circles, burial sites, and ancient churches line on or near this line. As the guide passed between the stones, crossing the lay line, the two horizontal legs of the L-shaped wires came together, their tips nearly touching. “As you can see,” she said, “the wires mysteriously come together when I cross the lay line.” Indeed, as she continued to pass through the stones, beyond the lay line, the wires returned to their original forward-pointing directions.
The guide then passed out wires to all the tourists, explaining
that, for some people, the wires turned inward while passing
the lay line, while for others they turned outwards. “No one is
quite sure why,” she said. She related some anecdotal evidence
that one’s hemisphere of origin seemed to make a difference.
I eagerly tried my hand at this experiment, and indeed, my wires turned as I passed through the lay line – one outward and one inward. (Even though I was born in the U.S., my Russian great grandfather spent a year in Argentina before coming to America, so I guess the rods became confused by my hemispherical origin.) Others tried the experiment, most with positive results. The wires were made of copper. Not magnetic, I thought to myself. Electrostatic? I also discounted that theory, since even if a hidden source of potential difference might be present in the rocks, my body would be a major source of interference. The tour guide had cautioned people to keep their tubes perfectly vertical lest the wires turn to either side on their own, thereby obscuring the true effect of the lay line. I did verify this unwanted effect by tilting my tubes ever so slightly forwards and backwards. Indeed, they turned sidewards at the slightest shift in angle. I also noticed that the slope of the ground changed, again ever so slightly, as it passed between the stones. Here is an exaggerated, side-view plot of the ground and stones:
As this plot suggests, holding the tube perfectly vertical on either, slightly-inclined side of the lay line will cause the tube to tip backward as a person passes between the stones, where the ground is perfectly horizontal. This simple observation explains, in understandable physics, the heretofore mysterious phenomenon of the divining rods. (Not wanting to destroy the magic for the other tourists, I kept my discovery to myself.)
This incident is reminiscent of one that occurred when the local natural gas company was digging for a leaky pipe in front of my house. Two separate crews used iron divining rods to “locate” my pipe where they assumed it was based on the location of my gas meter. Seven hours of digging and 24 feet of unsuccessful trench later, they finally sent in a third crew with an electronic pipe tracer who found the pipe buried in my next-door neighbor’s yard where it went after taking an 90 underground turn just outside my basement wall.
What is the point of this lengthy story? It seems that more and more often, we hear presentations at ESA meetings that most of us relegate to weird science. The optimistic expectations of the researcher seem to drive the results more than any hard experimental evidence. Riddled with seemingly nonsensical use of technical terms, these papers stand in stark contrast to the hard rigorous science that characterize most presentations at ESA conferences. As my Avery story suggests, I am squarely among our skeptical members who are reluctant to believe anything that cannot be clearly explained in plain language and backed up by sound experimental data. As the “Friendly Society,” we are duty-bound to open our forum to all, no matter how unusual or counter-intuitive the claimed scientific findings. But as a serious professional organization, we also must insist that new theories and hypotheses be supported by real data repeatable by others before they can be accepted. (Note that one hears little about cold fusion these days, for example.)
What’s new about this position? Not much . It’s been the stance of the ESA for as long as I can remember, and has been the topic of several previous President’s Messages in the past. I would like, however, to add my own spin: Let’s not confuse obscure language with obscure science. Very often, good science is masked by the inability of the presenter to explain it in clear, understandable terms. As an example, I ask for your reaction to the following six excepts of “weird science” (sources provided upon request):
1. There seem to be two kinds of "electric human" disorders. One involves static electricity, and the other does not. If you don’t get constant shocks when touching people or metal objects, yet your body makes electronic devices fail, then your problem is not electrical. Instead it involves something which resembles psychic powers.
2 . Each molecule, therefore, throughout the universe, bears impressed on it the stamp of a metric system as distinctly as does the metre of the Archives at Paris, or the double royal cubit of the Temples of Karnac. None of the processes of nature, since the time when nature began, have produced the slightest difference in the properties of any molecule. We are therefore unable to ascribe either the existence of the molecules or the identity of their properties to the operation of any of the causes which we call natural.
3. Presupposed absolute space that was not determined by the disposition of the field; the field, represented geometrically by lines of force, was in space, and space was a fundamental ontological category. A physical representation of the field therefore required an ambient ether as the substratum (but not the constituent) of the field.
4. Based on previously unnoticed papers which established a hidden bidirectional electromagnetic wave structure in a standing force-field-free scalar potential, a method of directly engineering the ambient potential of the vacuum has been developed and realized experimentally. By treating the nucleus of the atom as a pumped phase conjugate mirror, several working model energy units have been produced which excite and organize the local vacuum, increase the local virtual photon flux between local vacuum and nucleus, establish coherent self-oscillations between the local excited vacuum and the affected nuclei, utilize the self-oscillating standing wave for self-pumping of the nuclei/mirrors, introduce a very tiny signal wave to the mirrors, and output into an external load circuit a powerful, amplified, time-reversed phase conjugate replica wave at 60-Hertz frequency and nominal 120-volt sine wave power.
