Archive for the 'Science Hall' Category

Harnessing the Wind

Though mankind has harnessed the wind for centuries to produce energy, interest in this method of power generation has recently intensified as a result of both increases in conventional energy costs and the debate over the extent of humanity’s responsibility for climate change. Policy-makers and generating companies are considering the extent to which wind power can serve as a viable and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, and are already determining how to encourage wider use at all levels. Historically farmers and millers were the chief users of wind power - for irrigation and grain milling respectively - and this trend carried on with farmers and others in isolated communities being foremost among the early users of windmills to provide electricity. It’s time we start to take the step of stop using conventional mean to power our cars, our dishwasher, and our homes. Eventually, we will hit an energy crisis that will devastate the world! The price of gas is skyrocketing, our energy bill will start costing thousands, the world will probably start fighting any necessary means to obtain more resources! Yes!? That can never be good.Because of this and the fact that you can now generate power cheaper than ever before, the popularity of domestic wind power is climbing exponentially. This is excellent for the earth, but also very great for peoples budgets. Simple tools available in most households, no special toolsWhere do you start?First off, after examining the plans you will see that you need to order a DC motor to be used as a power generator for your home. The blades turn the motor in order to produce power. It takes a few days to be sent directly to your home so don’t hesitate to take this action first. While you are waiting for your DC motor to arrive you can get started on the other parts as outlined in your diy wind turbine plans. The instructions building wind turbine clearly show that the blades can either be fashioned from PVC or wood, with wood being preferred for bigger machines. 60hz Countries

IT’S STILL A “JUNGLE” OUT THERE

IT’S STILL A “JUNGLE” OUT THERE
… Or How US Beef-Industry Feeding Practices Are a Source of Concern

If you think about farmers raising cattle, you probably conjure up something like this happy cow scene: Mellow heifers quietly grazing on the lush grass of the rolling countryside, lazily swishing their tails at pesky bugs. New-born and young calves getting nourishment from the milk in their mothers’ teats. For us here at Grinning Planet, such images make us reminisce about our days in the Mu Alpha Mu fraternity, when we’d hang out at the Dairy Queen every Friday after class singing all the great milk-drinking songs.

But back to the dreamy visions of cow country. It seems there is a nightmarish underbelly here, and much of the nightmare centers on animal feed.

While it’s true that cows typically spend the first year or two of their lives grazing on pasture, there are two ugly facts about how “agribusiness” in the US feeds cows:

A baby cow does not typically feed from its mother’s teat, but rather is fed a bottled formula mix that contains (among other things) the blood of cows that have previously been slaughtered. Eww!

Once a maturing cow leaves the pasture for the feed lots, it is typically given a feed mix that contains slaughterhouse wasteparts from cows, pigs, and chickens that have been ground up, rendered, and mixed with grain or other feed stocks. Double eww!

Basically, those in the ranching and feedlot industries have turned cowswhich are purely vegetarian by designinto meat-eaters, and to some extent, unwitting cannibals. Most people have a visceral negative reaction to the concept of cannibalism, even when it occurs naturally in a species. But in this case, the cows’ cannibalism is 100% at man’s insistence. Profit and pricing pressures are behind itslaughterhouse waste is a cheap source of food for the grower’s operations.

Maybe you think serving up cow’s blood to calves and rendered slaughterhouse waste to feedlot cattle are shady, fringe practices. But such feedings are standard in the beef industry, and completely within current regulations. The beef industry has aggressively tried to quell any discussion of the issue, and they generally get full support from the US Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.

Though “recycling” of animal slaughter waste may seem somewhat appealing from a waste-disposal perspective, the barbarity of these practices is enough to make one cringe. But there is an even worse problem with these methods. In the next Eco-Logical, we’ll talk about how Mad Cow Disease relates to these feeding practices, and we’ll offer some suggestions for finding beef that is free of freakish feeds.

Want more… See part II
http://www.grinningplanet.com/2003/judge-is-nuts/environmental-issue-24.htm

For jokes, cartoons, and more great environmental information, visit http://www.grinningplanet.com .

Copyright © 2003 by GrinningPlanet.com
You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. Must be published complete with no changes. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated.

About the Author

Mark is a writer, financial analyst, web developer, environmentalist, and, as necessary, chef and janitor. Grinning Planet is an expression of Mark’s enthusiasm for all things humorous and green, as well as a psychotic desire to work himself half-to-death. Hobbies include health foods, music, getting frustrated over politics, and occasionally lecturing the TV set on how uncreative it is.

