The Pebble Bed Reactor

The pebble reactor is a possible alternative to nuclear power. These pebbles are helium cooled and graphite moderated reactors. The fuel is in the form of tennis ball shaped pebbles. Pebbles start at the at the top of one of the veesels and slowly makes it way down and when they reach the bottom, they are removed. Using a gas like helium for the cooling in this system, makes the reactor systems more simple. I think this could be a good alternative if they make it the way that they say in the article. I don't know much about nuclear power but it sounds more efficient then methods we are using today because of them using the helium and graphite. It seems kind of risky though because they tested it a little while back in the 60's and they didn't get good results from it, so we will just have to see.

Sunlight into Natural Gas

While I was going through articles online and reading them, I read that fracking is a huge issue right now because of the waste of water and the extra treating of the water that needs to be done to the water that used to fulfill this process. Well, a company named HyperSolar has come up with a method that will use sunlight to extract hydrogen from water and after that, it is the injected with CO2 which it reacts with to make methane. This idea uses the waste water while also treating that water to make it clean water. I think that this would be a huge benefit for all of us because it is a better alternative to other ways of producing natural gases and could also help our water quality at the same time. I think that if they can execute the idea correctly and make this work, that it will be a good idea.

The Role of Predators

There is a big dispute right now about who in the food chain has a bigger affect on biodiversity. There are many studies supporting that predators have a big role in keeping species at a fixed amount, or an amount that we are use to. Studies have shown that hunting of sea otters makes tremendous difference in the amount of kelp forest in certain areas. Taking some of these predators out of the picture really can make a difference and imbalance in species in certain areas, one study shows that when there is a loss of great sharks it causes a sudden increase in sting rays, which then causes a sudden decrease in scallop fishery. Researchers have yet to do anything in large scale areas because of having to secure the money and means to do any study of removing the predator.

Second biggest problem?

Europeans believe that climate change is the second worldwide problem next to poverty according to new polls. According to the Eurobarometer poll, 89% of the population considered climate change a serious problem. 68% considered it a very serious problem and 20% considered it the most serious problem. The Eurobarometer poll was a poll taken in June, 2011 and it showed that the European population was more worried about the climate change now then they were to previous years.  The Europeans think that climate change and global warming in one of the Earth's most serious problems today. In class we talk about the serious issues of global warming and how it might affect us or even more the animals.