Clipmarks | Gases Clips

High speed crash makes galaxies 'sterile'

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 07:03:34 GMT

clipped by: pokkets

Larry O'Hanlon

A new view of two very well-known galaxies has revealed they are connected by faint, starless filaments of hydrogen gas, which trace back to a very high-speed intergalactic collision.

The smash-up between M86 and NGC4438 had not been suspected before, and may explain why M86, which is visible to the naked eye, is unable to give birth to new stars.

"Stars and gases behave very differently in collisions," says astronomer Professor Jeffrey Kenney of Yale University and lead author of a paper in the November 2008 issue of Astrophysical Journal Letters.

During galactic smash-ups stars rarely collide, since there is so much space between them. But gases do slam into gases. The faster the collision, the higher the temperature the gases reach.

In the case of M86, its gases are millions of degrees in temperature and radiate x-rays.

The new evidence of M86's collision may solve that mystery. What's more, the super-hot gas also probably explains why M86 is unable to produce new stars.

New Spacecraft to Explore Interstellar Boundary

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:21:17 GMT

clipped by: A53GG4

Clip Source: www.popsci.com

New Spacecraft to Explore Interstellar Boundary

NASA's IBEX craft is heading out this month to map the edges of the solar system

By Laurie J. Schmidt Posted 10.09.2008 at 5:36 pm 0 Comments

The "termination shock" sounds like the stuff science fiction movies are made of. In reality, it marks the boundary between our solar system and interstellar space. The invisible "shock" forms as our sun's solar winds begin to encounter the gases and magnetic fields of outer space, which slows the winds down abruptly.

On October 19, NASA will launch the first spacecraft designed to image and map the interactions that take place in this boundary zone. The Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, will be propelled from the Kwajalein Atoll into a high-altitude orbit that will eventually take it about 200,000 miles from Earth, where it will capture images of processes taking place in the termination shock and beyond.

Tags: space

Met Office warns of need for drastic cuts in greenhouse gases from 2010

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:01:29 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: There is no time for hope, only global mass action over the next two years. A change of attitude from "If you don't do it, we won't do it" to "If we can't do it, you can too" is all that is necessary. Attitude drives behaviour.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The world will have to take drastic action within two years to reduce greenhouse gas pollution if it is to avoid the worst effects of climate change, a new study warns.

The study shows that cutting global emissions by 3% a year from 2010 offers the only possible hope of avoiding a global temperature rise of more than 2C - widely recognised as the threshold beyond which the worst impacts of sea level rise and drought become a significant risk.

The warning from the Hadley Centre is likely to cause widespread concern, especially as the Met Office has a reputation for taking a cautious approach.

Tags: environment, i-climate change, i-risks

Hydrogen-Producing Bacteria Provide Clean Energy

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:21:21 GMT

clipped by: firstteam
clipper's remarks: This alternative energy source has many attractive features. Most attractive to me is that the resultant left-over after using the gas is water.

Clip Source: www.ars.usda.gov

Hydrogen-Producing Bacteria Provide Clean Energy

By Rosalie Marion Bliss
August 25, 2008

A new "green" technology developed cooperatively by scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and North Carolina State University (NC State

A new "green" technology developed cooperatively by scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and North Carolina State University (NC State) could lead to production of hydrogen from nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

August 25, 2008

Renewable sources of energy—such as hydrogen—that don't produce pollutants or greenhouse gases are needed to solve global energy shortages. Fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas are nonrenewable energy sources implicated in global warming.

Tags: alternative energy, hydrogen, nitrogen-fixing bacteria

Layman's Guide to Global Warming

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:09:33 GMT

clipped by: infopunk
clipper's remarks: Visit site for more details.

Clip Source: www.climatescience.org.nz

LAYMAN'S GUIDE TO "GLOBAL WARMING" HOAX

Clip Source: www.middlebury.net

As our own knowledge of "climate science" grew, so grew our doubts over the "settled science". What we found was the science was far from "settled".. in fact it was barely underway.

"hockey stick" chart

Let's look at a real result, below

CO₂ makes up only 380 of each million molecules of air – the rest are a mixture of all the other atmospheric gases and water vapor – i.e. only one in every 2632 molecules is a CO₂ molecule.

Man-made CO2 doesn't appear physically capable of absorbing much more than
two-thousandths of the radiated heat (IR) passing upward through the atmosphere.

1,500-year cycle in the sun's irradiance

The current warming Solar Cycle is just about over.
The global temperatures have been nominally flat for the past 8 years.
If the Solar Scientists are correct, we about to head into a cooling cycle... which is not good news.

