title: The quest for extreme water repellency: Superhydrophobicity made easy

authors: Saunders, Graham C.

subjects: chemistry

abstract: In his seminal work On Floating Bodies I Archimedes of Syracuse provided an explanation of the action of solid bodies on water. Although his thesis immediately benefitted King Heiro II² and has continued to serve mankind well, it ignores the effect of the interfacial interactions between the solid, water and air (surface tension). These interactions are negligible, or at least are considered negligible, compared to forces arising from the effect of gravity on large bodies. However, as the mass of the body decreases, the surface interactions become increasingly important leading to some unusual and potentially useful phenomena. The understanding and application of these effects is currently driving much fundamental research by physicists, chemical engineers, material scientists, and chemists into surfaces that display extreme properties, in particular extreme water repellency, or superhydrophobicitv. It is only comparatively recently that detailed mathematical expressions for the interaction between a liquid, solid and gas at these extremes have been developed, making progress that parallels that for the fabrication of these surfaces.

text: The quest for extreme water repellency: Superhydrophobicity made easy In his seminal work On Floating Bodies I Archimedes of Syracuse provided an explanation of the action of solid bodies on water. Although his thesis immediately benefitted King Heiro II² and has continued to serve mankind well, it ignores the effect of the interfacial interactions between the solid, water and air (surface tension). These interactions are negligible, or at least are considered negligible, compared to forces arising from the effect of gravity on large bodies. However, as the mass of the body decreases, the surface interactions become increasingly important leading to some unusual and potentially useful phenomena. The understanding and application of these effects is currently driving much fundamental research by physicists, chemical engineers, material scientists, and chemists into surfaces that display extreme properties, in particular extreme water repellency, or superhydrophobicitv. It is only comparatively recently that detailed mathematical expressions for the interaction between a liquid, solid and gas at these extremes have been developed, making progress that parallels that for the fabrication of these surfaces.

year: 2009-07

title: How to take a book off the shelf: Learning about ebooks from using a physical library

authors: Vanderschantz, Nicholas

subjects: computer science

abstract: Little is known about how people select ebooks or books. This paper reports initial results of a study in which we observe patrons of two libraries when selecting books. From the results of the study we aim to gain insights into book selection strategies, which may be used to support ebook selection and purchasing.

text: How to take a book off the shelf: Learning about ebooks from using a physical library Little is known about how people select ebooks or books. This paper reports initial results of a study in which we observe patrons of two libraries when selecting books. From the results of the study we aim to gain insights into book selection strategies, which may be used to support ebook selection and purchasing.

year: 2011

title: An ashy septingentenarian: the Kaharoa tephra turns 700 (with notes on its volcanological, archaeological, and historical importance)

authors: Lowe, David J.

abstract: Most of us are aware of the basaltic Tarawera eruption on 10th June 1886: the high toll on life (~120 people), landscape devastation, and loss of the Pink and White Terraces. But this was not the first time that Mt Tarawera produced an eruption of importance both to volcanology and human history. This edition of the GSNZ Newsletter marks the 700th anniversary of the Kaharoa eruption – its septingentenary to be precise – which occurred at Mt Tarawera in the winter of 1314 AD (± 12 years) (Hogg et al. 2003) (Fig. 1). The importance of the Kaharoa eruption is at least threefold. (1) It is the most recent rhyolite eruption in New Zealand, and the largest New Zealand eruption volumetrically of the last millennium. (2) The Kaharoa tephra is an important marker horizon in late Holocene stratigraphy and geoarchaeology (Lowe et al. 1998, 2000), and in particular helps to constrain the timing of settlement of early Polynesians in North Island (Newnham et al. 1998; Hogg et al. 2003; Lowe 2011). (3) There is a link between the soils that developed on the Kaharoa tephra, the animal ‘wasting’ disease known as ‘bush sickness’, and the birth of a government soil survey group as an independent organisation (Tonkin 2012).

text: An ashy septingentenarian: the Kaharoa tephra turns 700 (with notes on its volcanological, archaeological, and historical importance) Most of us are aware of the basaltic Tarawera eruption on 10th June 1886: the high toll on life (~120 people), landscape devastation, and loss of the Pink and White Terraces. But this was not the first time that Mt Tarawera produced an eruption of importance both to volcanology and human history. This edition of the GSNZ Newsletter marks the 700th anniversary of the Kaharoa eruption – its septingentenary to be precise – which occurred at Mt Tarawera in the winter of 1314 AD (± 12 years) (Hogg et al. 2003) (Fig. 1). The importance of the Kaharoa eruption is at least threefold. (1) It is the most recent rhyolite eruption in New Zealand, and the largest New Zealand eruption volumetrically of the last millennium. (2) The Kaharoa tephra is an important marker horizon in late Holocene stratigraphy and geoarchaeology (Lowe et al. 1998, 2000), and in particular helps to constrain the timing of settlement of early Polynesians in North Island (Newnham et al. 1998; Hogg et al. 2003; Lowe 2011). (3) There is a link between the soils that developed on the Kaharoa tephra, the animal ‘wasting’ disease known as ‘bush sickness’, and the birth of a government soil survey group as an independent organisation (Tonkin 2012).

year: 2014