Solar Energy - The Energy Of The Future?
.... of lenses and mirrors
can focus the light into a very small area. Very elaborate solar
furnaces have machines that angle the mirrors and lenses to the sun all
day. This system can provide sizeable amounts of electricity and
create extremely high temperatures of over 6000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Solar energy generators are very clean, little waste is emitted
from the generators into the environment. The use of coal, oil and
gasoline is a constant drain, economically and environmentally.
Will solar energy be the wave of the future? Could the worlds
requirement of energy be fulfilled by the "powerhouse" of our galaxy -
the sun? .....
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Solar Cells
.... there is an "energy gap", in which no
electron orbits can exist, between the inner valence band and outer
conduction band [Book 1]. Valence electrons help to bind together the atoms
in a solid by orbiting 2 adjacent nucleii, while conduction electrons,
being less closely bound to the nucleii, are free to move in response to an
applied voltage or electric field. The fewer conduction electrons there are,
the higher the electrical resistivity of the material.
In semiconductors, the materials from which solar sells are made, the
energy gap Eg is fairly small. Because of this, electrons in the valence
band can easily b .....
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The Keys To Unlocking Transitions In Water
.... produce a saltwater wedge below the freshwater surface waters
(Bellamy 62).
Estuaries are always in a state of change and hardly ever in a steady
state. The principal energy source are tides, causing estuarine mixing, but wind,
wave motions, and river runoff can also be important locally (Braun 45). Salt
water and fresh water mix to form brackish water. The three main estuarine ones—
saltwater, brackish, and freshwater—can shift seasonally and vary greatly from
one area to another because of changes in river flow. Also, an area of an
estuary can change from stratified to well-mixed during the spring neap-tide
cycles.
The most .....
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Haloes Forecast Storms
.... the radius of the
halo is 44 sun-widths. Occasionally you may see a second halo at 46
degrees from the sun (that is, with a radius of 92 sun-widths). This is
produced by sunlight passing through both the side and bottom of each
crystal. Moonlight will also produce a halo, around the moon, with the
proper layer of cirrostatus.
Another common optical effect is known as "mock suns" or "sun dogs" or
"parhelia" (Greek for "with the sun"). These bright spots on either side
of the sun, outside of the halo, occur when sunlight passes through the
sides of capped columns, bullets and plate crystals, when these crystals
are arranged with .....
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Turkey Vultures
.... to the vultures of
Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Turkey vultures are remarkably successful birds. They range everywhere
from parts of Canada and much of the United States to South America. At home in
deserts, prairies and woodlands, they have even settled close to people in a
number of urban and suburban areas.
Observed in flight, the turkey vulture appears black with the underside
of its wings grayish or silvery, giving the birds a two-toned appearance. They
characteristically hold their wings in a slight V, or dihedral, thus aiding
identification. On rare occasions, they hold their wings flat and eagle-like
which, if seen at .....
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How Technology Effects Modern America
.... view of these facts, I wonder if these trends are good or bad for
society. “The danger of the information age is that while in the short run
it may be cheaper to replace workers with technology, in the long run it
is potentially self-destructive because there will not be enough
purchasing power to grow the economy,” M. B. Zuckerman. My feeling is
that the trend from unskilled labor to highly technical, skilled labor is
a good one! But, political action must be taken to ensure that this
societal evolution is beneficial to all of us. “Back in 1970, a high
school diploma could still be a ticket to the middle income bracket, a
ni .....
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Twinning In Cattle
.... semen as well as embryos with high
predicted breeding values available to producers. They have been recorded based
on twinning probabilities and ovulation rates. A large amount of work on
twinning has also been done by the Meat and Animal Research Center. Since the
early eighties, they have located cattle with a high frequency of twinning and
been forming a breeding foundation based on this characteristic. “We believe the
time has come to make some of these unique genetic resources available to the
beef industry through artificial insemination and embryo transfer” (Gregory 23).
An extensive amount of research has been done using .....
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Turner Syndrome
.... among others.
SYNDROME CHARACTERISTICS A reduced growth in height is the commonest
visible characteristic of the syndrome, (the average adult height is 4
feet 8 inches) and may be the only sign before puberty. Their body
proportions are normal. Girls with this syndrome may have many middle ear
infections during childhood; if not treated, these chronic infections
could cause hearing loss. Up to the age of about 2 years, growth in height
is approximately normal, but then it lags behind that of other girls.
Greatly reduced growth in height of a female child should lead to a
chromosome test if no diagnosis has already been made. Earl .....
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Virtual Reality - What It Is And How It Works
.... This is done with several computer-user interfaces used to
simulate the senses. Among these, are stereoscopic glasses to make the
simulated world look real, a 3D auditory display to give depth to sound,
sensor lined gloves to simulate tactile feedback, and head-trackers to
follow the orientation of the head. Since the technology is fairly young,
these interfaces have not been perfected, making for a somewhat cartoonish
simulated reality.
Stereoscopic vision is probably the most important feature of VR because
in real life, people rely mainly on vision to get places and do things.
The eyes are approximately 6.5 centime .....
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Wired Hands - A Brief Look At Robotics
.... can instruct a robot to take on different
tasks. This is largely what sets robots apart from other machines; try as
you might you can't make your washing machine do the dishes. Although some
critics complain that robots are stealing much-needed jobs away from people,
so far they've been given only the dreariest, dirtiest, most soul-
destroying work.
The word robot is Slav in origin and is related to the words for work and
worker. Robots first appeared in a play, Rossum's Universal Robots,
written in 1920 by the Czech playwright, Karel Capek. The play tells of an
engineer who designs man-like machines that have no human weakn .....
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Vertebrate Adaptions For Terrestrial Life
.... branches off at the two bronchi, and goes through many branching passages
called bronchioles, which end in alveoli. Alveoli are sack-like structures where
the circulatory system meets the respiratory system.
Since terrestrial vertebrates do not live in water, they need to develop
a means of conserving water. One way we do this is through our excretions.
Nitrogen forms a major waste product in animals. When amino acids and nucleic
acids are broken down, they release toxic ammonia (NH3). To rid the body of this
toxin, several mechanisms have evolved, each appropriate to the habitat or
survival of the animal. Aquatic animals secret .....
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UFOs: We Are Not Alone
.... the first sighting to ever receive a great deal of
media attention. This sighting gave birth to the phrase "flying saucer" coined
by a reporter named bill begrette. Although not the first ufo sighting in
history, kenneth arnolds account is considered to be the first documented ufo
sighting. The following day mr. Arnold discovered that in addition to his
sighting there were several others in the mount ranier area that same day
(Jackson 6).
When most of us think of ufo sightings, we picture an unemployed, half-
crazed, alcoholic hick living in a trailer park in the middle of small town, usa.
Often times this description, although .....
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