Stacey+B

=Week 4 =

Tires that charge your car?
This week our class has been discussing the different types and forms of energy; this list ranges from both non renewable sources, such as coal, oil, and natural gas, to renewable sources like solar, wind, turbine, and biomass. So, as I was going about finding an article that intrigued me and also related to this week, I came across an electricity-generating tire idea. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company released the BH-03 concept tire and determined that it would capture energy in two ways: taking advantage of piezoelectricity which is the electric charge that builds up in certain materials as they are squeeze or pressed, and using thermoelectricity which would generate electricity from the difference between the hottest and coolest parts of the rubber tire. However, this is only how the energy will be captured from the tires - the engineers at Goodyear are still contemplating how to use the energy, whether to use it to send to the car's battery, or use it to power a sensor that informs the car's computer of the tire pressure and temperature to improve performance. Personally, I think these concept tires could be a really cool invention and add a major sustainable aspect to cars and every day life. With this addition of energy collecting tires to cars, they will be able to perform better and use more efficient energy, which will help us and this planet in the long term. With more renewable energy being used to power cars, less nonrenewable energy such as oils and natural gasses will have to be used, thus less carbon dioxide filling the atmosphere and heating out planet. Another cool connection to this article is a conversation I once had with my father; we have discussions on the world and its problems and how we would solve them, and one time my father mentioned that he believe roads should be engineered to charge cars as they drive on them. I agreed with him, but I didn't know if such a thing would ever happen (I was younger and couldn't grasp the total awesomeness and endless possibilities in this world) but these tires are incredibly similar to his idea, which I find really amazing. Overall, I think our advancements as a human race are helpful, and we can only continue to improve and make our products more efficient and helpful to our environment. media type="youtube" key="N1Io5ex7BO4" width="560" height="315" Goodyear's concept video for the electricity-generating tire

=Week 3 =

(To clarify: it's plastic pollution in the ocean, I just wanted to make it rhyme)
A young visionary, Boyan Slat, ambitiously planned and developed a way to remove plastic waste from the ocean; specifically in the Great Pacific Garbage  Patch, which is the largest area that trash is collecting due to the currents of the ocean. The eager scientist determined his future of depleting the amount of trash in the ocean wh ile in Greece where he stated that, "I came across more plastic bags than fish".

His design uses long, u-shaped floating screens that have a suspended anchor attached to them at a depth of about 1,500 to 2,000 feet. The deeper the anchor can go, the slower the current becomes, which allows the entire system to slow; as the system slows, the plastic continues with its normal, faster speed, which results in it hitting the barriers, becoming concentrated, and finally being susceptible to clean up by vessels (essentially trash trucks for the ocean). He and his large team of engineers and scientists believe that with a fleet of 50 or such systems, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch will decrease to about half of its size in the next five years.

This past week we learned about factory farming and the harsh conditions the animals endures. Although this particular article is about ocean life/ocean cleanup, it still relates to the treatment of animals in general. Ocean animals are being pushed out of their environments due to the influx of trash, and dying from mistaking the plastic as food. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is unique for its size, but it is most certainly not the only are where trash pollutes - there are multiple ocean gyres that cause trash to build up and create these pollution patches in the water.

Similarly, this connects to my topic for the sustainability project: Life Underwater. This technology that is being developed will greatly help with the pollution that is taking up space that could be utilized for marine life. With the large amounts of pollution crowding the ocean, the impact on the marine life would not only hurt the critters of the ocean, but also all life on Earth. Overall, this is a movement in the right direction, and will hopefully have only positive effects on the Earth.

@https://youtu.be/5tR9Qhev09A Click on this link to see scientific buoys migrate and track the patterns of ocean currents, and ultimately where they end up- in 5 distinct areas known as gyres or garbage patches (shown in the picture above). Or, click on this to mindlessly watch white dots move across the blue parts on the map of the world; whichever seems more entertaining to you.

https://youtu.be/ROW9F-c0kIQ Click here to watch Boyan Slat talk about his journey towards developing his new technology. (I would have added the video but every time I tried to load it my page would delete)

https://www.theoceancleanup.com/ Lastly, click on this link if you are interested in helping to clean up the ocean!

= =

=Week 2 =

**<span style="color: #0fa138; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Sperm Freeze Dried in Space Produced Healthy Mice **
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">For nine months, freeze-dried mouse sperm was stored on the international space station. After 288 days passed, the sperm was sent back to Earth, and compared to sperm that was preserved similarly. The research showed that the sperm kept in space suffered slightly more DNA damage than the sperm kept on Earth (which was consistent with damage seen in DNA from the process of freeze-drying it), however it was able to produce a normal ratio of male to female pups, that grew up into viable, and fertile adults. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This research gives a lead into the possibilities and opportunities for the future. Considering the movie WALL-E, based off of a future in which the world is completely destroyed and incapable of sustaining life, this ability of preserving sperm and being able to use it to reproduce healthy offspring gives us a way to protect the species that currently inhabit the Earth. This development in sperm preservation will be an important aspect in maintaining the diversity of life in case of such a disaster/future. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Here's a question: Should we be focusing our efforts on technology for preserving life after the earth is uninhabitable, or developing technology to sustain Earth and the life already occupying it? For the full article and more information, click this sick link!! http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/05/16/1701425114.full

=<span style="color: #1f5e31; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Introduction/ Week 1 =

**<span style="color: #0fa138; font-family: Georgia,serif;">After watching WALL-E, use your own background knowledge to define SUSTAINABILITY in your own words **

 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Based solely off of WALL-E, and in my own words, I would claim sustainability is the ability to create and maintain an ecosystem (the earth) to be healthy and ripe with the right conditions (sun light, nutrients, water, other chemicals, etc.) to maintain the diversity of all forms of life.

==**<span style="color: #0fa138; font-family: Georgia,serif;">What are the next steps for the new settlers? That is, if you were to colonize an area in this condition, what are some of the first major issues & solutions that need to be accomplished for successful & sustainable future? **==
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Planting as many plants as possible in the area would be important so they can photosynthesize to create glucose (food/energy) and oxygen, and also to fixate other significant chemicals used to maintain life. Water would also be necessary for recolonizing the earth, with watering the plants to assist them with their growth and photosynthetic abilities, along with other organisms that need water for their own metabolic processes. Shelter is another incredibly important factor, because it provides protection from the harsh rays of the sun, and natural predators. The lack of food, energy, and protection from the environment are just a few of the issues that would be faced by new settlers, which could be fixed with the solutions I've listed. [[image:https://dornsife.usc.edu/assets/sites/388/imgs/SEISlabhomeimage.png width="200" height="200" align="left"]]