It’s not science fiction…

but it is funny.  And true.  And kinda sad.  Check out this article on bottled water culture.

A New Ice Age?

This is a very interesting article about climate change, written by Dr. David Archibald as a guest post at Watts Up With That?.  It supports what more and more scientists are starting to say (in direct contradiction to the media and many environmentalists) – that instead of global warming, we are poised on the brink of global cooling.  I’m not a scientist, but the data looks reasonable, and it is much less arrogant to reach conclusions based on millions of years of global cycles than on a couple hundred years of man messing with things. (State of Fear by Michael Crichton is a fiction book, but it has a lot of footnotes for actual research on climate change, if you want to find out more.)

For any environmentalists who read my blog, please understand that I am not discounting the entire green movement.  I think it is vitally important that we stop dumping contaminants into our environment.  We are poisoning ourselves and our food sources, and we can only suffer for it.

But that does not mean we are altering the natural course of climate change for the entire planet.  We are only just beginning to understand how climate change even works, and what forces within and outside our planet impact it.  For example, no matter how much CO2 is in our atmosphere if the sun cools significantly our planet is going to get cold.

So before you get out the tar brushes, read the article and other scientific research on climate change.  Look at both sides and decide for yourselves.  Don’t blindly panic at the words of fearmongers who may not know what they are talking about anyway.

Bioplastic?

This article on MSNBC offers hope for the green movement in its long battle to eliminate the use of plastics (or at least greatly reduce it).  Plastics are derived from petroleum and, as we all know, are not biodegradable.  They are currently polluting our oceans, filling up our landfills, and overflowing from almost every household.  But this new material is made from lignon, which is produced as a side effect of making paper.  It is being called liquid wood, and it appears to be as versatile as plastic, with one key difference – it is biodegradable.  The German researchers developing it say it can be used for everything from toys to car parts.

Hamster Power

For those of us who follow developments in nanotech or the green movement (I follow both), news of fibers that can conduct and even collect kinetic energy from the movements of the body and convert it to electricity is not new.  I have been hearing about it for almost a year, and about all the possible applications.  My favorite is pants you can plug your cellphone or mp3 player into to charge.

This idea is one step closer to reality thanks to some unlikely help.  Researchers have developed a working nanogenerator that can be powered by the irregular motions of a living being.  In this case, a hamster.  That’s right, a hamster.

The group designed a small suit made of the special fibers and a nanogenerator and put it on a hamster for a test run.  Apparently it worked smashingly.  This is great news for nanotech because it is yet another example of working technology to convince the skeptics with, and it is good for the green movement because it is an infinitely renewable resource.  I mean, who knows how far this could go!  Start small, with a hamster for each house just to power portable electronics.  But why stop there?  Increased efficiency in gathering the energy from the fibers combined with breeding hamsters for more stamina could lead to a revolution in the energy industry.  Picture it:  a hamster in a cage, wearing a jogging suit, little Nikes, and a sweat band, burning up a wheel.  Now take a step back:  a large shelving unit, at least 6 shelves high, filled with hamsters in individual cages (no animal abuse here!).  Another step back:  a warehouse full of shelves just like it, billions of hamsters, all running their little hearts out!  HAMSTER POWER!!!