Recent content by russ_watters

Hopefully the OP is still finding this instructive.... Here's an example clip from a fan balancing report I was looking at yesterday: Setting aside that I don't think there's a single-word you could use as a label in place of "suction" to say "the atmosphere pushing-in side of the fan"...

I mean, that's still pretty much a mess, so you're arguing against your point. The tube is a pressure relief device. Excess pressure in the inner ear is relieved by the tube, allowing fluid to drain out through the tube. The atmosphere isn't doing the pushing (the fluid is escaping TO the...

But they're asteroids? Where would the implication that they could be hollow space stations even come from? It makes no sense and there's no evidence to suggest it could be true. Thread closed pending moderation but this looks like a (particularly silly) personal theory to me.

Right, that's why I'd teach the proper definition. You wrote that backwards, didn't you? I think fluid goes out through the inserted tube, not through the Eustacian tube. Anyway, the main reason the word is used/useful is it describes the goal or which side of the device is the main point of...

I mean, to me that's just rejecting the word "suction" without recognizing what it actually means. I don't see how understanding the definition can cause a misunderstanding. But maybe that's part of the semantics.

Yeah, some people don't like the implication of negative pressure in the word; Absolute pressure can't be negative. But to engineers all fluid pressure is relative so you can have negative pressure (or positive vacuum!), thus a vacuum "sucks". Semantic preference aside, it's something...

Yes, though for your typical desk or central air conditioning fan the air can be considered incompressible for calculation purposes. The key similarity then is that they both move air by creating a pressure difference from one side to the other (yes, it's a contradiction to say you can create a...

Yes. I'm not sure what sort of answer you're looking for with that question. The blades are curved to force air to move in a preferred direction.

It's a massive security risk and a conscious choice to avoid it. The Target hack 10 years ago happened because an HVAC controller was networked and provided a pathway to the payment processing system. Rather than worrying about keeping your HVAC controlls secure and up to date on patches, it's...

Only for computers connected to the internet.

There's millions of headless PCs doing industrial controls and front ends that don't ever get software upgrades and run for decades.

I mean, people are still looking for Amilia Earheart.

An unstated assumption in the line of discussion is that they exist simultaneously/now. Given that humans have only had the ability to communicate off-world for a hundred years vs 4.5B for the planet, it suggests odds might not be good for an advanced species being nearby even if there's one in...

It also happened very early in Earth's habitable time (it just took a long time for complex life to evolve).

Condolences, he was a valued member of the community for a long time, and will be missed.