Alexandria steam engine

 A while ago i ran across a video of an Alexandria steam engine. The Alexandria steam engine was one of the very first engines or motors ever recorded with history and descriptions that date back to the first century ad.

This intrigued me because it was a fairly simple engine that seemed to be pretty effective for the time.

Surprisingly the Alexandria steam engine was the fastest spinning engine for a long period of time even into the age of the internal combustion engines. what makes these engines able to spin so fast is that they can constantly spin in the same direction and no components need to turn around. A normal steam engine or gas engine for example has pistons that change direction less then every second. The way the Alexandria steam engine works is that the large bulb is filled with water. When a flame is lit underneath, the water boils and due to steam taking up more area then water, all the stem expands and pushes its way out of the tubes which propel it in the opposite direction

Free energy machine debunked

Recently on the internet there have been people going around saying they made free energy machines that somehow reuse and create voltage with the use of coils and magnets. Many i have seen (and you can see videos of a few at the bottom) use a coil and a magnet in a design that supposedly creates electricity. In this short piece i will be explaining why what they do cannot work, how they create the illusion of free energy, and the uses for this same technology.


The theory these videos are emulating suggests the energy is created using Lenz's law. Lenz's law states that a conductor(copper) in the presence of a changing magnetic field will have a current induced into it. In the video they made it seem as if the magnet were creating electricity in the conductor because of their magnetic field. The only reason why that is not actually creating current is because there must be a change in the magnetic field. In other words the magnet must be moving to induce a current into the conductor. However, this would not be perpetual motion because energy would be required to make the magnets move.

This explains why their contraption does not create free energy, but does not explain how the light is powered. The lights they use are AC lights and this is for a good reason. This is because the process they use to relay a current to the light bulb without wires is induction. Similar to the theory discussed before, a current can be induced into a wire if there is a changing magnetic field. This field is invisible hence the lack of wire. The way they do it is they have a coil with an alternating electric current going through it. This coil would be located out of view like under the table or near the device. The alternating current creates an alternating magnetic field and according to Lenz's law this alternating magnetic field induces a current into the wire making the light illuminate. The magnets are only for show . All that is essential is the coil, the light bulb attached to the coil, and the hidden coil which alternates the magnetic field. With the alternating magnetic field the current alternates too from positive to negative. This creates AC current which the bulbs they used run off of. This same technology is seen in transformers. Transformers have a metal ring with 2 sets of coils around the ring. the coils are located on opposite sides . The difference in the amount of coils on each side changes the current and voltage proportionally to the ratio of the coils on one side to the coils on the other. The only difference between the transformer and the "free energy machine" is that there is no metal bar that the coil wrap around. The metal bar only has the purpose of amplifying the electric field (similar to placing a piece of iron in a coil to create a stronger electromagnet)

Another technology induction is used in is induction stoves. Induction stoves use the same alternating current to induce a magnetic field into a piece of metal. In the case of the induction stoves though, the current is greater and is induced into the iron or steel pan which heats it up because of all the resistance in the iron(it doesn't heat the copper up because copper has less resistance). The advantage of these induction stoves is that their surfaces do not heat up, they only induce the heat into iron or steel objects. This is also more efficient because the heat does not radiate out of it and simply goes straight into the pan.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJdLA4w3w58
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXoZ3Uk0vyY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaYOph1I3uw

Perpetual motion using magnets

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo2-Qb3fUYs

Recently i saw this video on youtube of some teens putting a magnet in bewteen many magnets all together in a line. The line of magnets on both sides accelerated the magnet that was in the middle continuously until it it gained lots of speed, reached the end and broke the ,magnetic field. it seemed that because the magnets were all on the angle that would repel the middle one it continued to accelerate, similar to perpetual motion. But that catch was that after 19 magnets were on each side the magnet in the middle started to slow down for some odd reason. However, arranging 2 sets of 19 magnets lined one after another did work. As the magnet exited the first field, it would lose some speed entering the second field but would then gain it back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOVcinQ-7TQ

