Hydraulic Fracturing is explained by ProPublica as the “injection of more than a million gallons of water, sand, and chemicals at high pressure down and across into horizontally drilled wells as far as 10,000 feet below the surface.”

If this sounds like an energy-intensive, earth-impacting engagement, its because it is.

Hydro-fracking, as ProPublica continues to explain, is used in 90% of natural gas wells across the United States. It requires such significant quantities of water, sand, and chemicals because the drill needs enough force to penetrate thick sheets of rock that comprise the Earth’s core. This method delivers enormous quantities of natural gas that then comprise the international market.

Despite its environmental intensity, organizations such as the American Petroleum Institute promote hydro-fracking as a growingly eco-friendly procedure. API cites safety mechanisms such as the way concrete is pumped through the well to protect ground water from contamination, but it is still causing greater potential harm than this small allowance.

Dangersoffracking.com points out the bigger issues with these methods. It takes anywhere from 1-8 million gallons of water to complete each fracturing job, depending on the well’s size. This is an enormous, indirect tax on the environment and its thinning clean water supplies. Furthermore, add in an extra 40,000 gallons of chemicals (including lead, uranium, mercury, radium, methanol, and formaldehyde) multiplied by 18 times a well can be fracked, and we are now looking at 72 trillion gallons of water and 360 billion gallons of chemicals being pumped into current gas wells alone.

To further magnify these dangers is the immense lobbying arm of the oil and gas industry. With growing criticism of the industry’s cursory fracturing practices, officials such as former Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator Al Armendariz receive the punishment. According to Brendan DeMelle of the Huffington Post, in May of 2012 Armendariz submitted his letter of resignation due to comments he made two years previously that had been circulated by Senator James Inhofe (R) of Oklahoma. Inhofe’s biggest campaign contributors were leading officials in the oil and gas industry, sparking great controversy over the industry’s influence on environmental policy.

As the debate surrounding hydro-fracking continues on, it is imperative to stay conscious of its potential environmental and health effects on the American public, as explained by dangersoffracking.com, as well as the imbalance of power visible in the case with Armendariz. False information is easily disseminated by large, corporate lobbying arms that can only eschew the truth if they are allowed to do so. Hydraulic fracturing undoubtedly alters the environments in which it exists, so it is in the public’s responsibility to hold these practitioners accountable.

http://www.propublica.org/special/hydraulic-fracturing-national

http://iehn.org/overview.naturalgashydraulicfracturing.php

http://www.api.org/oil-and-natural-gas-overview/exploration-and-production/hydraulic-fracturing/hydraulic-fracturing-safe-oil-natural-gas-extraction

http://www.dangersoffracking.com/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brendan-demelle/al-armendariz_b_1515948.html

Of the past two decades alone, a significant cultural shift has taken place in the automobile marketplace as the government has increased its role as mediator between economic and environmental protection. This generational shift will be a key determinant in appraising the sustainability of our future. Merely the fact that the government has been willing to step in so forcefully is significant in itself because it has not been able to mediate as effectively as possible with the rise of powerful lobbyist firms and policy institutes. Even Mitt Romney had said that he would attempt to repeal legislation on this matter if elected president, claiming that its a government overreach. Of course, this is counterintuitive due to the benefits it has had for all parties and externalities, as Rick Newman of usnews.com has pointed out that “so far, the new mileage rules have generated tangible benefits for consumers, with few of the downsides opponents have predicted.” Improving efficiency standards has proved to generate long term savings for buyers and sellers alike, going to show that making “greener” business decisions can be reasonable both economically and socially.

The biggest nationwide shift occurred in 2011, when the federal government raised its Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) by its largest margin for the first time since 1975, per Csaba Csere at caranddriver.com. Carmakers now have to hit a universal minimum of 37.8 mpg by 2016, thereby ensuring these companies invest more into finding ways to increase gas mileage in the long run. The graph below displays the long-term financial benefits of these innovations.

The key technical specifications of gas mileage improvements are explained here by researchers at Aberdeen Group. The most efficient, immediate technologies include improved drivetrain efficiency, lighter weight vehicles, smarter software, hybrid technology, electric drive technologies, battery performance, and investing in newer technology. This last aspect holds perhaps the most potential, as in it lies the possibility for sustainability that has yet to be even formulated in theory. Today, there is already great headway occurring throughout the auto industry improving gas mileage in numerous different ways- 88% of automotive companies already have plans to develop even newer strategies for utilizing materials for total efficiency, per Aberdeen Group. “Composite materials have been very good in terms of rigidity, corrosion resistance, and strength. I would definitely recommend using them, especially when you consider how fuel-efficiency standards are on the rise,” says a product engineer at Automotive OEM. This engineer has certainly proved to be in the right by the rest of the auto industry as each and every company continues to develop new, sustainable mechanisms of gas mileage.

