A group of friends and I went to the museum of science last week to explore the exhibits on conservation at home, investigate, energize, and many others. Our group took our time by walking to the science museum because it was a lovely spring afternoon. On the way there we saw robins and geese by the esplanade as we talked about our last times visiting the science museum. The first exhibit we went to was the conserve at home with a massive model house you can explore and walk through. When you first walk in there is a meter reader that was unfortunately not working. The meter has a metal disk that rotates as power is consumed tracking the results. Near the meter was the “Energy Audit” station. This allowed you to detect thermal defects and air leakages and what materials were most effective for retaining heat. This process is done by recording the temperature variations of the homes outer surface, white for warm regions and black for cool. The viewer moved blocks upon the roof of the house to see which materials saved heat and what ones didn’t. The group stayed and watched a few seconds of the “Neighborhood Energy Stories” before we moved on to “Get Energy Efficient” with blocks. It was really interesting because the viewer would place a block onto a scanner and information about the topic would show up on a computer screen. I found the facts about automobiles the most relevant because we have discussed it multiple times in class. Their facts are a little out dates but they said “Buy a car that gets 30.7 mpg to save up to 13.5%.If you drive 15,000 miles in a year, this could mean a savings of $1,000 each year in fuel”. With Obama’s action plan in place that by 2025 cars will have to have the mileage of 54.5 mpg which will save even more money. The next section about recycling I found truly fascinating because it showed examples people could see and interact with. In a see-through panel the science museum displayed a 100 plastic bags so children can visualize just how much waste they create within a year. Broken glass and bottles can become works of art within the home as floor tiles. Plastic bottles and milk gallons become sturdy and long lasting Adirondack lounge chairs that can last outdoors. One of our group’s favorite exhibit was the “Turn Your Energy into Light” exhibit. There were three light bulbs set up (LED, Incandescent, and CFL) in which the viewer spun a wheel to see which light bulb uses the least amount of energy. CFLs are the better bulbs out of the three because they are four times more efficient than incandescent bulbs and can last up to 15,000 hours. Scientists believed in the next few years LED bulbs would beat CFLs in the market, which happened in 2011 when LEDs were proven to last 25,000 hours.

After completing our walk through “Conservation at Home” exhibit the group toured an exhibit called “Investigate”. The group’s attention was grabbed in the bathroom where two sinks were used to discover if water drains in the same direction on different hemispheres. The answer is that it doesn’t matter where on Earth you are the water drainage is random and proven a myth. Next to the sinks was a display of how a toilet works which can come in handy for any homeowner or apartment renter. I wish it explained more about how to maintain a toilet and keep a sink from clogging. Along the way there were farmhand tools, Archimedes screw, and scientist stories.

“Energized” is what we were after visiting the exhibit on solar, wind, and hydro energy in Massachusetts. It is estimated that by 2020 22% of Massachusetts electricity will come from renewable sources. I love wind turbines so much because the first turbine to be installed in Massachusetts was in Jiminy Peak in Hancock Ma which I can see from my home window! As well as oddly enough near my hometown will be the largest solar power plant in New England (Pittsfield, Ma). Have driven by it myself I can tell you it is pretty spectacular to see over 6,000 solar panels in the same spot that used to be toxic waste. The town of Harvard has the most solar panel installations with 21 installed and 75 in planning stages. The group did not get a chance to tour the wind turbines on the roof of the science museum but will have to check it out at a later date.

The museum of science is overall a wonderful place for people of all ages to learn and interact with science but especially children. The way the exhibits are created offer interactive learning for children which helps them remember what they saw in a fun and non-threatening way. I believe all teachers, professors, and parents should bring their children to science museums especially when they have special exhibits. I found the exhibits outside of what was required within class the most intriguing. I found them more intriguing because a lot of what we have researched and discussed within class is at the museum and it was repeated while the other exhibits were not. I did love how interactive everything was which made individuals understand and visualize the information better than within class.

Brainstorming is when a group produce an idea or way of solving a problem by holding a creative group discussion. The class had to choose an science experiment based on sustainability. After research and discussion our group finally decided on building a wind turbine using LabView. I have always been really passionate about wind turbines since they were built on the mountains in my hometown. From my personal experience with them I thought it would be an interesting project to build one of our own to understand better how they work. Previously the group looked at options such as greenhouse gases, insulation, and solar panels. Solar panels were quickly removed because we couldn’t do our experiment outside and a flashlight would be boring. Insulation and greenhouse gases were eliminated because they weren’t as involved an experiment and we didn’t know where we would be able to boil water. Our professor after mentioning that the group wanted to build wind turbines, suggested we use LabView and that a kit will be ordered. When the kit comes in on Monday the group will look into setting it up and writing out our own lab and proposal.

