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Revista UPIIG 2009 No. 0TRANSCRIPT
Environmental
Technologies
Imagine curling up on the couch with the
morning paper and then using the same
sheet of paper to read the latest novel by
your favorite author. In the United States
alone, more than 55 million newspapers are
sold each weekday.
6. Bury the Bad Stuff
Carbon dioxide is the most prominent
greenhouse gas contributing to global
warming. According to the Energy
Information Administration, by the year 2030
we will be emitting close to 8,000 million
metric tons of CO2. Some experts say it's
impossible to curb the emission of CO2 into
the atmosphere and that we just have to find
ways to dispose of the gas. One suggested
method is to inject the gas into the ground
before it reaches the atmosphere. After the
CO2 is separated from abandoned oil wells,
saline reservoirs and rocks. While this may
sound great, scientists are not sure whether
the injected gas will stay underground and
what the long-term effects are, and the costs
of separation and burying are still far too
high to consider this technology as a
practical short-term solution.
5. Let Plants and Microbes Clean Up After Us
Bioremediation is a method of cleaning up
contamination using microbes and plants.
Examples include the cleanup of nitrates in
contaminated water with the help of
microbes, and using plants to take up
arsenic from contaminated soil, in a process
known as phytoremediation. The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency has used
phytoremediation to clean up several sites.
Often, native plant species can be used for
site cleanup, which are helpful because in
most cases they don't require pesticides or
watering. In other cases, scientists are trying
to genetically modify the plants to take up
contaminants in their roots and transport
them all the way to the leaves for easy
harvesting.
4. Plant Your Roof
It's a wonder that this concept - attributed to
the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - didn't
catch on sooner in the modern world.
Legend has it that the roofs, balconies and
terraces of the royal palace of Babylon were
turned into gardens by the king's order to
cheer up one of his wives. Roof gardens help
absorb heat, reduce the carbon dioxide
impact by taking up CO2 and gving off
oxygen, absorb storm water, and reduce
summer air conditioning usage. Ultimately,
the technique could lessen the "heat island"
effect that occurs in urban centers.
Butterflies and songbirds could also start
frequenting urban garden roofs to cheer up
the inhabitants of the building, like the king's
wife.
3. Harness Waves and Tides
The oceans cover more than 70 percent of
the Earth's surface. Waves contain an
abundance of energy that could be directed
to turbines, which can then turn this
mechanical power into electrical energy. The
obstacle to using this energy source has
been the difficulty in harnessing it.
Sometimes the waves are too small to
generate sufficient power. The trick is to
store the energy when enough mechanical
power is generated. New York City's East
River is now in the process of becoming a
test bed for tide-powered turbines.
1. Capture Ocean Heat Energy
Our oceans are the biggest solar energy
collectors on Earth. According to the U.S.
Department of Energy, the seas absorb
enough heat from the sun to equal the
thermal energy contained in 250 billion
barrels of oil each day. The United States
consumes about 7.5 billion barrels a year.
Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC)
technologies convert the thermal energy
contained in the oceans into electricity by
using the temperature difference between
the water's surface, which is heated by the
sun, and the cold ocean bottom. This
difference in temperature can operate
turbines that can drive generators. The major
shortcoming of this technology is that it's
still not efficient enough to be used as a
major mechanism for generating power.
2. Turn Photons into Electricity
The sun's energy, which hits Earth in the
form of photons, can be converted into
electricity or heat. Solar collectors come in
many different forms and are already used
successfully by energy companies and
individual homeowners. The two widely
known types of solar collectors are solar
cells and solar thermal collectors. But
researchers are pushing the limits to convert
this energy more efficiently by concentrating
solar power using mirrors and parabolic
dishes. Part of the challenge for employing
solar power involves motivation and
incentives from governments. A number of
states have programs that provide incentives
toward solar development. However, the cost
of installation and the fear of unsightly
panels discourage many homeowners from
adopting the technology.
Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/200
91207/sc_livescience/top10emerginonme
ntaltechnologies
05 March 2007
Nanotechnology Could Improve Health, Water in Developing Nations Brazil, China, India, South Africa working
on research initiatives
By Cheryl Pellerin
USINFO Staff Writer
Washington – Nanotechnology, science on the scale of atoms and molecules, could give developing nations new ways to diagnose and treat disease and make clean water more available, if governments, nongovernmental organizations, industry and others would work to apply the powerful technology to these challenges, scientists say.
Nanotechnology is the ability to see, measure, manipulate and manufacture things on a scale of 1 to 100 nanometers. A nanometer is 1 billionth of a meter; a sheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometers thick.
"Nanotechnology has the potential to generate enormous health benefits for the more than 5 billion people living in the developing world,” said Peter Singer, senior scientist at the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health and professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, at a February 27 meeting, Using Nanotechnology to Improve Health Care in Developing Countries.
The event was organized by two Woodrow Wilson International Center efforts – the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies and the Global Health Initiative.
Nanotechnologies are being developed in nearly every industry, including electronics, magnetics and optoelectronics, energy, information technology, materials development,
transportation, pharmaceuticals and medicine. (See related article.)
The emerging field involves scientists from many disciplines, including physicists, chemists, engineers, materials scientists and biologists. More than 400 consumer products worldwide are derived from the use of nanotechnology in some way.
NANOTECHNOLOGY AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
In 2005, Singer’s group in Toronto published a study identifying and ranking the 10 nanotechnologies most likely to benefit the developing world in the near future.
At the top of the list were nanotechnology applications related to energy storage, production and conversion; enhancement of agricultural productivity; water treatment and remediation; and the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
The group also showed that a surprising amount of nanotechnology research and development activity is ongoing in several developing countries, and that these nations are directing their nanotechnology innovation systems to address their more pressing needs.
"Countries like Brazil, India, China and South Africa have significant nanotechnology research initiatives that could be directed toward the particular needs of the poor,” said Andrew Maynard, chief science adviser for the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies.
In a 2005 paper describing his team’s study, Nanotechnology and the Developing World, Singer said India's Department of Science and Technology would invest $20 million in 2004–2009 for a Nanomaterials Science and Technology Initiative.
The number of nanotechnology patent applications from China ranks third, behind the United States and Japan. In Brazil, the projected budget for nanoscience during 2004-2007 was about $25 million.
The South African Nanotechnology Initiative is a national network of academic researchers involved in nanotechnology, and other developing countries, such as Thailand, the Philippines, Chile, Argentina and Mexico, are pursuing nanotechnology, according to Singer’s paper
NANOTECHNOLOGY AND DISEASE
In the United States, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Cancer Institute (NCI) has formed the Nanotechnology Alliance for Cancer to move more quickly molecular-based science from the laboratory into the clinic.
"Nanotechnologies could revolutionize health care in developing countries,” said Alliance Director Piotr Grodzinski, “and make that claim millions of lives around the world each year."
Nanomaterials and nanomedical devices, he added, “will play increasingly critical and beneficial roles in improving the way we diagnose, treat, and ultimately prevent cancer and other diseases.”
It might one day be possible, for example, for citizens in Bangladesh to place contaminated water in inexpensive transparent bottles that will disinfect the water when placed in direct sunlight, or for doctors in Mexico to give patients vaccines that can be inhaled and that do not need to be refrigerated.
The challenges, Grodzinski said, include the complexity of bringing such treatments into the clinic and the cost of care. As a result, the distribution of nanotechnology treatments might be more gradual in some developing countries.
ADDRESSING GLOBAL CHALLENGES
To help the international community support the application of nanotechnology to critical sustainable development challenges in developing countries, including health care, Singer and his group proposed an initiative called “Addressing Global Challenges Using Nanotechnology.”
Modeled after the Foundation for the NIH/Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Grand Challenges in Global Health, the initiative would be funded by national and international foundations, and from collaboration among nanotechnology initiatives in industrialized and developing countries.
