Brainstorming time! During class, we brainstormed on what we were going to do for the group design experiment. We tried searching through various links in the internet about something related to the Lego Mindstorm Kit but we could not find something that aroused our interest. At first we wanted something that could be fun to do because who doesn’t like doing fun experiment?! But after thinking for a while, we figured that we won’t be getting any results or analysis with doing fun experiments. Soon after, we changed our minds and decided not to use the Lego Mindstorm Kit and instead, thought of doing something similar to what we did in class, using Solar Cells. To be more specific, we will be testing the voltage of three different solar cells. One will be clear as in nothing will be covered on it, one will be covered with water to simulate rain in real life, and one will be covered with a little bit of dirt/dust as to simulate when dust forms over time. These will be the three experiments that we will be doing for the design experiment. I thought of wanting to do a forth experiment that could simulate snow but my fellow teammates told me that normally solar cells are placed in a slant form so that when the solar cell generates heat, the snow could fall.

On November 4th, 2015, the seminar for freshman class went on a trip to visit the Nuclear reactor of MIT. After arriving there there, we all had to leave our bags in a room because we can’t bring anything to the nuclear reactor. But before going to the nuclear reactor, an Assistant Superintendant, Frank Warmsley the III, gave us a lecture about the nuclear reactor history. Like, the reactor was opened in 1958, and it upgraded two times, one in 1975, and later in 2010. Right now, it operates at a high 6 MW thermal power, and that is produces no greenhouse gases. Also it uses water as a coolant.There was stuff I didn’t get, but he said some interesting things that I haven’t heard about before. After we finished from the lecture, we will finally went to the reactor itself. The hype was real. I have not been to a nuclear reactor before in my life, so this was so exciting for me, and pretty much all of us. Before we gone to the reactor, the door to enter it was an air lock, and it uses an iris scanner lock. I didn’t know it existed until that day. There was another thing that I didn’t expect was the reactor is in fact blue colored. Unlike cartoons and other tv series that say the reactor is green.Finally, we went to the control room, where everything is controlled there. There, a guy who works to keep an eye out for if anything happens, but it is rarely that something major happens because this nuclear reactor is for research purposes only. When we finally were about to finish for today, we had to scan our bodies with this machine that would detect if we picked up any nuclear particles along our tour. Going to this trip was worth it, and would definitely go again if I had the chance.

On November 2, 2015 we experimented on solar cells also known as Photovoltaics. Photovoltaics can convert solar energy into electricity, and we will do this using an NXT solar cell.

After connecting the solar cell, NXT adapter, and a voltage probe together with a computer, we opened the program: LabVIEW to get the results. We will be using our IPhone flash for a light source. The overall number of trials we will be doing first is 4. Each will be a 10 second time interval, meaning 10 different numbers will appear.

First trial is without any light, my hand was on the solar cell to cover all lights coming from the class room. When we ran the program, 10 different numbers appeared. Second trail was 1cm away from the solar cell, the numbers that appeared were larger than the first trial. Third trial was 5cm away from the solar cell, the numbers appeared were a little less than the second trial, but it was more than the first trial. The fourth trial was 10cm away from the solar cell, the numbers were not the same as the first one, but they were the closest. Thus, the farther away you are from the solar cell, the weaker the voltage gets.

“Table Trials”

We also got the graph of the average of the voltage, this negative linear trend line shows that the theory is correct.

“Distance vs Ave of Voltage”

Next what we did was, we had the distance fixed on 1cm away from the solar cell, and got 3 different colored film filters (Green, Red, and Blue). We performed the same method as the first 4 trials but this time, we just switch the colored filters and see how will it affect the voltage output.

“Bar Chart, Filter color vs Ave of the Voltage”

As you can see, the blue bar is the lowest, and the no filter bar is the highest. So this chart shows that the dark colors are was absorbing more light, not allowing much light to pass through.

Overall, I had fun experimenting in this lab, it was very useful and educational for us to learn more about the Photovoltaics, and I got to know that by making a few changes in the distance can change the voltage and current.

Iran, a country in the Middle East. Iran has been suspicious of making nuclear weapons. While Iran insists of not building any, its developments of uranium and history of deception created doubts. After years of ill feeling and threats to bomb Iran’s facilities, Iran and world powers agreed July 14 to settle the argument. According to Bloomberg, the deal will set on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear work in exchange for relief from economic sanctions that crimped oil exports and hobbled its economy. Under the deal, Iran will maintain the ability to enrich uranium but only for peaceful purposes. Third of Iran’s centrifuges capable of separating the explosive uranium-235 isotope from uranium ore will stay.