5. Our Earth is a positively charged body of energy and mass in constant motion. Rotating forward into frictional heat, it creates an attractional field on every tiny piece of matter, starting from hydrogen bonding and the electrostatic interaction between the intermolecular attraction within the nuclei of atoms and molecules.
6. If the quantity of the electric fluid in a body is such that a particle of the electric fluid outside the body is a much repelled by the electric fluid in a body as it is attracted by the matter of the body, the body is said to be saturated. If the quantity of fluid in the body is greater than that required for saturation, the excess is called the redundant fluid, and the body is said to be overcharged. If it is less, the body is said to be undercharged, and the quantity of fluid which would be required to saturate is sometimes called the deficient fluid.
Gibberish? You decide. But note that two of the above excepts are directly attributable to James Clerk Maxwell.
For the Friendly Society
Mark Horenstein
ESA President
JOINT SYMPOSIUM REPORT
IEJ/ESA-2000: Joint Symposium of the Institute of Electrostatics-Japan and the Electrostatics Society of America, Kyoto, Japan
On September 25 and 26, approximately ten researchers from outside Japan joined about 40 of our Japanese counterparts at Kyoto University for the fourth joint conference between the ESA and the IEJ. This tradition began with the 1994 ESA meeting in Stanford University, CA, where we hosted about twenty visitors from Japan as part of our regular ESA annual meeting. Subsequent meetings in 1996 (Tokyo) and 1998 (Stanford) have continued this semi-annual tradition. ESA attendees included Joe Crowley, Peter Castle, and Mark Horenstein, as well as John Hughes from the UK, Joseph Taillet from France, and Reinhold Epping from Germany. The entire conference was held in English. Negotiating around the country proved to be a relatively easy task, as most transportation venues were well marked in English. The costs of the conference (about $150) and accommodations (about $65 per night) were comparable to one of our regular June meetings.
This year's meeting included talks on a wide variety of subjects. Our own Joe Crowley began the symposium with a review lecture on the fundamentals of electrostatics and their limitations in real world situations. His talk was most illuminating (charged, one might say,) and he has agreed to repeat it as the keynote address at our upcoming June 2001 meeting. Kazuytoshi ("Kazie") Asano, President of the IEJ, also gave a review talk on the motion of charged particles in viscous liquid, and Prof. Tetsuji Oda, local arrangements chair, gave a third review talk on the subject of the application of non-thermal plasmas from corona or low-voltage discharge to pollution control and chemical processing. This promising field of electrostatics has been largely untouched in the US and Canada, and was a most welcome addition to the symposium. Non-thermal chemical reactions show increased promise as a cost-effective means for reducing noxious gases. Non-thermal electrostatic processes also are used to alter the surface properties of materials.
Other talks covered topics on electrostatic safety, particle sorting, electrostatic targeting of dust mite roppings and flying insects, electrostatic discharge, micro-mechanical applications of electrostatics, powder handling, particle sorting and analysis, DNA sorting, corona applications and characterization, and electrets. The Monday afternoon session included a poster session in which several researchers presented their work in a less formal atmosphere, while the Tuesday afternoon session was devoted almost exclusively to talks on the application of non-thermal plasmas. The final program for the symposium may be found on our Web site at www.electrostatics.org, and a copy of the full proceedings is available from Electrostatic Applications at www.electrostatics.com.
As was the case in 1994 in Tokyo, the IEJ showed us great hospitality. On the evening before the conference, we were treated to traditional Japanese dinner in the Gion district of Kyoto, followed by an hour-long show at the Kyoto Cultural Center. The latter included demonstrations of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony, Japanese flower arranging, the koto (Japanese harp), a comic play (in Japanese with written English explanation provided), a masterful puppet show, and traditional Japanese music. An informal (standup) banquet held on Monday evening following the technical sessions provided an excellent venue for renewing old friendships and making new ones. On Tuesday evening, foreign attendees were hosted by Profs. Asano and Matsusaka of Kyoto University to a restaurant meal prepared in traditional Kyoto cuisine. The surprise of the evening was the extraordinary number of unique courses which never seemed to end - truly a unique experience.
Although attendance from the US was smaller than expected, all felt the conference was extremely successful. We hope to continue the tradition of joint symposia by hosting the IEJ at our June 2002 ESA meeting. A location is still in the works but is likely to be somewhere west of the Mississippi.
On behalf of the ESA, I'd like to extend my thanks to Kazie Asano, Prof. Tetsuji Oda, who acted as local arrangements chair, and Prof. Shuji Matsusaka, who acted as sponsor from the University of Kyoto, and to the entire IEJ, for hosting such a great meeting. Hopefully the cooperation between the ESA and the IEJ will continue long into the future.
