Presentations

A while ago, we did presentations about different environmental disasters.  I can't quite really remember what they were about. But they were indeed educational and were about different disasters. One being the Earthquake/Tsunami that happened last year. And another about a huge earthquake that happened years ago that had the highest death toll out of all the ones we did. 

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

All right bros, so we watched two videos in the not too distant past that aroused some interest in us all and were both generally about the same thing. They were both dealing with climate changes and the people in class had many different views regarding them. The first one was about the president of the Maldives and he was quite troubled. The islands he lived on are at sea level, they aren't that high. And lately the sea level has begun to rise. If this trend continues his country may be in some serious trouble. He blamed the United States and what not a bit but it's okay. He has every right to be worried about his country. Who wouldn't be worried if they were running a country and it was in danger?  The second video was about the rise in sea level as well as the change in it's temperature as the ice caps keep melting. They were both fairly interesting videos.

Dun dun dun

Not too long ago we watched a video in Environmental Chemistry that was about Global Warming. Global Warming is indeed a myth that has become a political thing that they are feeding off of. It's true that the climate is indeed getting warmer, but that's not because of people. If anything, people produce some of the smallest amounts of CO2 compared to the rest of the world. Animals, factories and such create much more compared to us. But who cares? The world is getting warmer because of the change in climate which deals with the sun. And throughout history, climate has changed very much as time goes on. It was once really warm, then bounced and got really cold, and now is starting to get warmer again. At one time everybody thought that there would be a second Ice Age and now look where we are. It's good to recycle and everything which is to help preserve our environment but politics are using it like a tool and are a bunch of idiots. 

Super Earthquake Tsunami Surprise

We watched a documentary just recently about the 2011 Japan Earthquake/Tsunami that just hit last year. The documentary was made by BBC and was a fairly interesting program. It was very cool yet very tragic. The country suffered significant damage even though they were prepared for earthquakes. Japan always gets many earthquakes but none of them were nearly as bad as this one. The earthquake caused a good bit of damage, but it was what came after that one which destroyed much much more. The earthquake caused a tsunami to start and crash into the east coast of Japan with waves as high as 10 meters. Not only that but the earthquake also nearly caused the nuclear power plants to erupt. Japan, at that time, has surely seen better days. 

Project Go

I've been researching Genetic Engineering in animals these past couple days and it's a fairly interesting topic to look up. Genetic Engineering is exactly what is sounds like. It takes animals and changes their genes to make them have more desirable traits so they could be more useful and sold for more. It includes all types of manipulation of the genetic code of animals. This can be used to clone as well. This is done by inserting the DNA of one animal into the fetus of the same specie along with a vector which cleans out the DNA already in the embryo. But that's just a short bit of interesting stuff I found out about it. :D

Dude's smart

There's this bro somewhere named Steve Reinford. He's a pretty smart guy. He installed an anaerobic digester on his dairy farm three years ago. It may have cost him million dollars at the time but it's doing work and saving him money. The digester turns manure into methane. The energy this thing produces, Steve uses to fuel about 100 homes in central Pennslyvania which he uses to raise his 500 dairy cows. Where we all pay, this bro doesn't. Instead he receives money, which is awesome. He's using this the best he can to heat his home and milk house, make bedding for his cows, fertilize his fields, dry his corn and pasteurize the milk he feeds his cows. This dude is pretty impressive and smart if I do say so myself.

BP, why bro?

A few years back there was a horrific oil spill caused by BP. It happened at the Gulf of Mexico when an oil well exploded while they were working. They tried their hardest to stop the oil from getting absolutely everywhere. They tried many things such as installing a shut off valve, and using floating booms. They even tried to use a containment dome which is a four story seventy ton structure to stop one of the leaks. And yet, despite all their efforts, they couldn't completely stop it. 

Erin Brockovich

The movie Erin Brockovich is a movie about her and her court case between Hinkley and PG&E.(Pacific Gas and Electric) The people of Hinkley, California had Chromium VI in their main water supply from PG&E. The Chromium in it would cause many health problems while giving people fatal diseases and eventually, killing them. Erin was a single mother taking care of two children on her own. She got a job at a small lawyers firm and once she did she dug herself into all sorts of trouble with this court case. She discovers how Chromium III is actually essential to the body in some ways. But Chromium VI is the bad stuff, it can cause many diseases, cancers, and many health issues. I've gotta give her props though considering the movie was based on a true story and all that actually happened. Good stuff Erin.

My water....not the best

I get my water from Albert Gallatin Municipal Authority. And according to http://www.ewg.org/tap-water/whatsinyourwater/PA/Albert-Gallatin-Muni-Auth/5260027/ It's pretty bad really. It has three chemical pollutants detected which are Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, Total haloacetic acids (HAAs), and Total trihalomethanes (TTHMs). The first one is an industrial pollutant as well and they're all water treatment and distribution byproducts. Which is a no go bro. And to me, the water tastes fairly normal but is still pretty bad  and makes me feel like