Science blog

The classic elegance and luster of pearls has become more of a curse than a blessing. They may be considered lovely jewelry but are usually relegated into the background, in stuffy events like weddings, christenings and coming out balls. Pearl necklaces have sometimes been equated with "squares", spinster aunts, grandmothers and the old South. Pearls have had a hard time competing with more edgy jewelry like the luscious and high-class gemstones like diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and even semi-precious stones like opal and garnet. Pearls have therefore become remnants of the past than beautiful gems that can be used as modern accessories. That has changed. Pearls have made a huge comeback into the modern scene just a few years ago. They did not really leave the fashion world but only had limited and specialized use. Today, pearls can be found in almost all kinds of fashion-related items. The reason for this is the accessibility of pearls in the form of freshwater pearls. Japan has started this industry in the 1920s by culturing pearls using freshwater mussels. However, it has declined production but China has claimed the production of cultured pearls because of the high demand for them. Donor mussels are inserted with irritants that form the pearls and some of these mussels can produce up to 40 freshwater pearls. The pearls are not as high-quality as the ones made naturally but the color and shape can be controlled and some freshwater pearls can be breathtakingly beautiful as natural ones. A pearl strand belonging to Mary, Queen of Scots dating from 1550 is made of freshwater pearls. Scotland has been cultivating freshwater pearls, as well as North America but the extinction of almost 35 species of mussels in Europe and America has left Asia with this booming industry. Because of its reentry into the world of edgy fashion, more and more pearl companies are striving to provide jewelry ideas for the modern woman. There are many ways that freshwater pearls can be used and integrated into a woman's fashion sense. They can be used as accessories. Pearl jewelry today tries to incorporate contemporary design and color into pearl necklaces. The classic pearl necklace and pearl choker has given way to long strands of irregularly shaped freshwater pearls in all sizes and colors. They can be paired with casual wear such as jeans, blouses and short dresses. Pearl bracelets and pearl earrings come in magnificent colors such as red, turquoise and canary yellow that makes any outfit pop. Other jewelry options for pearls include adding beads made of semi-precious stones or crystals. Pearls have dominated all aspects of the jewelry trade. Even the mother-of-pearl shell of mollusks is used for inlay work on bracelets with freshwater pearls as accentuating items. Pendants for necklaces and rings are now also popularly made of freshwater pearls. Even younger people have seen the flexibility and the touch of beauty that pearls give to an otherwise ordinary outfit and include these accessories while shopping. Office women rely on pearl necklaces to give them that polished corporate look. Jewelry designers are coming up with more and more ideas for pearls. Edgy and contemporary jewelry designs have freshwater pearls in them, either as the main piece or an accentuating item. Indeed, pearls are here to stay.

With massive rebate programs and tax credits being issued by state and federal governments, using the sun to generate electricity is very popular. So, how does it work? Generating electricity from the sun is all about converting sunlight into power. Importantly, the process has nothing to do with converting the heat produced by sunlight into energy. This common misconception leads to a lot of confusion regarding solar systems. The technology behind solar systems is known as photovoltaic technology. Essentially, this technology involves using sunlight to create a chemical reaction. During the chemical reaction, electrons are released from the relevant material and collected by tiny wires. This process creates a direct current of electricity. The electricity is then converted to usable alternating current electricity and stored in a battery or fed into a utility grid system. Solar platforms use this exact process to produce energy. The arrays are made up of small squares called photovoltaic cells. A collection of these cells forms a single panel and a collection of panels makes up a “solar array.” The size of your array is entirely dependent upon the amount of electricity you want to produce. The photovoltaic cells in a solar array are where the action happens. The cells are typically made with crystalline silicon under a glass cover. When sunlight hits the crystalline silicon, the material reacts by kicking off electrons. Tiny wires built into the cells collect the electrons in the form of an electrical current. This current is then sent to an inverter, which converts it to usable electricity. The biggest issue with solar platforms is how efficiently they convert sunlight into electricity. The answer depends on how much you want to spend. Top brands will convert at roughly 15 percent efficiency. Less expensive brands will convert at 5 to 10 percent efficiency. The more efficient the panels, the fewer you will need. It has become clear that our reliance on fossil fuels is only going to lead to further problems, whether political, environmental or economic. Advancements in solar technology as well as incredible tax breaks and rebates make using the Sun as an energy source a viable solution for you.

