Search Results ... (732)
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Thomas Ashe Museum Exhibits
Thomas Ashe Museum Exhibits
Some of the original items belonging to the freedom fighter Thomas Ashe, which are on disply in the Thomas Ashr Museum which is located in Dingle Library, Co. Kerry.
Kerry County Library
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Robert Boyle (1627-1691)
Robert Boyle (1627-1691)
Born 1627 in Lismore, Co Waterford, is acknowledged as the father of modern chemistry.
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The Steam Turbine
The Steam Turbine
This invention changed the world: it revolutionised marine transport and naval warfare and made cheap and plentiful electricity supplies possible. Power stations still use turbine generators based on the principle - were it not for the turbine, we would still be using, gas lighting and gas-powered appliances. The turbine was the brainchild of Sir Charles Parsons (1854-1931), from Birr Castle. It was significantly more efficient than conventional steam engines: instead of using the steam to drive pistons, Parsons used it to turn a rotor directly. The design was ideal returning dynamos, and power stations quickly spotted the potential. Turbine-powered ships, such as the Turbinia (pictured above), revolutionised transport at sea.
Image: Alfred John West (1857-1937)
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Chemistry and Electricity
Chemistry and Electricity
In the 1830s, the modern induction coil and a powerful and cheap new battery were invented by an unusual Catholic priest from Co Louth. Rev Nicholas Callan (1799-1864) was professor of natural philosophy at the Catholic training college, St Patrick's College Maynooth. His work spanned physics and chemistry: as well as his battery and the induction coil, he invented a way of protecting metals from corrosion and made it into the Encyclopaedia Britannica when he built what was then the world's most powerful electromagnet. Images: (right) Callan's induction coil incorporated miles of wiring and could generate an estimated 600,000 volts (left) An original Maynooth battery (© National Science Museum, Maynooth)
© National Science Museum, Maynooth
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It’s best not to create waste in the first place
It’s best not to create waste in the first place
The waste keeps piling up.
Copyright Environmental Protection Agency
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Painting of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI)
Painting of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI)
The RCSI was founded in 1784 and stands on the corner of St Stephen's Green in Dublin. This painting, by an unnamed artist, depicts the building sometime in the 19th Century.
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Physics: space, time and philosophy
Physics: space, time and philosophy
Physics is the science of matter and motion, of space and time. The word comes from the Greek fusis, meaning natural things, and the aim of physics is to understand the natural world. (The earlier word 'physic' meant medicine, as in physician.) Its origins lie thousands of years ago in ancient astronomy, but for most of the intervening centuries physics was allied with chemistry, mathematics and sometimes philosophy, into a discipline called 'natural philosophy', separating into distinct subjects about 1800. (Although, a physics professorship at TCD is still called the 'Erasmus Smith Chair of Natural and Experimental Philosophy'.) Image: The deepest visible-light image of the universe,the Hubble Ultra Deep Field
Courtesy of ESA/NASA/STScI
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An Early 1980's PC
An Early 1980's PC
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The Age of the Earth
The Age of the Earth
Dublin-born James Ussher counted the generations in the Old Testament, consulted ancient Egyptian and Hebrew texts and calendars and concluded that the world began on October 23rd 4004 BC. Other scholars calculated similar dates, but Ussher's was the one that was widely accepted. In the 19th century, scientists tried other ways of calculating an age: based on the amount of salt that had accumulated in the oceans, for instance, or the time it had taken the Earth to cool from a molten ball to a solid planet. Some techniques were useful, others were flawed. The discovery of radioactivity in the early 20th century provided new ways of dating rocks accurately. We now know our planet is 4.6 billion years old. Irish scientists who made important contributions to this work in the 19th century were geologists Samuel Haughton and John Joly and physicist William Thompson (Lord Kelvin).
Image: James Ussher (1581-1656)
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Boyne Bridge
Boyne Bridge
Located 3km upstream from Drogheda, the Boyne Bridge is the first major cable-stayed bridge in Ireland. It incorporates a tall pylon at the south side with cable stays fanning out from it supporting the main structure, is 350m long and has a span of 170m.
Images & Text: © NDP.ie