Many years of distrust and suspicion have made the crisis over Iran’s nuclear program hard to solve. BBC states that Iran does not want a nuclear bomb, but insists on exercising its right to run a peaceful nuclear industry. Many countries still do not believe Iran’s declared intentions. In 2006, Iran has agreed to join in a diplomatic efforts with regards to the nuclear program with the so called P5+1 — China, France, Russia, the UK, and the US; plus Germany.

Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Since 2003, concern over Iran’s nuclear program has increased as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) spar over investigation and details of Iran’s program. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has repeatedly denied Iran is building a bomb and says weapons of mass destruction are forbidden under Islam. On January 12, 2015 – Iran announced that they will begin eliminating some of its uranium stockpile on January 20. On July 17, 2015 – a deal has been made that reduces the number of Iranian centrifuges by 2/3. And on July 20, The U.N. Security Council declared the support of the nuclear deal.

Sources:

1. http://www.bloombergview.com/quicktake/irans-uranium-enrichment
2. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32114862
3. http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/07/world/meast/irans-nuclear-capabilities-fast-facts/

On October 26 2015, we are going to use a tube that has a magnet that will go back and forth through a coil of wire. This is called a generator and it can generate power. How it works is according to Faraday’s Law; changing the magnetic fluxes through coiled wires will generate electricity. The greater the change in magnetic flux, the better the current and voltage is.

To prove this law, we will perform it in real life.

First, we linked the LEGO mindstorm (NXT) with an adapter, then using a voltage probe, we connect it to the coils of the generator, then to the computer to get the results using the program LabVIEW.

We will perform 5 experiments, each with a different number of shakes and all of them will be a thirty second time interval.

The first one was  zero number of shakes meaning no shakes at all, the second one was 25 shakes, the third one was 65 shakes but faster, the fourth one was 90 shakes and a bit more faster, and the last one was 105 shakes but much more faster and stronger.

After performing all 5 different shakes, we get the sum of the squares of the voltages. Graphing it on Microsoft Excel, we get a trending positive linear graph, what does this mean? It means that Faraday’s Law was right, the faster we shake the tube, the greater the voltage and current is.

Pandora’s Promise is a film that will change your opinion of nuclear power. It’s a shame though that so few people see these kind of documentaries, because this film has the power to change the way we think about nuclear energy. The film Pandora’s Promise convincingly argues that we should take several more looks at the power source everyone loves to hate. Or, as the former nuke hater Stewart Brand says, “What if what I’ve been thinking and my friends have been thinking all this time has been wrong?”

We need nuclear to ward off the environmental crisis. That’s what I thought when I watched the opening scenes of the film. Throughout the history of nuclear energy, since the first nuclear energy station that was connected to the grid opened in Obninsk, Russia, in 1954, it has been affected by its military heritage. thirty minutes through the movie, it gets to the point: Nuclear power, the energy source many people are scared of the most, is the best and currently the only way to satisfy the world’s compulsive demand for electricity without producing CO2 and other emissions that contribute to climate change. The film considered the concerns safety issues for building and constructing nuclear power stations, and the poor safety design of early reactors: Fukushima, Three Mile Island, and Chernobyl, unlike today’s nuclear reactors that are safe and good.

Overall, Pandora’s Promise was an interesting film. Much of the film was quite beautiful and artfully put together by the director. I didn’t know much about nuclear before watching this, but now I feel like I gained more knowledge after. I think the important message that the film wants to give us is: we can’t keep attacking our problems from neither one way, left nor right, we need to work together to find the most effective answer, no matter party politics.

Rating: 4/5

Full Cast: Stewart Brand, Gwyneth Cravens, Mark Lynas, Richard Rhodes, Michael Shellenberger, and Charles Till.

Directed by: Robert Stone.

