History

A Brief Review of Automobile Safety Systems

October 20, 2011 By Dom

Auto Safety Dummies

Concerted efforts by the government, non-government advocacy groups and consumer groups, and the automobile industry have produced automobiles that put safety alongside performance as a top priority. Learn more about automobile safety systems and how these can prevent accidents and reduce casualties from road mishaps.

Every year in the United States, thousands of lives are lost and hundreds of thousands more are forever changed through injuries caused by road accidents. While the trend of fatalities was reduced compared to the average casualties in past decades, the number remains alarmingly high especially since traffic accidents can be prevented: nobody needs to lose their life or limbs to the road.

The automobile industry recognizes its role in minimizing risks and casualties resulting from road accidents, which led to the development of automobile safety as a field that focuses on vehicle design, construction, and te development of specific parts and equipment meant to minimize the occurrence and consequences of automobile accidents.

Automobile Safety Systems

There are two kinds of technology installed in all automobiles for safety. Active safety refers to the technology that reduces a vehicle’s chances of getting into an accident, while passive safety describes the vehicle components responsible in protecting occupants in the event of an accident.

These technologies form the different types of automobile safety systems.

Crash Avoidance System

Crash avoidance systems and devices help prevent accidents by increasing the vehicle’s visibility to other vehicles and pedestrians using headlamps, reflectors, and other vehicle lights and signals; increasing the driver’s field of vision through mirrors so the driver can gauge distance and road space; and increasing the driver’s control of the vehicle through brakes, steering, and suspension systems.

A subset of crash avoidance systems called Driver Assistance Systems, include advanced features found in modern automobiles. These include:

a. An automatic braking system that prevents or reduces damages caused by collisions, as well as other braking systems aimed for safety (anti-lock braking system, emergency brake assist system, cornering brake control system, and electronic brake force distribution system;

b. Systems for increased driving vision such as the infrared night vision system, adaptive headlamps, backup camera; and

c. Monitoring systems such as reverse backup sensors, lane departure warning system, traction control system, electronic stability control, tire pressure monitoring system, pre-crash system, and automated parking system.

Crashworthy System

Crashworthy systems are intended to save vehicle occupants from death and injury in the event of a car crash. Several of these devices include seatbelts, airbags, laminated windshields, crumple zones, safety cell passenger compartment, side impact protection beams, pedestrian protection systems, padded instrument panels, cargo barriers, and collapsible universally jointed steering columns. All of these have been tested and proven to increase a vehicle occupants’ chances of survival in traffic collisions. Tests were conducted using anthropomorphic crash test dummies, and their effectiveness is proven through continuous research and data collected from actual accidents where fatalities are greatly reduced and accident victims have higher survival rates.

Additional Safety for Drivers
The following are some of the additional features for automobile safety designed for specific groups of road-users:

1. Pregnant women can avail of seatbelt extensions from car manufacturers and aftermarket suppliers. Seatbelt extensions allow for a comfortable fit for pregnant drivers and passengers.

2. Most car models are fitted with child safety locks and driver-controlled power window lockout controls to prevent children from opening doors and windows from inside the vehicle.

3. Some areas have warning signs installed in vehicles driven by teenage and new drivers to alert other drivers to be more cautious and give more leeway to inexperienced drivers.

4. Graduated levels of driver’s licenses are now in place for drivers under the age of 18, and additional testing is required for drivers over age 65 in some states.

5. Some states now offer “senior shuttles” to provide safe public transportation for the older adults. Transit systems also offer discounted fares to senior citizens.

Source: the car accident attorneys at SOSPersonalInjury.org.

Filed Under: Business & Economy, Health & Fitness, History, Law & Legal, News & Media, Society & Culture, Travel Tagged With: Automobile Safety efforts, Automobile Safety facts, Automobile Safety history, Automobile Safety in USA, Automobile Safety strategies, Automobile Safety Systems, Automobile Safety trivia

To Speed or not to Speed: A Brief Overview of the Speed Limit

October 19, 2011 By Dom

Speed Limit History

In the majority of countries around the world, a driver does not have to go too far before seeing a sign indicating the legal speed limit. These signs indicate the maximum speed at which the legislative bodies governing a certain area have determined that a vehicle can legally travel on a particular roadway. It is worth noting that in some instances, the speed limit may define the minimum speed at which a vehicle must travel.

