tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77287381207480870362024-03-18T21:54:49.662-07:00The Masquerading ScientistScience is my hobby.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728738120748087036.post-32556040497449276332014-04-29T15:20:00.000-07:002014-04-29T15:21:17.190-07:00Post by Lily Satterlee: Spectroscopy<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>This is the research paper that Lily did for her 6th grade school science fair project - Future post of project documentation coming soon ;)</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Spectroscopy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Spectroscopy is the best way for scientists and astronomers to discover more about our universe. Scientist for many years have wanted to use light
waves to learn more about the elements around us. The electromagnetic spectrum
and line emission also play important roles in spectroscopy. Spectroscopy can
work in many different ways, occur in many different places, and there are many
ways it can be used.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Spectroscopy, over the years, has been a useful tool for
helping scientists to identify things using the electromagnetic spectrum. It
all started with Isaac Newton’s discovery that white light from the sun could
be split up into colors of the rainbow, he called this a spectrum. He
discovered this by using a prism to bend light from the sun. The first
spectroscopes were lenses, screens, and prisms. Later on, a German physicist
named Gustav Kirchhoff wanted to identify elements using the electromagnetic
spectrum. He soon realized that spectra lines were unique to each element. This
was called line emission.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Spectroscopy works by
the electromagnetic spectrum causing line emission. The electromagnetic spectrum is caused when
vibrations from the electric and magnetic fields cause electromagnetic waves
Line emission is spectra lines with in an electromagnetic spectrum. Line
emission is caused by an electron elevator. That is when an electron moves
either closer or farther away from the nucleus.
As the electron moves further away from the nucleus, it moves faster,
which causes higher energy levels. This causes electrons to emit light which
gives off spectra lines.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> There are different ways that spectroscopy can be used. One
way is if you’re trying to figure out what a star is made of You can do flame
test (lighting elements on fire) on different elements because each element
burns its own unique color. To see how hot a star is, you can see that, if it
is blue or white, it is hotter and if it’s a dark red, its cooler. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> As you can see spectroscopy is the best way for scientists
and astronomers to discover more about the universe. In conclusion, using the
electromagnetic spectrum, and the many other ways it can be used spectroscopy,
over many ways, played an important role in scientific history.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728738120748087036.post-33254610671857576662013-05-13T20:29:00.001-07:002013-05-13T20:29:21.327-07:00Climate Change and Weather Predictions: The differences in regards to Chaos TheoryA paper I wrote for my meteorology class on 5/11/2013:<br />
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Back in 1963, a man named Lorenz was studying patterns of
rising warm air in the atmosphere. His studies led to a model of chaos theory,
the Lorenz Attractor (an attractor in math being a representation of space: “the
smallest unit which cannot be itself decomposed into two or more attractors with
distinct basins of attraction (Weisstein, 2013).”). This “strange attractor”
came from his studies that showed how even a slight interference in pattern
could cause the outcome to be completely unexpected. Take a look at the below,
where blue and magenta travel together until one takes an unexpected diversion
based on a very slight change in input:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-size: medium; text-align: start;">
<i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Illustration of deterministic chaos. Imagine two systems started at slightly different initial conditions. They will follow each other closely for some time, but within a short time our ability to predict them breaks down (front and side view of the Lorenz attractor).<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-size: medium; text-align: start;">
<i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">(Axelsen,2010)</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Illustration of deterministic chaos. Imagine two
systems started at slightly different initial conditions. They will follow
each other closely for some time, but within a short time our ability to
predict them breaks down (front and side view of the Lorenz attractor).<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">(Axelsen,2010) <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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What the Lorenz attractor
models is the chaos of weather prediction (Axelsen, 2010).<o:p></o:p></div>
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What Jacob Axelsen points out in his discussion of chaos
theory and weather is that climate change predictions are not ruled by the same
chaos (2010). Climate change can be predicted, but it will be the daily weather
that results that remains hard to pin down. This is because the inputs for
weather are sensitive and fragile – air, easily manipulated, and water systems.
Climate prediction comes from much more predictable inputs such as radiation
and molecules with predictable behaviours (Axelsen, 2010). Weather,
essentially, is not going to be easy to figure out as climate change takes
place, but the inputs from climate can be predicted.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Much of the more consistent study of Earth’s past climate
has come from looking at glacial, arctic and Antarctic ice cores. The use of
ice cores determines two major components of climate change predictability:
temperature and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) levels. CO2 from the atmosphere in the
past can be measured by studying air bubbles in the ice cores. The temperature
is determined by the way the ice is formed (Ferguson, 2013). The data from ice
cores collected gives data from as far back as 80,000 years (Ferguson, 2013), so
a good representation of past climate information is available to scientists in
comparing the correlation of temperature to atmospheric CO2 levels. <o:p></o:p></div>
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CO2 is one of several greenhouse gasses in Earth’s
atmosphere. It is not the most plentiful; water vapor is a greenhouse gas and
is much more plentiful in the atmosphere and actually absorbs more radiation
(Aherns, 2012). However, the concern with CO2 is the amount that is generated
by anthropogenic means through the relatively recent phenomenon of burning fossil
fuels for power and technology. CO2 is a byproduct of spent fossil fuels.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There has been more recent data taken directly from the
atmosphere for the past few decades at the NOAA Earth System Research
Laboratory at Mauna Loa, Hawaii. Below, you can see the data collected
represented:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;">“The carbon dioxide data (</span></i><span class="mediumredn"><i><span style="color: red; font-size: 10pt;">red curve</span></i></span><i><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 10pt;">), measured as the mole fraction in dry air, on Mauna Loa constitute the longest record of direct measurements of CO<sub>2</sub><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>in the atmosphere. They were started by C. David Keeling of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in March of 1958 at a facility of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration[Keeling, 1976]. NOAA started its own CO<sub>2</sub><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>measurements in May of 1974, and they have run in parallel with those made by Scripps since then<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>[Thoning, 1989]. The<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>black curve</b><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>represents the seasonally corrected data.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<a href="http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/"><i><span style="font-size: 10pt;">http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/</span></i></a><i><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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Based
on this data, and the correlation of temperature and CO2 levels in ice cores,
the prediction that the Earth’s surface temperature will increase makes sense.
The warming of Earth makes some climatic changes easy to predict: the Northwest
U.S. mountain ranges will experience more rainfall than snowfall, affecting
water supplies. The tropical inland regions will get drier. Heat from the West
African coast and the warming that the equatorial Atlantic experiences will add
fuel to hurricane development, making them stronger and longer lasting. All
these climatic predictions can be made in general (Ahrens, 2012).<o:p></o:p></div>
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There
is one major aspect of weather that could make climate change go either way.
Cloud formation can be predicted to increase with climate change. What can’t be
predicted is whether those clouds will increase or decrease Earth’s surface
temperature. Scientists are currently trying to create models to figure this
out. Clouds are large condensed bodies of water, which could have a greenhouse effect.
They could also have an albedo effect and insulate the atmosphere from further
radiation. Either way, the clouds and the likely increase in formation is one
of the major sticking points in climate change predictability (Ahrens, 2012).<o:p></o:p></div>
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In
the end, there are two things that are certain: CO2 is increasing due to human
activity and increasing CO2 adds greenhouse gases. There are questions, though,
that remain in trying to predict whether climate change and warming will occur
due to this phenomenon. Will increased CO2 create a bloom of plankton that can
actually decrease CO2 levels? Will the increased cloud formations help cool or
add to the warming? These may be the questions that chaos theory makes hard to
answer when it comes to climate change. <br clear="all" style="mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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References:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
Ahrens, C. D. (2012). Essentials of meteorology, an
invitation to the atmosphere. (6th ed. ed.). Belmont: Brooks/Cole Pub Co.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Axelsen, J.
(2010, July 9).<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Chaos theory
and global warming: can climate be predicted</i>. Retrieved from </span><a href="http://www.skepticalscience.com/chaos-theory-global-warming-can-climate-be-predicted-intermediate.htm"><span style="background: white;">http://www.skepticalscience.com/chaos-theory-global-warming-can-climate-be-predicted-intermediate.htm</span></a><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> </span> <o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Ferguson , W.
(2013, March 1).<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Ice core data
help solve a global warming mystery</i>. Retrieved from </span><a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=ice-core-data-help-solve"><span style="background: white;">http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=ice-core-data-help-solve</span></a><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Weisstein, E. W.
(2013).<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Attractor from
mathworld</i>. Retrieved from </span><a href="http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Attractor.html"><span style="background: white;">http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Attractor.html</span></a><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728738120748087036.post-31776936094084525082012-09-08T23:01:00.000-07:002012-09-08T23:01:47.199-07:00The Time Machine Design Contest<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On the Saturday night before the first day of fifth grade for Lily (daughter, 10 years old), she and I decided to have a contest. We would each design a time machine and a winner would be declared. Since dad was the only one around to judge, you can guess who won (he's partial to anything Lily designs, and to be fair, she's quite an artist). Below are our designs, done completely independently with no input from one another or anyone else. Feel free to voice your own favorite in the comments :)<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiByRE71R_l1fsvWDExiGWfIG2Yg8c5zrb1iGSqFw8M7BzHlvDAB0otVX8JLfAo3-HFW0ioHZLOK88t_BmIxkuO1ApE-NXMS8W873jzIHKbHDvy7wJ1mJds_D1SXhjQJa1tEyhIrpHAepA/s1600/Moms+time+machine+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiByRE71R_l1fsvWDExiGWfIG2Yg8c5zrb1iGSqFw8M7BzHlvDAB0otVX8JLfAo3-HFW0ioHZLOK88t_BmIxkuO1ApE-NXMS8W873jzIHKbHDvy7wJ1mJds_D1SXhjQJa1tEyhIrpHAepA/s400/Moms+time+machine+001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom's (my) Design...Pretty self-explanatory.<br /><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Lily's design requires more description:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDqdetFjjJrTuGODmiW1Gm_T8qJ_MteyT1zIz8ZVXqMzKVmPkDU04_gGJSGf2iWwdSTnAh7ub1Pepzhu9Sy7-x1iUkzQECDXUAAlrur2Vq2E06xOsNRW6N2ino9BaaDf5Y60EPB67oVU/s1600/Lilys+time+machine+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDqdetFjjJrTuGODmiW1Gm_T8qJ_MteyT1zIz8ZVXqMzKVmPkDU04_gGJSGf2iWwdSTnAh7ub1Pepzhu9Sy7-x1iUkzQECDXUAAlrur2Vq2E06xOsNRW6N2ino9BaaDf5Y60EPB67oVU/s640/Lilys+time+machine+001.jpg" width="466" /></a></div>
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Paraphrasing Lily's verbal description: This time travel device is portable and is designed to be worn on the wrist. The map is a touch screen and used to select where you would like to go. There is a B.C./A.D. selector to go along with the year/month/day selector. There is also a "Change History Mode" with an on/off indicator, used when you would like to alter the past, or, as Lily put it: "If you want to go back in time and warn yourself about something, like, 'hey! don't do that!'" The back of the device offers a way to take others with you; finger pads allow up to two friends to go along. You will also notice the color selection she offers (located at the top of the page above the design), and, she points out, when not in use, the device is designed to be worn on a belt. Lily's is similar to mine that it has a "wormhole finder," but hers is located in the device much like a modern smart phone.</div>
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:) :) :) :) :)</div>
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Lily and I had quite a bit of fun designing and explaining our time machines, and I am pleased to share them with you. Perhaps, when we have a finished product, we will also share video of our time-traveling adventures! </div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728738120748087036.post-76926956477037184602012-07-07T10:58:00.000-07:002012-07-07T10:58:20.057-07:00Nebulas, a Guest PostThis is another guest post by my daughter, Lily, now ten years old. Her passion for space is inspiring! :)<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/NatSci102/NatSci102/images/atoms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/NatSci102/NatSci102/images/atoms.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Picture credit:
<br /><a href="http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/NatSci102/NatSci102/lectures/spectroscopy.htm">http://ircamera.as.arizona.edu/NatSci102/NatSci102/lectures/spectroscopy.htm</a> </i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Catriel;">Nebulas, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Catriel;">By Lily Satterlee</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Catriel;">Do you wonder where stars
come from? The answer is nebulas. They’re a large cloud of dust and gas. Behind
the clouds are new born stars. It is mostly hydrogen and helium. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Catriel;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Catriel;">How these
stars are are made is movement in the nebula causes clumps to form of elements and
debris. These clumps increase the gravity around them as their mass grows. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.daviddarling.info/images/nebular_hypothesis.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.daviddarling.info/images/nebular_hypothesis.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Evolution of a star; from nebula birth to solar system.<br />Picture credit:<br /><a href="http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/N/nebhypoth.html">http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/N/nebhypoth.html</a>
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<span style="font-family: Catriel;">The
gravity attracts more elements and debris and the clumps increase in mass and
gravity more. The increase in mass and gravity also cause an increase in
density and energy to make… a star. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Catriel;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Catriel;">The most famous nebulas are the Orion nebula and the
