UNLOCKING YOUR CAR WITH A CELL PHONE - Since the systems use radio waves, not sound waves, the only conceivable way a signal from your spare remote key could be picked up by a cell phone and relayed to your car's onboard receiver would be if the phone were capable of sending and receiving at exactly the same frequency as the remote itself. This is simply not possible. If your car manufacturer has provided a phone app that can be used to unlock your vehicle, that is what you should use to open it. But you can't simply transmit the signal from your key fob through your cell phone to unlock your car.

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Unlocking Your Car With A Cell Phone

Can You Unlock a Car With a Cell Phone?

By David Emery

Locked out of your automobile?

According to a viral message, you can transmit a signal from your spare remote key via cell phone and unlock your car door in a pinch.

Don't count on it, though. While there are apps provided by some carmakers and services such as OnStar that can unlock your car remotely, the cell phone method has never worked.

How this hoax got started is a mystery. A typical version of the email message purports to offer step-by-step instructions for gaining remote access to your locked car:

Subject: Unlock your car from the outside!

This only applies to cars that can be unlocked by remote button. Should you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are home.

If some one has access to the spare remote have them telephone you on your cell phone.

Hold your (or anyone's) cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the other person press the unlock button, hold it near the phone.

Your car will unlock. I tried it and it works. Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object.

The Truth About Remote Entry

It's certainly comforting to think that you could unlock your car in an emergency by sending a signal through your cell phone. Unfortunately, this method doesn't work.

Remote car keys (known as "Remote Keyless Entry," or RKE, systems) operate by sending a weak, encrypted radio signal to a receiver inside the automobile, which activates the door locks.

Since the systems use radio waves, not sound waves, the only conceivable way a signal from your spare remote key could be picked up by a cell phone and relayed to your car's onboard receiver would be if the phone were capable of sending and receiving at exactly the same frequency as the remote itself.

This is simply not possible. All remote entry devices operate at frequencies between 300 and 500 MHz, while all mobile phones, by law, operate at 800 MHz and higher.

In other words, it's apples and oranges. There is no way for your cell phone to transmit the type of signal required to unlock a car door.

Marcus Dacombe, head of product marketing and European sales for Nokia, fields questions about common cell phone myths for the International Herald Tribune.

Of the claim that cell phones can be used to unlock car doors, he says: "That is surely another trick the phone makers should have invented - except that the remote opening systems for cars work on radio waves, which cannot be transmitted over a cell phone."

The Discovery Channel's "Mythbusters" tried - and failed - to unlock a car door with a remote signal transmitted via cell phone in a video posted online in 2008.  The myth is officially busted.

The Bottom Line

If your car manufacturer has provided a phone app that can be used to unlock your vehicle, that is what you should use to open it.

If you have a service such as OnStar, you can request that your vehicle is unlocked remotely.

But you can't simply transmit the signal from your key fob through your cell phone to unlock your car.

 

David Emery

·   Noted chronicler of folklore and urban legends since 1997

Experience

David Emery is a former writer for ThoughtCo. David covered urban legends for ThoughtCo for 19 years. He has more than two decades of experience as an internet folklore expert and debunker of urban legends, hoaxes, and popular misconceptions, winning recognition in the online universe as a commentator on the outer limits of internet culture with Iron Skillet Magazine. He has been lauded by Brandon Toropov in "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Urban Legends" and Jan Harold Brunvand in "Encyclopedia of Urban Legends, Updated and Expanded Edition." David also has worked as a newsroom librarian, sitcom staff writer, freelance journalist, and contributing editor to a satirical newspaper. 

Education

David Emery holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Portland State University.

Awards

·   Named to "Top 10 Sites to Debunk Urban Legends"

ThoughtCo and Dotdash

ThoughtCo is a premier reference site focusing on expert-created education content. We are one of the top-10 information sites in the world as rated by comScore, a leading Internet measurement company. Every month, more than 13 million readers seek answers to their questions on ThoughtCo.

