Welcome to our monthly roundup of the best links on the internet about engineering, physics, and computer modeling! This month’s edition is full of interesting videos, articles, and resources to keep you up to date with the world of computer-assisted engineering, and discrete elements methods.
Simulating the Real World
- Solar wind – charged plasma particles from the sun – is part of the process of making water from moon rocks. Who would have thought there was a water cycle on the moon?
- Turns out sand does rise in a tube, just like water in a tree or water in a sponge – you just have to shake the tube first. This is known as the granular capillary effect. Read how it works here.
Practical Applications
- The Department of Energy recently gave Purdue University $2.3 million to improve the computer models used to design biofuel refineries. The goal is to make biomass like corn stalks, sugar bagasse, or sawdust flow through the refineries like a liquid.
- Computer models show that a combination of functional wetlands and agricultural crops along coasts can protect inland cities from storms or hurricanes. Maybe the models could even be used to help predict where a hurricane will hit next.
Chemistry Lesson
- Here is a little blurb to refresh your understanding of porosity – how well a fluid moves through a material.
News from Coupi
- Remember the idea to make water from solar wind and moon rock? Coupi helped the VORTICES team model the penetration depth of the solar wind into lunar soil.