Why Managing Our Crude Oil Supply Matters

Our modern world requires a lot of petroleum products to function. From cars to planes to massive transportation of goods and services, every day of use is a further strain on the crude oil supply available to the planet. It is imperative that we manage that supply to the best of our ability. Here are some reasons why we must pay close attention to managing this key resource.

First, crude oil is not a resource that we can classify as renewable. It takes millions of years for crude oil to develop. Most of us don't plan on being around that long. Compared to wood, which can be replaced within a generation or so, crude oil simply cannot be replaced. Because we are working with a limited resource that drives so much of the way we live and work, we owe it to ourselves to make sure we are utilizing the oil to the best of our ability.

Second, most of us to do work with unlimited budgets. That means the average consumer faces a real crisis when oil prices jump up due to a real or imagined crude oil supply issue. Our only defense is to position ourselves so that we incrementally become less dependent on petroleum products, so that an upswing in cost has less of an impact on our monthly incomes. We can accomplish this by carpooling or using public transportation. Some of us may even think about using bicycles as a means of running errands close to home.

Last, we need to think in terms of what the world will be like for the next generation and the one after that. Most of us have the expectation of our children enjoying a higher quality of life than we have. Failing to manage our consumption of the existing crude oil supply will not make things any easier for those who inherit the world from us. Take that into consideration as you evaluate your current consumption of oil products. If you do have an alternate method of accomplishing the same ends, then give it a try. You will feel good knowing you are doing something to effectively manage a valuable resource.

Harnessing Power from Water Energy

Water is one of the most common chemical compounds on earth, and the oceans provide 75% of the surface of the planet. It's essential to life, and finding water on other planets is one of the major goals of science experiments performed by NASA. Water energy, through the use of waterwheels, was the first industrial process harnessed by human beings, used for powering lumber mills and cutting stone in ancient Egypt, water energy is based off of converting potential energy at the top of a well head to kinetic energy by the flow of water.

Water energy is a renewable energy source, and is primarily used to generate electricity in the modern era through a process called hydroelectric generation, where the flow of the water runs a turbine, which is used to drive a generator. The United States is one of the world leaders in hydroelectric power generation, getting nearly 10% of its total power from hydroelectric plants; as the price of oil increases, and volatility in the Middle East sends shocks through the energy markets, many more consumers are seeing the benefit of water energy and hydro-electric plants, even though dam construction projects are expensive, and significant environmental impacts.

Water energy in the form of water wheels was first used in classical times to run lumber mills and stone cutting saws; this required coincidental placement of good water ways and the resource to be processed. Advances in gearing (most notably the slip cam and transverse axle) allowed water wheels to be used for standing "pestle type" grain mills starting in the second century BC, and these have been shown in movies set in the middle ages for years. The first American hydroelectric dam was opened in 1882; the first hydroelectric dam was opened in the US, a marked departure from coal fired plants. As electrical power spread, the value of hydroelectric power increased, as electrical transmission allows the water energy to be transmitted to locales far from the water head of the dam.

Water energy is the result of converting potential energy from water stored "up hill" or at a higher pressure level converted to kinetic energy; that conversion can be harnessed by water wheels or by electrical turbines. Because year in, year out rainfall patterns are fairly stable, hydroelectric power is predictable. It doesn't require burning fossil fuels; on the other hand, once the plant is built, increasing its output is nearly impossible, as the amount of water energy is determined by the weight of water and the rate of flow or fall over the turbine. Naturally moving, fast flowing water in a deep river carries significant amounts of water energy with the flow, and the steeper the gradient, the more readily accessed that water energy is � think of a waterfall as a good example.

While water energy is a clean, non-emitting energy source, it doesn't come with zero environmental impact; hydroelectric plants require building dams, which create reservoirs and change the local environment, and can flood hundreds of square miles; China's Three Gorges Dam will be flooding an area larger than the state of Nebraska as its reservoir.

Easy Science Project For Elementary School Student

You will want to gather these materials - a piece of glad cling wrap or any plastic wrap, a piece of cotton fabric, a piece of fleece fabric, a piece of wool fabric, other kinds of fabric like something fuzzy. You will also need a fluorescent light bulb. You can use a small 12 or 18 inch tube so it is easy for the child to hold.

Now what do I do?