ABSTRACT Bio-fuels are non-fossil fuels, produced from agriculture sources, residues, and waste. Bio-ethanol refers to ethanol produced from crops (e.g., corn-ethanol and sugar-ethanol) and from waste (i.e., biomass-ethanol). “The motivation for developing bio-ethanol as a transportation fuel is based on concerns about energy security, environmental quality, economic competitiveness, and stabilization of the agricultural sector.” (National Research Council [NRC], 1999, p. 6) Brazil’s three-decade experience in sugarcane-ethanol is considered a success by its government, although criticized by some researchers (Pimentel, 2001; Pimentel et al., 2002). Corn-ethanol production in North America is highly controversial; its cost, its energy balance, and its socio-economical effects are strongly debated between researchers. Biomass-ethanol, produced from farm and municipality waste is still in its early technological and industrial development. This quantitative research presents and analyzes the arguments, and concludes with recommendations for the short- and the long-term; recommendations that are best suited? for North America and that take into account all the aspects presented in this research paper. Corn-ethanol is not expected, and will never replace the fossil-gasoline consumption in North America, but could only be an alternative for up-to-fifteen percents at most: “increased production of ethanol from corn is a low-risk, viable short term solution” (Herwick & Wheeler, 2005, p. 28). Biomass-ethanol, in contrast to corn-ethanol, could be “an effective strategy for displacing petroleum…. Ultimately, producing ethanol from biomass will be more cost effective and necessary to achieve significant volume…. In total, 66B [billion] to 107B gallon of ethanol could be produced annually from [all sources of] biomass: it would be sufficient to support E60 to E70 [i.e., 60 to 70 percent of liquid fuel consumption], [and] displace approximately half of the petroleum used” (Herwick & Wheeler, 2005, pp. 27-28). Nevertheless, the technology for economical production of biomass-ethanol is still in early development, and President George W. Bush’s pledge, in his January 29th, 2006, State of the Union Address “to fund the research on cutting-edge methods of producing [biomass] ethanol” (Energy Policy Act, 2005; U.S. Energy Bill, 2005) is key to achieving the goal of producing 7.5 billion gallons of bio-ethanol in 2015. Addressing the problem of energy crisis in general, the 2005 symposium concludes that “the reality is that we can no longer just drill our way to global energy security. We must innovate our way to energy security— we must find new technologies that uncover new fossil energy sources, that conserve energy, that protect the environment, and that provide multiple, sustainable sources of energy.” (National Academy of Engineering [NAE], 2006, p. 163) TABLE OF CONTENT ABSTRACT 1 BACKGROUND 2 Background 2 Bio-fuels 3 Anhydrous and Hydrous Ethanol 4 The Research Paper 5 CORN-ETHANOL 6 Economical Cost/ Benefit Analysis 6 Production cost. 6 Energy balance. 7 Consumer’s preferences. 11 Governments’ role. 13 Environmental Aspects 17 Greenhouse gas emissions. 17 Waterways contamination. 18 Soil contamination. 18 Groundwater contamination. 18 Negative impacts. 20 National Aspects 20 Social Aspects 21 Moral Aspects 23 BIOMASS-ETHANOL 25 Sources of Biomass for Ethanol 26 Agricultural Residues 26 Energy Crops 27 Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) 27 Forestry and Mill Wastes 28 CONCLUSIONS 28 REFERENCES 31 CONCLUSIONS Current corn-ethanol production methods use a significant amount of energy; by using alternative sources as energy inputs (other than petroleum) in the ethanol conversion, the net energy balance of corn-ethanol would be positive. When we include externalities, the ethanol energy balance would even outperform that of petroleum-based liquid fuel. Assessing all the factors, the corn-ethanol has overall positive economical cost/benefit value. The social aspects of corn-ethanol, as discussed in this paper, emphasize the possible risks, and their negative impacts on rural North America – some of which are irreversible – and local farmers should be educated about them, before they have jumped on the wagon and it is too late. The moral aspects of agriculture-for-fuel are a real concern, but as long as other products (e.g., tobacco) are grown freely in third-world countries, the argument cannot touch ordinary North Americans. The U.S. and Canadian