2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25
We often hear the word "ether" in different situations of our lives. Television and radio hosts announce: "N will now perform live," or such an inscription looms in the corner of the TV screen. Ether can be bought at a pharmacy, a variety of essential oils are especially popular. If we are talking about a fragile, graceful girl, then we can call her an "ethereal creature." In a new meaning, this word appeared quite recently and means "crypto-fuel", a unit of cryptocurrency mining.
Ether - what is it? Why is there such a wide range of uses for this word?
Ether in mythology
In ancient Greece, the top thinnest and most delicate layer of air was called ether. The gods lived there, and the top of Olympus was filled with ether. The name Ether was the Greek god, the son of Darkness and Night. According to one legend, he was the father of all winds: Borea, Nota, Zephyra and Evra.
Plato believed that the world was created by God from ether, and Aristotle considered ether to be the fifth element along with fire, water, earth and air. Numerous magical properties were attributed to the ether, some considered it to be a pra-matter.
In esotericism, ether is sometimes understood as a substance,which separates the real world from the other world. Ether - what is it in different areas of human knowledge?
Ether in medicine
Ether in medicine. Ether is a colorless, volatile liquid. Sometimes used as a solvent. The analgesic properties of ether were first discovered by Paracelsus in 1540. As an anesthetic during surgery, it was first used in 1846 during the removal of a submandibular tumor. Ether is a highly flammable liquid. Working with it requires care and compliance with safety measures.
Ether in chemistry
Working on his periodic table, D. I. Mendeleev placed ether in one of the first versions. It was located in front of hydrogen in the zero row at the number "zero". Mendeleev believed that its possible chemical properties, which are not yet amenable to research, cannot be ignored. Ether was not included in the final version of the periodic table. Ether - what is it: a real substance or a philosophical concept? There are different answers to this question.
Ether in physics
Ether was understood by ancient scientists as a substance that fills the void of the Cosmos. Lucretius Carus in his poem "On the Nature of Things" wrote that the ether feeds the constellations, and new stars are formed in the places of its condensation. There were other views on the nature of the universe. Democritus believed that the world consists of atoms and emptiness. Ether according to Aristotle is the "fifth element", which is the quintessence of all things and does not change withtime.
Rene Descartes introduced the concept of ether into modern physics. According to Descartes, the ether fills the entire world space and is the medium for the transmission of light and heat. Moreover, it does not provide any resistance to material bodies as they move through it. Descartes believed that the ether consists of three elements, the interaction of which explains gravity, magnetism, and form different colors.
Ether was an element of the wave theories of light. Classical wave optics could not do without this concept. To explain the features of light waves, different properties were attributed to the ether.
Electromagnetic oscillations and ether
With the development of the theory of electromagnetic waves, it was initially assumed that they also propagate through the ether. Nikola Tesla used this theory to explain his experiments. The creator of the theory of transmission of electromagnetic waves, D. Maxwell, also used the concept of ether in his early works, but later abandoned this.
In 1881, Michelson's experiment was carried out to determine the speed of the Earth relative to the ether. The aether wind predicted by the theory was not discovered.
With the advent of quantum physics and the creation of the theory of quantum-wave dualism, it became possible to explain the observed phenomena without resorting to the ether hypothesis. What is it then in our understanding?
So historically, the concept of "ether" is associated with television and radio broadcasting. It is difficult to describe in simple terms the famous Maxwell equations,which describe the physics of the transmission of electromagnetic waves. But it is very easy to visualize a certain substance, ether, in which waves propagate from the transmitter to the receiver, like circles on the water. Therefore, this concept has firmly joined television and radio.
Video recording
In the Soviet Union, the first regular television broadcasts began in 1939. Of course, the population did not have television receivers, and the transmissions were mostly experimental in nature. The development of mass television broadcasting began in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In the early years of its existence, television channels were broadcast exclusively directly on the air. Back in 1963, the entire planet witnessed directly the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy.
There were no magnetic imaging devices. Occasionally, films and chronicles recorded on film were transmitted. Television workers understood what great prospects open up the possibility of a quick "conservation of the image" (as video recording was then called).
The first samples of professional video recorders were created in 1955. In 1956, a video recorder was demonstrated for the first time at a session of the Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters. The speaker from the podium fell silent, and the listeners on the screen saw what he had said a minute ago. It caused a furore, and after all, the audience were experts. Subsequently, the use of video recording revolutionized the production of television shows. But live broadcasts remained in the arsenal of television companies to cover particularly important or particularly interesting events.
Sevent locations
At present, live broadcast is one of the most important formats of modern television and radio journalism. Live broadcast is carried out directly from the scene. True, due to technical features (the need to transmit a signal through a number of intermediate devices), this transmission is still carried out with a certain delay.
Today, when the digital, computer revolution has taken place in the technical equipment of television, live broadcasts have become even more popular. Viewers like to feel like participants in the events, get the latest information, keep abreast of developments. In 1986, a cry of horror swept the world at the accident of the American spacecraft Challenger.
Live broadcasts have many features and require special training from presenters and correspondents. These broadcasts are absolutely unpredictable and sometimes require an immediate non-standard reaction to what is happening. There are channels where live is the main format.
Surprises on air
Live TV sometimes brings unexpected surprises. In the summer of 1957, during the broadcast of the program "An Evening of Merry Questions" (the forerunner of the modern KVN), host Nikita Bogoslovsky proposed a competition for viewers. It was necessary to come to the television theater in a winter hat, fur coat and felt boots, with a newspaper for December 31 of the past, 1956. The presence of the newspaper was supposed to limit the number of applicants. However, in announcing this, he forgotsay about the newspaper!
As a result, a huge number of people came to the air (after all, everyone has winter clothes), a stampede began, and the broadcast had to be stopped. Until the end of the program on the screens of viewers was the inscription "Broadcast terminated for technical reasons."
Now we often see some scandals, indecent antics, sometimes even suicides on the screens. In 1998, HIV-positive Daniel Jones committed suicide. In 2004, Justin Timberlake accidentally exposed Janet Jackson's breasts by grabbing her leather corset.
Time is money
Because live broadcasts have a high rating, the cost of airtime is very high. Free air is extremely rare. Each TV channel sets its own rates per minute, depending on the day of the week, time of day. The highest prices are on weekends and during prime time, when the screens have the highest number of viewers. Live broadcast is provided free of charge in exceptional cases. The right to live broadcast significant interesting events is also bought by companies for a lot of money. Thus, the right to broadcast the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang costs from 40 to 50 million dollars. The exact numbers are a trade secret.
Airtime is provided for events of special national importance. Thus, the state channels provide candidates for the presidency of Russia with airtime on TV for campaigning.