The question i have is: if many sets of 19 magnets were arranged with gradual turns, until it met the other side in a full circle, could it continuously go around in a circle? If it could, well it is a magnet circling around at high speeds so arranging some coils around the path would generate electricity. Unfortunately, perpetual motion is impossible if you believe in the laws of physics. When analyzing the motion in the video, with one set of magnets the speed the magnet inside travels is significantly slower then when there are 2 sets of magnets. So we can assume that if more sets of magnetic rails were added, eventually there would not be enough speed to overcome the magnetic field that is present every time it enters a new set of magnets. However, it is still interesting that when the magnet is pushed into the magnetic field initially, its accelerates. Which would seem that it now has more energy from its motion then the energy that was put into it. The only explanation for this is that to get into that original magnetic field it required lots of force to overcome the initial repulsion. That action of pushing the magnet through the initial field requires a certain amount of force to be put into it. So in the end, the force put in by the human to move it past the repulsion is the same as the magnetic force that causes it to move.  I do understand that it eventually has to stop (at 19 magnets) because that force initially put into it has been exhausted , I just cant think of what causes it to stop. If you have any ideas please feel free to comment on why you think it stops

Creativity loss at a young age

As human beings we have a few qualities and skills that define us as being human and most are the reason why we are the dominants species on earth some being logic, reasoning, and thinking. Unfortunately though, in the computer age these alone wont help you succeed, robots can already perform many complex task and are now taking jobs away from humans and unfortunately computers can also do algebra, complex problems, and some can artificially reason, think and make decisions based on many different factors. As you can see those qualities soon may not be enough to make us better then computers and keep our jobs as opposed to have cheap working computers take them over.One of the few advantages and places where we surpass computers and cannot be replaced is in creative thought, but surprisingly, we are starting to lose that too.

An experiment was conducted a few years ago, it was to ask adults and children to list all the possible things they could do with a paperclip. As expected most adults would only think of only one use which was to hold paper together. The 3 year olds on the other hand, could come up with 44 different ideas on average on what they could use a paper clip for. Of course many of their ideas were far fetched or near impossible to accomplish, but is that not how new ideas and inventions are given life to? If we were only to think of what has already been done and what is possible to do, then we would not learn new things, but by coming up with many far fetched ideas, some may give birth to growth and knowledge. This experiment was then done with other ages of kids and it was found that the older the kids got, the less ideas they would come up with. The reason they found for this was due to education.
It was found that teachers push one way of doing things on to kids and over time they learn that if its not that proper form then its wrong. For instance, when writing a paragraph or essay kids are taught that each paragraph in the essay needs to have the topic sentence first, a reason to support it, then evidence, and finaly expand on that evidence. Thought that works well there must be other ways to write a paragraph that gets the point across. And its the same with math too, many math teachers (not all) encourage things to be done a certain way, like when solving an equation you have to continuously write the next part underneath, but why cant you do it beside, and many teachers deduct points for bad form. Small things like encouraging kids to approach things one way causes them to not think outside the box. The problem is this will not lead to success because any old computer can do math and any other person can write a sentence.

What separates people from machines and people from each other is our creativity which can only be obtained as with all things, through practice. Now we cant just bash the education system, because we can really blame every problem with our society on how kids are educated when they're young, and after all teachers are just following instructions. It is up to us to shape our kids minds to become more creative thinkers, encourage different ideas, don't shoot bad ideas down, and make them do things that help them think creatively. And that my friends is why you should further explore this blog maybe gets some ideas but get creative with them and add your own spin to it all.

Draw these 9 dots on a paper and try connecting them with only 4 straight lines, don't forget think outside the box. the solution is below if needed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqWIfPTM5v8

Did aliens make the pyramids?

