To Cut Smog, Navistar Blazes Risky Path of Its Own

Author: Tom Zeller Jr. and Norman Mayersohn

Publication Date: Tom Zeller Jr and Norman Mayersohn

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/05/business/energy-environment/05truck.html?_r=1&ref=airpollution

Summary: Navistar, truck maker company, has come up with a new engine to release less Nitrogen oxide. Nitrogen oxide is a main cause of smog to occur. In 2o10, all truck companies had to make all new engines being made to release nearly zero limits of nitrogen oxide levels. Navistar decided to go a different route and make an engine that releases a nuetralized level of nitrogen oxide. They claim that the new add on technology that has be required is so flawed that it does not meet clean air requirements. However, even this newly developed engine has a flaw of its own. Reducing the temperature combustion will reduce nitrogen oxide emissions, but doing this will increase soot. Soot levels can be reduced by alternating the timing of combustion, but that raises fuel consumption. If this new engine is approved by the EPA, then it will be up to other truck companies to buy this product to reduce smog from occuring.

The picture shows the new engine being tested in Navistar.
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/04/05/business/Truckjp.html

Opinion: I think this is a great idea to lower the chances of smog occuring. Not only will this engine benefit to less smog but it will also help the environment be less polluted. Also this engine is like a new alternative engery to keep our environment clean. Using this engine can help decrease the chances of a smog as bad as the one in Denora from ever happening again. I remember learning in class that the Denora smog happening from too many pollutants being released in the air from factories and vehicles. This new engine can be a very big step to reducing air pollution.

Questions:

1) Do you think this engine is a good idea?

2) If you were another truck company would you buy this engine from Navistar?

3) Do you think the increased release of soot could be a problem to our environment?

Breast Cancer Possibly Linked to Air Pollution

Title: Breast Cancer Possibly Linked to Air Pollution

Author: Michael Graham Richard

Date: 10.12.2010

Publication: Tree Hugger: A Discovered Company

Link: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/10/breast-cancer-possibly-linked-to-air-pollution-study.php

Summary:

A study that was recently done by researchers in Montreal, Canada. The study that was done discovered that air pollution could possibly be one of the linking factors to causing breast cancer. Across the city, the researchers found Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) varied between 5 ppb to over 30 ppb. It was discovered that the risk of contracting breast cancer increased by about 25 per cent with every increase of NO2 of five parts per billion. This is not saying that nitrogen dioxide causes cancer, but it is twice as likely to contract it when you are more exposed to it. Further study is required because there is not that much research done about it.

Opinion:

This was pretty shocking. I'm not that worried about it, because it mentioned in the article that it is not certain and there is still more research to be done. However, if this is actually is a problem, we DEFINITELY need to do something about it. Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death in women these days. If something as easily fixed as air pollution is going to cause it, we need to do something about it. The way that this connects to me personally is that my grandmother has breast cancer, and although I doubt that air pollution caused it, that could be a reason for it.

Graphic:

 http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.treehugger.com/pink-ribbon-breast-cancer-air-pollution-photo.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/10/breast-cancer-possibly-linked-to-air-pollution-study.php&usg=__jBwEBIvEA0mp4K3wSDSl2Ls1sFE=&h=352&w=468&sz=26&hl=en&start=0&sig2=6mXXxPIXaI_7VgRL2BavDw&zoom=1&tbnid=CzEEmsoZ_dc5ZM:&tbnh=161&tbnw=213&ei=L4LdTbH1PITZgQfC0sUN&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dbreast%2Bcancer%2Bair%2Bpollution%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1045%26bih%3D484%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=312&sqi=2&page=1&ndsp=8&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=68&ty=99

This is just the picture from the article, but it's just a picture that shows how they are connected.

Questions:

1. Do you think something needs to be done about this? (Do you think it is a big problem since there isn't that much research on it?)

2. How can we as a country prevent this?

3. Do you think this is a problem in our area?

Becca :)

EPA Releases Final Report on Toxic Air Pollution Near Manhattan

Title: EPA Releases Final Report on Toxic Air Pollution Near Manhattan I.S. 143 School Finds Pollutants Below Levels of Concern
Author: Elias Rodriguez
Date: 5-19-2011
Link: http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/98C3CCB88141C48885257895004FEEA5

Summary: The EPA tested the Intermediate School 143 of Manhattan, New York, a middle school for several air pollutants. They started testing in April and it lasted for two months. The main pollutants the EPA was testing for was 1,3-butadiene and benzene which come primarily from mobile sources such as; cars, trucks and buses. Since Manhattan is filled with transportation, it was the perfect representative for this study. It was revealed that there are no huge amounts of pollutants to cause much harm.

