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1 - Solar Tech is improving very quickly. In another 3~5 years, it SHOULD be just as cheap as coal. quote: 4 - If many people buy their own, it reduces the drain on the electrical system quote: 2 - |
If its cheap, unlike a power plant (coar / nuke) Anyone can buy it and install it on their roof or their yard. Remember on DT - they're's tech that'll allow your windows to be solar collectors. quote: 5 - |
if everyone has one, it can help re-charge their electric cars. Because AS OF NOW, eletric cars STILL require power from Coal / Nuke plants which generate pollution / waste. quote: Assuming 0,45 cents per KW Here, quote: But the |
In digital imaging, there are 256 levels, or tonal values, ranging from black to white. Black is level 0. White is level 255. Of course, not all images (e.g. extreme foggy, misty, atmospheric shots) contain the full tonal range from |
black to white, but most do. The histogram (Levels) is a graphical representation of the tonal values in an image. Ideally, it should range from 0 to 255, with a good spread of tonal values throughout. If the histogram is |
bunched up towards the left, it indicates the image is under-exposed. Note the crushed shadow detail. If bunched up towards the right, it's over exposed. Note the blown-out highlights. If the black and white points are set incorrectly, the image |
will have a dull, flat, washed-out appearance. Here they're wrongly set to 20/230. Unless under instructions from a repro bureau or printer, you should not set the black/white points to anything other than 0/255. The printer may well adjust them |
later for technical reasons to do with repro, but don't try to guess what's required. It's true that some leeway is acceptable (e.g. up to 5% is usually OK), but your images will lack visual impact if the black/white points |
The robot can be outfitted with multiple attachments such as a cell-sprayer that can spray pesticides or fertilizers and can even weed areas intertwined with the crops. It’s able to do so with the help of strategically positioned cameras that |
take pictures of the ground, which are then sent to an onboard computer that analyzes the images and identifies both the crops and weeds (programmed with 20 known species per geographic area). Once the unwanted plants are identified, it can |
then spray an herbicide through a row of nozzles placed next to the cameras positioned behind the bot. The cameras look for the corresponding image and either open or close the nozzles based on the weeds' location. With a large |
range of add-on tools, this robot makes a perfect plant-nursing platform that’s able to keep plants healthy, one column at a time. Robots are even being employed to harvest crops, further maximizing the efficiency associated with robotic farmers. One such |
robot is known as the Robotic Strawberry Harvester from Robotic Harvesting LLC. The mechanical farmhand is autonomous in the true sense of the word and is self-propelled, navigating and harvesting, and as the name suggests, is excellent in picking ripe |
strawberries. Robot harvesting outfitted the robot with a camera array capable of taking "stereovision" photos both above and below the plants leaves to collect data on fruit (whether it’s ripe or not), flower count, plant pathogens (diseases), and other items |
of interest. The camera system can be reprogrammed to identify and collect data on a number of crops in 3D space (giving the robot the capability to see like humans) not just strawberries, and uses specialized software to discern whether |
the fruit is ripe. Once identified, the robot uses a three-pronged outfitted robotic arm to pick the fruit, which is then placed on a convenient tiny conveyor belt that drops the fruit off in a collection basket on top of |
the robot. This may not seem like much, but the robot is capable of picking the fruit (tested in a controlled environment) in as little as two seconds. While you most likely won't see a fully functional efficient farm being |
run entirely by robots anytime in the next few years, it’s safe to say it certainly is a possibility in the near future. As more and more people populate the planet, using robotic farmers is certainly a viable option in |
Living with Diabetes Diabetes is a condition that affects everyone from children right up to adults. It is referred as a chronic condition since a person who has it can |
go through many changes in their lives as it can affect their entire body. Over time, diabetes can cause blindness, stroke, and amputations among other things. There are two types |
of diabetes; Juvenile or Type 1 diabetes and adult-onset diabetes also known as Type 2 diabetes. The more common form of diabetes is Type 2 and those who have this |
type of diabetes are faced many difficulties and complications to their liver, muscle and even fat cells. In the case of Type 1 diabetics, they are required to use insulin |
to be able to combat the effects of diabetes. A simple blood sugar test can determine if you have diabetes or not. The doctor usually checks the level of your |
glucose to determine if you are diabetic. There are also telltale signs that one is diabetic as well. The symptoms of diabetes include an increase in thirst; feeling tired all |
the time, headaches, and weight loss and in some cases blurred vision and even dry mouth. There is a treatment for diabetes and one can easily keep it under control |
if proper measures are taken. One must first keep their blood glucose in check all the time and one way to achieve this is by eating healthy foods for diabetics. |