Modern science has yet to figure out how exactly the great pyramids were made. There are many theories surrounding how they were made, but after taking into consideration the sheer size they are and the time that was required to build them, it is possible that at the rate human would've worked at, it may have been impossible to make a pyramid in the lifetime of a pharaoh so that they could bury them there, so here are a few pieces of evidence that might suggest the pyramids are more then a burial tomb for some important people. Now like most people reading this, I cant say I exactly believe that aliens came down from the sky and did it, but there are a few interesting facts that may cause you to think twice. And before you go saying aliens don't exist, just consider the sheer size of the universe, but ill leave that for later because that's another argument in itself

The Egyptians were known to be an extremely organized culture and recorded almost everything. They recorded wars, everyday life etc. If they were to write and depict something as reoccurring as their everyday life then why would they not record a great undertaking such as the pyramids. This is possibly because the pyramids were already there centuries before the Egyptians arrived.

With the technologies the Egyptians had it would have been impossible or all coincidence that the location of the pyramids just happened to be so very precise in many different aspects.
The great pyramid for example is pointed almost directly at the north pole of the earth. It is within 1/10 of a degree from pointing directly at the north pole, this would have been extremely difficult for the Egyptians to do considering compasses were not created until over a thousand years later

When examining the longitude and latitude of the location of the great pyramids it is observed that the great pyramid lies on the the 31 degrees west and 31 degrees north point. The fact that it meets on those lines would have to be an unlikely coincidence. Therefore it must be even more of a coincidence that those two lines cover the most combined area on the earth, more then any other longitudinal and latitude lines. In other words the great pyramid is located at the exact center of all the land mass in the earth.

the pyramids were also built with enormous precision, so much that the angles of each corner are exactly 90 degrees, and despite the sides being approximately 727 feet long, there is only a 2 cm difference between the length of each side

When examining the sphinx it is clear that the body is of a lion and the head seems disproportionate and awkward on the body. The body of the Sphinx shows water damage and the only time there was water in that area of Egypt was before humans existed. This is also different from rain erosion because the erosion gave evidence of flowing water not falling water, meaning it was partially submerged at a point and there have been no times that fulfill that criteria since humans were alive. It is possible that the Egyptians came by after it was built, saw the sphinx and the Pharaoh at the time had a head constructed for it and replaced the head of the lion with one they had build, explaining the awkward size. It is possible that the Egyptians stumbled upon the pyramids years after they had been built and decided to build their own.  These turned out to be the smaller pyramids, the crumbling ones and the broken one, which all happened to be built after the huge pyramids at Giza. This would explain the lack of records and drawings, because they were embarrassed  of the ones they had built and they did not build the pyramids at Giza.

Well knowing all this information about how the pyramids were so impeccably built is one thing, but the reason why aliens wanted to do this is another. The only thing i can think of is because the aliens may have done this so they could return. Imagine an alien society such as an advanced version of earth exploring for other planets. After exploring for potentially a few lifetimes they stumble upon planet that may get intelligent life later. because of the sheer difficulty of getting there they want to make something to help them if they ever want to return and maybe also leave something to from their culture or some sort of monument. From outer-space astronauts who have been to the moon observed easily being able to see the reflection of the sun of the pyramid. the pyramids could serve as a visual reference (instead of computer) so they can see from far off where to land. The pyramids facing the north could enable it to be easier for computer or compass navigation when approaching a landing. and finally the location of the pyramids would be used well to mark the landing point they are at point in the Nile where all the parts converge (allowing for easy access to water and they are in the center of the landmass of the world which could potentially contain some structural benefits for the landing of an immense space shuttle

Why oil isnt running out but still need to lose our dependency on it

A nightmare to some, yet a dream come true to others. But crude oil may not be running out just as fast as we think. There are a few reasons for this reasoning one of these being the new technologies that enable us to continuously reach oil that was previously unobtainable, and the vast quantities of fuel we have left may make the thought of running out of fuel a thing of the past.

Most people don’t understand the sheer immensity of the oil we have available to us. Most of the population has been somewhat brainwashed into thinking that oil is running out. Now this is mostly because oil is non-renewable, unclean, and the production, transportation and use of oil can be harmful to the environment. For those reasons most articles try convincing people that oil is running out so we should lose our dependency on it. In actuality, it is not running out, which gives us even more of a reason to lose that same dependency.

