Algae Based Biofuel Production: The New Wave Of Green Energy

The "green" trend has been around since the 1970s, when an OPEC boycott, gas rationing, and spiking prices called into question our reliance on oil. The creation of suburbs and expansion of cities led to increased numbers of large, gas-guzzling cars on the road, and air pollution was growing more prevalent, begging the question, "How can we find inexpensive, clean, renewable energy?"

Enter the Biofuel Revolution. Biofuel is any fuel produced from biomass, or organic material. The challenge is to produce biofuel from biomass that can be renewed, so that it won't tap out as a fuel source the way oil reserves will. With recent gas price hikes and the number of SUVs and inefficient fuel-burning vehicles on the road today, the issue of biofuel production is once again at the forefront. Some recent biofuels, such as ethanol, have met with limited success: Yes, ethanol waste is mostly water and ethanol is cheap. But the amount of land and energy that goes into planting, maintaining, and harvesting corn for ethanol, on top of ethanol production, make it much less environmentally-friendly than previously thought. Plus, there are ethical considerations about growing fields of food crops just for biofuel production.

Energy investors today are putting efforts into a new solution: algae based biofuel production. Algae use sunlight, ocean and wastewater to grow, and produce oil that is then harvested. The amount of oil that can be produced for biofuel from 15,000 square miles of algae farms is estimated by the US Department of Energy to be enough to replace all petroleum-based fuel in the country. That statistic is astounding: algae based biofuel production would use less than one-seventh of the land dedicated in the US to corn production, and would produce up to 100 times more energy per square mile. Algae are also biodegradable, and unlike petroleum, are relatively harmless if spilled. Best of all, algae don't require high-quality soil, so farms producing algae could use land unsuitable for food crops.

With the discovery of clean algae based biofuel production, what is holding back the market? The answer is the same as with many biofuels of the past: High prices. Capital investments to set up a farm are costly. In time, these investments will be recouped and prices will drop, however. And with oil prices rising steadily, green biofuel may be competitively priced sooner than we thought. Good news for green energy.

From clean energy to green technology, Alexander Sutton is involved with a number of green endeavors and wishes to spread awareness about environmentally friendly issues. For more information, please visit Algae Based Biofuel Production.

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National Science Foundation Offers The Geoinformatics Solicitation Grant

Geoinformatics is the science and technology of developing and using information service sciences in addressing the issues linked to geography, geosciences as well as other branches associated to engineering.

The Division of Earth Sciences, under the supervision of the National Science Foundation, is among the actual departments that deal with the promotion and enhancement of the country's Geoinformatics-related programs.

The Division of Earth Sciences (EAR) has constituted means to promote the creation of cyberinfrastructure building activities aimed to eventually enable transformative advances in geosciences research and education.

In line with this objective, the EAR has built a solicitation program with a total anticipated budget of $4,800,000 that will award 5 to 10 eligible applicants the funds that they need in developing their geosciences-related projects.

The aforementioned solicitation program will not support hardware development or major hardware purchases but will normally comprise these particular inclusions:

a) Identify targeted user communities and describe how the proposed activity will address the community's unmet needs

b) Exhibit exemplary awareness and thorough knowledge of present informatics infrastructure and developments that could impact the proposed activity

c) Establish plans for the integration and compatibility of the proposed geoinformatics platform within current geoinformatics projects and activities.

Interested applicants are strongly recommended to contact the program officers of the EAR at the Grants.gov website to be able to discuss their ideas and seek further clarifications.

To be able to take part in this program, applications and proposals need to be electronically submitted to the Grants.gov website on or before January 13, 2012.

Individuals and organizations in the following categories will be regarded as eligible applicants:

a) Universities and colleges accredited by the government and located in the US and its territories

b) Non-profit, non-academic organizations including museums, research laboratories, professional societies and similar organizations located in the US and are directly associated with educational or research activities

c) For-profit organizations including strong businesses with strong capabilities in scientific or engineering research education

d) State and Local Governments including state educational offices and local school districts

e) Unaffiliated individuals like independent scientists educators and engineers in the US

As stated in the objectives of the Geoinformatics solicitation program in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, the program aims to bolster and enhance the national scientific enterprise via the constant growth of fundamental knowledge and increased comprehension of the complex Earth systems through the assistance of various research opportunities.

The National Science Foundation, otherwise referred to as the NSF, is the agency funding the Geoinformatics solicitation program. The NSF is constantly working into the promotion of the progress of science, the progression of national health, prosperity and welfare, and lastly the noble process of securing the nation's defense.

