Month: September 2015

Lego MindStorm

My partner and I put together the lego car called the VI that is programmed through LabView. We got to play around with the car and program it to do the motions we commanded it to. It was a really cool lab! We measured the distance the wheels traveled, the speed at which the car traveled,  the diameter of the wheel, the number of wheel turns, and the percent error. We ran the VI 3 times and recorded the data. The rotation of the wheel was off slightly from one to the other. Most of the information was given by the LabView program, except for the distance moved which we measured ourselves and also the percent error.

the velocity of our run- the velocity of original lab run÷ velocity of original lab run x 100%=  % error

Lab Run :  Time: 1 sec.

power 1&2 : 75

wheel diameter: 0.17in

Rotation 1: 577    Rotation 2: 586

# of wheel turns: 1.6

Distance moved : 27cm

Velocity: 0.272m/s

Run 1

time: 1 sec

power 1&2 : 72

wheel diameter: 0.17in

Rotation 1: 552    Rotation 2: 559

# of wheel turns: 1.5

Distance moved : 26cm

Velocity: 0.266m/s

% error: 1.64%

Run 2

time: 1 sec

power 1&2 : 69

wheel diameter: 0.17in

Rotation 1: 532    Rotation 2: 539

# of wheel turns: 1.4

Distance moved : 25cm

Velocity: 0.254m/s

% error: 1.59%

Run 3

time: 1 sec

power 1&2 : 55

wheel diameter: 0.17in

Rotation 1: 408    Rotation 2: 414

# of wheel turns: 1.1

Distance moved : 19cm

Velocity: 0.192m/s

% error: 1.39%

 

 

 

 

Climate Change

In the last decade we have experienced global warming like never before. People might say this is a problem beyond the human power to resolve. Obama views this problem at a different approach. He states that the U.S power plants are the source of about 1/3 of America’s carbon pollution, which is more pollution than our cars, airplanes , and our homes generate combined.

Obama is taking the biggest step to fighting climate change by establishing the Clean Power Plan. He is giving each state the opportunity to put together it’s own plan to reduce emissions, which gives states the time they need to cut pollution in a way that works for them. This plan sets standards to reduce 32% of carbon dioxide in America by the year 2030. It will protect the health of American families, boost our economy by creating tens of thousands of jobs and continuing to lower the costs of renewable energy, and save enough energy to power 30 million homes in 2030. Progress has already been made thanks to Obama’s approach on increasing solar energy by 10 times and tripling electricity production from wind power. Alaska is a huge part of global warming in America due to the humongous glaciers, its considered the “belly of the beast”. There are villages in Alaska that are extremely vulnerable to rising water situations. Obama proposed to fund $50.4 million to help relocate Alaskan villages affected by climate change.

There has been a 7.22% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in our atmosphere already since Obama’s presidency. The Obama Administration has also introduced the most effective Fuel Economy Standards in U.S history. Vehicles will be performing 54.5 miles per gallon, the U.S will have saved 1.7 trillion on the pump, 12 billion barrels of oil will have been saved, and 6 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution will have been eliminated. All of these things will be achieved by the year of 2025. President Obama has taken the biggest steps to change global warming while he can because time is not on our side, as he said ” In this situation, there is such thing as being too late.”

 

References:

“President Obama’s Plan to Fight Climate Change.” The White House. The White House, 2015. Web. 22 Sept. 2015. <https://www.whitehouse.gov/climate-change>.

Goodell, Jeff. “Obama Takes on Climate Change: The Rolling Stone Interview.” Rolling Stone. Jeff Goodell, 23 Sept. 2015. Web. 24 Sept. 2015. <http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/obama-takes-on-climate-change-the-rolling-stone-interview-20150923>.

“Global Warming & Climate Change.” Global Warming & Climate Change. NYtimes, 23 Sept. 2015. Web. 25 Sept. 2015. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming>.

G.M.O

The G.M.O article goes back and forth about people who think genetically modified foods are good or have negative effects. A study reported that G.M.O corn caused tumors in rats, which makes it believable that it could effect humans negatively in the long hall. And then there is comments such as this; “Even when we are taking genes from animals and inserting them into plants or vice-versa, the results are still safe, reduce pesticide use, and dramatically increase crop yields.” On the other hand, theres a petition signed by 354,000 saying g.m.o.s endanger public health and some dedicated protesters; “These chemical companies think they’re going to win,” one woman said. “Hell, no, they’re never going to win here.” In my opinion putting genetically modified substances in plants to make them grow faster is the same as someone putting steroids in their bodies to make them grow faster. It’s good for the moment but the side effects and consequences could prove to be deadly in the future. Something that caught my attention in this article was Margaret’s suspicion of the biotech company, “And her bill, like much anti-G.M.O. action, was inspired by distrust of the seed-producing biotechnology companies, which had backed a state measure to prevent local governments from regulating their activity.” Why would a company thats supposedly making food supply “better” and “safe” be hiding their activities from the government? Pretty sketchy if you ask me. I believe that these unorthodox methods of food production is detrimental to our health and environment.