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AGGIELIFE
THE BATTALION
Vomit Com€t
The shadow world ofA&M sciences
By Jason Bennyhofe
The Battalion
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Texas A&M is a school ground
ed in tradition and secrecy.
Nowhere is that secrecy more evi
dent than in the little-known off
shoots of the various science de
partments. Tucked away in small
corners, off dusty roads that seem
to lead nowhere, are buildings with
ominous names such as the Center
for Space Power and the infamous
Soil, Water and Forage Testing
Laboratory. One can only imagine
what devious and horrible experi
ments take place behind the doors
of these buildings.
Frederick Best, director of the
Center for Space Power, is one of
the stealthy heads of these shadowy
departments. According to him,
nothing terrible goes on there. Un
til he mentions the “vomit comet.”
Best explained, the horrific pur
pose of this machine is to study fluid
motion.
“We fly up into a zero-G aircraft
to study the way fluids work in zero
gravity,” he said. “They say that the
class that vomits together sticks to
gether, but this really helps us un
derstand how fluids work in space.”
Best said this experiment will help
develop systems
that can be used on the space station.
He said it is necessary to study how
fluids move and react to shifts in
gravity if fluid-dependent systems are
to be used on a space station.
“We go up into a KC-135 (air
plane) to study this,” Best said. “A lot
of students have done it : — more stu
dents than faculty.”
Take his word for what you will.
Unfortunately, these deeds are not
confined to the sky above Aggieland,
they nest here on earth as well.
Michael Tomaszewski, a profes
sor of dairy management, said that he
works to develop new ways for dairy
farmers to monitor their herds.
Tomaszewski said that the studies he
conducts can help dairy farmers be
more productive and make their
fanns more lucrative.
“We work with software devel
opment for dairy cows."
Tomaszewski said. “It shows pro
duction data on cows and the pro
ducer uses it to make the best deci
sions with his cows.”
Strangely. Tomaszewski has dis
covered a similarity between cows
and college students.
“Running is bad in relation to
dairy cows,” Tomaszewski said. “The
producer is trying to convert as much
energy into the milk the cows pro
duce. The more fat and protein a cof
produces, the more butter and cheex'
the producer can make."
Institutionalized cow lethargy
Jorge Martinez, director of tk
wind tunnel at A&M, said that
tunnel is used for aerodynamic re
search.
“Wind tunnels were originallyde
signed for airplanes, but their use Iw
been expanded to oil rigs, building*
cars and everything that isexposednf
wind.” Martinez said. “Ourwindtui
net has even been used for bikers.\(i
actualh put them in the tunnel with
big balance attached to the bike
make sure the pressure remains le
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Martinez said that even theg
Lance Armstrong has used thcA&
wind tunnel. Armstrong used the
nel and came back to win the Tour
France after debilitating testicti
cancer.
Martinez said that the windtu
is actually a low -speed tunnel,(
ble of blowing winds up to 200i
per hour.
“Ours is often used for truck',
Martinez said. "The high-speedwia
tunnels can go as fast as Mach 0.9a!]#**
the biggest wind tunnel in the wort
measures SO feet by 120 feet, b «■*»**
enough to hold an actual fighterplas
inside it.”
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tamu
Undergraduates who were REGISTERED with the
CAREER CENTER received an average of
Come to the
Stagehand Meeting
Wednesday, September 6th
at 7:00 PM
in Rudder Auditorium
Earn $6.00 per hour
it itilli
■
h...
■P-- —— r
Try something new!
MSC
-V- ti 11
1
in their
OFFERS than
non-registered students in May 2000,
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j
irnirnmimm
Register with the Career center by September 13,2000 and
YOUR NAME WILL BE ADDED TO A DRAWING FOR $500!
drawing sponsored by IKON
...is now taking applications for both hungry
minds and stomachs!
TAMU Career Center 845-5139
209 Koldus http://eareereenter.tamu.edu
A place to meet your next employer
Let us satisfy your famished minds occasionally
throughout the semester with dynamic professors in a
small, non-academic, relaxed, and family atmosphere.
Students meet over dinner three times a semester to
discuss meaningful topics
from several disciplines. In
terested? See us at Open
House, come by one of our
informationals, or stop by
MSC 223-1 for an applica
tion.
ml.com
<k
Informational dates:
Monday, September 4, 7:00p, Rudder 501 ,
Tuesday, September 5, 8:30p, Rudder 402
To inform us of your special needs, call 845-8770 or stop by MSC 223-L2^ai «
© 2000 Merrill Lyr