One of the most useful videos I've seen lately for folks who speak to students! This is a training video for the San Diego Science Festival's Nifty Fifty speakers. The students share what they would want to know from a scientists, if he or she was to vist their school.
FYI - found this on SciVee, an excellent resource for the science geek in all of us. According to the website, SciVee is changing the pace at which science is conducted and communicated. They proclaim to be the first Web 2.0 site that enables researchers to combine video with documentation and data in a media rich format, make research more visible, shareable, and accessible throughout the research cycle.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
National Biodiesel Day - March 18
Thursday, March 18 is National Biodiesel Day. The biodiesel industry chose this date to honor and recognize Rudolf Diesel’s birthday – the fella with the foresight to recognize the valuable role of vegetable oil-based fuel.
Diesel originally designed the diesel engine in the late 19th Century to run on peanut oil. Only later did petroleum become the standard. In a 1912 speech, Diesel said “the use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today, but such oils may become, in the course of time, as important as petroleum and the coal tar products of the present time.”
Are people really using biodiesel?
According to the National Biodiesel Board, the 500 million gallons of fuels produced by the US biodiesel industry in 2007 nearly offset 12 million barrels of oil.
You might be thinking that’s not all the much oil, but according to a USDA/DOE analysis soy-based biodiesel reduces lifecycle carbon dioxide reductions by 78 percent (this includes planting the soybeans to delivering the biodiesel at the pump). An update to this same study found that for every unit of fossil energy it takes to make biodiesel, 3.5 units of energy are gained.
Finally, for folks who are more interested in the current economy, the US biodiesel industry supported over 21,000 jobs and added over $4 billion to the US gross domestic product (GDP).
Are you interested in learning more about biodiesel and its production? MdBioLab offers and hands-on activity to measure the amount of free fatty acids in waste vegetable oil, the first step in creating biodiesel. You can learn more online at www.mdbiolab.org or visit our partners at Biodiesel University.
Diesel originally designed the diesel engine in the late 19th Century to run on peanut oil. Only later did petroleum become the standard. In a 1912 speech, Diesel said “the use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today, but such oils may become, in the course of time, as important as petroleum and the coal tar products of the present time.”
Are people really using biodiesel?
According to the National Biodiesel Board, the 500 million gallons of fuels produced by the US biodiesel industry in 2007 nearly offset 12 million barrels of oil.
You might be thinking that’s not all the much oil, but according to a USDA/DOE analysis soy-based biodiesel reduces lifecycle carbon dioxide reductions by 78 percent (this includes planting the soybeans to delivering the biodiesel at the pump). An update to this same study found that for every unit of fossil energy it takes to make biodiesel, 3.5 units of energy are gained.
Finally, for folks who are more interested in the current economy, the US biodiesel industry supported over 21,000 jobs and added over $4 billion to the US gross domestic product (GDP).
Are you interested in learning more about biodiesel and its production? MdBioLab offers and hands-on activity to measure the amount of free fatty acids in waste vegetable oil, the first step in creating biodiesel. You can learn more online at www.mdbiolab.org or visit our partners at Biodiesel University.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Upcoming Events to Montgomery County (Maryland) Public School Students
Upcoming events!
For high school students in the MCPS Biotech Academies at Wheaton HS, Seneca Valley HS, Edison HS, Northwest HS and those in Wootton HS Biotechnology Program (juniors and seniors)
Tuesday, March 17
10 AM – 1 PM
For middle school girls from the following MCPS schools: Kingsview MS, Clemente MS, Gaithersburg MS, Shady Grove MS, Montgomery Village MS, Forest Oak MS, and Neelsville MS
For MCPS middle school girls
Saturday, March 21
10 AM – 3 PM
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Note to self...
Note to self - do not let anyone convince you to park a 40,000 pound trailer on grass during February in Maryland. Even though the temperature may be 20 degrees F outside, chances are good you will have at least one day above 70 degrees F before the trailer is moved again.
Calling a tow truck to extract the trailer may seem exciting, but $250 later and you're just plain embarrassed.
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