eagle nebula which has the pillars of creation. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac191/eprestenbach/Hubble%20Nebula%20Project/orion-nebula-hubble-13484558.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://i899.photobucket.com/albums/ac191/eprestenbach/Hubble%20Nebula%20Project/orion-nebula-hubble-13484558.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Orion Nebula picture by the Hubble Telescope<br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pzc4Hw-dsyJOYbRB7NhCCF4GoCnruosNsWbtuadiEhPiTMQRKC_Z7QcN-TTz7lActkpgychOUh6dT8PCDw-xSL1ydm9wBFRLWpkZlTT0dUH8UaeCeANDuouITZhA6nqRXA9sSOsCcmk/s1600/Hubble+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pzc4Hw-dsyJOYbRB7NhCCF4GoCnruosNsWbtuadiEhPiTMQRKC_Z7QcN-TTz7lActkpgychOUh6dT8PCDw-xSL1ydm9wBFRLWpkZlTT0dUH8UaeCeANDuouITZhA6nqRXA9sSOsCcmk/s320/Hubble+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula, Hubble Photo<br /></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Catriel;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Catriel;">Nebulas are also where stars
die. When a star dies the nebula reacts. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Catriel;">As you can see our galaxy would
not be what it is with out the nebula.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_dGRzHU7sPTCZx3sjt6ietaQbct3LgNi1jQ4DusQAF5pTmlCm9t2uo3mo2lEmkDmJIDfzhGTsiBoD5OJu7Ppkpm8WaQxOp_Q7IgyuV971nN6oGiw5fWC0_SEkQfzqW-zvcFyj_C_UwoO1/s1600/Butterfly+Nebula+from+upgraded+Hubble+telescope.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_dGRzHU7sPTCZx3sjt6ietaQbct3LgNi1jQ4DusQAF5pTmlCm9t2uo3mo2lEmkDmJIDfzhGTsiBoD5OJu7Ppkpm8WaQxOp_Q7IgyuV971nN6oGiw5fWC0_SEkQfzqW-zvcFyj_C_UwoO1/s400/Butterfly+Nebula+from+upgraded+Hubble+telescope.jpg" width="335" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Butterfly Nebula, Hubble Photo.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Catriel;"><br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728738120748087036.post-72501381791804848032012-05-17T16:21:00.000-07:002012-05-17T16:21:16.841-07:00Urban Agriculture<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.visualizenashua.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Urban-farm-brooklyn-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://www.visualizenashua.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Urban-farm-brooklyn-4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>photo credit: <a href="http://www.visualizenashua.com/idea/urbancommunity-gardens/">http://www.visualizenashua.com/idea/urbancommunity-gardens/</a></i></td></tr>
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<i>“Food
is a form of energy…but it’s also a form of power. And when we encourage people
to grow some of their own food, we are encouraging them to take power into
their own hands: power over their diet, power over their health and power over
their pocket books…”</i>(Doiron)</div>
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Supermarkets
bring in food from all over the world to sell to <st1:country-region>U.S.</st1:country-region>
citizens. The choices are abundant. Despite this variety of choice and what is
usually a picturesque product in the produce aisles, citizens are losing
confidence in the quality of product they are consuming (Doiron). The
disconnect between the producer and the consumer that exists in the food
industry has spurred a rise in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) systems in
the U.S. CSA systems involve an agreement between the grower and the buyer;
locally grown food is delivered for a subscription price weekly (Patel). CSA
systems are one type of growing trend in the world today of urban agriculture
which can simply be defined as “the growing, processing, and distribution of
food and other products through intensive plant cultivation and animal
husbandry in and around cities.” (Brown and Carter 3). Urban agriculture
provides more than additional food for the market. For individuals and communities,
there are social, ecological and economic benefits.</div>
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<a href="http://christinaconway.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/73-victory-garden-poster-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://christinaconway.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/73-victory-garden-poster-3.jpg" width="253" /></a></div>
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Raj
Patel, in the eighth chapter of his book <i>Stuffed
and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System</i>, describes the
rise of CSA systems and farmer’s markets in the United states, with over 1,000
CSA Systems today and by the end of the 20th century (Lovell 2505), over 7,175
farmer’s market in 2011 (Union of Concerned Scientists 1-4). The history of
Urban Agriculture in the United States dates back to the 1890’s, where lots in
cities like Detroit, New York and Philadelphia were being cultivated to provide
food for residents, and in the 1930’s during the Great Depression era, where it
was not only necessary to have a form of subsistence, but also the employment
that city farms offered (Lovell 2505). One of the most iconic developments in
urban agriculture in the <st1:country-region>U.S.</st1:country-region>
was the <st1:place><st1:placename>Victory</st1:placename> <st1:placetype>Garden</st1:placetype></st1:place>,
promoted by the government during World War II as a result of food rationing
(Lovell 2505). A staggering 40% of all produce consumed (in the <st1:country-region>U.S.</st1:country-region>)
during this era was grown in <st1:place><st1:placename>Victory</st1:placename> <st1:placetype>Gardens</st1:placetype></st1:place>
(Doiron). </div>
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<a href="http://www.abbeville.com/gardening/images/history-middleages.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="http://www.abbeville.com/gardening/images/history-middleages.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Throughout
the world there is historic precedent for the benefits of urban agriculture. In
the middle ages, kitchen gardens were prevalent to provide for the residents of
the household. In the 16<sup>th</sup> century, <st1:city>Machu
Picchu</st1:city> was a city designed to support an agricultural
system within the critical infrastructure (Smit). <st1:place><st1:city>Shanghai</st1:city>,
<st1:country-region>China</st1:country-region></st1:place> is thought to be
the city of urban agriculture origin and today 60% of the vegetables and 90% of
the eggs consumed by residents are products of its urban agricultural system
(Lovell 2504).</div>
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Today
the <st1:country-region>U.S.</st1:country-region> has
several thriving Community Supported Agricultural systems. In the city of
Seattle, the Department of Neighborhoods has been running the P-Patch program
since 1973 and now encompasses over 23 acres in gardens; three of those gardens
are market gardens which “offer low income people supplemental income and <span style="line-height: 200%;">opportunities to connect with the
larger community” (Department of Neighborhoods). Also in Seattle, the Seattle
Central Community College runs an education program called the Sustainable
Agriculture Education (SAgE) Initiative which inspired a student to start the
urban farming collective Alleycat Acres (Cimons). </span><st1:city style="line-height: 200%;">New York
City</st1:city><span style="line-height: 200%;">’s Green Thumb program has more than 600 gardens
and produces for over 20,000 urban residents (Lovell 2505). In chapter eight of
his book, Patel describes the People’s Grocery of west </span><st1:city style="line-height: 200%;">Oakland</st1:city><span style="line-height: 200%;">,
a cooperative market that provides from the soil to the shelves for the
residents of this “food desert.” </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.diabetesfamilies.com/sites/default/files/Snapshot%202011-08-02%2012-02-48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="342" src="http://www.diabetesfamilies.com/sites/default/files/Snapshot%202011-08-02%2012-02-48.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Photo Credit: <a href="http://www.diabetesfamilies.com/blog/food-deserts">http://www.diabetesfamilies.com/blog/food-deserts</a></i></td></tr>
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There
are benefits to the individual or household that grows, whether on their own
garden plot or within a community garden. As Roger Doiron indicated in his talk
about garden plots, individuals can eat healthier and save money. Urban
gardening also offers the individual physical and psychological benefits. The
physical labor offers recreation and relaxation in a more natural environment
than the city usually offers, and psychologically, the act of working to
produce from and connect with the environment gives a sense of accomplishment
and satisfaction (Bukvic 99). In chapter 10 of his book, Patel talks about food
sovereignty, the aim to put the power of food production back in the farmer’s
hands. Patel points out here that, to achieve this, it requires gaining a taste
for local, seasonal food, training one’s desire to enjoy fresh instead of
processed. He notes that food that has not been prepped, packaged and shipped
tastes better to the individual almost 100% of the time.</div>
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Urban
gardens offer social benefits as well. These include of social cohesion. In the
U.S. and Europe, particularly, it is documented that urban agriculture is not
an activity limited to the lower socioeconomic population; higher-income
participants, immigrants and the elderly all participate in community supported
agriculture systems (Bukvic 96). The community urban garden brings together
neighbors to interact, who otherwise would not. Community gardens also offer
extra-curricular opportunities for youth. One of The city of <st1:city>Seattle</st1:city>’s
P-Patch program’s positive aspects is it’s 30 gardens dedicated to youth
participants, offering an educational and productive experience for the young
demographic (Seattle Department of Neighborhoods). This interaction can help
youth learn about horticulture and the environment as well as give them
cooperation and job skills important to growth and development (Hung). In an
informal survey conducted on the website designed for mothers, Cafemom, one
third of participants noted that their local school district operated some type
of community garden for the kids to run. Of those who commented, all thought it
could be a benefit for their own child to participate (Satterlee).</div>
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Raj Patel also
describes many of the social benefits of Community Supported Agriculture
systems. When he discusses the People’s Grocery in chapter eight, he details
this system that runs its own garden and marketplace. Not only does the
People’s Grocery bring fresh, locally grown food to the food desert of West
Oakland, it also runs an educational program; offering nutritional classes at
the local YMCA. These educational benefits are not limited to groups like the
People’s Grocery. Even without a formal organization, a community garden offers
environmental education through “a connection to an agroecological system”
(Lovell 2502). <o:p></o:p></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://being.publicradio.org/programs/ethicsofeating/images/esperanza_peoples-grocery_thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://being.publicradio.org/programs/ethicsofeating/images/esperanza_peoples-grocery_thumb.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Photo Credit: Jennifer Esperanza/Flickr</i></td></tr>
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In
<st1:place>West Oakland</st1:place>, the People’s Grocery offers a positive
outlet in an obvious redline district. This community has one supermarket and
36 convenience and liquor stores, according to Patel in chapter eight. An
organization like the People’s Grocery gives the community residents a chance
to produce together, and offer up a form of protest to what the food industry
has relegated the citizens to in food choice. Patel notes that the People’s
Grocery is “aware that theirs is a political project.” This is a
multifunctional form of activism; residents can plant, grow, harvest and sell
everything locally and have an impact on the market of liquor and convenience
that has been imposed on them. Patel admits that this activism is not likely to
easily change <st1:place>West Oakland</st1:place>, that when it does start to
have a larger impact, there will be a bigger push-back from the larger
industry. This fight will only be helped by the interaction and growth that the
community of <st1:place>West Oakland</st1:place>’s citizens has experienced in
the People’s Grocery project. </div>
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Food
security is a main motivator behind the push to implement more urban gardening
programs. While the thinking behind food security for the longest time was
merely sustainable production, researchers have come to include distribution,
consumption and disposal and recycling of waste (Koc et al. 32). This security
in a wavering global economy is important. Besides the confidence of the
consumer lacking in major production farms, the ability to provide local food
can stimulate the local economy through market jobs and coops. In addition to
the People’s Grocery cooperative, Patel describes several other food coops from
the San Francisco Bay Area, CA in chapter eight of his book. The Arizmendi
Bakery and the Cheeseboard Collective have similar coop worker models to the
People’s Grocery. These community run cooperatives provide living wages across
the board for local production and marketing. Entrepreneurship is another
positive economic aspect of urban gardening. Growing a plot into a product for
Farmer’s Markets can expand into products for restaurants and catering
services; an example of successful urban gardening entrepreneurship is that of
the Nuestras Raices, Inc, a community gardening cooperative that started out
providing for eight families in the poorest part of Holyoke, Massachusetts, and
grew to support 100 families plus local food businesses such as those described
above (Brown and Carter 9).</div>
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There
are many environmental benefits to cities that embrace urban agriculture. Patel
describes a prototype in <st1:country-region>Austria</st1:country-region>
where 75 percent less waste and 63 percent less air pollution was generated.
Due to local availability, this prototype used 72 percent less energy and with
the waste-water benefits, used 48 percent less water than its rural
counterparts (Patel). Less waste in the city is accounted for by the gardens
using organic waste that would end up in a landfill, and easing the burden on
waste-water treatment plants by using city gray water and storm water (Bukvic
101). Another interesting environmental benefit is that of less meat consumed.
When shopping in local markets, especially farmer’s markets, shoppers have been
shown to buy 75% more fruits and vegetables then at conventional super markets
(Union of Concerned Scientists 1). This is significant when the environmental
impact of producing meat is considered. An estimated one-fifth of the world’s
land is used for raising livestock, about twice that of growing crops. In
addition to land use for livestock and grain production to feed livestock, meat
requires much more energy to transport due to the need for refrigeration (Koc
et al. 147-148).</div>
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The
environmental and personal health impacts aren’t completely devoid of risk. One
concern regarding growing crops within an urban environment is soil
contamination. Heavy metals and remnants of pesticides are a risk, as well as
polluted groundwater (Bukvic 101). Notably, however, polluted groundwater or
contaminated water sources is shown to not be necessarily more likely in an
urban environment than a rural one (Lovell 2513). Without attention, resident
health can be affected, though many organized CSA systems have in place a
process to test for contamination before planting (Department of
Neighborhoods). </div>
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<a href="http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/environment-book/Images/pollution-sources.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="412" src="http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/environment-book/Images/pollution-sources.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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There
are other challenges to urban gardening also. One, which Patel briefly
describes in the last chapter of his book through the example of the bull-dozed
South Central Farm in <st1:place><st1:city>Los Angeles</st1:city> <st1:state>CA</st1:state></st1:place>,
is that of land security. Many urban gardens were or are a result of a fed-up
neighborhood taking over, illegally, empty lots and trying to make them “green”
(Lovell 2511). This illegal use of lots, empty or not, invites the fate of the
fourteen year-old South Central Farm. City and community departments such as
the P-patch program in <st1:city>Seattle</st1:city> offer
some security in the existence of ordinances already in place when land is
acquired for use (Department of Neighborhoods). Another challenge, especially
to those with limited income and in the poorer communities is that of start-up
costs. Tools, labor, soil or mulch, processing and time, these can all be
difficult to obtain as an urban low-income citizen (Brown and Carter 15). Some
of the problems that are encountered as you go into the more populated and
developed areas of the city is sunlight availability (Lovell 2512). This does
have some response through the use of rooftop gardens that have become
prevalent in the city of <st1:city>Chicago</st1:city>. Seasonal
and climatic limits are also a challenge. Without knowledge on how to preserve
produce that is more prevalent in rural areas, it can be difficult to keep
production throughout the year (Brown and Carter 16). </div>
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These
are challenges that sound quite tame in comparison to the vast benefits of
Community Supported Agriculture systems and urban gardening. Today’s average
urban and peri-urban household is busy, and this means that the average
household typically spends a total of 31 minutes to prepare, eat and clean up
after a meal (Doiron). This is a social phenomena that makes the future of
urban gardening seem bleak, and yet, it is growing more and more in popularity.