The environmental impact of electric vehicles has been in the media for some time. Now comes news that electric vehicles can also impact running the home. An exhibit at the Georgian College Auto Show, in Barrie, Ontario, demonstrates the integration of electric vehicles into the home by using the latest |
Smart Grid technologies. The display, which is run by Nissan and PowerStream, shows how an electric vehicle such as the Nissan LEAF can help power the home by converting energy stored in the car’s batteries to residential use through a system called Vehicle to Home (V2H). With energy stored in |
its 24kW lithium-ion battery, a fully charged Nissan LEAF can provide enough electricity to run a typical residential Canadian home for a full day. The LEAF to Home electricity-supply system is gathering attention as a new form of infrastructure, as well as contributing factor to energy saving and alternative energy |
Frank Scarpitti, who is chairman of the board at PowerStream. “The collaboration between Nissan and PowerStream illustrates the dramatic changes underway in technology and how two industry leaders can collaborate to benefit consumers.” Studies have shown that cutting off one household from the network when power demand... |
can significantly contribute towards the stable supply of power throughout the grid. The Nissan/PowerStream V2H system demonstrates leading-edge technologies and the future capabilities of Smart Grid and the benefit to consumers. CNW Group/Nissan Canada Nissan Canada and PowerStream demonstrate the Nissan ‘LEAF to Home... |
Canada at the Georgian College Auto Show in Barrie. Earlier this week in Japan, Nissan introduced the EV Power Station, an electric-vehicle charging station developed by Nichicon Corporation. The EV Power Station can fully recharge the LEAF’s high-capacity batteries in as little as four hours, approximately half the ti... |
by conventional chargers. “The public debut of V2H in Canada today will drive new advancements and collaboration in the auto industry of tomorrow,” said Nissan Canada president Allen Childs. “V2H will foster literal connections, such as those between vehicles, infrastructure, the Internet, and the nation’s electrical g... |
What you will learn In this Maya tutorial we'll learn how to begin Maya's powerful Ocean features. Using Maya Oceans, we'll be able to achieve quality results within a matter |
of minutes. We'll begin this project by learning the basics of creating a Maya Ocean and what it is actually made of. We'll then learn about attributes we need to |
set early in the project. Then we'll learn how to control the noisiness of waves and their length. After that, we'll create line graphs to change each wave's height, turbulence |
Beginning in October 2006, some beekeepers began reporting losses of 30-90 percent of their hives. While colony losses are not unexpected during winter weather, the magnitude of loss suffered by some beekeepers was highly unusual. This phenomenon, which currently does |
not have a recognizable underlying cause, has been termed "Colony Collapse Disorder" (CCD). The main symptom of CCD is simply no or a low number of adult honey bees present but with a live queen and no dead honey bees |
in the hive. Often there is still honey in the hive, and immature bees (brood) are present. ARS scientists and others are in the process of carrying out research to discover the cause(s) of CCD and develop ways for beekeepers |
to respond to the problem. Why should the public care about honey bees? Bee pollination is responsible for $15 billion in added crop value, particularly for specialty crops such as almonds and other nuts, berries, fruits, and vegetables. About one |
mouthful in three in the diet directly or indirectly benefits from honey bee pollination. While there are native pollinators (honey bees came from the Old World with European colonists), honey bees are more prolific and the easiest to manage for |
the large scale pollination that U.S. agriculture requires. In California, the almond crop alone uses 1.3 million colonies of bees, approximately one half of all honey bees in the United States, and this need is projected to grow to 1.5 |
million colonies by 2010. The number of managed honey bee colonies has dropped from 5 million in the1940s to only 2.5 million today. At the same time, the call for hives to supply pollination service has continued to climb. This |
means honey bee colonies are trucked farther and more often than ever before. Honey bee colony health has also been declining since the 1980s with the advent of new pathogens and pests. The spread into the United States of varroa |
and tracheal mites, in particular, created major new stresses on honey bees. Is there currently a crisis in food production because of CCD? While CCD has created a very serious problem for beekeepers and could threaten the pollination industry if |
it becomes more widespread, fortunately there were enough bees to supply all the needed pollination this past spring. But we cannot wait to see if CCD becomes an agricultural crisis to do the needed research into the cause and treatment |
for CCD. The cost of hives for pollination has risen this year. But much of that is due to growing demand. Some of the price increase may also be due to higher cost of gas and diesel and other increases |
related to energy and labor costs. Commercial beekeepers truck hives long distances to provide pollination services, so in particular they must deal with rising expenses. Varroa mites (one is visible on the back of this bee) are a major threat |
to honey bee health and are becoming resistant to two compounds (coumaphos and fluvalinate) used to control them. Beekeepers now have a simple assay to determine whether mites are resistant and thus ensure use of appropriate control measures. Click the |
