October 20, 2012
October 06, 2012
October 04, 2012
Biodiversity
The variety of life on Earth, its biological diversity is commonly referred to as biodiversity. The number of species of plants, animals, and microorganisms, the enormous diversity of genes in these species, the different ecosystems on the planet, such as deserts, rain forests and coral reefs are all part of a biologically diverse Earth. Appropriate conservation and sustainable development strategies attempt to recognize this as being integral to any approach. Almost all cultures have in some way or form recognized the importance that nature, and its biological diversity has had upon them and the need to maintain it. Yet, power, greed and politics have affected the precarious balance.
Why Is Biodiversity Important? Who Cares?
Why is Biodiversity important? Does it really matter if there aren’t so many species?
Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity where each species, no matter how small, all have an important role to play.
For example, a larger number of plant species means a greater variety of crops; greater species diversity ensures natural sustainability for all life forms; and healthy ecosystems can better withstand and recover from a variety of disasters.
And so, while we dominate this planet, we still need to preserve the diversity in wildlife.
Loss Of Biodiversity And Extinctions
It has long been feared that human activity is causing massive extinctions. Despite increased efforts at conservation, it has not been enough and biodiversity losses continue. The costs associated with deteriorating or vanishing ecosystems will be high. However, sustainable development and consumption would help avert ecological problems.Nature And Animal Conservation
Preserving species and their habitats is important for ecosystems to self-sustain themselves.
Yet, the pressures to destroy habitat for logging, illegal hunting, and other challenges are making conservation a struggle.
Climate Change Affects Biodiversity
Rapid global warming can affect an ecosystems chances to adapt naturally.
The Arctic is very sensitive to climate change and already seeing lots of changes. Ocean biodiversity is already being affected as are other parts of the ecosystem.
Coral Reefs
One type of ecosystem that perhaps is neglected more than any other is perhaps also the richest in biodiversity—the coral reefs.
Coral reefs are useful to the environment and to people in a number of ways. However, all around the world, much of the world’s marine biodiversity face threats from human and activities as well as natural. It is feared that very soon, many reefs could die off.
Addressing Biodiversity Loss
At the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was born. 192 countries, plus the EU, are now Parties to that convention. In April 2002, the Parties to the Convention committed to significantly reduce the loss of biodiversity loss by 2010.
Perhaps predictably, that did not happen. Despite numerous successful conservations measures supporting biodiversity, the 2010 biodiversity target has not been met at the global level. This page provides an overview on how the attempts to prevent biodiversity loss is progressing.
Biosafety Protocol 1999
The February 1999 Biodiversity Protocol meeting in Colombia broke down because USA, not even a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity, to which the protocol is meant to be part of, and five other countries of the "Miami Group" felt that their business interests were threatened. The safety concerns were unfortunately overridden by trade concerns. Some technological advances, especially in genetically engineered food, have been very fast paced and products are being pushed into the market place without having been proven safe. All over the world, concerned citizens and governments have been trying to take precautionary measures. However, 1999 was not a successful year in that respect.
Biosafety Protocol 2000
A Biosafety Protocol meeting was hosted in Montreal, Canada January 24 to January 28. Compared to the fiasco of the previous year, this time, there had been a somewhat successful treaty to regulate the international transport and release of genetically modified organisms to protect natural biological diversity. However, there were a number of important and serious weaknesses too.
Climate Change And Global Warming
The climate is changing. The earth is warming up, and there is now overwhelming scientific consensus that it is happening, and human-induced. With global warming on the increase and species and their habitats on the decrease, chances for ecosystems to adapt naturally are diminishing. Many are agreed that climate change may be one of the greatest threats facing the planet. Recent years show increasing temperatures in various regions, and/or increasing extremities in weather patterns.
This section explores some of the effects of climate change. It also attempts to provide insights into what governments, companies, international institutions, and other organizations are attempting to do about this issue, as well as the challenges they face. Some of the major conferences in recent years are also discussed.