It is becoming a necessity; as of 2007, the world population went from
primarily rural to primarily urban (Doiron). From the individual benefits to
the environmental and social benefits, as the world population grows and the
global economy remains shaky, this process shows great promise to achieving
food security.</div>
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<a href="http://media-cache7.pinterest.com/upload/139330182191380438_aVv9fD3o_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://media-cache7.pinterest.com/upload/139330182191380438_aVv9fD3o_b.jpg" width="568" /></a></div>
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Works Cited:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
Brown,
Katherine H., and Anne Carter. “Urban Agriculture and Community Food Security
in the <st1:country-region>United States</st1:country-region>:
Farming from the <st1:place><st1:placetype>City</st1:placetype> <st1:placetype>Center</st1:placetype></st1:place>
to the Urban Fringe.” <i>The Community Food
Security Coalition’s North American Urban Agriculture Committee</i>. October
2003. Web. <st1:date day="18" month="3" year="2012">18 March 2012</st1:date>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
Bukvic,
Karmen. “The importance of <st1:city>Ljubljana</st1:city>’s
plot gardening for individuals, the environment and the city.” <i>Urbani izziv</i> 21.1 (2010). 94-105. <i>Proquest</i>. Web. <st1:date day="8" month="3" year="2012">08 March 2012</st1:date>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
Cimons,
Marlene. "Promoting Sustainable Agriculture." <i>U.S.News &
World Report</i> 2011: 1. <i>ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health
Source; ProQuest Research Library. </i>Web. <st1:date day="19" month="3" year="2012">19 Mar. 2012</st1:date>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
Doiron,
Roger. “Roger Doiron: My
subversive (garden) Plot.” <i>TED.com</i>. TED Talks, September 2011. Web.
<st1:date day="19" month="3" year="2012">19 Mar 2012</st1:date><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
Hung,
Yvonne. “<st1:place>East New York</st1:place> Farms: Youth Participation in
Community Development and Urban Agriculture.” <i>Children, Youth and Environments</i> 14.1 (2004). 20-31. web. <st1:date day="12" month="3" year="2012">12 March 2012</st1:date>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
Koc,
Mustafa. <i>For Hunger-Proof Cities: Sustainable Urban Food Systems.</i> <st1:place><st1:city>Ottowa</st1:city>, <st1:country-region>Canada</st1:country-region></st1:place>: <st1:place><st1:placename>International</st1:placename> <st1:placename>Development</st1:placename> <st1:placename>Research</st1:placename> <st1:placetype>Center</st1:placetype></st1:place>, 1999. Print.<b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
Lovell,
Sarah Taylor. “Multifunctional Urban Agriculture for Sustainable Land Use
Planning in the <st1:country-region>United States</st1:country-region>.”
Sustainability 2.1 (2010). 2499-2522. <i>Open
Access </i>web. <st1:date day="3" month="3" year="2012">03 March 2012</st1:date>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
Patel, Raj. <i>Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden </i><st1:city><st1:place><i>Battle</i></st1:place></st1:city><i> For
the World Food System</i>. <st1:place><st1:city>Brooklyn</st1:city>, <st1:state>N.Y.</st1:state></st1:place>: Melville House Publishing, 2007. Electronic book.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
Satterlee, Dorian. “Survey for Mom’s with
Kids: Does your school have an agriculture/horticulture/gardening club?” <i>Cafemom.com</i>. March 2012.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
Seattle
Department of Neighborhoods. “P-Patch Community Gardening Program Factsheet.”
(2011). Web. <st1:date day="15" month="3" year="2012">15 March 2012</st1:date>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
Smit,
Jac. “Community-Based Urban Agriculture as History and Future.” <i>City Farmer, Canada’s office of Urban
Agriculture</i>. (2002). Web. <st1:date day="18" month="3" year="2012">18 March
2012</st1:date>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: -.5in;">
<st1:place>Union</st1:place>
of Concerned Scientists. “Good Food is Right around the Corner.” <i>Earthwise</i> 14.2 (2012). 1-4. Print.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728738120748087036.post-21032136991996928002012-04-01T10:19:00.000-07:002012-04-01T10:19:06.211-07:00Nanotechnology and Food<div class="MsoNormal"> The word technology often makes the public nervous when it is coupled with the word food. It is understandable that when it comes to what is ingested and used to sustain the human body, the consensus is that Mother Nature knows best. It might seem, then, that the idea of nanotechnology being incorporated with food would not be welcomed with open arms. Yet, if a dairy farmer were to gaze at his product at the nano-level, it might intrigue him to see the natural occurrence of nanoparticles in the casein micelles that inspire such technology (<st1:place><st1:placetype>Institute</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename>Medicine</st1:placename></st1:place>). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.jonco48.com/blog/milking_cow_small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="194" src="http://www.jonco48.com/blog/milking_cow_small.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"> Nanotechnology is definitively broad; it is conducting science, engineering and technology at the nanolevel of 1 to 100 nanometers, according to the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) at the Nano.gov website. This scale is not new to the processes of human digestion, as indicated in the introduction; most of the processes in the body take place at the nano-level (<st1:place><st1:placetype>Institute</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename>Medicine</st1:placename></st1:place>). What makes this technology different and unique is that at the nanometer range, materials have new and unique properties and novel functions (<st1:place>Poole</st1:place> and Owens 4). Due to its interdisciplinary possibilities, the funding and investment for research is quite high and can prove to provide innovation to food processing and products (Neethirajan 39). The benefits of using nanotechnology in food production would include nutrition enhancement and safety regulation enhancement, yet there exists a gap of knowledge of risks which need to be evaluated by national, global and private organizations.</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sustainpack.com/images/scales.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="285" src="http://www.sustainpack.com/images/scales.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image credit: <a href="http://www.sustainpack.com/nanotechnology.html">http://www.sustainpack.com/nanotechnology.html</a></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"> Nanotechnology currently offers many benefits outside the food industry. Manufactured nanotechnology has actually existed for thousands of years; evidenced in iridescent goblets from the fourth century A.D. and stained glass used for centuries following (<st1:place>Poole</st1:place> and Owens 1). Today it is found in everyday sports items like tennis rackets and baseball bats; in rechargeable batteries for automobiles; and in household cleaning products (Nano.gov). Besides the advantage of funding that such an interdisciplinary science has, the applications can also offer crossover applications.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Raj Patel, in the Introduction of his book <i>Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System</i>, presents a problem in today’s society: while 800 million global citizens go hungry, one billion are at the same time overweight. Both groups are malnourished. Accompanying this problem of inadequate food is the issue of sustainable food. Currently, production has kept up with exponential human growth and the hunger of 800 million is likely due to a corrupt food market system and various global conflicts and not overpopulation (Patel). Yet the evidence of the inability to sustain our current production starts with the beginning of agriculture. While human population has spent most of its existence on earth in a steady state with little growth, the introduction of agriculture spurred the exponential population growth (Sagan 16). As human quality of life now depends on the continuation of agriculture, it is important to ensure its sustainability not only for population but also for the changing climate.</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.nano.org.uk/news/aug2008/1551big.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="195" src="http://www.nano.org.uk/news/aug2008/1551big.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wireless nanosensor networks. <i>Image credit:<br />
<a href="http://www.nano.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8875">http://www.nano.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8875</a></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">One field of nanotechnology application is in food quality monitoring. Nanosensors offer the ability to track contaminants from the farm to the table. Beginning in the fields, nanosensors, through remote sensing devices that may be applied to crops, can monitor pest infestation, soil conditions and growth, helping to minimize pesticide use and utilize the full potential of cropland (Meetoo 392). Currently being proposed for monitoring grain bins are nanosensors that can detect insects or fungus through thousands of nanoparticles distributed on single, lightweight sensors. Other sensors are being designed to detect E. coli and salmonella. These bacteria sensors, useful in the bulk and limited quantity transportation of foods, include Nano Bioluminescent spray being developed by Agromicron Ltd. The spray contains nanoparticles that react with bacteria and produce a visual glow to indicate infestation (Neethirajan 40). The application of sensors in the food system would be beneficial in assuring food safety and spoilage prevention. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Another area of application in development is that of food packaging. This sector of the food industry seems to be advancing quickly, likely due to its indirect contact with food. It includes the use of nanosensors, but also takes advantage of the lightweight characteristic of nanotechnology. Silicon-based nanoparticles offer a lightweight, more heat-resistant and stronger covering for foods that require vacuum covering to stay fresh (Meetoo 394). Metal nanoparticles can be used for antimicrobial packaging, preventing bacterial and fungal growth on food and resisting dirt. Even edible food nanoparticles are being researched for such applications (Neethirajan 41). </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Some of the most advantageous yet intimidating applications are those of nanotechnology being used for encapsulation. This is the use of nanoparticles containing nutrients, flavor enhancers or texture enhancers and utilizing a controlled release. This technology has been incorporated by an Australian company, George Weston Foods. Using encapsulation, the company fortifies its bread with fish oil and masks the taste and smell by keeping the oil encapsulated until digestion (Neethirjan 43). This is just one example of using the technology in this way.</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.foodsci.uoguelph.ca/deicon/casein.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="227" src="http://www.foodsci.uoguelph.ca/deicon/casein.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Credit:<br />
<a href="http://www.foodsci.uoguelph.ca/deicon/casein.html">http://www.foodsci.uoguelph.ca/deicon/casein.html</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">The aforementioned milk protein, casein micelles, offers a natural model for encapsulation delivery. Water molecules are polar molecules; they have a positive end and a negative end. Micelles are made up of surfactants that have hydrophilic (water-favoring) heads that are also polar, and hydrophobic (water resistant) non-polar tails (<st1:place>Poole</st1:place> and Owens 326). These surfactants get together and form a nanoparticle (micelle) in nature that offers a biological delivery system. Scientists can take this design and synthesize a vitamin delivery system using these proteins (Neethrijan 43). Though encapsulation appears to present the most risk due to its direct interaction with food products, it also offers the most promise due to the natural blueprints available.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">This particular delivery system can be incorporated with the sensor system to cater to individual needs and tastes. Sensors in nanocapsules can trigger a release of nutrients if it senses a lack of nutrients in the consumer. Microwaves can trigger sensors to release specific flavor or color enhancers. This delivery system can also be utilized for textures, adding the desired fatty texture to low-fat foods (Neethrijan 44).</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Technology of any kind used in food processing and production is often viewed skeptically by the general public. This applies to not only western consumers, but also by what Raj Patel refers to in his book as the “global south,” the developing countries that while some of the biggest producers of agriculture are also the hungriest. Patel, in the For <st1:place>Africa</st1:place>! section of chapter 6 of his book, points out that countries such as Zambia have rejected food aid from the U.S. due to the incorporation of notorious genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows and that Zambia’s own scientists have been unable to vet for themselves. This aversion is completely understandable, and should be addressed by creating a global cooperation when it comes to incorporating nanotechnology into food; research should not rest solely in the hands of the profit-seeking corporations that seek to use it in their food products.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">These concerns are not lost on regulators and scientists in the <st1:country-region><st1:place>U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> or even on global organizations. In 2010, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) had a meeting on the potential applications and safety concerns of nanotechnology in the food and agriculture sectors. In 2009, the National Science Foundation’s <st1:place><st1:placetype>Institute</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename>Medicine</st1:placename></st1:place> hosted a workshop forum on the same, with members of the FDA, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Science Foundation in attendance as contributors to discussion.</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/nanotechnology-5.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/nanotechnology-5.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image credit: 2007 How Stuff Works</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">One of the knowledge gaps in such a young technology that has only recently come to be considered for application in the food industry is that of how nanoparticles are distributed once ingested (World Health Organization 29). Most of the toxicology research done thus far has been in the occupational sector of nanotechnology, where workers are exposed to nanoparticles for short periods of time and the path of intake is more likely inhalation or absorption (through the skin) then ingestion/oral intake, which was pointed out in both of the meetings. In summary, the World Health Organization’s assessment of risks read as following:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">“Future needs and ways forward to prevent human health risks at international and national levels concern knowledge (scientific and market data), resources (funding for studies, facilities and trained investigators), and processes (international scientific collaboration on characterization, methods design and testing; international, multistakeholder collaboration on guidelines development and harmonization; public engagement and societal governance).”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .5in;">The knowledge, resource and process needs were laid out in the meeting report, with emphasis on the necessity for collaboration and public engagement.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .5in;"> At the 2009 <st1:place><st1:placetype>Institute</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename>Medicine</st1:placename></st1:place> workshop, many safety concerns were brought up. The fact that nanomaterials fall within the biological size scale makes it possible that there can and will be interactions at the biological level; cellular interference and possible DNA interference. The <st1:place><st1:placetype>Institute</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename>Medicine</st1:placename></st1:place> published the discussions on these risks in the last chapters of its book, <i>Nanotechnology in Food Products.