Green Superbowl???

This entry is duplicated from The Cool Green Science blog of the Nature Conservancy. Click the link to go visit and/or subscribe.

This year’s Super Bowl is going green: the NFL has expanded its environmental program which had basic recycling to include food donations, green energy purchase, and tree planting. Though the NFL admits that while these efforts don’t complete negate the Super Bowl’s impact on the environment, it does make a difference, St. Petersburg Times reports.

The NFL is purchasing renewable energy from TECO, which gets its power from solar panels in the Tampa Bay area and from a biomass facility in South Florida. TECO officials estimate that powering the Super Bowl with renewable energy will prevent more than 313,000 pounds of CO2 emissions - but will increase the stadium’s cost by about $5,000.

In order to offset the game’s carbon impact, the NFL (with help from the U.S. Forest Service and the Florida Division of Forestry) is planting 2,700 trees at a dozen sites in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.

Leftover prepared food will also be donated to local charities and churches. Building materials, decoration, office equipment and supplies used to prepare for the game will also be donated to nonprofits to use or sell for cash.

Last month, StubHub launchded its “Tickets for Trees” program, which plants a tree for every ticket purchased on StubHub for the 2008-09 NFL Playoffs and Super Bowl.

The 2008 Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona was the first to be powered completely with renewable energy.

Stimulus Package - Will Nuclear Get a Fair Shake?

US NEWS: --SENATE APPROPRIATORS APPROVED $50 BILLION IN LOAN GUARANTEE authority in fiscal 2009 for new nuclear power plants and other clean energy technology projects. The appropriators approved the provision January 27 as part of a stimulus package intended to create more jobs and reinvigorate the economy. A report accompanying the legislation, S. 336, said the loan guarantee authorization would supplement the levels previously approved for the loan guarantee program. It said the committee was providing additional authorization because of the "strong interest in the program and the large number of pending applications."

Under the program, there is currently $18.5 billion available for power reactor projects, which the industry says would cover construction of no more than three new nuclear units, and $2 billion available for nuclear fuel cycle facilities. DOE said it initially received 19 applications to build 21 new reactors, but the department hasn't disclosed how many of those applicants completed the second part of the filing process by last month's deadline. House appropriators did not include a similar provision to expand loan guarantees for nuclear projects in their version of the stimulus legislation.

Differences between the House and Senate versions would have to be ironed out by members of a congressional conference committee.

Superbowl Commercial - Are You Gonna Watch?

The following information was sent out on our internal network today, and I found it really interesting. My company, AEP, will be part of a Superbowl Commercial. So as we all watch the game, and when you see the Scarecrow, know that you will be connected with us for a brief moment.

GE will air a national television advertisement that includes an AEP logo during the first game break of the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIII, coming on Sunday, Feb. 1.

The 30-second spot launches a major GE advertising campaign to introduce its Smart Grid energy-related technology, and has a working title of "Scarecrow," featuring the theme song "If I Only Had a Brain" from the classic movie "The Wizard of Oz."

AEP and GE are partnering in AEP's installation of GE Smart Meters in South Bend, Ind., as part of AEP's gridSMART initiative. Indiana Michigan Power is installing 10,000 of the new meters and automated distribution technology. Smart meters are digital meters connected to a two-way radio frequency communications network that send usage information over a secure internet protocol system.

Empowerment - Not Silliness :o)

Empowerment can be defined as a clear vision, and clearly stated guidelines and boundaries for behaviors.

Swimming With Sharks :o)

Recently, one of my co-workers provided me a remake of a paper that was published in the 1800's regarding "How to Swim With Sharks: A Primer", by Voltaire Cousteau. This was developed to help protect sponge divers.

It is really interesting to review the analogies of the dangers of swimming with actual sharks, with the business world, and having to deal with "sharks" :o)

So here provide the "rules" that were identified to say that it is of obvious importance to learn that the waters are shark infested before commencing to swim. If you suddenly find yourself in shark infested waters, then what is your recourse? - If you follow these rules, it may be possible to survive.

1. Assume all unidentified fish are sharks
2. Do not bleed
3. Counter any aggression promptly
4. Get out of the water if someone is bleeding
5. Use anticipatory retaliation
6. Disorganized and organized attack

As you think about the waters in which you swim, do you have a plan on how to deal with the inevitable sharks?

Sunday Silliness - Consulting :o)

If you're not a part of the solution, there's good money to be made in prolonging the problem.

