BCC Makes A Wide Cleaning Agents With Chemicals You Can Find At Home

Top Ten Current Uses for a Stirling Engine

1. Cordless hair dryer
2. Heats homes in The Netherlands with 50-75 hp engine.
3. Provides basic power (5 hp) in Bangladesh by burning rice husks on the hot side of the engine (Lockwood engine).
4. Provides basic power to remote African villages by burning wood (1-5 hp Van Arsdell-Howard University engine).
5. Power oceanographic exploration submarine for Jacques Costeau, the Saga, so his team can quietly sneak up on the fishies and the whalies.
6. Power the quietest military submarines in the world—a 1300 hp Stirling engine drives subs in the Swedish and Danish fleets (but not in the American fleet—yet!!!).
7. Powers a rotisserie attachment to BBQ in Tulsa, Oklahoma (The Stirling engine rotisserie is so valuable that the owner will risk life and limb to dash out into Oklahoma rain and tornadoes to rescue the rotisserie—but leaves the BBQ to fend for itself!).
8. Powers remote scientific research stations in Antarctica, providing power to run the experiments, the telescope, and send back data to scientists in warmer locations.
9. Provides power to homes and businesses in Las Vegas, Nevada. The heat source is a series of solar collectors.
10. And the #1 use for a Stirling engine today … A Cat Magnet! (Any cat within 100 yards is drawn to it!)

Top Ten Uses for a Stirling Engine in History

1. A car: the AMC Spirit was powered by a Stirling engine in the 1970’s.
2. Fans: from the 1880’s to 1930’s, fans were often powered by Stirling engines.
3. Radios and rowboats. In the 1930’s, an engineer from Philips Electronics in The Netherlands found a Stirling fan at a flea market. Buying it, he adapted the engine to run a radio. Unfortunately, the transistor was invented soon after, making the more expensive Stirling radio obsolete. Deciding the project wouldn’t be in vain, the engineer took the Stirling engine and hung off the side of a row boat. Imagine the people standing along the Dutch canals wondering what was powering that rowboat with no oars in sight!
4. As a veritable replacement for any steam engine, the Stirling engine is much safer—which is why the Reverend Robert Stirling invented it in 1816!
5. Refrigerators and freezers: Sun Power of Athens, Ohio developed Stirling-powered refrigeration units in the 1980’s but they did not dent the market.
6. Stirling cycle coolers generate liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen in labs all around the world. It’s a moderately priced way to do so!
7. A yacht: Philips Electronics developed a 90 hp Stirling use for marine use.
8. Domestic water pumps: 1870’s to 1920’s.
9. Sewing machines: 1870’s to 1920’s.
10. And the #1 top use for a Stirling Engine … A Cat Magnet! Worked back then too!

Written by Kathy Bazan.

SciTech 2010 officially launched this morning, with the Director of National Council for Science and Technology (NCST), Dr Lennox Chandler giving the feature address. Dr Chandler sharing his reasons for stating that this Expo will be the last for a while. He lamented about the Expo generating great energy and excitement bi-annually and having fascinating projects that are torn down right after the exhibition with no real opportunity for commercialization. 

Listen below

Dr. Lennox Chandler – Address

ICBL –  On Behalf Of Sponsors

Charles Cyrus – Vote Of Thanks

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

Queen's College Science Club says change your fuel … save the world

The biggest problem in the world is global warming

We say remove the carbon dioxide with our C2C converter 

Participants 

• Rebecca Whitehead
• Alexis Layne
• Sharan Sambhwani
• Gabriela Grant

Supervised by Ms. P Murray – Chemistry Teacher

Timothy Walker completed his booth early and gives us a basic overview of his business which features Vollara products with ActivePure Technology from the space program! 

So here in a Stirling Engine … 

And here is the one that Sanjay Mahabir will be showing you this weekend at SciTech Expo 2010!!!! 

Creating a culture of rainfall monitoring to combat the negative impacts of climate extremes and any future climate change

Rainfall extremes and their impacts have always been a part of the climate and physical landscapes of Barbados. They are a part of and not apart from the climate. Rainfall in the Caribbean islands is characterised by a wet and a dry season in each year. It is not unusual to experience significant dry spells during the wet season or very wet spells in the dry season. With the suggestion by the IPCC of reduced total rainfall of up to 15 to 20 % by 2100, the frequency and severity of dry spells and droughts are expected to increase. There is also the prediction, and patterns are already noticed, of an increasing number of high intensity rainfall events. 

