A married couple from Idaho is about to change the world drastically, for the better. Julie & Scott Brusaw from Sagle Idaho wanted to do something about Climate Change, and wondered if their crazy idea of making roads out of solar panels could actually work. Well, after some funding for Research & Development from the Federal Highway Administration, they proved it can and does. Learn about it with this video: This makes me so geeking happy, you have no idea. And I'm just a little proud that these folks are from a neighboring state, and the husband is a mechanical engineer. I'm excited that hopefully these will be a reality by the time my little boys are driving. I am REALLY hoping with the public's backing, this won't be killed by Big Oil and the politicians they have so much control over. Here's to still having hope in America!
Solar Roadways is raising money to go into PRODUCTION until May 31, 2014. Please visit their Indiegogo page to make a donation and get some cool swag along the way.
That ^ is my fave of their bumper stickers you can get for a $25 donation (mine is on its way). You can get even cooler stuff for bigger donations if you can afford that. (If you can't afford to donate, help spread the word instead!)
Click on the logo to go to their funding campaign:
And here is their website where you can get more updates on what's going on with them currently:
SolarRoadways.com
And/or like their Facebook Page for updates! Thanks, spread the Solar Love: save the planet, the economy, our health, and our wallets.
(Info for this post was from SolarRoadways.com and www.indiegogo.com/projects/solar-roadways)
I am in the middle of putting together my exhibit proposal and my power point presentation for the final symposium on Friday and I had to take a quick break to geek out.
I'm going through all the data I collected by talking with people in the visitor center here, and I find myself feeling so excited! I'm so loving this. I think this kind of work is the perfect marriage of my passions for science, education, and psychology! I get to think about how the brain works, how it learns, how people interact with things based on their beliefs and values, and also some sociology of how they do all this in the context of participating with their family, sharing their opinion with others, etc. This is so cool!
I think I'm also really going to enjoy the research I'll be doing this fall with Dr. Heath Ogden. We're going to do a study on how college Biology students learn and accept or reject evolution. I'm super excited for this! Once again, it's that marriage of science, education, psychology, and even some religion on that one. Perfect.
I think the other wonderful thing about this project is that it's not just one of those research projects where you find some data and present it and you're done. No, I got to collect the data, interpret it, and immediately apply it into an exhibit proposal that is catered to the wants and needs of people based on that data I collected! It's data collection with an immediately applicable purpose! And creating the exhibit proposal is just such a powerful thing. To think that my work and ideas will be taken, tweaked and fleshed out, and made into an actual thing that people will use. That's very exciting to me. I wish I could be around for that tweaking and fleshing out process. It would be so awesome to see a project like this all the way to the finish.
"Would you like to take a survey?" Yes, I have said that very phrase or a variation of it many times this week. I have talked to more than 50 people and received some good feedback for my exhibit. I also began working on my exhibit proposal and visuals to go along with it. This is so fun! I love that I get to create this, and my proposal will be used to pitch the plan to whatever company they get to make the exhibit program. How sweet is that?
So, the plan is to have a big touch table - here is what it looks like, from the ideum website:
You can't see very well from that picture but people can grab photos or whatever, resize and move them around and place them wherever they want. Very cool technology. Here is a video done here at Hatfield- it has a lot of narration about Free Choice Learning, so if you're not interested in that, just scroll over to the parts that show visitors using the table, so you can see how cool it is.
So, here are the various transformations the interface has gone through:
Stage 1: My initial messy drawing to get my thoughts on paper and make sure I was on the same page with the exhibit team. At this point I thought we would just have a simple touch screen kiosk.
Stage 2: Mock-up made by Allison the graphic designer, using stage 1 as a guide. I showed this to people as I interviewed them so they'd have an idea of what the heck I was talking about.
Stage 3: My own digital version I'm currently working on, now more in sync with the awesomeness of the touch table. The final version will go into my exhibit proposal.
A folder opened - upon touching a file, an animation would show the file opening and spilling the contents on the workspace to end up kind of like this:
I'll spare you the details of the survey because I need to get back to work! I banked a couple days off and I'm taking my kids on our final trip of the summer this week, so that leaves me with only 9 more work days- eek! Have to use my time very wisely.