From 1870 to 2009 scientist have estimated that we have used approximately 135 billion barrels of oil. At the rate we are using oil it some sources say we will run out of all our current oil by approximately 2060. What most don’t know is that when that number 2060 is thrown around, that is assuming that we continue to deplete all the current wells we have in use, but that does not factor in the finding of wells that happen so often. In actuality we have more oil than most people think The Alberta oil sands alone have an estimated 1.84 trillion barrels of oil in them that is yet to be extracted. Only 9% of this oil is currently extractable with our current technology. Eventually though technology will evolve until we can extract that oil. Once that oil is extractable, compare that 1.84 trillion barrels to the 135 billion barrels we have used from 1870-2009, that means that the oil sands contain an estimated 13.6 times the amount of oil we have used between 1870 and 2009. And it is only a matter of time before the technology evolves enough for us to extract all of it. And that is the oil sands by itself. Add that to the deep water reserves in Brazil with an estimated 150 million barrels in them, and Linc energy who plan to extract 233 million barrels from shale rock in Australia. Those are just a few oil reservoirs listed and there are plenty more being discovered in relatively unexplored places like Antarctica and Artic with estimated amount of barrels going into the trillions. When sources say that we will run out by 2060 that is assuming we do not try and extract oil from these areas where oil is unobtainable, and continue to only use the current wells we have dug.

I just mentioned that some of the oil such as the Alberta oil sands was unobtainable at the moment due to its location and difficulty to extract. But new oil will be continuously found and extracted as long as new technologies are created to help oil companies do so. We will quickly find that with all the new technologies and ways of extracting this difficult to reach oil, the so called unobtainable oil in the oil sands will eventually give birth to the trillions of barrels it contains. Currently oil more than 8 miles underground is more or less off limits due to the fact each pipe must be minutely smaller than the pipe previously laid. This is because the way that the pipes reach the oil deep underground is that the biggest pipe is at the top and to reach the bottom they need to continuously push smaller pipes through the original pipe. The problem encountered past 8 miles is that the original pipe must an enormous width to pump a sufficient amount of oil to the surface. Shell claims to now have pipes that expand once pushed through the top pipe; this will enable them to push pipes deeper than ever without having to keep making their pipes larger and larger. New drills are now able to drill vertically as always but if they miss the oil they are now able to drill up to 200 miles horizontally allowing them to practically never miss an oil well.

But just because these options are there doesn't mean they are safe for the environment.

What people need to understand about oil is if there is a demand for it, there will always be new ways to go deeper and extract the unextractable no matter how much it damages then ecosystem around it and we will never run out of oil because there will always be new wells and easier ways to get the oil out. Currently oil prices are continuously rising despite the fact that we still have plenty of oil available and it is baffling that they are rising if there is unlimited oil as many sources have claimed. Well one of the reasons is because it is getting harder to reach. But eventually the new technologies to reach deeper oil will become cheaper as it becomes less “new” so the price will stop being affected by that. The main reason for the continuously rising oil price is: why not raise the price? All the oil companies are privately owned and prices are only regulated to a certain degree. despite   there being some laws stopping oil companies from inflating the price to the extreme, they are still able to raise the price over time. And as long as people need to put gas in their cars the oil companies will have them under control and will continuously be able to raise prices because people have no choice.