The primary objective of the Geoinformatics solicitation program is to improve the conduct of research in the field of geosciences by constantly providing support to community-created cyberinfrastructures which in turn integrates knowledge management across the geosciences. Which explains why this solicitation program is very much in keeping with the NSF's effort to promote the nation's interest in the many fields of science.

Iola Bonggay is an editor of TopGovernmentGrants. She maintains Websites providing resources on small business grants and artist grants.

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Just Started Our First Lap Book!

Recently, I was introduced to Lap Books. I'd never heard of them before, but I was intrigued, so I went to the "In the Hands of a Child" website and took a look around. They have a bunch of different lap books in a huge number of categories.

My daughter is in 3rd grade and absolutely loves Voyage of the Dawn Treader. So I thought the first lap book to try should be one on this awesome book by C.S. Lewis. She starts book reports this year and I thought it would be fun to do something a little different than the "normal" book report.

I remember loving reading books for school, but I always dreaded the required book report at the end! It was tedious to me, having to spit out in my own words the story I had just read. So I wanted to do something more fun with my daughter, so that she would continue her love for reading without it being squelched by the "looming" book report!

She just finished her first day, which was to read a biography on the author and to learn a few vocabulary words. At first, she protested when she heard that she would have to read about the author, instead of getting into the first chapter of the book right away. But I gently coaxed her by telling her that she was going to learn a little bit about the person who wrote the book so that she could appreciate the book even more.

After she finished reading the biography, I asked her what she had learned. With a sparkle in her eye, she listed off a dozen things about C.S. Lewis! Now, normally when I tell her to write about what she has learned, she gives me a whine about how she "can't" do THAT! But this time she was eager to write down what she had learned. Maybe it was because what she was writing on was not the same old, same old white writing paper that she normally uses. This time it was a brightly colored cut-out in the shape of a miniature book. It's amazing how a little thing like that can be a motivator!

The vocabulary words also became a joy, when she saw that she would be "making" something out of them. She was so excited about her first day with the lap book, that she couldn't wait to tell her daddy about it!

I have high hopes for the rest of the book report, too. Each day has a new activity to do that really encourages and involved the child in what they are learning.

If you have never tried a lap book, I highly recommend it. They aren't expensive, and you can even download them as e-books immediately!

If you have tried lap books, please leave a comment with your experiences!

I am a stay at home mother of five children. I love homechooling my children and teaching them to live healthy lives. I enjoy staying healthy and fit and love helping others to do the same!

Please visit Superfit Homeschool Mom and join me on my fitness journey!

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Books For Teachers: Brian Clegg's Getting Science

Getting Science by Brian Clegg targets an audience of elementary school teachers who feel less than confident about teaching science in their classrooms. While I am not in his target audience, I'm close to it. (I love science and teach in small groups of homeschooled students.) Clegg did some things authors should do. He caught my attention, told me stuff I needed to read or wanted to learn, and kept my attention throughout the book. I learned a bit and further solidified prior knowledge. It's a good book, and after reading this it, I hope many primary school teachers do read it.

Clegg starts his writing with reasons why science can be a little scary. Journal articles and academic writing in general is stuffy and uses inflated words instead of simple-to-understand, everyday language. Science articles weren't always written that way, and they certainly don't need to be written that way, but it is custom and tradition now. It takes a bit of effort to sift through that language, but luckily, you don't need to. You can be an effective and fun science teacher without the stuffy journals. Learn from reading popular books and science shows instead.

Clegg also talks about what science is and should be. Science is an adventure. It should be fun. It should fill you with wonder. Science tries to figure out how the universe works. That doesn't sound so scary, right?

His first chapter talks about how to engage the kids in the lesson. People like people, so he suggests putting the science in context and finding it in real life. What was the scientist who made the discovery like? How did that scientist grow up? What in his or her life led him to think and experiment the way he did in order to make the discovery? In addition to involving the people and a little history, find the science in real life. If you're talking about cell division, you could mention making bread and perhaps bring yeast into the classroom. He suggests sprinkling the discussion with amazing, and gross, facts. Kids like gross. He emphasizes that the kids should do stuff with their hands. Watching a demonstration is better than just hearing about it, but the best bet is to have the kids do the experiment or demonstration themselves. We learn by doing. And mostly, make it fun.

If nothing else, teachers should read the first chapter of the book.

