In 1994, California put into the books a stringent automobile emission policy that would create a cleaner and greener state. Automobile emissions regulate the amount of hazardous gases (NOx, SOx, CO) and soot released from tailpipes off all automobiles including cars trucks and busses. All of these regulations are enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Today, most cars and light trucks are certified to two standards, one California and one Federal. This allows automakers to sell their vehicles nationwide and still comply with both sets of emissions regulations. However, the legal requirements for vehicle certification are complex, and in some instances, vehicles can be certified to a single Federal standard nationwide, or to a single California standard sold only in limited areas. In the latter case, these vehicles are most often PZEVs sold either only in California, or to California and the “clean car states” that have adopted California’s vehicle regulations.
The emission policy in california began in 1994 with tier 1 emissions, which made California automobiles 10-15% cleaner than other US states. Tier 1 emissions are no longer in use. Tier 2 emissions were put into place during the spring of 2004, cutting emmisions further to 25% of all other US states.
California has become a leader in cutting emissions. Since 2004, twelve states have adopted these standards and will have them in place by 2009. California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has led this green ship across the US and was recently interviewed about the future of automobile emmisions.
Sea-Based X-Band Radar is a floating, self-propelled, mobile radar station designed to operate in high winds and heavy seas.
This massive piece of equipment is a part of the defense of United States of America against missile from and across the waters that surround America. It however, appears to be an east target to destroy if some nation wanted to safely launch an attack on the county, but disabling this large device would be more than unplugging it from the wall. This photo is taken when the X-Band needed to come in for general maintenance. Comparing the ship to the man standing in the foreground gives a good sense of how large the floating radar really is.
An ancient village located close to where the lost city was found
There is a civilization that has perplexed archaeologists for quite some time. But now archaeologists have discovered the remnants of a village in the Amazon forest, inluding a fortified citadel surrounded by many, small stone homes.
The Cloud People of Peru were different than all other native civilizations because the Cloud People had white skin and blonde hair and their existance has been somewha t
According to archaeologist Benedict Goicochea Perez, the main encampment is made up of circular stone houses overgrown by jungle over 12 acres. Paintings have been discovered on some of the houses, flat stone platforms next the homes are believed to be used to grind seeds and fruit.
The Amazon Rainforest encompasses 1.7 billion acres of trees, rivers, basins and valleys and I believe archaeologists will continue to uncover new civilizations yearly until the rainforest is surveyed completely.
The typical wind turbine is large, can be somewhat noisy and expensive (seek my post on 5 Myths of Wind Energy). Turning away from the horizontal axis design dominated in todays wind energy market, this video shows what a vertical axis wind turbine can do. Generating less power, but taking up much less area than a horizontal axis, these new turbines are the answer to the space problem in urban areas.
Better Place L.L.C. of Palo Alto California is teaming up with the state of Hawaii to turn the dream of electric transportation into a reality. Announced today, privately owned Better Place, outlined the largest electric automobile network, ballpark costing 200 to 250 million dollars.
California startup Better Place, has agreed to place 50,000 to 100,000 car rechargeable stations throughout Hawaii by 2012. As the Wall Street Journal reports:
Under the plan, consumers would buy or lease electric cars, and Better Place would supply recharging services and batteries. Consumers would have a choice of buying mileage plans — which would include recharging services and battery swaps — or being guests on the network and paying for each battery charge.
Hawaii is the first state to invest large amounts into electric cars and this author hopes it to be a great success. According to Better Place CEO Shai Agassi, the San Francisco Bay Area, Israel and Denmark are interested to outline a similar electric automobile plan.
BOO! Welcome to “Movies You Should Know Halloween Edition”, today on the guiltene is the UK-thriller, post-apocalyptic film, 28 Days Later. Halloween asside, this is one of my favorite movies for many reasons but for one, it’s a chilling movie that actually makes you think, makes you ask “what if?”
28 Days Later opens with a group of animal activists storming a research facility full of caged chimpanzees, subjects of psychological testing. The scientists desperately plead with the activists not to release the chimps exclaiming “they’re infected.” Apparently there is biological testing going on (who would’ve guessed), the chimps get released and 28 days later, the movie begins.
