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Last Thursday we had a great opportunity to go on a tour of the nuclear reactor at MIT.  The walk there was a huge problem.  If we had taken a train we would have had more time to learn about how this machine was used.  What I took home was that this machine was used to help treat brain cancer and used to learn about nuclear energy. This machine only does nuclear fission.  I wish I had taken notes because the lecture went by very quickly and covered tons of information that would be helpful for writing this blog.  It was a great experience to be able to go inside the reactor and see the different lab experiments set up around the core.  At first I was scared to go into the containment because of radiation and other dangerous things.  I know that these are safe places because my dad works at Seabrook power plant and does shutdowns every year.  He has taught me a lot about nuclear energy so I had a good understanding before going to the core.  I thought that it was really neat that one girl can record all the readings and control the nuclear reactor.  The tour was a great experience and I am glad I was able to go.  Overall, the tour was very rushed and we learned as much as we could with the small amount of time we had to go on the tour.

Pandora’s promise is a documentary film about a variety of people who became pro nuclear energy.  The movie starts showing an environmentalist view about how dangerous nuclear power is and how it can be used to make weapons.  They talk about the cons of nuclear energy and how it is dangerous, in which radiation is released into public, meltdowns, and how it’s deadly.  The movie then moves on to where the pros of nuclear energy outweigh cons.  There are so many good things about nuclear energy, but people choose to believe everything that they hear.  These claims were backed in this movie showing how nuclear power is safe, creates no CO2, is clean, and can create a lot of power.  None of these environmentalist actually knew how safe nuclear energy really is.

In the movie a brief history of nuclear power, where it came from, and how it came to be used was explained. It came first from nuclear submarines. This process to make nuclear power is called nuclear fission. The movie then discussed the different kinds of nuclear power plants that were used around the world.  I learned that a lot of things I thought were true were are not.  I learned that the Chernobyl had no containment building and that not as many people died as I thought.  I learned that 4,000 died due to Chernobyl and that the radiation levels there are actually lower than some natural places on earth.  People actually live right near Chernobyl and are completely healthy.  All these stories were learned are made to scare us away from a better source of energy.

The United States has never had a death from nuclear power plants.  The Three Mile Island never happened because we used containment shelters in case of leaks.  The U.S. did not sign the Kyoto protocol because they knew it wasn’t possible for our country to use less power forever.  Nuclear is actually the second safest energy source, even more so than solar.

Overall, this movie was very interesting to watch. I learned a lot about nuclear energy and my view have changed because the U.S. has never had a meltdown or leaked dangerous amounts harmful radiation.  In my opinion the movie was bias toward the pros of nuclear energy.  It was to inform people of how good nuclear power is and how safe it can be.  Not to scare people away from it again.  After watching this movie I am confident to say nuclear power is the way to power the world because it’s the safest and produces no greenhouse gases.

Force and Energy, Velocity and Accretion, and Power

This lab was very simple but a majority had technical problems. Our group, Jean and I were able to do this lab without any problems. We made all of the graphs and got our data accurately as possible. The first thing we did was download the program which records data received to an excel file.  The first step was to explore newton’s law F=ma. I found that the acceleration increases as the mass decreases or if mass increases acceleration decreases.  I also found that the acceleration increased as power level increases.  We then graphed this data in excel.

Link to excel file

This is the excel file that shows we found our own data and made graphs to show that our data was accurate.

Josh and Jean second trial

The second part was to explore conservation of energy. We had to compute potential energy using PE = mgh (mass)*(gravity)*(height). This was found using data that was recorded. We then had to make a scatter graph to find the battery drainage compared to mass which is shown in the third graph. The last graph we made was power used. This was calculated by PE/t. Potential energy divided by time. The last graph shows energy vs energy used.

I think this could be used in sustainability energy because we can see how much the battery is discharged. These are not the most efficient machines and run off rechargeable batteries. I also learned that if mass is higher than the potential energy of an object is higher.  With this lab I learned how to use excel spread sheets and how the robot can relate to energy used.