The Next Giant Leap starts right here on Earth

Traveling to Mars is so amazing. If I ever had a chance to travel to Mars, I would gladly go. The average distance between Earth and Mars is about 225 Million kilometers. The atmosphere in Mars is mostly carbon dioxide, some water vapor, and is 100 times thinner than Earth’s atmosphere, with also very little oxygen. Carbon dioxide is a gas that is vital to all life forms on Earth, which is why, you have to wear a space suit to breathe. The moon, unlike Earth who has only 1 moon, Mars in fact has 2 moons. The mass on Mars is much less than that of Earth’s, meaning the gravity of Mars is less than Earth’s, roughly about 0.375 that of Earth’s. For example, If you weigh 165 pounds on Earth, you will only weigh 62 pounds on Mars.

Traveling to Mars, exploring the galaxy as you travel. Engineers and scientists around the country, working hard and designing new technologies that astronauts will use, one day in the future, and return home safely. With NASA developing the necessary needs to send Humans to Mars, and is said to be finished by 2030s. While rovers, and other robotic explorers have studied Mars for more than 40 years, NASA’s plans for Human exploration of Mars in low-Earth orbit aboard the International Space Station. For National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s next big step, where they will be sending a robotic mission to capture and redirect an asteroid to orbit the moon. The Astronauts will aboard an Orion ship, and will explore the asteroid in the 2020s, returning with some samples to examine. This will help NASA to test new techs and capabilities, like something called Solar Electric Propulsion. Other spacecraft and robots have already on Mars for a long time, fairly increasing our knowledge about, the sometimes called The Red Planet, Mars.

In 2011, Bas Lansdorp and Arno Wielders set the foundation to begin the Mars One mission plan. In 2020, a mission will set to demonstrate the concepts for some of the technologies, and making sure that it’s safe to lunch for humans to aboard. There will also be a communication satellite that will be lunched with it that will allow the 2 planets to communicate, send picture, videos, and other data from Mars. In 2026, A transit habitat and a Mars lander with an assembly crew on it will be launched into the orbit around Earth. Then the first fully trained Mars crew will be lunched into the same Earth orbit and will switch places in the orbit, then the assembly crew will descend back to Earth. After a final check on the systems of the transit vehicle, engines of the propellant stages will be fired and then the Transit Vehicle will be launched on a transit trajectory. Roughly 24 hours before they land in 2027, the crew will move from the transit to the landing module because the transit habitat is too large to land on Mars, then will be detached, and left discarded in orbit around the sun. After landing, it will take about 48 hours to get used to the gravity of Mars. A rover will then pick up the astronauts and guide them to the already set settlement and enter through the airlock in one of the living units, spending a few more days to get used to the new environment. After a couple more weeks, the cargo for the second crew arrives. In 2028, the second crew will depart and will then land on Mars in 2029, the cargo for the third crew lunched with them. And thi will continue to repeat as more crew land every 2 years.

The most dangerously, and risky part about the journey to Mars is, the return trip. For the travel to be safe, bigger rockets, and stronger materials. Mars One has already started making preparations to developed these things. For one to go to Mars, the candidate will have to learn skills, knowledge, and the courage to handle all the responsibilities in taking this great mission. The whole world will watch the great moment when the time comes.

‘Space.com’ has confirmed that it is possible sending humans to Mars by 2030, and is affordable. If it’s going to happen, some key changes are needed. According to them, “a workshop group of more than 60 individuals representing more than 30 government, industry, academic and other organizations has found that a NASA-led manned mission to Mars is feasible if the space agency’s budget is restored to pre-sequestration levels.” It will also require some international aid. Among the space community, lunching humans to Mars should have a priority worth working on. The Inspiration Mars mission will lunch a couple on a flyby of Mars. This is a private mission, and might be a good precursor mission before a full Martian landing, according to Chris Carberry, an influential director in the space community.

The new movie ‘The Martian’, the story of a crew of astronauts that will go to Mars, and have to stay there for 2 months, then depart back to Earth in their Orbital probe. However, 6 days after their landing, a massive martian storm hits them and they are then forced to come back to Earth. Leaving their friend who they presumed dead, but with the lives of the commander’s crew at risk, she was forced to leave him behind without having the chance to look for their lost friend. The idea that a manned mission to Mars is very near in the future. I hope all these calculations, possibilities, and judgments are accurate and becomes real in the future. To be able to see how human kind grows to be able to travel to Mars, or maybe even other planets, If possible, is a really breathtaking thing.