For more than 20 years, Dotdash brands have been helping people find answers, solve problems, and get inspired. We are one of the top-20 largest content publishers on the Internet according to comScore, and reach more than 30% of the U.S. population monthly. Our brands collectively have won more than 20 industry awards in the last year alone, and recently Dotdash was named Publisher of the Year by Digiday, a leading industry publication.

https://www.thoughtco.com/can-you-unlock-a-car-door-with-a-cell-phone-4056560

ELECTRONS AND QUANTUM NUMBERS - A quantum number is a value that is used when describing the energy levels available to atoms and molecules. An electron in an atom or ion has four quantum numbers to describe its state and yield solutions to the Schrödinger wave equation for the hydrogen atom. While quantum numbers are commonly used to describe electrons, they may be used to describe the nucleons (protons and neutrons) of an atom or elementary particles.

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Electrons And Quantum Numbers

Quantum Number Definition

by Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.

A quantum number is a value that is used when describing the energy levels available to atoms and molecules.

An electron in an atom or ion has four quantum numbers to describe its state and yield solutions to the Schrödinger wave equation for the hydrogen atom.

There are four quantum numbers:

·       n – principal quantum number - describes the energy level

·       ℓ - azimulhal or angular momentum quantum number - describes the subshell

·       m_ℓ or m - magnetic quantum number - describes the orbital of the subshell

·       m_s or s – spin quantum number - describes the spin

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Quantum Number Values

According to the Pauli exclusion principle, no two electrons in an atom can have the same set of quantum numbers.

Each quantum number is represented by either a half-integer or integer value.

·     The principal quantum number is an integer that is the number of the electron's shell. The value is 1 or higher (never 0 or negative).

·      The angular momentum quantum number is an integer that is the value of the electron's orbital (e.g., s=0, p=1). ℓ is greater than or equal to zero and less than or equal to n-1.

·      The magnetic quantum number is the orientation of the orbital with integer values ranging from -ℓ to ℓ. So, for the p orbital, where ℓ=1, m could have values of -1, 0, 1.

·      The spin quantum number is a half-integer value that is either -1/2 (called "spin down") or 1/2 (called "spin up").

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Quantum Number Example

For the outer valence electrons of a carbon atom, the electrons are found in the 2p orbital. The four quantum numbers used to describe the electrons are n=2, ℓ=1, m=1, 0, or -1, and s=1/2 (the electrons have parallel spins).

Not Just for Electrons

While quantum numbers are commonly used to describe electrons, they may be used to describe the nucleons (protons and neutrons) of an atom or elementary particles.

Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.

·   Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville - Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

·   Science educator with experience teaching chemistry, biology, astronomy, and physics at the high school, college, and graduate levels.

·   ThoughtCo and About Education chemistry expert since 2001.

·   Widely-published graphic artist, responsible for printable periodic tables and other illustrations used in science.

Experience

Anne Helmenstine, Ph.D. has covered chemistry for ThoughtCo and About Education since 2001, and other sciences since 2013. She taught chemistry, biology, astronomy, and physics at the high school, college, and graduate levels. She has worked as a research scientist and also abstracting and indexing diverse scientific literature for the Department of Energy.

In addition to her work as a science writer, Dr. Helmenstine currently serves as a scientific consultant, specializing in problems requiring an interdisciplinary approach. Previously, she worked as a research scientist and college professor. 

Education

Dr. Helmenstine holds a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a B.A. in physics and mathematics with a minor in chemistry from Hastings College. In her doctoral work, Dr. Helmenstine developed ultra-sensitive chemical detection and medical diagnostic tests.

Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.​

ThoughtCo and Dotdash

ThoughtCo is a premier reference site focusing on expert-created education content. We are one of the top-10 information sites in the world as rated by comScore, a leading Internet measurement company. Every month, more than 13 million readers seek answers to their questions on ThoughtCo.

For more than 20 years, Dotdash brands have been helping people find answers, solve problems, and get inspired. We are one of the top-20 largest content publishers on the Internet according to comScore, and reach more than 30% of the U.S. population monthly. Our brands collectively have won more than 20 industry awards in the last year alone, and recently Dotdash was named Publisher of the Year by Digiday, a leading industry publication.

https://www.thoughtco.com/definition-of-quantum-number-604629

NOBEL PRIZES AND DYNAMITE - Nobel invented an improved detonator called a blasting cap. The invention of the blasting cap inaugurated the modern use of high explosives. Nobel’s second important invention was that of dynamite. Nobel named the new product dynamite (from Greek dynamis, “power”). Dynamite established Nobel’s fame worldwide and was soon put to use in blasting tunnels, cutting canals, and building railways and roads. He also invented a more powerful form of dynamite, blasting gelatin. Nobel introduced ballistite, one of the first nitroglycerin smokeless powders and a precursor of cordite.