</i> In chapter three of this book, it was noted by speaker Fred Degnan, an attorney, that even with the FDA encouraging early and often dialogue with industry producing Nanotechnology, the FDA should work to provide written guidance for what it requires in research and development to approve nanomaterials in food products. This would be a vast improvement to the FDA’s requirements for GMOs, as Patel points out in chapter six of <i>Stuffed and Starved</i>; Patel describes the the US Food and Drug Administration’s handling of new GM crops; that the research into the safety of these foods was left entirely in the hands of the profit-seeking private sector that was engineering the crops for consumption. Where the FDA could have done much more in the way of research, it relied on the words of an industry that had already invested significant amounts of time and money into crops that were supposed to make food more nutritious for world population. The FDA speaker at the workshop does acknowledge that the burden of proof of safety lies in the hands of the manufacturers (<st1:place><st1:placetype>Institute</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename>Medicine</st1:placename></st1:place>). </div><div class="MsoNormal"> Though the FDA has not yet publicly produced a set of written guidelines, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has, which is a start to a more conformed regulatory process for global major food manufacturers. In the abstract of the paper, the European Food Safety Authority claims that it “has developed a practical approach for assessing potential risks arising from applications of nanoscience and nanotechnologies in the food and feed chain.” The EFSA overview lays out a flow chart, beginning with the question of whether or not the material in question is even an engineered nano-material (or ENM) and how to proceed from there on assessing the risk (9). That this guidance exists should be taken into consideration and used as a model for other regulatory and health agencies and organizations on the national and global levels. This consistency would aid in the collaboration of top tier scientists, academics and manufacturers as well as give the process transparency for the public.</div><div class="MsoNormal"> Consumer education is the most important aspect of integrating nanotechnology into food production. In an informal survey of less then one hundred people, two things stand out about public awareness on the subject: That the public understands little about the actual technology, and that they don’t want manufacturers to be the ones researching its use in their food (Satterlee). A more formal survey of a similar nature was conducted by the National Science Foundation and found that not only did half of the participants know “little or nothing” about the technology, only six percent cared to apply it to use in food (National Institute of Medicine). Julia Moore, of the <st1:place><st1:placename>Woodrow</st1:placename> <st1:placename>Wilson</st1:placename> <st1:placename>International</st1:placename> <st1:placetype>Center</st1:placetype></st1:place> for Scholars, spoke at the workshop for Nanotechnology in Food Products and had this to say after analyzing the surveys taken on the subject: “public opinion is really up for grabs when it comes to nanotechnology. The public really doesn’t know very much to have an opinion.” This emphasizes that scientists and organizations still have the opportunity to form public opinion about it, and transparency is going to count for a lot.</div><div class="MsoNormal"> One lesson learned from the failure of public information on GMOs might be best summed up in Patel’s book in chapter 6’s I’d Like to Thank the Academy. Patel describes a story of a whistle-blowing scientist, Ignacio Chapela. Chapela submitted and had published in the peer-reviewed journal <i>Nature</i> an article on the cross contamination of genetically modified maize in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Mexico</st1:place></st1:country-region>. The article was mysteriously retracted. In an attempt to avoid this type of corruption in the research of other technology in the food industry, it is promising that such a wide collaboration is involved. From academics to global organizations, the importance of transparency cannot be stressed enough to ensure that the benefits of nanotechnology are safely integrated into the food system. As consistency and guidance is produced, all involved in regulation and research will be aware that it is their responsibility to ensure safe and effective applications of technology.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pineappleindia.com/images/foodtechnology1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.pineappleindia.com/images/foodtechnology1.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Works Cited</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">European Food Safety Authority. “Guidance on the risk assessment of the application of nanoscience and nanotechnologies in the food and feed chain.” EFSA Journal 9.5 (2011) : 1-36. Web. <st1:date day="24" month="2" year="2012">24 Feb 2012</st1:date>.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;"><st1:place><st1:placetype>Institute</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename>Medicine</st1:placename></st1:place> of the National Academies. <i>Nanotechnology in Food Products Workshop Summary</i>. <st1:place><st1:city>Washington</st1:city>, <st1:state>D.C.</st1:state></st1:place>: National Academies Press, 2009. Electronic book.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">Meetoo, Danny D. “Nanotechnology and the food sector: From the farm to the table.” <i>Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture</i>. 23.5 (2011): 387-403. Web.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;"><i>Nano.gov.</i> National Nanotechnology Initiative. Web. <st1:date day="22" month="2" year="2012">22 Feb 2012</st1:date><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">Neethirajan, Suresh. “Nanotechnology for the Food and Bioprocessing Industries.” <i>Food and Bioprocess Technology.</i> 4.1 (2010): 39-47. Web.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">Patel, Raj. <i>Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden </i><st1:city><st1:place><i>Battle</i></st1:place></st1:city><i> For the World Food System</i>. <st1:place><st1:city>Brooklyn</st1:city>, <st1:state>N.Y.</st1:state></st1:place>: Melville House Publishing, 2007. Electronic book.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;"><st1:place>Poole</st1:place>, Charles P. and Frank J. Owens. <i>Introduction to Nanotechnology</i>. <st1:state><st1:place>New Jersey</st1:place></st1:state>: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2003. Print.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">Sagan, Carl. <i>Billions & Billions</i>. <st1:state><st1:place>New York</st1:place></st1:state>: Randomhouse, 1997. Print.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">Satterlee, Dorian. “Survey on Nanotechnology and Food.” Survey monkey, Feb. 2012. Web.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -.5in;">World Health Organization. “FAO/WHO Expert meeting on the application of nanotechnologies in the food and agriculture sectors: potential food safety implications Meeting report.” <st1:city><st1:place>Rome</st1:place></st1:city> : FAO and WHO, 2010. 1-130. Web.<o:p></o:p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728738120748087036.post-14489660282370632672011-12-31T12:22:00.000-08:002011-12-31T12:22:15.346-08:00Subatomic Particles and The Standard Model<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">As the name might suggest, subatomic particles are particles that are smaller than an atom... Which is an interesting conundrum for the atom: The Greek root for the word atom, "atomon," means "that which cannot be divided." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When atoms were first decidedly discovered, they were thought to be fundamental, a not-dividable particle that made up all elements. But as compounds and solutions were broken down into elements, and these elements became more categorical, it seemed that even individual atoms had to possess smaller building blocks.</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"...<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">experiments which "looked" into an atom using particle probes indicated that atoms had structure and were not just squishy balls. These experiments helped scientists determine that atoms have a tiny but dense, positive nucleus and a cloud of negative electrons (e</span><sup style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">-</sup><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">)."(Berkeley Lab, 2011)</span></span></i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://the-history-of-the-atom.wikispaces.com/file/view/wefuklsnsgnjkbcashvknfljsdklfjk_h_!!!_CORN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><img border="0" height="199" src="http://the-history-of-the-atom.wikispaces.com/file/view/wefuklsnsgnjkbcashvknfljsdklfjk_h_!!!_CORN.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Picture credit: wikispace History of the Atom</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">Soon enough, scientists had determined that an atom is made up of three sub-atomic particles: Protons and Neutrons in the nucleus and that cloud made up of the much smaller elementary particle, the electrons. But are these three particles fundamental? Well, the electrons are. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">So electrons are (to date considered) fundamental subatomic particles. But what, then, are protons and neutrons made of? </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">Protons, it turns out, are made of two "up" quarks and one "down" quark, held together with a "cloud of gluons" (R. Nave).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">Neutrons are made up of two "down" quarks and one "up" quark. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">What scientists have developed to determine fundamental particles is the Standard Model Theory. This theory has been supported through experimentation in particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider(LHC) at CERN. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">The Standard Model has 12 fundamental matter particles: six quarks and six leptons. The up and down quarks are just two of the quarks; there are also: charm, strange, top and bottom quarks.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">Leptons include the electron as well as the following: neutrino electron, muon, tau, muon-neutrino and tau-neutrino.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">picture credit: Cern, <a href="http://public.web.cern.ch/public/en/science/standardmodel-en.html">http://public.web.cern.ch/public/en/science/standardmodel-en.html</a></span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">These particles are members of multiple generations, 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Up and down quarks, for example, make up the first generation of quarks. The second and third generation particles are heavy and unstable and quickly decay to the more stable first generation. This is why our protons and neutrons are made of first generation quarks, and why it is electrons that occupy the cloud surrounding the atom's nucleus.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Standard Model Theory does include forces and carrier particles which play a role in keeping atoms together. Carrier particles are carrying three of the four forces known: strong and weak nuclear forces and electromagnetism. Note that gravity is not included which is part of the reason that this model is not considered complete enough for the science community. These forces hold together the matter particles and the carrier particles include bosons, photons and gluons. Photons carry electromagnetism, bosons carry the weak force and gluons carry the strong force. Now if gravity could be added to the Standard Model, a carrier particle called a graviton could be included, but so far, scientists have not been able to produce any results to add the force and its carrier. This is one of many goals of the LHC and it's collaborators. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">References:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px;">Berkeley Labs. </span><a href="http://particleadventure.org/standard-model.html">http://particleadventure.org/standard-model.html</a>. accessed 29Dec2011<br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">Nave, C. R. and Sheridan, John, The Microwave and Infrared Spectra and Structure of Hydrothiophosphoryl Difluoride, Journal of Molecular Structure 15, 391, 1973. (</span><a href="http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/particles/proton.html">http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/particles/proton.html</a>).<br />
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CERN, European Organization for Nuclear Research <a href="http://public.web.cern.ch/public/en/science/standardmodel-en.html">http://public.web.cern.ch/public/en/science/standardmodel-en.html</a> . 2008.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728738120748087036.post-33277759442521873072011-12-11T15:03:00.000-08:002011-12-11T15:03:24.668-08:00Nobel Prize 2011 Physics: Dark Energy and Accelerating Expansion of the Universe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sciencephoto.com/image/334140/530wm/R9800130-Expanding_universe-SPL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://www.sciencephoto.com/image/334140/530wm/R9800130-Expanding_universe-SPL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/Archives/Culin/Hawaii1899/graphics/juggle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/Archives/Culin/Hawaii1899/graphics/juggle.jpg" width="131" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When you throw a ball into the air, gravity will eventually cause it to stop it's upward movement and accelerate it back toward you, right? Well, what if that ball kept going up? For that matter, what if it kept going up and increasing its speed as it did so? </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We would have to assume that something, some force, is working harder then the force of gravity. This is not so hard to believe as far as the forces go...of the four known basic forces (weak and strong nuclear forces, electro-magnetic force and gravity), gravity is observably the weakest. But lets assume the ball is not fitted with a magnet headed toward a massive piece of iron and that we have not fitted it with nuclear reactor boosters...what, then, could be working against the gravity?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This is the conundrum that Nobel Laureates Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt and Adam Reiss faced when they discovered that the universe was expanding...at an accelerated rate. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For a long time, scientists believed that the universe was static; this was due to a paradox that Newton was aware of after his discovery of the force of gravity. According to his law, Newton realized that if the universe were finite, that it should be collapsing due to stars attracting one another...but that did not appear to be the case and so the universe was determined to be static. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><a href="http://www.popgive.com/2010/06/brain-twisting-paradoxes.html">http://www.popgive.com/2010/06/brain-twisting-paradoxes.html</a> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif; line-height: 19px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Olbers’ paradox is the argument that the darkness of the night sky conflicts with the assumption of an infinite and eternal static universe. It is one of the pieces of evidence for a non-static universe such as the current Big Bang model. </span></i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The problem with this was that a static universe would make an infinite universe and that could not be...if the universe were infinite, our night sky would be as bright as day from all the stars shining from the endless reaches of space (whether the light came from close by or gazillions of light-years away, an infinite universe means stars "forever").