Adventure Ausrama Blog

If you want to improve the efficiency of solar cells, use your pencil. Well, the graphite in pencils can now be used to make tiny nanodots. Graphite rods in sodium hydroxide solution produce nanodots which can potentially be used to augment existing solar panels. The Pencil study involved using pencil "leads" as the cathode and anode, which were dropped into ethanolic sodium hydroxide. Nano particles of 3 nanometers (nm) were produced. Nanodots in a compound with carboxyl and hydroxyl collected on the anode. The nanodots were then drawn into the pores of a titanium and silicon dioxide template. Other mesoporous materials have been tested. They each have particular properties in regard to sensing, catalysis and optoelectronics. This allows for fine tuning of solar panels. The pencil lead system  improved current transfer from simulated sunlight by 38 per cent. ◆ Chemistry by Ty Buchanan   ◆ Adventure Australia Funny Animal Photos Funny Weird Things Article...

Let's face it - homeopathy is hogwash. How can a "medication" work if it is diluted into nothingness? Dilution of the main ingredients in homeopathic remedies is in the millions of particles to the base carrying substance. All cures are hearsay, with no scientific proof whatsoever. Homeopathy Plus claimed that the whooping cough vaccine didn't work, but its homeopathic treatment was a substitute that did the job. This of course was all lies. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has taken the company to court on the grounds that the claims are misleading and deceptive. The firm also made claims about cures for meningococcal disease, Japanese encephalitis, malaria and dengue fever. All these claims are mythical. Protests came from the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration ordering the claims be taken down.  Homeopathy Plus ignored this. More than a year after the advertising program has been completed a court has found in favor of t...

A way of detecting gold deposits beneath the ground has been right in front of our eyes for years. Eucalyptus trees take up gold particles into their leaves. X-ray imaging could replace test drilling. Eucalyptus roots go down a very long way in search of water. Some sinker roots reach 40 meters below the surface. If there is gold in the ground it is concentrated in the leaves. It is pushed to extremities of the tree because gold is toxic. Research has proven the theory. Trees above gold deposits store gold, but in gold-free areas there is no stored gold. It is place specific as well: the amount of gold particles varies with the level of gold deposits in the ground. There is no threat to the trees as the amount of stored gold is minuscule. All types of plants store minerals besides eucalyptus. However, the overwhelming number of plant species in Australia are eucalyptus. It is no longer necessary to drill in difficult, rocky places. Taking a few leaves for anal...

The state of the weather is a problem on Earth with predictions not always being correct. In space, however, there is a more serious weather problem. Solar storms can kill. Detectors at the South Pole measure neutrons. When the level reaches a certain point astronauts on the International Space Station shelter in a shielded capsule. Advances have been made in predicting solar storms which can destroy satellites. Unfortunately, little can be done to protect them, but the safety of astronauts is paramount. Storms move at different speeds. The faster the speed the more energy in particles, which makes them more intense and dangerous. Ironically, because there are more low-energy particles in a solar storm they do most overall damage. The early arrival of these low-energy particles does forewarn the onslaught of the high-energy neutrons. The number of solar flares gives an indication of future activity, though this is only a possibility at best. Neutron sensors at th...

If you want to stay healthy don't vacuum your house. Have you ever done some hoovering and got a dry irritating cough? This could mean you need a new vacuum cleaner or should dump the existing one. It is the way vacuum cleaners work that is the problem. They take in clumpy material which is caught in the filter bag. Very fine particles and bacteria get through and are pumped into surrounding air. If you are close-by, you breath in that foul air. Top brands were tested including Hoover, Dyson, Electrolux, Sanyo and iRobot. When they were only six months old their HEPA filter systems failed. Allergens, bacteria and dust were pumped straight into the room. Ideally we shouldn't have carpets in our homes at all. Having an industrial cleaner built into your home is the only answer. With these, dust is caught in a filtration unit outside of the house. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://www.feeds.feedburner.com/A...