blackout

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The English collective term blackout (in German about "darkening") has several subject-specific meanings, some of which are also common in German today.

Meanings

  • Originally the term blackout referred to the sudden, complete extinction of the headlights at the end of a scene in the cabaret , later also in the theater . This results in a very strong reduction in contrast , so that the audience can no longer see or recognize anything.
  • A blackout is the sudden, supra-regional and prolonged blackout in large power grids. The term became particularly popular with the major power failure in the USA in 2003 and the power failure in Europe in November 2006 . In contrast to local failures, such a failure also leads to far-reaching infrastructure failures (telecommunications, water, sewage, money, food, health care, etc.) or to considerable restrictions even after the immediate power failure. [1]
  • In energy technology, a blackout or blackfall station is a power failure in a power plant. Power plants can only start up again on their own (without a power grid) if they have a so-called black start capability, which is the exception. In addition, coal-fired power stations react very slowly and need several hours to restart when they are cold. [2]
  • After a shutdown (e.g. emergency shutdown), nuclear power plants require considerable amounts of electricity in order to continue operating the pumps in the cooling system. Every nuclear reactor produces decay heat after shutdown ; if this is not discharged, the fuel rods melt ( core meltdown ); there is also a risk of explosion (see Fukushima nuclear disaster 2011). A station blackout must therefore be avoided at all costs.
  • A blackout (or film tear ) is colloquially a temporary loss of memory ; this can be associated with unconsciousness .
    • An example of this is exam anxiety , which can culminate in the fact that you actually no longer remember what you have learned in an exam.
    • Furthermore, one can suffer a film tear when being intoxicated with alcohol , which can manifest itself as a memory loss of up to several hours (medical: amnesia or palimpsest ).
  • In aviation , blackout means a state of unconsciousness and momentary blindness , caused by a lack of blood in the brain caused by extreme flight maneuvers . It occurs in particular with accelerations that press the blood into the legs, such as when flying tight turns or catching a dive . First, the field of vision is narrowed ( greyout ), until you can no longer see anything at all, but the other senses remain unaffected, and then you may lose consciousness. While unconscious, the aircraft continues to fly uncontrolled; a crash can occur. To reduce the effect, military pilots have been wearing anti-g-suits (g-trousers or the so-called dragonfly ) for decades , because military aircraft want to fly to the physically possible limits. The opposite of the blackout is the redout .
  • In space travel , a 3–20 minute interruption in radio communication due to the resulting plasma envelope when a spacecraft re-enters the earth's atmosphere (for example to a space shuttle ) is referred to as a blackout , depending on the entry corridor .
  • In media studies, the blackout describes the complete silence of the media, especially in the context of military media policy in 1945 . At that time all German media were closed because of their National Socialist impact; then the Western Allies began a democratically oriented structure. The Soviets immediately expropriated all publishers in the Soviet Zone ; numerous communist cadres were given the ideological task of reshaping the worldview in the direction of socialism (details here ).
  • When diving for a distance, a so-called swimming pool blackout can occur. This loss of consciousness can occur suddenly and without warning and lead to death by drowning without outside help.

See also

literature

  • Article Blackout in: German Foreign Dictionary , 2nd, completely revised edition, Volume 2 ( Baby - Cutter ). De Gruyter, Berlin 1995, pp. 342-344.

Web links

Wiktionary: Blackout  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations