Tom Vales was one of the most interesting scientists that I’ve seen until now. He knew how to captivate our attention and even include us into his presentation. Unfortunately i arrived late for his presentation but when i did, one of my colleagues was holding a long stick made of wood one one side and metal on the other side. She used this to create electricity by getting the tip of the stick close to another thing that was made of plastic surrounded with some kind of wire. The thing was a bucket made of plastic surrounded by wire and on top it had a tip made by some kind of metal and when in contact with the stick it created electricity.

The other devices that were introduced into the presentation were the Tesla Coil and the Mendocino Motor. These were presented before i arrived to class so i don’t have too many details about them, but from what my colleagues were saying, they were very interesting and captivating.

The Keystone XL Pipeline is a pipeline that runs from the Canadian Border all the way to connect to a pipeline in Steele City, Nebraska. TransCanada Corp sent an application to the Department of state, on May 4^th, 2012. The application “included proposed new routes through the state of Nebraska”.  It is an oil pipeline system and it carries synthetic crude oil and diluted bitumen from Canada and also light crude oil from the Williston Basin region in Montana and North Dakota. This project is still in operation and another part is waiting for the U.S. Government Approval. After the pipeline is completed is going to consist of the completed 2,151-mile (3,462 km) Keystone Pipeline (Phases I and II), Keystone Gulf Coast Expansion (Phase III), and the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline Project (Phase IV).

Keystone XL Pipeline project will replace phase I pipeline and it starts in Alberta, Canada extending to Steele City, US.

President Obama rejected this project in 2012 and some of the cons of this project are that it will be dangerous to the environment and residents of Nebraska are against it. The pros will be that the Keystone Project minimizes the disturbance of land, water resources and special areas.  It’s considered “one of the safest and most advanced pipeline operation in North America”. This can provide jobs and help the economy of the United States. It could also bring essential infrastructure to North American oil producers and “provides long-term energy independence.

            Once the project is finished, the Keystone IV would add 510,000 barrels per day (81,000m3/d), this increases the capacity up to 1.1 million barrels per day (170*1000m3/d).

This project was developed as a partnership between Trans Canada and ConocoPhillips, and now TransCanada is the sole owner of the Keystone Pipeline System.

Sources

http://www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov

http://keystone-xl.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Pipeline

      One of the goals that Obama is trying to take is to reduce greenhouse emissions.  As it’s stated in the article he made a commitment to reduce the U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in the range of 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. The Obama Administration has made progress by doubling generation of electricity from wind, solar, and geothermal, and by establishing historic new fuel economy standards. This can help President Obama achieve his goal by 2020.

One of the initiatives Obama is trying to take is to build a 21^st– Century Transportation Sector. Heavy-duty vehicles are currently the second largest source of greenhouse emissions within the transportation sector. In 2011, the Obama Administration finalized the first-ever fuel economy standards for model year 2014-2018 for heavy-duty trucks, buses, and vans. These standards will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 270 million metric tons and save 530 million barrels of oil. During its second term, the President’s Administration will partner again with industry leaders and other key stakeholders to develop post-2018 fuel economy standards for heavy-duty vehicles to further reduce fuel consumption through the application of advanced cost-effective technologies and continue efforts to improve the efficiency of moving goods across the U.S.

Biofuels have an important role to play in increasing our energy security, fostering rural economic development, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector. The Department of Energy’s eGallon informs drivers about electric car operating costs in their state.

Another initiative President Obama is taking is cutting energy waste in homes, businesses, and factories. Energy efficiency is one of the clearest and most cost-effective opportunities to save families money, make our businesses more competitive, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He is firstly trying to establish a goal for energy efficiency standards, then to reduce barriers to investment in energy efficiency, after expanding the president’s better buildings challenge.

Another step that Obama is trying to take is to preserve the role of forests in mitigating climate change. The forests in the United States play scathing role in addressing carbon pollution, removing nearly 12% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions each year. As our forests stay alive and become bigger the percent of removal becomes larger. When facing the change of climate it increases the risk of wildfire, drought, and pests, and the capacity of the forests to absorb carbon gets smaller. Pressures to develop forest lands for urban or agricultural uses also contribute to decline to forest carbon sequestration. Conservation and sustainable management can help to ensure our forests continue to remove carbon from the atmosphere while also improving soil and water quality, reducing wildfire risk, and otherwise managing forests to be more resilient in the fact of climate change. The Administration is working to identify new approaches to protect and restore our forests, as well as other critical landscapes including grasslands and wetlands, in the face of a changing climate.