Josh Dion

The automobile industry needs to set standards to increase gas mileage.  They need to set these limits because the efficiency of burning fossil fuels is very low and creates CO2 which goes into the atmosphere. The automobile industry is using doing several things to increase gas mileage in cars.  We know one new type of car is hybrid. These cars use two energy sources, electric and gasoline to run a car.   With this technology gas mileage has increased by a huge amount. The auto industry must meet standards and build cars that have better mileage.

One way the auto industry will increase gas mileage in cars in because of the U.S. setting higher fuel efficiency standards.  These standards that the Obama administration has come up with require that automakers nearly double the average fuel economy by 2025 (VLASIC). This means that the average would be a huge 54.5 miles per gallon. In my opinion I would like to see little to no fossil fuel burning because it increases the global warming effect.  According to this article, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE), wants an average of 29 miles per gallon, which is required right now (VLASIC).  One way is to force automakers to make cars more efficient and one of the only ways to do this is implementing some form of a secondary energy source.

I wanted to learn more about how Hybrid cars work so I found this website to be helpful (How). I found that Hybrid electric vehicles combine the benefits of gasoline engines and electric motors (How). Hybrid cars are configured to do different things for example starting the car, accelerating, and running the radio. One awesome feature of hybrid cars is regenerative braking (How). This is when electric motor applies resistance to drivetrain causing wheels to slow (How). Then in reaction to this, the wheels turn the motor which works like a generator, this converts energy waited during coasting and braking into electricity which is stored in the battery (How).  These cars have been a huge breakthrough in the recent years and have improved fuel economy. They are more efficient than gas only cars. These hybrid cars are another way the automobile industry has increased gas mileage.

This image shows the basic idea of how regenerative braking works in a hybrid vehicles.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/hybrid_diag.gif

One of the most well-known automobile makers, Ford, is investing in, and engineering ways to increase gas mileage in cars. This article explains how the new Ford model C- Max get 47 miles per gallon.  Compared to Toyota, Ford is winning in fuel economy (Seetharaman). The only downside to this is that these cars are not affordable for most people because of the poor economy.  This shows that the auto industry in America is trying to increase gas mileage in cars.  More than 1,000 Ford engineers are devoted to advanced vehicle development and Ford plans to hire more (Seetharaman). Engineers are hired to solve these problems to make a car more efficient.

Overall, The United States is working on making gas mileage better.  Auto companies are creating more efficient cars that burn less fuels, which is good for fuel economy.  This is still only the beginning. Cars are still new and we have much to learn about the efficient ways of traveling. Hybrid vehicles are very new in the auto industry and can still be improved.  This day in age we need the motivation to build more efficient machine and need more engineers.

Work Cited

“How Hybrids Work.” How Hybrids Work. US Department of Energy, 27 Sept. 2013. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. <http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/hybridtech.shtml>

Seetharaman, Deepa. “Ford Brings Hybrid, EV Work In-house to Beat Toyota.” | Reuters. Reuters, 15 Aug. 2012. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. <http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/08/16/us-ford-investment-idINBRE87F01F20120816>.

VLASIC, BILL, and John M. Broder. “U.S. Sets Higher Fuel Efficiency Standards.” The New York Times. New          York Times, 28 Aug. 2012. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/29/business/energy-environment/obama-unveils-tighter-fuel-efficiency-standards.html?_r=0>.

Lab Exercise 1

Josh Dion

9/20/2013

Our task was to get to learn the program and make the robot spin and also move forward.  Jean and I were able to complete this task.  We first used the motor command forward then attached a power to it.  Then we assigned a motor port.  Port A alone made one motor work so the robot turned in a circle.  Port C made the second motor move making it move forward.  We were also able to make the robot move backwards using the program.  We also were able to make the robot play a sound through its internal speaker.  We played with the power which made the motors spin faster or slower which was really fun. This task was very simple and gave us a quick look at what a program looks like and how to implement it. We did not have much time like other groups in our class. Due to limited time to build and then also make a basic program I learned basic functions of the nxt robot.