Go to a totally dark room.

This is the easy part. Hold the light bulb tube in one hand and a piece of material in the other. Now rub the cling wrap quickly along the light bulb tube. Watch what happens. Now try it with each of the other fabrics you have.

This is a good reason to have several different types of materials with different textures, weights and surfaces like fuzzy, smooth and thick. See what happens with each fabric. This is your variable for the project, the different pieces of fabric.

For the child you will want to have them hold the light bulb and fabric and help them by rubbing the glad wrap on the light bulb.

What should we notice or expect from this experiment to make sure we are doing it correctly.

A fluorescent light bulb will emit a glow when there is electric fields inside the tube. This usually happens when the tube is connected through a light fixture and the electricity is connected. What you are doing is to find out if you can create your own electricity and by rubbing the cling wrap on the bulb and having the piece of fabric you are a conductor and are creating static electricity.

Your discovery will be what material makes the light bulb glow the brightest. First make a judgement about what fabric you think will work the best and test your theory to see if your scientific theory is correct. There is no right or wrong only subjective opinion to find an answer.

You may want to do this in a room where there is a soft ground covering. You don't want to drop the light bulb as it may cause broken glass. The electrical current created is not dangerous. It is static electricity. You may want to demonstrate with your young child first so they do not become alarmed if they see the light bulb glowing and drop it. Make a science project for elementary students easy to understand, easy for them to complete themselves and document. This will give them confidence in their abilities and they have done the science project themselves.

Hollow Earth Theory Considered by Think Tank

Not long ago a gentleman tells me he is going to go on an expedition to the arctic and check for a possible whole to check out the hollow earth theory. He stated that since Global Warming was melting the ice, they could sail right into the middle.

Going to the arctic would be interesting and I have some thoughts on the fast moving rivers which are being un-covered at the poles that run thru the ice and how these would make excellent energy generation devices for the moon or even a human made planet. I have also considered why an advanced civilization might wish to build a system in such a manner to get hydro-electric power this way and yes, even had considered this for an Ice Colony on Mars.

Hollow Earth Theory?

I very much enjoyed the studies of the various explorer stories and Sci Fi author Jules Vern. I have written some theories on Hollow Earth and talked online at length with the gentleman in Arizona, Mr. Cluff on phone and thru email a few years ago. I am certain that there are Hollow Planets out there considering the number of planets that there are [Drake Equation Concept] and also some of the discrepancy of weight of planets and their locations and predictions.

Of course we have sent waves into the Earth and we know there is something hard mid way down to bounce the waves. But there are also some interesting bounce backs and slow downs of these waves throughout. Meaning either water is down underneath crust or space or something (oil?). There are theories like that too.

One scientist lady has an interesting paper on that Earthquake wave bouncing and believes that there are hollow parts inside the Earth. Indeed for every out of the box or scientific domain theory outsider, there are 20-50 diminishing their works. So, one cannot know the reality, only suspect from reading between the lines.

The old text book diagram stands as legitimate until which time or unless someone can prove otherwise and a re-interpretation of the Earthquake Waves we monitor. It is a cool subject isn't it? I have no opinion on it at all.

Geologic History of Denali National Park

Denali national Park lies in the heart of a curved mountain chain about 600 miles long, the Alaska Range. In the McKinley massif area, the range is about six miles wide and is aligned generally northeast to southwest. This is the highest part of the range with many peaks over 10,000 feet high. Elsewhere in the range, the mountains are mostly between 7000 to 9000 feet high.

The centerpiece of these high mountains is Denali, the highest peak in North America, at 20,320 feet. "Denali" means "the high one" in a local Athabascan dialect. Officially the mountain is still called Mt. McKinley and visitors from the lower 48 will know it as McKinley. However, to Alaskans the mountain is 'Denali'. In terms of vertical relief or elevation from base to summit, Denali is the tallest mountain in the world.

Denali consists primarily of a dome or pluton of granite. About 60 million years ago during the Paleocene epoch, semi-liquid magma intruded into the crust of the earth and slowly cooled underground to form the McKinley pluton. Another pluton formed approximately 38 million years ago and resulted in the formation of Denali's neighboring peaks. As the millennia went by, a sea covered the area where the park is today and deposited much sediment.

