Blog #3: Wind Power may be the Future.

In December world leaders will meet in Copenhagen to try to agree on cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions for years to come. Scientist are saying the most effective step is one completely away from fossil fuels, and moving to all-purpose carbon-free resources such as Wind, Water, and Solar.

Scientist have been building to this moment for at least a decade, analyzing various pieces of the challenge. Stanford recently did a study, that ranked energy systems according to their impacts on global warming, pollution, water supply, land use, wildlife and other concerns. The very best options were wind, solar, geothermal, tidal, and hydroelectric power all of which are powered by wind, water, or sunlight.

The plan scientist in America have come up with, calls for millions of wind turbines, water machines, and solar installations. These large numbers frighten some, but to the scientist, this is nothing compared to the past. During World War II, the U.S. retooled automobile factories to produce 300,000 aircraft, and other countries produced 486,000 more. In the 1956 the U.S. began building the Interstate Highway System, which after 35 years, extended for 47,000 miles, changing commerce and society.

The question that now stands, is it feasible for us to transform the world’s energy systems? And scientist say, only if the leaders choice the right technology. I personally think they upon seeing the numbers, and if they can come to a reasonable agreement. Carbon-free energy will be chosen, and the way we see energy will change quickly in America, where many will get their dream of a green-country, but if they choose the wrong technology, we may see ourselves in a similar situation many decades in the future, but under a worse circumstance, and less time to act. A lot rides on the meeting in December, and many are hoping the elites can make the right decision.


http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=no-limit-for-wind-power

Blog 2: Roaches to the Rescue

Most people in the world would think of words such as “disgusting” or “repulsive” when it comes to roaches, but not this team at North Carolina State University. The team at NCSU’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering is using cockroach's uncanny survivability to possibly save humans. They have plans for using them in buildings that have fallen to rubble to find people who could possibly be trapped. The team designed a backpack for the roaches that fire of wireless signals at the roach’s antennae and other sensory organs to guide it to a desired destination. The researchers see these remote-controlled roaches as an alternative to small-scale robots, which at that scale is both difficult and expensive.

While this is both inexpensive, and life saving. The thought of respecting all organisms still come into play, and while not all animal rights groups are necessarily this in itself is bad, but they are afraid of what paths this may open up as far as using animals for things humans deem too dangerous themselves.  

I personally think this is great, but much like the animal activist groups, and interested in how people interpret this new form of ideology. Will they take it too far and possibly place animals in harm that shouldn’t be? Or will science be able to control itself and not place animals at risk. While cockroaches are indeed capable of navigating hostile areas, it still puts the idea in my head of “is it right?” and I’m sure many people are in the same situation as me.



http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=remote-controlled-roaches

Blog 1 Solar Energy Becoming the Main Source of Energy.

In less than five days, the Sun provides more energy than all proven reserves of oil, coal, and natural gas on the planet, 36 zettajoules of energy. What this means is that if humanity could capture a small percentage of the energy that the sun provides us, we could provide ourselves with energy that we could use for hundreds of years to come.

Now, scientists are saying that we can apply Moore’s law to solar energy.  Moore's law dictates that the number of components that can be placed on a chip doubles every 18 months. This is why the iPhone has more computing power than supercomputers a little over two decades ago had. If this law applies to solar energy that we will eventually reach the iPhone equivalent of Solar energy. Meaning we will have cheaper, more efficient, more powerful, solar energy producing items, and because Solar energy produces little-to-no greenhouse emissions, this could be a very large turn-around in a drastic and dangerous future humanity is currently moving towards.

This also means for meaning countries such as the United States, and countries in Africa near the equator, where the sun is shining nearly 24/7, large scale infrastructures could be more easily accessible as this technology becomes cheaper, allowing them to develop and catch up to post-industrial countries.

Humanity is currently on the path to a very dangerous future with as much harm as our current sources of energy to do the environment. Harnessing the power of the sun provides both a future for our children, and a present for those less fortunate, and while we still need a here-and-now solution knowing that our future can still be bright and better can lead many people around the world to do better now. We still need to have voices teaching those around us of the problems that we face today.

While solar energy won’t be the savior of humanity and all of its problems, on terms of energy this is a huge step in the right direction while keeping the environment cleaner and accessible in the future.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2011/03/16/smaller-cheaper-faster-does-moores-law-apply-to-solar-cells/