The History of the Speed Limit

The very first legislative act to determine a speed limit occurred in 1865 in the UK with what was called the Locomotive Acts. This Act set the first speed limit, which at first was 10 mph, but later lowered to 4 mph for countryside traveling and 2 mph when traveling through towns. The first speeding ticket believed to be issued was in 1896 when Walter Arnold got caught doing 8 mph. Later that year, the speed limit was raised to 14 mph.

Regulations Governing Speed

In most countries, whether the roads are marked or unmarked, drivers are expected to travel at speeds that are safe for the road and weather conditions. This is often called the “basic rule” in the US, but in other countries it is known as the “reasonable man” requirement. This rule applies to the need to lower the speed of a vehicle to account for rain, snow, ice, fog, gravel and other potential issues that may make travel dangerous at the speed assigned to the roadway.

The US and the UK are the only countries that define speed in miles per hour. All other countries use kilometers per hour to define speed. Regardless, nearly all countries have assigned a legal speed limit maximum to any public roads. In many instances, the speed limit signs may show both the maximum and minimum speeds at which vehicles can travel legally. Some roads may indicate only the minimum speed limit, as these roads may pose a danger to motorists traveling at a slower pace.

Variable Speed Limits

The first variable speed limits began in 1965 in Germany on the A8. Video technology was used to monitor traffic and control the signs. As technology evolved, the methods used to monitor and control traffic did as well. Today, there are several variable speed limit highways, most of which utilize the variable speed limit to reduce the incidence of accidents on stretches of roadway that are commonly affected by adverse weather conditions.

No Speed Limit Roadways

Although roadways with no speed limit do exist, it is expected that motorists will always assume that the basic rule is in place. To reiterate, this rule deems that speed should not exceed that which may pose a danger to the driver, passengers, pedestrians, other motorists or property. In many states, a maximum speed exists to accompany the basic rule. Montana, for instance, deemed a 75 mph maximum on any unmarked rural freeways.

Speed Limit Enforcement

The enforcement of speed limits is handled by authorities around the world. Today, aside from law enforcement, we also have cameras that record the speed at which motorists are traveling. These cameras are able to send information on speeders directly to the authorities, who will issue tickets by mail.

Source: the car accident attorneys at SOS Personal Injury.

Filed Under: History, Law & Legal, News & Media, Society & Culture Tagged With: speed limit, speed limit factoids, speed limit facts, speed limit history, speed limit laws, speed limit trivia

Why Ralph Nader’s “Unsafe at Any Speed” was a Special Book

October 17, 2011 By Dom

Unsafe at Any Speed book

A closer look at the book that forever changed the way car engineers and vehicle manufacturers designed and developed automobiles.

Ralph Nader earned himself enemies of a different sort – the multimillion, multinational sort – after the publication and subsequent success of his book in 1965. The book was direct in its title, Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile. Its contents, wrapped up in eight chapters, were a reflection of a one-man crusade against major automobile manufacturers in the US at that time.

In presenting his main topic and supporting arguments, Nader took careful note of the features and characteristics of car models that were unsafe. This, he said, is indicative of the industry’s insistence on comfort and cost-effectiveness at the expense of safety measures, against well-founded and technically informed criticism of car design and engineering. He mentioned several industry insiders, one of which is the Tire and Rim Association, which confirmed that the tire pressures in the Chevy Corvair left the car’s front tires overloaded and therefore unfit by industry standards.

The book opens with the rear-engineered Chevrolet Corvair by the General Motors, or what Nader referred to as the “The One-Car Accident”. Aside from the tire pressure problem earlier described, he also mentions the swing-axle suspension design, which was prone to “tuck under” in certain circumstances.

