Downtown Fort Myers Trip

Peru protests at huge Conga gold mine in Cajamarca

In this article from the BBC environmental news: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15884119 An American company that digs for gold, wanted to explorer new land in the Andes of Peru. This American company claimed it would build man made lakes to replace the ones that they would be destroying to find gold. I recently spent the summer in Peru. I saw how many of these people live. They are very poor and live a basic life style. Most importantly, hard working. I saw these people constantly working trying to meet end meat. It just amazes me that they found time to collect and protest the gold mines. It really shows a sense of place. These people found it necessary to protect their home land and go protest the efforts of the American company. The saw that the plans for the lake replacements were not what they  should be. They saw that the pollution from the mind could cause harm to their plants and animals. This direct relationship they have with their sense of place amazes me! It is simply impressive what we americans let happen in our backyard. Why dont we have this sense of place?

'Brinicle' ice finger of death filmed in Antarctic

I was watching the BBC Frozen planet with my brother and yes, this show is awesome. So awesome! I am a huge fan of documentaries. Especially ones where David Attenburg narrates them. In which case,  frozen planet is one :). But yes, I found this article on the BBC the highlighted the best part of the episode I watched http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/15835017 . Make sure to click on the video to see the icle in live action. But to recap, their is a near by volcano to where this scene was recorded. The brine created by the volcano gets released into the water. Keep in mind, the top of the water is frozen. The brine is more dense than the actual sea water that it is in. So as the ice travels from the top, it gets more attracted to the areas with brine. This causes a barnacle like look. It is completely crazy that the animals at the bottom are instantly killed by the arrival of the barnacle. They barely have anytime to react.

Protection boosted for tuna, sharks and swordfish

Article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15804817

Tuna populations have been the most effected by the over fishing problem.  This fish is extremely popular for fishermen and the people that eat them. Tuna fishing is now illegal in some areas. The problem is, many times tuna will get caught in a net intended for another type of fish. The new protection measures, require the fishermen to release their tuna catch alive. These new protection measures are in effect also for the famous blueshark. This shark is hunted only for its fins for a delicacy in Japan. Often, the fish is killed and only the fin is used. Or worse the fin is removed while the shark is still alive and then the shark is thrown back into the water without its second important fin. These new measures, will be increasing protection of bluefin fishing around japan waters. Although the focus of Iccat meetings is often on the Mediterranean, the body also regulates fishing across a huge swathe of the Atlantic Ocean.This includes waters off the west coast of Africa which are beginning to see heavy fishing.

Hackers 'hit' US water treatment systems

In one of my other computer classes, I have had the task to report on the security of SCADA system. Thus this article interested me greatly!!!! You can see my research here: http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/zalewski/CNT4104/CEN4516projects.html

Hackers with access to the utility's network are thought to have broken the pump by turning it on and off quickly. He posted a document to the Pastebin website which purportedly contained links to screenshots of the internal control systems for a waste water treatment plant in South Houston.The hacker's claims about their ability to penetrate the control systems have yet to be confirmed or denied by South Houston's Water and Sewer Department.In an interview with the Threat Post website, Pr0f said the hack of the South Houston network barely deserved the name because only a three-character password had been used to protect the system. The attacks are the latest in a series in which different hackers and groups have targeted so called Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. These specialised computer systems are used to control machinery used to filter water, mix chemicals, distribute power and route trains and trams.One of the best known SCADA attacks involved the Stuxnet worm which caused problems for Iran.

Autumn's birds delay migration

Every year, ducks and geese spend their summers and late fall in the northern region of Europe. Bird watchers have been keeping track of the migratory patterns. The birds have been delayed up to a month compare to the past 30 years of research. Even more shockingly,  there has been a huge decrease in the number of birds that do pass over the migration tracking point. For example, the white fronted geese population has dropped by 75%. In the past, around 30 years go, it would be normal for the populations of birds to be 6000. But now a days, there is a shocking 500 birds. This is a drastic decrease in  populations. So now for the future, a team in Finland will be conducting more research to see if populations are declining in the species or if the migratory patterns have change to go more north due to warming weathers else where.

White Fronted Geese populations have dropped by 75 percent over the past 30 years

Chinese pollution is a health problem

The UN recently warned China that the pollution problem is a gigantic health risk. Ironically, as the UN representative spoke, deep smog rolled into the Beijing down town. Take a look at the image at the right to see how thick the smog can be in the city. Beijing is going to launch a "green economy" report.The document, which has taken three years to prepare, outlines how countries can maintain economic growth and improve the environment at the same time. It is now the world's biggest investor spending $49 billion last year on renewable energy, a figure that will grow over the next five years.

Solar Powered Light Bulbs!!

This was an interesting idea!When you think about it, you need a lightbulb when its dark outside. So why would you have a solar powered light bulb? You need some kind of light source to run the bulb.... In places in the world were they have no energy to every house, they need so kind of light source. They can use thing such as fire but they are very dangerous and cannot be used well indoor. So the solution to the light bulb problem, you need some kind of storage. The problem with standard batteries is that they do not hold their power well. These batteries in the device, have a 2 year life span. This is very well for a battery. Most importantly unlike candles and other fire sourced lighting, batteries are fairly cheap to replace. Especially if they have a two year life span. Also note, the shape of the device is that of a light bulb! I thought that was cool.
http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/16/nokero-solar-power-bulb

GM Announces All-Electric Chevy Spark EV, Plus New Concept Car Chevy EN-V

So this article is kinda old, but back in October chevy released a purely electric car! I always am interested in all electric cars. I love looking into the specs and seeing if it compares to normal gas powered cars. The spark, looks like a normal small chevy car, kinda like the aveo. Unfortunately, this car wont be released until 2013 and will only be available in small quantities.

