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| Amidst the forest of backup batteries and "almost Edison owned" antique Leiden jars in the background, "I'm ok!" yelped out the newly born Cortex Brain in its machine-like thick accented voice, after the earthquake subsided. At least that's what we thought we heard... Checking its wishful internal vibration seismometer, future built from a single accelerometer, it showed the worst of the quake had passed and it was time to pick up the pieces, look for damage, run diagnostics, tighten some nuts and bolts, and hope for the best! In this view, buddy friend Apple SIRI is world wide web connected and on standby for corroboration and moral support. Now the goal is to further earthquake-proof the cortex in a jar. |
— a very strong 6.3 earthquake frightened people on Halloween night as the quake continued to increase in strength within its duration —
REPORTED FRIDAY NOVEMBER 1ST 2013
As some may have expected, a big spooky magnitude 6.3 earthquake shook and rattled the Taipei lab on Halloween October 31st at 8:02 pm. Some people were reported trapped in elevators though firemen successfully extracted their bodies. The quake continued to increase in strength during its powerful shaking duration and this caused many people to panic.
At the Lab, pre-warnings were evident throughout the day prior to the big earthquake as smaller almost undetectable quake motions were felt causing motion sickness.
Suspended spherical lighting ball pendulums made of pure glass, used as scientific detection instruments and sensors, to detect skyscraper motion in the Lab, were swinging about indicating lots of motion and displacements.
The up/down and left/right motion of the quake put several objects in motion in the lab, including some shelves that moved across the ledge and books that vibrated from one place to another. Suspended lights were heard jostling and swinging about wildly as the quake-shaking lasted about a minute.
At one point, its seemed as if the building would topple over as it was swaying many feet from side to side. The top of these skyscrapers can sway 6-feet or more from side to side, depending on the height of the skyscraper and the power of the quake.
The Brain Cortex along with its jar and parts were residing on top of the lab bench. There are three lab benches with two mounted one on top of the other. Things did slide around, however the lucky brain remained on the lab bench without mishap.
The brain cortex is somewhat anticipatory earthquake proofed with its flexible and durable poly see-through transparent jar. It could potential fall and survive though we expect the batteries would become jarred from their mounts and the plastic could literally rip open the jar. As some batteries are in series and some in parallel, potentially the cortex may electrically survive such a big jolt.
Parts for interior mounting are now considered for shock absorption remounting, possibly with cushioning phenolic plates lining the spacer mount contact points. These plates are on the purchase list for the next trip to the electronic parts store plaza.
Another anti-quake idea is to strap each battery to its respective mount using a plastic tie to prevent its popping out due to a sudden inertial jolt. Safety retainer clips to provide additional module structural support are now designed and will be installed.
The earthquake shows how much more work the brain cortex in a jar project requires to make it more survivable during a catastrophic event.
It was the third inland earthquake of magnitude 6 or higher this year. The previous ones occurred in Nantou County — a magnitude 6.2 quake on March 27 and a magnitude 6.5 quake on June 2.
Brain Cortex Index Part 16