</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Newton was aware of the paradox, but decidedly stuck by the static universe theory. Years later, Einstein also realized that according to his theory of General Relativity, the universe should be expanding or collapsing, but to fix that, he came up with the cosmological constant, cancelling the effect of gravity on a large scale, thus keeping a static universe as the rule (SDSS, Expanding Universe). </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image credit: grandunificationtheory.com </td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Edwin Hubble, with the assistance of "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">larger telescopes...being built that were able to accurately measure the spectra, or the intensity of light as a function of wavelength, of faint objects (SDSS, Expanding Universe)," then discovered the universe was indeed expanding. Through the observations of distant galaxies, Hubble discovered that the redshift of these galaxies increased the further they were from the earth. This led Einstein to call his cosmological constant his "biggest blunder." Now scientists knew that the universe was not only finite, but that because it was expanding, there was a point in time and space where the universe was incredibly small and dense; it had a beginning...a "Big Bang.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Enter Nobel Laureates, Brian Schmidt, Adam Reiss and Saul Perlmutter. From Nobelprize.org's popular information:</span></span><br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"> "</span>Saul Perlmutter headed one of the two research teams, the Supernova Cosmology Project, initiated a decade </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">earlier in 1988. Brian Schmidt headed another team of scientists, which towards the end of 1994 launched </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">a competing project, the High-z Supernova Search Team, in which Adam Riess was to play a crucial role."</span></i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://planck.caltech.edu/epo/images/Matter-Energy-piechart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="http://planck.caltech.edu/epo/images/Matter-Energy-piechart.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Using IA supernovae (the death of white dwarf stars in a binary star system, to be specific) as basis for their measurements, the two competing teams came to the same surprising conclusion: Yes the universe is expanding, but it was not slowing down as previously believed. While trying to determine the fate of our universe, the teams had found that the supernovae were becoming much fainter then expected. This find was to be the key to the roles that the mysterious dark energy and dark matter play in the cosmos. Where a vacuum of nothing in space should be, there is <i>something</i>. That something must be working against? or with? gravity to accelerate expansion in a universe that is supposed to be slowing down. Dark energy and dark matter are believed to make up 95% of our universe, while we, the earth, the moon, the sun and all the stars...all other matter...only comprise the last 5%. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">With the discovery of acceleration came the true value of Einstein's cosmological constant. Without the cosmological constant, the formula for expansion would not allow for acceleration. So Einstein's blunder could turn out to be the value of that vacuum of space that contains "<i>something</i>."</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, as a toddler who continues to ask why with each answered question, our universe presents new unknowns with each discovery!</span><br />
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References:<br />
Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). <a href="http://skyserver.sdss.org/dr1/en/astro/universe/universe.asp">http://skyserver.sdss.org/dr1/en/astro/universe/universe.asp</a> . viewed on 12/11/2011.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"The Nobel Prize in Physics 2011 - Popular Information". Nobelprize.org. 11 Dec 2011 </span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2011/popular.html">http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2011/popular.html</a><br />
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Perlmutter, S. (2003) Supernovae, Dark Energy and the Accelerating Universe, Physics Today, vol. 56,no.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728738120748087036.post-68226457028691992482011-11-11T17:04:00.000-08:002011-11-11T17:04:39.616-08:00Galaxies!<em>This is another guest post from my nine-year-old daughter, Lilian. Lilian loves astronomy and was excited to do this one! -Dorian</em><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">By Lilian Satterlee</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">When you look up at the night sky, you might only see tens of stars in the area of your galaxy. But all you see is not all there is! Our galaxy has not only 50 stars, but billions. We live in a galaxy called the Milky Way, a spiral galaxy with hundreds of thousands of billions of stars.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Our Milky Way Galaxy</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>IC 1011, largest known galaxy</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table> <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">As big as it is, it is only a speck compared to this giant: IC 10-11 is the largest galaxy ever found. It is 60 times larger than our Milky Way.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">M 87 is one of the oldest galaxies in the known universe.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>M87</em></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/9911/m31_ware_big.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><em><img border="0" height="256px" nda="true" src="http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/9911/m31_ware_big.jpg" width="320px" /></em></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Our neighbor, Andromeda</em></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Andromeda is our nearest neighbor. All galaxies are different, unique, big and everywhere.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">How Galaxies Formed!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It takes gravity to make stars and pull them together. Early galaxies were a big mess; lumpy clumps of stars, dust and gas. Today, galaxies are neat and organized, and gravity is what makes that happen.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/upload/2011/01/the_telescopes_best_friend_gra/sim3dnew.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="259px" nda="true" src="http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/upload/2011/01/the_telescopes_best_friend_gra/sim3dnew.png" width="400px" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So remember, galaxies are made of billions of stars and there are billions of galaxies!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728738120748087036.post-3329083932883678942011-10-09T19:08:00.000-07:002011-10-15T15:26:37.005-07:00Nobel Prize 2011 Chemistry: Dan Schechtman<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKNxC-ol1vSOML04J6W1bC32usKdhUEhk4ha-zvBFDFr0E3VZ-bxit1QFMHLlXAEfSZ0Qd0g0Gjj-Z5W9KuyogoBWPzwj95fIGVYW76ZmhysP2HW4cvmwr0k8qcOnZ7fV_k77CFjca7Os/s1600/penrose+tiling.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKNxC-ol1vSOML04J6W1bC32usKdhUEhk4ha-zvBFDFr0E3VZ-bxit1QFMHLlXAEfSZ0Qd0g0Gjj-Z5W9KuyogoBWPzwj95fIGVYW76ZmhysP2HW4cvmwr0k8qcOnZ7fV_k77CFjca7Os/s1600/penrose+tiling.gif" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is called a Penrose Tiling. This demonstrates the aperiodic layout of repeated tiling which gives an artistic visual of the quasicrystal.</span></em></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>I was first introduced to quasicrystals in physicist Lisa Randall's book, <em>Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions</em>. Randall was using them as an example of an every day item that may reflect "an ordered structure in a higher-dimensional world."<strike> She was talking about the Teflon on a pot or pan</strike>. Correction added 15OCT2011: Teflon is not what Ms Randall is describing... "non-stick" surface is more accurate...Teflon products have been around since long before the discovery of the non-stick effects of quasicrystal-reinforced surfaces. I apologize!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf6Ptymp8ZRXje5ThzweWgyw_SO0z-J5kVhn23MPTiBL26yENOHYeAh9TfUVJDD5eOxTF3FRCOmJJP2z5RlYND-TNtqJpnd_M8PZBjNiz9jpeqVhU-FFmX5NvjImzYJKYec2u8-aVPpmE/s1600/shechtman_postcard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf6Ptymp8ZRXje5ThzweWgyw_SO0z-J5kVhn23MPTiBL26yENOHYeAh9TfUVJDD5eOxTF3FRCOmJJP2z5RlYND-TNtqJpnd_M8PZBjNiz9jpeqVhU-FFmX5NvjImzYJKYec2u8-aVPpmE/s320/shechtman_postcard.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><br />
Dan Schechtman discovered the "impossible" crystalline structure over 20 years ago in a lab. In April of 1982, Schechtman had rapidly chilled a molten mix of aluminum and manganese expecting to observe complete disorder at the atomic level. Instead, he saw a crystal, except, it was one that did not make any sense.<br />
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It is important to note that the paradigm at the time was that crystals existed in limited numbers of rotation symmetry: 1, 2, 3, 4 & 6 fold. Not 5, and not greater then 6.<br />
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<strong>Quick vocabulary break down:</strong><br />
<strong>Crystals</strong> - <em>usually</em>, when atoms are arranged in a way which is periodic<br />
<strong>Rotation Symmetry</strong> - When a shape or image can be rotated and it still looks the same. For 4-fold symmetry, for example, if you rotate the image four times, it looks the same each time (a square is of four fold symmetry).<br />
<strong>Paradigm</strong> - a constant based not on theory but observation.<br />
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<strong><em>How the structure of an atom is observed</em></strong>: shine a monochromatic (or single wave-length of) xrays on a specimen. That beam is diffracted by the atoms and displays a pattern on the other side. This is where the symmetry number is revealed.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoqkNGWaQ4tHszaVYFok9B9WHFq2XMK-QGN5RiJ0jKvA8Dzb6tjoLYJSufKb-N2t2vGVV7NlRfkXUcyrMwnh6b5lDXf-vFAG1ThGZp4mlUqo0t1vLgDb__dvOMw4MW41DuKFt2IeD3Qx4/s1600/electron+microscope.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoqkNGWaQ4tHszaVYFok9B9WHFq2XMK-QGN5RiJ0jKvA8Dzb6tjoLYJSufKb-N2t2vGVV7NlRfkXUcyrMwnh6b5lDXf-vFAG1ThGZp4mlUqo0t1vLgDb__dvOMw4MW41DuKFt2IeD3Qx4/s400/electron+microscope.gif" width="265" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is how an electron microscope works. What Schechtman saw was a diffraction pattern of electrons on a t.v. scanner...</span></em></div><br />
What Schechtman did with his aluminum-manganese mix was observe the diffraction using an electron microscope and that diffraction pattern displayed a crystal with five-fold symmetry. It went against the paradigm which had existed since 1912! He quickly ruled out "twinned" atoms, or atoms which would have a mirror image in symmetry. What was significant about five-fold symmetry was that it produces a pattern that cannot be repeated; it takes the "periodic" out of the crystalline structure.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqm-VxIB44TM6f6UWjX_mIj0fUm-WFmR2KNmdlLhyvbypJUJjD21WdqlL5XJ73ZktBj35-Q4jcv7cuyibutNI40Bh_SDn6ZWiVECDAObtnyRgzm685BCj7BMP7GQiGBp8HB5s8HhCWKMY/s1600/diffraction.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqm-VxIB44TM6f6UWjX_mIj0fUm-WFmR2KNmdlLhyvbypJUJjD21WdqlL5XJ73ZktBj35-Q4jcv7cuyibutNI40Bh_SDn6ZWiVECDAObtnyRgzm685BCj7BMP7GQiGBp8HB5s8HhCWKMY/s320/diffraction.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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Schechtman was ridiculed by his peers for years, and he was even kicked out of his research group when he refused to back down on his findings. <br />
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Over the years, Schechtman's findings were slowly accepted into the scientific community and applied to modern technology, making stainless steel stronger (especially for small tools and instruments such as electric razors and surgical tools) and surfaces slicker. Quasicrystals have even been found to naturally occur in minerals found in a Russian river.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZA2Tw89yDbz3zwv-PXbhj0bB9Atbgsdkpc1e8bHiVrYZ-_GZ_0IF1rNQaCcm0oJFpLY4QV_EOGPnIK_00OIfivRyOnMtd_Y0NXXOCLM1XLmyHloEgOFbCd2KpDZ13Fu9D0q16bkTKbvA/s1600/stringtheory.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZA2Tw89yDbz3zwv-PXbhj0bB9Atbgsdkpc1e8bHiVrYZ-_GZ_0IF1rNQaCcm0oJFpLY4QV_EOGPnIK_00OIfivRyOnMtd_Y0NXXOCLM1XLmyHloEgOFbCd2KpDZ13Fu9D0q16bkTKbvA/s200/stringtheory.gif" width="200" /></a></div><br />
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In her book, Lisa Randall explains the significance of quasicrystals to scientific theories that require extra spacial dimensions: "Quasicrystals are fascinating structures whose underlying order is revealed only with extra dimensions." As in, that periodical structure that can't be found in quasicrystals in three dimensions, may be, while not observable (by us), possible in extra dimensions of space. This would help to understand that non-stick pan coating: "The nonstick frying pans that are coated with quasicrystals exploit the structural differences between the projections of higher-dimensional crystals in the pan's coating and the more mundane structure of ordinary three-dimensional food." <br />
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Dan Schechtman's discovery resulted in some fantastic theory support as well as important applications. It is well deserving of a Nobel Prize. Congratulations, Prof. Schechtman!<br />
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References:<br />
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Randall, Lisa. Warped Passages Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions. Harper Perennial. 2005.<br />
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"The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2011 - Popular Information". Nobelprize.org. 10 Oct 2011 <a href="http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2011/info.html">http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2011/info.html</a><br />
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Technion Institue - Interview with Prof. Dan Shechtman.<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZRTzOMHQ4s">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZRTzOMHQ4s</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728738120748087036.post-10755334295688458232011-09-10T12:21:00.000-07:002011-09-10T12:21:49.922-07:00Just Some Optical IllusionsWell, due to the start of school (for my kid, not me...) this next week and travelling for work, I have been neglecting my poor science blog! :( Have no fear...though I don't have anything of depth prepared, I'd like to take this opportunity to display some things I have stumbled across while surfing the web and for this post, some illusions I had not up to this point encountered yet. I hope you enjoy and I promise to resume my regularly scheduled programming very soon!!<br />
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Are these really spiralling? :)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0853ms7JHUOAamrQlle_aV1Xp4nmG2OVFNrysHETuuRgPk08U4sV6FelmnPFrJtg6QD2c-p0zFlzeejWPVY-ZRubChW9ZMzf86h_OM0GAjE-zrQm71jMu8K8hYsNz-0MUTE9j5o18lQQ/s1600/Illusion01.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0853ms7JHUOAamrQlle_aV1Xp4nmG2OVFNrysHETuuRgPk08U4sV6FelmnPFrJtg6QD2c-p0zFlzeejWPVY-ZRubChW9ZMzf86h_OM0GAjE-zrQm71jMu8K8hYsNz-0MUTE9j5o18lQQ/s320/Illusion01.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />
I like this next one, and nope, no animation! :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-WIvCpJIIh-BYuZZcabzaZhBu1G9SXhRePlCWPzOF2HPFX7RvejR9vLE8EEnTIukkt0w_fBxEBtYxRSzml0cuGZh_-Gu275EjP8548E6telmPhKAIOv14FbYlYRO45In9R7EXF7BL3wQ/s1600/Illusion02.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-WIvCpJIIh-BYuZZcabzaZhBu1G9SXhRePlCWPzOF2HPFX7RvejR9vLE8EEnTIukkt0w_fBxEBtYxRSzml0cuGZh_-Gu275EjP8548E6telmPhKAIOv14FbYlYRO45In9R7EXF7BL3wQ/s400/Illusion02.gif" width="400" /></a></div><br />
And this video is a great compilation of some good illusions...accompanied by some fun music and a silly man, lol. ;)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/URLRdcnU6Hk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