The second chapter talks about why we have labs. People aren't good observers. Many people don't know the difference between causality and correlation. Anecdotes are not data. Disproving is much easier than proving. All of these people facts lead to why we have laboratories. Fortunately, labs are no longer just filled with middle-aged white men in lab coats, and personalities of all different types can be found in scientific laboratories.

Clegg talks about different scientific eras in his third chapter. 500BC to 1500AD is the classical period. During this time, the prevailing "theory" prevailed because it was argued successfully. There really wasn't much science involved. Some of this classical thinking is still around today in the form of astrology and the four elements. The clockwork era of science was from 1500AD (the end of the middle ages) to around 1900AD. This era was filled with scientific discoveries and theories that make sense. Newton said force equals mass times acceleration. That makes sense. Spontaneous generation theories disappeared because people figured out flies deposited eggs on raw meat. Clegg calls the current era counter-intuitive. That is, this era of science doesn't seem to make sense. Just think of the phrases quantum theory, relativity, and light is light but it can act like a wave or a particle.

Chapters 4, 5, and 6 talk about cool things in science and Clegg gives suggestions for learning and teaching the topics. What is life? Why don't humans have fur? How does cloning work what are the five states of matter (Yes, five. It's not just solid, liquid, and gas). How do mirrors work? What's the difference between mass and weight? What are black holes? What are wormholes? His explanations are pretty easy to follow.

Chapter 7 makes a case for making science hands on. Chapter 8 talks about finding and seeing science in the real world and how to make experiments come alive, but not in a Weird Science like way. Chapter 9 talks about science on the web. Which web sites are trustworthy, and how can you tell if a site is trust worthy. He also gives hints on how to search the web. Chapter 10 gives ideas on how to keep up to date in science and Chapter 11 tells you to go inspire the world.

The book was easy to read and didn't take a long time. Even so, it managed to pack a lot of good information in it. Are you a primary or elementary school teacher? If so, go to your library and check out this little treasure.

Gwen Nicodemus is a freelance engineer/writer and a homeschooling mom. Visit her website, Notion Nexus, for unit studies, worksheets, notes, and educational videos.

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What is Life? A Critical Analysis on book of Erwin Schrodinger and Its Philosophical Significance

What is Life?

We all know that a life is born on Earth, grows, multiplies and finally stops all its activities by the process called death. For a common man, LIFE means the activities between birth and death whereas actually it is not so, as will be seen in this article. Also, for our article, let us consider human life for discussion because humans have the unique property called Intelligence, popularly known as the sixth sense. By virtue of this special capacity, man does not stop with the processes of birth and death but goes beyond that by conducting research about the origin of life.

In fact, life consists of three parts.

1. Life before Birth which should be rightly called, "Status of Life before Birth"

2. Life during the period covering birth to death and

3. Life after death i.e.: status of Life after death"

Let us consider all the above three aspects both in scientific and philosophical points of view.

1. Status of Life Before Birth:

What is the status of life before birth? For knowing this, one should be able to visualise a status beyond space, time and conservation laws. It is only during birth life enters the material Universe, which essentially consists of space, time and conservation laws. One more activity of life is THOUGHT which has created the Universe around him in which he is living. Discussions about all these aspects are reserved for future and what we are discussing here involves only the physical aspects of life. Naturally before birth, life is devoid of any physical matter. But all the plans are already coded in a plane above the material Universe which is activated during birth according to the secret code already inscribed.

A. Concept of MASTER INTELLIGENT PLAN is proposed by the author of this article,. Inasmuch SPACE and TIME belong to material Universe, INTELLIGENCE belongs to a plane ABOVE the material Universe. The fact that life is continuously generated in various forms of living beings leads us to think that there should be a plane which stores all the secrets of life. That generator should contain the entire genetic code in a subtle form. That plane is named as MASTER INTELLIGENT PLAN, implying that the secret code is inscribed in the form of a PLAN which will unfold in course of time as life proceeds.

In the opinion of this author LIFE is not much different from INTELLIGENCE. In other words only intelligent beings 'live', man possessing the highest form of intelligence. That intelligence is in the form of a master plan with various genetic codes imprinted in it. That Master Intelligent Plan (M.I.P) is behind manifestation of life, maintenance and all the behaviour we see on Earth.

Like computers, master intelligent plan is also binary in nature. (Or is it the other way? Let us give a thought over this). Matter is Ordinary state, and Life is an excited state. Matter, due to various reactions, chemical and physical, is able to touch the lifeline which is none other than the Master Intelligent Plan and life is formed. These reactions in micro level cause individual life and at macro level cause evolution. This is a simple treatment of how Intelligence enters life from Master Intelligent Plan to life during birth.