image for more information about it. Are there any theories about what may be causing CCD? Case studies and questionnaires related to management practices and environmental factors have identified a few common factors shared by those beekeepers experiencing CCD, but |
no common environmental agents or chemicals stand out as causative. There are three major possibilities that are being looked into by researchers. Pesticides may be having unexpected negative effects on honey bees. A new parasite or pathogen may be attacking |
honey bees. One possible candidate being looked at is a pathogenic gut microbe called Nosema. Viruses are also suspected. A perfect storm of existing stresses may have unexpectedly weakened colonies leading to collapse. Stress, in general, compromises the immune system |
of bees (and other social insects) and may disrupt their social system, making colonies more susceptible to disease. These stresses could include high levels of infection by the varroa mite (a parasite that feeds on bee blood and transmits bee |
viruses); poor nutrition due to apiary overcrowding, pollination of crops with low nutritional value, or pollen or nectar scarcity; and exposure to limited or contaminated water supplies. Migratory stress brought about by increased needs for pollination might also be a |
contributing factor. Has CCD ever happened before? The scientific literature has several mentions of honey bee disappearancesóin the 1880s, the 1920s and the 1960s. While the descriptions sound similar to CCD, there is no way to know for sure if |
the problems were caused by the same agents as today's CCD. There have also been unusual colony losses before. In 1903, in the Cache Valley in Utah, 2000 colonies were lost to an unknown "disappearing disease" after a "hard winter |
and a cold spring." More recently, in 1995-96, Pennsylvania beekeepers lost 53 percent of their colonies without a specific identifiable cause. What about cell phonesódo they have anything to do with CCD? The short answer is no. There was a |
very small study done in Germany that looked at whether a particular type of base station for cordless phones could affect honey bee homing systems. But, despite all the attention that this study has received, it has nothing to do |
with CCD. Stefan Kimmel, the researcher who conducted the study and wrote the paper, recently e-mailed The Associated Press to say that there is "no link between our tiny little study and the CCD-phenomenon ... anything else said or written |
is a lie." Newly emerged honey bee, Apis mellifera, the subject of genome sequencing work aimed at improving bee traits and management. Click the image for more information about it. What is ARS doing about CCD? In April 2007, ARS |
held a Colony Collapse Disorder Research Workshop that brought together over 80 of the major bee scientists, industry representatives, extension agents, and others to discuss a research agenda. They identified areas where more information is needed and the highest-priority needs |
for additional research projects related to CCD. A CCD Steering Committee, led by ARS and USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, developed a Research Action Plan to coordinate a comprehensive response for discovering what factors may be causing |
CCD and what actions need to be taken. One of the tools that will help in this research is the recently sequenced honey bee genome to better understand bees' basic biology and breed better bees, and to better diagnose bee |
pests and pathogens and their impacts on bee health and colony collapse. The use of this genome information certainly will have great applications in improving honey bee breeding and management. The search for factors that are involved in CCD is |
focusing on four areas: pathogens, parasites, environmental stresses, and bee management stresses such as poor nutrition. It is unlikely that a single factor is the cause of CCD; it is more likely that there is a complex of different components. |
In September 2007, a research team that included ARS published the results of an intensive genetic screening of CCD-affected honey bee colonies and non-CCD-affected hives. The only pathogen found in almost all samples from honey bee colonies with CCD, but |
not in non-CCD colonies, was the Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV), a dicistrovirus that can be transmitted by the varroa mite. It was found in 96.1 percent of the CCD-bee samples. This research does not identify IAPV as the cause |
of CCD. What this research found was strictly a strong correlation of the appearance of IAPV and CCD together. No cause-and-effect connection can be inferred from the genetic screening data. (More information about this study) Honey bees devour a new, |
nutrient-rich food developed by ARS researchers. Click the image for more information about it. This was the first report of IAPV in the United States. IAPV was initially identified in honey bee colonies in Israel in 2002, where the honey |
bees exhibited unusual behavior, such as twitching wings outside the hive and a loss of worker bee populations. The study also found IAPV in honey bees from Australia that had been imported into the United States, as well as in |
royal jelly imported from China. Australian bees began to be imported from Australia into the United States in 2005. Questions were raised about a connection between those imported bees and the appearance of IAPV in the United States. Beekeepers sought |
out Australian imports of bees as a way to replenish their hive populations. To determine whether IAPV has been present in the United States since before the importation of honey bees from Australia, a follow up detailed genetic screening of |
