Engineers at a national lab have shown that small fans embedded in car seats could help cool passengers down -- saving up to 7 percent of the 30 to 40 gallons of gasoline per year an average driver consumes for powering air conditioning systems. The engineers are also studying ways to power A/C by converting some of the engine's heat into sound waves first.
An average driver uses 30 gallons to 40 gallons of gasoline each year just running the car's air conditioning. That adds up to seven billion gallons of gas annually. At the Department Of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab, engineers are researching ways to cool the people in the car rather than the entire car.
Mechanical engineers at NREL are researching ways to reduce gasoline consumption while increasing passenger comfort. First, solar reflective glass keeps the parked car cooler when passengers first get in. Then, small fans in ventilated seats pull hot air away from the seat's surface.
The ventilated seats pull air through your clothing, causing your sweat to evaporate and using the body's natural mechanisms to cool itself. Also, thanks to acoustics the engine's excess heat is put to work cooling the inside of the car.
Also, view the video on that cooling car : http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2006/0901-cool_car.htm
Adapted from: science daily.com
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
CAMP on ST.JOHN
The camp on St.John island was our first camp as Sec ones and my first time on an island. Our sleeping conditions were one night in tents and another night in domes. The camp was generally fun and nice. We really got to know our friends better and it was tiring especially after sleeping in the hot and stuffy tent.
Although we did not have any exciting or wet activities, we had team building games which I think are more suitable now as we are new to each other in our class. I hope that in the near future we will have more exciting and challenging games and activities in our camps as we will be more familiar with each other at that time.
Team building games was also not that bad or boring after all, it was quite fun and although not as fun as other challenging activities, I still enjoyed myself. Some activities I would like to bring to remembrance are the Multi Level Captains Ball and the Camp fire held on the second night.
So far, I think that the Captains ball was the most enjoyable activity. I will just give those who were not at the camp but are reading this post now a brief introduction on what is the Multi Level Captains Ball is generally about. There are about 5 types of balls that will be given into the game at each or the same time during the few parts of the game. The biggest ball will be worth 10 points while the smallest ball is worth about 50 to 60 points I guess. At the last round, a water bomb with MAMA brand washing soap in it was given and introduced into the game. The player must not drop or let the water bomb burst and past it to the group's captain. It was very easy to burst so the Instructor brought a big pail of those identical water bombs to the game so when one of the water bomb bursts, he will throw another in to the game.
That game was really fun.
The Campfire was also very fun. We sang some campfire songs and also had a performance by each class. Our class group name was 'TIK TOK' so we danced to the song tik tok. We had a star performer Leon Ng from our class and he stood right in the middle of the class and did special moves which were very impressive and all the audience were really impressed.
Overall, I would like to thank our instructors from the company High Achievers and also to our teachers who gave us support when we were doing the 'caterpillar' activity, but I am not going to talk about the caterpillar thing, it is too hard to mention.
Well, this camp was enjoyable and it taught many of us to not take things for granted and to step out of our comfort zone at the same time.
Sorry I can't show any pictures from that place because we could not bring our phones in case it got lost.
That's all
Bye for now.
Although we did not have any exciting or wet activities, we had team building games which I think are more suitable now as we are new to each other in our class. I hope that in the near future we will have more exciting and challenging games and activities in our camps as we will be more familiar with each other at that time.
Team building games was also not that bad or boring after all, it was quite fun and although not as fun as other challenging activities, I still enjoyed myself. Some activities I would like to bring to remembrance are the Multi Level Captains Ball and the Camp fire held on the second night.
So far, I think that the Captains ball was the most enjoyable activity. I will just give those who were not at the camp but are reading this post now a brief introduction on what is the Multi Level Captains Ball is generally about. There are about 5 types of balls that will be given into the game at each or the same time during the few parts of the game. The biggest ball will be worth 10 points while the smallest ball is worth about 50 to 60 points I guess. At the last round, a water bomb with MAMA brand washing soap in it was given and introduced into the game. The player must not drop or let the water bomb burst and past it to the group's captain. It was very easy to burst so the Instructor brought a big pail of those identical water bombs to the game so when one of the water bomb bursts, he will throw another in to the game.
That game was really fun.
The Campfire was also very fun. We sang some campfire songs and also had a performance by each class. Our class group name was 'TIK TOK' so we danced to the song tik tok. We had a star performer Leon Ng from our class and he stood right in the middle of the class and did special moves which were very impressive and all the audience were really impressed.
Overall, I would like to thank our instructors from the company High Achievers and also to our teachers who gave us support when we were doing the 'caterpillar' activity, but I am not going to talk about the caterpillar thing, it is too hard to mention.