National and International Real Estate Information

The large number of people searching the internet for local, national and international real estate information can simply not be ignored. At the same time you may think effective real estate website promotion is too difficult to master, too expensive to afford, or just too mysterious to understand - an area reserved for experts in the field of search engine marketing. Like most practitioners of highly specialized skills, search engine marketing specialists have a vested interest in making their field seem mysterious and difficult to master. Smart investors have a substantial portion of their portfolios in real estate. If the budget deficit is out of control; there is always a tendency for property taxes to rise. The farmlands currently present tremendous opportunities. These lands enjoy lower property taxes. The debt on these holdings is far less. It is time to accumulate farmlands and adjoining properties. The year 2007 in Delhi & NCR has been a year of change. Its the bank, of course. Remember, your liability is your bank managers asset. So if these people can use the banks money to buy a property, then why can you?I know owning your own home may sound like the obvious way to go, but if you really want to get on the first rung of the real estate investment ladder, then this is the best way to get started in real estate investment. Why then is this first step completely overlooked by many people? Just take a look at how many are still renting instead of buying property.So what is his secret advice to getting good real estate investments? GET ER DONE!In all seriousness, I don think the Cable Guy is actually giving real estate investment advice but he should. If you will remember his famous “Get er done” phrase, it will serve you well in the real estate investment. Early in my real estate investment career, I bought single family houses and then turned around and resold with owner-financing in place. Luxury Kensington Apartment

Do You like Algebra?

After an exhaustive research over the causes behind the maximum school dropouts, a consistency was found in the answers of the majority of the individuals pointing towards Algebra. The thoroughness of knowledge of the teacher is not merely adequate for students to comprehend the algebraic concepts, nor it is adequate to evoke interest about the subject area. It’s the method; the subject matter is explained to its recipient which leads a lot for developing interest in the contents.

What is Algebra?

A shortened introduction of Algebra would be a branch of mathematics which replaces letters for numbers; algebraic equation is a scale . The standard theories of algebra includes real numbers, complex numbers, matrices and vectors.

The Different Spheres

Algebra in general spreads over a lot of areas. some such areas are Multiplying exponents, dividing exponents, Solving quadratic equations , Finding Greatest common factor or GCM, Multiplying, Adding, Subtracting fractions and many more.

If the above mentioned areas are already putting butterflies in your stomach, I hope that the definitions to follow will alleviate your anxiousness and give real perception in to the subject matter.

Exponents is a notion that indicates multiplication of identical factors. Fractions are equally interesting and actually are used when representing numbers that describe the parts of a whole. Many such similar areas in algebra may sound threatening at first, but once you comprehend the simple concept behind it, you will be delighted by its purpose. To put down a few more items - Mixed numbers, Quadratic formula , Graphing linear inequalities, solving compound in equalities, Factoring binomials, and Factoring polynomials; are all algebraic expressions.

I am sure it will be obscuring to comprehend mixed numbers, you may be startled to find out that they are a type of fractions. Graphing linear inequalities states its purpose pretty clearly by its name. Similarly there are many other algebraic areas which are really interesting to work with.

Finding a Tutor

If you want to quench your thirst for algebraic knowledge further and you do not have any instructors there is nothing to worry about. Because There are online lessons too. These tutorials emphasize the practical ways rather than the theory, presenting dependable techniques. Algebraic helper software can assist you in the step-by-step process of understanding and working through mathematics sums in a systematic, step by step fashion while supplying good examples and explanations for all steps involved.

Power Companies Build Wind Farm

To make enough electricity to serve lots of people, power companies build “wind farms” with dozens of huge wind turbines. A wind turbine works the opposite of a fan. Instead of using electricity to make wind, a turbine uses wind to make electricity. Factors Residential wind turbine technology that is being employed today for creating power for a home is not designed to provide large amounts of energy as solar energy does. Most wind turbine information should divulge this.It should be viewed as an additionally viable power source to be used in conjunction with either solar or water power (or both) in order to provide home with sufficient amounts of electricity. In any case, this will still witness a significant reduction in your dependence upon that utility company as well as helping the country save on fossil fuel prices and reducing the dependency on international sources of these fuels. These home built versions also put out approximately twice the power of a similar sized commercial model. Many towns and municipalities will allow you to sell any excess power your home wind turbine produces back to them, so you can eliminate the cost of a storage battery. There are four main components that you will need to purchase to complete your wind turbine. In todays world of increasing prices, inflation and global warming, saving money and protecting the environment has become more crucial than ever. People have started to notice the importance of the environment and working towards reducing the negative impact on it. Therefore, they have started turning to renewable resources like solar energy and wind energy. Not only wind energy is cost-effective but it doesn cost you more than $200 to build a homemade wind turbine. The only thing you need even before you decide to build a homemade wind turbine to power your home is a complete guide to accompany your throughout the entire project. wind turbines

