Lasers would never have shone if Mandelson had been in charge
Can’t really speak to this, as I have no familiarity with the British funding climate (other than knowing the have been cutting budgets). But this would be one strength of science funding, that many countries deem it worthwhile, and recognize that funding basic research is a necessity. Fundamental discoveries are the raw material of later applications, once the field matures.
If it sticks, force it. If it breaks, it needed replacing anyway.
Uncertain Principles: Eucatastrophe in Physics
Sometimes, an equipment failure can be the best thing that happens to an experiment. This is particularly true in labs that rely on short-term labor like post-docs (who are generally hired for about two years) and graduate students (who are in a given lab longer, but typically in charge of the experiment for only a few years), where kludgey short-term solutions implemented in order to get fast results can become locked in as new experiments build on the first one.
I’m proud to say that there is no duct tape in the devices we’ve built. It exists in one or two places in the lab (even involving ductwork). When you’re in it for the long haul, there’s more incentive to do things right. But I remember at TRIUMF, we needed a variable voltage reference, which ended up being a 2 9V batteries in series discharging slowly through a MegaOhm-ish potentiometer acting as a voltage divider. Dial up what you need, and it lasted long enough that it was easier to replace the batteries than do up a proper circuit.
YoGen Makes a Splash in Pull-String Charging
A 5 Watt charge can be generated with a very easy pull of the string. It doesn’t matter how fast or slow you pull, the same charge is generated.
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I also got a demonstration of their prototype pedal-powered charger for laptops, which is reportedly capable of a 50 Watt charge, with just an easy push of a pedal.
The problem, of course, is that Watts is a unit of power, not energy, which is what they mean by “charge.”