Well, this camp was enjoyable and it taught many of us to not take things for granted and to step out of our comfort zone at the same time.
Sorry I can't show any pictures from that place because we could not bring our phones in case it got lost.
That's all
Bye for now.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Methane Releases from Arctic Shelf May Be Much Larger and Faster Than Anticipated
The research results, published in the March 5 edition of the journal Science, show that the permafrost under the East Siberian Arctic Shelf, long thought to be an impermeable barrier sealing in methane, is perforated and is leaking large amounts of methane into the atmosphere. Release of even a fraction of the methane stored in the shelf could trigger abrupt climate warming.
"The amount of methane currently coming out of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf is comparable to the amount coming out of the entire world's oceans," said Shakhova, a researcher at UAF's International Arctic Research Center. "Subsea permafrost is losing its ability to be an impermeable cap."
Methane is a greenhouse gas more than 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide. It is released from previously frozen soils in two ways. When the organic material -- which contains carbon -- stored in permafrost thaws, it begins to decompose and, under oxygen-free conditions, gradually release methane. Methane can also be stored in the seabed as methane gas or methane hydrates and then released as subsea permafrost thaws. These releases can be larger and more abrupt than those that result from decomposition.
This worries me a little as if the layer of ice above the sea continues to destabilise, there will me more amount of methane produced which will greatly contribute to the green house gases.
In April 2007, studies in Siberia had conducted a winter expedition on the sea ice. They found that more than 80 percent of the deep water and greater than half of surface water had methane levels more than eight times that of normal seawater. In some areas, the saturation levels reached at least 250 times that of background levels in the summer and 1,400 times higher in the winter.
The release to the atmosphere of only one percent of the methane assumed to be stored in shallow hydrate deposits might alter the current atmospheric burden of methane up to 3 to 4 times," Shakhova said. "The climatic consequences of this are hard to predict."
"The amount of methane currently coming out of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf is comparable to the amount coming out of the entire world's oceans," said Shakhova, a researcher at UAF's International Arctic Research Center. "Subsea permafrost is losing its ability to be an impermeable cap."
Methane is a greenhouse gas more than 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide. It is released from previously frozen soils in two ways. When the organic material -- which contains carbon -- stored in permafrost thaws, it begins to decompose and, under oxygen-free conditions, gradually release methane. Methane can also be stored in the seabed as methane gas or methane hydrates and then released as subsea permafrost thaws. These releases can be larger and more abrupt than those that result from decomposition.
This worries me a little as if the layer of ice above the sea continues to destabilise, there will me more amount of methane produced which will greatly contribute to the green house gases.
In April 2007, studies in Siberia had conducted a winter expedition on the sea ice. They found that more than 80 percent of the deep water and greater than half of surface water had methane levels more than eight times that of normal seawater. In some areas, the saturation levels reached at least 250 times that of background levels in the summer and 1,400 times higher in the winter.
The release to the atmosphere of only one percent of the methane assumed to be stored in shallow hydrate deposits might alter the current atmospheric burden of methane up to 3 to 4 times," Shakhova said. "The climatic consequences of this are hard to predict."
I hope all of you will enjoy reading this article from www.science daily.com. For more articles regarding science, I recomend you to go to the website to read the articles. Next Term I will focus more on the 3r's which I have yet to explain clearly.
source: http://www.sciencedaily.com
source: http://www.sciencedaily.com
Monday, March 1, 2010
LA Home-Learning(interpersonal)
Today I am going to interview one of my family member about the story, Lamb To The Slaughter. I would like to type out the interview transcript here on my blog. His opinion about the crime was that he was surprised that Mary Maloney would resort to kill her husband instead of sorting things out with him and get to know each others problems. He thinks that the punishment should be that she is given a death sentence if she was found to be guilty because although she is pregnant, she still killed her husband and if she was found to be guilty a few years later, her child might be given to her relative to take care. The necessity to communicate in a relationship is very important in order to have a good marriage. A husband and wife must share their problems or what they are unsatisfied about with their partners. Most importantly, one must accept their partners as who they are and are willing to help him or her change for the better. If a couple keeps their problems to themselves and do not share their feelings, each partner may not know what their partners need from them and hence the relationship is not very close. One must open up and share their feelings and not keep it to themselves if they want a good marriage.
This is the end of the transcript. I think what he said was very meaningful to all couples. I hope everyone will also post their thoughts in the comment box below and share our comments, thank you.
This is the end of the transcript. I think what he said was very meaningful to all couples. I hope everyone will also post their thoughts in the comment box below and share our comments, thank you.
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