Science blog

The Role We Can Each Play ========================= We can all play a part in lessening our reliance on fossil fuels. A- Use low-energy lamps such as CFL replacements for as many incandescent lightbulbs as possible in our home or apartment. B- Turn off all lamps in areas where they are not needed. C- Turn down water heater temperature to between 120-125 degrees. D- Seal your home or apartment from obvious air drafts. These steps could save the average family $300. to $400. a year in electricity costs alone, lessening the fossil fuel needed to produce it. It certainly becomes plainly obvious that if all Americans stopped driving their automobiles and ceased all commercial transportation, which includes both ground and air travel, we would most likely not be importing any foreign oil and would likewise be exporting at least some of the oil that we produce here. Obviously, this is not feasable. Lately, most governments of the world have made it their priority to begin to deal with the problems of energy consumption and how to deal with the over consumption of fossil fuels along with Renewable energy sources. Many are adopting the latest in renewable energy technology such as Wind Power and Solar Power generation. Many have begun new projects that when completed will save millions of dollars on imported oil, domestic use of oil, or other fossil fuels. Renewable Energy is the road to take. We must now tame this new source to be more competitive and more reliable than its predecessors which have been a source for many decades earlier. Today, we are learning this taming process very quickly and as we adopt these new technologies they will become more rewarding. Eventually, it is hoped, the oil wells of the world will wane into a minority source of energy. With Renewable Energy in the news of late and the phenominal increase in Windmill farm deployments in 2004 and 2005 along with greatly expanded use of Solar Energy in this same period in many areas of this country, it is hoped that this trend will greatly lessen our needs for Fossil fuel sources in the near future.

More and more, savvy consumers are choosing Direct TV over traditional cable. In fact, Direct TV is now the leading cable television provider in the United States and the largest satellite TV company in the entire world. Why are so many people choosing Direct TV over regular cable television For starters, Direct TV offers access to hundreds of channels, bringing a plethora of programming into private homes, apartments, condominiums, commercial properties, airports, bars, and restaurants, as well as numerous other locations. Next, Direct TV offers free satellite dish installation and prices that are often significantly lower than the cost of cable television. Direct TV is also known for excellent customer support. Customer support is available both online and via the telephone. Furthermore, Direct TV is the right choice if you want crystal clear reception, featuring digital quality audio and video. Once you’ve decided that Direct TV is right for you, you may wonder how to get optimum enjoyment out of the service. You may have trouble choosing the right programming plan for your household. You may wonder if having a DVR system will really increase your viewing fun. Read on to learn how to get the most out of Direct TV. First, put time and consideration into choosing the right Direct TV package for your household. Total Choice, Direct TV’s basic programming plan boasts a whopping 155 channels. With Total Choice, you get access to a multitude of great television including ABC Family, American Movie Classics (AMC), Black Entertainment Television, Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, ESPN, and more. Local television channels are included as well. Frankly, there are enough channels available to Total Choice subscribers to keep a whole family of viewers busy for a lifetime. Best of all, Total Choice is available for less than $30 per month. What a steal! The next step up, Total Choice Plus, is Direct TV’s middle package. It features everything included with the Total Choice plan and packs on over 20 additional channels. For example, quality channels like Boomerang, DIY Network, SOAPnet, The Biography Channel, and Discovery Kids are included when you choose Total Choice Plus. The price is great, coming in at just $45.99 a month. Want more Give Direct TV’s Total Choice Premier package a try. This plan is truly a smorgasbord of television programming, featuring everything included in the Total Choice Plus plan and tacking on a huge assortment of quality channels, including a number of premium cable channels. You get big name premium channels like HBO, Cinemax, and Starz, as well as several quality sports networks. In all, Total Choice Premier offers more than 250 amazing channels at just $93.99 per month. This is truly entertainment at its best. After you’ve chosen you Direct TV plan, take advantage of the Direct TV DVR System offer. With this state-of-the-art system, you can avoid missing your favorite shows. How many times have you been stuck late at work, in traffic, or at the grocery store, lamenting the fact that you were missing your best programs Now, you can use this DVR system to record hours of programming, making it easy to view all your shows, even if you are not at home when they are broadcast. Powered by TiVo, the Direct TV DVR System allows you to record several different episodes of a program, even when they are broadcast at different times and on differing days. Even better, you can choose to record more than one show at one time. Furthermore, you can fast-forward through recorded programs to avoid viewing all those very annoying commercials. With Direct TV’s impressive combination of DVR and TiVo, you can actually pause the shows you are watching. This is true even if the show in question is live. Furthermore, you can play scenes back in slow motion. How’s that for entertainment Using DVR powered by TiVo, you can record 70 hours of your favorite programs