CO₂ is by far the heaviest of the major constituents

Those are shear lines, where the ice has broken, not "melted"

Tags: global warming

Win $500,000: Global Warming Challenge

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 22:42:47 GMT

clipped by: infopunk

Clip Source: ultimateglobalwarmingchallenge.com

CHALLENGE

$500,000 will be awarded to the first person to prove, in a scientific manner, that humans are causing harmful global warming. The winning entry will specifically reject both of the following two hypotheses:

UGWC Hypothesis 1

Manmade emissions of greenhouse gases do not discernibly, significantly and predictably cause increases in global surface and tropospheric temperatures along with associated stratospheric cooling.

UGWC Hypothesis 2

The benefits equal or exceed the costs of any increases in global temperature caused by manmade greenhouse gas emissions between the present time and the year 2100, when all global social, economic and environmental effects are considered.

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: global warming, global warming challenge, win

Gotta Love Google's Clean Energy Plan

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:33:28 GMT

clipped by: trilogy01

Clip Source: blogs.wsj.com

Google’s Big Idea: How Realistic is Google’s $4.4 Trillion Clean-Energy Plan?

The folks at Google have a $4.4 trillion plan to remake America’s energy landscape by 2030, eliminating coal from the picture and shaving emissions of greenhouse gases by 95%. Unlike some other ambitious plans to rejig America’s energy mix, it comes with detailed prescriptions and pricetags—but how realistic is it?

The plan has three big pillars: energy efficiency to reduce demand for new electricity; a massive renewable-energy push to replace coal; and an accelerated rollout of plug-in cars that can displace about half the gasoline-powered cars on the roads. Let’s just look at the electricity part of the proposal.

Tags: google clean energy plan, climate change, clean coal

Forest Carbon Partnership Facility for Dummies

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:34:08 GMT

clipped by: awicaks

Clip Source: web.worldbank.org

What is the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility?
Developing and industrialized countries have asked the World Bank to develop a framework for piloting activities to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. The proposed framework, called the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), would use a system of policy approaches and positive incentives and provide the “venture capital” for a future, large-scale system of positive incentives for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation. The Facility would consist of two mechanisms: (i) the Readiness mechanism would finance capacity building in countries with tropical and subtropical forests to increase countries’ capacity to harness a future system of incentives for REDD; (ii) in some of these countries, the Carbon Finance mechanism would pilot performance-based carbon purchases to pay for reduced or avoided emissions of greenhouse gases from deforestation and degradation.

Undersea volcanic activity is blamed for a mass extinction in the late Cretaceous Period

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:07:55 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Different colour sediments represent oxygenated versus anoxic conditions

In the so-called "anoxic event" of the late Cretaceous Period, the ocean depths became starved of oxygen, wiping out swathes of marine organisms.

Palm trees grew in what would later become Alaska and large reptiles roamed northern Canada. The Arctic Ocean was ice-free and scientists think it would have had a temperature we might describe today as lukewarm.

After the extinction, levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere dropped and Earth lurched into a sudden, but short-lived, period of cooling.

Giant clams were among the organisms killed off

the answer to the cataclysm lies in volcanic eruptions which took place on the ocean floor.

These appear to have altered the chemistry of the sea and possibly of the atmosphere also.

The clue can be found in levels of two forms, or isotopes, of osmium found in black shale rocks.

Hyperion’s portable nuclear power units

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:13:44 GMT

clipped by: rj3sp
clipper's remarks: Generating nuclear power with a small, compact modules that can be transported by truck, rail or ship to remote locations is possible with the Hyperion's portable nuclear power units.

Clip Source: www.impactlab.com

Portable Nuclear Power In Your Backyard

A radically different mindset than the “nuclear is too dangerous for anybody” of the 1980s

Clip Source: www.gizmowatch.com

Portable backyard nuclear reactor: solution to energy crisis?

What’s Innovative: Hyperion’s nuclear reactor uses clean water to moderate the reaction and also to cool the system. You can, therefore, rest assured that the reaction wouldn’t reach uncontrollable proportions.

Clip Source: www.hyperionpowergeneration.com

Clean, Safe, Affordable Power ...

Clean
no greenhouse gases to contribute to climate change

Safe
the most controlled and regulated type of power on the planet

Affordable
the cheapest in terms of dollars & environmental impact

Reliable
Available 24/7 rain or shine, windy or calm

Now it is!

Introducing the Hyperion Power Module (HPG)

Think About It:

Global warming. Dependence on foreign oil. Infrastructure vulnerable to natural and manmade catastrophes. Undrinkable water, poverty, disease, social unrest.

Tags: nuclear power, environment, hyperion

Gore urges civil disobedience to stop coal plants

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:38:43 GMT

clipped by: mycelium_obscurum

Clip Source: uk.reuters.com

Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmental crusader Al Gore urged young people on Wednesday to engage in civil disobedience to stop the construction of coal plants without the ability to store carbon.

"If you're a young person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration," Gore told the Clinton Global Initiative gathering to loud applause.

The government says about 28 coal plants are under construction in the United States. Another 20 projects have permits or are near the start of construction.

Scientists say carbon gases from burning fossil fuel for power and transport are a key factor in global warming.

