"E.Voiskunsky, I.Lukodyanov. The Crew Of The Mekong (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

and said, "I didn't understand a thing. Your words are as vague as the
dreams of a camel. Now tell me straight out. What is it that you want?"
Privalov knew that the old man's brusque manner was not to be taken
seriously, and so he let the "camel" bit pass unheeded.
"I'll begin from the beginning", he said, taking a sip of tea. "We're
starting to design a pipeline across the bed of the Caspian."
The old man nodded.
"A pipeline, as you know, is not an end in itself," Privalov continued.
"It is only a means towards an end, which is a regular supply of oil."
"What's wrong with using a pipeline to attain this end?"
"As far as that goes, nothing. But what is the purpose of the pipes? To
separate the oil from the environment."
"That's well put."
"Please don't make fun of me, Bakhtiar Muellim. When it comes to the
technique of transporting oil across a sea, or transporting one liquid
through another in general, our thinking is conservative. How do our
pipelines differ from those used in ancient times? Well, the pipes are more
durable and the pumps more powerful. But the principle of the thing remains
the same. Pipeline delivery is better than using oil tankers, of course.
It's cheaper and it does not pollute the sea. But, you realize-"
"I realize that you don't like pipes. How do you propose to replace
them?"
"This is what came to my mind." Privalov finished his tea and moved his
glass aside. "I recalled Plato's experiment. If we take oil with the same
specific weight as that of water and pour it into the water, surface tension
will cause the oil to assume the minimum shape and form a sphere. Isn't that
so? But suppose we build up surface tension in such a way that it acts along
two axes instead of three? Then one cross-section of the oil will be a
circle and the other- In a word, the oil will take the shape of a cylinder.
The surface of the oil will become a pipe, as it were."
Professor Bagbanly grinned and shook his head. "Ingenious! A pipe
without a pipe. But please proceed."
"Further," Privalov continued enthusiastically, "we must have a field.
Imagine an underwater power beam pulsed along a route. A definite frequency
would generate a field in which the oil stretches along the beam. Do you
realize what that would mean? A stream of oil running through the water from
the west coast of the Caspian to the east coast."
"You've described the design of the steam locomotive to me," the
professor said. "Now tell me how it can travel without being pulled by
horses. What would make the stream of oil move?"
"Perhaps the energy of the beam itself. A conductor moves in a magnetic
field if it crosses lines of force, doesn't it? I don't know yet, Bakhtiar
Muellim. I'm just advancing a bare hypothesis."
"Bare and defenceless," the old man added.
There was a long silence. Then Professor Bagbanly rose and began to
pace the balcony.
"You speak of surface tension," he said finally, "and you hope old
Bakhtiar will gladden your ears with a harmonious concept. You nurse an idle
hope, my son. The surfaces of matter constitute one of the fundamental
riddles of modern physics. The surface tension of liquids is a zone where