Yes – gyroscopes are really cool!
They work on the principle of conserving angular momentum – and this concept is key to much of physics so to me it’s a really clear example of how something that was invented a long time ago has real implications in modern life – for instance, they’ve been used in all sorts of modern devices WiiMotes and Segways but also in more large scale structures like space stations…
Gyroscopes are one of the technical applications for the materials that I work on – they are incredibly sensitive essentially mechanical components that are critical in, for example, satellites. The development of essentially incompressible and non-expanding composite materials would be very useful indeed!
I read about a satellite which had really sensitive gyroscopes in it, they were so precise they used it to measure how much the amount water in the Amazon river changed over a year.
So they were measuring the amount of water there from its gravity! That’s incredible!
Gyroscopes are fascinating… what is even better to hear is that you are fascinated! Being fascinated by something sciency means you’re a very good egg in my book 😀 Being curious, enthusiastic and fascinated is the best qualifications a scientist can have in my opinion 🙂
Comments