In succeeding chapters, Nader criticizes several other vehicle features, from design elements such as panels and dashboards, to style elements and even gear shift quadrants. He claims that cars are excessively ornamented, with bumpers that are dangerously hazardous to pedestrians and instrument panels and dashboards with shiny chrome and glossy enamel finishes that reflect incoming light into the driver’s eyes. Nader concludes that aggressive styling stands as proof that the car design now has precedence over good vehicle engineering.

Another important point Nader raises with regards to vehicle features is the lack of a standard gear shift pattern for makes and models fitted with automatic transmission. The differences in gear shift patterns make it difficult for drivers to adjust between using the “PNDLR” pattern (reverse at the bottom next to low, used by GM, Packard, Rambler, and Studebaker) to using the “PRNDL” of Ford, Chrysler’s push-button selection, and Chevrolet’s “RNDL” pattern with a separate hand brake for parking. This leads to accidents, as drivers who were intending to shift gears, for example, would accidentally select reverse. Nader’s criticism of the different gear shift patterns resulted to the standardization of the “PRNDL” pattern first used by Ford.

Nader also touches upon several issues that include poor workmanship, failure to honor warranties, vehicle impact on air pollution, and data from crash science that were ignored by the American automotive industry. By way of conclusion, Nader urges the government to put pressure on the automotive industry to prioritize the safety of road users.

Overall, Unsafe at Any Speed is a work of investigative journalism, with substantial references and materials from industry insiders, as well as in-depth observation of vehicle features. Today it continues to be referred to as “that book about the Corvair”. Vehicle conditions have improved over the years, and while the cases presented in the book no longer reflect the vehicles we have today, the awareness – of vehicle design, safety considerations, and some skeletons hidden in car trunks – that it raised proves to be the book’s main legacy.

Source: the car accident attorney at SOSPersonalInjury.org.

Filed Under: Education, History, Law & Legal, News & Media, Society & Culture Tagged With: Ralph Nader facts, Ralph Nader history, Ralph Nader trivia, Unsafe at Any Speed auto industry, Unsafe at Any Speed book, Unsafe at Any Speed facts, Unsafe at Any Speed nader, Unsafe at Any Speed Ralph Nader, Unsafe at Any Speed trivia

What is the Seat Belt Legislation and How Does It Work?

October 17, 2011 By Dom

Should I Wear my Seat Belt?

Car ownership had its boom days after the Second World War, when both the automobile industry and the technology for the production of automobile parts experienced unprecedented growth. Faced with a growing number of vehicle owners and, consequently, road accidents (both vehicular and non-motorized road accidents), the US State of Wisconsin introduced legislation in 1961, which made front seat belts mandatory in cars. New York followed suit in 1962, and the rest of the United States in 1963.

The seat belt legislation evolved over the years as countries became more aware of the effect of seat belts in vehicle safety. From the compulsory fitting of seat belts in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, legislators amended the law to include the compulsory wearing of seat belts. Amendments were also made to cover both the driver and front passenger and, quite recently, rear passengers as well.

Does the Seat Belt Legislation Work?
Evidence supports the effectiveness of the seat belt legislation in reducing fatalities in vehicle collisions. Road safety authorities conclude that the use of seat belts reduced the number of casualties in road accidents, which is supported, in turn, by experiments that make use of both human cadavers and crash test dummies. In these experiments, the chances of dying or incurring injury in car crashes were considerably reduced when seat belts were used.

Other studies confirm this finding by stating that when seat belts are worn, fatality rates go down by 30 to 50 percent. For drivers wearing a lap-shoulder seat belt, those rates trend lower by 48 percent according to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Also, in 2000, the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) did a statistical research of its data and concluded that passengers age 1 to 4 years old who used child safety seats were 71 percent more likely to survive a car crash. Vehicle occupants over 4 years of age also saw a great reduction in casualties, making the FARS conclude, at last, that safety belts were able to save more than 11,000 live in the year 2000 alone.

All these studies point towards the effectiveness of seat belt legislation in saving the lives of vehicle occupants in the event of a vehicle collision or other road accident. On the other hand, there remains an opposition to seat belt legislation.

