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Technology series (silicon)

This diagram shows the electrons flowing into the "holes."The Back Contact is the wires that sends electrons into the grid.

Silicon is a fundamental element that is used in a almost any electronic device and more. This would include solar panels, microchips, glass, transistors, lasers, and fiber optic cables. In solar cells, it is crucial to have a semi-conducting element; since silicon is a very efficient semi-conductor it is used in all commercial solar-cells. When photons, (light, Sunlight) hit the panel converts it into electrical energy because of the PN junction. The PN junction occurs when the light (photons) come into contact with the electrons on P and N type silicon. The electrons create a negative pole where there is the most electrons and a positive pole where there is fewer electrons or "empty holes for the electrons to flow into". When the electrons "flow into their holes" the light excites them and they break free and come into contact with metal wires on the cell. Since the wire is a conductor, the electrons "jump onto the wire", thus creating a electric circuit. PS, only refined silicon can form the P.N junction because this type of silicon is not found in nature. Therefore they refine natural silicon into pure silicon; then they add impurities like phosphorus to create the junction.


Read my science/environment/tech posts. Remember that the turtle proverb says " Curious Turtles have the map to the lake of knowledge."

Nuclear Power part 3

How a Nuclear Power-plant Works.

Nuclear power plants generate electricity by converting uranium 235 to energy which turns electric generators. The Power station contains a nuclear reactor (has fuel rods), cooling tower, generator, turbine, substation, and control room. First, Uranium atoms are exploding inside fuel rods since neutrons are crashing into them creating 2000 degree heat. Tons of pipes filled with water cool down the rods so that they dont melt and so they produce steam. A huge pipe transports the steam to a colossal turbine over 50ft in length. The steam blasts through the blades turning a axle at a extremely high speed with tons of force. A gearbox makes the axle spin faster where it is connected to an AC generator. Then the power is transformed in a substation to about 140,000 to 800,000 volts and sent over transmission lines to another substation that lowers the voltage so it can be used in industry and residential areas without frying electronics and damaging machinery. P.S they step up the voltage because its more efficient to have high voltage electricity on power lines.Then huge cooling towers turn the steam back into water and pump it back to the fuel rods so that they conserve water and don't need to pay an extremely high water bill. While these processes happen employees inspect machinery and make sure a nuclear meltdown does not occur back at the control room.

Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology

             
Hydrogen fuel cell technology is fairly inexpensive and efficient. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe making it cheaper than gas. According to the U.S news and world report it would cost about 2 dollars/gallon if hydrogen factories were common vs about 3 dollars/gallon. Also, Hydrogen fuel cells are way more efficient than combustion engines because they can run at miles per gallon.

Hydrogen fuel cells may sound pretty complicated and exotic; however the process is quite simple. Hydrogen is pumped into a tank where it reacts with a catalyst, typically platinum which strips electrons off of the hydrogen. Then the hydrogen with  missing electrons combines with another hydrogen and when it confronts air, the oxygen combines with the 2 hydrogen to create water. Simultaneously, the electrons get sent through wires which powers electric motors turning the vehicles wheels. The hydrogen fuel cell typically generates more power than needed which is stored in lithium batteries (there more efficient than lead) so that when the car needs extra power, it can receive it.

Hydrogen factories typically use water or natural gas from which they extract hydrogen. Some plants use electrolysis to generate hydrogen; they send electricity through water which causes the hydrogen to bubble out of the tank and into collection pipes. Other plants free hydrogen atoms from CH4 (natural gas).

Hydrogen tanks in cars are fairly safe; even thought hydrogen is flammable, it would escape quickly into the atmosphere because it is 14 times lighter than area. If all the hydrogen escapes there is no fuel for a fire.

Travel hints to MACHU PICCHU

I had the chance to visit Machu Picchu in Peru, the lost majestic city from the 15th century. The "city" is built on top of the Andean mountain range about 7000 feet above sea level.  Its a mystery how the workers were able to bring those blocks of stone way up there.  It is no wonder one of the New Wonders of the World.