During the same press released, they released a new concept car. I am sick and tired of car companies releasing "futuristic" designs for cars. I dont think people are "ready" for these design, and all the happens is that people laugh at the cars. Don't get me wrong, I would love to drive this car, but I just think the general population is not ready... It just creates a humouristic effect on electric cars.


I mean look at this car! Or is it a car?

Humpback whales are making quite a splash

Apparently humped back whales are very common in Santa Cruz, California. However five days ago, there was a huge family of whales not that far off the coast. Not only was a it a bunch of whales, but these whales were hungry and active. They kept splashing up. I was just thinking how great it would be to watch these whales. I have seen dolphins before in our gulf and that was a fantastic experience. But I think seeing a 800 000 pounds whale would be much better. But I have to keep in mind as the report says:

"Being that close to an 80,000-pound whale when it’s coming up and looking for food isn’t safe," she said. "When these surfers and kayakers are so close, it definitely poses a danger to the whale and those in the water."

 http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/09/8718770-whale-tales

Power plants releasing bad chemicals for pregnant mothers

We all use power these days. Its hard to find a house that doesn't have a full seemingly endless connection to an energy source. We all leave stuff on draining energy, because we feel like electricity is "free" and "unlimited". Its far from that.... This article talks about how power-plants have to release a great amount of mercury. Now usually the mercury will no affect humans, but if a pregnant mother drinks contaminated water, the mercury could easily get into the blood stream of the baby. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/08/mercury-poisoning-campaign_n_1080510.html?ref=green

My Footprint

I did my carbon footprint test on this site:http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/

This was my result:

Electric Car with Airbag as its body

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=WO0QKXb8lq8

This car seems pretty awesome!! Not only is it an electric car, saving gas and providing a cleaner energy source, it also is a super super safe car! The car wears an airbag around the entire outside. This means you can bump into pretty much anything and not even get a scratch. If you pop the airbag then all you need to do is replace the airbag. Much cheaper then having to rebuffer plasic or repaint.

Although this seems like a great idea, I am sure it only works in Japan... I dont think Americans would find this practical for every day use. But perhaps in dense cities.

Server farm in Arctic circle

When I worked at the computing services department at FGCU, I went into our server room. The room was freezing cold. It has its own AC device attached to the room to accommodate for the hot temperatures of the server. So I can just imagine what a company like Facebook has to deal with!!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20126230-54/facebook-to-build-server-farm-near-arctic-circle-report-says/?tag=txt;title

This article really interested me!! It was tech and green :)

Facebook will  be building a server farm near the arctic circle! This building will comprise three server halls covering an area about the size of 11 football fields and will take advantage of the region's cool temperatures to keep its equipment cold. The Lulea River, which is said to produce twice as much hydro-electric power as the Hoover Dam, is expected to provide much of the center's power. I wonder if you can see it from space!!!

New Largest Solar Field

When people talk to me about alternative energies, I always love the idea of solar energy. The sun is such a powerful ball of energy, it seems crazy not to harness it. Thats why I got excited when I read this article: http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/14/ge-to-build-largest-u-s-solar-factory-in-colorado/

So the deal is, GE is going to build a solar field around Denver. Its going to power 80000 homes!!!!! I have been to Denver. The thing is, Denver the city is surrounded by the foot hills. When you go into the hills and look down at the city, you can see all the smog from pollution and it makes you really sad.

I also think solar fields look really nice. They seem futureristic and calming. I can't wait to see a huge field of never ending solar panels.

Reflection on Video from Class

So this week in class we watched a video on different religious view points on environmental ideals. The one that stood out to me most was the one about the Jewish kid camp. It was nice to see how they tied together religion and the environment.  I think children enjoy staying faithful to their church, and if they are able to blend in the environmental aspects to the camp, the children will be able to tie the two together.  When they think about their religion they will also think about their environment. Its a great connection to have. I did see one potential problem to the solution in the movie. Unfortunately, the camp presented by the movie seem to portray people that are extremist environmentalist. These people could scare away the kids. Kids are always trying to find "cool" people that they should follow.  But these guys are obviously not in the "cool" book.  I think it could cause the kids to turn the other eye and do the exact opposite of the leaders of the camp. I think having a good middle ground for the employees would help spread the message much better.

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

Swamp at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary

Make sure to click on the image to make it larger!.


I took this picture using my Droid X camera. The camera has a built in panorama function. This images is a sticking of 5 different individual images.

THE LEAF!!!

One of the drawbacks of current electric cars is the rather long time it takes to charge their batteries. The leaf that as long as you adapt your lifestyle to it a bit, it’s not a problem, but the unexpected happens and it would suck to be at low charge when you suddenly need to get to the hospital, or what have you. Quick-charge solutions are out there, but few are really practical and many still take hours to reach full charge. Nissan says they’ve created one, however, that could charge a car in only ten minutes.

Again, this car comes out of Japan! Haha, those guys are really the leading edge

How Green Are You?

This quiz was SOO weird. It was a quiz asking whether or not you are consider "green". The questions were really confusing. Which I guess was the point, they were trying to hide the real point of the question by masking it with random topic mixed into the possible answers. I do consider myself to be light green so seeing that it resulted with "light" green I was surprised! Maybe it is a good quiz :)