• csours 5 hours ago
    • throwpoaster 2 hours ago

      Related: the triboelectric[0] effect.

      [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triboelectric_effect

      • panki27 11 hours ago

        The link appears to be broken, it redirects me to the main page.

      • sixothree 6 hours ago

        Do we still use piezo to power clock circuits of modern computers?

        • nakamoto_damacy 5 hours ago

          no, we use atomic clocks now... j/k

          piezoelectric refers to generation of electricity from pressure applied to the material... the inverse of that effect is what generates oscillation.. quartz has a natural resonant frequency determined by its shape, size, and the way it’s cut, and when you apply AC it oscillates at a specific frequency.. the applied electricity causes is the material to deform.. that is the basic physical effect used in oscillators

          MEMS oscillators are increasingly replacing quartz in compact, rugged, or integrated designs.

          PLL-based frequency synthesis is used to scale a low-frequency reference (e.g., 25 MHz crystal) up to CPU/GPU GHz speeds.

          • willis936 5 hours ago

            MEMS are made on a different process than other silicon devices, which slightly increases their cost. They also need to have hermetically sealed packaging, same as quartz. Together there is little fundamental savings to be had with MEMS, but they do offer a higher ceiling on performance. I don't see crystals going away anytime soon.

            Also, if you get a MEMS in a small epoxy / CSP package be weary of gases that permeate the packaging material, such as helium.

            https://hackaday.com/2018/10/31/helium-can-stop-your-iphone-...

        • wizardforhire 12 hours ago

          Obligatory must watch old dod training film on the subject.

          https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZYyAYIUvI-M&pp=ygUiUXVhcnR6IGNye...

          • thenthenthen 10 hours ago

            As well as Crystals go to war, on the industrial production of crystal oscillators: https://youtu.be/wHenisSTUQY?si=GzjfOFHFOknKRQ9m

            • mikkupikku 9 hours ago

              I wish people still talked with the accent/style used in these old videos. It's so easy to understand and listen to, compared to the typical modern American accent.

              • ahartmetz 7 hours ago

                It seems to be https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_American_Speech aka Mid-Atlantic Accent - an artificial accent - with a fairly strong natural accent of the speaker coming through.

                • kulahan 3 hours ago

                  What is an artificial accent? Isn't every accent just the way people choose to speak?

                  • mitthrowaway2 an hour ago

                    An artificial accent is one where there are no native speakers raised with it, but rather people are professionally trained to speak with it.

                    • FuriouslyAdrift 2 hours ago

                      It's a way of speaking taught in broadcasting and acting schools

                      • kulahan 2 hours ago

                        I was under the impression that this is effectively teaching people to speak without any accent at all

                        • FuriouslyAdrift an hour ago

                          Oh no... it's an "accent". It's just a "desirable" one. Kind of like a posh accent in England.

                          • kulahan 36 minutes ago

                            Well no, definitely not - it’s just meant to be as clear as possible. The point is to make sure as many people as possible can understand you, which is very important in informational and entertaining broadcasts.

                  • FuriouslyAdrift 2 hours ago

                    The midwest has the most neutral accent although it is slowly drifting

                    https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/the-united-states-of-acce...

                • southwindcg 9 days ago

                  *Crystal

                  • pillars 9 days ago

                    Thank you! Updated.