federal governments, as well as state and provincial governments, should keep the current (relatively low) level of subsidies (i.e., 52 cents for a gallon of pure ethanol, in the US), along with fuel-tax removal – this is more or less the cost of oil’s externalities. Providing low-interest long-term loans to farmers, for the construction of ethanol plants, will not cost much to the tax payers, but will enable those farmers who have excess yield of corn to receive more value for it. However, corn growth in North America is limited, by means of land. From the total of about ten billion bushels of corn grown in the US, only 25 billion gallons of ethanol could be produced, out of 140 billion gasoline consumed annually; therefore, corn-ethanol will never replace the petroleum liquid fuel in the US (Herwick & Wheeler, 2005, p. 7); corn-ethanol can, at highest production, provide solutions to E10 (or to E15) blends in the US. The Canadian supply of corn (and corn-ethanol) will have a very limited impact on the North American market, and will not significantly change the conclusion above. Biomass is a great source of renewable liquid fuel, and has the potential of replacing up to half of the petroleum fuel consumed in North America. The major obstacle for reaching that goal is technology related; we need to develop an efficient conversion process, one that is cost effective and consumes less energy, and at the same time produces food- and feed-byproducts. For achieving this goal, the U.S. federal government must invest heavily in research and development. For the long term, the solution to transportation fuel crisis should focus on fuel efficiency and reduction of fuel consumption, along with diversification of fuel sources, as concludes a symposium by National Academy of Engineering: “the reality is that we can no longer just drill our way to global energy security. We must innovate our way to energy security— we must find new technologies that uncover new fossil energy sources, that conserve energy, that protect the environment, and that provide multiple, sustainable sources of energy.” (NAE, 2006, p. 163) FOOTNOTES Ezra Bar, MBA, PhD Student, is a Business Process Reengineering Consultant, for Small, Mid-size, and Large organisations, and an Online Academic Mentor to Management and Engineering Students, operating globally from Toronto. Find many other Academic and Business Articles and Papers at http://Ez-B-Process.Com/Resources.htm Visit http://Ez-B-Process.Com/PhD.htm for Academic Mentoring. Visit http://Ez-B-Process.Com/SME.htm for Reengineering and Small Business Consulting.

Ergonomics is, basically, the science of comfort. It is the study of how your equipment affects you when you are at work, both in terms of maximising your efficiency and reducing any health risks that might be present. Where you’ve probably heard the term, though, is used in relation to computer equipment: mice, mouse mats, keyboards, monitors, and the like. The traditional design of a lot of computer equipment is very unergonomic, meaning that if it is used for extended periods of time (as you do when you are using it at your job), you can get all sorts of injuries, the most famous being RSI (repetitive strain injury). Whatever you might think of your employer, the chances are that they don’t want you getting injured: they’d have to get along without you, or go to the trouble of replacing you, not to mention the legal liability they might have if you could prove that it was there equipment that hurt you. For this reason, ergonomic computer equipment is becoming more and more common in office environments. If your keyboard is oddly-shaped, that’s because it’s ergonomic. If your mouse mat has a little soft spot to rest your wrist on, that’s because it’s ergonomic. There are plenty more examples. It’s these little, inexpensive extras that go some way towards reducing the possibility that you will get injured at work. One thing you might not have considered, though, is that they can also work well in the home. If you use your computer a lot at home – whether as a hobby, or as a freelancer, or for home working – you should get some ergonomic equipment for yourself. If you injure yourself through computer use, you’ll have no-one to sue or blame but yourself, which might mean that you won’t be able to afford the costs of caring for and treating the condition. RSI really isn’t pleasant, so you should make sure to take measures to protect yourself, wherever the computer you’re using might be.