16/07/2012
An electrifying way to lower our carbon footprint
There’s undoubtedly loads of research time going into making motoring more ecological and economical.
Many scientists and manufacturers are scrambling over each other in an attempt to lower everyone’s carbon footprint.
One recent break-through is the work of a Japanese research team at The Toyohashi University of Technology. They have devised a way for electric cars of the future to charge as they drive – rendering the need for car charging points obsolete.
They are going to electrify the roads.
Yes – the surface pedestrians cross over regularly and drivers step onto to access their vehicles – they believe that pumping electricity through it is a good idea.
The team managed to send electrical current through six inches of concrete, through tyres, to a light bulb which lit up to show the experiment had been successful.
Apparently that experiment could be scaled up so the current would go through 12 inches of concrete and be viable as an actual way of powering electric cars, but the current’s strength would also have to be increased.
Forgive me if I’m not that taken with the idea. Don’t we already have enough road accidents annually? Let’s not add electrocution to those stats.
Many scientists and manufacturers are scrambling over each other in an attempt to lower everyone’s carbon footprint.One recent break-through is the work of a Japanese research team at The Toyohashi University of Technology. They have devised a way for electric cars of the future to charge as they drive – rendering the need for car charging points obsolete.
They are going to electrify the roads.
Yes – the surface pedestrians cross over regularly and drivers step onto to access their vehicles – they believe that pumping electricity through it is a good idea.
The team managed to send electrical current through six inches of concrete, through tyres, to a light bulb which lit up to show the experiment had been successful.
Apparently that experiment could be scaled up so the current would go through 12 inches of concrete and be viable as an actual way of powering electric cars, but the current’s strength would also have to be increased.
Forgive me if I’m not that taken with the idea. Don’t we already have enough road accidents annually? Let’s not add electrocution to those stats.
Photo © Icronic.com via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: carbon footprint, ecological, economical, electric cars, motoring, power, research team, scientists
17/02/2012
Antifreeze fish
Has your car ever run out of antifreeze at the wrong moment, resulting in you having to rummage around in the garage or your boot to top it up while grumbling about how cold it is outside?
Well, one group of fish will never have to worry about this problem.
Yes, we know that no fish will ever have this problem because none of them – to our knowledge – are drivers, but that’s not what we meant.
These particular fish, the notothenioids, live in sub-zero waters in the Antarctic and have developed what is being called ‘natural antifreeze’ in their bodies which makes them able to survive the devastatingly cold temperatures they swim in.
There are more than 120 of these ‘antifreeze’ fish species and they have managed to live for millions of years and through the ice age that killed many other fish that hadn’t adapted well enough to the cold.
Worryingly though, these marine animals have adapted themselves so well to the cold that if climate change increases the temperatures of their water too much, they’re unlikely to survive.
So, the next time you top up the antifreeze in your car, think of these strange Antarctic fish and drive in an economical way to help reduce your carbon footprint. The notothenioids would thank you if they could.
Well, one group of fish will never have to worry about this problem. Yes, we know that no fish will ever have this problem because none of them – to our knowledge – are drivers, but that’s not what we meant.
These particular fish, the notothenioids, live in sub-zero waters in the Antarctic and have developed what is being called ‘natural antifreeze’ in their bodies which makes them able to survive the devastatingly cold temperatures they swim in.
There are more than 120 of these ‘antifreeze’ fish species and they have managed to live for millions of years and through the ice age that killed many other fish that hadn’t adapted well enough to the cold.
Worryingly though, these marine animals have adapted themselves so well to the cold that if climate change increases the temperatures of their water too much, they’re unlikely to survive.
So, the next time you top up the antifreeze in your car, think of these strange Antarctic fish and drive in an economical way to help reduce your carbon footprint. The notothenioids would thank you if they could.
Photo © NOAA Photo Library via Flickr, under Creative Commons Licence
Labels: adapted, Antarctic, antifreeze, boot, car, carbon footprint, cold, driver, economical, fish, garage, notothenioids, sub-zero, temperature, water
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]