Resources:-

1. https://www.nasa.gov/content/nasas-journey-to-mars/
2. http://www.mars-one.com/
3. http://www.space.com/24268-manned-mars-mission-nasa-feasibility.html
4. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3659388/

In this lab, me and my partner will be using the Lego Mindstorm Experiment. Like before, but this time, we will use it to lift weights with a pulley. Using the motor that moves the car that we used last time, and got a 0.24kg mass weight, we tied it with a string, passing through the pulley, and connected it to the motor. Now, the weights consist of 12 pieces of circled weights, each weight has it’s own certain mass, the smallest one is 0.1kg, the biggest one is 0.5kg, and the rest of the 9 medium one’s are each 0.2g. The motor is connected to the computer to see our measurements on the program LabView. After measuring all the data we get, we will then have to graph the points using Excel.

Our first task was to measure the Speed, and the Acceleration of the weight going upwards and the power being fixed on 75, we tried doing three trials measuring it, each has different mass. First trial had a mass of 0.24kg, second one was 0.19kg, and the last one was 0.11. Our conclusion was after we got the results, the smaller the mass was, the bigger the acceleration and the speed is.

Next, we tried measuring also 3 trials but now, the mass is fixed on 0.17kg and the power is different. We made a table using Microsoft Excel that has the 6 total data of all the trials we made:

You can see in the table that we also got the results of the Potential Energy(P) measured in Joules, and the Power measured in Watts. To get the potential energy, we used the formula P = m.g.h, which is Mass times Acceleration Due to Gravity times the Height between the weights and the pulley. The height is the same on all trials, and it’s 0.205m. The Acceleration Due to Gravity is fixed on 9.8 because it’s the gravity of the earth. So, the first trial becomes this: P = 0.24 x 9.8 x 0.205 = 0.48216 and we did the rest repeating the same process. To get the Power, we do time/ potential energy. So the first trial becomes this: 1.989/0.48216 So to get the power, we first have to find out the potential energy.

Now after explaining how to get the acceleration, speed, potential energy, and power. We will now plot the data using Excel to make the our analysis easier.

First graph was Mass (kg) versus Acceleration (RMP/s), we used all mass and acceleration that had the power fixed on 75. The analysis was a linear graph, and the it showed us that, the more the mass increased, the more the acceleration decreases. As you can see, the line is not going through the points, which is okay though.

On this graph was, Acceleration (RPM/s) versus Power Level (Force). We used all inputs that had the mass fixed on 0.17kg. The analysis showed us again a linear graph but, as the power level increases, the acceleration also increases.

The third one was, Mass (kg) versus Battery Discharge (mV). Again, we used all inputs that had the power fixed on 75. This showed us that as the mass increases, the more battery discharge created increases as well, and is also a linear graph.

Last graph we did, Power (Force) vesus Power level (Watts). Now this one I like because, the linear like passes through all points perfectly unlike the other graphs we did. The inputs we used were all power and power level that had the same mass 0.17 .  As the power level increased, the power is also increasing.

Overall experiment was great and a fun way to learn how to get the velocity, acceleration, learning about how to get the potential energy and that you have to know the potential energy to get the power, we also got to use Microsoft Excel, because I don’t usually use it a lot, it’s helpful for graphing and creating tables. The graph showed us that all the results that we got was either a positive linear, or a negative linear trend line. I feel like I have gained much more experience in this lab and hope we will use the Lego Mindstorm program in the future.

On Monday October 5^th 2015, the class of SF-197 went on a tour to the visit the library at 2:30pm. The Mildred Frank Sawyer Library, located on the 2^nd floor of the 73 Tremont Building. The library has three floors, 2^nd floor, 3^rd floor, and the 4^th floor. Every floor has it’s own layout, the 2^nd floor was for reference books, circulation desk, networked printers, photocopiers and scanners. The 3^rd floor has a lot of study rooms, study tables and carrels, which also has photocopiers and scanners, a library instruction room, and restrooms. The 4^th floor, also called the quite study floor, because it’s so quite, you can hear the flies flapping their wings. Most students study there.