If there is anything you remember from this article I hope you realize that there will not be a day when the oil will dry up. As long as there is a demand for oil and a spark of innovation in the mind; the oil companies will continue to find new oil despite the ecological costs. The price of oil is not an indication of whether we are running out or not, but it is an indication of how desperate we are for oil. It is up to us to lessen our dependency on oil for the sake of the environment, despite the fact that it will always be available.

http://phys.org/news160906147.html

http://www.energy.alberta.ca/OilSands/791.asp 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/oil/9867659/Why-the-world-isnt-running-out-of-oil.html

http://www.wallstreetdaily.com/2011/08/04/athabasca-oil-sands-reservoir/

http://economics.about.com/cs/macroeconomics/a/run_out_of_oil.htm

http://www.law.fsu.edu/journals/landuse/Vol132/Ward.htm

The unseen killer

It is a commonly known fact that everything wireless emits some sort of waves or radiation, while sending signals through the air, which enable it to send and receive information or commands. But do people know what extent these things affect them

Microwaves
From 1976-1992 the Russian government banned the use of microwaves. What could possibly be so dangerous about microwave ovens that would actually get them banned in some place? This should have been a sufficient warning for us to stop using microwaves, or at least to look into it, but despite all of this, we continued to nuke our food without question.

The studies the Russian government showed countless things, a long list that i am not willing to repeat but it did consist of some things such as:

• microwaves emitting small amounts of radiation in the close by area. Enough to affect your vision overtime if you continuously stand near the microwaves often
• Microwaves reducing the nutrients in your food by up to 90%, making it more difficult for you to absorb more complex vitamins, making certain foods help cause cancer, making the molecular structure of the foods fall apart, and causing complications of the digestive system and more

          http://www.fourwinds10.net/siterun_data/health/harmful_products/news.php?q=1363701849



Mobile Phones
 AS you may already know, mobile phones send radio and receive radio signals to communicate with the cellular network. A few years ago, a colleague of a close friends who was on call often and used an older phones died from cancer. The cancer had started in his jaw then spread to the rest of his body, eventually killing him. Cell phones emit radio waves that are classified in the same category as x-rays and different studies have shown that the tissues near the cellphone absorb this energy emitted by the cellular phone. Studies have also shown that the brain tissue near the cellular phones start to consume more glucose. More studies also find that frequent cell phone users also have a better chance of getting brain cancer.

But im sure all this knowledge is known and most people have heard information like this before. The question is why don't we do anything about it. And cell phones and microwaves aren't the only waves we have traveling through our bodies. Imagine there was some special glasses that showed all the wave forms traveling through the air. You would see countless cell phone signals from different service providers radiating out from all the large towers and building with a few entering you pocket. There would be powerful beams from outside the earth traveling to your GPS, radio signals would be flying from everywhere, different ones from every radio station nearby. There would be signals going to your satellite receiver in your house, providing you with TV and signals radiating from the routers in your houses providing that much needed WiFi to you.
Knowing all these signals are passing through our body and definitely not helping us we continue to use them. But would it be possible to turn it off? Well of course not, everyone myself included has become dependent on these waves that make everything better for us. The best thing you can do is to keep it in your mind, maybe don't use your microwave oven as much and heat things differently. Also try using your cellphone with a wired headset (not wireless) so that the radiation wont pass though your brain. We cant do everything to stay safe but doing nothing would be idiotic.

Is nuclear energy a viable alternative energy.

A neutron speeding at incredible speeds, colliding with an atom of uranium 235, splitting the nucleus in half, which releases energy and causing 2 more neutrons to break free and collide with more atoms of uranium 235

thus causing a chain reaction and creating a process called nuclear fission. Nuclear fission is the reaction that takes place in the detonation of an atomic bomb and in nuclear power plants, but whether it is viable or not is what we will be examining

when contemplating nuclear energy one must factor in the dangers and risks of utilizing nuclear energy. In 1986, a power plant in Ukraine, in the city of Chernobyl had a meltdown casing catastrophic damages and immediately killing 123 people. but that's just the beginning, due to the radioactive isotopes that escaped during the accident, over 985,000 people were killed up to 2004 by cancer, according to http://www.globalresearch.ca. But how and why does such an accident happen. well in modern day north america, we need not worry as much about this problem. The meltdown at Chernobyl was cause by many human errors and mechanical failures that could have been avoided if proper precautions were followed. A nuclear power plant work by metal bars being heated by the energy produced from the nuclear fission, then using the heat induced into the metal bars to evaporate water which spins a turbine and generate electricity.
 The reactor at Chernobyl did not have people monitoring it properly and they were also running the reactor on high and not using enough metal bars to absorb the heat. this extreme heat and lack of dissipation caused parts to start melting, causing the reaction to go out of control and be unconstrained, which burned a hole in protective barriers,allowing the radioactive isotopes to leak out. This accident has led people to believe that nuclear power is no longer safe but many people fail to recognize that standards have been raised and precautionary measures have been put in place to avoid this same type of accident and it is extremely unlikely that we will have another Chernobyl incident.