Mark N. Horenstein
ESA President
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
We are still in need of one or two volunteers to assist with local arrangements for ESA2001 at Michigan State University. You do not need to live nearby to help. Most of what needs to be done can be accomplished via phone calls and email. If you are willing and/or able to help, please contact Mark Horenstein at mnh@bu.edu or 617-353-5437.
WELCOME TO NEW ESA MEMBERS
The Electrostatics Society of America welcomes new members...
Scott Gehlke
Suwan Nalin Jayasinghe
Cary Tye
Ronald D. Hundley
Gabriel Nii Laryea
Michael Grimaldi
__________________________________________________________________
Did you know that you can sign up for ESA membership on line?
Point your Web browser to www.electrostatics.org/Forms/joinform2.htm
TAKING THE ZAP OUT OF LAWN VACS
Thanks to ESA member Rick Rodrigo of Simco who sent us a copy of the following article which appeared in the August 7, 2000 issue of Design News.
It should come as no shock that electrostatic discharge, or ESD. can be a problem with the blower-vacuums that keep our lawns leaf-free. Static discharge builds up as the engine cycles and as high-velocity air, leaves, and debris fly through plastic tubes. “The static buildup is very quick, and the shock can be quite high,” says Dean Bacalzo, a project engineer at Ryobi Outdoor Products, a maker of blower-vacs and other outdoor apparatus.
In the past, Ryobi’s engineers believed that ESD was an unpleasant, but inevitable, menace to consumers. “We thought it was a phenomenon we had to live with - the nature of the beast,” says Bacalzo. But with the introduction of the new 340 BVR blower-vacuum, which blows air at 210 mph, Ryobi’s engineers decided to do something about the problem. So they designed one of the new blower-vac’s handles from Stat-Kon, a statically dissipative thermoplastic from LPN Engineering Plastics (Exton, PA). “We’re able to bleed off the charge from the unit so there is a steady trickle of electricity going into the user via the handle and back into ground.” Bacalzo explains.
Before adopting Stat-Kon, the unit’s design team considered and rejected several other static-control methods. They considered static-fighting sprays too messy and too temporary. Bacalzo reports that they also thought about dragging a grounding wire from the blower-vac, but that potential solution required extra components and was deemed too complex. Stat-Kon, by contrast, simply dropped in to a handle design the team had already finished. “We didn’t even have to change the wall thickness of the part or anything, says Bacalzo.
So far, the new blower-vac has won raves from the users charged with testing the unit in different climates and conditions, Bacalzo reports. “Eliminating static has really enhanced customer comfort,” he says.
Call For Papers
Electrostatics Society of America
29th Annual Conference
June 27 – 30, 2001
Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Join us for the 29th Annual Conference of the Electrostatics Society of America to be held on the campus of Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan from June 27-30, 2001 at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center. The center is minutes away from Capitol City Airport and about 80 miles from Detroit Metro airport.
Our usual comprehensive set of technical presentations will be accompanied by demonstrations and informative talks about special topics in electrostatics.
Topics of interest include:
Atmospheric Electricity
Biological Applications
BioMEMS and BioFluidics
Breakdown and Discharges
Charge Neutralization
Computational Methods
Display Devices
Electrets
Electrohydrodynamics
Electrophotography
Electrostatic Painting
Powder Coating
Electrostatic Printing
Electrostatic Propulsion
Electrostatics Demonstrations
Electrostatics Education
ESD Prevention and Detection
Micro-Electromechanical Systems
Non-Thermal Plasmas
Particle Control & Transport
Precipitators and Cleaners
Safety and Hazards
Sprays and Droplets
Triboelectrification
TYPES OF PAPERS SOLICITED:
-Formal Paper: Authors may submit a full_length written paper to be published in the ESA proceedings. An oral presentation will be given at the conference to accompany the written submission. Instructions for preparing full manuscripts can be found on the ESA Web site: www.electrostatics.org.
Title Deadline: March 16, 2001
Paper Deadline: April 16, 2001
-Oral Presentation With Abstract: Authors may submit a one- to two-page abstract which will be published in the ESA proceedings. An oral presentation will be given at the conference. Instructions for preparing abstracts can be found on the ESA Web site: www.electrostatics.org.
Title Deadline: April 2, 2001
Abstract Deadline: April 30, 2001
-Informal Oral Presentation: Speakers may offer informal presentations that pose problems, describe recent developments, provide observations, or show preliminary results that are not ready for formal presentation. Informal presentations will be scheduled upon request of the Program Chair.
REGISTRATION:
Registration and detailed conference information will be sent to ESA members at a future date. This information will also be publicly available on the ESA web site at www.electrostatics.org.
SEND TITLES AND ABSTRACTS TO PROGRAM CHAIR:
Dr. Mark Zaretsky
Electrostatics Group
4-23-KP Mail Code 24325
Eastman Kodak Company
Rochester, NY 14652-4325
Tel: 716-588-6351
Email: mark.zaretsky@kodak.com
ESA Web Site: www. electrostatics.org
Kellogg Conference Center Site: www.hfs.msu.edu/kellogg
HOPE TO SEE YOU IN JUNE!