Environmental Issues
Environmental issues are also a major global issue. Humans depend on a sustainable and healthy environment, and yet we have damaged the environment in numerous ways. This section introduces other issues including biodiversity, climate change, animal and nature conservation, population, genetically modified food, sustainable development, and more.October 01, 2012
September 28, 2012
.png)
August 30, 2012
August 29, 2012
Does GPA reflect how good an engineer you are or just how good you are at memorising terms?
As the light from my laptop screen illuminated my face, giving it an eerie glow in the dim room, my fingers worked away furiously with vigorous speed and certainty at the keys as I typed out the answers for the questions on my application form for the Thoughtworks Fellowship. It meant a great deal to get chosen, as only a select few are chosen for this fellowship.
After answering the first few questions easily without thought, I scrolled to the next question which seemed to slap me in my face — “Have you applied any of your subjects in real life? If so, please tell us in less than or in 100 words.”
The laptop seemed to be waiting for me with its unblinking screen, eagerly expecting an answer. My fingers wandered restlessly above the keys. At that moment, I realised the actual reason I had applied for the fellowship — I had absolutely no practical knowledge or hands on experience. I had been taught to define terms with precise keywords, follow the mark scoring pattern of answering to get an outstanding grade, to underline points, to use different coloured inks to present an attractive paper and to never deviate from the prescribed syllabus — all in the pursuit of a superficial GPA. But does this GPA project my application skills or how well I can use my knowledge in real time? No.
It does not say anything about my logical reasoning, intelligence quotient or how good an engineer I am. It merely projects my amazing memory capacity, and how well I can present a neat, well formatted paper and comment on my penmanship. There is no thinking out of the box.
Bottomline: Students are merely a domestic, trained herd, with blinkers on that narrow their vision to the road immediately ahead of them and making them oblivious to their surroundings.
Is engineering education is satisfying industrial needs ?
Industrial needs base on student experience
The industrial needs will be pointed on the base on experience of one of the largest European
engineering students organization BEST (Board of European Students of Technology). Members of
that organization have opportunity to travel through different European countries, seeing how the
education system works in each of them. They also visited many companies and had a meetings
with the managers form one of the biggest worldwide business like: Procter & Gamble, Shell,
Accenture, Schlumberger, ICI, Whirlpool, Masterfoods, Electrolux, Capgemini, McKinsey &
Company, Altran, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Ernst & Young and many others. Since BEST is an
organization which is helping industries in finding the best students for them, helping them and
participating in a interviews, they learned what are the modern requirements which will satisfy the
industrial needs.
It seems that in a one hand we can find some commons between education and industry and in the
other their or two separated, independent institutions. Very good background and basic knowledge
are the ideas which are in a high interest for the now days modern industry. It is obvious that
engineers without a good knowledge will not build a good base for their bridge, and no one will
want to stand below that bridge. But good theory knowledge is not enough: our future engineer has
to have a good practice. Only when we will apply the practice together with knowledge we can
obtain the best engineering education product overlooked today by industry.
Industry complains on lack of practical skills of our graduate students. But the practice and
knowledge are not only a factors seeking by an industrial employer, the good communications
skills, ability of work with a group of people, leadership and a hobby are also in a high interest now
days. It already happened a few times when they had a two students, the same university, the same
age, only a difference was that one of them had a highest marks and no hobby, no any other extra
activities. The other was a little bit more then average student, but he was a person which had a lot
of achievements in his life, he liked to spend time in an active way, helping others, working with
different groups, organizations, participating with many projects. The employers where always
choosing the second one, with high area of interest.