Thank you all! If you have any good links to illusion pics or videos, please share in the comments!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728738120748087036.post-76188311602254897932011-08-27T20:43:00.000-07:002011-08-27T20:43:22.105-07:00Oil Spill Series: Waves<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Catriel; font-size: 14pt;">Waves</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">“Although there are many processes and factors that may need to be taken into consideration to assess operational safety or the fate of spilled oil, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dominant process on shorelines is that of wave action </i>(Owens, 1-8).”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">There are two aspects of waves I want to expand on here: the origination of waves out at sea, and the behavior of the wave when it reaches the shore.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">Origination of Waves</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">That’s easy enough: Wind. Any questions? Just kidding…Though not about the wind part. Lets travel out to the open ocean.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.polygonblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/calm-sea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360px" qaa="true" src="http://www.polygonblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/calm-sea.jpg" width="640px" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;"><shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"><stroke joinstyle="miter"></stroke><formulas><f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></f><f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></f><f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></f><f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></f><f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></f></formulas><path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f"></path><lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></lock></shapetype><shape alt="" id="_x0000_i1025" style="height: 209.25pt; width: 372pt;" type="#_x0000_t75"><imagedata o:href="http://www.polygonblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/calm-sea.jpg" src="file:///C:\Windows\TEMP\msohtml1\01\clip_image001.jpg"></imagedata></shape></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">At first, the wind doesn’t have much to work with…the surface of a calm sea provides little roughage for the wind to push on and create movement. It is the tiny ripples that form as the wind moves over the surface that begin to travel (as oscillating waves) and GROW the more surface the crest gives for the wind to push on…make sense? Let me put it this way: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;"><shape alt="" id="_x0000_i1026" style="height: 0.75pt; width: 0.75pt;" type="#_x0000_t75"><imagedata o:href="http://www.eeb.ucla.edu/test/faculty/nezlin/Lecture1/waves_wind.jpg" src="file:///C:\Windows\TEMP\msohtml1\01\clip_image003.jpg"></imagedata></shape><shape alt="" id="_x0000_i1027" style="height: 242.25pt; width: 243pt;" type="#_x0000_t75"><imagedata o:href="http://www.eeb.ucla.edu/test/faculty/nezlin/Lecture1/waves_wind.jpg" src="file:///C:\Windows\TEMP\msohtml1\01\clip_image003.jpg"></imagedata></shape></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj48UW-kD241Dumi1Wr54-_B8NRSdFAh0L63CtEirNqwrjTqZ2SfxDoeE28aje1Sn6-vPQUCTBg0B0Q2yW9TdVDWiVLRYRlzdddV6VtCSIf9QenGZ0ZWB5fk3gqkzySKTMeU0cKplBLwTk/s1600/Fetch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="319px" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj48UW-kD241Dumi1Wr54-_B8NRSdFAh0L63CtEirNqwrjTqZ2SfxDoeE28aje1Sn6-vPQUCTBg0B0Q2yW9TdVDWiVLRYRlzdddV6VtCSIf9QenGZ0ZWB5fk3gqkzySKTMeU0cKplBLwTk/s320/Fetch.jpg" width="320px" /></a><span style="font-family: Catriel;">The second and third pictures here are showing the effect of “wind stress” which is what is happening as the wave allows more surface area for the wind to push…therefore, wind stress is a square function (oh, imagine that with the natural parabola formed in the wave trough! I love when math shows up in nature…) that is conversely dependant on the roughness of the sea, which depends on the wind stress. Clear as mud? Good. Lets move on.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">Fetch: The distance which wind blows over water.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;"><shape alt="" id="_x0000_i1028" style="height: 78pt; width: 368.25pt;" type="#_x0000_t75"><imagedata o:href="http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/coast/images/wave_fetch_diag5.gif" src="file:///C:\Windows\TEMP\msohtml1\01\clip_image006.gif"></imagedata></shape></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">This is what is causing <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">fully developed seas</b> to become <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">swell. </b></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/coast/images/wave_fetch_diag5.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="67px" qaa="true" src="http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/coast/images/wave_fetch_diag5.gif" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">Now, in case it hasn’t been made obvious yet, the water is NOT traveling with the wave…the wave is an oscillation of energy traveling through the medium of liquid, in this case the ocean water. In fact, as you travel deeper under the surface of the water (in the deep ocean) that oscillation disappears slowly. This aspect is what changes as you near the shore…where the waves “break.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">Waves, Shallow Water and the Shoreline</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">As the swell travels toward the shore, it encounters shallow water. Now the energy of the wave actually causes the water in place to travel in a circular motion (this is why it does not travel fully forward with the wave). As the circular motion of the water encounters the sea-bed, it becomes elliptical. This happens when the depth of the water is half the wavelength (</span><city><place><span style="font-family: Catriel;">Bloomfield</span></place></city><span style="font-family: Catriel;">, 293).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRU_cjXASIYfB1vlo3FS8_4Bi_iol4G_1l_H4Df494arqET1k0lXQNPhHUN6Jyl3QfZ0GFjTvdq_qm1d32j9y3TM_ka_7J73WX9f3TN9mIXYbjTP4bpNUd_q2HM2nHpVgH7eTlZiw4TcU/s1600/ocean04.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219px" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRU_cjXASIYfB1vlo3FS8_4Bi_iol4G_1l_H4Df494arqET1k0lXQNPhHUN6Jyl3QfZ0GFjTvdq_qm1d32j9y3TM_ka_7J73WX9f3TN9mIXYbjTP4bpNUd_q2HM2nHpVgH7eTlZiw4TcU/s320/ocean04.gif" width="320px" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Catriel;">Now we have a wave that is slowing down due to obstacle (seafloor) and bunching together. In addition to this, the height of the crest and depth of the trough (or its <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">amplitude</b>) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">increases</i> to keep up momentum despite the slowing. Now, as all this is happening, the wave begins to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">refract</i>, or bend the direction of travel, to approach the beach or shore more directly. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><shape alt="Wave motion" id="_x0000_s1026" o:allowoverlap="f" style="height: 201pt; margin-left: 260pt; margin-top: 0px; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-horizontal: right; mso-position-vertical-relative: line; mso-wrap-distance-bottom: 0; mso-wrap-distance-left: 0; mso-wrap-distance-right: 0; mso-wrap-distance-top: 0; position: absolute; width: 300pt; z-index: 1;" type="#_x0000_t75"><imagedata o:title="ocean04" src="file:///C:\Windows\TEMP\msohtml1\01\clip_image007.gif"></imagedata><wrap type="square"></wrap></shape><span style="font-family: Catriel;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">Now, as the crest of the wave carries forward the circular motion, the bottom encounters the shore or land and this causes the momentum to create the breaking of the wave.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><shape alt="" id="_x0000_i1029" style="height: 225.75pt; width: 150pt;" type="#_x0000_t75"><imagedata o:href="http://www.nmm.ac.uk/upload/img_200/wave_break.gif" src="file:///C:\Windows\TEMP\msohtml1\01\clip_image008.gif"></imagedata></shape></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">Formulas:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">Wind stress magnitude is calculated from wind magnitude as </span><b>τ</b><span style="font-family: Catriel;"> = c<sub>a</sub> </span>ρ<sub><span style="font-family: Catriel;">a</span></sub><span style="font-family: Catriel;"> |<b>u</b>|<sup>2</sup></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">where </span>ρ<sub><span style="font-family: Catriel;">a</span></sub><span style="font-family: Catriel;"> = 1.2 kg m<sub>-3</sub> is the density of air, c<sub>a</sub> = 0.0015 a dimensionless drag coefficient, <b>u</b> the wind speed and |<b>u</b>| its magnitude.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">As Pertains to Oil Spills</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">There are a couple of things to remember about waves during an oil spill response. There exist what are called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wave generated beach cycles. </i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">“When waves reach the shoreline, they dissipate their energy: </span></div><ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">Spilling or surging breakers tend to build up a beach (accretion), and</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">Plunging breakers move sediments seaward causing erosion (Owens, 1-12).” </span></li>
</ul><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">This difference in dissipation of energy needs to be recognized so that the responder can know where to look for the oil on a particular beach.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">If you are dealing with commonly spilling or surging breakers, you will be looking up the beach and digging, whereas, with plunging breakers, be aware of oil coming ashore more slowly over time. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.nmm.ac.uk/upload/img_200/wave_break.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qaa="true" src="http://www.nmm.ac.uk/upload/img_200/wave_break.gif" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Catriel;">Reference:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Catriel; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: KaiTi;">Bloomfield, Louis A. How Things Work. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2006.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Catriel; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: KaiTi;">Owens, Ed. Shoreline Operations and SCAT Surveys for Oil Spills on the West Coast. Polaris Applied Sciences, Inc. 2010 </span><span style="font-family: Catriel;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728738120748087036.post-81039960323903011632011-08-26T15:29:00.000-07:002011-08-26T16:39:27.841-07:00I Interrupt This Series to Bring You Breaking News: Quick Blurb on Hurricanes<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">How Hurricanes Form</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">What is needed:</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">Warm water (at least 80</span><span style="font-family: KaiTi; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">°</span><span style="font-family: KaiTi;"> F)</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">High humidity</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">Moist air</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">Warm surface temperatures</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">This is why hurricanes can be tracked for a while in advance; they typically form off the coast of Africa in the Atlantic ocean, by the equator, and travel over the open ocean. This gives the continuous evaporation and condensation cycle that is necessary to the tropical storm to get stronger. As the water condenses, it gives off latent heat and this decreases surface pressure.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">Now the air begins to rotate around the low pressure area, continuing the evaporation and condensation cycle.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBvM_3ZCXF5I0UTEpFleuyWiG-JIDCz_UpgPoWODIqbM_snSFcYiYIZuVUfRjgJ6DA1Q0KrHr5Q5kZXuW1IQUuQasNS32xVigZmtm6xJ0v_-txHxfwuWUU6msBg3yI5xUxzT5dHwLtDgw/s1600/hurricane_formation.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBvM_3ZCXF5I0UTEpFleuyWiG-JIDCz_UpgPoWODIqbM_snSFcYiYIZuVUfRjgJ6DA1Q0KrHr5Q5kZXuW1IQUuQasNS32xVigZmtm6xJ0v_-txHxfwuWUU6msBg3yI5xUxzT5dHwLtDgw/s320/hurricane_formation.bmp" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">Irene in particular is encountering an area of dry air, which will help to weaken her. However, the risk of storm surges (which are usually what cause the most significant damage when a hurricane is due to make landfall) is still high and extremely likely. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr5omag5uxpHQlxKGi4ThvEFLs4kQVr9n1B4rfPTZGmnORk6QRQEe1zQYXVRrpPIIoZwwpg-Bnv1MGojqcEltnelu52xzci6lX0HmywXuXrFdjfXutuZHDm2ZBCj3VxYEp4Dcz9c4GLCg/s1600/Hurricane+Irene.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr5omag5uxpHQlxKGi4ThvEFLs4kQVr9n1B4rfPTZGmnORk6QRQEe1zQYXVRrpPIIoZwwpg-Bnv1MGojqcEltnelu52xzci6lX0HmywXuXrFdjfXutuZHDm2ZBCj3VxYEp4Dcz9c4GLCg/s320/Hurricane+Irene.gif" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">Storm Surges</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">These are exactly what they sound like. Surges of the coastal waters being pushed by the wind and low pressure (this is responsible for about 5% of the surge). With Irene pushing on toward densely populated parts of the North Eastern United States, this is a huge issue regardless of her category being downgraded; between high sea-level populations and underground transit systems, the damage is estimated to be in the multibillion dollar range (Associated Press, 26AUG11).</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJcwHIiwXmRIxD14bZYwtX9WAga6VFf1me4Yl67m4EHLOdDhodjZ8hwbtxpNTYToHh9Mb0ypEFQsDoRpHBXr2pHaUdRSqNkxfydWzDcdPLV0WxzIJ4OtrrAB886JjgM7dFd0qVW_MwGyY/s1600/stormsurge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJcwHIiwXmRIxD14bZYwtX9WAga6VFf1me4Yl67m4EHLOdDhodjZ8hwbtxpNTYToHh9Mb0ypEFQsDoRpHBXr2pHaUdRSqNkxfydWzDcdPLV0WxzIJ4OtrrAB886JjgM7dFd0qVW_MwGyY/s400/stormsurge.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728738120748087036.post-89174570599476087202011-08-22T17:45:00.000-07:002011-08-22T17:45:37.028-07:00Oil Spill Series: Tides<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"></span></b></div><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">The physics of the ocean is essential to understanding the science of an oil spill. Besides the actual content of the oil and its effect on the environment, it is important to understand how the water behaves. This leads to processes which can determine the behavior or weathering of the oil. It plays a role in a responder’s ability to conduct clean-up. </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">When oil hits the water, earth’s forces immediately begin to go to work on it, both from above and below. For this segment, we look at how the tides work.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.alaska-in-pictures.com/data/media/19/bore-tide_3389.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215px" qaa="true" src="http://www.alaska-in-pictures.com/data/media/19/bore-tide_3389.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Tides</span></u></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">One of the cool things about the tides is that despite the constantly varying heights, they are completely predictable. We have predicted tides for a hundred years and more in the future (when I say “we” I don’t mean me…sounds like a completely tedious task, but I am glad someone out there enjoyed it enough to do it).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">The tides are being influenced by three things: Gravity of the moon, the Earth’s rotation, and even a bit by the Sun’s gravitational pull. Each day, as the earth rotates, the gravitational pull of the moon creates a “bulge” on the earth and this causes a tidal change from low to high and high to low every 6 and a half hours.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXKRhqCEcGX_pbuAzK2CXu3KyovuWecTcodIP-efpbdp2eSSOH4nT9tVqGxRnU1LX7am2Dog9nLbdzb0ngHaYlOdVS6DUrwL7cGkndN9lDoiGWCbw0V9dvCd_pUNXIu6QmRy1e6cZlUNk/s1600/Mooneffectontides.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180px" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXKRhqCEcGX_pbuAzK2CXu3KyovuWecTcodIP-efpbdp2eSSOH4nT9tVqGxRnU1LX7am2Dog9nLbdzb0ngHaYlOdVS6DUrwL7cGkndN9lDoiGWCbw0V9dvCd_pUNXIu6QmRy1e6cZlUNk/s400/Mooneffectontides.gif" width="400px" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Twice a month, the sun and moon are aligned (Full Moon and New Moon). When this occurs, the gravitational pull is even stronger and creates what are called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Spring Tides</i>. When the moon is at a right angle to the sun (half moon), the tidal change is less significant and is called a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Neap Tide</i>. The spring tide during the equinoxes have the highest tidal range (Owens, 1-17).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Equinox: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the time when the sun crosses the plane of the earth's equator, making night and day of approximately equal length all over the earth and occurring about March 21 <span class="secondary-bf6"><span style="color: windowtext; font-weight: normal; mso-ansi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(vernal equinox </span></span><span class="rom-inline3"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; mso-ansi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">or </span></i></span><span class="secondary-bf6"><span style="color: windowtext; font-weight: normal; mso-ansi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> spring equinox) </span></span>and September 22 <span class="secondary-bf6"><span style="color: windowtext; font-weight: normal; mso-ansi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">(autumnal equinox).</span></span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1US-5eMzjrrlb9Lm-t3PAhSPu8xQhvDL7qf9yCRFENhVVT6VIbsXtWGiJfu6nVSE6-xjTktxNw1O3D__mSFGUiOdMvTuX5mbCvawK8SVCtSICJKuTjI2lFsT-vG3AWa70gsU58GcH0NI/s1600/equinox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261px" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1US-5eMzjrrlb9Lm-t3PAhSPu8xQhvDL7qf9yCRFENhVVT6VIbsXtWGiJfu6nVSE6-xjTktxNw1O3D__mSFGUiOdMvTuX5mbCvawK8SVCtSICJKuTjI2lFsT-vG3AWa70gsU58GcH0NI/s400/equinox.jpg" width="400px" /></a></div><br />