Links to research:

1. http://www.ni.com/example/31161/en/
2.  http://www.teachergeek.org/mini_turbine_lab.pdf
3. http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/how-to/make-your-own-miniature-wind-turbine#slide-1

“Any knowledge that doesn’t lead to new questions quickly dies out: it fails to maintain the temperature required for sustaining life.”

Tom Vales a Laboratory Coordinator at Suffolk University came into our class to demonstrate temperature and heat using a Tesla Coil and other devices. The first device he showed the class was a Stirling Engine. It was invented in 1816 by Robert Stirling as a heat engine, operating by cycle density and expansion of air. The engine is noted for its high efficiency compared to the steam engine, quiet operation, and the effortlessness in which almost any heat source can be used. The gases within a Stirling Engine never leave so there is no exhaust valves that release high pressure gases and no explosions like the steam engine. Tom’s Stirling Engine runs on hot water and is used for pumping water.

The class was then shown a Peltier Engine is based off of Jean Charles Athanase Peltier’s effect. It was discovered in 1834, when a current is made to flow through junction between A and B, heat may be generated (or removed) at the junction. The engine uses two unlike metals copper and bismuth, joined together. Hot water is placed in one cup and cold in the other to create electricity. The most popular use for it today is in computers for cooling down internal components.

The third example Tom Vales showed the class was a Mendocino Motor. Which consists 6 to 8 sided rotor block in the middle of the shaft. It has two sets of windings and a solar cell attached to each side. It’s shaft is positioned horizontally with a magnet at each end. As a light source hits the solar cells it generates current, which responds with the field magnet and turns the cell 90 degrees. The cells keep moving (spinning) and starts the process over, keeping the cell in motion. The Mendocino Motor floats due to electric levitation.

Lastly Tom showed the class his handmade Tesla Coil, which is an electrical resonant transformer, invented by Nikola Tesla in 1891.  Nikola Tesla invented alternating current. It is used to produce high-voltage, low-current, high incidence alternating-current electricity.  Tesla used the coils to conduct groundbreaking experiments in electrical lighting, phosphorescence, x-rays, high frequency alternating current, and electrotherapy.  Today it is mainly used for entertainment and educational displays. It used to be used for medical purposes for multiple reasons but it was later debunked and proved to have no results. At an elevated frequency, the skin effect is shaped, which sends signals over the skin so it is not felt.

The class also talked about Zeon gas is used to make a purple neon light but it also produces ozone. Also that back in the 1900’s most people died of radiation poisoning because it wasn’t well known and was used in everything including medication and paint. In 1885 Wilhem Rontegen was the first to observe radiation burns from x-rays. One of the most well known examples is the Radium Girls who got radiation poisoning from painting watch dials with glow in the dark paint.

Video’s:

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 References:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoelectric_effect#Peltier_effect
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_coil

Pandora’s Promise is a documentary about the debate of nuclear power directed by Robert Stone. The film’s major argument is that nuclear power is reasonably safe and a clean energy source which can help alleviate the severe problem of global warming. The documentary features distinguished individuals, some of whom were previously opposed to nuclear power, including Gwyneth Cravens, Stewart Brand, Mark Lynas, Richard Rhodes, and Michael Shellenberger. “Pandora’s Promise” like most documentaries only shows one half of the argument turning it into a propaganda film more than a factual film.

The documentary starts off explaining peoples constant fears of the word radiation since the atomic bombing in Japan and the scare in Fukushima. And rightfully so people should be scared of nuclear weapons and the massive destruction caused by them but it doesn’t mean they have to be terrified of nuclear power. It is claimed the United States has been buying old nuclear war heads and nuclear material from Japan and Germany to reduce nuclear weapons around the world and eliminate their cause (but one never truly knows). Anyways the next blame for fear of nuclear power is Fukushima, Chernobyl, and Three Mile Island and cancer. Fukushima was a nuclear disaster that occurred when a earthquake hit later causing a tsunami which flooded the emergency generators forcing the plant to run on backup batteries. This eventually caused the cooling system to stop and caused a meltdown which lead to hydrogen-air explosions. It was later found that 300 metric tons of heavily radioisotope-contaminated water leaked from a storage tank
on August 20, 2013. Accidents like these are what make people weary of nuclear power and this documentary didn’t focus a lot of safety. It seems to me that if plants are to be built they better be built to withstand hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, and tornadoes or we shouldn’t risk building them. Engineers need to look into a more effective way of housing and building nuclear power plants before I am willing to say yes to their benefits. As well as find a way to keep these plants running when all the electricity goes out.

