Author: Wendy M. RabbaniWhen it comes to buying jewelry, most people think the best time to buy and give is during the holidays; Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day, The reality is, however, that the best time to buy jewelry is not during holidays at all, and for the true bargain hunter, the best deals are found post holidays. During the holidays you're most likely going to pay closer to full price...more
Author: Rich AlbertsonIn a previous Factoid about the 2nd Law (#13) it was mentioned that one of the several parts of the Law states, “All of the forces of nature move in one direction and one direction only – from the combined to the dispersed or, if you prefer, the composed to the decomposed or, perhaps the complex to the simple.” They all mean more or less the same, take your pick. In this Factoid the question is: “Does the 2nd Law...more
Author: Rich AlbertsonPart Two of this Factoid made the claim that the election to use fossil fuels for transport, power and agriculture has proved a very bad decision and that it was the private sector that made it, not the government. Then there was discussion of how government could assure the public that new products introduced in the future can be designed, made and used sustainably at any stage of their product life,e without degrading the environment. And then there was discussion about how that could all be accomplished without heavy government regulation interfering in the activities of entrepreneurs functioning in a free market economy.These days there are a lot of companies hyping their products or services as “green.” Most of them I don't believe but, I know that many folks will. How can I, or anyone else, make sure that companies claiming “greenness” are being both accurate and truthful? If we are to achieve sustainability in the way we operate our society, something many believe will be essential to continued survival, we're going to need a method of encouraging the private sector to pursue this goal - only seriously for a change rather than the lip service we...more
Author: Rich AlbertsonFritz Haber, the brilliant German chemist, associate of Albert Einstein - discovers Nitrogen fertilizer - it's 1912. The world celebrates Haber's genius and the miraculous end of hunger. Almost one hundred years later “dead zones” begin to appear in the world's oceans. Deprived of oxygen, these waters are now incapable of...more
Author: Rich AlbertsonThis discussion of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics (2nd Law), is connected to climate change in a backhanded sort of way. The premise is: If you elect to conform how you do things to comply with this part of the 2nd Law, something we do not do now, it transforms your relationship with nature from hostile to cooperative.In...more
Author: Rich AlbertsonThe Second Law of Thermodynamics ( 2nd Law) is the oldest, unrefuted natural law on the books. You'll be surprised at how much it explains. While the name makes it sound complicated, we're only interested in a small portion of what the entire law covers. Fortunately, it's the easy part. One caveat of the 2nd Law is that “all of the forces of nature move in a single direction – from the complex to the simple.” As Galileo explained it, “we see wood go up in flames, gases and smoke but do we see flames, gases and smoke come together to make wood?” Another aspect of the 2nd Law is, “heat always moves toward cold, never the other way around.” That's simple enough, isn't it? We'll start with the heat moving toward cold.Our scientific community seemed blindsided by the acceleration of ice melting in glaciers, worldwide, the polar caps and the island of Greenland. Four years ago NASA and others were assuring us that summer ice in the Arctic would not be challenged until perhaps 2100. Since then they have returned to the microphones a number of times, claiming great surprise, to tell us that ice melting seems to be happening faster than they had thought...more
Author: Rich AlbertsonThe Carbon Cycle is the name given by modern science to Nature's system for controlling the internal operations of its four major subdivisions (called compartments) and also how the compartments operate as a group. These...more
Author: Andre KirklandWelcome to Super Hot Toys!hottest toysSuper Hot Toys was created to give you the edge in finding those overpriced cool new products that are sold out in the retail shops but still sold on Amazon.So as an example, lets us the...more
Author: Rich AlbertsonWe may need two fixes. One for the short term, an indispensable step, and the other for the long term, also indispensable but it might not look like it to many of us. First, the short term fix because, if we don't fix this part...more
Author: Rich AlbertsonWhat follows probably shouldn't be called a “factoid.” Factual events are involved, but the analysis of their significance as a cause of climate change, that part is my opinion. That said, what events conspired to make...more
Author: Rich AlbertsonThat terrible, soul shattering sound that sometimes comes from the speakers of a sound system when the equipment is being set up, is called “feedback.” It happens when the speakers and the microphone get too close to one...more
Author: Rich AlbertsonIf it's coming, everyone wants to know when. “It” couldn't mean climate change itself, because that's been here and growing for nearly five decades now. I think “it” must mean some sort of plateau in the development of...more