Drought is viewed as abnormally low water availability, often due to abnormally low precipitation. It is a slow, creeping disaster that may only be recognised when it is already upon you – then it might be too late. Droughts range in intensity, duration (weeks to years) and spatial extent (which is normally greater than for other climate hazards). Drought impacts are normally cumulative and the effects are magnified when occurring from one season to the next. It is for these reasons that the Caribbean Drought and Precipitation Network (CDPMN) was established; to be a system that will closely monitor precipitation for such occurrences. It is important to note that even though the concept of rainfall monitoring was developed mainly for the negative extreme of rainfall, the indices and indicators being developed and used also provide useful information on excessively high precipitation, which will form part of the information provided to the Caribbean community. 

The CDPMN: The concept in action 

The Caribbean Drought and Precipitation Monitoring Network was launched in January 2009 under the project the Caribbean Water Initiative (CARIWIN, www.mcgill.ca/cariwin). The goal of CARIWIN is to increase the capacity of Caribbean countries to deliver equitable and sustainable Integrated Water resources Management (IWRM). CARIWIN, launched in February of 2007, is jointly implemented by the Brace Centre for Water Resources Management of McGill University, CIMH, and the partner countries of Grenada, Guyana and Jamaica. The CDPMN is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2010. 

Drought and the general precipitation status will be monitored on two scales: (i) regional, encompassing the entire Caribbean basin (this activity was operational from the time of launching) and (ii) national; using a number of indices and indicators. Indices such as the Standardized Precipitation Index and Deciles would be indicators of normal or abnormal rainfall. Other indices can provide information on normal or abnormal soil moisture (Palmer Drought Severity index, PDSI, Crop Moisture Index, CMI) or status of vegetation (Normalised Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI). Other indicators can provide information on stream and river flow, lake and reservoir levels and ground water quantities. 

At the regional scale, because of the dominance of water surface, only rainfall indices are being used. So far, national scale activity has begun in Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana and are all in the development phase and are therefore not yet operational. 

Once fully operational, the final rainfall status of the region/country will be determined, by consensus, by a network of persons from different sectors, institutions, communities and backgrounds embracing the diversity in definitions and impacts of drought and by utilising the spectrum of indices and indicators. 

CIMH currently produces a precipitation outlook for the Caribbean from Guyana in the south, across the island chain to Belize in the West. The information is in the form of probabilities of normal, above normal and below normal rainfall with a lead time of three months. The forecasts will be used in combination with the monitoring output to provide projections of precipitation index values with lead times of up to three months. 

Outcomes and benefits expected from CDPMN 

In addition to monitoring trends, implementing early warning systems, and networking, the CDPMN will define knowledge gaps and uncover the needs to address extreme events and coping mechanisms. The network will be valuable for decision makers to be able to target their efforts on the most vulnerable regions and communities. Researchers and decision makers will gain access to a community of professionals working on drought and flood issues. 

The 2009 – 10 Drought 

The eastern Caribbean is gripped by a severe to extreme drought. The drought first expressed itself during the wet season of 2009 (in particular from the month of October) in the south eastern Caribbean, and spread northward. The 5 to 6 month drought was particularly harsh on the region’s farmers. The severity of impacts were also felt in the water resources sectors, forcing many Caribbean countries to take measures to control the rate of water use. During February 2010, rainfall totals were amongst the lowest (and in some cases the lowest) on record across the eastern Caribbean. 

During the March to May 2010 period, there should be a gradual return to near-normal conditions. However, one must be reminded that this period is the climatological dry season and therefore the cumulative impacts from the drought should continue during this period. 

Adrian Trotman

Chief of Applied Meteorology and Climatology

Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology

http://www.cimh.edu.bb/Staff%20profiles/Staff%20profiles/Atrotman.htm 

Sci-Tech 2010 – Concorde Launch       

Press Release

Contact:
Lennox Chandler, Director, NCST - Phone: 246.427.1820
Linda Walrond - Phone: 246.424.0994

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Solar power for homes is also good for the environment, since it does not contribute any green house gases. Just the use of solar power to heat our water can reduce tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere. High CO2 levels can kill most life forms. It is predicted that the level needed to eradicate the human race will be reached in less than fifty years!

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Solar power for homes is available now. Today there are many guides and videos that we can use to accomplish this task. It is great that we are recycling more and driving fuel efficient cars, but our household energy use must also change. If we don’t do something soon it will literally be the end of our race forever.

Solar power for homes is in our future- are you ready to do your part? Then learn all you can about solar energy and begin building an earth friendly energy source. Whether you go totally green or even just a small amount of green, at least you will be doing something to help our future generations!

Solar power for homes is in my future; is it in yours too? Learn more about solar options for saving money and clean energy at http://www.mysunpowerideas.com