Is research perfect?

Research is one of the most essential sources of human growth into an advanced civilization. Time and again, man has used research as his tool to organize and optimize his resources, both as individual and as civilization. The research per se can be on any topic at all, regardless of the results being positive or negative; research is of as much benefits with negative results, telling the researcher either not to choose a specific route or to categorically prevent catastrophes. Research, being an iterative process, continues over time and has to be repeated while it corrects the previous data available and as well as providing new theories. The acceptance of this fact alone is enough to say that research is not only “not-perfect”, but also not supposed to be perfect in order for more research to occur.

The reasons for a research not being perfect can vary from simple facts and figures themselves, their accuracy, the proportions of them being used in the samples, present theories and relative science to mere possible existence of the facts and scientific processes physically.

It is the most often made unavoidable error in population research that the sample size and group being used from the population can not be perfect. The data obtained from a sample size can not accurately represent the whole population even if taken in the same proportion and group format. The reason for this can simply be human diversity, if it is about a human population, or mathematical variability in probability. Perfection in this respect can only be assumed if the research takes into account the whole population of things/species into account and yet other types of imperfections will be there.

Human error is the next most repetitive one. A scientific research done by different individuals often yields different results and this kind of error is curbed by comparing results and doing further research, hence going in to the same iterative cycle of research. This might also tangentially involve deliberate bias from the researcher. Such imperfection, though not known as “human error”, is attributed to humans for not having a neutral point of view as each individual and then each society see things from their own perspective be it morality, politics, sociology or simple interpretation as a society. Such diversity in human societies and individuals results in the research being non homogeneous but on the contrary it provides break-through in ways that a homogeneous research could never have provided.

Systematic errors from the equipment and tool issues are often there as well which can be easily removed in case of simple tools having zero errors but are much more difficult to track and eliminate in complex algorithms involving space and computational technology. Such errors have further amounted to imperfections in research mostly in the modern and information age. From the start of time, human use of tools is significantly notice able and the research work has been continued and repeated by civilizations often while others diverge into their own unique ways.

Imperfection is the beauty of the universe. With nothing created perfect and imperfections making everything stronger, starting from the micro level of the materials physics to the macro study of the human diversity, research’s very own imperfection makes it a perfect process to develop in to uniquely diverse directions where mistakes develop into new foundations of a different branch of science. Evidence from these facts not only support the fact that research can not be perfect but also provide insight on the perspective that imperfect research is the bases of leaping ahead.

References

Fink, Anne. "The Role of the Researcher in the Qualitative Research Process. A Potential Barrier to Archiving Qualitative Data." Forum: Qualitative Social Research. 1.3 ( 2000): n. page. Web. 16 May. 2012.

Mehra, Beloo. Bias in qualitative research: Voices from an online classroom. The Qualitative Report, 7(1). 2002. Web. 22 August 2010.

Highbrows at Clean Energy Programme by UNIDO

United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) presents Highbrows Engineering & Technologies a shield for its initiatives towards innovation and R&D in Pakistan at the clean energy programme; Global Cleantech Innovation Program 2014.

Seismic engineering: Causes of earthquakes in relation to geology

Being the main reason for the cause of earthquakes, the geological setting and plate tectonics are a key to understanding the mechanism of earthquakes. Seismic engineering as a subject has long been motivated by the need to detect explosions such as nuclear testing as well as to develop earthquake early notification systems. This has enabled the science to develop into the modern age on par with other sciences. The basic reason behind the occurrence of earthquakes is the push and pull forces inside the earth’s mantle. The forces are high enough to swivel and twine the tectonic plates on the top causing earthquakes (Walker 2007). The occurrence of earthquakes is mainly in the areas that happen to be on the edges of tectonic plates. As the brittle structure of the plates hit each other in its movement over the softer lower layers, the shock waves travel through the crust of the earth in the form of earthquakes (Walker 2007). This is now detailed event specific on how an earthquake happens. There might be a variety of ways that plates brush against each other causing an earthquake. This is directly in relation to the geological setting of these plates which will be described in the specific case ahead.