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Dynamite And Nobel Prizes

Alfred Nobel

SWEDISH INVENTOR

WRITTEN BY  :   The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Alfred Nobel, in full Alfred Bernhard Nobel, (born October 21, 1833, Stockholm, Sweden - died December 10, 1896, San Remo, Italy), Swedish chemist, engineer, and industrialist who invented dynamite and other more powerful explosives and who also founded the Nobel Prizes.

Alfred Nobel was the fourth son of Immanuel and Caroline Nobel. Immanuel was an inventor and engineer who had married Caroline Andrietta Ahlsell in 1827.

The couple had eight children, of whom only Alfred and three brothers reached adulthood.

Alfred was prone to illness as a child, but he enjoyed a close relationship with his mother and displayed a lively intellectual curiosity from an early age.

He was interested in explosives, and he learned the fundamentals of engineering from his father.

Immanuel, meanwhile, had failed at various business ventures until moving in 1837 to St. Petersburg in Russia, where he prospered as a manufacturer of explosive mines and machine tools.

The Nobel family left Stockholm in 1842 to join the father in St. Petersburg. Alfred’s newly prosperous parents were now able to send him to private tutors, and he proved to be an eager pupil.

He was a competent chemist by age 16 and was fluent in English, French, German, and Russian as well as Swedish.

Alfred Nobel left Russia in 1850 to spend a year in Paris studying chemistry and then spent four years in the United States working under the direction of John Ericsson, the builder of the ironclad warship Monitor.

Upon his return to St. Petersburg, Nobel worked in his father’s factory, which made military equipment during the Crimean War.

After the war ended in 1856, the company had difficulty switching to the peacetime production of steamboat machinery, and it went bankrupt in 1859.

Alfred and his parents returned to Sweden, while his brothers Robert and Ludvig stayed behind in Russia to salvage what was left of the family business.

Alfred soon began experimenting with explosives in a small laboratory on his father’s estate.

At the time, the only dependable explosive for use in mines was black powder, a form of gunpowder.

A recently discovered liquid compound, nitroglycerin, was a much more powerful explosive, but it was so unstable that it could not be handled with any degree of safety.

Nevertheless, Nobel in 1862 built a small factory to manufacture nitroglycerin, and at the same time he undertook research in the hope of finding a safe way to control the explosive’s detonation.

In 1863 he invented a practical detonator consisting of a wooden plug inserted into a larger charge of nitroglycerin held in a metal container; the explosion of the plug’s small charge of black powder serves to detonate the much more powerful charge of liquid nitroglycerin.

This detonator marked the beginning of Nobel’s reputation as an inventor as well as the fortune he was to acquire as a maker of explosives.

In 1865 Nobel invented an improved detonator called a blasting cap; it consisted of a small metal cap containing a charge of mercury fulminate that can be exploded by either shock or moderate heat.

The invention of the blasting cap inaugurated the modern use of high explosives.

Nitroglycerin itself, however, remained difficult to transport and extremely dangerous to handle.

So dangerous, in fact, that Nobel’s nitroglycerin factory blew up in 1864, killing his younger brother Emil and several other people.

Undaunted by this tragic accident, Nobel built several factories to manufacture nitroglycerin for use in concert with his blasting caps.

These factories were as safe as the knowledge of the time allowed, but accidental explosions still occasionally occurred.

Nobel’s second important invention was that of dynamite in 1867.

By chance, he discovered that nitroglycerin was absorbed to dryness by kieselguhn, a porous siliceous earth, and the resulting mixture was much safer to use and easier to handle than nitroglycerin alone.

Nobel named the new product dynamite (from Greek dynamis, “power”) and was granted patents for it in Great Britain (1867) and the United States (1868).

Dynamite established Nobel’s fame worldwide and was soon put to use in blasting tunnels, cutting canals, and building railways and roads.

In the 1870s and ’80s Nobel built a network of factories throughout Europe to manufacture dynamite, and he formed a web of corporations to produce and market his explosives.

He also continued to experiment in search of better ones, and in 1875 he invented a more powerful form of dynamite, blasting gelatin, which he patented the following year.