Nuclear power benefit is that it is considered carbon-free and produces more energy than wind and solar. Nuclear power plants don’t produce smoke so only steam is released into the atmosphere. If no accidents happen and waste is stored properly nuclear power plants are safer than coal plants. There is plenty of uranium and thorium to last us at last 100 years. Nuclear energy facilities have helped create over 15,000 jobs for Americans. Building nuclear plants have a large economic benefit of about $6 billion.

Lynas claimed that nuclear waste is “not an environmental issue” even though the U.S. accumulated a football field of nuclear waste. The problem is nuclear waste isn’t easy to get rid of and it can have a half-life longer than 100 years. Our nation doesn’t seem to have a set plan for the waste and most of it ends up in cooling pools that have in the past leaked into rivers, streams, and the ground. An interesting invention called a dry cask is a 180 ton concrete cylinder that stores waste and is said to withstand a plane crash. While this technology is extremely advanced and preferable to pools where are we going to store them and why aren’t we using the more?

Discussions about economics of different power sources and the expenses of building a nuclear power plant are not brought up. It turns out nuclear power is too expensive to finance than other low carbon methods.  One of the statements in “Pandora’s Promise” was that nuclear power is cheaper than solar or wind power. That statement was true when nuclear power first started but it isn’t true today. The first generation of nuclear power plants were so costly to build that half were abandoned in construction stages. It was estimated in 2009 that the cost of building a single nuclear power plant costs $9 billion. Analyst shows that new power plants would cost more per kilowatt than wind at 42cents per kilowatt. Even more telling is the Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Immediate Act which was also never mentioned within the film. It is an act that governs liability related issues for all non-military nuclear reactors. The purpose of the act is to exempt nuclear companies against liable claims from nuclear incidents while ensuring general compensation to the public. It appears the nuclear companies are more than just covering themselves in case of accident, they are covering themselves for when it happens.

I am not against nuclear power or it’s benefits I just think there are questions that need to be answered not avoided and kinks to work out. What happened if a solar flare hits and we lose power or lose power in general? Is there a foolproof containment building that can withstand natural disasters of all kinds? Is there a certain location plants are supposed to be in? Do plants have to be near major sources of water like the ocean? Is there a better way to make an efficient cooling system that can automatically shut down? Is there a way in the future to clean up land once used for a nuclear power plant? Also don’t just think of the human lives lost in nuclear accidents think of the thousands more pets and animals that have died due to human mistakes.

References:

1. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1992193/
   
2. http://discovermagazine.com/2011/jun/06-hardcore-nuclear-waste-container-airplane-crash
3. http://ecowatch.com/2013/11/08/3-claims-pro-nuclear-film-pandoras-promise/
4. http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/10/06/2717791/cost-pv-cells-solar-power-grid-parity/
5. http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear_power/nuclear-power-and-our-energy-choices/nuclear-power-costs/
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandora’s_Promise

All across the world, in every kind of environment and region known to man, increasingly dangerous weather patterns and devastating storms are abruptly putting an end to the long-running debate over whether or not climate change is real. Not only is it real, it’s here, and its effects are giving rise to a frighteningly new global phenomenon: the man-made natural disaster. – President Obama

It is sad to say that global warming and climate change isn’t a threat anymore and hasn’t been for a long time but people don’t listen. They don’t listen to 115 mph winds of a massive hurricane, they don’t see the polar ice caps melting in front of their eyes, and they don’t feel the 110 ◦F temperatures. People everywhere are still in denial about the damaged we have done to our Earth; some think it is a massive hoax, and others are trying to do something about it but it is not enough. The president’s Climate Plan is a good example people trying to do the right thing too late and with many mistakes.

Global warming is the escalation of Earth’s average surface temperature due to greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels from deforestation, which trap heat that would normally escape from Earth. There are certain facts about climate change that are not disputable anymore (even for the doubters):

1. Sea level rise: Global sea level rose 17 centimeters (6.7 inches) in the last century.
2. Global temperature rise: Most of Earth’s warming has happened since 1970’s, with the 20 warmest years occurred since 1981.
3. Warming oceans: they absorb most of the increased heat, top 700 meters showing warming of 0.302 ◦F since 1969.
4. Shrinking ice sheets: Greenland lost 36-60 cubic miles of ice between 2002 and 2006. Antarctica lost 36 cubic miles.
5. Glacial retreat: Mountains such as the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, etc. are losing their snowcaps.
6. Extreme events: Increasing events such as hurricane Sandy, extreme temperatures (hot and cold), intense rainfall, increased forest fires, have risen since 2005.

President Obama’s action plan states true facts about climate change as well and the effects it has had on the United States and the world. It explains that 2012 was the hottest year on record for the U.S. and that one-third of the population experienced 100◦ temperatures. Also that it was the fifteenth driest year on record with precipitation 2.57 inches below the century average costing $30 billion to the American economy. Wildfires burned 9.3 million U.S. acres costing $1 billion.

