Sharing Some Words Of Wisdom......

 

However capable and skillful an individual may be, left alone, he or she will not survive. When we are sick or very young or very old, we must depend on the support of others. There is no significant division between us and other people, because our basic natures are the same. If we wish to ensure everyone’s peace and happiness we need to cultivate a healthy respect for the diversity of our peoples and cultures, founded on an understanding of this fundamental sameness of all human beings.

Give "Thanks" To a Veteran!

Sincerely hoping that we all take some time out of our busy days to reflect on all of the sacrifices that have been made to ensure that we maintain all of our rights and freedoms that we enjoy each and everyday! To all of the brave men and women in our service corps, you are what have made America the land of opportunity and the great nation that we so dearly love! Please, if you know of, or happen to meet any of our active or retired military personnel, thank them for their dedication and service to our country! :)

African Girls' Pee-Powered Generator Raises Questions

A group of 14-year-old school girls show off a urine-powered generator at an innovation fair in Lagos, Nigeria.

 

By John Roach

NBC News

 

A urine-powered generator presented by a group of school-age girls at an innovation fair in Africa is generating buzz as a world-changing breakthrough, but a reality-check with the expert who invented the contraption at the heart of the technology might flush those expectations down the drain.

 

The contraption in question is an electrolytic cell that converts urea — the main compound in urine besides water — into nitrogen, water and hydrogen.

“What these kids are doing is taking urea electrolysis and making hydrogen and then using that hydrogen to make electricity,” Gerardine Botte, a chemical engineer at Ohio University who invented the urea electrolysis process, told NBC News when asked to comment on the generator.

According to information provided on the Maker Faire Africa website about the pee-powered system, one liter of urine provides six hours of electricity, though the site lacks details on how many watts are generated or what that electricity could power for six hours: an iPod or a neighborhood?

Another concern is the implication that the students get more energy out of the urine than they use to prepare it in the first place. That isn't true, according to Botte.

“It is a high school project, so don’t take it [so seriously],” Botte said, suggesting the students work with an engineer to understand the technology and its appropriate applications.
For Botte, the technology is most practical as a way to make the wastewater treatment process more energy efficient.

All wastewater treatment plants consume energy, she explained. Since urea is already being collected by such facilities, Botte says it makes sense to extract hydrogen from it. This in turn can be used to generate electricity, thus reducing the amount of outside energy required to run the wastewater treatment process.

“You will never get more energy out than you put in because you are treating urea … but it is a unique and elegant way to treat urine waste, which will allow you to co-generate electricity,” she said.

Vanderbilt University Students Create Green Spinach Solar Cells

Everyone knows that Popeye got his strength from spinach, but a team of researchers at Vanderbilt University believe we harness certain properties from spinach in order to generate electricity. The team has developed a technique to combine the photosynthetic protein that converts light into electrochemical energy in spinach with silicon, the material used in solar cells in order to create “

The team, whose research was published online on Sep. 4 in the journal Advanced Materials, was led by David Cliffel, associate professor of chemistry and Kane Jennings, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering.

“This combination produces current levels almost 1,000 times higher than we were able to achieve by depositing the protein on various types of metals. It also produces a modest increase in voltage,” Cliffel noted.

“If we can continue on our current trajectory of increasing voltage and current levels, we could reach the range of mature solar conversion technologies in three years.”

The team has announced that their next step is to build a fully functional PS1-silicon solar cell. Jennings believes that a two-foot panel would be capable of putting out at least 100 milliamps at one volt. While that’s not enough to power a house, it would be enough to charge a number of small electrical gadgets.

But why spinach? For one thing, the green vegetable contains a certain protein used in photosynthesis that continues to function even when it is extracted. Known as PS1, this protein was discovered to convert sunlight into electrical energy with nearly 100% efficiency, compared to conversion efficiencies of less than 40% achieved by man-made devices. This prompted various research groups around the world to begin trying to use PS1 to create more efficient solar cells. It’s also cheaper to grow spinach than to use finite resources like platinum and indium!

 

“Nature knows how to do this extremely well. In evergreen trees, for example, PS1 lasts for years,” said Cliffel. “We just have to figure out how to do it ourselves.”

Climate Art! :)

Beautiful climate art with a powerful message! :)

Old Man In The Tree

Lyman Whitaker Wind Sculptures

A Compilation of Wind Sculptures in Motion

Created By: Lyman Whitaker