Opinion: I think this is great. I like to see people actually doing something to make sure, even if the situation is fine. The EPA showed that by testing the air quality of Manhattan. They could have said, “Eh, what’s the point of testing for if it will just give us results and no improvement.” I’m happy to see the air is not extremely toxic (yet) and that some people are doing their job in this country.

Graphic: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://blog.petaflop.de/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/broadway-corner-w72-street-downtown-manhattan-nyc-new-york-city-usa-dscn8509.jpg&imgrefurl=http://blog.petaflop.de/2008/02/02/day-113-new-york-city-2/&usg=__f456cG4bn5SjMSwyBXM2qbeNNgY=&h=331&w=400&sz=55&hl=en&start=0&sig2=M7M4k_aXWVkrZ70P_sgMEw&zoom=1&tbnid=rBg3M-WmTCYzqM:&tbnh=126&tbnw=154&ei=mbnaTeqwKor1gAfx9qxY&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dmanhattan%2Bnew%2Byork%2Bstreets%2527%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1020%26bih%3D558%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=412&vpy=74&dur=187&hovh=204&hovw=247&tx=153&ty=158&sqi=2&page=1&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0&biw=1005&bih=558

This picture is a good visual of the streets and how much pollution can be given off in just that tiny little second the picture was taken.

Questions:
1) Should our school have the same tests done?
2) What other tests could our district do?
3) Are you glad to see stuff is being done?
4) What is another representative for a different type of test?
5) If their tests came up that they did have excessive pollution, what might of that done to their future lives?

New Jersey an unlikely leader in solar energy

Title:New Jersey an unlikely leader in solar energy

Author: Ronda Kaysen

Date: 5/13/11

Link:http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110513/us_nm/us_solar_newjersey;_ylt=AoHYg6c_gxM0jOnrncvg3r8S.MwF;_ylu=X3oDMTJwZjB2Z3Q3BGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTEwNTEzL3VzX3NvbGFyX25ld2plcnNleQRwb3MDMTYEc2VjA3luX3BhZ2luYXRlX3N1bW1hcnlfbGlzdARzbGsDbmV3amVyc2V5YW51

Summary:

This article is about how the state of New Jersey is the U.S.'s second highest producer in solar energy. The first highest state producing solar energy is California, where it is sunny over half of the time. In New Jersey it is only sunny 3 out of every 8 days. Some people are upset because New Jersey does not get a lot of sun, but they are wasting money on solar panels. In New Jersey all energy suppliers must get 20% of their energy from "clean sources", but only 2% from solar energy. Some of New Jersey's solar panels are on lights, rooftops, and farms. Rutgers university 60% of their campus is expected to be powered by solar energy in the upcoming years! Although the state leads the way in solar energy, it is expected that the amount of solar panels being built in New Jersey slows down very soon due to people thinking that the state has "Strict laws" on alternative energies.

Graphic: http://solar.calfinder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/nj-rooftop-solar.jpg

This is a picture of a typical New Jersey roof top with solar panels on it.

Opinion:

I think that it is great that New Jersey has the second most amount of solar panels in the United States. With our reliance on fossil fuels causing us problems, I think that we should encourage other states to produce more solar energy. I do not understand why people are mad that New Jersey has a lot of solar panels because it is cloudy. Solar panels still work in the clouds, and they are good for the environment. My house's power is off of fossil fuels, and I realize that it is very bad for the environment. I hope that in the future my house, and other houses will be running off of alternative energies. I hope that there is a rise in the amount of solar panels placed in New Jersey because it is good for the environment. I don't think that laws can ever be too strict when it is dealing with alternative energies because we NEED to switch our energy power soon! I hope that more people realize that in the years to come.

Questions:

1) Is it good or bad that New Jersey has so many solar panels?

2) Would you buy a house that is powered by solar energy?

3) Do you think that other states will put in more alternative energies soon?

4) Do you like solar energy, or would you rather a different type of energy?

