Environmental Technologies
contaminated
water
with
the
help
of
microbes, and using plants to take up arsenic from contaminated soil, in a process known
as
phytoremediation.
The
U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency has used phytoremediation to clean up several sites. Often, native plant species can be used for
Imagine curling up on the couch with the morning paper and then using the same sheet of paper to read the latest novel by your favorite author. In the United States alone, more than 55 million newspapers are sold each weekday.
greenhouse warming.
gas
most cases they don't require pesticides or watering. In other cases, scientists are trying to genetically modify the plants to take up contaminants in their roots and transport them all the way to the leaves for easy harvesting.
6. Bury the Bad Stuff Carbon dioxide
site cleanup, which are helpful because in
is the most prominent contributing
According
to
to
the
global Energy
Information Administration, by the year 2030 we will be emitting close to 8,000 million metric tons of CO2. Some experts say it's impossible to curb the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere and that we just have to find ways to dispose of the gas. One suggested method is to inject the gas into the ground before it reaches the atmosphere. After the
4. Plant Your Roof
CO2 is separated from abandoned oil wells, saline reservoirs and rocks. While this may sound great, scientists are not sure whether the injected gas will stay underground and what the long-term effects are, and the costs of separation and burying are still far too high to consider this technology as a practical short-term solution.
It's a wonder that this concept - attributed to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - didn't catch on sooner in the modern world. Legend has it that the roofs, balconies and terraces of the royal palace of Babylon were turned into gardens by the king's order to cheer up one of his wives. Roof gardens help
5. Let Plants and Microbes Clean Up After Us
absorb heat, reduce the carbon dioxide impact by taking up CO2 and gving off
Bioremediation is a method of cleaning up
oxygen, absorb storm water, and reduce
contamination using microbes and plants.
summer air conditioning usage. Ultimately,
Examples include the cleanup of nitrates in
the technique could lessen the "heat island"
effect
that
occurs
in
urban
centers.
barrels of oil each day. The United States
Butterflies and songbirds could also start
consumes about 7.5 billion barrels a year.
frequenting urban garden roofs to cheer up
Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC)
the inhabitants of the building, like the king's
technologies convert the thermal energy
wife.
contained in the oceans into electricity by using the temperature difference between the water's surface, which is heated by the sun, and the cold ocean bottom. This difference
in
temperature
can
operate
turbines that can drive generators. The major shortcoming of this technology is that it's still not efficient enough to be used as a major mechanism for generating power. 2. Turn Photons into Electricity The sun's energy, which hits Earth in the form of photons, can be converted into electricity or heat. Solar collectors come in 3. Harness Waves and Tides
many different forms and are already used successfully
The oceans cover more than 70 percent of the Earth's surface.
Waves contain
an
abundance of energy that could be directed to
turbines,
which
can
then
turn
this
mechanical power into electrical energy. The obstacle to using this energy source has been
the
difficulty
in
harnessing
it.
Sometimes the waves are too small to generate sufficient power. The trick is to store the energy when enough mechanical power is generated. New York City's East River is now in the process of becoming a test bed for tide-powered turbines. 1. Capture Ocean Heat Energy
by
energy
companies
and
individual homeowners. The two widely known types of solar collectors are solar cells and solar thermal collectors. But researchers are pushing the limits to convert this energy more efficiently by concentrating solar power using mirrors and parabolic dishes. Part of the challenge for employing solar
power
involves
motivation
and
incentives from governments. A number of states have programs that provide incentives toward solar development. However, the cost of installation and the fear of unsightly panels discourage many homeowners from adopting the technology.
Source:
Our oceans are the biggest solar energy collectors on Earth. According to the U.S.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/200
Department of Energy, the seas absorb
91207/sc_livescience/top10emerginonme
enough heat from the sun to equal the
ntaltechnologies
thermal energy contained in 250 billion
transportation, pharmaceuticals and medicine. (See related article.)
05 March 2007
Nanotechnology Could Improve Health, Water
in Developing Nations Brazil, China, India, South Africa working on research initiatives By Cheryl Pellerin USINFO Staff Writer Washington – Nanotechnology, science on the scale of atoms and molecules, could give developing nations new ways to diagnose and treat disease and make clean water more available, if governments, nongovernmental organizations, industry and others would work to apply the powerful technology to these challenges, scientists say. Nanotechnology is the ability to see, measure, manipulate and manufacture things on a scale of 1 to 100 nanometers. A nanometer is 1 billionth of a meter; a sheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometers thick. "Nanotechnology has the potential to generate enormous health benefits for the more than 5 billion people living in the developing world,” said Peter Singer, senior scientist at the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health and professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, at a February 27 meeting, Using Nanotechnology to Improve Health Care in Developing Countries. The event was organized by two Woodrow Wilson International Center efforts – the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies and the Global Health Initiative. Nanotechnologies are being developed in nearly every industry, including electronics, magnetics and optoelectronics, energy, information technology, materials development,
The emerging field involves scientists from many disciplines, including physicists, chemists, engineers, materials scientists and biologists. More than 400 consumer products worldwide are derived from the use of nanotechnology in some way. NANOTECHNOLOGY AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES In 2005, Singer’s group in Toronto published a study identifying and ranking the 10 nanotechnologies most likely to benefit the developing world in the near future. At the top of the list were nanotechnology applications related to energy storage, production and conversion; enhancement of agricultural productivity; water treatment and remediation; and the diagnosis and treatment of disease. The group also showed that a surprising amount of nanotechnology research and development activity is ongoing in several developing countries, and that these nations are directing their nanotechnology innovation systems to address their more pressing needs. "Countries like Brazil, India, China and South Africa have significant nanotechnology research initiatives that could be directed toward the particular needs of the poor,” said Andrew Maynard, chief science adviser for the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. In a 2005 paper describing his team’s study,
Nanotechnology and the Developing World,
Singer said India's Department of Science and Technology would invest $20 million in 2004–2009 for a Nanomaterials Science and Technology Initiative.
