Engineers and architects are creating bridges that combine the best of
both art and design. Bridges are no longer just a tool to get from one side
of the river to the other. Some bridges, such as the Gateshead Millennium
Bridge in England, have the goal of being aesthetically pleasing and
efficient for pedestrians. Others such as the Skye Bridge in Scotland rely
on the cantilever design to span a distance equivalent to three and a half
jumbo jets.
The Mexican free-tailed bat is one of the most abundant mammals in
North America. Outside of San Antonio, Texas there is a cave that is
home to over 40 million of these bats. Roosting in large numbers in
relatively few areas makes them especially vulnerable to human disturbance
and habitat destruction. Documented declines at some roosts are
cause for concern because there is a delicate balance in the ecosystem<
that depends on the bats. There is also cause for concern among other
bat species that are falling victim to white nose syndrome, which is a
condition named for a distinctive fungal growth around the muzzles and
on the wings of affected animals. It is a cold-loving fungus that grows at
temperatures below 20 °C (68 °F). It grows on bats when they are
hibernating in winter. The fungus appears to disrupt the normal patterns
of hibernation, causing bats to arouse too frequently from torpor and
starve to death.
With the retirement of NASA’s space shuttle fleet in 2011, the role of
getting people, satellites and other instruments into space falls to private
companies. As of June 2011, there have been only 523 people to reach
the 100 kilometer mark (considered human spaceflight), and only 24
have traveled beyond low Earth orbit. It is projected that within ten
years, the number of people who will have flown into space will increase
by about 600 percent due to the increasing market of suborbital spaceflight
and the possibility of private citizens utilizing space flight.
Peer inside any electronic device and you will see at the heart of that
device, a printed circuit board. These boards which used to connect just
enough capacitors and resistors to run a simple transistor radio are now
used to run all of our electronic devices. New technology has shrunk the
size of all of the components that attach to the board, the width of the
wires that connect them and even the size of the circuit board itself.
Without the printed circuit board, our world would look a lot different.
Water constantly moves through an immense global cycle, evaporating
from lakes and oceans all over the world, condensing to form clouds,
precipitating as rain and snow, which then flows back to the oceans.>
Hydroelectric power take advantage of this water cycle to drive
machinery or create electricity. Hydroelectric power uses moving water
as energy. Because the water cycle is an endless and constantly
recharging system, it is an excellent source of renewable energy.
The Earth’s climate has a long history of drastic fluctuation. From
ice ages to long periods of warmth, there are natural occurrences
such as volcanic eruptions and changes in the Sun’s intensity that
affect the climate. More recently, there is wide speculation that
activities associated with the Industrial revolution have altered the
atmosphere and have negatively affected the climate.
Learning to incorporate a variety of eco-friendly energy sources into
our businesses and homes will make Earth a better place to live.
Part one of Transforming Energy explores photovoltaics, the design
behind wind turbine technology, and the creative processes behind
vehicles in the American Solar Car Race. Zero energy houses of the
future will use many of these technologies to produce more energy
than they consume.
This program stresses the importance of caring for our
environment and provides an overview of multiple energy
sources such as biomass and solar energy. This second
part of Transforming Energy documents how some states
are trying to enact laws that require local power plants to
increase their power provided by renewable energy. To preserve
our planet’s health, scientists explore green projects
involving ecologically friendly architecture and sustainable
communities with solar homes and green housing developments.