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<span class="secondary-bf6"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-weight: normal; mso-ansi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">With these parameters laid out for us, the rule of thumb is that the tides at the equator (where the bulge is) are typically larger than those to the north or south. That is, until you take into account the geography.</span></span><span style="color: #333333;"><span class="secondary-bf6"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-weight: normal; mso-ansi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Where your normal equatorial tide change is typically right around 2 meters, an example of a large tidal change due to tidal resonances is the </span><place><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Bay of Fundy</span></place><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"> (located between </span><state><place><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">New Brunswick</span></place></state><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"> and </span><state><place><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Nova Scotia</span></place></state><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">). The geography of this estuary supports a 15 meter tidal change (</span><city><place><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Bloomfield</span></place></city><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">, 288)! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Resonance: </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; mso-ansi-language: EN;">is the tendency of a system to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscillate" title="Oscillate"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">oscillate</span></a> at a greater <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amplitude" title="Amplitude"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">amplitude</span></a> at some <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency" title="Frequency"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">frequencies</span></a> than at others</span></i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Resonance is a fascinating topic for another post, but note: due to the design of the landscape which the wave is traveling through, this tidal resonance occurs and causes phenomena such as the </span><place><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Bay of Fundy</span></place><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">, the </span><place><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Cook Inlet</span></place><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"> in </span><state><place><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Alaska</span></place></state><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">, and a handful of others.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Now, keeping in mind that this massive tidal change must still take place within the span of 6.5 hours, you can imagine the speed at which the ocean must move. Don’t get caught out there! This is a good concern to keep in mind when an oil spill response occurs in these areas…</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDgBKVEpGGbaLk9RT437jk7gmZZmi-CER4G8LJXuDeqfUwmx836qmt75ok76ZMeUgJRhhRm_9pJ-dK0z9_v9uaDU0F3cWENG2iH90YZGX5kYUbUSVD34VnPU_kAcoUOGSC6X0n5jeT/s1600/bay_of_fundy_tides.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300px" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDgBKVEpGGbaLk9RT437jk7gmZZmi-CER4G8LJXuDeqfUwmx836qmt75ok76ZMeUgJRhhRm_9pJ-dK0z9_v9uaDU0F3cWENG2iH90YZGX5kYUbUSVD34VnPU_kAcoUOGSC6X0n5jeT/s400/bay_of_fundy_tides.jpg" width="400px" /></a></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">The tank vessel EXXON VALDEZ struck Bligh Reef on </span><date day="24" month="3" year="1989"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">March 24<sup>th</sup>, 1989</span></date><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">. What is the significance of this date? Remember the effect that the equinox has on tides and when the equinox occurs? Also, what is the average tidal change for an area like </span><place><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Prince William Sound</span></place><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">? These tidal effects all played a part in the behavior of the spill and the direction of the response to it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.eoearth.org/files/122001_122100/122021/300px-Exvala.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266px" qaa="true" src="http://www.eoearth.org/files/122001_122100/122021/300px-Exvala.jpg" width="400px" /></a></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Reference:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: KaiTi;">Bloomfield, Louis A. How Things Work. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2006.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: KaiTi;">Owens, Ed. Shoreline Operations and SCAT Surveys for Oil Spills on the West Coast. Polaris Applied Sciences, Inc. 2010 </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728738120748087036.post-51268580297366839362011-08-21T17:06:00.000-07:002011-08-21T17:06:29.664-07:00Series: Oil Spills<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">For the next few posts, I will be talking about subjects that I have become familiar with in my job: Oil Spills. Where they go, what happens to the ecosystem, the science behind response and response equipment, etcetera. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Keep in mind throughout the series that all the elements of oil spills are complex and variable; like fingerprints, no two oil spills are alike, even if they are in the exact same location. As I write and publish each of these posts, I will update this post with links to the posts that are part of the series. As an introduction, here are some pictures:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/radar/sircxsar//sc-oilsk.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" qaa="true" src="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/radar/sircxsar//sc-oilsk.gif" width="146px" /></a></div><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">"This is a radar image of an offshore drilling field about 150 km (93 miles) west of Bombay, India, in the Arabian Sea. The dark streaks are extensive oil slicks surrounding many of the drilling platforms, which appear as bright white spots."</span></em> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';"> Source: </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/radar/sircxsar//oilsk.html">http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/radar/sircxsar//oilsk.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7tcd151iiUNaNQTColaBFHPcribxsZXYBM3UA73qMfnu0okKoWiFttL6fNHsTWqjjBOoa3zd1lebh9J3nPPufQZerFd3rMmPppnnXwblHewPUftkEjvpoNJm4fnMCfCtM4aQeh8fyJu5A/s1600/exxon+valdez+oil+tanker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204px" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7tcd151iiUNaNQTColaBFHPcribxsZXYBM3UA73qMfnu0okKoWiFttL6fNHsTWqjjBOoa3zd1lebh9J3nPPufQZerFd3rMmPppnnXwblHewPUftkEjvpoNJm4fnMCfCtM4aQeh8fyJu5A/s320/exxon+valdez+oil+tanker.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div>The EXXON VALDEZ and the oil spill caused by the vessel's collision with Bligh Reef in1989.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://faculty.buffalostate.edu/smithrd/ExxonPix/cleanup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218px" qaa="true" src="http://faculty.buffalostate.edu/smithrd/ExxonPix/cleanup.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div>Clean-up during the Exxon Valdez spill...this technique was not always better then leaving the oil in place, which I will address when I post about mechanical clean-up techniques.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://theglobalherald.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/gulf-of-mexico-oil-slick-deepwater-horizon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" qaa="true" src="http://theglobalherald.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/gulf-of-mexico-oil-slick-deepwater-horizon.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div>This is a sattelite image of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, taken days after the intial oil-rig explosion in April, 2010. This turned into the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. Photo from <a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://theglobalherald.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/gulf-of-mexico-oil-slick-deepwater-horizon.jpg&imgrefurl=http://theglobalherald.com/us-bps-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill-could-take-months-to-stem/2743/&usg=__GOwrJRbvq63aPNUui0LgsucEuBs=&h=600&w=800&sz=50&hl=en&start=28&zoom=1&tbnid=luR2_P6aGTAGsM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&ei=0JpRTsCPC8vFsQKVmLWDBw&prev=/search%3Fq%3Doil%2Bspill%2Bdeepwater%2Bhorizon%26start%3D21%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1T4RNRN_enUS433US438%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1">The Global Herald</a> <br />
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<strong>Disclaimer:</strong> Any views and/or opinions expressed in The Masqerading Scientist are <strong><em>solely those of the author</em></strong> and not of the U.S. Coast Guard or any other U.S. federal agency. Thank you!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728738120748087036.post-34591259497983150982011-08-07T16:33:00.000-07:002011-08-07T16:45:40.756-07:00Plan to Save the Whales<em>This is a guest blog post written and illustrated by my daughter, Lily. She is 9 years old and has a passion for these wonderful creatures. These views are not all necessarily the views of anyone BUT a wonderful and curious little girl, so please, Enjoy!</em><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFOGGfKIVwmmmQvhRDNmmq18VaKtp5kRAaEiFzyd-u6oJQqW7qdi65rU_J5g3bvhcQMe6lckr9S5tIC17D5cIk2kgAmygRbQbmt_qhIyWLIcDaTFhgh5O-qtZuCNuYK8PgVksq8PqkQN8/s1600/Graywhale.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFOGGfKIVwmmmQvhRDNmmq18VaKtp5kRAaEiFzyd-u6oJQqW7qdi65rU_J5g3bvhcQMe6lckr9S5tIC17D5cIk2kgAmygRbQbmt_qhIyWLIcDaTFhgh5O-qtZuCNuYK8PgVksq8PqkQN8/s320/Graywhale.jpeg" t$="true" width="233" /></a></div><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Plan to Save the Whales</span></strong><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhay2bl3gtqYO9x8ItRkHv4s5_HQumesYdlsmJLb01-zM1xO_wLUG98t58QVrr2xepQDl8oRGr-jZX7RMjhJPUO9_uG6FqWpoEdNm4iedIfoPd6UbiI9x4DbE6DnWPiYw1xciEpCh51wuI/s1600/orcas.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhay2bl3gtqYO9x8ItRkHv4s5_HQumesYdlsmJLb01-zM1xO_wLUG98t58QVrr2xepQDl8oRGr-jZX7RMjhJPUO9_uG6FqWpoEdNm4iedIfoPd6UbiI9x4DbE6DnWPiYw1xciEpCh51wuI/s400/orcas.jpeg" t$="true" width="291" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You know, lots of people love whales and they love to see whales; but the whales are endangered. To keep up the fun of whale watching, we need to do something before they are extinct.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Easy Home ways to save the whales:</span><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Cool down the earth by biking or walking to places that aren't far away</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Turn off electronics when not in use</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When you go to the bathroom, don't use a lot of toilet paper, because everything that goes down the toilet or drain ends up in the ocean</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Take short showers and don't make them that hot.</span></li>
</ul><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKhIuOA9SSlS0enrNRIbEG1_16Tg67xEyIhvH9C6_Jq1L90JT7WY5MnGL3QceRMuE4bJffyXUpwuhJp7rJX6t6v9cwjT3mBHDnkECy3i0RwgR54O2bkgEuLPVNGfI5vhJicOXv6UTlj2A/s1600/Humpbackwhale.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKhIuOA9SSlS0enrNRIbEG1_16Tg67xEyIhvH9C6_Jq1L90JT7WY5MnGL3QceRMuE4bJffyXUpwuhJp7rJX6t6v9cwjT3mBHDnkECy3i0RwgR54O2bkgEuLPVNGfI5vhJicOXv6UTlj2A/s400/Humpbackwhale.jpeg" t$="true" width="336" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Whales sometimes get beached. So here is how you can save them if they do. If the whale is light enough, put wet blankets over it and wait for a helicopter to pick up the whale and move it back to the ocean. If the wale is like a Sperm Whale or a Blue Whale, put wet blankets on it and wait for the tide to come in and quickly pull off the blankets.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ8ahivX-2hyrncIcgbVHpbLxI8JcT_by-hEQEErFWQPUlInnfWFuBhzTM3OXRU7KkZwPbPIDcOYVA2D1FBZXL9zlkCXSCCe61cGyt-_SC5srEJ40dZKzsMzSj9CigkS9eHD7LQv9W_CA/s1600/Spermwhale.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ8ahivX-2hyrncIcgbVHpbLxI8JcT_by-hEQEErFWQPUlInnfWFuBhzTM3OXRU7KkZwPbPIDcOYVA2D1FBZXL9zlkCXSCCe61cGyt-_SC5srEJ40dZKzsMzSj9CigkS9eHD7LQv9W_CA/s400/Spermwhale.jpeg" t$="true" width="257" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So keep your ocean clean and don't allow whaling!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><strong>References:</strong><br />
<em>Mom & Dad propaganda</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><em>Briarcrest Elementary 3rd Grade Class</em></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728738120748087036.post-63337189187996496382011-08-06T20:01:00.000-07:002011-08-06T20:01:57.480-07:00Transfer of Heat: The Second Law of Thermodynamics<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sometimes, it is counterintuitive to think that science does not allow “cold” to transfer. When you hold an ice-cube in your hand, it is most definitely, noticeably, making your hand cold! Yet, you have to wonder what is actually happening as the temperatures in both your hand and the ice-cube change.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKS2GM3SSYgupKSHqO_8OmWJzzPbZ0MBbJTRRS915YPxq4ZbkzFqqt8Qep353WXC-NgolOc5aJrHys6tUpcLE5ZwpLKspyMlBag1u7ARgRBfGaCDeVQDCbdq_p0_eqCzdhmXKLYQvBLsU/s1600/handicecube.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKS2GM3SSYgupKSHqO_8OmWJzzPbZ0MBbJTRRS915YPxq4ZbkzFqqt8Qep353WXC-NgolOc5aJrHys6tUpcLE5ZwpLKspyMlBag1u7ARgRBfGaCDeVQDCbdq_p0_eqCzdhmXKLYQvBLsU/s200/handicecube.jpg" t$="true" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The second law of thermodynamics can be stated several ways and can even apply to more than just heat. We are going to stick with heat (thermal energy) because it makes me happy to stay consistent with “Thermo(<span style="color: red;">heat</span>) Dynamics(flow).”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Before I jump into the definition of the second law, let me briefly explain the first law of thermodynamics: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Energy can change form and travel but the quantity of energy is always the same.</i> This is a brief explanation and is considered the happiest of the laws; should this be the only thermodynamic law, all the world’s energy problems would be solved! We would never have to re-fill our gas tanks, or pay for electricity...but this is for another post and I will bring you down a notch with the second law anyway.