Despite this, people are still very skeptical about nuclear power. do the benefits outweighs the risks. well to start nuclear energy is extremely clean and produces extremely large amounts of power. The average nuclear power plant produces 12.2 billion kilowatt hours (http://www.eia.gov). To put this in perspective, this would equal 60 000 acres of windmills or 2400-2800 windmills, when the wind is blowing. one nuclear plant would also equal about 4 coal plants. If we consider the amount of pollution, a nuclear plant saves us, it is worth it to take the 0.1% (http://www.ippnw-students.org/chernobyl/meltdown.pdf) chance of a meltdown of a specific nuclear reactor in its complete lifetime, compared to the imminent and clearly visible pollution emitted by a coal plant that cause things such as 22 300 premature deaths every year http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jun/12/european-coal-pollution-premature-deaths. It is best to choose a solution that will definitely work but has a minimal chance of being dangerous instead of going with the old ways that are already proven dangerous and have a 100% chance of staying the same

Alternative Energy

As we start to run out of non renewable resources and are faced with pollution problems we must look into new energy source like wind power, solar power, geothermal, nuclear, and hydro.There is no clear cut solution or best solution to this problem, but one thing for sure is we cannot continue to rely on fossil fuels for our power because they simply are non renewable and they cause too much pollution.

To start the search for a alternative we can look to one of the older forms of generating electricity; hydro electricity. This is generated by water being held up in a dam and being released through one point in the dam that uses the gushing water to spin turbines and generate electricity. Hydro power is a feasible alternative energy due to it high energy output, little pollution and little maintenance required. Despite this it is not perfect because dams flood surrounding land and often cause changes in the environment and creating dams have an expensive start up cost.

Nuclear energy on the other hand, produces more energy then any of the other energy forms. All sources say something different but in the end the energy production is large. One gram of uranium produces the energy equal to approximately 100 football field of wind turbine farms and 1 kg of uranium produces about the equivalent of 14 000 kg of coal. This is because the uranium 238 atom undergoes nuclear fission (splitting the atom), yielding uranium 235. This process is also extremely clean and produces very little air pollution. The only problem with this is that the waste uranium 235 is extremely radioactive and must be stored in man made underground dump sites. Overtime the concrete walls may develop cracks and holes, or earthquakes may disturb it ; causing radioactive uranium to leak out into the environment.
There have also been a few nuclear reactor meltdowns in the past which have also scared many people away from nuclear power and also the nuclear bomb makes most feel uneasy when they hear about nuclear power plants. Fortunately  a meltdown is nothing like a nuclear explosion because weapons grade uranium is 30x ore concentrated then uranium for power, but despite meltdowns still release large amounts of radiation and nuclear fallout.


Next is another controversial method of generating electricity and that is by wind. Energy generated by wind is renewable and safe for the most part. The energy is generated by wind turbines which use the wind to turn large blades that capture the wind, which in turn spin a generator to create electricity. On the pro side, they are very safe and don't require too much upkeep, they are not too expensive or complex either and do not produce any pollution except to create them. The only problem with wind turbines is that many people claim the quiet and low wushing sound annoys their ears and causes insomnia and also irritates their ears. This apparently only happens to people with sensitive ears, and according to studies, about 25% of people have this problem. On the other hand, only people who live near the wind turbines will notice, and if wind turbines are isolated then it will not affect people. To solve this problem wind turbines are often put out on bodies of water, fields of crops. But the problem with these solutions is that if it is near shore on water, people will complain about the turbines being an eye sore and reducing the value of their property. And on farmers fields, it still may disturb the farmers with the sound polution. Despite these small set backs, wind power in my opinion is the most viable solution.

