23 Mar
2006
23 Mar
'06
3:47 p.m.
On Thursday 23 March 2006 04:21 pm, Jim Beacon wrote:
From: "Scott Quinn" <compoobah at
valleyimplants.com>
I remember seeing those in a book somewhere...
Not much use I can think of in computing, but in
other things quite
useful. Most obvious is gold prospecting, also used in other metalwork
(tempering bath), and in a hobby that will not be named to remove lead
that is stuck to steel.
Also vacuum pumps for home particle accelerators.
If you go back far enough, mercury was used in memories (mercury delay line
in some early British machines). It is also often used in high speed relays, especially
for teleprinter type
circuits - we had some mainframe / telegraph interfaces with mercury wetted
relays in them, in operation, until about 8 years ago
I have a mercury-wetted relay I salvaged out of something or other. Says so
right on it. :-) It also indicates that it should be used in one specific
physical orientation, too.
So the advantage of those is speed?
--
Member of the toughest, meanest, deadliest, most unrelenting -- and
ablest -- form of life in this section of space, a critter that can
be killed but can't be tamed. --Robert A. Heinlein, "The Puppet Masters"
-
Information is more dangerous than cannon to a society ruled by lies. --James
M Dakin