Again by chance, he had discovered that mixing a solution of nitroglycerin with a fluffy substance known as nitrocellulose results in a tough, plastic material that has a high water resistance and greater blasting power than ordinary dynamites.

In 1887 Nobel introduced ballistite, one of the first nitroglycerin smokeless powders and a precursor of cordite.

Although Nobel held the patents to dynamite and his other explosives, he was in constant conflict with competitors who stole his processes, a fact that forced him into protracted patent litigation on several occasions.

Nobel’s brothers Ludvig and Robert, in the meantime, had developed newly discovered oilfields near Baku (now in Azerbaijan) along the Caspian Sea and had themselves become immensely wealthy.

Alfred’s worldwide interests in explosives, along with his own holdings in his brothers’ companies in Russia, brought him a large fortune.

In 1893 he became interested in Sweden’s arms industry, and the following year he bought an ironworks at Bofors, near Varmland, that became the nucleus of the well-known Bofors arms factory.

Besides explosives, Nobel made many other inventions, such as artificial silk and leather, and altogether he registered more than 350 patents in various countries.

Nobel’s complex personality puzzled his contemporaries.

Although his business interests required him to travel almost constantly, he remained a lonely recluse who was prone to fits of depression.

He led a retired and simple life and was a man of ascetic habits, yet he could be a courteous dinner host, a good listener, and a man of incisive wit.

He never married, and apparently preferred the joys of inventing to those of romantic attachment.

He had an abiding interest in literature and wrote plays, novels, and poems, almost all of which remained unpublished.

He had amazing energy and found it difficult to relax after intense bouts of work.

Among his contemporaries, he had the reputation of a liberal or even a socialist, but he actually distrusted democracy, opposed suffrage for women, and maintained an attitude of benign paternalism paternalism toward his many employees.

Though Nobel was essentially a pacifist and hoped that the destructive powers of his inventions would help bring an end to war, his view of mankind and nations was pessimistic.

By 1895 Nobel had developed angina pectoris, and he died of a cerebral hemorrage at his villa in San Remo, Italy, in 1896.

At his death his worldwide business empire consisted of more than 90 factories manufacturing explosives and ammunition.

The opening of his will, which he had drawn up in Paris on November 27, 1895, and had deposited in a bank in Stockholm, contained a great surprise for his family, friends, and the general public.

He had always been generous in humanitarian and scientific philanthropies, and he left the bulk of his fortune in trust to establish what came to be the most highly regarded of international awards, the Nobel Prizes.

We can only speculate about the reasons for Nobel’s establishment of the prizes that bear his name.

He was reticent about himself, and he confided in no one about his decision in the months preceding his death.

The most plausible assumption is that a bizarre incident in 1888 may have triggered the train of reflection that culminated in his bequest for the Nobel Prizes.

That year Alfred’s brother Ludvig had died while staying in Cannes, France.

The French newspapers reported Ludvig’s death but confused him with Alfred, and one paper sported the headline “Le marchand de la mort est mort” (“The merchant of death is dead.”)

Perhaps Alfred Nobel established the prizes to avoid precisely the sort of posthumous reputation suggested by this premature obituary.

It is certain that the actual awards he instituted reflect his lifelong interest in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology, and literature.

There is also abundant evidence that his friendship with the prominent Austrian pacifist Bertha von Suttner inspired him to establish the prize for peace.

Nobel himself, however, remains a figure of paradoxes and contradictions: a brilliant, lonely man, part pessimist and part idealist, who invented the powerful explosives used in modern warfare but also established the world’s most prestigious prizes for intellectual services rendered to humanity.

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alfred-Nobel

 

STREAMS AND RIVERS WATER QUALITY - A stream is impaired when it cannot fulfill its functions like fish protection & propagation, recreation, and public water supply. Coliform bacteria inhabit the gut of animals, and are a good indicator of fecal contamination. When there is a high count of coliform bacteria the water also contains microorganism that can make us sick. Silt and clay may occur naturally in the environment but when they enter streams in large quantity, they become a serious pollution problem. Nutrient pollution occurs when excess nitrogen and phosphorus make their way into a stream or river. These elements are then picked up by algae, allowing them to grow rapidly to the detriment of the aquatic ecosystem.