Taking the 2005 Kashmir earthquake as an example, it is simple to understand how geological settings of plates influence the earthquake zones and the damage caused. Killing over 80,000 people in Pakistan and over 1,000 in India as well as leaving over 4 million people without homes, the earthquake was one of the devastating contemporary earthquakes (The World and I 2005). Earthquakes matching the size of this one impact human civilization at range of fronts (The World and I 2005). Pakistan has been labeled as being vulnerable to seismic events in general and has experienced earthquakes from time to time (Kakar 2008) because of its position over the edge of the Indian plate (Khan 2000). The Indian plate runs through the full length of the country (Khan 2000) making many areas of the region in the most affected zones of the earthquakes. Research alludes, the higher the presence of plates (and hence the plate boundaries) is, the higher the earthquakes occur in the region (Ford & Taylor 2006). This has been exemplified by the comparison that Pacific ocean has more earthquakes since it has more tectonic plates than the Atlantic ocean (Ford & Taylor 2006). The plate movement is slow enough to be measurable in centimeters a year yet the interaction, scraping and the hitting of plates even at that pace is enough to cause seismic events that have significant effect on the earth’s surface (Ford & Taylor 2006). The Himalayan mountain range, which itself has been born out of the seismic instability from the plates’ interaction, has had the same reasons for its birth in that specific region as that of the plate tectonics. The geological tectonic setting is such that any plate collision results in earthquakes along the fault lines which go right through the length of the country (Khan 2000). Reports attributed more than 978 aftershocks to the earthquake on daily basis (ReliefWeb 2005) that were at times of greater magnitude than the earthquake itself. Sudden slip events at the plate edges cause the shocks that travel through the length of the fault lines (Hubenthal et. al 2008). The elasticity of the earth’s crust causes the shock’s to, first be generated from the hit, and then to follow through the fault line (Hubenthal et. al 2008). Understanding the earth’s geological design is similar to understanding simple engineering structure. The structural engineering involved in the earth’s crust can simplify the explanations to a great extent (Hubenthal et. al 2008). In addition, looking at it from a materials engineering perspective, the elasticity and rigidity of the earth’s crust define the types and strength of shocks that will follow the slip event (Hubenthal et. al 2008). The earthquake will, hence, be a direct result of the slip and the magnitude of the earthquake will be directly proportional to the amount of the slip (Hubenthal et. al 2008).

Damages caused by earthquakes on the surface range from ground rupture and landslides to soil liquefaction and tsunamis. These effects are often catastrophic and are seen right after the event. The 2005 Kashmir earthquake was of magnitude 7.6 with a focal depth of 26 km (ReliefWeb 2005). The severity of the earthquake was such that the buildings 25 km away from the epicenter collapsed on themselves or damage to an irreparable extent (ReliefWeb 2005). The buildings being mostly of unreinforced stone, collapsed with the shear forces of the earth’s movement (ReliefWeb 2005). The types of structural engineering used in the buildings is of rural trend; unreinforced stone, concrete blocks and brick masonry or a combination of these (ReliefWeb 2005). The shear stress on the unreinforced stone buildings could not be withstood by the structure which, as a result, completely collapsed (ReliefWeb 2005). The common village and rural trends of such building structure which does not, at all, take into consideration any civil or structural engineering with regard to earthquakes, makes even the single story buildings vulnerable (ReliefWeb 2005). Shear stress on the weak construction has been one of the main processes for the widespread destruction. The mortars used in the construction was of technically unskilled labour with a shear strength of 5 Psi and the crushing strength of 300 Psi (ReliefWeb 2005). This type of - rather lack of engineering insight - made the houses and buildings extremely vulnerable to collapsing under seismic shocks (ReliefWeb 2005). On the other hand, the landsliding at a massive rate and scale occurred in the affected area which was already a hilly terrain (ReliefWeb 2005). The landsliding during an earthquake is due to the seismic shaking of the earth. Seismic waves that pass through the region cause net accelerations that counter the normal forces on the previously stable terrain and shift the gravitational load towards vectors not being countered by normal forces from the current placement. This, in addition with shear stress from horizontal seismic effect, cause the landslide that run through the top of the mountains. From the shear stress caused by these landslides, slopes not actually affected by the seismic forces might also come into the inertial landslide causing even more damage. This was the case in the case study earthquake. The massive landslides totally changed the terrain in multiple areas of the rural Pakistan with parts of mountain ranges being lost (ReliefWeb 2005; Naranjo 2008).