When I first went to the library on the second floor which is the entrance level, a guide named Linzie gathered us all together. We gathered near the Reference desk, there, we all checked our names for attendance. She talked about some things like the hours of the library, it’s open weekdays, from 8am till Midnight, and on weekends, from 8am till 8pm. After everyone has arrived, we went to the 3^rd floor, in a room full of computers. All these computers are controlled by a single computer that guide Linzie controls. We all sat on each computer there, and the library web page was open www.suffolk.edu/sawlib on the computer. You can know almost everything about the library here, from books you want search in the library database, to even asking a librarian online. To book a study room, you have to click the ‘Book group study rooms’, when you click it, you will get a table that you can select the room, time and date you want the study room to be.

So, you don’t know what’s the name of the book you want, but you know what it contains. On the “Search Library Resources” section, click ‘OneSearch’, if we searched “Sustainability”, you will get every source that contains Sustainability in it. That’s amazing! But, you will get a 14k result of sources that is about sustainability, and that’s a bit hard to find the book that you want, so you can limit it to the year the book was created, let’s say the book that we want has to be in 2015, you will get 1k books that has sustainability in it, from 14k to 1k. But that’s not all, you can limit it even more! The subject of the book, it has to be about ‘Sustainable Development’, you will get only 150 results that has it’s subject about sustainable development. Want to limit it even more?? You can! We also want to have the subject to be about ‘Climate Change’. You will get only 7 books that has it’s subject about sustainable development, and climate change. So from 14,000 to only 7 books, that’s a really cool and useful feature to have.

Finally, let’s search for our book called “Beyond Smoke and Mirrors”, to do that, you go to ‘Books’ in “Search Library Resources” section, and search Beyond Smoke and Mirrors. You can either choose the electric (ebook) version of the book, or the one you will find in the library. Click the latter, there you will find the author, publisher, the contents of the book, and you can know if it’s available or not. And that’s another really nice feature to have.

Fuel efficiency is a form of internal energy. It is an important factor to all car nowadays. The Environmental Protection Agency has announced that the average fuel economy of the new cars in the US has reached a new high record in 2013. According to them, it has rose to 24.1 miles per gallon(mpg), up to 0.5 mpg in 2012 and nearly 5 mpg in 2004. That’s a great length from 22.4 mpg average in 2011 to 24.1 mpg. And because of that, today’s vehicles are saving most American’s money and, while also emitting fewer greenhouse gasses. Now this happened because the EPA is tests how cars and trucks actually perform in the real world. Which is really helpful, rather than just looking at what the fuel economy rules say would happen.

   Fuel Economy

A motor corporation called Mazda had the highest average fuel economy for 2013 cars sold in the US at 28.1 mpg, followed by Honda at 27.4 mpg and then Subaru at 26.7. In 2012, the Obama administration had finalized a new rule on vehicles that will bring the average fuel economy to 54.5 mpg by a predicted year of 2025. But not all cars and trucks will be at a 54.5 mpg in 2025, as long as they balance out at 54.5, automakers will be in line with the standards.

In 2001, the average U.S. fuel economy was at the lowest point of mpg since 1980. Techs to enhance that data point languish are ready to be enforced however still unused. Promises of latest technologies that may considerably raise the fuel economy of the vehicles are slow-tracked by manufacturers.

‘The tug of war in 2002 and 2003 between Detroit and those who advocate leaner, and cleaner vehicles was the latest battle in a years of struggle over fuel economy.” ()

Electric vehicle has been popular nowadays in the US. Sales of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles has gone up 84% from 2012 to 2013, with fully-electric vehicles experiencing even more of aa sudden increase. those sales went up 241% in 2013, evening out at about 47,600 total cars being sold. Americans bought solely slightly more plug-in hybrids in 2013, 49,000 were sold-out within the U.S., bringing the overall electrical and hybrid automobile sales within the U.S. to over 96,000.

5 most fuel efficient cars:

2015 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive

2015 Toyota Prius C

2015 Toyota Prius

2015 Honda Civic Hybrid

2015 Ford Fusion Hybrid

As you can see, all of them are made in 2015. Proof that cars mpg are still rising to a greater level. And hope will keep rising onwards and forth at a great pace and for a better setting like this.

References:-

1. http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/10/09/3577925/average-us-fuel-economy-hits-record-high/
2. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2013/12/13/cars-in-the-u-s-are-more-fuel-efficient-than-ever-heres-how-it-happened/
3. http://www.kbb.com/car-reviews-and-news/top-10/highest-mpg-cars-under-25000-2015/2000011743-1/
4. http://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/fuel-efficiency/life-in-the-slow-lane#.VhkmhxNViko