Wind Power in the Local Hardware Store

There are several option like going to a salvage yard, a local hardware store, or ebay. Each method is meant to save you money without sacrificing your small wind generators power output. It’s very important to get the right plans because if you try saving big yourself then you’ll just become another case of trial and error (most likely error). There is no need to go through the process again since someone has done it all for you. And while most may not realize the importance of this technology, there are already a growing number of people that is slowly embracing this form of energy source. Reasons for the adaptation of this energy source might vary.RPM motors and your on your way to a super efficient homemade windmill. PVC pipe wings are cheap and easy to make, but you can’t make a wing over three feet. They will snap, and they do brittle over time and snap regardless. Matter of fact almost every wind storm you can count on loosing at least one PVC wing. I’d say, if you don’t have sheet aluminum laying around, go with wood. Wood , with quarter saw grain and no knots, makes for excellent wings. With the recent but relentless escalation of crude oil product costs, we can now see how much this dependence is really affecting us. The worse part of this is that experts from all fields of science and business are predicting that the world’s supply of oil (or black gold, as it is called) has dropped to alarmingly low levels. But if you are a bit of a ‘Do-it-yourselfer’ you may want to look into home wind power kits. These kits make an affordable option for getting up and running with your wind power project. Even if you are skeptical about wind power and its efficiency, and you want to experiment a little, a wind power kit is a great way to produce electricity from the wind without spending a lot of money. The wind power kits often include 3 fiberglass wind turbine blades, motor, hub, pole, and often the wiring needed. Usually you will have to buy the batteries separately, as they can weigh a lot and come in many different load capacities.Source: wind turbines

Economic Benefits and Drwabacks of Alternative Energy

There are the economic realities of energy production now and in the future. There is the ethical issue of using a non-renewable energy source and a moral issue with regards to the damage that fossil fuels do to the environment. This article will cover some of these issues and cover how solar power for the home addresses some of these issues. Grid electricity and the use of fossil fuels costs money and this will only go up as the resources that power grid electricity get harder to find. As long as we have the sun, we can have solar energy (and on the day that we no longer have the sun, you can believe that we will no longer have ourselves, either).?Oil, on the other hand, is not renewable. Once it is gone, it is gone. Yes, we may find another source to tap, but that source may run out, as well.?Solar cells are totally silent. They can extract energy from the sun without making a peep. Now imagine the noise that the giant machines used to drill for and pump oil make!?Solar energy is non-polluting. In this article, we are going to talk about the environmental and economic benefits and drawbacks that arrive with solar power usage. The key advantage of preferring solar energy is that the fuels are free and when it comes to source, it is unlimited. You should be able to find such a panel for less than $200 at an RV supply store. You should then buy a deep cycle 12 volt battery, you can buy either a gel, or lead and acid battery. These companies have increased in popularity due to people wanting to protect the environment. By using solar power you can protect the environment by not having to burn fossil fuels. The amount of fuel that we have available is limited and they are quickly running out, by using solar power you are conserving the natural resources.

Source: Alternative Energy Directory

Could the Christmas Star Be a Planetary Conjunction?


Could the Christmas Star be a planetary conjunction? The final possibility is one or more of the 5 brilliant naked eye planets — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn. Another Star of Bethlehem is Uranus, which orbited very close to Saturn in 9 BC and Venus in 6 BC. This is unlikely because Uranus orbits very slowly and is only remotely visible. In truth, the Magi could have befuddled one or more of the everyday planets with a star actually seems remote.