One of the reasons for such sudden slip movement is that the pressure from the slip movement is not gradually released, rather in a catastrophic sudden way when the rocks can not bear the pressure anymore and break under the load of the moved plates. The cities being on the boundary of the plates get seismic shocks that are devastating to the buildings and structures that do not incorporate proper seismic engineering (Naranjo 2008). Although the geological deformations provide relief related data to support rescue efforts, there is also an aspect of technical and scientific study in observing the damage caused by the earthquakes (Naranjo 2008). The 2005 Kashmir earthquake caused a land rupture that was the first one to be produced by the Himalayan mountain range and was visited by geologists to be studied first hand (Naranjo 2008). Although soil liquefaction was not reported in the case of this earthquake (ReliefWeb 2005), the earthquake induced rotational failures cause the porous soil to act like a liquid and flow under the seismic shock sinking the buildings into the earth or leaving no basis for them to stand on.

With Pakistani cities constantly vulnerable to earthquakes from the Indian plate tectonic movement, the area needs to be revamped for protection against earthquake (Hindustan Times 2007). Any new buildings to be constructed should especially be constructed with the earthquake effects kept in mind. In addition to this, early warning systems should be placed to avoid serious repercussions (Hindustan Times 2007). Revelations from analysis of the damaged or collapsed structure tell that there have been several engineering flaws even in the reinforced and framed buildings that were damaged in the event (ReliefWeb 2005). These flaws ranged from structural failures of column beams that were weak to design flaws that didn’t cater for seismic waves inherent to the geological perspective of the region (ReliefWeb 2005). Keeping such factors in mind, future construction can significantly influence the disaster management as well as total prevention of loss in seismic events by the help of appropriately designed structures. Mitigating damage from seismic event is possible and necessary to prevent foreseeable loss of life. Starting from the early warning systems, experts state that technologies advanced enough to tell about a seismic event before hand so as to arrange for precautionary measures or prepare for rescue efforts (Hindustan Times 2007). The fault lines through Pakistan are well defined and observed, passing through the cities of Karachi and Quetta where locking points are present and observatories can be set up. The Indian plate is moving towards the Himalayas and pushing on the mountain range, however this movement is slowing down with energy forming up at the locking points of the mountain range, Quetta and Karachi. This implies that this plate movement towards the north will stop and then subsequently reverse which will cause an ‘unzipping’ effect unlocking all the energy stored in the locking points. Such a seismic event will again trigger major earthquakes and tsunamis that are well predicted and can be monitored and evaluated in advance (Hindustan Times 2007). The stored energy in the locking points would then affect all the weak points or structurally stressed points of the earth’s crust around the country making those areas, the most affected (Hindustan Times 2007). Known plate movements and general predictions like this can prevent further loss of life and help set up appropriate tectonic and geological monitoring that can mitigate damages from earthquakes like this one in general (Hindustan Times 2007).