Which phrase is preferable? Obviously I can't really use that last one (dangit). But if I don't use Climate Change or Global Warming, what DO I use? Those who are concerned and worried think that "Climate Change" and "Global Warming" are synonymous. Those who are more doubtful think that Climate Change is just natural cycling of changes in climate, and they think Global Warming is a crock. So to them, if I used "Climate Change", they wouldn't think of that in context of being human-caused. But use Global Warming and it immediately turns them off. And in my opinion, "Global Warming" is misleading because then when people experience a cold winter or live in a colder area they think that's proof that Global Warming isn't happening. A surprising number of people also believe that "Global Warming" is thinning of, or a hole in the ozone layer.
Oh I know, I could remove all confusion and call it "Anthropogenic Global Climate Change"! Except wait...that will actually lead to more confusion since most people who haven't read scientific papers on the subject will have no clue what anthropogenic means. (FYI it means caused or produced by humans.)
Any suggestions?
BTW, the comments link is annoyingly inconspicuous on blogspot. Look for a stupid little link down below that says, "0 comments" or whatever number it is at the moment, and click to open the comment box.
Some personal thoughts:
Climate change can be scary. Many museums, zoos, aquariums, etc. shy away from the topic because it feels so doom and gloom. However, I feel that shying away from it only adds fuel to the idea that scientists aren't in general agreement on the topic, which is false. Also, having a timid approach with it I believe could also fuel that as well. I don't think we should be afraid of having a bold stance about it. The evidence is becoming more and more obvious (take the current heat wave for example) to everyone and I think the message is going to be more accepted. And I think it's a crucial message to get out.
Birch Aquarium in San Diego has an awesome exhibit on global warming. Here are a couple videos about it:
I can't believe it's been 3 weeks... time is flying, but at the same time I feel like I've been here longer. It's probably because it's like living in a dream world where I'm surrounded by other science geeks, environment geeks, animals, volcanism, teaching and learning, kids, awesome elderly folks, amazing research and incredibly intelligent and talented people constantly. Time seems to stand still as I cram my brain with cool new stuff! I can hardly contain the geeking out that is welling up inside me!
I'm going to explain more about my climate change project. The way in which the exhibit will relay the info is unique. It will take input from the visitor and then give them personalized information that they are more likely to understand and be open to. It follows the "Global Warming's Six Americas" study done by Yale in which the researchers wanted to find out what "camps" people fall into in relation to their views on climate change. They found there were 6 distinct groups from alarmed to dismissive. So this exhibit we will design is going to take input from the visitor and then give personalized information to them based on which of the 6 categories they fall into. The wonderful Free Choice Learning folks will then use this to study how this type of personalization affects learning.
I'm excited about this because I think it's a wonderful way to approach the subject. Climate change has become so political and polarized, so you really can't make a "one size fits all" message about it. I think this type of exhibit will be much more effective at meeting each individual where they are. In education we call it the "Zone of Proximal Development" - teaching something that is neither too basic nor too advanced for the student.
Here's a video that gives a quick overview of the Six Americas study if you want to know what the 6 groups are.
Education is power. It moves us to action. It causes us to share
with others. It opens our minds to new possibilities and ideas. Could
there be any greater work on this earth than to learn? And blessed are
the ones who find themselves in the position to walk along this journey
of learning with those who are new to the path (this is sometimes known
as "teaching").
My greatest joy is to see a person have an "aha"
moment because something they are trying to figure out finally clicks.
Or to see a child get excited about something new. (And almost
everything is new to a child, which is why they are so fun to learn
with.) If only we all kept that childlike wonderment and curiosity
about the world throughout our lives.
This week has been about the power of my education in climate change. I'm more motivated to act and share with others. Anyone who has read my earlier posts this week could see that. Heck, I even emailed my mayor back home to encourage him to become more involved for our city!