My mom and  I stayed in the Sacred Valley region days before so that we could gradually acclimize to the extreme elevation before heading up to Machu Picchu.  Most tour groups try to cover too much distance in a very short time so a lot of people complain about getting nauseas and headache because they had not acclimized at all. Also my hotel had complementary coco tea stations in the lobby, they say drink coco tea will help with altitude sickness.  The inkas would bite on the coco leaves between their teeth which numbs the jaw and you dont feel hungry or thirsty. The coco leaves are safe as its unprocessed.

From our hotel, we were able to take the Andean express train into Aguas Caliente, the town in 90 minutes.  From Aguas Caliente, you then catch a Machu Picchu shuttle bus that takes you up the mountain to Machu Picchu in 30 minutes.  We were able to get to the Machu Picchu before the tour groups arrive since our hotel base at Sacred Valley is closer to Aguas Caliente.  Its another 1.5 hours for the tour groups from Cusco to get into the Sacred Valley.  We were able to stay longer exploring Machu Picchu, not have to worry about getting dark, and too late for supper.  Another advantage was that my mom ordered from our hotel the Machu Picchu entrance tickets with meal plan months in advance.  You pay a $20 surcharge per ticket but its all worth it or you will need to get to the Cultural center in Cuscos and wait in line to get the tickets and you have to use them within three days.  That is valuable time that you could spend doing sightseeing.  Another reason to spend the extra $25 per person for lunch is that its a nice break to sit in the air conditioning restaurant at the Sanctuary Lodge, away from the heat and sun for a bit.  Its a nice spread for lunch and then refill your water bottle too before heading back out to the ruins.  We saw people who bagged their lunch, having to wait in line for the public bathroom, buy water and looking for a shady spot to eat lunch standing up.

Tonight in the Amazon Rainforest Peru

A few years ago when I was 8 years old, my mom and I had a sensational and adventurous 2 week vacation in Peru. We had spent 5 days in the Amazon Rainforest to experience nature at its best in a jungle with the Team at the Amazonia Expedition in the Tahuayo Lodge.  

My mom and I did a lot of research on guides and Amazon Lodges before our trip.  We found that most did not offer private guides or the lodge was not deep in the heart of the Amazon.  We did not want just day trips to the Amazon and then returning to a modern hotel in Iquitos, which would take away the whole jungle experience.   

We had the most amazing guide that taught us so much about the jungle, animals, plants, people and the way of life in the Amazon with the Amazonian Expedition.  We stayed for 5 days at the Tahuayo Lodge and Christian was our personal guide. He had exceeded our expectations and more !!! Each day after dinner, the our  guide would spend time with the us to talk about  activities for the next day. You could do as much or as little as you want.  We did everything that was available to us.  We would start our day at 6:30 in the morning to go fishing.  Its the best time because the fishes would be hungry.  Christian took us out fishing at the Oxbow Lake and I caught a fierce barracuda, pirahna, bass and catfish and then returned to the lodge after our adventure, just before noon so the chef could prepare them for lunch. All the guests said good job fishing, there is nothing like fresh fish just caught hours before, so sweet and delicious.  In fact all the meals at the Tahuayo lodge were really yummy. 

After lunch, mom and I would rest up for a couple hours either relaxed in the hammock room or just sit on the porch and chatted with other travelers.  Then at 2:00 we were off to a cultural excursion like a visit to the village to see the local children; a visit at the old medicine woman's house to learn about plants and their uses. In the evening after dinner, Christian took us out on night excursions. We spotted many creatures of the night like poison dart frog, scorpions galore, fatal hairy spiders, 2 millipedes in love; colossal 200ft tall trees (200ft tall= height of 20 floor building), and a baby cayman. We went ziplining one morning where I climbed up to the canopy singlehandedly instead of being hoisted up. I got to pet Dorilla the money on an afternoon excursion who unexpectedly jumped in our boat.  Christian took oranges from the kitchen so that I could feed it to Dorilla. 