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/rick-newman/2012/08/27/tough-government-gas-mileage-rules-good-for-drivers-auto-industry

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/how-automakers-will-meet-2016-cafe-standards

http://m.plm.automation.siemens.com/en_us/Images/Solutions-for-Meeting-Fuel-Efficiency-and-Emissions-Standards_tcm1224-219133.pdf

This week in class we continued on with our robotics team exercise. After setting up all the configurations with Windows, we measured the circumference of the wheel and computed it in the front panel of our own car. From here we were then able to calculate the time taken for each wheel rotation. It took approximately  half a second (.55 milliseconds) per rotations over four rotations because we had the speed at a moderate level. Milliseconds and seconds are related to each other as: 1000 ms per 1 s. Each full wheel turn is a representation of the wheel’s circumference, and this equates to the distance traveled as the sum of the full rotations multiplied by the circumference. We also made note of percentage difference, calculated as ((actual-labview)/(average actual, labview))100.

Trial 1: 75 (power)
0.26 – 0.258 / 0.267= 0.038, or 3.38%

Trial 2: 75 (power)
0.26 – 0.263 / 0.267= 0.015, or 1.5%

Individual Attempt 1: 90 (power)

0.38 – 0.34 / 0.34= 0.088, or 8.8%

After this general set up, we began by programming our to drive in a 2 foot radius both forwards and backwards. We noticed that in comparison to the VI, our car travelled .43 meters farther than the VI; we attributed this to a slightly higher power level than the VI. By the end, we experimented with power levels of 75, 100, 125, and then 50 in order to alter the revolution speed. It definitely needed some music as well, so we incorporated some tunes already programmed into our car.

Furthermore, we altered the power levels between ports by as much as a discrepancy of 20 units (1 on the left, 1.20 on the right wheel), which resulted in a circular rotation. This was due to higher power in one wheel forcing the car to spin unevenly and therefore cause a controlled tailspin. We altered the speeds between wheels to experiment with a more “funky trajectory.” We also attempted the While and For loops, but needed some assistance from colleagues in order to perfect it- which we did by the end of class Wednesday. We did wish, however, that we tried out more of these different programming techniques like the altered wheel programming. More creative techniques will definitely be a bigger option in future experiments.

Overall, it was a good experience working within the Robotics Activity. We were able to examine the correlation between wheel rotation, circumference, and distance travelled for both our robot and the VI. We alternated amongst different wheel movements and speeds as well and still have more to do next time, most importantly being bigger changes of speed and examining more pertinently the scale of difference on distance accumulated.

The measles vaccine is crucial to the protection of all people, regardless of age, race, or nationality. Particularly in the United States, with a history of epidemics ranging from polio to the more recent H1N1 scare, hesitation regarding a measles vaccination should not even be a consideration. In fact, our country credit the vaccine for being rid of the virus for so long! According to Dan Whitcomb and Michael Fleeman at Reuters, Measles was declared “eliminated in the United States in 2000 after decades of intensive childhood vaccine efforts. But last year the nation had its highest number of measles cases in two decades.” This only shows the effectiveness of the vaccine, and that this current outbreak is not just an aberration to be overlooked. Parents have a responsibility to their children in ensuring this vaccine.

There are even companies and organizations taking this threat just as seriously as is meant to be. KinderCare, a child care organization located in Lake County, has already instituted policies requiring all employees assisting children 15 months or younger to be vaccinated. This is especially commendable because KinderCare is located in Chicago! Despite not being remotely near ground zero in California, this organization has taken heed to precaution and made sure to stop a fight with measles before it can even begin. That is the essence of vaccinations, in today’s children especially- to preempt any possible threat to health and wellbeing.

Parents who still believe themselves to be anti-vaccine need to take heed of the cautions offered by Dr. Sanjay Gupta in his open letter to CNN just last Thursday. He points out that science “often loses the zeal argument to ideology,” and most certainly in the case of vaccinations because there is so rarely an accident regarding them that whenever there is, it is blown out of proportion by fear. It is imperative that one regard facts, not hyperbole, when understanding how valuable vaccinations are in any case. As interpreted by Kelly Wallace of CNN, professor Tara Smith has confirmed that “the diseases are much worse than any potential side effect from the vaccines, so for me it’s a risk-benefit.” Vaccines are administered in order to prevent the worst possible outcome, and the measles outbreak is no different.

Barring an extenuating circumstance such as serious allergy, there is no logical reason for declining the measles vaccine. The United States’ population alone is approaching 320 million people, so the vaccine must be looked at in regard all the people we come in contact with each and everyday on our commutes, in our classrooms, and our workspaces. Its time to vaccinate our children.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/05/us-usa-measles-california-idUSKBN0L82NR20150205

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-measles-chicago-reax-0207-20150206-story.html

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/04/living/feat-measles-parents-vaccinate-children/

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/03/health/measles-gupta-fact/