B.Concept of 'Aperiodic' Crystal Introduced by E.Schrodinger in His Book "Book of Life"

The above paragraph dealt with how Intelligence entered life. Regarding the material aspects of life causing physical body, the concept of 'aperiodic' crystal was introduced by E.Schrodinger to define the basic element creating life. He envisaged an element which is not classified by periodic table, hence beyond material perception, and it contained genetic information in its configuration of co-valent bonds. Later, scientists who discovered DNA acknowledged that Schrodinger's aperiodic crystal was the fore runner for DNA which carried the genetic code for generations. A study about RNA and DNA will make it very clear how the genetic codes imprinted in the Master Intelligent Plan are carried over generation after generation.

2. Life During Birth to Death:

A: Bio-chemical Theories of Life:

The protein making machinery of a cell acts as the spring of all bio-chemical reactions and it is known as the Living State. (According to Prof Late R.Balasubramanian I.I.T, Chennai). The D.N.A molecules change through mutations and are instrumental in producing proteins, which determine the biochemical characteristics. The complex machinery uses existing proteins for synthesising further proteins. A large R.N.A is the key molecule in the protein synthesising mechanism.

The basis for this building mechanism is the secret code imbibed by the Master Intelligent Plan, as mentioned in the foregoing paragraph.

B: Concept of Entropy and Negative Entropy (as discussed by E.Schrodinger):

In fact, the concept of Negative Entropy is one which has given a new dimension to the study of what is life. Let us see first what the definition of Entropy is. The term entropy is not new to a graduate student of Physics. It is a thermodynamic term which means unavailability of a system's energy to work. A decrease in energy availability is accompanied by an increase in entropy. All irreversible processes in a closed system are thus accompanied by increase in entropy. Schrodinger takes up the popular idea that the increase in entropy is a measure of DISORDER. The entropy of the Universe is progressively increasing and hence the disorder continues increasing as well. This applies to all the systems in Universe till an EXTERNAL AGENCY interferes and reverses the direction. That external agency in the form of energy converts entropy as NEGATIVE ENTROPY by giving fresh supply of energy, thus converting disorder to order. Hence entropy brings disorder, negative entropy brings order. Schrodinger applies this simple mechanism to life.

In other words, it is the mechanism by which any organism sucking orderliness from its environment is able to live and the vast Universe is the agency which supplies that orderliness. That process is called intelligent living and any intelligent living being gets its supply of negative entropy (ORDER) from the surroundings. The most powerful supplier of order for living organism is the SUN which provides all the support for maintenance of life.

B1: An Example of ENTROPY (Disorder) and NEGATIVE ENTROPY (order):

As discussed in the above paragraph, when entropy increases disorder increases. In fact it is unidirectional like the time arrow. Even the Sun which supplies enormous energy in the Solar system is affected by this law and one day it may also die due to the process called Heat death. However the living objects circumvent the above law by deriving negative entropy (order) from the universe surrounding it.

Intelligence is the cause which helps the living beings to draw that order. For example a disease may be classified as entropy whereas the medicine that man has discovered to cure it gives order which helps him to prolong his life. Even ordinary food, sunlight etc provide such power to derive order. We shall see an illustration from medicine to highlight how the concept of negative entropy nullifies disorder.

B2: Example of Penicillin as Supplier of Negative Entropy:

The concept of negative entropy as a supplier of ORDER can be applied to MEDICINE taking the disease as DISORDER and cure as order. We shall consider PENICILLIN for the purpose of explaining the above.

The DISORDER is caused by gram positive bacteria including those causing syphilis, meningococcal meningitis, gas gangrene, pneumococcal pneumonia, and some staphylococcal and streptococcal infections. Penicillin is effective against such disorders in many cases. The class of penicillin that includes ampicillin andamoxillin with clavulanate is against gram positive and gram negative bacterias such as Haemophilias' influenza which effectively cures the disease.(More details may be obtained from books on medicine on this topic)

B3: Co-Meditation as Supplier of Negative Entropy:

Sometimes even a psychological support will bring in necessary energy to bring back order. In this regard, the saying of J.Krishnamurti, the world famous Indian Philosopher (1896-1987) is quoted as follows:

Krishnamurti with a dying patient:

Quote: He (the dying patient) said, "I'm dying. Disease, Incurable. And I'm frightened" So I (J.K) sat with him and held his hand, and said "Let us die together" "If there is any kind of attachment. I'll die with you. You are free of attachment. Unquote.