Carbon pollution is the biggest contributor of climate change with the largest contributor being electricity (33%) and the second largest transportation (28%). The President’s plan is to direct the EPA to establish carbon pollution standards for new and existing power plants. Assures $8 billion in loans for fossil fuel projects. Permits the Interior Department to permit ten gigawatts of wind and solar projects on public lands by 2020. Hopes to set a standard for American appliances and federal buildings so that carbon pollution can be reduced by 3 million metric tons by 2030. Aims to reduce hydro-fluorocarbons and develop a comprehensive methane strategy. The action plan also commits to forest and landscape protection.

The climate plan also seeks to prepare America and the world for the climate change happening today that is irreversible. The plan directs agencies to support investment of vulnerable communities so that they can become more resilient to the effects of climate change. To establish a flood-risk reduction standard in hurricane Sandy affected regions. Distribute scientific information to farmers and create sustainable and resilient hospitals. Establish National Drought Resilience Partnership to make rangelands less vulnerable to forest fires.

The president also aims in leading global efforts to address climate change around the World.

“America must help forge a truly global solution to this global challenge by galvanizing international action to significantly reduce emissions, prepare for climate impacts, and drive progress through the international negotiations”.

President Obama aims to lead global sector public financing towards cleaner energy by calling for end of U.S. government support for public financing for new coal-fired power plants overseas, except for the most effective coal technology available in the world’s poorest countries, or facilities deploying carbon capture and sequestration technologies. Commit to expand new major and existing international inactivates, including bilateral initiatives with China, India, and other major emitting countries. As well as strengthen global resilience to climate change by expanding government and local community planning and response capacities.

President Obama’s plan has incredible strategies and great progress to counter climate change but it is not enough (even if we must take baby steps) and some of the methods are more harmful then helpful. Not mentioned Obama’s plan would impose permanently higher energy prices and most likely a hidden tax on American families to complete his expensive goals. Which to me is worth the extra cost on higher prices but not in hidden taxes. The president calls natural gas “clean” despite knowing it is still a major greenhouse gas emitter and that hydro-fracturing is unsafe poisoning wells and streams. Thanks to the president, the Keystone XL pipeline is already moving forward, with zero regard for carbon emissions or America’s interests. The pipeline is now 90 percent complete in Texas and Oklahoma. If Obama does not intervene to prevent the last stages of its construction, Keystone will transport toxic tar sands from Canada to Texas refineries by the end of this year. The president fails to call for an end to the cruel practice of mining coal by blowing off the tops of the Appalachian Mountains. The president’s plan falls short we need to look at getting all hands on deck and not just setting plans in motion that are bound to fail or will never clean up greenhouse gasses in time.

Lastly it appears that the average American isn’t truly getting all the facts about climate change. Many people are uninformed what is going on whether it be global warming or global cooling and everyone is kept slightly in the dark which is extremely unacceptable.

References:

1. http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence
2. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/25/fact-sheet-president-obama-s-climate-action-plan
3. http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/national/highlights-of-obamas-plan-to-cut-carbon/263/
4. http://ecowatch.com/2013/08/12/president-obamas-climate-action-plan-not-even-close/
5. http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertbradley/2013/08/06/president-obamas-new-climate-action-plan-is-all-pain-negative-gain/
6. http://www.whitehouse.gov/share/climate-action-plan
7. http://www.whitehouse.gov/share/climate-action-plan

The contemporary science class took a field trip to Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Nuclear Reactor Laboratory in Cambridge, Ma. MIT has had the Nuclear Reactor for 52 years, is an interdepartmental center that operates a 6 MW research reactor (MITR-II). A nuclear reactor is an apparatus or structure in which fissile material can be made to undergo a measured, self-sustaining nuclear reaction with the consequential release of energy. MIT’s reactor is used for research which means they generate neutrons for multiple purposes, including producing radiopharmaceuticals for medical diagnosis and therapy, testing materials and conducting basic exploration. The utmost widespread uses for nuclear reactors is as power plants; dedicated to generating heat for electricity production. Their slighter uses are for drinking water or district water production and they also power ships.