See my part III review on the Tahuayo Lodge

why the U.S Economy is bad part 2

1: The United States is run like we have to be the big brother and help everyone.  This is okay, but only if we can afford it  otherwise we will be in debt. The United States has an incredible debt of about $18,000,000,000,000 and since our population is about 300,000,000 each citizen's share of the debt is $60,000 (18 trillion divided by 300 million) and rising because congress wastes about $2,440,000,000 each day! If we keep this up, Countries will get mad because they aren't getting their money they loaned to the U.S forcing everybody to give the government $60,000 and some people don't even have that much money. The reason why we are sky rocketing in debt is because we don't have a great economy to cover the cost of being the most generous country of the world. I am not saying that we should cut funding on helping other countries completely, but to improve our economy first like creating high taxes for outsourced products to discourage outsourcing and then start helping other countries.

U.S ECONOMY NOW STEP 1

U.S ECONOMY IF IMPROVED STEP 2

NOW WE COULD START HELPING OTHER COUNTRIES STEP 3

Why the U.S Economy is bad part 1

1:Manufacturing is the backbone for any economy; without the backbone of an animal, the animal cannot survive and eventually dies. Most products are OUTSOURCED through GLOBALIZATION which means that companies assemble/manufacture their products and/or parts to make in other countries. When you outsource to communist countries, labor is extremely cheap because the government controls everything including factory worker wages and costs of materials. They make the cost relatively low to bring in business like entrepreneurs who want to outsource. Also, in countries like Thailand the cost of living is very low making cheap labor possible because high salaries are not provided by companies. Also, outsourcing can make the cost of raw materials cheaper because prices for these materials can be lower in different countries where these resources are common and where the cost of living is low.

2: By out sourcing unemployment is growing at a high rate because jobs are no longer available in the US. By having a high unemployment rate, the economy crashes because unemployed people rely on government assistance like food stamps which means HIGH TAXES. Also when people are unemployed their money is put on rations which makes them buy less meaning less consumers (low demand).

UNEMPLOYMENT RALLY

THIS FACTORY WAS SHUTDOWN AND OUTSOURCED LAYING OFF THOUSANDS

Global Warming affects

                                                                            

1: Diseases: Due to the greenhouse affect, temperatures will increase causing tropical diseases to migrate to other regions that were previously cold.

2:Food shortages: Since global warming is severely increasing the global temperature, storms and droughts will occur more frequently. This will severely affect crop and livestock/animal growth in a negative way. Also the population in 2044 will be 9,000,000,000 people creating a rising demand for food putting an extreme pressures on farms and supermarkets.

3: Economic decline: Due to severe destruction from storms and droughts will cause agricultural industries to loose money from less yields. More frequent storms including hurricanes and tornadoes created from temperature differentials can destroy Factories, Farms. stores etc creating UNEMPLOYMENT and other economic issues.

4: Extremely high expenses: In the US, TAXES will SKYROCKET  because of  Horrific Government programs such as welfare and financial assistance for the unemployed. Also higher demands for food and less supply will make food prices colossal.

5: Wars: Wars will be more common in the future because of the shortage of resources and global economic decline. Also, the displacement of people due to flooding, droughts, and wildfires will create tensions among society.

6: Electricity issues: Since storms will be more frequent; massive populations will have long term power outages. Extreme flooding/global sea rises can flood power plants and destroy electric infrastructures. Wildfires can create electric pathways away from transmission lines and droughts put pressures on hydro-electric plants.

Sadly, Life as we know it will change for the worse. So plan for the future and the next 7 generations.  Live your life to the fullest before 2050 since global population will be at least 9,000,000,000. Check out Global Warming solutions  to see the solutions to these issues.

Flooded Nuclear Power station

Food shortages  =   guards at your local supermarket with machine-guns