Michael McCarthy: The ecological risks of clean energy's 'dirty little secret' - Commentators, Opinion
The environmental difficulties are well illustrated by the Mountain Pass mine in California. Until it closed in 2002, the Mojave desert facility for a long time provided most of the world's rare-earth metals, but the environmental cost was high. In the 1980s, its owners began piping its waste water, which carried radioactive waste, to evaporation ponds 14 miles away. However, the pipeline ruptured some 60 times – until it was shut down in 1998 – and 600,000 gallons of radioactive and hazardous waste flowed out into the surrounding desert. The company was eventually ordered to mount a major clean-up exercise and was fined more than $1m (£650,000). Mountain Pass closed eight years ago because of the environmental difficulties and because the price of rare earths had dropped, making operations uneconomic. Molycorp hopes to have the mine working again by late 2011 after negotiating environmental safeguards with no fewer than 18 California regulatory agencies.
25 Best Sites for Free Educational Videos
RefSeek's guide to the 25 best online resources for finding free educational videos. With the exception of BrainPOP and Cosmeo, all listed sites offer their extensive video libraries for free and without registration. Academic Earth Thousands of video lectures from the world's top scholars. academicearth.org Big Think Video interviews with 600+ thought leaders in a range of fields. bigthink.com Brightstorm Short-form online video lessons by professional educators. brightstorm.com CosmoLearning Aggregator of free, online video lessons and documentaries. cosmolearning.com Coursera Lectures taught by world-class professors and reinforced through interactive exercises. coursera.org EdX Courses designed specifically for interactive study via the web. edx.org Futures Channel High quality multimedia content ideal for use in the classroom. thefutureschannel.com Howcast Professional and user-generated how-to videos. www.howcast.com Internet Archive archive.org iTunes U Apple iTunes - Apple iTunes Software Khan Academy Hulu
Man Invents Machine To Convert Plastic Into Oil
The machine produced in various sizes, for both industrial and home uses, can easily transform a kilogram of plastic waste into a liter of oil, using about 1 kW·h of electricity but without emitting CO2 in the process. The machine uses a temperature controlling electric heater instead of flames, processing anything from polyethylene or polystyrene to polypropylene (numbers 2-4). Comment: 1 kg of plastic produces one liter of oil, which costs $1.50. This process uses only about 1 kW·h of electricity, which costs less than 20 cents! Brochure: pdf Contact: e-mail Each day the Flixxy team looks through hundreds of new videos to pull out a few we think are the best.
OnLineLabs
ChemLab There is a fee for this one, but it is well worth the price! They are truly interactive and you can design your own simulations! Go to the downloads page for a free evaluation trial Dartmouth ChemLab This site has some very good interactive virtual labs plus a terrific interactive periodic table! Virtual Chemistry Chemistry and Physics applets and phylsets from Davidson University. You can also download and use on your own webpages.
Thames Water turns to 'poo power' for renewable electricity generation | Environment
The sludge incinerator at the Crossness sewage works, south-east London, where the electricity will be generated. Photograph: Nic Hamilton/Alamy They look like instant coffee granules, but they are in fact sewage flakes – a highly combustible new renewable form of fuel that burns like woodchip and is being used for the first time to generate electricity for Britain's largest water and sewerage company. Thames Water has begun producing the flakes by drying sludge – the solids found in sewage – in a purpose-built machine at sewage works in Slough, Berkshire. In a not-so-green move, the company then takes the flakes by lorry to Crossness sewage works in Bexley, south-east London, where they are burnt off to generate electricity. The company estimates that 16% of its electricity needs will be covered in the current financial year by so-called poo power – enough to run about 40,000 average family homes – from a total energy requirement of 1,300 gigawatt hours.
What are some examples of online simulations for science labs?
Printable Version Sometimes it is difficult for students with disabilities to participate in experiments and other science lab activities. Online simulations can help these students participate in science exercises with more independence than may be possible in the traditional lab setting. The following list, although not comprehensive, provides examples of available science simulations. Inclusion on the list does not imply endorsement. Learn.Genetics offers three virtual, interactive Biotechniques laboratories, where students can learn and practice basic techniques that molecular biologists use every day in DNA extraction, gel electrophoresis, and DNA microarray analysis.
Foundation: News
An almost spring-like spirit of optimism currently prevails in the world of renewable energy. The various developments around the DESERTEC concept make us all hopeful, as the ideas’ implementation is truly gaining momentum. No sooner the groundbreaking collaboration with DESERTEC Power in Saudi Arabia was accomplished than the newest reports from there give account of a technical milestone: The PFFC technology (Point Focus Fresnel Collector) is another technology in the spectrum of solar energy generation bringing many advantages. Somewhere else on the globe new insights are being gained on the subject of the “Global Grid", a world-spanning power supply network. The bottom line is clear: Spring is coming slowly, but sustainably.
Molecular Workbench - An Interface to the Molecular World
Kidsruby.com
Write Code You can see your code, run it, and see what it outputs all at the same time. This makes it a lot easier to learn. Try Code KidsRuby is real Ruby code. You can also do anything that "Hackety-Hack" can do like display messages.
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