In contrast, solar power does not have many cons. Solar power generation works by capturing the sun's rays  with solar panels and turning them into electricity. the good thing about solar power is that they do not pollute and can go practically anywhere. Now even though they can go anywhere, that doesn't mean they will work to the best of their abilities in any place. Solar panels work best when they are facing the sun and they also work better if the sun is more intense, which occurs in summer or closer to the equator. That being said, they are not a great solution in many countries that don't meet those conditions. They also do not catch many of the sun's rays. The sun emits many rays like infra red, light, many forms radiation, x rays and more. The average solar panel absorbs around 80% of the energy of one of these type of waves but cannot absorb any of the other rays. currently there are some solar panels that absorb mist of the different types of waves, but they cost in the millions and are used on things such as the mars rovers. Even modern solar panels cost a lot in comparison with wind turbines. A household 500 watt wind turbine from eBay costs around $250 whereas a 500 watt solar panel from eBay or 5, 100 watt solar panels cost around $750. That being said one major disadvantage of solar panels is their price, costing 3x the price of a wind turbine for the same energy output

Geothermal energy is another renewable energy that works by harnessing the heat of the earth to in term heat a building or create power. It is relatively clean and it is also safe but it is not very widely used. This is because it can only be implemented in the rare places where the crust of the earth is thin, like Iceland. It is a good alternative energy and should be used when possible but unfortunately that option is not available to many places.

As you can see, not one alternative energy is better then the other and none are perfect. It all comes down to the area that they are being implemented and the conditions around it that will decide which form of energy production is best for that place. Either way, there are many clean energies out there and it is time we change from fossil fuels into the cleaner energies.

limiting your child's screen time

With the quickly expanding internet and the all the available ways of watching TV shows and movies it is getting more and more difficult as well as more and more important to limit your children's screen time. the Minnesota department of health found that children ages 8 to 18 spend an average of 3 hours on the computer daily and the average american home had more t then it has occupants. And this is TVs alone, not including computers which tend to be used more frequently. One of the major effects of this reliance on screens other then obesity is the effect it has on your brain. watching to much TV and playing games on the computer lower a child's intellectual ability, attention span and much more.

A way to  help pull your child away is to distract them and get them interested in something else such as a hobby. Now the problem is many children do not have hobbies, but it is easy to find one. All you have to do is start off by introducing them to different things they might be interested in such as science experiments, or building things. As a child my mother introduced me to many different science experimental and built many things with me. i quickly took to these experiment and soon became independent, surpassed my parent's knowledge and developed a life long hobby. some experiments that are good introductions to kids of different ages to introduce them to a potential new hobby and get them off the computer are found here. Introduce some of these experiments to your child and to help them develop a new life long hobby, educate them in different ways, all while getting them off the computer.

10 things to do with your kids to do that don’t involve a computer or tv

1.       Baking soda and vinegar science experiment

A classic experiment to do with your young child that will also give them a basis on chemical reactions and chemistry is the baking soda and vinegar reaction. When mixing the two together, a fizz similar to opening a shaken pop can will take place. If you are interested in taking it a step further you can also make a papier-mâché volcano and color the vinegar red with food coloring

2.       The potato battery

Teach your kids that all living thing have electricity in them by using a potato as a battery. This is done by sticking something made of zinc (a galvanized nail or screw) and something made or copper (a penny or copper wire) into the potato. If you have a volt meter you can measure the electricity output by the potato. You can also get creative wiring potatoes in series to get enough voltage to power a led or spin a motor. Lemons are a substitute for potatoes

3.       Make plasma with a grape

Show your kid the 4^th element, plasma using 2 household things, a microwave and a grape.  Do this simply by cutting the grape almost fully in half but leaving a small piece of skin attaching the two halves together. Then face the two cut ends of the grape facing upwards. Place it in the microwave and set it to a normal setting, and after a few seconds you will see a brief spark of plasma exit the grape. Occasionally you will get a “defective” grape and I also recommend NOT eating the grape after finishing with it.