Later, a tropical forest covered the area resulting in the coal bearing formation which is mined near the park today. Eventually, geologic forces caused the land to rise and buckle resulting in the metamorphic rock or rock that has been transformed from one type of rock into another by heat or pressure, sequences found in the park today.

Very recently, about 5 million years ago, the Alaska Range began to be uplifted; it is one of the youngest mountain ranges on earth. With the uplift came erosion; the rock layers on top of the McKinley granite pluton were slowly taken away until the granite itself was exposed on the surface. The same is true for Denali's neighbor Mt. Foraker and other high peaks in the Alaska Range. Granite is a very hard, erosion-resistant material. It is also a little less dense than other rocks and therefore a little more buoyant, which is the reason for Denali to be lifted higher than any other mountain in North America.

A major fault, the Denali fault also plays a role in the height of Denali. At the Denali Fault, lateral and vertical offset movement continues to occur as evidenced by many earthquakes in the region. The rocks on the south side of the fault have been raised many thousands of feet. The steep north face of Denali, known as the Wickersham Wall, rises 15,000 feet from its base, and is a result of this relatively recent movement. Also, the southern part of the plate slides to the west, the northern part to the east. Interestingly enough, when Denali first started to be uplifted it was located 200 miles to the east of its current location. In a few million years, these two parts of the plates slid 200 miles by each other.

The highest and most rugged peaks in Denali national Park, such as Denali, Mount Foraker, and Mount Hunter are carved from granite rocks. On the southeast side of Denali in the Sheldon Amphitheater and Great Gorge area enclosing the upper part of Ruth Glacier, great spires and walls of granite soar thousands of feet above the ice. The granite Cathedral Spires at the southwest end of the park in the Kichatna Mountains are the highest strand of vertical rock in North America.

Evolutionary Advances in Toaster Technology

Millions of years ago when primordial soup was the house specialty, a hinged fork (heretofore referred to as HF) rose from the miry depths in a quiet, unheralded debut on planet earth. Not one of the unfinished utensils knew what to do with it, so it was ignored, much like the pet rock.

The evolution of millions of years brought a significant development in the history of the HF. In the eighteenth century, HF discovered a purpose – it could hold bread, which was useful in preventing it from falling into the fire. HF became the prehistoric toaster. However, time, chance and consumer demand dictated a change was needed. In the 1880's wood and coal stoves (who were on a collision course with their own bit of evolutionary change) propelled HF toward an evolutionary upgrade. Through many years of trial and error, as well naturally selected upgrades, the hinged fork eventually altered its shape to become a tin and wire pyramid-shaped device. People were then able to place the bread inside and the device formerly known as HF used the heat of the stove to effect toasting.

This Advanced Toasting Device (heretofore referred to as ATD) worked for many years, but the ATD was making some gradual and almost indecipherable changes. However, one day the ATD was able to form an alloy of nickel and chromium (Nichrome) much to the surprise of the resident dish and spoon who had developed a chronic case of metallic envy. The ATD eventually shaped the Nichrome into wires. While this was certainly remarkable the ADT suddenly lacked purpose as the Nichrome prevented it from being useful in the art of toast manufacturing.

One day, the transformed, but somewhat useless device was able to form the Nichrome into several strips of wires and it became a heating element. Pioneers of the Old West were impressed, but then who hasn't been impressed with Nichrome wires. Still of no use to the device, the Nichrome had significant style, but a deficit in function. However, early one afternoon in 1900, a severe lighting storm struck the Nichrome wire strips heating them to an impressive temperature. This historic event caused the Nichrome to glow and toast the bread (and an unsuspecting Cornish game hen). The strips of wire had finally found usefulness as a heating element. Now that the Nichrome Toasting Device (heretofore referred to as NTD) had regained a function, a problem was discovered when the bread used in the manufacture of toast were morphed into an advanced carbon-enriched state.

The NTD affected a period of self-realization and determined it no longer needed a stove or fire to complete its purpose. The NTD sprouted a wire plug, which could be attached to a power source that would heat the elements and toast the bread. The wires were able to harness this new power source to infuse the heating element with tremendous toasting potential. However, this new feature in the evolution of the hinged fork (HF) did not work as a comprehensive toasting mechanism. Bread would quickly burn when it touched the heating element. The surface on which the heating element sat was also subjected to the occasional fire.

