Texto # 1: Laser speeds data through air

By Eric Smalley, Technology Research News

The dramatic difference in quality between video streamed over the Internet and video played from a
DVD is largely due to the relatively slow telephone and cable connections linking individual homes to
the Internet's fiber-optic highways and byways. Running fast fiber-optic lines all the way into the
home, however, has so far proved too expensive.

But the light pulses that carry digital signals don't have to be confined within fiber optic lines: these
laser pulses can also be sent through the open air. The key to fast wireless optical communications is
making lasers that produce beams in the mid-infrared portion of the light spectrum, which can carry
signals a practical distance through the air, even in bad weather.

Researchers at the University of Neuchtel in Switzerland have built a continuous-beam mid-infrared
laser that operates at room temperature. The laser is made from layers of semiconductor materials that
would be relatively easy to build it into computer chips like those used for optical communications.

Using the researchers' infrared laser, it should be possible to beam high-speed data transmissions across
several kilometers of open space hundreds of times faster than cable modem speeds, said Mathias
Beck, a research associate at the University of Neuchtel. Such connections, however, would require
unobstructed paths.

Mid-infrared lasers have been built before, but in order to produce a continuous light beam they have
had to be cooled to very low temperatures. "The major problem was the high current consumption and
the huge heat generation during lasing action," said Beck. "That's why this type of laser only worked in
pulsed mode at room temperature."

Communications systems made with pulsed lasers have more complicated electronic circuits and
require a higher current to drive the laser than systems using continuous laser beams, said Beck. "The
electronic system to operate a continuous-wave laser is much easier to fabricate, is smaller and can be
portable," he said.

Lasers usually generate light using two opposing mirrors positioned around an active element like a
crystal that amplifies the light. The researchers solved the heat problem by reducing the amount of
electricity needed to start the laser by 40 percent, making the laser smaller, and embedding the active
element completely within the semiconductor indium phosphide, which helps dissipate more heat, said
Beck.

Transmitting light in the mid-infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum is important because the
atmosphere is most transparent to light at two bands of wavelengths in that range. Because water vapor
in the air absorbs only a small amount of light at those wavelengths compared to the shorter-
wavelength infrared light used in today's wireless optical communications systems, more of the light
gets through to the receiver, making for a more efficient communications system, said Beck. "Free-
space optical systems based on this type of laser should work at distances of two to three kilometers,
even in rain, snow and fog," he said.
The researchers have modulated the laser beam several billion times per second, said Beck. This is
equivalent to a data transmission rate that is hundreds of times faster than those of cable modems,
which are the fastest consumer Internet connections available.
Texto # 2: Life cycle, sustainability and the transcendent quality of building materials

Peris Mora, E.
, Valencia Polytechnic University, Spain
Abstract
This paper explores the relationship between the life cycle of engineering works and their sustainable
and transcendent qualities, and considers the possibility of creating durable works with ephemeral
materials. This paper also studies the impact of urban growth and its infrastructures on the environment
through the consumption of raw materials and energy. City metabolism is one of the main causes of
environmental deterioration, and present-day tendencies make it foreseeable that both urban and
infrastructure development shall continue to increase. Although the expression "sustainable
construction" is being used more and more, it is necessary to distinguish between the sustainability of
the construction activity and the sustainability of works constructed. Both the materials and
technologies used since ancient times have allowed many past works to have lasted thousands of years.
Some were made out of permanent materials such as stone while others were made out of more
ephemeral materials such as adobe bricks or cob walls. Structures built with Roman cement are still
standing after 20 centuries. The overall durability of built structures depends on the durability of their
materials. Transcendent construction was made possible either using permanent materials or more
ephemeral materials, providing the project had taken the need for maintenance into consideration. The
development of building works in a modular fashion makes the repairing action of modifying materials
or parts of works possible without destroying its basic structure. With our present-day knowledge, plain
concrete permits to create transcendent structures that could last several centuries. 2005 Elsevier Ltd.
All rights reserved.



Texto #3: Experimental study on the heat transfer at the heat exchanger of the
thermoacoustic refrigerating system

Emmanuel C. Nsofor, Serdar Celik and Xudong Wang
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Energy Processes, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL 62901, United
States

Abstract

Oscillatory flow heat transfer at the heat exchanger of the thermoacoustic refrigeration system was
studied. The study identified significant factors that influence this heat transfer as well as the
construction of the system. The results from the experimental study were correlated in terms of Nusselt
number, Prandtl number and Reynolds number to obtain a useful new correlation for the heat transfer at
the heat exchangers. Results show that using straight flow heat transfer correlations for analyses and
design of this system could result in significant errors. Results also show the relationship between the
oscillatory heat transfer coefficient at the heat exchangers, the mean pressure and frequency of
oscillation. Higher mean pressures result in greater heat transfer coefficients if the thermoacoustic
refrigerating system operates at the corresponding resonant frequency. However, a compromise has to
be reached to accommodate construction of the stack.


Universidad de Carabobo Nombre: _____________________
rea de Estudios de Postgrado C.I.: ____________________
Facultad de Ingeniera Modelo 8

Examen de Suficiencia de Ingls

Responda, en castellano, las siguientes preguntas de acuerdo con la informacin contenida en los
respectivos textos.

Tx # 1: Laser speeds data through air
1. A qu se debe la diferencia dramtica entre la calidad de un video reproducido por la Internet y
uno reproducido desde un DVD? (2 pts.)
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2. Cul es la clave para lograr comunicaciones pticas inalmbricas rpidas? (2 pts.)
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3. En qu consiste el dispositivo desarrollado por los investigadores de la Universidad de Neuchtel
y para que podra usarse? (3 pts.)
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Texto # 2: Life cycle, sustainability and the transcendent quality of building materials
4. Cul fue el propsito del estudio? (4 pts.)
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5. Qu hizo posible la construccin trascendental y cules ventajas ofrece el desarrollo de obras de
construccin de manera modular? (3 pts.)

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Texto # 3: Experimental study on the heat transfer at the heat exchanger of the thermoacoustic
refrigerating system
6. Cul fue el objetivo del estudio y qu aspectos se identificaron? (3 pts.)
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7. Proporcione dos conclusiones del estudio. (3 pts.)
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