The MIT Nuclear Research Reactor is one of the most popular reactors in the United States. It serves the purpose of research and information for students and scientists. It started functioning in 1958 and its construction begun in July 1956. It took 2 year to be put in function. It took $3 million dollars to be built but now it serves its purpose. Its built out of aluminum alloy and it uses light water for cooling. The MIT Nuclear Reactor needs to be refueled every 3 months. It operates in Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which is considered top first university in the United States.

The MIT Nuclear Reactor is a type 6 MW reactors; it operates a high research reactors known as the MITR-II. It is one of the most known laboratories in the United States and is considered the second largest university research in the United States.  It focuses on nuclear fission engineering, material science, and radiation affects in biology and medicine, neutron physics, geochemistry, and environmental studies. It supported educational training and also research for scientists. Here, students can be directly involved in the “development and implementation of nuclear engineering experimental programs with neutron flux levels comparable to power reactors”. The staff at the Nuclear Research Reactor laboratory is really open-minded and offers help to university students, high school students and also graduate students involving school projects. It also provides assistance to university research, faculty members and national laboratory users. This laboratory is fully equipped with experimental facilities available to users from inside and outside the MIT University.

The MIT Nuclear Reactor utilizes flat, plate-type, finned, aluminum clad fuel elements and it also uses light water for cooling. It is a heavy water reflected. The average core power density is 70kW per liter. “The maximal fast and thermal neutron flux available to experimenters are 1.2*10 to the power 14 and 6*10 to the 13^th power neutrons/cm2-s. The lab is equipped with a big number of safety features as negative reactivity temperature coefficients of both the fuel and moderator; a negative void coefficient of reactivity; the location of the core within two concentric tanks the use of anti-siphon valves to isolate the core from the effect of breaks in the coolant piping; a core-tank design that promotes natural circulation in the event of a loss-of-flow accident; and the presence of a full containment. The experimental facilities that are available the research reactor contains two medical irradiation rooms, beam ports, automatic transfer facilities. The lab operates 24/7.

Source

http://web.mit.edu/nrl/www/reactor/reactor.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_Nuclear_Research_Reactor

Pandora’s Promise starts off with a two speakers. They are both trying to appeal to our president, Obama, in the attempt of trying to send him a message about stopping the use of nuclear plants.

Mostly of the journalists and anti nuclear activists were against nuclear powers. Some of them were became pro nuclear power because of others that were convinced that what they thought, nuclear power being bad wasn’t that bad after all.

In the 1950’s there were two kinds of nuclear reactors. The Brita Reactor, which breads plutonium and recycles over and over again. The Light Water Reactor is much more simple, but produces more waste, and it was chosen by Admiral Rickover to be the reactor for the submarine. But with Rickover’s influence, the light water reactor became the principal reactor all over the world.

What scientists considered to be real long-range future for nuclear power, was, the Brita reactor.

President Eisenhower decided to share the benefits of nuclear energy with other countries, it was called Adam’s four piece.

The first commercial nuclear power plant was built in Shipping port Pennsylvania in 1956. They wanted it there because there was already a lot of pollution, so the citizens saw it as it is, another pollutant added to the city. It was a modified version of a submarine reactor.  The first power reactors were really small.

China Syndrome came out. The idea behind the China Syndrome is that nuclear power plant would melt down and would brow a whole all the way to China-à Cancer.

The countries with the most quality of life are the ones that consume the most electricity, for example New York, Japan, China etc. Even the countries that couldn’t afford having electricity, now they can afford it, so it makes our world more dangerous.

Cole is the fastest growing source of energy. As a result of this, is the most usable source of energy that China and some other countries use. Cole is considered to be one of the worst use of energy and the most dangerous, and as a result millions of people die yearly. Nuclear, as its stated in the movie, is the second safest after wind, even safer than the wind.  Apparently, if you eat bananas you tend to be more exposed to fossil fuels than when you drink a good amount of water.

The explosion of the reactor at Chernobyl had a lot of consequences.  The city was evacuated but some of them came back after a while, thinking that nothing would happen to them.

According to the movie all major explosion of the reactors happened mostly because of inadequate cooling.

For this project we needed:

• One generator (magnet that moves back and forth inside a coil of wire)
• One voltage probe
• One NXT adaptor
• NXT
• Labview VI  generator_lab.vi
• Excel sheet

Our job was to understand first how to measure the voltage output of the generator and then actually measure it. We had to correlate the number of shakes of the generator, in a thirty second time interval, with the voltages or the sum of the square of the voltages that the generator generates.

Me and my partner split tasks. He shook the generator and i measured the voltage output and finished the excel part. He first shook the tube at a particular rate. While he was shaking the generator he has to count the number of shakes in the data collecting interval. We repeated this for five times so we can get an accurate graph. After we did this five times, I transferred all the data into excel. For each time we shook the generator and recorded how the results for each of the shake. After i made the table i calculated the sum squared for each group of the shake. We just put =sumsq plus all the data recorded for each shake of the group and calculated it. After i repeated the step for each group i inserted the marked skater with the number of shakes for each group and the sum squared. Shorter: I calculated in excel the sum of the squares of the voltages for each step. After i did all the math i made the graph for all the five times we measured as a function of number of shakes and fit the result to a linear curve.