Seat Belt Legislation Opposition
If it’s effective at saving lives, why is there an opposition to the compulsory fitting and wearing of seat belts? There are two common grounds for opposition, the first of which is in the nature of the seat belt law: according to the opposition, the forced wearing of seat belts is a form of infringement of liberty. Vehicle occupants who do not wear seat belts are doing so with conscious knowledge of the fact that they can suffer more in property damage, injury, and possibly death as a result of their decision to forgo the seat belt.

A majority of those who oppose the seat belt legislation consider the official estimates to be overstated, or not reflective of the complete picture, which includes additional risks for other road users. On these grounds, the opposition refers to the theory of risk compensation first studied by researcher John Adams. In brief, the theory states that the lesser the risks of injury and death are, the more drivers will reduce their precautions while driving. This theory also has strong evidence to its credit, which makes it a rather strong argument against the seat belt legislation.

To this day, the debate remains. Regardless of how things end up, it’s important to remember that laws are enforced, and failure to abide by them can mean consequences for the traffic offender. It’s also worth noting that the laws that pushed for the mandatory fitting and wearing of seat belts in all motor vehicles ushered in the introduction of many other safety measures in the design and manufacture of automobiles.

Source: the car accident attorneys at SOSPersonalInjury.org.

Filed Under: Education, History, Law & Legal, News & Media, Society & Culture Tagged With: seat belt history, seat belt news, seat belts and safety, seat belts survival rates, to wear or not to wear seat belts, vehicle safety facts, vehicle safety info, vehicle safety trivia, wearing seat belts

The Real Story Behind Yamashita’s Gold

August 28, 2011 By Dom

About Yamashita's Gold

Yamashita Tomoyuki was a Japanese general who was also known as ‘The Tiger of Malaya’. Yamashita’s Gold however refers to the war loot stolen in South East Asia by the Japanese in World War II.

1. Yamashita’s gold has gained a lot of fame, so much that it has been the subject of many novels such as Cryptonomicon, a novel by Neal Stephenson, and Dragon, a novel by Clive Cussler. A lot of TV series have been made about the Yamashita’s gold, and even the popular game “Medal of Honor: Rising Sun” is about Yamashita’s gold.

2. The actual existence of the gold however, is still under debate and two books have been written on the issue by Sterling Seagrave and Peggy Seagrave; The Yamato Dynasty: the Secret History of Japan’s Imperial Family (2000) and Gold Warriors: America’s Secret Recovery of Yamashita’s Gold (2003). These books have argued that the looting was done by the Yakuza gangsters and the Emperor Hirohito. They argue that the emperor formed a secret organization named ‘Golden Lily’ for the purpose of financing Japan’s war efforts.

3. The treasure, it seems, was very purposefully guarded, as the people who knew of the location of the treasure were killed during the war; Yamashita too was killed by the US on February 23, 1946.

4. The contents the Yamashita gold treasure included a variety of valuables stolen from temples, banks, churches, mosques, museums, depositories, and homes. It is said that the loot originated from Singapore and later was moved to the Philippines. The Japanese had planned to move the loot to Japan after the war had subsided, but U.S. Navy submarines and Allied warplanes sunk a number of Japanese ships carrying the loot on the way to Japan.

5. It is even speculated that the Americans had located the loot and had used it to fund the Cold War, but there is no strong evidence behind this speculation.

6. A lot of treasure hunters are still after Yamashita’s gold, and there are a number of theories about the location and whereabouts of the gold. However, even with the advances in technology and countless expeditions, no one has managed to find anything.

7. Yamashita’s gold has been subject to a hefty lawsuit as well. Former Filipino soldier, Rogelio Roxas. claimed to have found an enclosed chamber near Baguio City, which contained numerous artifacts including a 3-foot high gold Buddha along with gold bullion and other items. And it was soon after this that President Ferdinand Marcos ordered Roxas to be arrested and seized all the gold that Roxas possessed. During his time in prison, Roxas was subject to abuse and threats, however after he was released he filed a lawsuit in a Hawaiian court for theft and physical abuse against the President. Unfortunately Roxas died on the eve of the trial, but left testimony that was used in the trial and later during the trial, it became clear that Roxas had found the treasure and that Marcos’ men had stolen it.

