Fryeburg Academy Physics

If you are not aware of a huge amount of discussion in the last few years about climate change, fossil fuel alternatives, and renewable energy, I respectfully suggest that you’ve been living underground. It’s everywhere. 

The largest source of electricity in the United States comes from power plants burning coal, oil, and natural gas. Together these fossil fuels account for about 75% of the electricity in the US, and they also pump tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. If something is to be done about climate change (and by the way it’s pretty well accepted in the scientific community that humans are responsible for the rising global temperatures), we must come up with a way of generating electricity that doesn’t pollute as heavily. 

My answer for this problem is nuclear. It’s not just because I like physics and there’s really cool physics in nuclear power, but because I think it is the most practical solution, especially over the next few decades. Let’s face it: hydro is limited geographically, and neither wind nor solar is reliable on a large enough scale to contribute significantly. Not to say they won’t be, but probably not in the next 20 years. 

There are probably some doubters out there, so here’s some interesting facts about nuclear power you may not have known. 

• A nuclear power plant has zero carbon emissions. Yes, zero. The only thing a nuclear plant releases is steam.
• A nuclear plant is almost completely automated, and the computers won’t let anything bad happen. Like a commercial airliner, the safety systems on a nuclear plant are doubly or triply redundant, which means if something fails there’s at least one layer of backup. 
• The reactor is contained in a concrete dome. Even if something bad were to happen to the reactor, the radiation would be completely contained in the dome and would not have any impact on the surrounding environment. 
• You get less background radiation if you live near a nuclear plant than if you live near a coal power plant. Turns out coal has some radioactive isotopes (in small levels) that are released into the atmosphere when it is burned. 
• The spent fuel, although it is highly radioactive, can be recycled, which cuts down on waste. Fuel that cannot be recycled can be stored safely in repositories such as the one proposed at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, but the political process has not allowed the facility to become operational.  
• Half of the fuel used in the US’ nuclear plants since 1989 has come from decommissioned nuclear weapons. That accounts for 10% of all the electricity generated in the US in the last 20 years. 

I’m pretty sure I showed this video to all my classes some time ago. It shows progressive images of the relative sizes of the planets and a few stars. I always enjoy watching it. 

I found this article this morning (thanks to Mr. Minnich for sending it my way) that has a little discourse on the video. It’s an entertaining read and it made me giggle. 

I love optical illusions. This little snippet from a Bill Nye video shows several of them, and I thought it might alleviate the boredom of vacation for a while. Enjoy!

Just remember: smoking is bad for your health.  It even kills snowmen. 

A previous extra credit assignment asked you to write a research paper about the viability of ethanol as an alternative to fossil fuels like gasoline.

I came across an article this afternoon that identifies a plant that can be used to make an alternative to jet fuel. Interesting article, and I suggest you read it. There’s still some things that need to be done before it becomes a serious source of fuel, but it’s interesting at least to consider it. 

and even if you don’t think I’m funny, it won’t surprise you that I think this video is hilarious. Enjoy!

There is a phenomenon known as pareidolia, which is when you look at an abstract pattern and see things that are familiar.  This is what happens when people see religious figures in their grilled cheese sandwiches, and it’s also the basis behind the Rorschach or inkblot test.  You can probably guess my opinion on the subject, but there are people who are very strong believers in this kind of thing. 

Not all pareidolia is religious in nature, and sometimes it can be good fun; I passed many peaceful afternoons as a child staring at the sky to see what shapes the clouds made.  This collection of images is one of those fun ones, and it’s neat to see the creativity when it comes to this sort of thing.  I don’t understand all of the references because I don’t live in New York, but many are good for a chuckle.