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

This semester I am no less busy because I am teaching three classes in two different schools; general biology, environmental science, and respiratory care science. Before this semester I never heard of “respiratory care science”, but I was hired due to my having taught both chemistry and biology at the college level. Even though I need to prepare extensively for this class, I enjoy teaching a college class that involves both chemistry and physics.

Since this is the second ...

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I have not posted for over a month because I am teaching introductory biology while taking education classes to broaden my options. I am also reeling from the culture shock of teaching so many students who have no idea how unready they are for college. This was less of an issue when I taught introductory chemistry because the students were screened by means of an entrance exam. Obama once said that "everyone" should go to college. Whether or not you voted for him, most science...

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In an earlier post, I noted the importance of energy storage. I was also surprised by the fact that more than half of this comes from water that is pumped into a reservoir in order to serve as temporary hydropower. Here is an interesting article on the world's largest "battery" of this kind. This is considered by some to be more environmentally-friendly than conventional hydropower in that it can be used in brown fields (such as abandoned quarries) and can be used to supplement intermittent f...
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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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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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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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This article on how poorly education departments prepare teachers confirms what I've already known for years. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that many administrators also know this and will preferentially hire uncertified teachers (when regulations allow it) to avoid the baggage of teacher education school training! It's nice to know that some of the people in charge did not drink the Kool-Aide.

I've know this ever since my wife became a certified teacher. I would estimate that about 30% ...
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Even though these cars are not practical, I am amazed at how fast they move.

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I got this interesting chart from an article about how an energy storage company called Eos may revolutionize the way electricity is stored using zinc air batteries. I never knew that so much generating capacity was stored by simply pumping water! The advantage of these batteries is their low cost ($160 / kWh vs. $400 / kWh using lithium batteries). All of this is discussed in terms of making the grid more reliable. I wonder if these batteries are light enough to use in a vehicle? 

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