A number of men have died in pursuit of the treasure, in mountain slides, buried in tunnel collapses, and even in river beds. Moreover the Yamashita gold has given birth to con men, who claimed to have the authentic treasure map and came up with similar schemes to coerce people into investing their money into scams. However, like most stories, this one is subject to a lot of deviations and in a way has become a legend.

This story is brought to you by Silver Scott Mines, a publicly traded (OTC: SILS) junior mining company. Silver Scott Mines is a development stage precious metals company that currently operates in Mexico through a wholly owned subsidiary, Minera Mystery S. de R.L. de C.V. The Mexico corporate office is in Hermosillo, Sonora, the state capital and industrial center for northwestern Mexico. Core projects for Silver Scott Mines are Quitovac in Sonora, Venturnia vein zone in Chihuahua, and the Virgin de Carmen vein zone in Sonora. Additional targets are being developed in six other areas.

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A Glimpse Into British Columbia History: The Omineca Gold Rush

August 27, 2011 By Dom

The Omineca Gold Rush

Gold was discovered in Omineca (a Northern Interior province of British Columbia) in the year 1861, but the gold rush started later in the year 1869. There are numerous routes to the gold mines starting from different places.

1. In the year 1861 gold was discovered by Edward Cary and William Cust who divided 60 ounces of gold between them.

2. The two individuals brought more people with them and some of them made discoveries of gold on a large scale.

3. Aside from Edward Cary and William Cust, many of the miners went home defeated as the discoveries grew scarce. John Giscome and Henry McDame made a discovery in the Cassiar district and had McDame‘s Creek named in their honor.

4. A silver creek was discovered by four miners in search of gold. This was an amalgam of mercury and silver. They later went back to gather funds for their discoveries.

5. The Peace River prospecting party left in may of 1869. The explorers discovered gold there on the first of June. The mountains this discovery was made on were named “Vital Mountains” and the creek “Vital Creek”.

6. The gold mines were not operational due to the snowfall and harsh weather conditions in January 1870.

7. RJ Lamont started delivering mail through the Omineca Express. One trip took him as long as six weeks. He discovered about 250 miners coming to the area consisting of a high percentage of white people and about one third Chinese people.

8. Roads were built to connect the areas from Takla Landing to Fall River. Improvements were also made to the rail track to aid easier traveling via train.

9. A salon, bakery and coffee house were built for the people in the Vital Creek area as its population grew to around 400 people.

10. People started moving to Germansen Creek from Vital Creek as everyone received around two ounces of gold every day for compensation, which was a huge number.

11. Rufus Sylvester made the sluice boxes, which increased the per person yield from two ounces to around ten ounces every day.

12. The people who had started living near Germansen Creek started calling it Germansen but it was later changed to Omineca City.

13. The yield grew day by day as two saw mills were constructed and every miner got his own sluice box.

Towns upon towns were built in no time after Manson Creek was discovered. In the year 1873, gold commissioner WH Fitzgerald had a seizure and passed away. The gold rush had almost reached its end. However, the lost creek still had a yield of about 90 to 200 ounces of gold weekly. In the year 1874, there were around 80 miners in the area producing a total yield of 5000 ounces of gold. Hydraulic mining was however continued even in the nineteenth century. The old gold rush towns no longer exist, but mining still continues in Omineca.

Filed Under: Business & Economy, History, News & Media, Personal Finance, Society & Culture Tagged With: BC mining, British Columbia mining, Canada Gold Rush, canada's gold rush, canadian gold rush, Edward Cary, Fall River, Germansen Creek, Henry McDame, hydraulic mining, John Giscome, Manson Creek, Omineca, Omineca BC, Omineca City, Omineca Express, Omineca gold, Omineca Gold Rush, Omineca mining, Peace River prospecting party, RJ Lamont, Rufus Sylvester, Takla Landing, the gold rush in canada, Vital Creek, Vital Mountains, WH Fitzgerald, William Cust

10 Things You Need To Know About The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf

August 27, 2011 By Dom

About The Canadian Gold Maple

The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf is the official bullion gold coin of Canada and is manufactured by the Royal Canadian Mint.

