Sustainability, Energy, & Tech

    In my assigned group, we went over several options that could be done to do for our project. We began by discussing the possibility of doing collisions but came into a road block when the realization hit that we could only do one experiment rather than the planned multiple stations that we had in mind. The stations we had in mind was a punching bag, toy car collisions, and Newton’s cradle to demonstrate different concepts that go into collisions. After going over that option we discussed EMFs and Faraday’s Law  and how we could demonstrate how electricity can be produced when a magnet changes the magnetic field of a coil. This could be done by a running different magnets through different coils to demonstrate how these variables affect the output of electricity. With these two in mind now one has to be chosen for our group to do but we have a rough idea of how each one could be done.

Photovoltaic cells harness the energy from photons by exciting electrons in a process which is both physical and chemical in nature. The process of creating electricity through taking in light happens as crystallized atoms becoming ionized in series creating a flow of electric current. To get a better understanding of how the process occurs and how different variables affect the output of electricity, the class conducted an experiment to get answers. The lab that was done involved students pointing a flashlight at a solar panel at different distances and then at the same distance but with different colored filters. Using the LEGO Mindstorm, a program took down multiple values at different intervals. From those values one was able to calculate an average for that very run. In my group we ran 3 different runs at different distances and for the filter portion of the lab we used 3 different colors. Using these values one graphed the values to find a line of best fit for the varied distances and the other portion was made into a bar graph to demonstrate the amount of energy produced by each color.

Iran for a very long time has been running a nuclear program but many countries suspected that its efforts have been going into creating nuclear weapons rather than making clean energy. Back in 1992 the CIA had been warned that Iran would be using its Nuclear sites in order to produce testing samples that could be used to create weapons of mass destruction. Considering the governments ties with terrorists groups, it was hard to overlook but the US insisted that they were purely using it for energy. It was later revealed that China had been secretly supplying Iran with uranium causing suspicion and by 2003 the CIA really began questioning their activity. Also in 2002, it was revealed that they had 2 secret plans those of which had the capability of enriching uranium and of producing weapons. The United Nations since then has created an agreement with Iran to limit its enrichment of Uranium to 5% as 20% is the kind that has dangerous potential and handover their stockpiles that could be used to make weapons. Over the years the International Atomic Energy Agency has been keeping a close eye on Iran to make sure it would follow through with the agreements produced with the UN.

“Iran’s Nuclear Program.” Iran’s Nuclear Program. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2015.

“Iran’s Nuclear Program – QuickTake.” BloombergView.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2015.

“Most Viewed:.” Iran Nuclear Program History. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2015.

Knowing Faraday’s Law, our class conducted a lab to demonstrate and observe the effects it has when conducting electricity. Faraday’s Law states that when a magnet passes through a coil, changing the magnetic flux, the coil will produce electricity. The greater the change in flux, the more electricity will be produced. One is able to visualize this law through the shake light that was given out. In the lab one observes how much electricity is produced using a voltmeter. To get our values, one shakes the light at different speeds, in theory the more vigorously shaken, the more voltage produced. Once the lab was completed, the values were plotted on the graph displayed above which proves the theory. The mindstorm took data numerous times as the light was shaken and at the end of each run one would average out all those values. After 5 runs, each average was plotted out. As hypothesized, it did produce more and more energy as the number of shakes increased. Now below there is another image which describes a bit more into detail how the law works and how the values change with each variable.

 

 

Pandora’s Promise is a very insightful documentary which offers an educated breakdown of the way nuclear energy affects our world offering views from both sides. Although in my eyes I saw it as an unbiased film, it did sway me to be pronuclear energy as it did prove its point in demonstrating the multiple benefits which it offers. Not only that but it did also address the opposing side and then counteracted it by portraying the lack of evidence to support their claims. There is always a sliver of truth behind a claim that a group believes, for the anti-nuclear activists, that would be that nuclear waste will be an issue, but that gets quickly shut down by the documentary. As the film states, there is only enough waste to fill a football field which is not much and not to mention that there are advancements in the field of nuclear energy that would recycle that waste and put it to use keeping the reactor fueled for a much longer period of time. This waste that currently exists is held within a container which does not effect us in any way. This self efficiency makes nuclear power even much more appealing than before adding even more benefits to its use. As nuclear power currently stands, it offers tremendous amounts of energy for a small use of resources and with zero emissions. As a supporter of the anti-nuclear movement I am actually surprised by the tremendous potential that nuclear power has and has made me rethink my position. Nuclear power not only destroys the competition but is also safer than other renewable energies, that is crazy considering how much the media shuns the method of energy production. It is also amazing how the film made one feel as it pulled up statistics, even offering a view of the amounts of deaths caused by fossil fuels compared to Nuclear energy. The film went above and beyond, correcting all the false accusations that the media has placed upon the energy production method that we should be using worldwide.