This is what Ramana Maharishi did for his dying mother. Several Christian preachers perform this co-meditation for the dying patients.

Co-meditation brings peace to the dying patients by infusing enormous energy which is otherwise known as 'negative entropy' in physical plane.

However death is certain for organisms. In course of time, the living being loses its power in drawing the order and finally ceases to exist which process is known as Death.

Hence, creation by the Master Intelligent Plan, maintenance by providing Order and destruction by death goes on endlessly and the Universe never ceases to exist.

B4: RELIGION: BHAGAVAT GITA on Negative Entropy:

When seeds are sown, it is essential that they should be properly fertilised. In addition to that, the weeding out process also is to be carried out. In practical life, if unscrupulous people become a majority, the world will be totally ruined. How to compensate this disorder and bring disorder?

Lord Krishna, in Bhagavat Gita says: "Whenever Dharma (ORDER) decreases and Adharma (disorder) starts ruling, in each and every such age (YUG), I shall manifest myself in action, I shall annihilate the evil and establih the good. (Verse no 8, chapter IV).

If one understands the reality behind this verse, he need not worry that the Universe will come to an end one day whereas the Truth is that it will remain there forever.

What more we want to define the concept of Negative Entropy which E.Schrodinger brought out in his book?

3. Status of LIFE After Death:

Religious leaders and scriptures have told in various ways that there is death only for the physical body but the scheme behind it known as SOUL never dies. Hindu Philosophy has put a KARMA theory stating that as per the Karma (acts) done in this birth, the life goes to the next birth. Without going to the merits or demerits of the above, let us see how a life goes to future lives.

It is the firm conclusion of the author that life can travel only through the secret code written in GENES, transmuted from Master Intelligent plan through RNAs and DNAs. There is no other way for life to travel. The genes are transferred during life itself to the future generations. The onward transmission of DNA and RNA by reproduction constitutes the transformation of life into future lives carrying over the genetic codes.. On one hand, a new born baby has life due to the genes inherited, and on the other, it improves its intelligence through various experiences and knowledge gained due to education etc. during its life period. During its life period it transfers that code by further reproduction.

There is no death for the secret codes inscribed in the genes. They are carried over generations after generations and live eternally.

In other words, transformation of CODES from the MASTER INTELLIGENT PLAN is BIRTH, Transformation due to various experiences is LIFE and carrying them over to future generations may be called Re-birth.

CONCLUSION:

In this article, we saw the following points:

1. Various genetic codes are inscribed in the minutest form in a process called MASTER INTELLIGENT PLAN.

2. They are transferred to intelligent life through aperiodic crystals (as propounded by E.Schrodinger) which were known later as DNA and RNA molecules.

3. Living beings improve upon the organism by gaining more and more intelligence and drawing order from environment known as Negative Entropy. (E.Schrodinger). for this examples were given starting from medicine, co-meditation, as well as the Bhagavat Gita and Holistic Philosophy.

4. The genetic codes never die and they are carried over to future generations and the process continues for ever.

THIS IS LIFE!

The writer of this article wishes readers healthy, wealthy and prosperous life.

Dr Bhimarao Sathyanarayanan (64) is a multi faceted personality in the sense that he is an experienced administrator, teacher. Science writer, orator, literal critic and above all, a philosopher. He is M Sc. in Physics (1969). He worked as a PHYSICS LECTURER for 2 years in Annamalai University.Later he passed CAIIB examination in banking, insurance salesmanship and worked as Bank manager for 25 years.His PhD is in Psychological counselling (HIV/AIDS). At the age of 50 (1997) he got voluntary retirement and returned again to teaching profession. He taught ENGLISH and also conducted several HIV/AIDS intervention programes. In 2005, he joined as a Physics Lecturer and is simultaneously conducting personality development courses and continuing his writing assignments in English and Tamil. His name is included in the list of world philosophers by Bowling Green State University,U.S.A. He founded Physics forum in Sankara Arts and Science College and conducted several seminars and exhibitions in Physics. His specialisation is Theory of relativity and the philosophy behind Einstein's theories especially space and time. He is the editor of the periodical "Philosophy of Science" and founder of HOLISTIC PHILOSOPHY SOCIETY. He is the author of the book 'Glimpses of Holistic Philosophy and other articles',published in 2010.

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