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Old 03-08-2008, 11:24 AM   #24
jinx
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: general vicinity of Philadelphia area
Posts: 7,013
Interesting article related to vibrations...

Quote:
All objects have resonant frequencies at which they naturally oscillate. Pluck a guitar string and it will vibrate at a resonant frequency.
But resonating can get out of control. A famous example is the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which warped and finally collapsed in 1940 due to a wind that rocked the bridge back and forth at one of its resonant frequencies.
Viruses are susceptible to the same kind of mechanical excitation. An experimental group led by K. T. Tsen from Arizona State University have recently shown that pulses of laser light can induce destructive vibrations in virus shells.
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