I will end with a complete tangent: the Newport 4th of July fireworks were awesome! Here's a sampling of photos:
And in typical Bio Geo Nerd fashion, everything cool should have some science connected to it... So, go to this site to learn how fireworks work! :)
Here is an interesting video I found of some research on Methane. Methane is being released due to thawing of the permafrost at the bottom of lakes near University of Alaska Fairbanks. It's short and explains it well so I'm not going to attempt it. And there are even cool pyrotechnics for your pleasure. :)
This video was found on the National Snow and Ice Data Center website.
More on climate change or global warming. You know, it's interesting. They started out calling it global warming, and then they started calling it climate change, and these are kind of "buzz words" that get people all riled up and they fall into different camps on whether or not they "believe" climate change is really happening. I personally prefer to call it climate change because some people hear "global warming" and think that because they've had record cold winters lately, the planet can't possibly be warming. This is a confusion about weather vs. climate and a general lack of information about the topic.
I'm surprised at the variety of info I've run across in my research about climate change as a "hoax". I'm sorry, that's bull. It is very well established, and look at the weather this week if you're not convinced.
Huge heat waves are becoming more and more common, sea level is actually rising like it or not, ice is melting, hurricanes have been going crazy the past few years due to the warmer ocean water feeding the storms, the earth is getting warmer. If you're unfamiliar with this here is an excellent overview in 17 minutes. You can also see my previous post which has a 3 minute overview from National Geographic.
I have been delving deep in to the world of climate change with all this research, and to be quite honest it's gotten me scared. Scared because most of the world seems so unconcerned. And they continue with the lifestyle they've always had with no regard to the environment, or even less "tree hugger" factors such as the fact that fossil fuels are exhaustible. That means they won't last forever. At some point they will run out. But long before that happens, the seas and temperatures will rise even more- perhaps so high that many of us won't be able to survive.
Did everyone else know that a huge portion of the power created in the world is still done by burning COAL? I thought that was an archaic method we had gotten past and stopped using long ago because we know how disgusting and bad for everyone's health it is. You can go here to the US Energy Information Administration website and click on your state to find out what kind of power is being used. It also shows you what renewable energies could be used in your area. Here are a couple examples. Notice the legend showing the types of energy, as well as the various shading across the state which indicates what types of renewable energies could be harnessed there.
California sources of energy:
Texas sources of energy:
Oregon sources of energy:
Please go to this site if you would like to see your state's results. You may be surprised. Writing to the power company and congress could be a good idea.
If you are not from the US, visit the International Energy Agency site to see if your country is a member of the agency and find some info for your area.
I know there have been issues of "eco scaring" or "eco phobia", whatever the terms are... well I think people should be scared. It might help if they had a little fear to motivate them to turn the lights off, stop buying (and making) gas guzzling SUV's, ride a bike, and recycle. I do think there are a good number of people who are conscious of these things and I salute them.
I will have to strike a balance with my project to be able to get the information across without turning people away. I am shocked at politicians who I don't much like anyway, and the way they try to cover up climate science. Scientists can't even use the phrases "climate change" and "sea level rise", and they have to include the last 100 years of data which skews the seriousness of the situation that is quickly escalating.
Watch the video and realize that you can make a difference- the sea level is still going to rise and it's going to get hot (and already is), but if we don't stop our emissions, it's going to get so bad that I don't think any of us humans will even be here.
If you'd like to learn more, there is a two episode BBC documentary TV show that is really awesome and it looks at every angle. It's entertaining and enlightening. They're an hour each. Well worth your time in my opinion.
Climate Wars episode 1:
Climate Wars episode 2:
I hope that some of this information has been helpful. I hope that people will become more educated on this issue and take some action. Since I'm working on this I'm sure there will be more posts to come that in the near future will include some helpful information on action items you can take beyond what most already know. Such as stop driving as much, use reusable shopping bags and water bottles, recycle, plant trees, buy products with less packaging, etc. I'm hoping to find some more info on products and companies that are ecologically responsible and worth supporting, so if I find info I'll be sure to post it. If you know of any resources PLEASE let me know. Thanks for reading, please click on the comments below and leave your own. You can also follow this blog with the links on the right. Happy 4th!
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