Outstanding performance from the unknown but slightly familiar looking Cillian Murphy. My absolute favorite scene is when Murphy is knocked to the ground, stares up to the sky and realizes something shattering to his situation. Directed by Andy Boyle, 28 Days Later takes the word “Infected” to an entirely new level, such a level that you must scare yourself this Halloween and give it a watch.
An excellent example of how multimedia can educate students, the video above shows the enormous size of our planetary system so everyone can understand without being an astronomer or mathematician. This scaling example can also be done in the classroom but I’ve found it difficult to find accurate representations of every planet when only working with the sporting goods and fruit sections in the supermarket. Just like my post from Friday, I want to get a telescope!
790K years ago, fire looked the same as it does today.
Reports from a fascinating archeological finding by Israel’s Hebrew University indicate that man produced fire as far back as 790,000 years. Found in northern Israel amongst 12 archeological sites were not remanaents of matches or zippos, but ancient flints used to spark fires.
Previously, an archeological study from 2004 identified that ancient peoples could control natural fires by transferring brush to locations of lightening strikes and using this to clear vegatation and cook food. But these new finding are substanially different,
“The new data shows there was a continued, controlled use of fire through many civilizations and that they were not dependent on natural fires,” archaeologist Nira Alperson-Afil said on Sunday. (REUTERS)
I would suspect that all adolescent males have at one time attempted to start a fire using a couple sticks, rocks or even a magnify glass. I never had much success with the first two but I have met some eagle scouts that could produce a fire with a few twigs and some good luck.I wanted to find a video of a reliable person making a fire but I came to the conclusion there are many ways to make a fire. Below, Bear Grylls from the Discovery Channel Channel show Man Vs. Wild, examples and explains the many ways to produce fire and the challenges that come with it.
Fall is continuing to zoom by and before we know, it will be gone and a thick-slushy, white substance will be covering everything. I love the winter night sky; everything appears so dark in comparison to summer nights and the stars and other planets seem to shine. The stars appear brightest during winter evenings because of several reasons. (1) There is less haze and moisture in the winter night sky than summer sky because low temperatures force the moisture to settle as frost, removing which provides a clearer view of the sky. (2) Winter evenings generally have more clear sky conditions than summer nights and (3) there are brighter stars visible in the winter sky than in the summer sky.
Considering all this…I want to buy a telescope. But I really have no idea how to start. What type? Cost? Where should I buy it from? I hope to accomplish some amateur night observation, something that has WOW but I don’t need to discover any planets/asteroids or E.T.
Type
The consensus for telescopes considered “amateur” are 6-8 inch reflectors. In a reflector, light is gathered at the bottom of the telescope by a concave mirror called the primary, which has a parabolic shape. According to the National Astronomers Association, almost all major telescopes are reflectors. So we’re set, reflector telescope is the way to go. For further advice on quality of telescopes, check out Scopereviews.com
Cost
After searching around the internet and forums dedicated to amateur astronomy, I’ve come to the conclusion that I should spend no more than $300 on an amateur telescope. Most people in forums have suggested not to spend less than $200 on a telescope. “You begin to get cheap parts. Cheap focus and objective, usually not sturdy construction and a telescope without a warranty,” theSCOPE from a certain forum writes. So I’m going to have to shell out 225-300 bucks.
While these are only a few, there are many other places to find a telescope. If you find a telescope at one of the above websites, shoot on over to Ebay or craigslist to find a lightly used or new one for 10%+ cheaper. I’ll let everyone know the telescope I choose to purchase, but I may have to wait until christmas or so, but I’ll continue to search for some great deals up until christmas. Cheers!
I found this interesting article at gizmodo.com about the winner of the Seoul Design Competition which awards inventors that use innovative product designs. The winner this year was “Life Pebbles”, a backpack that straps onto the air tank of firefighters and drops glowing neon balls to indicate the way out of a disorienting building. The designers liken the system to a “Hansel and Gretel breadcrumbs” scenario, where the leading firefighter will drop the neon balls and other firemen will follow. Interesting to see if the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel will solve this problem….