The difference between a research nuclear laboratory and a nuclear power plant is the nuclear lab doesn’t burn anything. They use uranium fuel consisting of ceramic pellets (solid), to produce electricity through the process of fission. Nuclear power plants obtain the heat needed to yield steam through a physical process, and is considered a thermal power station. Nuclear research reactors serve primarily as neutron source and are called non-power reactors. The purpose of a research reactor is for neutron scattering or non-destructive testing, production of radioisotopes, research and education. Research reactors are simpler than power reactors and function at lower temperatures. They use less fuel, and less fission products build up as fuel is used. The research reactors also require high powered density core and usually 93% enriched uranium “weapons grade” while a power reactor would only use 20%. Fission is a nuclear reaction or radioactive deterioration process in which the nucleus of a particle splits into lesser particles (lighter nuclei). The fission process often yields free neutrons and photons (gamma rays), and releases an enormous amount of energy to be used later.

MIT’s reactor known as MITR-II is the second largest university research reactor in the United States and is offered a higher neutron flux level. It is a light water cooled and weakened nuclear reactor that utilizes flat plate-type finned, aluminum clad fuel elements. The core reactor consists of rhomboid-shaped elements arranged in hexagonal pattern. Generally there are 24 elements and 3 in-core irradiation positions. The reactors core is surrounded by heavy-water tank, and at the center of a light water tank. It is also surrounded by graphite reflector, thermal shield, and a biological shield. The MIT reactor runs at atmospheric pressure of 55◦C. Some key research done is: time-of-flight experiment, neuron scattering, cancer therapy, specimen examination, and sample transfer.

When the group attended the MIT tour we started off showing a government official ID and signed on a sheet with a Direct Read Pocket Dosimeter to read radiation levels. After that the class was brought upstairs for a short lecture on the nuclear reactor and fission and how it works. Then we were brought into the plant and shown multiple pictures of the core and how it works along with photographs of construction and history involving the reactor. Unfortunately the tour was cut short due to time but the class got to walk up into the catwalk of the inner dome and see where the employees would open the reactor to the core. The most impressive aspect of the tour was the control room. It looked like it had more buttons then a space shuttle and it was too bad we didn’t get to learn more about what the buttons do and the experiments they do. On the way out each student stepped on a machine that detects traces of radiation on the hands and feet which are the primary point’s radiation can transfer to. The class also had to pass through a Geiger counter and read the data on the pocket Dosimeter to triple check for radiation.

Overall I wish the tour lasted longer or more attention was paid to the tour its self and not to the PowerPoint beforehand. The PowerPoint seemed to mostly discuss what was talked about in class and it was a bit of a disappointment to have spent all that time on it. The best place in my opinion was the control room because it was visually interesting and I wish we could have learned more about what can be done within the control room. It would have been fascinating to view a medical room or learn more about what they do at the research reactor and why they do it. It was a great opportunity to understand more about nuclear reactors and that radiation isn’t harmful in moderation as some people believe.

Last week the “Contemporary Science and Innovation” class experimented with Lego robots to understand Faraday’s Law. Farady’s Law is a change in magnetic environment or flux of a coil of wire which will cause the voltage (emf) to be “induced” in the coil, generating electricity. The greater the change in magnetic flux, the greater the currents and voltages will become. The modification is produced by altering the magnetic field strength, moving a magnet away or towards the coil. Which moves the coil into or out of the magnetic field, rotating the coil relative to the magnet. The induced emf in the coil is equal to the negative rate of change of magnetic flux times the number of turns within the coil. It involves the interaction of charge with the magnetic field. Faraday’s law is the central operating principle of transformers, inductors, and many types of generators, electrical motors, and solenoids (coil wound around helix). EMF is Electromotive Force which is the voltage developed by any source of electrical energy such as a battery or a motor. The force is not a mechanical force (measured in newtons), but a potential or energy used per unit of charge (measured in volts). In electromagnetic initiation, emf can be defined around a closed loop as the electromagnetic work that is transferred to unit of change if it travels once around the loop. While the charge journeys around the loop, it can simultaneously loose the energy through resistance into thermal energy.

In this lab the class had a generator (or a magnet inside a coil of wire) that was housed in a flashlight body with a positive and negative wire (voltage probe) connecting to the NXT. The NXT again is a programmable robot kit released by LEGO Company that our class uses for experiments. All of the data throughout the experiment was recorded into a Microsoft Excel sheet. The first task we did was look over the VI works program to understand exactly what was expected of us and how the VI program recorded the data. It records the data by monitoring the increase or decrease of voltage at an exact moment to calculate the total voltage in the end.

To start in teams the class set up the lab by plugging in the positive and negative wires to the voltage adaptors and plugging it into the NXT. After completing the setup the class opened the VI program and began the lab. The task is to count the number of shakes of the generator, in a 30 second time interval, with the voltage that the generator produces.  The first run that the group did was without shaking the generator and leaving it flat on the desk. This was done so that a stable result could be found within the readings, with the sum of voltage as 0.09. During the second run the group shook the generator 20 times in 30 seconds and got the sum of the numbers as 0.16. The number is so low because the generator did not move. In the third round our group did 35 shakes in 30 seconds with the sum of 0.41 which was higher than our first result because the generator was moved back and forth. The third test 65 shakes in 30 seconds with the sum voltage of 0.51. And the final run was 103 shakes in 30 seconds with the summation of 4.55 volts. The last run jumped significantly and it is not determined if the group counted correctly or too slow which would change the outcome.

