Back to the Future in a 98-Year-Old Electric Car

I came across an interesting article in the New York Times website dating back about a year ago.  It’s a feature about Jay Leno’s 1909 Baker Electric…  yes, that’s right… an electric car that is almost 100 years old.  It had a range of about 100 miles at approximately 25mph.  Check out the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/05/automobiles/05BAKER.html?pagewanted=all

Imagine how much better hybrid or electric automobiles would be today if the technology was the focus of automobile development rather than the internal combustion engine.  The batteries used were invented by Thomas Edison, and were reusable INDEFINITELY.  No need to throw them out and buy new batteries…  just rinse them out and replace the alkaline.  Jay Leno stated that he regularly uses the ORIGINAL Edison alkaline batteries regularly.

If you would like to see this thing in action… check out this video from Jay Leno’s Garage:

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/video_player.shtml?vid=187711

Study Affirms Nature’s Ability to Relieve Stress

I suppose I should not be surprised that this study was performed, but I have always sort of knew that actually seeing real nature is far more relaxing and calming than watching an animated screen saver, or desktop background.  Of course, in today’s digital world many of us don’t get the opportunity to get out as much as we should, so our screen savers are vacation slide shows and our desktop wallpaper is often scenes of tropical islands we want to visit someday.

SEATTLE - In a study that reaffirms the restorative powers of nature, researchers at the University of Washington report that for stress relief, looking outside trumps toiling away in a windowless room or viewing a digital version of that outdoor scene.

Read the full article here:  http://www.psycport.com/showArticle.cfm?xmlFile=krt_2008_06_11_knihj_6291-0110-MED-NATURE.SE.xml&provider=The%20Seattle%20Times

Perhaps this is a reminder for those of us who get so caught up in our work to take a moment and look out our windows… or better yet… go outside and actually be part of the REAL world for a bit.

Half of Papua New Guinea Forests Could Vanish

The news just keeps getting better and better:

Half of Papua New Guinea’s forests will be lost or damaged in just over a decade, speeding up local climate change, unless logging is dramatically reduced, a study released Monday found.

The University of Papua New Guinea report, which used satellite images to show the loss in forest cover between 1972 and 2002, found that at current rates, 53 percent of forest was at risk of being destroyed by 2021.

Read the full article here: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/06/02/new-guinea-forest.html

It still amazes me, after all of the data that comes from the scientific community, that people can even begin to question that Global Warming is a serious threat.  Or that they question whether or not humans have accelerated it!  It’s pretty obvious to me (and most of the credible scientific community) that humans have accelerated Global Warming through any number of activities…  like deforestation, for example.

Gas Rises While Oil Declines

So, like most Americans, I’ve been grumping about gasoline prices for quite a while now. I’ve watched the price of gas spiral upward, and the resulting inflation throughout the economy due to the increased costs of distribution and travel. I had to buy gasoline today, and I while I was at the pump, I began to get angry. Not just frustrated, but genuinely angry, and I decided to do a little digging into what the cost of refining, distribution, and marketing gasoline is.

Let’s go on a little journey, shall we?

Read more

Clean-air rules for national parks may be eased

This is just the sort of thing that really upsets me:

Scientists, managers oppose plan that may allow for new power plants

The rewriting of air-quality rules would ease the way for the construction of 33 coal-fired power plants within 186 miles of 10 national parks, including Great Smokey Mountains, left, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24658362/

Here’s some interesting facts I dug up…

• China’s Ministry of Health says pollution has made cancer China’s leading cause of death.

• Only 1 percent of China’s 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered safe by the European Union.

• Nearly 500 million people lack access to safe drinking water.

• According to the Journal of Geophysical Research, much of the particulate pollution over Los Angeles originates in China.

Much of the pollution in China is a result of their energy demands, which are primarily answered with coal fired power plants. The effects of China’s pollution have worldwide reach, and will for many years to come. Keeping this in mind, why in the name of all that is sacred, would we even consider relaxing Clean Air protections?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/world/asia/26china.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2005/oct/31/china.pollution

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/07/070709-china-pollution.html

People never see it coming, when they look the other way.