     Cars might be one of the best transportation systems. Living in an urban or suburban area it is essential that we own at least one car. They are the most efficient and comfortable transportation system and by living in the suburban areas, cars are the basic for “survival”. They are essential to maintain a basic standard of living. Cars also can take the place of a train, plane etc. Its much more beautiful to take a trip driving than flying. Its exhausting but it helps you explore much more places than you would by flying. Because cars are the second most important things after owning a place to live, we have to think about how we can save if we travel a lot.

One of the ways you could save money is to:

1.Keep you vehicle well maintained.

“A car in poor running condition will use more gas than one that has been tuned up.”

2. Purchase a hybrid

 “ A hybrid is a vehicle that uses two or more distinct power sources to move the vehicle. They combine an internal combustion engine and one or more electric motors.” These type of cars not only help you save money but also saves the air from pollution.  Power sources for hybrid vehicles include:

• Coal, wood
• Electricity
• Compressed or liquefied natural gas
• Electric vehicle battery
• Hydrogen
• Solar
• Petrol or diesel fuel
• Wind

2. Use charging electrically for the cars

“Its one of the best ways to give power to the vehicle that you are driving and its more efficient.”(electric cars)

3. Purchase a car that shuts down one or more engine cylinders when it is coasting, or cruising under a light load, reducing fuel consumption without sacrificing performance.

Sources

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2007/05/30/how-to-improve-your-gas-mileage-23-top-tips-for-better-fuel-economy/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_vehicle

http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2012/08/30/10-ways-automakers-are-helping-you-spend-less-on-gasoline/

Hydraulic fracturing can be described as being the fracturing of a rock by a pressurized liquid. Certain veins or dikes form naturally. The simulation is usually conducted once in the life of the well and greatly enhances fluid removal and well productivity, but there has been an increasing trend towards multiple hydraulic fracturing as production declines. According to ProPublica hydraulic fracturing “is a process used in nine out of ten natural gas wells in the United States, where millions of gallons of water, sand and chemicals are pumped underground to break apart the rock and release gas. Scientists are worried that the chemicals used in fracturing may pose a threat either underground or when waste fluids are handled and sometimes spilled on the surface.

To give more explanations, “hydraulic fracturing is a technique used relatively briefly during the well completion process. It often takes place a mile or more below groundwater supplies. Shale rock has gas trapped in pores smaller than the width of a hair, so we must create a network of small fissures in the rock to release the gas. This involves injecting a mixture of 90 percent water, 9.5  percent sand, and 0.5 percent chemicals (that in part prevents bacterial growth and reduce friction) into the well at high pressures to keep the fissures open, which allows the gas to flow. Again, the activity is continuously monitored. Experts monitor data such as injection pressure and flow rates during the process to ensure that everything is going according to the plan.”

According to an article posted on June 17th, 2011 by Ken Cohen called “Facts on the hydraulic process” it is proven that the hydraulic fracturing – “a method that’s enabling greater production of natural gas in shale and other formation – poses no more risk to the environment or water supplies than any other oil and gas production technique.”  Whats most important about “tracking” is ensuring that proper well design and water-handling procedures are rigorously applied at every well. ” The finding is just the latest confirmation of what the U.S. Ground Water Protection Council and others have found in their studies of hydraulic fracturing: ‘Taken together, state and federal requirements, along with the technologies and practices developed by industry, serve to protect human health and help reduce environmental impacts from shale gas operations,” the Ground Water Protection Council said in a primer prepared for the Department of Energy in 2009’

Sources

http://www.exxonmobilperspectives.com/2011/06/17/facts-hydraulic-fracturing-process/?gclid=CIWl7Jyr27wCFfM7OgodxkEAAw&gclsrc=aw.ds

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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing

This part of this blog is dedicated unto explaining one of the activities we did in class on the second class of science. I was really surprised to be introduced to this new activity, building a robot. We started by building the connection to the base so we can put the wheels on. Then we used two cables to connect the robot. We were handed a USB, so we had to plug it into the robot and then into the computer. Building a robot was dedicated to measure distance and velocity. Me and my partner started to build the robot and after we finished we were supposed to connect it to the computer through and USB so we can start it. We were supposed to measure the distance the wheels travel and at which speed the car travels. Our robot had a problem so we never succeeded into connecting it to the computer, so we only finished building it. Looking around mostly of the class succeeded and some of the robots drove in circles, some of them straight but we never found out the explanation for it. To be continued in the second class…