States of Matter

The Evolution of Cell Phone Design Between 1983-2009 Cell phones have evolved immensely since 1983, both in design and function. From the Motorola DynaTAC, that power symbol that Michael Douglas wielded so forcefully in the movie “Wall Street”, to the iPhone 3G, which can take a picture, play a video, or run one of the thousands applications available from the Apple Store. There are thousands of models of cell phones that have hit the streets between 1983 and now. We’ve picked a few of the more popular and unusual ones to take you through the history of this device that most of us consider a part of our everyday lives. We have tried, wherever possible, to include the most popular phones and the phones that were “firsts” for a particular feature, but may have missed out on your favorite phones due to the sheer number of models that are out there. We invite you to post your faves in the comments section if they are not listed here. Mobile phones are just now beginning to be as vital to North Americans as they have been to Asians. Nokia 1011 LG Vu

Over 70 percent of Americans: climate change worsening extreme weather Wind turbine in Minnesota, U.S. Photo by: Tiffany Roufs. According to a new poll, 74 percent of Americans agree that climate change is impacting weather in the U.S., including 73 percent who agreed, strongly or somewhat, that climate change had exacerbated record high temperatures over the summer. The findings mean that a large majority of Americans agree with climatologists who in recent years have found increasingly strong evidence that climate change has both increased and worsened extreme weather events. In the poll the majority of Americans say climate change likely worsened a number of recent extreme weather events, including 71 percent for the current drought and last year's unusually mild winter; 70 percent for this year's heatwave-rocked spring; and 64 percent for the derecho, an especially fierce and long-lasting windstorm, that hit the northeast in June. Related articles Nary a mention of climate change during U.S. presidential debate July 2012: hottest month in U.S. history

Lesson plans for teachers Common Core Implementation Kit enables the creation of a Common Core State Standards aligned lesson plan with a few easy clicks. Common Core operates from within Word 2013 and provides daily learning targets for Common Core State Standards, along with instructional notes, student friendly “I Can” statements, vocabulary lists, differentiation ideas, activity ideas, assessment ideas, common student misconceptions, and links to open educational resources aligned to the standards. Save time planning lessons and locating resources for your students The Common Core Implementation Kit is a free tool that makes it easy for teachers to create Language Arts and Math lesson plans aligned to the Common Core State Standards all from within Microsoft Word 2013. Common Core consists of a series of course-specific Microsoft Word templates that access Common Core information through a Microsoft Office Task Pane that is displayed next to the lesson plan document. System requirements

New Page 1 Videos Soil Erosion by Wind and its Control Produced by USDA-ARS-EWERU for NRCS, 2003. 35. min./Color. Also available in VHS & DVD and with closed captioning. Send request to: Wind Erosion Research A three-part educational video, which describe the physical basis for wind erosion processes and control systems. Soil Erosion by Wind and Its Control Part I: The Problem of Wind Erosion Part II: Processes of Wind Erosion Part III: Control of Wind Erosion Two years on at Chaitén « The Volcanism Blog Posted by admin in Chaitén, Chile, eruptions, volcanoes. Tags: Chaitén, Chile, volcanic eruptions trackback View of Chaitén caldera and lava dome before the May 2008 eruption (© Eric Manríquez). The eruption of Chaitén volcano in southern Chile began two years ago today, on 2 May 2008. Since that date eruptive activity at the volcano has continued uninterrupted: the intensity has varied, but the activity has never ceased. View from May 2009 of the Chaitén dome complex (courtesy Mr Javier Romero, Vialidad MOP, Puerto Montt). During the coming week, to mark the second anniversary of Chaitén’s awakening, there’ll be a series of posts here at the Volcanism Blog looking at various aspects – volcanological, social, economic and environmental – of this remarkable and endlessly fascinating eruption. Sequence of images of the Chaitén lava dome during March 2010 (SERNAGEOMIN). UPDATE. For all our Chaitén coverage: Chaitén « The Volcanism Blog.

Hydroelectricity | Clean Energy Electricity from Hydropower Hydropower is considered a renewable energy resource because it uses the Earth's water cycle to generate electricity. Water evaporates from the Earth's surface, forms clouds, precipitates back to earth, and flows toward the ocean. The movement of water as it flows downstream creates kinetic energy that can be converted into electricity. Hydropower is mostly dependent upon precipitation and elevation changes; high precipitation levels and large elevation changes are necessary to generate significant quantities of electricity. Environmental Impacts Although hydropower has no air quality impacts, construction and operation of hydropower dams can significantly affect natural river systems as well as fish and wildlife populations. Although power plants are regulated by federal and state laws to protect human health and the environment, there is a wide variation of environmental impacts associated with power generation technologies. Air Emissions Water Resource Use

National Geographic Freshwater 101: Rivers Rivers and their tributaries are the veins of the planet, pumping freshwater to wetlands and lakes and out to sea. They flush nutrients through aquatic ecosystems, keeping thousands of species alive, and help sustain fisheries worth billions of dollars. Rivers are also the lifeblood of human civilizations. They supply water to cities, farms, and factories. Rivers carve shipping routes around the globe, and provide us with food, recreation, and energy. Hydroelectric plants built from bank to bank harness the power of water and convert it to electricity. But rivers are also often the endpoint for much of our industrial and urban pollution and runoff. Over the course of human history, waterways have been manipulated for irrigation, urban development, navigation, and energy. The Colorado River provides an excellent example of what happens when demand for river water—for cities, industry, energy production, and agriculture—threatens to outpace supply. River Facts