The numbers rose as the group shook the generator faster because the generator didn’t have to work as hard to travel from one end to the next because the motion was faster. Also because the greater the change in magnetic flux, the greater the currents and voltages will become. When the currents and voltages raise the numbers raise and they raise because the number of shakes increase.

This lab is extremely useful to understand just how much energy is used to create power or electricity. It gives a perspective of how voltage works and the usefulness of it. This experiment also shows that if the United States updated their power grid maybe they wouldn’t have to work so hard at maintaining it and maybe they will use less energy and resources. If the power grid was hooked up to something more energy efficient and reliable we wouldn’t have to worry about power plants and the negative effects and reputation that come with them. Also if coils and wires were concealed better (in better casings) maybe they would last longer and protect against fire.

.Global warming contributed to Hurricane Sandy but did not cause the category three hurricane. Researchers are still unaware of how much of climate change influenced Sandy. A hurricane is a storm with a violent wind, in specific a tropical cyclone in the Caribbean. A tropical cyclone is a rapidly-rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain. To be considered a hurricane it has to sustain winds of at least 34 meters per second (66kn) or 74 miles per hour (119 km/h). A cyclone the size of a hurricane usually develops an eye which is an area of comparative calm (lowest atmospheric pressure) at the center of circulation. Tropical cyclones usually form over   relatively warm bodies of water. They derive their energy from the dissolved water from the ocean surface, ultimately it condensates into clouds and rain when moist air rises and cools to saturation. Lastly the term cyclone refers to their cyclonic nature in which the wind blows counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

Hurricane Sandy was the deadliest and most destructive hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season and was a category three. Sandy reached it’s peak in Cuba and became the largest Atlantic hurricane on record, with winds spanning 1,100 miles (1,800 km). Hurricane Sandy killed 148 people directly and 138 indirectly, and costing over $68 billion (USD) in damage. The interesting thing about Sandy is it fluctuated and didn’t stay a hurricane the whole time. She started off as a tropical storm then switched to a hurricane around Jamaica where it kept switching back and forth until it weakened over Pennsylvania.

According to the National Center for Atmospheric Research “The answer to the oft question of whether an event is caused by climate change is that it is the wrong question. All weather events are affected by climate change because the environment in which they occur is warmer and moister than it used to be” (Kevin E. Trenberth). LiveScience said it was too early to make any judgments but that global warming contributed to, but did not directly cause the massive storm. One major factor contributing to Hurricane Sandy was the abnormally warm sea surface temperatures offshore the East Coast of the United States more than 5◦F about normal, to which global warming contributed 1◦F. As the temperature of the atmosphere surges, the capacity to hold water increases, leading to stronger storms and higher rainfall. A trough of low pressure dipped down from the Arctic feeding the hurricane, firming its intensity as it moved northward. A study in September in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, found that hurricanes and tropical cyclones ramp up quicker than they did 25 years ago, with 4% more moisture than in the 1970s. Climatologist Michael Mann from Pennsylvania State University, argues sea levels are 1 foot and 30 centimeters higher than it was a century ago, causing a more damaging storm surge. He also states that although climate change did not create Hurricane Sandy, storms become more intense as the planet warms.

Other scientists such as Mark CC at Scientopia argue that Sandy was directly caused by global warming stating “the warmer waters are by definition global warming: they’re one of the things we measure when we’re measuring global temperature trends”. Hurricane Sandy took a sharp turn towards the north which is a very unusual weather event, called a negative North Atlantic Oscillation (-NAO). The east to west movement, which is the opposite of how weather systems normally move, helped maximize the storm surge. Also by the warming of the seas and the atmosphere, global warming is also expected to alter hurricane frequency and intensity. The “blocking” events over the years also are said to be related to global warming and the melting of the ice caps.

I believe that Hurricane Sandy wasn’t a cause of global warming directly but indirectly. As explained above Sandy would have happened anyway it was just intensified by the results of global warming. I do agree that global warming can cause more storms in the future especially with the rise in water levels and moisture. Some ways we can all do our part in helping reduce global warming is: reduce waste, conserve water, plant trees, and reduce fossil fuel use.

