Migrant Mother

www.uiowa.edu

This picture shows a miserable-looking woman with two children, one on each side of her. Her seated body is slightly slumped forward clothed in old garments, frayed at the seams. The woman‘s gaze is directed into the distance and she seems to be lost in thought. She wears an expression of worry on her face, emphasized by the deep wrinkles on her forehead and around her eyes. Her frowning mouth and tightly closed lips also reflect her concern, pulling the corners of her mouth downwards. She is touching her cheek with her right hand, as if her head needs support, while she herself needs to lend strength to the children at her sides. The children‘s faces are turned away and buried in the woman‘s shoulders. The child to her right has short dark hair and seems to seek shelter behind her. The one on her left has short, light hair and has the arms crossed on her shoulder, leaning on her.

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Link to blogs:

Ella Fedorchuk: http://ukrainerin.blogspot.co.at/
Ines Mitterhuemer: http://ines-mitterhuemer-suk4.blogspot.co.at/

More on carbon nanotubes

We have talked about carbon nanotubes before, but I think they deserve a more detailed explanation, as they do an incredible job. We have already heard that carbon nanotubes are the strongest and stiffest material yet discovered, but why? What is the reason for the strength of these tiny molecules? Let us take a closer look:

Carbon nanotubes, measuring about one ten-thousandth of the thickness of human hair, are members of the fullerene structural family. A fullerene is any molecule composed entirely of carbon. They are called nanotubes because of their long, hollow structure, with their walls formed by one-atom-thick sheets of carbon, called graphene. A carbon nanotube consists either of one cylindrical graphene sheet (single-wall nanotube, SWNT) or of several cylindrical graphene sheets (multiwall nanotube, MWNT).

There are several different possibilities to form a cylinder with a graphene sheet: The sheet can be rolled along one of the symmetry axis, which gives either a zig-zag tube or an armchair tube or in a direction that differs from the axis, which forms a chiral nanotube, and its properties strongly depend on this geometry. All in all, carbon nanotubes show a unique combination of stiffness, strength and tenacity, as well as thermal and electrical conductivity. 

http://ipn2.epfl.ch

Thanks to their tubular structure and the chemical bond between the carbon atoms (known as sp2 carbon atoms) which are considered the strongest of all atomic bonds, carbon nanotubes have a measured strength 117 times higher than metal. Carbon nanotubes are made entirely of this stable bond, which makes it strong against bending and stretching. Because of the differences in the way the familiar chicken-wire patterns of carbon atoms line up across the surface, nanotubes can either act as conductors of electricity or semiconductors. The lattice-like arrangement of carbon atoms thus, makes them not only extremely strong, but gives them a high thermal and electrical conductivity, meaning that electrons and heat are able to pass through them without destroying them. Nanotubes can stretch considerably like toffee before breaking. This makes them ideal for a variety of futuristic applications, such as Conductive plastics, gas storage, batteries with improved lifetime, flat-panel displays and of course technical textiles (to name only a few of them). 

Sources:

http://www.theguardian.com/nanotechnology-world/carbon-nanotubes-tiny-revolution

http://www.org-chem.org/yuuki/nanotube/nanotube_en.html

https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/nanotechnology/carbon-nanotube-super-fabric

http://physics.aps.org/story/v2/st27

http://www.nanocyl.com/en/CNT-Expertise-Centre/Carbon-Nanotubes

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20100916/Carbon-nanotubes-are-117-times-stronger-than-steel.aspx

Here some other useful links:

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/multimedia/2013/feb/18/why-are-carbon-nanotubes-so-strong

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XDJC64tDR0

Little History of Photography: Narrative

aceoflifewellbeingblog.com

First version: 

Image Keeper 

You might not know me, or maybe you do. All depends on when you were born. I am not that common any more nowadays. I don‘t know exactly how old I am, I only know that I have seen many pictures come and go during my lifetime. The most important ones stayed, others had to leave their place after some time. I know every single picture that has ever been glued onto my pages. One of the first pictures I can remember was the one of a young woman. Her beauty was tremendous, but the look on her face made it appear as if she was sad. So serious, but yet so young. Her skin appeared to glow in contrast to the dark background, making it seem like as if she was surrounded by a halo. 

Time passed by and the pictures changed. Suddenly the halo was gone and the photographs became more glamorous. They were staffed with props that seemed to fulfill just one purpose: providing the people with something they could lean on as they were forced to stand still for hours, because of the exposure time, that is to say the time needed for the chemical reaction to take place that creates the picture, was very long. 

With industrial revolution setting in and photography becoming more affordable, many people longed for older photographic styles that they connected with nobility, making the halo reappear. But as time went on and more innovative techniques of reproducing a picture came into being, new trends were created, making photography change. Now we are in the year 2014 and my services are no longer needed. Pictures have lost their status. They are now longer the luxury items they once used to be, but I am lucky. My family loves traditions and keeps filling me with pictures. 