Following are the ten most interesting and important facts about the coin that should be aware of.

1. The Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, a creation of Walter Ott, is one of the purest gold regular-issue coins in the world. It has a gold content of .9999 millesimal fineness (24 carats), with some special editions of the coin being .99999 fine. Such an acute degree of precision means that the coin is made completely out of gold from mines in Canada and contains almost no base metals.

2. The coin was introduced in 1979. The coin’s design features a trio of maple leaves, taking a hint from the light design that has adorned Canada’s one-cent circulation coin since 1937. Using the maple leaf makes sense since it is a symbol that immediately says “Canadian” to people all over the world.

3. Each coin is enclosed and presented in a maple wooden box, which is lined with flock and secured by a modified sleeve.

4. The coins enjoy legal tender status in Canada for their face values ($1, $5, $10, $20 and $50), according to the Canadian Currency Act and the Royal Canadian Mint Act. Although classified as ‘non-circulating bullion coins’ in the Mint Act, these coins are still legal tender under the jurisdiction of the Currency Act.

5. Some dealers have criticized the production quality of the Gold Maples. The pliability and softness of 24 carat gold along with the Gold Maples’ refined edge, clear field around the Queen and the tube storage supplied means that the coins are easily damaged by handling and usually show marks. This is a typical problem with pure gold.

6. On May 3, 2007, the Royal Canadian Mint showcased a Gold Maple Leaf coin with a face value of $1 million. However, it is valued at $2 million in terms of gold. Weighing 100kgs (220lbs) and designed by Stanley Witten, it has a purity of 99.999%. Initially the coin was meant to be a marketing product for the mint, but after several buyers expressed interest, the mint decided to manufacture these coins on order and so far five orders have been placed.

7. The Maple Leaf is not only manufactured in gold but also in silver, platinum and palladium.

Filed Under: Business & Economy, Education, History, News & Media, Personal Finance, Society & Culture Tagged With: Canadian Currency Act, Canadian Gold, Canadian Gold facts, Canadian Gold history, Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, Canadian Gold news, Canadian Gold trivia, Gold Maples, Maple Leaf, Maple Leaf facts, Maple Leaf history, Maple Leaf news, Maple Leaf trivia, maple wooden box, Royal Canadian Mint Act, Stanley Witten, Walter Ott

Gold Dredges: What Are They And How Do They Work?

August 25, 2011 By Dom

About Gold Dredges

A gold dredge is a simple placer mining machine used to extract gold from gravel, dirt and sand using water and mechanical methods. Placer mining is the technique of mining for minerals in alluvial deposits, done through open-pit or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment.

Since the beginning of the Gold Rush, the basic concept of placer mining has not changed. The concept is that gold being the heavy/dense material in the sand or soil will always settle to the bottom, leaving the sand, rock and dirt, which will wash away. Gold panning, sluice boxes and rockers were the original methods used for placer mining. All these methods involved washing sand, dirt and gravel in water, leaving behind gold that settles to the bottom of the pan or into the bottom of the riffles of the sluice box.

In the first half of the 1990s, the original gold dredges built were large, multi-story machines. These steam-powered dredges were used along the rivers in California. As the easily accessible gold in California was soon gone by the mid to late 1850s, there was still a lot of gold there to be mined. It took a professional approach, giant machines and giant companies, to retrieve that gold. In the early 1990s, massive floating dredges scooped up millions of tons of river gravel, as steam power and electrical power became available.

From the 1990s to date, dredging has become as a popular way of gold mining. Advancement in technology has allowed a small dredge to be carried by a single person to a remote location to profitably process gravel banks on streams that previously were inaccessible to the multi-story hundreds-of-feet-long dredges of the 1930s. Dredges today are versatile, consisting of both submersible dredges and floating surface dredges that use vacuums to suck up gravel from the bottom.

Today, a small portable backpack dredge, weighing only 40 pounds and costing $800, can process as much gravel as a large 300 pound dredge could 20 years ago. One of the benefits of this dredge is that it allows miners to access areas that were otherwise impossible to reach with heavier and more cumbersome equipment.