References:

1.  http://www.climatecentral.org/news/how-global-warming-made-hurricane-sandy-worse-15190
2. http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/10/30/did-climate-change-cause-hurricane-sandy/
3. http://scientopia.org/blogs/goodmath/2012/11/08/did-global-warming-cause-hurricane-sandy/
4. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/06/hurricane-damage-climate-change_n_2081960.html
5. http://www.livescience.com/24377-weather-climate-hurricane-sandy.html

“It’s a never ending battle of making your cars better and also trying to be better yourself” and that is what our country has been doing for the last twenty years; trying to make our cars and ourselves better. Chiefly since gas prices skyrocketed in the early 2000’s and the job market fell, it has been a massive concern for all to find a solution to save money on gas. With global warming becoming a pressing topic everyday main car companies such as Honda, Mercedes, Nissan, and Toyota are helping to pave the way for greener and more efficient cars. President Barack Obama released that by the year 2025 car companies have to meet an average quota of 54.5 miles per gallon. This new program states that light trucks will have to become 3.5 percent more efficient for the first four years. The plan also states $1.7 trillion will be saved in fuel costs and oil consumption will be reduced to 2.2 million barrels a day. If this plan works successfully then America will become less dependent upon oil which means less troubles with getting oil from foreign countries, and help us become more energy independent. Large companies like Ford aren’t waiting to get started on increasing gas mileage; they already doubled the size of their team working on energy technologies and plan to double the team again by 2015. Ways in which the automotive industry has been increasing gas mileage is as follows:

Low-Carbon Fuel Standard

Is a rule to reduce carbon intensity in transportation fuels compared to conventional petroleum fuels such as gasoline and diesel. The main purpose of low-carbon fuel standard is standard is to decrease carbon dioxide emissions related to fuel-powered vehicles considering the life-cycles “well to wheels”, to reduce the carbon footprints of transportation overall. They require oil plants and distributers to ensure the fuel sold in Californian market meets the declining targets for greenhouse gas emissions measure in CO2 equivalent grams per unit of fuel energy for transportation.

Hybrid Car

A Hybrid Car combines conventional internal combustion engine system with an electric propulsion system. The electric powertrain is intended to attain better fuel economy or better performance. A hybrid uses regenerative braking which transforms the vehicles kinetic energy into electric energy so that it can charge the battery, rather than wasting it as heat energy such as normal cars do. They have a start stop system that automatically shuts down and restarts internal combustion engine to decrease the time the engine spends idling, reducing fuel consumption and emissions. Hybrids are also extremely popular with the public, over 7 million have been sold worldwide since December 2013. Some disadvantages to a hybrid car is that they are more expensive than a non-hybrid car,  they weigh more, and there is a slight risk of being exposed to high voltage wires in a car accident.

Plug-In Hybrid Car

Is a type of hybrid vehicle which exploits rechargeable batteries that can be restored to full charge by connecting a plug to exterior electric power source (commonly electric wall socket). The cost of electric to power to plug-in hybrids is estimated to be less than one quarter the cost of gasoline. They also use no fossil fuel throughout their all-electric range and produce lower greenhouse gas emissions if they are recharged from renewable electricity. San Francisco’s town hall has recharging systems and Google has 100 available charging stations for employees. Cool fact because electric cars run so quietly it is hard for blind people to hear them so as of march 2013 they are inventing warning noises using the speaker system.

Battery Electric Car

A battery-only electric vehicle gets all its power from the battery packs and therefore has no internal combustion engine fuel cell, or fuel tank. The concept of the battery electric car is to use charged batteries on board vehicles for momentum. They are becoming more popular because of the advancement of battery technology Lithium Ion that has higher power and energy density. Vehicle greenhouse gas savings depends on how the electricity is generated, in the U.S. an electrical car would result in 30% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

Ultra-Low-Sulfur Diesel

Is diesel fuel with considerably lowered sulfur content. As of 2006, almost all of the petroleum-based diesel fuel available in UK, Europe and North America is of a ULSD type. New emissions standards, reliant on on the cleaner fuel, have been in effect for automobiles in the United States since 2007. Ultra-Low-Sulfur diesel does not yet apply to railroad locomotives, marine, or off road uses.

In the future I can foresee even more people buying energy efficient and greener cars if they meet their goal of 54.5 miles per gallon because the cost of the car will outweigh the cost of gas. As the technology advances further, people will feel less hesitant in buying hybrids especially after the batteries are improved. It is also hoped that more charging stations will be put in public places and corporations so that people can charge their car without the fear of being stranded in the middle of nowhere.