     From very early on in our pop culture, it has been imagined that one day the human race would set foot on our red planet neighbor but for many years that seemed like just a fantasy which would never really happen but now there is a strong possibility. Government agency like NASA and even not so trusted companies like Mars One have laid out plans to reach the planet and send humans to it for the first time. NASA being a more reliable and trusted resource, it could be said that their goals are much more realistic but still a bit optimistic. Their plan is to land astronauts on an asteroid between us and Mars in the years of 2020 to collect samples and from the knowledge gained from that trip, eventually make way to Mars. The asteroid on which they would land, would be one that has been forced to orbit our moon. Trips like these will also put some experiments into real world testing like solar electric propulsion in order to see how effective it could be for space travel. For over 40 years, their has been rovers and other robots studying the planet and they
would continue their investigations to make it as safe as possible for astronauts to roam the red planet without the dangers of radiation, gravity, atmosphere, etc.(https://www.nasa.gov/content/nasas-journey-to-mars)

Now on the other hand, there is a more unorthodox company out there trying to be the first to land a human on Mars but it has many flaws before it could be anywhere close to competing with NASA’s mission. Mars One plans colonize the planet by selecting a few individuals to live there with the given resources. The thing about there plan is that the astronauts that would be traveling there would basically be human guinea pigs as they would not be able to leave the planet and they would study how humans could survive on Mars. But it is a bit unrealistic  but they are nonprofit and they are relying on
donations to carryout their mission and have no real founders or investors that could make this a reality. Not only that but the astronauts are not real astronauts, they are just regular people that being selected.(http://www.mars-one.com)

On the other hand there is still much hope left as other companies are also pitching into the efforts of accomplishing this. Legitimate companies like Virgin Galactic and Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, and his company SpaceX are investing much into the research and field testing of new technologies that one day could land us on Mars.(http://www.cnet.com/news/lets-go-to-mars-the-future-of-space-travel/)

 

An experiment conducted during class the other day included using the Mindstorm to control a motor attached to a cable that carried weights on the other side of a pulley system. The purpose of the lab was to utilize the tools given in order to see how different factors can affect the results of an experiment. It was a very clever way to learn multiple skills as the values that were recorded were later used to create graphs in Excel to visualize how the changes in values move along a slope. It helped build a better understanding on how to use Excel to get results for experiments and analyze data. Of the many factors which affected the values of the experiment included the power of the motor and the weight placed on the string. These variables were adjusted to get the multiple results which were recorded. From adjusting these values one was able to gain a better understanding of how they affected different aspects of the experiment such as the acceleration of the weights, the battery discharge caused by the pull, force needed for the run, and power used. The experiment was very easy to conduct as the program loaded on the Mindstorm recorded all the values for one but in the experiment between me and my partner, some of the values were invalid as we entered the wrong weight in the program. This messed up many of our values as the program would use the weight entered in order to calculate values such as acceleration. Even after discarding the invalid values, we still had just enough data to graph it and observe the patterns that the experiment followed as seen by the trend lines on the four graphs.

During one of our classes the students were brought to the library in order to take a tour and learn about the resources and tools that are disposable to us. Although it may seem obvious that our school has its own database in order to get reliable information for research purposes, I did not know how to access them and I was surprised to learn how simple it is. It is also nice to know that the library is very flexible at accommodating students when certain articles are needed as they will order it. When studying most students rely on a quiet environment to focus and the library’s website makes it easy to reserve a group study in order to have a bit more privacy or more room for one to study with friends. All of these tools and more can be accessed on this website http://www.suffolk.edu/sawlib/.

It has been found that making cars efficient is not difficult but as soon you begin adding the features which add convenience to the vehicle, it starts adding obstacles. Hybrids are a smart solution but people are not buying into the new technology so companies are going back to the drawing board starting with the material itself. Now a days, car companies are attempting to create new materials which reduce the overall weight of the vehicle so it does not use as much gasoline. (http://www.npr.org/2014/06/10/320709563/cars-shed-pounds-in-race-to-meet-fuel-efficiency-goals) As supported by the following article, it supports the previous claim by portraying statistics that vehicles are in fact shedding weight and becoming smaller overall. It also adds on to say that hybrids and electric vehicles are slowly catching on. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2013/03/16/cars-in-the-u-s-are-more-fuel-efficient-than-ever-heres-why/) As the New York Times states, car manufacturers are also racing to meet the goals set by the government in order to meet the requirements for MPG so that is also fueling the change in efficiency.(http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/11/business/energy-environment/fuel-economy-hits-six-year-high.html?_r=0)

Tom Vales’s demonstrations to the class portrayed the early innovations in engineering and solutions that were used to better the quality of living. It offered a closer look at how these instruments worked, the steam engine fascinated me the most especially because engines like it were used frequently throughout our history. Nikola Tesla was also an amazing engineer who came up with unique ideas and it was very intriguing to witness one of his many inventions, wireless power. Just seeing how the wireless power functioned demonstrated how ahead of his own time he was. The demonstrations did cause some excitement for me as it made me optimistic of the future and what current generation will do in the engineering field.