Trash Sorting Robot Could Reduce Waste Going to Lanfill by 50%

Title of Article: Robot Could Reduce Waste Going to Landfill by 50%
Author: Jaymi Heimbuch
Publication Date: 4/20/11
Link: www.treehugger.com/files/2011/04/trash-sorting-robot-could-reduce-waste-going-to-landfill-by-50.php?campaign=th_rss

Summary: I think that this is a great invention for our world and could be very beneficial to our community. Many times items that can be recycled are thrown out and this new robot may be the key to preserving those recyclabes from going to landfills. This robot would use metal detection, weight measurement, and 3-D scanning, just to name a few of the ways the robot would be able to detect these recycables. If this robot is succesful it could both help recycle more items and lower the trash amount and at the same time can help the health and safety of workers who have to sort through hazardous trash such as construction trash. All in all, this robot was a great invention and will shortly play a major role in our world.

Opinion: I am fascinated by how advanced our technology is that we are able to have a robot sort our own trash for us. However, it is a shame that this robot needed to be invented and we in the first place should be aware of what to recycle and what not to so we would not be sending recyclabes to landfills. Despite this, this robot is a great opportunity for us to conserve more space to store our trash and to reuse more products. The way that this connects with my personal life is in a bad way. Usually, I have the terrible habit of throwing out my water bottles and gatorade bottles into the trash instead of recycling them. I hope to improve and grow out of this habbit. Hopefully, if my trash was on a conveyor belt, the robot would be able to pick out my recyclabes and reuse them. Overall, this robot was a great idea and will benefit many people in the near future.

3 Questions:
1. Do you think that this robot is a good idea? Why or why not?
2. Should we use this robot to replace workers who sort trash?
3. Would you use this robot at your home for your own personal trash if you could?

Futuristic Laptop Concept Features Solar Panel Cover, Charger

Author: Jaymi Heimbuch
Date: 5-4-11
Link: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/05/futuristic-laptop-concept-features-solar-panel-cover-charger.php?campaign=th_rss_science

Summary: Developed by Laura Karnath and Carl Burdick, the Lifebook Leaf is a great idea that may solve many issues with the environment's energy problem. It is an overall nice design. The flexible screen can be folded into a flat surface (almost like an iPad) or like a laptop. There is a rubber interior to prevent screen-scratching. There is also an exterior shell so the device can become waterproof. There are even three cameras for the use of 3D photography and depth sensing is possible. That is for the use of gestures to operate the system or you can use the touch screen. On top of all of that, the exterior is a giant solar panel so it can be charged without the use of electronic plug-ins.

Opinion: This is a great thing to have been made. Personally, last year my sister left home. She left her Mac computer behind and let me use it. The battery drained out a lot and I felt like it always had to be charged. If the computer was solar powered, I could have had light hitting it during the day and I would not have wasted so much energy. These new computer could save time, money and energy. I believe if everybody used one of these, we could waste tons less fuels to get electricity to charge the batteries. Hopefully the new technology is open and affordable to enough people.

Graphic: Well, the graphic I had in mind is on the article itself. So here’s the link again...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/05/futuristic-laptop-concept-features-solar-panel-cover-charger.php?campaign=th_rss_science

Questions:
1) Would you use this?
2) Do you think it might look dorky or cool?
3) How often do you usually charge you laptop now (or other electronic device) and would it be beneficial to not have a low battery?
4) Do you think you would leave your laptop outside to charge while you are doing something else inside, or would that be too much of a risk?
5) On a comparison scale, how much electronic energy could schools across the world if they all switched to solar powered devises?

Solar-Powered UAV Can Stay Aloft for Years

Title: Solar-Powered UAV Can Stay Aloft for Years

Author: Ned Smith

Publication: LiveScience

Date: September 22nd, 2010

Link: http://www.livescience.com/8649-solar-powered-uav-stay-aloft-years.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Livesciencecom+%28LiveScience.com+Science+Headline+Feed%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Summary:

Boeing, a company that makes Commercial Airplanes and Integrated Defense Systems, recently came up with a new air craft that runs on solar energy. It has the same features of an orbiting satellite, but at a much lower cost. The aircraft can fly as high as 60,000 feet at a speed of 70 to 80 knots while performing communications, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. This device is called the SolarEagle. During the day, the SolarEagle will collect solar energy and store it in fuel cells for use at night, like most solar powered things do. It is said to make 30 to 90 day missions and it is scheduled to take its first flight in 2013.