several hundred honey bees that had been collected between 2002 and 2007 from colonies in Maryland, Pennsylvania, California and Israel was conducted by ARS researchers. The results of the follow study showed IAPV has been in this country since at |
least 2002, which challenges the idea that IAPV is a recent introduction from Australia. (More information about this study) This study in no way rules IAPV out as a factor in CCD. Research by several groups will now focus on |
understanding differences in virulence across strains of IAPV and on interactions with other stress factors. Even if IAPV proves to be a cause of CCD, there still may also be other contributing factors-which researchers are pursuing. What should beekeepers do |
now about CCD? Since little is known about the cause(s) of CCD right now, mitigation must be based on improving general honey bee health and habitat and countering known mortality factors by using best management practices. What can I as |
a member of the public do to help honey bees? The best action you can take to benefit honey bees is to not use pesticides indiscriminately, especially not to use pesticides at mid-day when honey bees are most likely to |
|Talking Trash about the Oceans: Creating a Community Service Campaign to Stop Offshore Dumping| In this lesson, students create a community service advertising campaign that raises awareness about the importance of keeping trash out of the marine ecosystem. Students work in teams to create different ad campaigns geare... |
are also provided. Intended for grade levels: Type of resource: No specific technical requirements, just a browser required Cost / Copyright: Copyright 2005, The New York Times Company. DLESE Catalog ID: DWEL-000-000-000-461 Resource contact / Creator / Publisher: Publisher: The New York Times Learning Network |
This book was the chosen book for the Celebration of Reading campaign, 2012 A Dog Named Worthless: A Hero Is Born Children's Book for K-6th Grade Humane Education A Dog |
Named Worthless: A Hero Is Born Written and illustrated by Rocky Shepheard Welcome to Dogs Deserve Better's first Fantasy Action/Adventure Fiction picture book for kids and adults alike! Disney-esque in |
tone, the book is beautifully illustrated and written by Rocky Shepheard, a long-time supporter and advocate for chained dogs. The book is full color, hardback for better protection and sturdiness, |
and comes to life on 32 pages. Worthless is a chained dog who has never lived inside the house. He suffers through cold winters and hot summers only with the |
help of his two friends—Otto and Sly Fox. His friends plot to free him and they set off on an adventure to look for a new life somewhere where there |
are no chains. They search for days in snow and ice until they find a place on the edge of a pond to hunker down for the winter. But fate |
intervenes and presents an opportunity for Worthless to finally prove to himself that he is worthy of love and a good home. Will Worthless have the courage to face his |
fears and become the dog he has always wanted to be? About Worthless: Worthless was the name of a real dog, he was the reason that Dogs Deserve Better was |
founded and that's why the book was named after him. Someone actually named their dog Worthless, can you believe that? Read about his rescue here. It was fitting that the |
winning contest model for the book was another black lab named Maggie, beloved companion of Joe Maringo of SPARRO. Dan Piraro - Internationally acclaimed cartoonist and creator of Bizarro: "'A |
New Name for Worthless: A Hero is Born' is, like it's title character, anything but worthless. This is an exciting story with a full range of emotions that kids will |
love and adults will take pause to think about. The same story that is lovingly illustrated within plays itself out in communities all over the world and the lessons learned |
from this story are simple but so important. This book will lead readers of all ages to more fully understand the true nature of "man's best friend" with a common-sense, |
compassionate approach that can change the world for the better." – Dan Piraro, creator of "Bizarro" Cia Bruno, Esq. - New York Animal Rights Advocate: "A masterfully captivating illustrative theme! |
In A New Name for Worthless: A Hero is Born, the author skillfully introduces several elements of conflict and resolution that are rich in opportunity for mutual exploration between parent |
and child. The dominant message being that 'all' sentient creatures are worthy of our respect for their needs and existence." — Cia Bruno, Attorney at law and advocate for all |
pandering. From the first page to the last, the reader is drawn into the troubles of Worthless, and captivated by a wonderful story juxtaposed with exquisite paintings. For children this |
book is a must. For adults, it signifies hope and the progress being made for the lives of chained dogs all over the world." Travel books exploring our unique bond |
with animals DDB Founder Tamira Thayne: "When Rocky presented his idea, I was instantly intrigued by a story that is less about the reality of everyday chaining, and more a |
fun fiction tale featuring animal friends and foes. I was delighted with his storyline, and even more enamored with his illustrations. I hope that A New Name for Worthless: A |
Helfritch Co-founder of Open The Cages Alliance: "Rocky Shepheard's inspiring and delightful book, “A New Name for Worthless: A Hero is Born” will warm your heart and leave you smiling. |
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