and enjoy them at your leisure. How much will all this cost you Absolutely nothing. Direct TV’s DVR System is free after rebate. By now you are seeing the many benefits of Direct TV service. However, if you want to get even more out of your Direct TV service, consider selecting the Direct TV HD DVR System. Also powered by TiVo, this system features up to 200 hours of recording time (200 hours STD and 35 hours HD). This system, regularly priced at close to $700, is offered at just $399 after rebate. With DVR powered by Tivo, you can enjoy your very own, high-quality entertainment experience every day of the week. Direct TV offers so much that choosing can be hard. The best advice for making your selections is to think hard on the shows and channels you like to watch. Also, consider the viewing habits of your family members. If you have children, who absolutely must see Nicktoons, be sure to choose a plan that includes that channel. If you love watching lots of television and simply must have access to the Sundance Channel, the Total Choice Premier package may be right for you. Likewise, if you don’t watch very much television, but want access to quality programming when you do, Total Choice may be the right plan. If you are a kind of middle-of-the-road TV viewer and like having plenty of choices, choosing Total Choice Plus may be just the thing to create a happy medium. Getting the most out of Direct TV also includes saving the most money. Direct TV frequently offers money savings deals guaranteed to make you smile. For instance, you can get free satellite installations, free equipment, and even a free Direct TV HD System (after rebate). Always check online or by phone for great deals before ordering. Chances are you’ll find a money-saving special that makes Direct TV service even more attractive. Last but not least, ask questions to get the most out of Direct TV. When you are new to Direct TV, you may have many questions. Don’t be afraid to ask them or raise any concerns you. Our Direct TV representatives are always more than willing to lend a helping hand and provide you with ways to get maximum enjoyment out of Direct TV. Direct TV is television gourmet-style. Give it a try!

I watched your programme broadcast on 16th January on Channel 4. You expressed indignation that Christians and Jews should be allowed to teach their faith to their children. Does it ever occur to you that what you believe about the origin of life is equally a ‘faith’ which is to be accepted without question by millions of children and adults who are taught it in the education system and the media? Since none of us were there when life began everything we believe about it is an act of faith. You are reading back into time supposedly scientific conclusions, which are actually extremely questionable. I have never found a satisfactory explanation from evolutionists for some very basic questions about your theory. 1. Where did the matter which exploded in the ‘Big Bang’ come from? 2. If the Big Bang is the explanation for the existence of the universe, how did an ordered world come into being out of something which would have generated disorder (an explosion)? Our observation of explosions (e.g. a bomb going off) shows that they cause matter to move from order to disorder, not disorder to order. How can you explain our marvellous planet which has all the hugely complex parameters necessary for life (distance from the sun, atmosphere, water cycle, soil, plants able to provide food etc) coming into being by a random process? 3. Darwin himself had little to say about the origin of the first life form by the forces of natural selection. Since the discovery of DNA we now know that there are no simple life forms but every cell contains a huge amount of information. To believe that this could have come about by random forces is the equivalent of believing the information in the Encyclopaedia Britannica could have been put there in the same way. According to your belief not only did such incredibly complex matter have to arise by accident it also had to have the power to reproduce itself otherwise the arrival of life would have been no more than a very temporary blip on the evolutionary horizon. All reproductive systems are highly complex but vital to the survival of the species. 4. Darwin acknowledged that 'to suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection (evolution) seems absurd in the highest possible degree.' You are on record as saying that 'it would only take about 364,000 generations to evolve a good fish eye with a lens.' This does not explain how a creature which needs sight to survive managed to carry on living for all these millions of years without eyes. Hugely complex organs like the eye, the heart, the brain etc are all vital to survival. Even more vital are the reproductive systems of creatures. All creatures that reproduce sexually require a perfectly functioning male and female to produce the next generation. How can such a system have developed over millions of years of trial and error as must be assumed by evolution? If the system is not functioning in the first generation the species dies out. The Genesis record that God made all creatures able to reproduce after their own kind makes much more sense on this issue than the conclusion of evolution. 