[304]  

                                                                                                                                                                                            

Summary: 

On first glance my story had all the elements that were needed for a narrative. The initiating event needed more stressing, and the text as a whole had to be formulated in more detail. 

                                                                                                                                                                                           

Final version:

Image Keeper 

You might not know me, or maybe you do. All depends on when you were born. I am not that common any more nowadays. I don‘t know exactly how old I am, I only know that I have seen many pictures come and go during my lifetime. The most important ones stayed, others had to leave their place after some time. I know every single picture that has ever been glued onto my pages. I will never forget one of the first pictures I had the pleasure and honor to show. It was the picture of a young woman. She was stunningly beautiful, but the look on her face made it appear as if she was sad. So serious, but yet so young. Her skin appeared to glow in contrast to the dark background, making it seem like as if she was surrounded by a halo. 

Time passed by and the pictures changed. Suddenly the halo was gone and the photographs became more glamorous. They were staffed with props that seemed to fulfill the purpose of providing the people with something they could lean on and distracting viewers from the morose expression on their faces when they were forced to stand still for hours as the exposure time, that is to say the time needed for the chemical reaction to take place that creates the picture, was very long. 

With industrial revolution setting in and photography becoming more affordable, many people longed for older photographic styles that they connected with nobility, making the halo reappear. But as time went on and more innovative techniques of reproducing a picture came into being, new trends were created, making photography change even more. Now we are in the year 2014 and my services are no longer needed. Pictures have lost their status. They are no longer the luxury items they once used to be, but I am lucky. My family loves traditions and keeps filling me with pictures. 

[325]

Narrative article: A vicious "Ring of Fire"

It is three o‘clock in the morning. Joaquin Gonzales, a 23-year-old man from Chile is lying in his bed. Suddenly the earth starts shaking. Glass, plates, everything is smashed on the floor and shatters into thousand pieces. Car alarms and barking dogs can be heard from the distance. „Go and get the girls“, Joaquin‘s wife screams desperately. He runs, when all of a sudden the lights go out.

www.inhabitat.com

A few hours later the aftershocks have finally stopped as well. Joaquin and his family are lucky, they survived, but many died. All in all 200 people fell victims to Mother Nature in this night. The earthquake left a trail of destruction: destroyed buildings and snapped power poles are now defining the landscape.

www.boston.com

This is not a rare thing to happen in Chile. The country lies in the middle of the Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines in the Basin of the Pacific Ocean that is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

[160]

Rhetorical analysis: Carbon nanotubes make your suit bulletproof!

http://www.gizmag.com/bulletproof-suit-carbon-nanotube-garrison/29677/

The article presents the new and fashionable bullet-proof business suit from Garrison Bespoke. The author, Brian Dodson, explains how a normal looking suit can protect a human being from being killed and provides lot of details on the material out of which this suit consists. He states that it contains several sheets of carbon nanotube fabric in its lining. These sheets of carbon nanotubes are thinner and lighter than other materials, like Kevlar, normally used for the production of bulletproof vests. The author explains that the resistance of the suit to bullets and stabbing is due to carbon nanotubes, the strongest and stiffest materials yet discovered. There strength stems from the layers of carbon atoms. Carbon tends to form a very strong bond to itself. The more layers are used, the stronger the bond. As they tend to tighten their weave when a point force tries to "cut" them, they cause the knife to blunt and in this vein stop it from penetrating the fabric. The author tries to undermine these statements by providing the results of tests, that showed that not even a 9mm round can penetrate the different layers. 

www.dailymail.co.uk

You might want to watch this :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ8VLYGLKPM

High-tech clothing – The attempt at a definition

www.gadgetreview.com

What do we understand when we hear the expression “high-tech clothing”? It can be a number of various things, as this is a really vague term. The term high-tech clothing includes jackets with built-in electronic equipment, jeans equipped with an iPod docking station, sweaters that regulate body temperature, bulletproof suits as well as nano-waterproof clothing. On the other side it also includes different fashion styles, dresses with laser tags sewed on it, glowing leggings, or illuminated sneakers. For this reason high-tech clothing in the sense of fulfilling a certain function is called “functional fashion” or “smart clothing”. 

As this is a very complex and wide ranging topic, this CAJ focuses on functional fashion designed as a second skin. Therefor, in the following blog posts different types of high-tech clothing, such as bulletproof and waterproof suits as well as sweaters regulating body temperature are to be presented and looked at in more detail. 

Sources: 

http://www.catii.com/hightech/hightech036.html

http://www.forbes.com/2007/03/19/hightech-function-clothing-forbeslife-cx_hp_0320smartclothes.html