Carbon Dioxide Emissions Outpacing Projections

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:27:30 GMT

clipped by: Andrew Gillies
clipper's remarks: Pair this Washington Post story together with the item, clipped last night by my colleague Rebecca Ruiz, on impact of carbon overload on coral reefs. Further down in the Post story, James L. Connaughton, who chairs the White House Council on Environmental Quality, stresses the "need for a broader and more aggressive effort by the major economies to come together."

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

Carbon Is Building Up in Atmosphere Faster Than Predicted

By Juliet Eilperin

The rise in global carbon dioxide emissions last year outpaced international researchers' most dire projections, according to figures being released today, as human-generated greenhouse gases continued to build up in the atmosphere despite international agreements and national policies aimed at curbing climate change.

In 2007, carbon released from burning fossil fuels and producing cement increased 2.9 percent over that released in 2006, to a total of 8.47 gigatons, or billions of metric tons, according to the Australia-based Global Carbon Project, an international consortium of scientists that tracks emissions. This output is at the very high end of scenarios outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and could translate into a global temperature rise of more than 11 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century, according to the panel's estimates.

Drug Trials for MEN

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 14:10:22 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator

Clip Source: fun.varadinum.com

DIRECTRA - a dose of this drug given to men before leaving on car trips caused 72 percent of them to stop and ask directions when they got lost, compared to a control group of 0.2 percent.

PROJECTRA - Men given this experimental new drug were far more likely to actually finish a household repair project before starting a new one.

FLATULAGRA - This complex drug converts men’s noxious intestinal gases back into food solids. Special bonus: Dosage can be doubled for long car rides.

LIAGRA - This drug causes men to be less than truthful when being asked about their sexual affairs. Will be available in Regular, Grand Jury and Presidential Strength versions.

BUYAGRA - Married and otherwise attached men reported a sudden urge to buy their sweeties expensive jewelry and gifts after taking this drug for only two days. Still to be seen: whether the drug can be continued for a period longer than your favorite store’s return limit.

CHILDAGRA

COMPLIMENTRA

FLYAGRA

Tags: drugs, funny, menstown backlot

OOPS! Gas Home Remedy

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:12:35 GMT

clipped by: jimmy123
clipper's remarks: Gas Definition
All people have gas; it is natural and resulted by swallowing air and normal breakdown of certain indigested food by harmless bacteria.
The frequent belching of the gas comes out by burping or passing it through the rectum. Most people pass gas about 14 times a day, the gas is made primarily of odorless vapor. The unpleasant odor of flatulence comes from bacteria in the large intestine that release small amounts of gases that contain sulfur.
The gas can sometimes be uncomfortable and inconvenient; it can come from bloating of the abdomen after eating and is a result of certain habits or diet choices.

Clip Source: www.grannymed.com

How to Cure Gas with Natural Treatments

Chew 1 teaspoon of celery seeds. Don't swallow!

Mix 1/2-1 spoon of fennel seeds to 3 spoons of yogurt and eat.

Blanch fennel seeds and drink (also good for breast feeding moms).

Drink chamomile tea to calm the gas and pain

Massage the stomach.

Natural treatment for gas with cardamom: Add 1 teaspoon of grinded fresh cardamom seeds to 1 cup of boiling water. Wait 10 minutes and drink. Repeat 3 times daily before meal.

Home remedy for gas with cayenne: Mix one teaspoon of cayenne to 1 cup of boiling water. Take one teaspoon from the mixture and mix with a cup of water; drink when needed.

Boil one cup of water, with 2-3 carnation sprouts, cook for 5 minutes and drink 3 times a day. Can add cinnamon stick.

Blanch dill leaves and drink.

Drink anise liqueur to help with the gas problem.

Blanch parsley and drink several times a day (also good for babies).

Drink/ chew kummel.

Cook potatoes in water, then drink the liquid.

Eat a lot of peppers.

Home Remedies

Tags: gas, home remedy, homeopathy

sun spots

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:03:59 GMT

clipped by: afrjc

Clip Source: www.wunderground.com

While the weakness of the modeled versus observed solar cycle is a challenge that climate modelers still need to address, in general, it is possible to evaluate what this model weakness might mean to observed and predicted climate change. For example, we have the observational information of the sun and the climate and the observed contribution of solar variability to the Earth’s warming is more than 10 times smaller than that due to greenhouse gases. And, this relative size of solar-related warming to the greenhouse gas warming is getting smaller in recent years – explicitly, the observed warming is dominated by the greenhouse gas effect, and this domination is getting larger.

The data show the greenhouse gas warming to be much larger than the warming associated with changes in the Sun. Since the models underestimate the solar signal, the likelihood of the model obscuring some fundamental, underlying mechanism that is fooling us about greenhouse gas warming is very low.

Tags: sun spots, denial, delay, climate change, global warming, skeptics, solar irradiance