Writings and videos about science activities with an emphasis on environmental science and energy measurement

Browsing Archive: August, 2013

The Hygiene Hypothesis and Autoimmune Disorders

Posted by Antonio Chaves on Thursday, August 22, 2013, In : environmental news 
According to the hygiene hypothesis children today have more allergies due to an overly clean environment that results in the immune system overreacting to nonpathogenic substances. This can be prevented in part by living on a farm or at least having a dog in the house. The is also credible evidence that probiotics (supplements or fermented foods with beneficial bacteria) play a role in reducing allergies.

Both my wife and myself have had worms when we were children and neither of us have any...
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Using Supercapacitors Instead of Batteries

Posted by Antonio Chaves on Tuesday, August 13, 2013, In : environmental news 
The biggest disadvantages of electric vehicles are prolonged charging times, high cost of lithium batteries, and mass of the batteries. Even though (according to my own calculations) lithium batteries are about 4 times more energy dense than their lead acid counterparts, the mass of lithium battery material needed for a road trip can be 10 times that of the gasoline that can be used to cover the same distance in a conventional vehicle. In contrast to internal combustion engines and fuel cells...
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Ecotourism with Children

Posted by Antonio Chaves on Saturday, August 10, 2013, In : environmental news 

I just got back last night after about ten days vacation spent mostly in Florida. Among the highlights of our trip was seeing a manatee grazing at the inlet in Anastasia State Park. We were lucky because most of them migrate north in the summer. It helped that the tide was near its peak during the early evening and that most of the visitors were gone. The high tide made the seagrass accessible for grazing, and with less people the manatee felt more comfortable feeding near th...


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About this blog

This blog was originally created in January 2013 to serve as a means for providing updates on science activities from the environmental science lab manual Ecology, Development, and Sustainability. I have now expanded its purpose to include other items of interest to science teachers. 

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