My esteemed colleague is referring to Tubium (Tu 63.5), another of the half
fractional elements. As Dave indicates, by itself it does not have much
structural strength, and is very difficult to extract from Gornomite ore,
but when used as an alloying element, it improves many properties.  A very
small amount of Tu reduces the signal loss in microwave antennas, so all
horn antennas have a light layer of aluminum-Tubium alloy.  Tubium oxide (Tu
2O4) is red itself and when excited, produces red in computer screens, very
similar to Europium, just below Tu in the periodic table.  Tubium, at
cryogenic temperatures has been shown to have a negative resistance, but
also highly unstable.



Tubium was first isolated as a pure element by Dr. Banya Duwa, University
of Burma at Gyobinauk, in 1954.  The local concentration of Gornomite ore
was quite high in the area and the properties seem to change with
temperature.  After years of research, he was able to get a pure sample.
Investigating the thermal properties of the new material, he placed a small
amount in liquid oxygen. He found the resulting combination highly
unstable.  It is said the fireball was about a kilometer across.  Truly
tragic.  Almost all of his research went up in smoke, which is why few
people (other than me of course) know about it.



So, Dave, what do I win this week?


Doug Pauls
Principal Materials and Process Engineer
Rockwell Collins

On Thu, Aug 10, 2017 at 8:25 AM, David Hillman <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Here is the Element Quiz Question:
>
> The Question:
> This element is a metal but is not very useful by itself. The combination
> with iron results in a filter for microwave communication systems or the
> combination with aluminum results in a material that can intensify a single
> frequency of light. The oxide of this element can be used to produce the
> color red for TV and computer screens. This element played a key role in
> superconductor research. Which element is being described?
>
>
> The winner of the quiz will get the services of Clumpy and Kloumpios for
> the week.
>
>
> So far Clumpy and Kloumpios have done the following:
>
> Past Quiz winners/tasks:
> Week 1 Ravinder Ajmani, Western Digital
> Week 1 Ron Feyereisen, SigmaTron Intl.
> Week 2 Louis Hart, Compunetics
> Week 3 Mark Kostinovsky, Schlumberger Ltd.
> Week 3 John Burke
> Week 4 Drew Meyer, Benchmark Electronics
> Week 5 No Winner - no correct responses!
> Week 6 Bhanu Sood, NASA
> Week 7 Keith Calhoun, Sopark Corp
> Week 7 Ian Fox, Rolls Royce
> Week 8 Leland Woodall
> Week 8 David Bealer, SMT
> Week 9 Tom Carroll, Boeing
> Week 10 Louis Hart, Compunetics
> Week 11 Tom Carroll, Boeing
> Week 11 Scott Decker, UTAS
> Week 12 Matthias Mansfeld, Mansfeld Elektronik PCB Design and Assembly
> Week 13 No Quiz,
> Week 14 Matthias Mansfeld, Mansfeld Elektronik PCB Design and Assembly
> Week 15 Bhanu Sood, NASA
> Week 16 John Maxwell
> Week 17 Leland Woodall
> Week 18 Leland Woodall
> Week 19 Tom Carroll, Boeing
> Week 20 Robert Kondner
> Week 21 Tom Brendlinger, ClearMotion Inc.
> Week 22 Carl Van Wormer, Cipher Engineering LCC
> Week 23 Juliano Ribeiro, DATACOM
> Week 24 Gerry Gagnon, FLIR Commercial Systems
> Week 25 Graham Collins, Sunsel Systems
> Week 26 Joyce Koo, IPC International
> Week 26 Todd MacFadden, Bose
> Week 27 Bhanu Sood, NASA
> Week 28 Leland Woodall
>
> Week 29 Mordechai Kirshenbaum
> - You picked a bad time to send the boys to Israel. This weekend is going
> be very hot and very humid in Tel Aviv (92 F and 80% RH) and extremely hot
> inside the country (117 F in the Jordan Valley). I have arranged for them a
> hotel in Tel Aviv, near the Mediterranean Sea so the boys will enjoy the
> cool air in the hotel or run 100 yard and enjoy the sea. The weather is
> going to cool down on Monday so they can go out the hotel and do some paper
> work. I shall take care that they drink enough water.
>
> Week 30 Leland Woodall
> - It's roasting in NC right now, so the guys and I will have some early
> morning golf this weekend.  Next week they can assist me with writing work
> instructions for our rework department.  Joy, joy, right?
>
> Week 31 Leland Woodall
> - assisted with ????
>
> Week 32 Steve Gregory
> - assisted with ????
>
> Week 33 ????
> - assisted with ????
>
>
> I hope everyone has a awesome week.
>
> Dave Hillman
> Rockwell Collins
> [log in to unmask]
>