In order to adapt to this new environment the NTD formed a wire mesh tray that lay across the heating element. This evolutionary advance kept the bread from touching the wires and the bread could finally be toasted. However the toast had the consistency of Cajun bread crisps. You see, once the heating element received power it stayed hot and never turned itself off which often resulted in small house fires and an impressive electric spark display.

By 1905, the device changed once more by adding a base, which assisted in raising the heating element and wire mesh. This evolutionary adaptation also kept the surface on which it set from burning (which may have been responsible for a temporary decrease in fire insurance costs). Gone were the tin and wire pyramid-shaped appendage as it no longer needed them to toast bread on a stove. This evolutionary advance still did not solve the overheating issue. Bread would be burnt for many years to come.

Rapid evolution in what we currently know as Toaster (heretofore referred to as toaster) allowed such advanced with a flip top and side panel that lowered for toast insertion and bread slice rotation. Slots appeared that aided in lowering bread into the toaster while serving to hold it in place.

Burnt toast remained an issue even with this sizeable evolutionary advance. It was at this time that an adjustable timer attached itself to a spring on the toaster. The timer turned off the heating element and released the spring, causing the toast to eject itself from the toaster. This stopped the burnt toast, but reminded some of the recent advances in trampoline evolution. A variety of models, colors and shapes began to express themselves as the toaster came into its own as an intelligent device.

Bimetal strips, timer circuits and microchips were all expressive of the rapid evolution of the toaster.

Today's advanced evolutionary organism collectively known as 'toaster' can gauge interior moisture of bread as well as standard determinacy of bread types. Additional bread slots were evident and a heat resistant plastic caused noteworthy evolutionary excitement.

A close look at the history of the toaster demonstrates that the toaster evolved gradually with small changes into many of the modern toasting mechanisms currently identified by the International Toasting Assembly.

It has been widely reported in recent scientific data that it is possible the modern toaster oven, conventional stove as well as a rather remarkable industrial bakery serving the Eastern Seaboard may all have links to a common hinged fork ancestry.

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No matter if you name it an HF, an ADT, an NTD or simply a toaster the advances in toaster technology were not the result of random chance or primordial soup. Each advance was the result of intelligent testing with a determination to make better toast.

If the absurdity of this example is not lost on you, perhaps the commonly held view of evolution may find newfound skepticism.

So many gaps in evolutionary theory bring about justified reason to doubt the theory at face value and certainly when individual issues are fully considered.

The toaster looks designed because it is designed. Perhaps that's why you look designed, too.

Energy Healing Certificates - Earn Yours

Earn Energy Healing Certificates in the United States and Canada. Candidates who are drawn to metaphysical and energy healing will find that there are many healing arts schools that provide educational programs to earn one of several energy healing certificates.

Energy healing certificates are awarded to students who have completed the required amount of education and practical training in an assortment of energy medicine fields. Among the more popular studies, color therapy, crystal healing, Reiki, visualization, and touch therapy, students enrolled in any number of natural health schools will find that they can earn energy healing certificates that cover several energy healing techniques - such as aforementioned; or may opt to earn individual energy healing certificates for independent studies.

For example, a number of applicants may be primarily interested in achieving energy healing certificates in Reiki. This specific course of study encompasses a variety of training levels that result in a range of energy healing certificates upon successful completion of each course. Other energy healing certificates can be awarded in chakra balancing, meridian therapy, and chi balancing.

In most cases, students pursuing energy healing certificates will gain a wealth of knowledge in how energy healing works, how to sense energy, interconnectivity of mind, body and spirit; and how to apply energy healing theories and medicine as a healer using an array of energy healing techniques.

Graduates who have achieved their energy healing certificates can use these as professional credentials to open independent practices; or as an enhancement to existing holistic health and massage practices.

If you (or someone you know) are interested in earning energy healing certificates, let career training within fast-growing industries like massage therapy, cosmetology, acupuncture, oriental medicine, Reiki, and others get you started! Explore career school programs near you.

Energy Healing Certificates: Earn Yours!

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Darwin – What Changed His Mind?

Charles Darwin, the father of evolutionary thought once considered it a wonderful notion to become a member of the clergy. In fact, Charles is quoted as saying, "As I did not then in the least doubt the strict and literal truth of every word in the Bible, I soon persuaded myself that our Creed must be fully accepted." His studies at Cambridge University were to prepare him for the role of clergy.