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Streams And Rivers Water Quality

Water Pollution in Streams and Rivers

by Frederic Beaudry

About one third of the nation’s rivers and streams are routinely assessed for water quality by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Out of the 1 million miles of streams examined, over half had waters considered impaired.

A stream is categorized as impaired when it cannot fulfill at least one of its uses, which include a variety of functions like fish protection & propagation, recreation, and public water supply.

Here are the 3 most significant causes of stream and river pollution, in order of importance:

1. Bacteria. Contamination of water by certain types of bacteria is certainly a human health issue, as we are particularly susceptible to disease-causing gut bacteria. 

Beach safety is routinely monitored through coliform bacteria counts. Coliform bacteria inhabit the gut of animals, and are a good indicator of fecal contamination.

When there is a high count of coliform bacteria, the odds are high that the water also contains microorganism that can make us sick.

Gut bacteria contamination can come from municipal sewage treatment plants that overflow during heavy rain events, or from leaky septic tank systems. Abundant animals near the water, for example ducks, geese, gulls, or cattle, can also result in bacteria contamination.

2. Sediment.  Fine-grained particles like silt and clay may occur naturally in the environment but when they enter streams in large quantity, they become a serious pollution problem.

Sediments come from the many ways soil can be eroded on land and carried into streams. Common causes of erosion are road construction, building construction, deforestation, and agricultural activities.

Anytime there is a significant removal of the natural vegetation, the potential for erosion exists. In the United States, vast farm fields are left barren much of the year, and as a result rain and melting snow wash away soil into streams and rivers.

In streams, sediments block sunlight and thus impede the growth of aquatic plants. Silt can smother the gravel beds necessary for fish to lay eggs.

Sediments that remain suspended in the water are eventually carried off into coastal zones, where they affect marine life.

3. Nutrients. Nutrient pollution occurs when excess nitrogen and phosphorus make their way into a stream or river. These elements are then picked up by algae, allowing them to grow rapidly to the detriment of the aquatic ecosystem.

Overabundant algae blooms can lead to toxin build-up, oxygen level drops, fish kills, and poor conditions for recreation.

Nutrient pollution and the subsequent algae blooms are to blame for Toledo’s drinking water shortage in the summer of 2014.

Nitrogen and phosphorus pollution comes from inefficient sewage treatment systems, and from a common practice in large-scale farms: synthetic fertilizers are often applied in fields at greater concentrations than the crops can use, and the excess winds up in streams.

Concentrated livestock operations (for example, dairy farms or cattle feedlots) lead to large accumulations of manure, with nutrient runoff difficult to manage.

Not surprisingly, the most widespread source of stream pollution is reported by the EPA to be agriculture.

Other important sources of problems are atmospheric deposition (usually air pollution that is brought into streams with rainfall), and the presence of dams, reservoirs, stream channels, and other engineered structures.

Frederic Beaudry

·   Associate professor of environmental science

·   Wildlife biologist

·   Holds a Ph.D. Wildlife Ecology and a Master's degree in Natural Resources

Experience

Dr. Frederic Beaudry is a former writer for ThoughtCo and contributed work for three years. He is an associate professor of environmental science at Alfred University in New York. Prior to teaching, he worked as a wildlife biologist focusing on the ecology and conservation of birds and turtles. Dr. Beaudry has authored several scientific papers on land use and conservation and has conducted research examining land use changes and their effects on bird and amphibian communities.

Education

·   Ph.D., Wildlife Ecology, University of Maine

·   M.A., Natural Resources, Humboldt State University

·   B.S., Biology, Université du Québec à Rimouski

·   Postdoctoral research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

ThoughtCo and Dotdash

ThoughtCo is a premier reference site focusing on expert-created education content. We are one of the top-10 information sites in the world as rated by comScore, a leading Internet measurement company. Every month, more than 13 million readers seek answers to their questions on ThoughtCo.

For more than 20 years, Dotdash brands have been helping people find answers, solve problems, and get inspired. We are one of the top-20 largest content publishers on the Internet according to comScore, and reach more than 30% of the U.S. population monthly. Our brands collectively have won more than 20 industry awards in the last year alone, and recently Dotdash was named Publisher of the Year by Digiday, a leading industry publication.

https://www.thoughtco.com/water-pollution-in-streams-and-rivers-1204129