Energy is the ability to matter into motion. It is what makes the universe and everything in it dynamic and ever changing. The flow of energy from the abiotic world to the biotic world and from organism to organism helps determine how living things interact within their environments. Living things need energy for maintenance, growth, and reproduction. In the physical world, energy takes a variety of forms, including wave energy, sound energy, and light energy. The study of dynamic systems in any field of science requires an understanding of energy - its origins, how it flows through systems, how it is converted from one form to another, and how it is conserved. Energy provides the basis for all interactions, whether chemical, biological, or physical. Energy thematically connects all disciplines, and its use and misuse by humans is especially highlighted in the study of environmental science.
Now, you may be thinking we did this yesterday, but wait one second. Yes, the environmental concept (Energy) is the same from yesterday, but like I tried to illustrate yesterday there are many different ways energy can be applied in the sciences which can possibly overlap into Environmental Science. Your task today is to find another article from the same list of websites that applies energy in a different way. For example, if you chose an article related to renewable energy sources then try to find one that has to do with energy flow through food chains in a particular ecosystem.
So give it a try...Your post should be no less than 150 words (the size of the paragraph above) and include a topic sentence that states the purpose of your post along with examples. You might type your post in Microsoft Word to help with your word count. Be sure to proof read your post before submitting it to correct any errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Remember you are high school students, some about to graduate, and your post should reflect the education level of such students, not 4th graders.
Polar bears are among the most fat-obsessed beasts in the animal kingdom. Yet they still seem to be genetically superior to humans when it comes to warding off heart disease. A polar bears life revolves around fat. To nurse their cubs they rely on milk that can be up to 30 percent fat and they mostly eat blubber of marine mammal prey. They have large fat deposits under their skin and, because they live in a place where they do not have access to fresh water they rely on metabolic water, which is a byproduct of the breakdown of fat. Half of their body weight consist of fat, and their blood cholesterol levels are high enough to cause cardiovascular disease in humans. So when the polar bears eat the blubber from the seals, whales and other animals that they eat it provides them with fat reserves that allows them to nurse their cubs live off of the fat and sustain life in this harsh environment.
ReplyDeleteSolar and wind energy systems could provide power even when the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining. Electric grid is best supplied when there is consistent energy that can be ramped up and down as demand rises and falls. When the sun set and the wind stops the energy that is created must be stored and there has not be an efficient way to do that yet. A company called Advanced Rail Energy Storage has came up with a possible solution. The theory is that there will be a massive train car that sits on rail facing a hill. When the renewable resources plant produces exess energy the train car is pulled up to the top of the hill and store a significant quantity of potential energy with practically no waste. When power demands need more the train car is lowered down the hill and it creates energy. This is a cleaner and more efficient way of storing and using energy.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.livescience.com/43211-renewable-energy-rides-the-rails-to-more-efficient-power-storage.html
Scientists from the University of Granada have successfully created magnetic bacteria that could be added to foodstuffs and could, after ingestion, help diagnose diseases of the digestive system like stomach cancer. These important findings constitute the first use of a food as a natural drug and aid in diagnosing an illness, anywhere in the world. To design these magnetic bacteria, the researchers looked to Nature. They tried to copy magneto bacteria, which naturally produce very limited numbers of internal magnets that, essentially, provide them with a means of orienting themselves as if they possessed an internal compass. These artificial magnetic bacteria could have biomedical applications in magnetic resonance imaging -- to facilitate diagnosis or in heating malign cells through magnetic hypothermia and, thus, curing diseases like cancer.
ReplyDeleteMy article is about how power energy devices for flexible electronics have. It is discussing that even though flexible technology such as roll up touch screens and such are on the way, there is still a problem with the would-be power source. The scientist are saying the power sources would either be too wimpy or too stiff. Multiple experiments have been conducted and certain materials like carbon or polymer have provided sustainable energy but lack flexibility and are rigid. The scientists have figured out a way to make a thin flexible film out of nickel and fluoride. The thin film is full of small holes called nano-pores. These pores have an important function. The pores allow ions to flow easily through the film, which is a crucial part of an energy device. This process allows a small device to gather twice as much energy than any other device it’s size. The flexible material can be bent and folded and it can be charged thousands of times with very minimal loss in performance.