Occasionally, two or more of these flaring wanderers come together in a dramatic conjunction. By some narrow chance a planetary grouping of unique beauty; an exceptionally close conjunction of two planets or groupings of three or more creating an eye-catching geometric figure in the sky may have taken place between the years 7 and 2 BC. A getting together like that would be quite special to the unexpecting eye.
One such event that is often cited occurred on the evening of Feb. 25, 6 BC involving Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, and happened in the constellation of Pisces, the Fishes. If you have ever visited a planetarium for the traditional Christmas show, you probably already know the thrill of watching as the planetarium projector races back through time to recreate this unusual event. One such event that is often mentioned occurred on the evening of Feb. 25, 6 BC involving Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, and bechanced in the constellation of Pisces, the Fishes. If you have ever travelled a planetarium for the sanctioned Christmas show, you in all probability already experience the thrill of watching as the acknowledge the chill of observing as the planetarium projector races back through time to recreate this unusual event. Another potential explanation for the Star of Bethlehem is the three-times conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn between May and December in 7 BC; a fantastic triple or “great conjunction.” Jupiter appeared to pass one degree north of Saturn on May 29; much the identical on Sept. 30; then finally a third time on Dec. 5. There is no incertitude about the profile of these cases, mostly opposite to the Sun in nighttime skies. As for their astrological wallop, the Magi would have surely noticed that both planets did not appear to separate widely between their concurrences.

All about Bullets

Brass

Brass, in other words
denotes to the mettalic package also identified as a catridge that holds the bullet, The component known as the brass denote to a container that
contains the bullet, gunpowder and primer that is designed as a perfect fit for a firearm’s firing chamber. Commonly, a brass is categorized according to the caliber of the bore of a firearm and according to the type of the fire arm. The
type of the firearm could be something like a pistol or a rifle. It is also great to know that the brass differs from
one manufacturer to another. Norma, the well far-famed Swedish ammunition manufacturer would
probably be the model. Norma has a best-known reputation
for making utmost quality brass that is very reliable and effective.

What Are Cast Bullets?

Cast
bullets are casted out from custom molds. There are many specific reasons why you should choose cast bullets. The primary reason would be one gets the chance to mold custom bullets with the desired
specifications such as caliber and diameter. Moreover, cast bullets are known to elevate the accuracy of a handgun up to the accuracy of a rifle. This is why, cast bullet suppliers can be found almost everywhere in the country. Some of rifle bullets are designed for smokeless loading and are offered
by many suppliers as are cast bullets that work really well on hand guns.

Discover the Story Behind Lead Bullets

All exposed lead bullets caused trouble along the way. After firing, the lead grind with the firearm bore and leave amounts of lead residue lying around. Therefore, the firearm barrel may need cleaning after
firing lead bullets. In order to rectify this issue, jacketed bullets were invented. Jacketted bullets come with the lead core wrapped around a this copper case in such way that the lead parts of the bullet will not touch the bore of the
firearm. The bullet is usually produced by forcing a lead in to a cup shaped copper case. However, most copper cases
are made of an alloy called gliding metal that contains about 95% copper and 5% zinc. This alloy is used as it is much harder than pure copper and leaves much less copper residue
behind. Even though, some residue is left in the gun barrel after firing these bullets, it is much far less
compared to lead bullets. In addition, this does not seem to affect the accuracy of the bullet. Jacketed bullets are available for both handguns such as pistols and also
rifles.

Energy Wind Power

Energy wind power guide. Help The EnvironmentA lot of people talk about helping the environment. When you build your own wind power generator you’ll actually be doing something to help the environment! It’s great to put your words into action and this DIY guide will allow you to do just that. Save Money On Your Power BillIf you no longer needed to pay the electric company for power, how much money would you save? For most people the answer to that question is at least $1000 a year. Think about it! You can build your own wind power generator for less than $200 so you can make many times back your investment in just one year. Although these occupy some space, however you can install these in your backyards or garden. There are many places where wind flow is heavy and thus there is a potential to generate good amount of electricity through wind power generators. Even in other places also, you can generate electricity and can reduce your electricity bill by 50 to 70 percent. More and more people have realised that they must take steps to reduce dependence on fossil fuel generated power which pollutes our atmosphere with its emissions. Coal and natural gas powered electric power production has increased at an alarming rate in recent times and is a major cause of atmospheric pollution. Wind power by comparision is absolutely clean and the only objectiion to it,voiced by some people,is visual pollution from the arrays of wind turbines necessary for large scale power production. Given the right conditions, a residential turbine can produce all of the electricity you need and more. In fact, the generator will be hooked up to the utility grid and you can actually sell power to the utility if you produce more than you need. Now, the word turbine can be a bit intimidating. When I think of a turbine, I picture something large and loud. In the case of small wind, this is not the case. The machinery makes a bit of noisy, but nothing substantial.

Next Page »