Other than the mitigation efforts through monitoring and prediction, the best defense against seismic events is to incorporate necessary engineering design to withstand the effects of earthquakes. Seismic engineering or earthquake engineering in this regard is an important subject that can help consider the structural designs with respect to these events and forces in the structures. As compared to early warning systems and the data obtained from the previous earthquakes, a software simulation might also help predict the destruction; type and scale, of a future earthquake or simply act as a test event for modeling structures for the future. For the construction to be earthquake resistant, certain parameters have to be considered in the design and the design of the buildings has to be modified accordingly both material wise and structure wise. This involves adequate use of structural engineering inline with materials engineering to optimize for resistance to seismic forces on the structure. From ancient to modern designs, structural and material considerations for these achievements have long been considered. The use of mortar, as explained in the chosen case study was one of the major reasons for structural failure. The use of mortar made the structure vulnerable to the resonating seismic forces which has been seen as an ancient design incorporation by the Inca civilization in the form of mortarless stone structures which are firmly placed in designs that do not let them fall apart and in geometry that does not leave any space or gaps in the stones (Clark 2013). Modern age techniques that involve earthquake resistant design in the structural engineering include base isolation. Base isolation aims to isolate the building structure itself from the substructure of the building so as to avoid the building from being affected by seismic forces (Pressman 2007); this is a type of vibration control technique that reduces the effect of seismic waves on the structure. Often tested on shake tables, the base isolation proves to be a formidable precaution against the earthquake and has become one of the most popular design modifications in the earthquake affected regions (Reitherman 2012). Taller buildings, on the other hand, can incorporate frictional pendulum bearings (Zayas et. al 1990) or building elevation control designs. A better control of the elevation will result in a better stability of the structure as a whole. The buildings in the rural areas can be sufficiently built to be earthquake resistant by fixing minor flaws like that of mortar usage and beam connections and strengths as well as base isolation if needed. Skyscrapers on the other hand need to have more complex design modifications to prevent any future seismic damage. Although skyscrapers often make use of elevation control, space on the ground might not allow for such to a free extent simply due to urban agglomeration. This brings in the need and usage of tuned mass dampers. These devices act as a structural enhancement that absorb or damp seismic vibrations and resist any kind of damage caused by seismic shocks. The technology from aeronautical engineering borrowed into structural engineering as a seismic wave absorbing tool, a tuned mass damper is now found a frequent usage in skyscrapers (Reitherman 2012). Using tuned mass dampers is one of the technological design modifications that should specifically be kept in mind to mitigate the damages from future seismic events as a design incorporation (Reitherman 2012).

Where structural engineering has found its way to support the damage mitigation, materials engineering has taken a step further in the basic material design and properties that, when used in structures, are themselves a design modification on the material level to mitigate seismic impacts and waves. Use of metallic foams is one of such materials engineering technological advancements (Romero 2008). Being light weight and acoustically insulating, metallic foams act, towards seismic waves, just like normal foams act towards falling objects; they damp the vibrations and catch the fall - absorb all the energy (Romero 2008). The use of such materials in construction can significantly mitigate any future seismic disasters. Especially when considered in construction along the fault lines like that of the Indian plate and at the locking points and other cities, Muzaffarabad for instance (Naranjo 2008), that lie near the focal points of such earthquakes, the use of metallic foams in construction along with structural design modifications can prevent any structural damages or even discomfort of the residents during the seismic event (Romero 2008).Once the involved stakeholders, especially the design engineers, have learned to appreciate the causes of the earthquakes and geotechnical design of the earth’s crust as well as the type of forces that act on the buildings and structures on the surface as a result of seismic events, the risks related to these, per se, uncontrollable events can be mitigated or even totally be removed. Geotechnical engineering’s adequate usage in this regard has a direct impact on the modern day civilization; where earthquakes once wiped civilizations off the face of the earth, they might not now even feel uncomfortable to those with proper precautions in structural and material design as well as early information systems.

References

Walker, Sally M. (September 1, 2007). Earthquakes. LernerClassroom. Book. Print.

The World and I, Ed. (December 2005). Introduction. Vol. 20, No. 12. Journal. Print.