Sustainability, energy, technology

Josh Dion

On Thursday our class went to the Sawyer library for a tour. I took notes about the great resources available at the library.  One of the most interesting things I found out was how much information is available on the online databases Suffolk has purchases. These databases include online text books, eBooks, articles, videos and much more. The lady that showed us around told us the most reliable sources to find information including the Gale virtual reference library.  She showed us how much information is available from just one resource.  I found it amazing how much information is out there and that I had no idea about before this tour.  She gave us tips on how to use keywords to find reliable information online.  Example (+, AND, advance search). I know this information we learned will be very useful in future research topics and studying. She also told use how important it is to cite sources correctly or you could be expelled or prosecuted.   I found out that I can export some of these links and send them to my email which is very useful. I also learned that the 4^th floor has books that can be taken out of the library.  This can come in handy if I have a research project that I want to work on at home.  I found this information overwhelming. I had no idea about the amount of information that Suffolk students have access to and I am glad to find out now instead of when I get my first project.

Sustainability energy technology

Josh Dion

We covered lot of basic things in the first robot lab.  The first thing I did was measure that diameter of the wheel to find the circumference.  The diameter was 5.5cm and to find the circumference in meters I multiplied but 3.14(pi) and divided by 1/100cm to get 0.1727m.

The table below shoes the data I got.

1. The rotation of the wheel compared to how many turns is accurate.  As you can see in the second run at power 50 the wheel rotated once (.98 of a turn) and almost exactly 360 degrees which is one full circle.
2. 1 second= 1000 milliseconds I made the program run for 1 second each trial.
3. I found that 1 turn is around .18m or 18cm which is around 360 degrees each full turn should move the car around .18m

Percent Difference table

To find the percent error I used this equation

(Distance of robot – distance measured/ average of both) x 100= percent error

To find average I used (Drobot+Dmeasured/2)

Table

What I learned

From this lab I learned that the robot does not have the most exact measurements.  According to this program 360 degrees is not exactly one turn.  The percent error is fairly low for this but must be taken notice. I also found that each motor is not the same.  I read that the rotation of each wheel is a little different meaning the robot may not move in strait line.  Last year I used nxt robot software at my high school so this is not very new to me. Overall, this was a fun lab to get to know the program a little and how these robots measure.

One of the worst hurricanes of the century happened last year.  It effected several states on the east coast including Massachusetts, my new home.  People became homeless for months because of the devastating effects of the storm.  One of the biggest arguments about this weather occurrence is if global warming had an effect on how this hurricane was created.

I’m not sure what the exact science of global warming is yet as such a young learner.   From what I know, global warming could be a reason for this horrible disaster.  According to an article I found online, global warming did have an effect on hurricane sandy (Leader).  Because of global warming and melting of ice caps and glaciers, sea level rising did have an effect on Hurricane Sandy (Leader). In effect of sea levels being one foot higher than they were one hundred years ago, the storm became worse because it produced more rain (Leader). Many scientists say that Hurricane Sandy was a major role of why this storm was so extreme (Eaton).

This picture shows jet streams and how they are deeper into the latitudes, melting sea ice. (Eaton)

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/assets/img/climate-change-sandy/image-03-small.jpg

An article I found on Forbes counters everything. Scientists have found the amount of hurricanes are actually decreasing. (Taylor) This says that extremists are making false connections to global warming and weather effects.  They say that most scientists don’t know what caused hurricane sandy, including me.

Overall, from the research I found I conclude that the impact of global warming on hurricane sandy had little effect on the storm. Bad storms will happen randomly and will be effected by the earth heating, but extremists that take advantage of the people trying to tell everyone that this is the effect of global warming is a little extreme. We need to act together to solve global warming and be truthful.

Eaton, Sam. “Climate Change and Sandy.” PBS. PBS, 13 Nov. 2012. Web. 11 Sept. 2013.

Leader, Jessica. “Hurricane Sandy Damage Partly Caused By Climate Change, Scientists Say.”   The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 06 Nov. 2012. Web. 11 Sept. 2013.

Taylor, James. “Leave It To The Global Warming Alarmists To “Make Fake Lemonade” Out Of Hurricane Sandy.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 31 Oct. 2012. Web. 11 Sept. 2013.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/06/hurricane-damage-climate-change_n_2081960.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/climate-change-sandy.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamestaylor/2012/10/31/leave-it-to-the-global-warming-alarmists-to-make-fake-lemonade-out-of-hurricane-sandy/

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