ReplyDeleteWhen herbivores eat green plants they are taking energy into their bodies. We can represent the amount of energy taken in by a herbivore as an energy circle. The herbivore will use this energy for movement and other body activities, such as reproduction and movement. Some parts of the plant which was eaten cannot be digested by the herbivore; the energy in these parts of the plant passes out of the herbivore's body as waste. Some of the energy, however, is used for growth and remains as organic matter in the herbivore's body. It is this energy which can be eaten by the secondary consumer. As the energy is passed along the food chain much of it is either used or lost. Therefore there is a limit to the number of organisms in a food chain. The top carnivore is usually the third or fourth consumer. All living things need to feed to get energy to grow, move and reproduce. But what do these living things feed on? Smaller insects feed on green plants, and bigger animals feed on smaller ones and so on. This feeding relationship in an ecosystem is called a food chain. Food chains are usually in a sequence, with an arrow used to show the flow of energy.
ReplyDeleteI am doing my article on how the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has begun to collapse and The West Antarctic ice sheet has long been considered at risk due to global warming, and today two studies report, based on new evidence, an unstoppable retreat has begun. The ice sheet holds enough water to raise sea level by several feet.
ReplyDeleteThe glacier's slow degradation would have a destabilizing effect on the rest of the ice sheet, which holds enough ice to raise global sea level by 10 to 13 feet. The sea-level rise projections from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will likely need to be revised upward, based on these findings, said Sridhar Anandakrishnan, professor of geosciences at Pennsylvania State University, University Park. Anandakrishnan spoke at the NASA press conference, but was not involved in the study. The ice has nowhere to go but in the ocean. This results in a rise in sea level around the globe.
Solar Panels Lure,Kill Insects
ReplyDeleteSolar panels can lure aquatic insects to their doom by mimicking the appearance of water. Apply white strips to the panel to reduce the size of polarizing patches reduces the effect. Solar panels might be a cornerstone of green energy ( an umberella term used to describe any sort of alternative energy that is produced with less negative impact on the environment that non-green energy sources such as fossil fuels. Solar, wind and hydro energy are commonly cited examples of green energy sources.)Solar panels attract far more insects than even water because they are polarizing 100% whereas water only polarizes 60%. As solar panels become an increasingly large part of our energy accounting, the ecological traps associated with solar panels have the potential to become radically important in wildlife conservation. One area of particular concern is the desert, where large solar installations are planned or underway.
Dark Matter makes up most of the universe, but people still do not know what it is made up of. Recently, the candidate known as Dark Photon has been crossed off of the list due to the experiments called HADES, where scientists tried to see who what actually made up dark matter. They said that because of these new discoveries, changes could be made to the standard model that we use to identify particles. They say this is harder than finding a needle in a haystack, because you know what you are looking for in a haystack. When it comes to this, they have no idea what they are looking for. HADES is an acronym of High-Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer, and it was used to identify particles that could be the origin of Dark Matter. They say that the improvement of this device has been able to detect particles more and more over the last few years.
ReplyDeleteAlgae oil production on land is expensive, but the costs could go down if brought out to sea. Algae is currently the most energy-dense biofuel source, the cost if prohibitively expensive. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates the biofuel would cost around $8 per gallon at the pump. Other experts have even projected prices of more than $50 per gallon because of inefficient production and harvesting methods. A team of engineer’s plans to investigate whether algae commercially grown in the ocean on specialized platforms could reduce the high cost of biofuel production, potentially bringing our energy economy one step closer to shifting from fossil fuels to renewable resources. Understanding those “Mechanisms of attachment” is the goal of the first portion of the research, which is funded by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). From there, the engineer’s will likely test their platform system in a smaller pond environment and then take it offshore.
ReplyDeleteThe first ever production of synthesized "solar" jet fuel, the EU-funded SOLAR-JET project has successfully demonstrated the entire production chain for renewable kerosene obtained directly from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide, therein potentially revolutionizing the future of aviation. This process has also the potential to produce any other type of fuel for transport applications, such as diesel, gasoline or pure hydrogen in a more sustainable way. The solar reactor technology features enhanced radiative heat transfer and fast reaction kinetics, which are crucial for maximizing the solar-to-fuel energy conversion efficiency" said Professor Aldo Steinfeld, leading the fundamental research and development of the solar reactor at ETH Zürich. the solar-driven redox cycle for syngas production is still at an early stage of development, the processing of syngas to kerosene is already being deployed by companies, including Shell, on a global scale.
