Hurricane Simulator Buoys Research

They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. In this case, 38,000 gallons of seawater is worth an un-quantifiable amount of knowledge about hurricanes. At the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, [Brian Haus] and his colleagues study hurricanes using a simulator–an enclosed glass tank about the size of a lap-swimming pool. With the flip of a switch, a 1700 hp fan can create winds up to 200 miles per hour—stronger than a baseline category 5 hurricane.

Although there’s currently no cure for hurricanes, understanding how they work goes a long way in forecasting their intensity. Scientists know that hurricanes are fueled by the ocean’s warmth, but there’s still plenty of mystery to them. By studying what happens where the wind meets the water, they think they’ll figure out how surface factors like sea spray and bubbles affect a storm’s intensity and drag coefficient. Surf the break to catch the wave tank in action.

Until there’s a cure for hurricanes, we’ll just have to live with them and engineer our structures to withstand them.

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Solar Energy Provides An Outlet For Hurricane-Related Woes

Hurricane season in the US Atlantic region officially began on June 1st. While [mikesoniat] is hoping for a mild one in his Gulf Coast town, he’d like to be as prepared as possible in the event of a power outage. He’s been experimenting with solar power lately, and while he’d love to go all out with some hefty system that could keep all his appliances running, solar outlethe’s not quite ready for that kind of investment. While thinking about this dream system, he noticed all the phone jacks around his house that he hasn’t used for several years. After consulting the phone company and researching the capabilities of 22-26AWG POTS copper lines, he devised a solar-powered system to provide enough power to run lights, fans, and a couple of phone chargers.

At the heart of this hack are two 12V solar panels, two 12V batteries in a weatherproof junction box, and a 100W solar charge controller.  He started by re-wiring Ma Bell’s junction box up to the panels with thermostat wire. After prying out the RJ11 jack panels all over his house, he wired in regular outlets and marked them as 12V solar to avoid confusing his house guests. He was able to find 12V LED bulbs with standard bases, so all he has to do is screw in these bulbs and plug the lamps into his solar outlets. He also installed a floodlight outside and ran all of the wiring through the floodlight box.

To soak up more sun for this or any other solar hack, try a 2-axis solar tracker.