Opinion:

I think this is quite interesting. Its pretty cool that they can do the same thing as a satellite while saving money and saving the environment. I remember seeing a commercial for the US Army or something, where they had to stop a satellite collision. With the SolarEagle, this will not happen. The highest an airplane can fly is about 40,000 feet, so it is very likely that nothing too bad will go wrong. I am interested to see how well this works out when they launch it in 2013.

Graphic:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.instablogsimages.com/images/2010/09/17/boeing-solareagle_CelfM_24429.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.greendiary.com/entry/boeing-solareagle-high-altitude-uav-will-stay-aloft-for-five-years/&usg=__q0IFpvZ6A4Z8zWlUYBVuUBwyTpU=&h=308&w=550&sz=15&hl=en&start=0&sig2=dkXUWhcAMvRk93nfsrajyw&zoom=1&tbnid=HMq19X5r50wxGM:&tbnh=112&tbnw=200&ei=wQvCTcvrIYPQgAf98KDLDg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dboeing%2Bsolareagle%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26nfpr%3D1%26biw%3D1045%26bih%3D484%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=531&page=1&ndsp=8&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0&tx=119&ty=52

I believe this is a picture of the SolarEagle. I'm not sure, but it would make sense. It is pretty new, so it's hard to tell.

Questions:

1. Would you rather keep our original satellites, or try out the SolarEagle? Why?

2. Do you think this will get people around the US to reconsider alternative energy resources?

3. Do you think this is going to work as well as our original satellites?

~Becca~ :)

The Drive Toward Hydrogen Vehicles Just Got Shorter

Title: The Drive Toward Hydrogen Vehicles Just Got Shorter

Author: Science Daily Staff

Publication Date: March 21, 2011

Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110321093701.htm

Summary: Hydrogen possess a high energy content per unit mass compared to petroleum, it can be used to run fuel cells, which can then be used to power a very clean engine. The Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and other companies have been working on trying to get hydrogen to be used to power cars. Ammonia borane is a chemical hydride that can store hydrogen. Scientist like this chemical because it can store up to 20% which can permit hydrogen-fueled vehicles to travel over 300 miles on one tank. The problem was that scientists had no way of recycling ammonia borane. However, scientist have found a simple way to regenerate ammonia borane from a hyrdrogen depleted spent fuel form back into usable fuel, reactions taking place in a single container. Researchers see vehicles with interchangable tanks so people can hand in their used tank to be recharge in a factory and then to be used once again when the recharge is complete. Many scientist see this process becoming closer and closer to being used.

Graphic: This graphic shows how ammonia burane is transformed into hydrogen fuel.
http://www.google.com/imgresimgurl=http://images.sciencedaily.com/2011/03/110321093701.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110321093701.htm&usg=__Pcmuo4FA6xqcqcVGdxVba8aMBfI=&h=387&w=300&sz=22&hl=en&start=0&sig2=i2qM0s5DZBPTorQo1mWi9w&zoom=1&tbnid=vhpbl4xF_2uXoM:&tbnh=135&tbnw=101&ei=BD2_TeD5CY_pgQe5hdyTBw&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dtransforming%2Bammonia%26hl%3Den%26gbv%3D2%26biw%3D1345%26bih%3D528%26as_st%3Dy%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=562&page=1&ndsp=25&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0&tx=61&ty=55

Opinion: I think that could be very helpful to out environment to not cause air pollution. If cars were powered with hydrogen, then carbon dioxide would not be released from gas in cars thus lowing the CO2 releases in the atmosphere. Using hydrogen powered vehiciles could lower the amout of gas being used. With gas being nonrenewable, and with scientists predicts we will eventually run out of it, hydrogen powered cars could be the answer to powering cars in a new way with out gas. With the cost of gas prices going up because it is nonrenewable, using hydrogen powered cars could save people money. I know that when my parents go to get gas and I'm with them, we watch the meter as the price increases every gallon. By the time our tank is full, my parents are paying $60 to $70 for a full tank of gas. I know that when I start to drive, I will not be able to pay that much money every time my car needs to refilled with gas. Hydrogen powered cars would be a great help to save money for people with cars.

Questions:

1) Do you think hydrogen powered cars are a good idea?

2) Would you buy a hydrogen powered car?

3) Do you think hydrogen powered cars could be the solution to replacing gas powered cars?

4) Do you think that is recharge able tank could work in cars?