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In my article (Featonby 2018 Phys. Educ. 53 047002) we asked what happens when a semi inflated Japanese kamifusen, or paper balloon, is bounced in the hand or passed from one person to another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the self-inflating Japanese paper balloon called kamifusen, which means paper (kami) balloon (fusen), and it is a traditional Japanese toy. The paper balloon has a hole left open to the surrounding air unlike a rubber balloon. Information on its conundrum, the pressure variation, and the material considerations is provided.

In a companion (Part 1) paper (Renard et al., 2015), we have described and evaluated a new versatile optical particle counter/sizer named LOAC (Light Optical Aerosols Counter) based on scattering measurements at angles of 12 and 60°. that allows some speciation of particles (droplets, carbonaceous, salts, and mineral dust) in addition to size segregated counting in a large diameter range from 0.2 up to possibly more than 100 μm depending on sampling conditions. Its capabilities overwhelm those of preceding optical particle counters (OPCs) allowing the characterization of all kind of aerosols from submicronic-sized absorbing carbonaceous particles in polluted air to very coarse particles (> 10-20 μm in diameter) in desert dust plumes or fog and clouds. LOAC light and compact design allows measurements under all kinds of balloons, on-board unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and at ground level. We illustrate here the first LOAC airborne results obtained from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and a variety of scientific balloons. The UAV was deployed in a peri-urban environment near Bordeaux in France. Balloon operations include (i) tethered balloons deployed in urban environments in Wien (Austria) and Paris (France), (ii) pressurized balloons drifting in the lower troposphere over the western Mediterranean (during the Chemistry-Aerosol Mediterranean Experiment - ChArMEx campaigns), (iii) meteorological sounding balloons launched in the western Mediterranean region (ChArMEx) and from Aire-sur-l'Adour in south-western France (VOLTAIRE-LOAC campaign). More focus is put on measurements performed in the Mediterranean during (ChArMEx) and especially during African dust transport events to illustrate the original capability of balloon-borne LOAC to monitor in situ coarse mineral dust particles. In particular, LOAC has detected unexpected large particles in desert sand plumes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world is warming, and the demand for cooling is increasing. Developing a future green hydrogen economy will also increase the demand for cooling for hydrogen liquefaction. This increase in cooling demand will happen mainly in tropical and developing countries due to their increase in population, improvements in quality of life, and the export of their renewable potential with liquid hydrogen. To solve this increase in demand for cooling, this paper proposes the use of ammonia airship cooling (AAC). AAC extracts cold from the tropopause (−80 °C) with airships and ammonia refrigeration cycles. The liquid ammonia is then transported back to the surface to provide low temperature cooling services (−33 °C). This cooling service is particularly interesting for lowering the electricity consumption in hydrogen liquefaction plants. If all the technological challenges mentioned in the paper are addressed, it is estimated that the cost of cooling with the technology is 8.25 USD/MWht and that AAC could reduce the electricity demand for hydrogen liquefaction by 30%. AAC is an innovative renewable cooling technology that has the potential to complement other renewable energy sources in a sustainable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To survey landscape-scale fluxes of biogenic gases, a 100m Teflon tube was attached to a tethered balloon as a sampling inlet for a fast response Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometer (PTRMS). Along with meteorological instruments deployed on the tethered balloon and at 3m and outputs from a regional weather model, these observations were used to estimate landscape scale biogenic volatile organic compound fluxes with two micrometeorological techniques: mixed layer variance and surface layer gradients. This highly mobile sampling system was deployed at four field sites near Barcelona to estimate landscape-scale BVOC emission factors in a relatively short period (3 weeks). The two micrometeorological techniques agreed within the uncertainty of the flux measurements at all four sites even though the locations had considerable heterogeneity in species distribution and complex terrain. The observed fluxes were significantly different than emissions predicted with an emission model using site-specific emission factors and land-cover characteristics. Considering the wide range in reported BVOC emission factors of VOCs for individual vegetation species (more than an order of magnitude), this flux estimation technique is useful for constraining BVOC emission factors used as model inputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric balloons are the cheapest source utilized by scientists to investigate various research areas. Thermal analyses of atmospheric balloons is usually performed to attain the required thermal equilibrium in the shortest timeframe. In this paper, a mathematical model was developed that numerically solved material properties (i.e., ε (emissivity of balloon surface), αV (balloon absorptivity averaged over the visible and near infrared band), εIR (absorptivity averaged over infrared band), αIR (balloon absorptivity averaged over infrared band), etc.) as well as geometric properties (i.e., AC (cross-sectional area), AS (surface area), M (balloon mass), etc.) by incorporating these values in the heat balance equation. An optimized code was engendered in MATLAB, which simultaneously solved input parameters and delivered the required thermal equilibrium in the shortest timeframes. This may serve as a guide to new material generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents questions related to the recycling toilet paper and lifting of house by balloons as shown in the movie "Up".