There are different types of dredges, the most popular of which are:

The Surface Dredge: it floats on the surface of the river or lake. Through a suction pump, the silt and other material is pumped to the surface through a suction hose to a sluice box. The sluice box processes all dredge material into a single recovery box. It uses a short classifier screen at the entrance to separate the larger cobbles from the smaller ones, which are most likely to contain small gold particles. The sluice box either floats on the surface of the water or rests on a bank.

Modern sluice boxes come with multi-stage systems, the most advanced is called the 3-stage sluice box. It is needed as it can recover the finer grade gold from the material pumped with the dredge.

The Underwater Dredge: this type of dredge is less popular as it is not as efficient in recovering the finer grade gold. It is cumbersome to handle underwater and cannot reach hard to get areas on the riverbank. It has a flared metal or plastic tube with an attached metal elbow at a forty-five to sixty-degree bend. High pressure water is pumped into the bend, creating a vacuum at the end of the bend. A riffle tray is attached at the end of the tube containing a series of gold traps. As the gravel is sucked into the dredge, the heavier particles, including gold, become entrapped in the riffle tray. The lighter, non gold bearing particles flow back into the river.

Text courtesy of Stanton Dodson and Dom Einhorn.

Filed Under: Business & Economy, Careers & Work, Education, History, Science Tagged With: backpack dredge, floating dredges, floating surface dredges, Gold Dredge, gold dredge facts, gold dredge info, gold dredge news, gold dredge no 8, gold dredge trivia, Gold Dredges, gold dredging, gold rockers, placer mining machines, sluice box, submersible dredge, Surface Dredge, Underwater Dredge, what is a gold dredge

Alternative Investment Strategies For Crazy Markets

August 24, 2011 By Dom

Alternative Investment Strategies

During the economic crisis of the past decade, markets and industries crashed and hundreds of companies and millions of people were caught with their pants down. This ordeal has taught everyone the value of security during uncertain times. One of the surest ways to buffer yourself from economic crunches is by making sound investments. While there are traditional investment strategies available to first-time investors, alternative investments are rapidly gaining momentum, and for good reason.

Alternative Investments: The Basics

Alternative investments refer to investment strategies that go beyond traditional investments like stocks, bonds, cash, or property. Popular financial assets in the alternative investment category are:

Hedge Funds
Private Equities
Financial Derivatives
Venture Capital
Commodities

They also include several tangible assets including, but not limited to, the following:

Wine
Antiques
Stamps
Art
Coins

Characteristics of Alternative Investments

Unlike traditional investment strategies, alternative investments are not direct fixed-income or equity claim on the assets of an issuing body. They are complex in nature, so most of these assets are held by accredited, high net-worth individuals. They also tend to lack liquidity and have a low correlation to traditional financial investments such as shares of stock in a company. This low correlation adds to its appeal, especially with investors who are looking to diversify their investment portfolio (the low correlation coefficient will be discussed in depth in a later section).

Also, compared with more common investments like mutual funds, alternative investments have higher minimum investment requirements and fee structures. The cost of purchase and sale is relatively high. In addition, they are subject to less regulation. While this may be good on one hand, it also has the effect of limiting opportunities to publish verifiable performance data. Hence, historical data on risk and returns may be limited. This data could be useful in promoting an alternative investment to potential investors.

Because current market values of some forms of assets are difficult to determine at the least, it is imperative for investors looking to invest in alternative investments to conduct proper due diligence. This especially applies to tangible assets like artworks and wine.

Some investors consider alternative investments as a good means to diversify their portfolio, thereby reducing overall investment risk. However, this is not the only reason why more and more investors are now looking into expanding their financial prospects via alternative channels.

The Appeal of Alternative Investments: Low Correlation, Absolute Return

Although there are a number of alternative assets presently being offered in the marketplace, a common characteristic among these numerous options is their low correlation coefficients with both fixed income and equities. Low correlation is considered important when choosing assets for inclusion in a portfolio, primarily because assets that are relatively uncorrelated with both bonds and stocks tend to have minimal exposure to systematic market risk factors. Absolute Return Strategies – strategies that seek a low correlation to systematic risks in the market, make it their objective to attain relative independence from the underlying equity or fixed-income market benchmarks’ overall performance.