Schizophrenic Psycho - I bet you know one :o)

This past week has been interesting. I have been on a special assignment at work, investigating why a project was not ready to implement as planned, resulting in one co-worker losing their job and costing our company significant dollars.

As we have dealt with the multiple personalities involved (pun intended), it has been very interesting to say the least. We have several weeks left, so I may be returning to this entry on a regular basis to get my comedic relief.

It also reminded me of Beth's recent entry based on a Time Magazine article we recently read, go see her entry by clicking the link Insane in the Membrane :o)

I am sure as we have all traveled on our various journeys, we have come across individuals that fit the profile of the song Psycho by Puddle of Mudd. Who knows, it could even be the person that looks back at us in the mirror :o)



Lyrics:

[Said twice]
Maybe I'm the one
Maybe I'm the one who is the schizophrenic psycho (yeah)

[Verse 1]
She lays down on the fresh lawn
She can make everything magical
But she tied one on big time
And it makes me wanna rewind
To back in the days when we were young
When everything was like a loaded gun
Ready to go off at any minute
And you know we're gonna win again (yeah)

[x3][Chorus]
Maybe I'm the one
Maybe I'm the one who is the schizophrenic psycho (yeah)
Maybe I'm the one
Maybe I'm the one who is the paranoid flake-o

[Verse 2]
She lays down on the sidewalk
Never very analytical
She is something simply beautiful
Re-appear when you feel magical
To back in the days when we were young
When everything was like a loaded gun
Ready to go off at any minute
Yeah you know we're gonna win again

[Chorus]
Maybe I'm the one
Maybe I'm the one who is the schizophrenic psycho (yeah)
Maybe I'm the one
Maybe I'm the one who is the paranoid flake-o

[Said 3 times]
You're the one, You're the one who is the schizophrenic psycho

Back in the days when we were young
When everything was like a loaded gun
Ready to go off at any minute
And you know we're gonna win again

[Chorus]
Maybe I'm the one
Maybe I'm the one who is the schizophrenic psycho (yeah)
Maybe I'm the one
Maybe I'm the one who is the paranoid flake-o

[Said 3 times]
You're the one
You're the one who is the schizophrenic psycho [yeah]
Schizophrenic psycho YEAH!

USS New York.

It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center . It is the fifth in a new class of warship - designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft. Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite , LA to cast the ship's bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept 9, 2003, 'those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence,' recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. 'It was a spiritual moment for everybody there.' Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and 'the hair on my neck stood up. It had a big meaning to it for all of us. They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back.' The ship's motto? 'Never Forget'

The pictures above are from the christening that occurred on 03/01/2008. The commissioning is expected to take place in the Fall of 2009. Click this LINK to go to the official website.

Science Scene: Worm Grunting

I read about Worm Grunting tonight in National Wildlife Federation magazine, and did a Google, and found this information from Discovery. I found it very interesting.

Oct. 20, 2008 -- It sounds a little like snake charming. You drive a wooden stake into the ground and draw a flat metal rod across the top, creating an bullfrog-like grunting sound. Within minutes, hundreds of earthworms come to the surface, where they meet their doom in the buckets of fishing bait collectors.

Now, researcher Ken Catania of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. has an explanation for the worms' hightailing it to the surface: Worm grunting mimics the vibrations made by burrowing moles, a voracious worm predator.

Catania, who studies moles, had read Charles Darwin's statement in a book he wrote on worms: "It has often been said that if the ground is beaten or otherwise made to tremble, worms believe that they are pursued by a mole and leave their burrows."

Others have observed certain turtles and birds tapping the ground to bring worms to the surface to eat.

"Then I heard about this 'worm grunting'," Catania said.

Thank You Mr. President, Both Of You :o)

Regardless of your political affiliation, today was a historic day. President Bush has been our President for the past eight years, and while we can agree or disagree on his legacy, he was the leader of our country during the 9/11 tragedy, and he showed remarkable leadership at that time. So, Thank You President Bush, as President Obama stated today, for your service to our country.

I had the chance near lunch to be in my car and hear the introductions for the inauguration today, and it was truly historic, regal, and epic. On the way home, I got to hear the entire speech, and tonight on T.V., got to see the Lincoln Bible, the incredible new first family, and this moment in history will be forever ingrained.

So, I say, thank you President Bush, and welcome President Obama. I voted for both of you for the same reason, to keep the United States of America the best country to live in, and to be proud of. You both showed immense poise and grace during the past several months as this transition was made, and you are both to be commended.

Hope and Change mean different things at different times, and I look forward to the next four years.