The number of nanotechnology patent applications from China ranks third, behind the United States and Japan. In Brazil, the projected budget for nanoscience during 20042007 was about $25 million.
The challenges, Grodzinski said, include the complexity of bringing such treatments into the clinic and the cost of care. As a result, the distribution of nanotechnology treatments might be more gradual in some developing countries. ADDRESSING GLOBAL CHALLENGES
The South African Nanotechnology Initiative is a national network of academic researchers involved in nanotechnology, and other developing countries, such as Thailand, the Philippines, Chile, Argentina and Mexico, are pursuing nanotechnology, according to Singer’s paper
NANOTECHNOLOGY AND DISEASE In the United States, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Cancer Institute (NCI) has formed the Nanotechnology Alliance for Cancer to move more quickly molecular-based science from the laboratory into the clinic. "Nanotechnologies could revolutionize health care in developing countries,” said Alliance Director Piotr Grodzinski, “and make that claim millions of lives around the world each year." Nanomaterials and nanomedical devices, he added, “will play increasingly critical and beneficial roles in improving the way we diagnose, treat, and ultimately prevent cancer and other diseases.”
To help the international community support the application of nanotechnology to critical sustainable development challenges in developing countries, including health care, Singer and his group proposed an initiative called “Addressing Global Challenges Using Nanotechnology.” Modeled after the Foundation for the NIH/Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Grand Challenges in Global Health, the initiative would be funded by national and international foundations, and from collaboration among nanotechnology initiatives in industrialized and developing countries. Responsible development of nanotechnology must include benefits for people in both rich and poor nations and at relatively low cost,” Maynard said. “This also requires that careful attention be paid to possible risks nanotechnology poses for human health and the environment." (See related article.) The full text of Singer's 2005 study,
Nanotechnology and the Developing World, is available online. Information about the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies and the Global Health Initiative is available at the Woodrow Wilson International Center Web site. More information about the NIH/NCI Nanotechnology Alliance for Cancer is available at the NIH Web site.
It might one day be possible, for example, for citizens in Bangladesh to place contaminated water in inexpensive transparent bottles that will disinfect the water when placed in direct sunlight, or for doctors in Mexico to give patients vaccines that can be inhaled and that do not need to be refrigerated.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
Read more: http://www.america.gov/st/washfileenglish/2007/March/20070305134101lcnirellep0.9842035 .html#ixzz0Ye8tUlH6
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00:30 September 3, 2009 PDT By Darren Quick
The disc and roller system used in Torotrak's CVT and IVTs
/
Source: http://www.gizmag.com/torotrak-new-gen-transmissions/12692/
Ingenious! - aircraft system design Brief Article Approach, July, 2001 by Joel Zupfer
At the risk of damaging my ego, let me tell you about a situation I feel very lucky to be able to write about. I was a senior lieutenant and functional-check pilot, doing a routine track and balance on an SH-60B. My copilot was an O-4 select and a newly designated HAC, who had transitioned to aviation from surface line and recently had completed his first deployment. Our crewman had a few hundred helo hours and was new to FCFs. All the ground checks went smoothly, and before long we were taxiing to the parallel for hover checks. During taxi, I noticed the helo randomly hopping and the flight controls doing. I asked the crew if they felt the hop. They say they didn't until I pointed out the next time it happened. The movement was very small, and we thought it might have been caused by the automatic flight-control system (AFCS). However, securing both the SAS 1 and SAS 2 didn't solve the problem, and we continued taxiing to the helo pad for hover work. Thinking it may have something to do with yaw control, we discussed what we would do if we lost thrust in a hover. After the takeoff checks, I smoothly added power, lifting the helo into a stable, 10-foot hover. The controllability checked normal, so we continued with the remaining hover checks. After completing the hover portion of our vibration mn on the VATS box, we departed the pattern to collect the remaining data for the track and balance.
The aircraft flew normally, with no noticeable deviations from the trimmed attitude. While taxiing back to our line, I noticed the same hopping and again tried to isolate the cause. The wind was gusty that day, but I had never experienced anything like this. Not feeling good about the condition of the aircraft, we taxied back to the line, shut down, and asked for an airframes troubleshooter. After explaining the problem to him, he opened the hydraulics bay and asked me to move the flight controls while he inspected the boost servos. After a minute, he climbed down, told us he'd found the problem, and asked us to shut down the APU. break was so clean that when the two pieces matched up, you could not detect the break (hence the reason for missing it on preflight). The break could only be detected when the flight controls moved. Whenever the cylinder rod moved forward, the pieces would separate. When it moved aft, it would bump the loose end, causing a small impulse into the collective channel (which explained the hopping during taxi). If the collective channel was in two pieces, how could we control the aircraft at all during flight? On the H-60, a C-shaped bracket runs parallel to the collective-boost servo, connecting the input and output of the servo in the event of such a failure. Another function of the bracket is to allow the aircraft to be flown without the using the boost or pilot-assist servos. After talking with the maintenance control chief, I found out that he knew of similar instances. Knowing I wasn't the only one to have this happen made me feel a little better, but I still felt less than smart for taking the aircraft flying in the first place. As an engineer, I certainly appreciate the ingenuity of the system design. As a pilot, I am just plain thankful. LCdr. Zupfer flies with VC-8 COPYRIGHT 2001 U.S. Naval Safety Center COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group Source: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0F KE/is_7_46/ai_78333956/