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So, what is the Second Law of Thermodynamics already?! Well, simply put:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“A transformation whose only final result is to transfer heat from a body at a given termperature to a body at a higher temperature is impossible. (Postulate of Clausius)”</span></i><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> (Fermi, 30)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Ahem. Come again? Well, in the genius words of Flanders and Swann (musical duet from before my time):</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Heat won't pass from a cooler to a hotter </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">You can try it if you like but you far better notter </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">'Cos the cold in the cooler will get hotter as a ruler </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">'Cos the hotter body's heat will pass to the cooler</span></i><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Just Listen:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/VtEqn-5XHpU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">AHEM. Okay okay: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Heat cannot spontaneously flow from a colder location to a hotter location.</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Thus, the ice-cube (you remember the ice-cube in the first paragraph?) is receiving the heat from your hand, not transferring “cold” to it... And your hand will continue to transfer this heat energy until it and the ice-cube are in “thermal equilibrium.” Which will either be when the ice has melted (in most cases) or when your hand has turned to ice. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hey, let’s talk about that second scenario real quick! Also known as frostbite, why on earth would the heat from your hand not melt the ice-cube before all of its thermal energy has been transferred? Well, in most cases, it is due to the speed of transfer. If the ice is so cold (due to size, or make-up, i.e., dry ice or liquid nitrogen) that there is a rush of transfer from your hand too fast to allow your body temperature to catch-up with the transfer, then you end up frostbitten. If that temperature is not raised in time to save the tissue, it causes permanent damage.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7OsAJ-6nHvtU-PzTbNXEuN1Inne44_0jGKsNVHflzvxupKfsOCPbZrJgQnnt4nNcamvyaJTHdHfJEhfasroiUU9TYrHfTKK31JcDdApLHiz7YDCu47ROhJnwh873f-ZSeN_mcCclnbjE/s1600/frostbite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7OsAJ-6nHvtU-PzTbNXEuN1Inne44_0jGKsNVHflzvxupKfsOCPbZrJgQnnt4nNcamvyaJTHdHfJEhfasroiUU9TYrHfTKK31JcDdApLHiz7YDCu47ROhJnwh873f-ZSeN_mcCclnbjE/s320/frostbite.jpg" t$="true" width="261" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Now, back on topic. There are three ways in which this transfer can take place: Conduction, Convection and Radiation.(Bloomfield, 211)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Conduction</span></b><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">: Heat-flow through a stationary material. The atoms and molecules of the material are not “flowing” but the heat is... through vibrations of said atoms.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Convection</span></b><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">: This is when heat is transferred through fluid. For instance, fluid air (moving air) can <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>carry heat from a hotter object to a cooler object.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Radiation</span></b><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">: The transfer of heat through electro-magnetic waves (see previous blog post on microwave ovens).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To imagine these transfers on a molecular and atomic level: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Conduction</span></i><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> is a bucket-brigade where the atoms are the brigade and the material in the buckets is heat. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNLj_enEb-kkI2mhz_bpgz7OQNx-j-yfTN7NhKmwFz7sNUofetwlUJBFiEsZNKCoQKEYj6pLD3ubkG06HAw8OpPMUhVCoBuKdZzB4e2NRQ285zKONSdKWIeM3lQagw-3whLIOHU5wmN1M/s1600/BucketBrigade08_ws.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNLj_enEb-kkI2mhz_bpgz7OQNx-j-yfTN7NhKmwFz7sNUofetwlUJBFiEsZNKCoQKEYj6pLD3ubkG06HAw8OpPMUhVCoBuKdZzB4e2NRQ285zKONSdKWIeM3lQagw-3whLIOHU5wmN1M/s1600/BucketBrigade08_ws.jpg" t$="true" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Convection</span></i><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> occurs when this bucket brigade is riding on a “train” of fluid.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Radiation is the individuals of the brigade, and their buckets of heat, being carried in photons. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: KaiTi; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: KaiTi; mso-hansi-font-family: KaiTi; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I know, that last one was pretty much a cop-out analogy, but I might just have to do a completely separate post on radiation...Just know that the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">sun</b> transfers heat through Radiation.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9MEgVqHKqypEiTns6Za4gQtNNtSrO0kLxehFBvJgLu1NlwtGyAE3hgdqwElhWsCqSNX4TIOHQPVb1eXfVZmXKuHB-lqLOPU_feXRqdNN-tSEeoNSHQjfCPK8z0OYxEF_GHoLT7Qh2mn0/s1600/heat-transmittance-means.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9MEgVqHKqypEiTns6Za4gQtNNtSrO0kLxehFBvJgLu1NlwtGyAE3hgdqwElhWsCqSNX4TIOHQPVb1eXfVZmXKuHB-lqLOPU_feXRqdNN-tSEeoNSHQjfCPK8z0OYxEF_GHoLT7Qh2mn0/s400/heat-transmittance-means.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Now, this is a pretty simplified explanation of the second law. To go deeper, I would get into explanations of friction and other “work into heat” ideas and calories. I would particularly like to dedicate a separate post to calories...note to self...For now, I will leave the second law at this, and remember, “Heat won’t pass from a cooler to a hotter!”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Experiment</span></b><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> to be done with adult supervision:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Take two bowls and put a scoop (or two) of ice-cream in each. Have a spoon ready to taste</span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-font-family: KaiTi; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: KaiTi; mso-hansi-font-family: KaiTi; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">. Pour milk (enough to coat, not so much that it is sopping) onto one of the servings, leave the other alone. Now taste. Pay attention to the temperature of each. What is the difference, if any? Why?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">References</span></b><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convection viewed on 08/6/2011. p. 5.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Bloomfield, Louis A. How Things Work. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2006. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Fermi, Enrico. Thermodynamics. Dover Publications, Inc. 1936.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728738120748087036.post-91820415623590549202011-07-30T15:32:00.000-07:002011-07-30T15:32:36.237-07:00Microwave Ovens<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">Have you ever wondered how your microwave warms up your food, or worried that this mysterious process might be mutating what you ingest or even that those microwaves are escaping the box and penetrating your insides? Well, hopefully I can shed at least a little light on this magic hotbox and allay, well, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">some</i> of your fears anyway.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">Speaking of light, let me start with explaining what a microwave is. As in the actual, electromagnetic wave. You may have heard that light travels in waves, and that each color has a different wavelength. The rainbow shows the spectrum, and these colors are always in the same order...based on their wavelengths and frequencies. These visible waves are only a fraction of the spectrum. Other electromagnetic waves include radio waves, infra-red, x-rays, etc. (see spectrum below definitions).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">Wavelength: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Physics . the distance, measured in the direction of propagation of a wave, between two successive points in the wave that are characterized by the same phase of oscillation</i>. Or:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh6DPwJLOOxPNuiRAi4kyaV5Mo2iv-SCnbdAMj8lSGuolrVotybxHQN3jWEQdzXUfrNwwSQoM7iiOx9A34VGvx2bBXvgqt6mrm2SIoTaDyrM4l-zkXJWwIzd8feHEeowav4T_IdmiPHH4/s1600/Wavelength.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh6DPwJLOOxPNuiRAi4kyaV5Mo2iv-SCnbdAMj8lSGuolrVotybxHQN3jWEQdzXUfrNwwSQoM7iiOx9A34VGvx2bBXvgqt6mrm2SIoTaDyrM4l-zkXJWwIzd8feHEeowav4T_IdmiPHH4/s320/Wavelength.gif" t$="true" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"><stroke joinstyle="miter"></stroke><formulas><f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></f><f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></f><f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></f><f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></f><f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></f></formulas><path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f"></path><lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></lock></shapetype><shape alt="Description: http://science.hq.nasa.gov/kids/imagers/ems/wave_crest.gif" id="_x0000_i1028" style="height: 117.75pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 172.5pt;" type="#_x0000_t75"><imagedata o:title="wave_crest" src="file:///C:\Users\lilian\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image001.gif"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></imagedata></shape></span><span style="font-family: KaiTi;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">Frequency: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the number of cycles or completed alternations per unit time of a wave or oscillation. Symbol:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>F; Abbreviation:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>freq</i>. Or:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUBx7icxVZ33MOCG-SsBnu1a640BDRE0TgJpxMENSvQquU82Xp_Nt85f5pNqdLFJmyIOQ62G1VAP-TJ8r_Y6Tak_WhyhE-U29K6CAvhSzdrLsMJIVWRZIviwBCl0ZZ8hLgTMabMcz1u3E/s1600/Frequency.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUBx7icxVZ33MOCG-SsBnu1a640BDRE0TgJpxMENSvQquU82Xp_Nt85f5pNqdLFJmyIOQ62G1VAP-TJ8r_Y6Tak_WhyhE-U29K6CAvhSzdrLsMJIVWRZIviwBCl0ZZ8hLgTMabMcz1u3E/s320/Frequency.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><shape alt="Description: http://bbamusic.wikispaces.com/file/view/Frequency4.JPG/32717592/Frequency4.JPG" id="_x0000_i1027" style="height: 168.75pt; mso-wrap-style: square; visibility: visible; width: 168.75pt;" type="#_x0000_t75"><imagedata o:title="Frequency4" src="file:///C:\Users\lilian\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtmlclip1\01\clip_image003.jpg"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></imagedata></shape></span><span style="font-family: KaiTi;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">1 Hz means that an event repeats once per second.</span></b><span style="font-family: KaiTi;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">To demonstrate where your everyday waves fall on a spectrum, including the microwaves we are preparing to discuss, here is a helpful little picture:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDo8IjLIcuR7mPskhNb9XtAEoHUHHUuBi1vPqZFu9K4nRjieS8iaLCLvwnPHbYNs6oz1hMrIMuY85I1iAN-LcEhvWBEo-h5uiI_Ww2X2d8-CJWijfhIdRSI5ziSxUzxxnl9w0empN2qsw/s1600/Magnetic+Spectrum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDo8IjLIcuR7mPskhNb9XtAEoHUHHUuBi1vPqZFu9K4nRjieS8iaLCLvwnPHbYNs6oz1hMrIMuY85I1iAN-LcEhvWBEo-h5uiI_Ww2X2d8-CJWijfhIdRSI5ziSxUzxxnl9w0empN2qsw/s320/Magnetic+Spectrum.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: KaiTi;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">Fantastic. Now we realize that the force we are working with in a Microwave Oven is electromagnetic, and have a basic understanding of the spectrum.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The most important part of your microwave oven is the Magnetron. This nifty device is what is actually creating the microwaves and sending them into the box. When power is supplied electronically (i.e., plug it in and turn it on), the magnetron produces simultaneous electric and magnetic fields that oscillate at the right frequency to create microwaves. These microwaves emit from the magnetron, and are reflected off metal surfaces: A metal fan sends waves into the oven segment, the metal lined walls of the microwave oven reflect the waves throughout and back and forth.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So now you have microwaves being reflected around the oven. What happens when you add food? First, let’s look at the make-up of the food you eat. Do you know what is common in almost everything you ingest? It’s water molecules. It is these molecules of H2O that are the key to microwaves increasing the temperature of the object inside the oven. This is due to the fact that these molecules are polarized.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When the Oxygen (O) atom combines with the two Hydrogen (H2) atoms, it pulls the electrons partly from the Hydrogen…creating a negative charge on the Oxygen end of the molecule. This in turn creates a positive charge on the H2 end of the molecule, and there you have your polarization.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As the fluctuating electric field of a microwave passes by these water molecules, it causes the polarized water to in turn fluctuate…and at the speeds that they begin to fluctuate, heat is in turn created! The excited water is turning the work energy into heat and that is a thermodynamics lesson for another post. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXJ7m_ILIn1dthXR4EdcUo1CiMp_wE63tQmWUUcaHmsp9Rozt-RXo2TPkwxPjJ_Xbe5Uki37IS_h4_KgJDOIbjhfsL_BOOKGbMIrv5DoYyoTZdMp3vx1ZtsFaRio56312QgQx5vqVmFT4/s1600/Microwaves+and+water.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXJ7m_ILIn1dthXR4EdcUo1CiMp_wE63tQmWUUcaHmsp9Rozt-RXo2TPkwxPjJ_Xbe5Uki37IS_h4_KgJDOIbjhfsL_BOOKGbMIrv5DoYyoTZdMp3vx1ZtsFaRio56312QgQx5vqVmFT4/s400/Microwaves+and+water.jpg" t$="true" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://radiographics.rsna.org/content/25/suppl_1/S69/F1.expansion.html">http://radiographics.rsna.org/content/25/suppl_1/S69/F1.expansion.html</a></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">This leaves us with a couple of questions still from the introduction. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">Are these microwaves escaping and cooking your insides? The answer is no. Take a look at your microwave oven. All the walls, save the door, are all-metal surfaces. The door is a mesh design of metal and amazingly, those holes in the mesh are TOO SMALL to allow the escape of the microwaves. Fabulous, right? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">Are these microwaves mutating your food? Pure water molecules are not going to be changed by the effects of microwaves. That being said, the complex carbon chains that make up the rest of most foods may be affected by the microwaves, but to what extent, I don’t know. If you know, please feel free to post a response, I would love to hear what others have to say!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">Experiment</span></b><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">Try (with adult supervision, if you are a minor) microwaving an ice-cube or ice-cubes. What happens? Can you explain why? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">Formula</span></b><span style="font-family: KaiTi;"> (for the math-happy science geeks): </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">C = λ(ν) or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">speed of light = wavelength times frequency</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: KaiTi;">Electromagnetic waves always travel at the speed of light, and therefore, the higher the frequency, the shorter the wavelength.</span></div><br />
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References:<br />
<br />
Bloomfield, Louis A. How Things Work. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2006. p 432.<br />
<br />
Fischetti, Mark. How the Microwave Works. Scientific American. Oct 30, 2008.<br />
<a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-the-microwave-works">http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-the-microwave-works</a><br />
viewed at link on Jul 30 2011.<br />
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Definitions from: <a href="http://www.dictionary.com/">http://www.dictionary.com/</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7728738120748087036.post-50057292833490736692011-07-30T09:50:00.001-07:002011-07-30T09:50:56.091-07:00Currently Under ConstructionI am working to get a goooooood first (or now, second) science-y post up...so go visit my other blog and come back later!<br />
<a href="http://www.perpetuallyprobable.blogspot.com/">http://www.perpetuallyprobable.blogspot.com/</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0