5. Darwin acknowledged the absence of transitional forms in the fossil record and in observable life forms. There is no problem in believing in variation within species (short beaked and long beaked finches etc). But there is absolutely no evidence of variation from one species to another taking place or in the fossil record. There are also huge problems with this theory. For example how did the first bird develop the power to fly? If wings evolved over millions of years during the time they were evolving they would have been an encumbrance not an advantage. What would stop cat eating bird before the bird developed its wings? In which case bird species dies out before it learns to fly! No doubt you have answers to these questions which satisfy you, but they do not satisfy everyone. You are asking people to believe that something could come out of nothing, that an explosion could create an ordered universe, that incredibly complex life forms could arise spontaneously out of non life and have the ability to reproduce and develop higher life forms. I don’t believe this! But you are allowed to teach this to our children and to ridicule those who don’t believe your theory on TV without giving them a fair opportunity to give a reasoned defence of your faith. The Christians you chose to interview were either on the very wacky end of the US evangelical scene like the man who agreed with killing those who work in abortion clinics or liberals like the Bishop of Oxford who agrees more with you than with what the Bible teaches. On the subject of the Bible, your highly selective use of quotations to pillory the God of the Bible as a sadist ignored context and the overall teaching of the book. The significance of the Abraham and Isaac story is that Abraham did not sacrifice Isaac. Child sacrifice was common in the pagan religions of the tribes around Israel at the time and is consistently condemned in the Bible. In our time child sacrifice has again returned as we sacrifice unborn children to our gods of convenience and lust. There is a deeper message about faith in Genesis 22 which is beyond the scope of this letter. The incident of the man sending his daughter out to be raped by the mob in Judges 19 is hardly held up as a model of practice in the Bible! As the Bible is a realistic book it tells it like it is and does not gloss over gross acts. The period of the Judges is summed up in the last verse of the book ‘Everyone did what was right in his own eyes’ – i.e. everyone did their own thing rather than doing what was right in the eyes of God – rather like today! Finally your view that supposedly scientific developments and the influence of evolution have always exercised a benign influence on the human race does not stand up to examination. Nietzsche, a disciple of Darwinism, wrote in his diatribe against Christianity, ‘The Antichrist’, ‘Pity on the whole thwarts the law of evolution, which is the law of selection. It preserves what is ripe for destruction; it defends life’s disinherited and condemned.’ The Nazis took hold of this idea to justify eliminating what they considered to be ‘life’s disinherited and condemned’ in the Holocaust. On the other side of the same coin, the Soviet Communists used pamphlets like ‘The part played by labour in the transition from ape to man’ written by Engels as the basis for their indoctrination of society with atheism and evolutionism. The end result was the gulags and the KGB and the persecution of non-believers in Soviet atheism (in particular believing Christians). Not many people would agree that we are doing as marvellously in the moral sphere in our present society as you concluded in your programme. In fact we are on the brink of a collapse of the whole social and economic order as drug taking and alcoholism, sexual immorality, pornography and the breakdown of the family, violence and debt spiral out of control. We are fouling up the only planet we can live on and creating weapons of destruction which threaten the whole survival of humanity. All these things happening can be seen as the result of a rejection of God and the salvation offered us through the Lord Jesus Christ, not the result of following Him. It would be interesting if Channel 4 or the like would be willing to put on a real debate on these issues, with Christians who know what they are talking about. Yours sincerely, Tony Pearce.

Even if the commercials seen on TV might make you believe that an engine can run forever, that is not really true, any engine wears out eventually. The engine under the bonnet of your car is composed of many moving parts that are projected to work together and harness the internal combustion power under those brutal conditions. When the engine fails, a good idea would be to think about a remanufactured replacement engine. A remanufactured engine can be a way to keep driving your trusty car even after an engine failure. Before making a decision whatever you want a remanufactured engine installed or not you must make sure the rest of the vehicle is in good condition, as well as other systems on the vehicle. If you replace the engine on a car that has a damaged fuel of cooling system then that would be a very time consuming and expensive mistake if not correct. If your vehicle is in good shape, or you have recently made an investment in major components on the car and the engine died, then a remanufactured replacement engine is the option you need to choose. Rebuilt engine is a very relative term; slip-shod methods of rebuilding the engine can not be trusted when it comes to rebuilding the engine. If you want your engine to be properly rebuilt you need to make sure the job is done by professional machinists. Not everybody has the capital to purchases the proper machines and equipment required to correctly remanufacture an engine and the skills that are required are not easily learned. If the engine is correctly rebuilt it might even be better than the original one. The engine removal and replacement is not an easy job and a proper facility and experience are required. If the engine comes with a warranty then you'll need to make sure that proper installation and break-in procedures are followed to validate and stay in compliance with the warranty. Cleaning and checking the reused components is a must. The oiling system of the engine must be primed properly before staring. There are many variables that if not checked and done properly might spell the end of the engine before it even gets a chance to start, such an example is a loss in oil pressure. If you choose to install a remanufactured engine in an otherwise good vehicle, it will provide years of uninterrupted service at a very low cost compared to purchasing a new vehicle.