Kakar, Sattar (October 29, 2008). Pakistani quake leaves 150 dead, 15,000 homeless. AP Online. Periodical. Web.

Khan, M. Asif (2000). Tectonics of the Nanga Parbat syntaxis and the Western Himalaya. Geological Society of London. Book, p. 375, ISBN 978-1-86239-061-4. Print.

Ford, Brent; Taylor, Melanie (September 2006). Investigating Students' Ideas about Plate Tectonics. Science Scope. Journal. Print.

ReliefWeb (November 7, 2005). Pakistan: A summary report on Muzaffarabad earthquake. Retrieved: March 28, 2013, Web.

Hubenthal, Michael; Braile, Larry; Taber, John (January 2008). Redefining Earthquakes and the Earthquake Machine: Students Use the Earthquake Machine Lite to Refine Their Ideas about the Causes of Earthquakes. The Science Teacher, Vol. 75, No. 1. Journal. Print.

Naranjo, Laura (October 22, 2008). When the Earth Moved Kashmir. Nasa Earth Observatory. Retrieved: March 28, 2013, Web.

Hindustan Times (New Delhi, India) (January 1, 2007). Pakistan cities in constant danger of quakes: expert. News Wire.

Clark, Liesl (Retrieved: March 28, 2013). Pioneers of Easter Island. NOVA. Web.

Pressman, Andy (2007). Architectural graphic standards. John Wiley and Sons. p. 30. ISBN

Flame in gravity vs flame in space

This is how a flame looks like in space (ie. in microgravity in orbit).

Passive solar building design

The world being more and more carbon constrained, needs means of energy that are environment friendly and produce minimum emissions. Along with acquisition of better means of energy and resources, reducing the emissions themselves by reducing environmental impact of emission sources is another essential factor to consider. As in case of buildings and construction, most buildings and infrastructures have a high impact on the environment and has been deteriorating to the environment since the industrial age. Modern buildings need to be built with environment friendly and resource efficient technologies. The strategy proposed for a building to keep its carbon emissions near zero is to make it a passive solar building. Such a design will reduce the cost of heating, ventilation and air conditioning to a new minimum and further reduce the building’s environmental impact (Doerr 2012). Passive solar concept aims to put the climate to its advantage. The building is constructed is such a way that the climate conditions favour the heating and cooling of the building which is well distributed throughout the structure by design (Doerr 2012). Many factors can affect the design of such concept, some being thermal insulation, thermal mass, shading, insulation type, glazing type and window placement. Correct use of these factors can help attain a balanced construction that can admit sunlight in winter, and reflect it in summers.

Keeping in mind that the winter sun is low on the horizon while the summer sun is high in the sky, the windows of the building are proposed to be constructed in angles that are facing the equator for maximum solar gain from the low winter sun. With a well insulated window pane angled south (towards the equator) the solar gain will further by complemented by preventing the loss of warm air through convection currents. Additionally, the building walls are proposed to be constructed with preplanned insulation to retain maximum warmth in winters and to avoid letting the summer heat in. The construction material can either be used in combination with insulation or the whole building can be constructed of insulative materials. Where the building interior is being kept warm in winters, summer sun’s glare can act like a furnace for a well insulated building. Although prevented by the window angles that are facing the sun in winters but are relatively at an angle of reflection to the sun in summers so as to act as reflective mirrors to prevent solar gain, the windows are to be complemented by correct shading from above that do not allow direct illumination from the sun when it is high up in the sky.