Responsible development of nanotechnology must include benefits for people in both rich and poor nations and at relatively low cost,” Maynard said. “This also requires that careful attention be paid to possible risks nanotechnology poses for human health and the environment." (See related article.)
The full text of Singer's 2005 study, Nanotechnology and the Developing World, is available online.
Information about the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies and the Global Health Initiative is available at the Woodrow Wilson International Center Web site.
More information about the NIH/NCI Nanotechnology Alliance for Cancer is available at the NIH Web site.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
Read more:
http://www.america.gov/st/washfile-
english/2007/March/20070305134101lcnirellep0.9842035
.html#ixzz0Ye8tUlH6
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P V O Y O E E M T N H R
S T S I C I T E N E G H
F H E L A R I V I E M T
M D L M Y L O Z D A T N
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Z S Q R S T N A T U M B
00:30 September 3, 2009 PDTBy Darren Quick
The disc and roller system used in Torotrak's
CVT and IVTs
/
Source: http://www.gizmag.com/torotrak-new-gen-transmissions/12692/
Ingenious! - aircraft
system design -
Brief Article
Approach, July, 2001 by Joel Zupfer
At the risk of damaging my ego, let me tell
you about a situation I feel very lucky to be
able to write about. I was a senior lieutenant
and functional-check pilot, doing a routine
track and balance on an SH-60B. My copilot
was an O-4 select and a newly designated
HAC, who had transitioned to aviation from
surface line and recently had completed his
first deployment.
Our crewman had a few hundred helo hours
and was new to FCFs. All the ground checks
went smoothly, and before long we were
taxiing to the parallel for hover checks.
During taxi, I noticed the helo randomly
hopping and the flight controls doing. I
asked the crew if they felt the hop. They say
they didn't until I pointed out the next time it
happened.
The movement was very small, and we
thought it might have been caused by the
automatic flight-control system (AFCS).
However, securing both the SAS 1 and SAS 2
didn't solve the problem, and we continued
taxiing to the helo pad for hover work.
Thinking it may have something to do with
yaw control, we discussed what we would
do if we lost thrust in a hover.
After the takeoff checks, I smoothly added
power, lifting the helo into a stable, 10-foot
hover. The controllability checked normal, so
we continued with the remaining hover
checks. After completing the hover portion
of our vibration mn on the VATS box, we
departed the pattern to collect the
remaining data for the track and balance.
The aircraft flew normally, with no noticeable
deviations from the trimmed attitude. While
taxiing back to our line, I noticed the same
hopping and again tried to isolate the
cause. The wind was gusty that day, but I
had never experienced anything like this.
Not feeling good about the condition of the
aircraft, we taxied back to the line, shut
down, and asked for an airframes
troubleshooter. After explaining the problem
to him, he opened the hydraulics bay and
asked me to move the flight controls while
he inspected the boost servos. After a
minute, he climbed down, told us he'd found
the problem, and asked us to shut down the
APU. break was so clean that when the two
pieces matched up, you could not detect
the break (hence the reason for missing it on
preflight). The break could only be detected
when the flight controls moved. Whenever
the cylinder rod moved forward, the pieces
would separate. When it moved aft, it would
bump the loose end, causing a small impulse
into the collective channel (which explained
the hopping during taxi).
If the collective channel was in two pieces,
how could we control the aircraft at all
during flight? On the H-60, a C-shaped
bracket runs parallel to the collective-boost
servo, connecting the input and output of
the servo in the event of such a failure.
Another function of the bracket is to allow
the aircraft to be flown without the using the
boost or pilot-assist servos. After talking with
the maintenance control chief, I found out
that he knew of similar instances. Knowing I
wasn't the only one to have this happen
made me feel a little better, but I still felt less
than smart for taking the aircraft flying in the
first place.
As an engineer, I certainly appreciate the
ingenuity of the system design. As a pilot, I
am just plain thankful.
LCdr. Zupfer flies with VC-8
COPYRIGHT 2001 U.S. Naval Safety Center
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
Source: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FKE/is_7_46/ai_78333956/