References: 

1. http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1090590_gasoline-substitute-made-from-plant-waste-developed-by-uc-davis
2. http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1090615_heres-why-electric-cars-will-succeed-owners-just-adore-the
3. http://autos.yahoo.com/news/five-big-myths-green-cars-gas-mileage-debunked-165414250.html
4. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/30/business/energy-environment/obama-reveals-details-of-gas-mileage-rules.html?_r=0
5. http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/08/27/738621/why-fuel-mileage-standards-will-benefit-the-auto-industry-and-create-nearly-700000-new-jobs/#
6. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-05-17/better-gas-mileage-thanks-to-the-pentagon

During the course of the last week the “Contemporary Science and Innovation” class has been experimenting with Lego robots to understand: Force and Energy, Velocity and Acceleration, and Power. As mentioned in my previous blog about Lab #1 the class is completing the labs using Lego Mindstorm NXT. Which is a robotics kit that is programmable released by Lego Company in 2006 replacing their first generation kit. In this lab we used the NXT but also a Lego Mindstorm motor to lift weights with a pulley.

A pulley is a wheel, with a fluted rim for carrying a line, which turns in a frame or block and aids to change the direction to transmit force. A pulley works by altering the direction of what is called an ‘applied force’ by either changing rotation or what’s known as linear. Linear is measurement of one direction only. So that you are aware force is any influence that effects an object to undergo an alteration, either concerning its movement, direction, or geometrical construction. A force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity which begins moving from a state of rest. Velocity is the speed of something in a given direction. Acceleration is increase in the rate or speed of something. Power is defined as the amount of energy consumed per unit time. Newton’s Second Law of Motion pertains to the behavior of objects for which all existing forces are not balanced. The second law states that the acceleration of an object is dependent upon two variables – the net force acting upon the object and the mass of the object.

When we got into class the lab was already set up with the pulleys so we did not have to assemble them. The VI was also set up so we didn’t have to create it (link attached under references). Some important components to note on the VI program is: read battery level, read timer, reset rotation, and write to measurement file. Ready battery level reads the NXT battery power level of the connected NXT and outputs the power level in millivolts. Read timer reads the specified millisecond timer on the NXT brick. All tiers are reset and start running when program begins. Reset rotation resets the motors connected to the specified ports and clears their internal rotation counts. Write to measurement file express VI writes data to text-based measurement files or binary files so that they can be opened in excel.

The first thing we had to do was explore Newton’s 2^nd law by keeping the power level fixed and
changing the mass. Newton’s law is f=ma. The group started with a test run so that we made sure the pulley worked without any trouble which it did. Then for the first three runs we kept the power level fixed at 50% but changed the mass or weight the pulley had to pull up. The weights used were several small pieces at about 10 grams a piece and could be added or removed as pleased. We started with the full 250 grams which calculates to the mass of 0.25 kg or kilograms which had an acceleration of 6.718 RPM/s at the time of 5.164 second. The second run was at the mass of 190 grams or 0.19 kg with the acceleration result of 14.87 RPM/s and the time of 2.864 seconds. So as the mass changed the acceleration quickened and with it the time it took. On the third run the mass was changed to 130 grams or 0.13 kg and the acceleration changed to 9.92 with the time of 4.321 seconds. This part of the experiment concluded that as the mass is lowered the acceleration and time speeds up so the pulley has to work less.

The second part of the experiment was to keep the mass the same and change the power level to see if the acceleration varies. The mass was set at 250 grams or 0.25 kg for the second run of the experiment. The first run with the power of 70% resulted in acceleration of 0.321 RPM/s with the time of 23.94 seconds. The second run with the power of 30% resulted in the acceleration of 2.585 RPM/s and the time of 6.552 seconds. And the third run at the power of 40% resulted in acceleration of 6.26mRPM/s with the time of 4.464 seconds. It is concluded that the acceleration followed a sturdy increase as the power decreased as with the time it took was considerably less.

As the class went along with the runs explained above we also followed the battery discharge versus the mass for a fixed power level. The battery discharge is how much the power was used for the experiment. The battery discharge overall decreased when the mass was decreased (so less weight) and also when the power level decreased. This is understandable because the lesser the weight the less the pulley has to work so less power is used. It took less energy for the NXT motor to move the mass up the pulley at a slower rate. The first three runs with the fixed power level but changes mass resulted in: 138, 41, and 0 for battery discharge. The next three runs with the constant mass and change of power level resulted in: 83, 27, and 13 for battery discharge.

This lab was useful in the understanding of how to make engines more capable especially car and plane engines. Maybe there is a way in the future with more testing to make cars and planes out of lighter and green material so there is less mass the engines have pull making the energy decrease resulting in energy efficiency. Also if there was a way to make all machines and machinery more effective and less of a danger to the workers, with less fossil fuels being produced then we should attempt to investigate through more experiments.

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References:

1. http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/newtlaws/u2l3a.cfm
2. http://web.cas.suffolk.edu/faculty/lshatz/Sustainability_class/Labview/Lab2_2.vi