ReplyDeleteGood article toe derick i didnt know that solar fuel. fuel for transport applications, such as diesel, gasoline or pure hydrogen in a more sustainable way
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ReplyDeleteThere are many harmful things in waste water that resist being broken down by biological waste water treatment plants. There are a lot of things in our waste water that should not find their way into the environment, but waste water treatment plants only remove a portion of the contaminants. Bacteria is only making use in the biological treatment stage and have no effect on persistent substances. They include stable hydrocarbon compounds. The loading from these kinds of substances that are very harmful in the North Sea, can be measured today. Photolysis is based on splitting photons energy, the shorter the wavelength of light the higher the photons energy. They are able to decompose very stable hydrocarbon compounds that are contained in harmful residues. According to the article, whenever power is applied to the element, the hydroxyl radicals from thin reactive boundary layer only about 50 micrometers deep surrounding the external surface of the glass.
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ReplyDelete2nd period
Coach Treadwell
The topic I decided to discuss today is “Oil freighter runs around in the galapos.I chose this topic because I feel that it pertains to energy in some type of way. An vessel that ran aground off of the island of san Cristobel, Is carrying 16,000 gallons of fueled oil.
Another topic that I have found to discuss is World War II shipwrecks. Thousands of World War II shipwrecks could pose a little poses known spill threat. After it has been decades of corrosion and wave action underwater, they could possibly begin leaking oil. After decades spent on the oceans floor, the ship had begun leaking oil through corroded ventilation pipes. Around the world, governments are taking stock of the oil submerged aboard long sunk vessels. The amount of oil contained in these ships could be anywhere from 757 million to 6 billion gallons according to a 2005 assessment
The effects of global warming are constantly showing the future of the Earth for years to come but new information is putting focus to consequences of our planet warming up. Shrinking glaciers and permafrost thawing in high-altitude regions are factors that come into play with global warming to Earth. Just a few species are due to extinction because of climate change but this climate change is happening more slowly. This can cause major ecosystem shifts and extinctions in the next million years. This can cause the flow of energy to be halted in some parts of the environment. Species that provide beneficial roles to the ecosystem could be extinct, calling off that beneficial factor. Recent reports show that the ocean has grown more acidic, meaning that excess carbon monoxide is dissolving in the ocean. This means that it is harder for animals to form calcium and skeletons. This makes a huge impact for the survival of sea creatures. Animals that rely on the protection of their exoskeleton will be more prone to predators, throwing off the flow of the environment. Rising levels of CO2 also erode coral reefs, which is a huge source of living and maintenance for animals that thrive off reefs’ potential to nurture animals in the ocean.
ReplyDeletehttp://news.discovery.com/earth/global-warming/global-warming-right-before-your-eyes-photos-140509.htm
There are millions of different types of individual organisms that inhabit the earth at any one time—some very similar to each other, some very different. Animals and plants have a great variety of body plans, with different overall structures and arrangements of internal parts to perform the basic operations of making or finding food, deriving energy and materials from it, synthesizing new materials, and reproducing. When scientists classify organisms, they consider details of anatomy to be more relevant than behavior or general appearance. The variety of the earth's life forms is apparent not only from the study of anatomical and behavioral similarities and differences among organisms but also from the study of similarities and differences among their molecules. The most complex molecules built up in living organisms are chains of smaller molecules. The various kinds of small molecules are much the same in all life forms, but the specific sequences of components that make up the very complex molecules are characteristic of a given species
ReplyDeleteA type of freshwater algae, known as "rock snot," that infiltrates river bottoms and clumps on rocks is not an invasive species introduced into waterways by humans, a new study finds. The organism has actually been native to much of the world for thousands of years. Over the past decade, rock snot has been found in rivers in the United States, Canada, Europe and New Zealand. New research suggests this type of algae is a native species, but the environmental conditions that trigger its visible growth in rivers were previously rare or absent. Now, global warming and other human-caused climate changes could be making rock snot more common in waterways, the scientists said. The impact of rock snot on fish is not well understood yet, but individuals in the fishing community still have cause for concern. Scientist had thought that rock snot was a new genetic strain of algae introduced by humans, but an expanding body of research suggests otherwise.
ReplyDeleteMy article was about a nickel eating plant that has recently been found. This plant has not been long found and it is already in danger. They are found on the Luzon Island in the Philippines. They only cover about 500 square meters of the island. They are found growing in soil rich with nickel.These plants grow to be about 8-meters-tall.
ReplyDeleteStronger storms, rising seas, and flooding are placing hundreds of millions people at risk around the world, and big part of the solution to decrease those risks is just off shore. A new study finds that coral reefs reduce the wave energy that would otherwise impact coastlines by 97 percent.Conservation efforts are most often directed to more remote reefs, however the study suggests there should also be a focus on reefs closer to the people who will directly benefit from reef restoration and management. In terms of number of people who receive risk reduction benefits from coral reefs.
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