The engineering education market is composed through public and privet institutions, but also new
universities established by the global companies are also starting today. The engineering
educational institutions as a hubs/ centre of excellences are in plans, too. What should we do to
make it work better? An engineering education starts with a creative child's first lesson in science or
math. Unfortunately (talking about Poland, and Easter countries) that education ends right away
after that class. That lesson or real practice should stars at the elementary school and ends when we
are retired or maybe even after, because engineering education is with us to the vary end. We can
ask how to participate in an engineering projects being at the elementary school? The answer is
simple, being engineer is not only making calculations but also designing and drawing: going in
that direction we could ask kids for example to draw their perfect imaginary toy. That is the perfect
moment when cooperation between education and industry starts. In that way future engineers will
learn the real world and practice from the very beginning. We can to conclude that to have a good
engineer, with a good skill we have start to educate them in an early age.
So dear students, please select an institution that provides you the course wear satisfying the corporate industry, instead just an engineering degree.
Principles of Chemical Science- Basics
This video deals with an explanation about basic concepts of Chemical sciences like Rutherford's theory of planetary motion, Bohr's explanations for the hydrogen spectrum, Sommerfelds theory of elliptical orbits and so on.
August 08, 2012
A new oxidant in the atmosphere identified
The new oxidant has "significant capacity" to oxidize sulfur dioxide.
Scientists have for the first time found unequivocal evidence of another oxidant playing a vital role in the formation of gaseous sulphuric acid in the atmosphere. Until now, it was thought that the combination of OH (hydroxyl radical) oxidant with sulphur dioxide (SO) was the dominant way by which gaseous sulphuric acid is formed in the atmosphere. The results are published on August 9, 2012 in Nature.
R.L. Mauldin from the University of Helsinki and other co-authors are yet to identify the oxidant with certainty, and have named it as ‘X.’ They found the new oxidant has “significant capacity” to oxidise sulphur dioxide.
The investigation into the presence of ‘X’ was conducted in the boreal forest region in Finland. The OH concentrations are not constant throughout the day. The maximum concentration is found at noon and much lower values during night.
Measurements taken in the field for a week showed that the concentration of ‘X’ also does not remain constant during the day. But its levels are much higher than the hydroxyl radical (OH) during evenings and nights. And the levels of gaseous sulphuric acid measured were also much higher than expected if only OH were present.
“Sulphuric acid originating from this non-OH source may contribute up to 50 per cent of the total HSO budget, demonstrating the important role of this HSO formation route,” they write.
Since the new oxidant was found to be particularly abundant during the evenings and nights, the scientists postulate that it must be related to “reaction of surface emission, such as naturally produced hydrocarbons, with ozone.”
To confirm their findings, the scientists carried out laboratory experiments where SO was exposed to mixtures of ozone and various alkenes, and the resulting atmospheric sulphuric acid levels were measured.
The experiments were repeated using an OH scavenger. To their surprise, sulphuric acid was still being formed, thus confirming the results obtained in the field.
The most efficient way of producing atmospheric sulphuric acid from a non-OH source could be from monoterpenes than for other alkenes, they note. Apparently, monoterpenes, including limonene and alpha pinene used in the experiment, are emitted by trees. And these two were found in abundance in the field.
They followed the next logical step of reconfirming its actual production by the trees. They cut branches from different trees and measured the amount of OH and ‘X’ produced.
The amount of OH produced was “minor in comparison to production of ‘X.’”
In conclusion, they state: “Our findings add to the already substantial significance of forests in the Earth system by introducing a previously unknown oxidant, probably an sCI, capable of oxidizing at least SO and possibly also other atmospheric trace gases relevant to atmospheric chemistry.”
“The technique used by them to measure OH is known as chemical ionization mass spectroscopy (CIMS), and it has been used in a range of environments. It is therefore surprising that the significance of background signals has not been recognized in previous studies,” notes a News piece in the same issue of the journal.
“The forested environment studied by the authors emits large quantities of alkene, and so provides ideal conditions for the formation of ‘X.’ Measurements of ‘X’ are now needed in other environments, to determine its global impact on the production of atmospheric sulphuric acid.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)