Absolute return does not come without its challenges, however. There are potential constraints on the upside. To illustrate, when broader stock markets are picking up, investors with low-correlation alternatives may see their portfolios performing weaker in relation to those with traditional assets. This somehow implies that absolute returns can be maximized in negative market climates and tend to underperform during positive economic climates.

The Economic Atmosphere for Alternative Investments

It would not be an understatement to say that alternative investments were, for the longest time, reserved mostly to high net-worth investors. The broader retail market finds the field of alternative investments difficult to penetrate because of reasons mentioned earlier in this article:

High minimum investment sizes;
High minimum fee structures; and
Assets with no liquidity.

Recent years show a change – an evolution – in the economic atmosphere, where alternative investments are concerned. Progress in global financial markets has developed and provided greater opportunities and a wider range of products through which more investors can enrich their portfolios with alternative assets. Directional alternative assets like commodities, real estate and foreign currencies, as well as hedge strategies like buy-write become accessible to more investors through exchange-traded funds (ETFs), exchange-traded notes (ETNs), and mutual funds.

These options were not available until recently. With increasing entry points into alternative investments, investors now find themselves able to participate in innovative investment approaches that promise increased profits. If alternative investments appeal to you, now would be the best time to start investing in alternative assets.

10 Things You Should Know About the Gilding Technique

August 24, 2011 By Dom

Gilding Techniques

1. The decorative techniques of applying fine gold leaf or powder to solid surfaces such as wood, stone, or metal to give a thin coating of gold are known as gilding techniques. Gilt refers to the object, which has been gilded by gold.

2. Gilding generally means gold gilding, but there are other metals, which are also used in gilding the objects. For example, in the West silver gilding is very popular but gilt-bronze is much used in China. Gilt-bronze is called Ormolu in the West.

3. There are various types of gilding methods. Some included hand application and gluing, chemical gilding, gold plating and electroplating. Other types of gilding are parcel-gilt and full body guild. When the objects are only gilded over part of their surfaces, the process is called parcel-gilt. This type of gilding method is applied to vessels.

4. It is mentioned by Herodotus that the Egyptians gilded wood and metals. Ancient Greek statues of great prestige were made of gold-plated wood (for the clothing) and ivory (for the flesh). The first occurrences of gilding seen in Rome were after the destruction of Carthage. The Romans used gild in the ceilings of their temples and palaces.

5. At the 4th century BC, fire-gilding of metal came back into vogue. In Europe, silver-gilt has always been more popular than gilt-bronze. But in China, gilt-bronze is more popular. The Chinese also developed the gilding of porcelain, which is now used in worldwide.

6. There are various processes of gilding available in present time, which are applied to numerous and diverse surfaces. The most common process is gold plating. Other traditional processes are woodworking, cabinet-work, decorative painting, ornamental work, leather work, etc.

7. Mechanical gilding processes, which are used to mechanically attach the gold onto surfaces include all the operations in which gold leaf is prepared, such as burnishing, water gilding and oil-gilding. From Homer’s Odyssey and the Old Testament we have come to know that the simplest and most ancient method of gilding is “overlaying” or folding/hammering onto gold.

8. Another scientific process is chemical gilding. It is the process in which the gold is at some stage of chemical combination. There are various types of reactive chemical compounds used in this process. This is a costly and risky process.

9. The process in which an amalgam of gold is applied to metallic surfaces is called fire-gilding or wash-gilding. In this process, the mercury is subsequently volatilized and leaves a film of gold or an amalgam containing from 13 to 16% of mercury. Gold must be reduced to thin plates or grains first to prepare the amalgam. Nowadays, the process is carried out by the electroplating of gold over a nickel substrate, which is less dangerous and more economical.

10. For centuries, the gilding of decorative ceramics has been undertaken with the permanence and brightness of gold appealing to designers. Different forms and compositions are available to apply gold to ceramic such as Acid Gold, Bright Gold or Liquid Gold, Burnish Gold or Best Gold, etc.

Text courtesy of Stanton Dodson and Dom Einhorn.