An affective design under this proposed strategy will assure the building’s environmental impact to be minimum and will lessen the need of energy wastage on heating and cooling. Operable windows and shading might just appear to be the only thing missing in this setup. To add comfort and avoid extra bright rooms in the building at times of year when sun directly faces the windows, the movable or rollable shades can help control the interior heating and lighting. The north side of the building does not get to benefit by the strategy directly as it doesn’t get direct sun light at right time of the year. This area can benefit from a implementing a good heat distribution design throughout the building. The central and the northern sides will still be identified as the areas needing mechanical ventilation and air conditioning though, due to limitations of passive solar strategy. The northern face of the building is proposed to be fitted with air conditioning equipment that follows the corridors or rooms to the central part. These areas will be equipped with suitable ductwork to distribute mechanical ventilation and air conditioning. As an additional strategic measure, it is also proposed that the seasonal wind flows be considered for the facing walls knowing which face of the building will be kept cooler by the natural wind flow and the roof might be lined with ‘through hole bricks’ that allow airflow through the roof to keep it cool, yet insulated (given that air is a good insulator as well) by the air gap. This kind of solar gain and insulation can also benefit from solar radiation by using a convection current through ductwork to allow warm air to reach the central parts of the building. The solar gain from one side or the roof of the building can be transferred to the central areas by passive heating techniques.The low energy strategy proposed also involves the ‘Green Building’ concept (Bauer et. al 2010; Mortgage Banking 2009).

It is proposed that the building be made suitable for the green building concept for a minimum CO2 impact on the environment. This includes installing well shading trees in front of windows that gain heat during summers. This can be optimized through making the best use of nature. Installing trees that shed leaves in winters will be the best optimization in this case. The trees will effectively act as season operated curtains that will gave way to sun light only in winters and provide efficient shading and cooling in summers. The approach to be considered is sustainability (Bauer et. al 2010) in terms of energy utilization. The building being energy efficient can further allow for more suitable ‘green’ or even zero energy integration. The green building concept is now not anymore a part of the future. Easily and cost effectively doable in the present, the concept can be used as a strategy to eliminate energy requirements for most situations significantly reducing the carbon footprint of the building in question (Anderson 1994).

References

Anderson, Katherine (1994). The Green Building - No Longer Just a Mirage? Journal of Property Management, Vol. 59, No. 4.

Bauer, Michael; Mèosle, Peter; Schwarz, Michael (2010). Green Building: Guidebook for Sustainable Architecture. Springer.

Doerr, Thomas (2012). Passive Solar Simplified. 1st ed. Alithea Press.

Editorial (2009). Reports Spotlight Growing Popularity of Commercial 'Green' Building. Mortgage Banking, Vol. 69, No. 4.

Ad hoc on the go Wifi from Evo Wingle without a power socket

At Highbrows Engineering & Technologies, we love staying connected to the internet. As we go for developing engineering products, we never forget our core vision of creating an internet of things in Pakistan. This is why we  never stop experimenting on anything that we get our hands on to make the technology dirt cheap to pay for and easy to access whenever it comes to the domestic gadgets without compromising on essentials.

Our Chief Engineering Executive, Shehryar, has recently taken on an out-of-the-box approach for getting connected to mobile WiFi. You might have seen people connecting to the internet with PTCL Evo and other such products making use of the wireless internet. One of such products that has become Shehryar's favourite is Evo Wingle - so he decided to experiment. Why carry the laptop everywhere, or search for power sockets, why pay for GPRS / 3G and why go searching for WiFi hotspots when Wingle could provide internet to external devices.

All it needed was power... so the need was to give it on the go battery operated power... and that's exactly what was given to it. Shehryar created a hardware interface that connected an 'off-the-shelf' battery with Wingle letting it power up and create a local WiFi network for his cell phone. Now a laptop or a power socket is not needed to be hurled around to make use of the high speed internet you already paid for; just a pocket interface gadget, Wingle device, the battery and ofcourse the cell phone which one would never leave home anyway. Once the device powers up, you can connect to the WiFi with the cell phone or a tablet (or even let your friends connect to it on the go).

Check out some of the images we took for sharing with you and drop your comments:

If you would like us to create custom gadgets or develop specific products based on your need, you can leave us an email at info@highbrows.pk.

Cold worked glass

How a piece of cold worked glass looks like.