4.       Make a card tower

A fun way to teach your child about structures is to make a card tower. Use a deck of cards and carefully place the card in triangles (they work best). Then connect sets of two triangles with a horizontal card then stack on top of that and so on. See who can stack the tallest card tower. It is easiest to do it on a carpet if you don’t need the setoff card you can also fold them and bend them

5.       Have a bride building competition

Using popsicle sticks and a hot glue gun (works best because it dries fast) build a bridge. Establish rules such as the amount of popsicles stick you can use and the distance the bridge must span. 50 Popsicle sticks and 30cm works well but you can adjust the rules depending on your resources and time. Once complete test the bridges with weights such as books to see whose bridge hold the most weight. Or work as a team whatever works best.

6.       Egg drop

You can do this as one big team or make it a competition. The goal is to build a contraption that will protect your egg from a fall. Using material like plastic bags, newspaper, cotton balls, egg cartons and string make an older for your egg. To protect it from the impact of falling you may want to make a parachute or put cushioning around the egg. Once everyone is done drop the eggs from a ladder or staircase, make sure to cover the ground in newspapers to avoid having to clean up broken egg, and see whose egg survives

7.       Mousetrap car

Learn about kinetic and potential energy with your child by making a mousetrap car. Remove the spike from the mousetrap, make a car with the mousetrap on it. Once you attach the axle to the mousetrap by a string. Fold the mousetrap back and watch the car use the potential energy stored up in the mousetrap to travel forward. You can modify the size of the wheel and length of the arm attached to the mousetrap to make it travel more distance

8.       Coke and Mentos

A simple experiment that demonstrates chemical reactions. All you need is a 2L bottle of coke and a pack of Mentos. When doing this experiment make sure you are doing it outside and don’t mind getting wet. Open the bottle of pop and let the Mentos slide into the bottle. Make sure to stand back because as soon as they drop in, the pop will shoot into the air

9.       Boats down river

Using recycled materials like pop cans and water bottles and popsicle sticks or skewers to hold it all together, make a boats to race down the river. Consider adding a sail to make your boat look cooler. Once everyone makes their boat, launch it down the river. Be sure to have someone waiting further down to collect the boats. Judge the boats on aesthetics, performance and design to determine the winner.

10.   Birdhouse

Do research to find common birds that are found in your area.  Determine which birds you would like to see in your backyard. Look on YouTube to find how to build a birdhouse fit for that type of bird. Once complete place it in your backyard and watch as hopefully a new family of birds will move in!

if you like this experiment, join my community at https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/108615007101593099207
or follow/subscribe to me :) thanks

Engine that runs off of heat

Modern internal combustion engines have an efficiency of about 25-30%. Every year car manufacturers come out with small new innovations and technology the increase the efficiency by very little. The problem is a large percentage of  the 70% of unused energy is wasted in heat which most car companies have yet to harness. A solution to this lack in efficiency could be solved by the Stirling engine which runs of temperature difference. In other words a stirling engine could be used to power electrical components or attach to the driving train to reduce the work the engine does. It would be doing this with energy the engine would be otherwise throwing away, it would not take any power away from the engine or increase fuel use and would also help keep the engine cool. In the picture and the video attached you can see a small Stirling engine a made myself and learn a bit about how they work. Keep in mind it was made with scrap materials and a machined Stirling engine has more power, speed and efficiency. if you look into Stirling engines and watch more videos you will see they have a large potential in increasing efficiency of cars, and are very amazing with some so refined they can run off the heat of your hand

My stirling engine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wW6-T9NQqOs
One that runs off hand: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebu6Vcds_40
A fast one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xF15NA4vR2w