However, a variety of advanced science classes led Darwin to ask questions and consider alternate points of view. In the end it was science and not the clergy that captured Darwin's attention.

Darwin was married to Emma Wedgwood in the fall of 1839. The couple were married at St. Peter's Anglican Church.

Prior to marriage Darwin began exhibiting symptoms for an unidentified illness that followed him throughout his life. His wife, Emma, an ardant Christian, was a constant companion to Charles. Their relationship was one in which Charles relied heavily on his wife. He often refered to her as "Mammy".

The couple had ten children interrupted by long boubts of an illness for Charles that would go largely undiagnosed for more then fourty years.

Three of the Darwin's children would eventually die, but perhaps non had such a dire affect on Charles than the death of Anne. Darwin scholar E. Janet Browne wrote, "Anne was ... the apple of her proud father's eye, his favourite child, he confessed to [his friend and cousin William Darwin] Fox. More than any of the other children she treated him with a spontaneous affection that touched him deeply." [1]

It was after the death of Anne that Darwin spiraled to the point where he utterly rejected faith in God and began referring to himself as an agnostic. He also began fully pursuing an alternate understanding to the subject of origins.

We all wrestle with the many choices we must make. In the event of an untimely death we can become bitter and perhaps vengeful or we can grieve the loss and regain perspective on the future.

Darwin did not have an easy life. Perhaps you did not know the loss and chronic illness that were ever-present companions to the father of evolution.

The work of Charles Darwin was influenced heavily by other scientific minds of the time. Darwin's losses may have simply renewed his interest for proving God had no direct involvement in the affairs of mankind.

While we can certainly sympathize with the losses Darwin faced, this does beg a question. If Anne had lived and if Darwin's health remained strong would he have sought an explanation beyond what he had accepted in his youth when he only saw the role of being a clergyman?

Is it possible that the difficulties of life find us turning our backs on the idea that we were formed with precision design? In that place of denial do we also elevate ourselves to a place of supreme authority?

Perhaps you once believed the universe was designed. What changed your mind? Why?

[1] Browne, Janet (1995). Charles Darwin: Voyaging. New York: Random House. (p. 499.)

The Basic Steps Of Oil Production

Oil production is the process of locating, drilling, extracting, and refining crude oil into gasoline and other products. The production of oil literally drives modern economies. Most industries depend on crude oil products in some fashion. Manufacturers need oil as a raw material and to operate the factories. The transportation industry needs oil to fuel trucks and airplanes. Consumers need oil and gasoline to commute to their jobs. The production of oil is a highly complex process requiring several important steps.

Oil is a thick hydrocarbon mixture that naturally occurs beneath the ground. Geologists speculate that crude oil is formed when ancient deposits of organic materials were buried. Millennia of heat and pressure transform this ancient plant material into crude oil. Unfortunately this oil cannot be produced simply by digging! This crude oil is often trapped within rock layers miles beneath the ground.

Production of oil cannot begin until it is found. There are several methods of oil exploration. Sometimes oil naturally seeps to the surface, suggesting that more lies beneath. Test wells can be drilled, but this is expensive and time consuming. Gravity and magnetic surveys are initially used to locate areas of interest to oil producers. Seismic surveys are then used to detect features in deep rock formations that might contain oil. Much like radar or ultrasound, vibrations are directed into the rock formations. The reflected waves give a rough idea of the geology of the area.

The oil's production continues by drilling down to the oil deposit. Oil drilling is an expensive and time consuming process, especially during offshore drilling. Extremely hard drill bits are rotated downward into the rock strata to form a continuous hole. Oil workers continuously add extensions to the drilling pipe until the drill head reaches the desired depth. Oil production continues as the well is capped and the crude oil is brought to the surface.

Crude oil is a mixture of thousands of chemicals which must be separated, or refined, into more useful parts. Production continues in a refinery, which performs this separation process. Distillation is often used in crude production. During distillation, the crude oil is gradually heated. Different fractions boil at different temperatures, such as gasoline, diesel, heating oil, and so on. As each crude oil fraction boils off, the vapors are captured and condensed into a pure product. This simplified oil production scenario concludes with the transportation the various fuels and products to their markets.