Green Living

Sun Exposure and Cataracts – How to Protect Your Eyes

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are 18 million people around the world who are blind due to cataracts. Five percent of those 18 million people can attribute their cataract-caused blindness directly to exposure to ultraviolet radiation. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also notes the correlation between ultraviolet radiation and eye problems, including cataracts. The WHO and the EPA further suggest protection from ultraviolet (UV) radiation to prevent eye damage. The WHO has developed a UV index to indicate when the risk of damaging rays are highest. The UV index refers to the level of UV radiation present under different conditions. For example, the UV index is higher when you are around a reflective surface such as water or snow than when you are surrounded by grass and soil. Symptoms of over-exposure to UV radiation include puffiness and redness (photoconjunctivitis), and /or darkened, spotty vision. While normal vision usually returns if the person does not repeatedly experience UV exposure, permanent damage can be done by repeated or prolonged exposure. How Can You Protect Your Eyes? Your vision is precious, so it's worth it to take some steps toward preventing eye damage from the sun. Here are some precautions you can take. * ...

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The World’s Largest Solar Power Tower Plant

Google has invested $168 million in a new solar energy power plant that is being developed in the Mojave Desert in California by BrightSource Energy. Brightsource's Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS) will generate 392 gross megawatts of clean, solar energy, which is the same as taking over 90,000 vehicles off the road over the lifetime of the plant, projected to be more than 25 years. For Google, the investment makes business sense and will help complete one of the world's biggest solar energy projects. Ivanpah's ISEGS is a 392 megawatt solar thermal power facility that began construction in October of 2010. It is the first project to deliver power to serve BrightSource's signed contracts with PG&E and Southern California Edison. The project brings together BrightSource's solar technology with conventional power components to yield reliable, clean power at scale. The 392-megawatt solar complex will use mirrors to focus the power of the sun on solar receivers that are on top of power towers. The complex is made up of 3 individual plants that will be built in phases between 2010-2013, and they will use BrightSource Energy's LPT 550 technology. The electricity that will be generated is enough to serve over 140,000 homes ...

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The New 3-D Lithium-Ion Battery

At the 241st National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), scientists made claims that the next generation battery might be 3-D. The battery is a new lithium-ion battery with a three dimensional interior architecture that could be great for the electric cars that are starting to hit the market. The new lithium-ion battery is already available as a prototype. The 3-D lithium-ion battery recharges in only minutes, a big improvement from the batteries that take hours to charge. These new batteries might make it possible for electric cars to recharge as fast as a gas powered vehicle fills up at the gas station. According to scientists, the 3-D battery could potentially be the start for more powerful, longer-lasting batteries for all sorts of other rechargeable electronic devices. The research team has a 3-D prototype, which is about the size of a cell phone battery. It takes around 12 minutes to recharge compared to 2 hours for a conventional lithium-ion battery. The battery can be discharged more than double as many times as a conventional lithium ion battery at high discharge rates. Research at Colorado State University is aimed at improving lithium-ion batteries, which currently outperform nickel-cadmium (NiCad) batteries. Lithium-ion ...

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The Ethics of Meat Consumption

How sustainable can the food movement be if it is still okay with meat consumption, no matter how humanely and carefully farm animals are treated? In 1986, a man named Gene Baur started the Farm Sanctuary, the United States leading farm-animal organization, dedicated to lobbying for tougher animal-protection standards and exposing cruelty in meat production. The Farm Sanctuary was funded in the beginning by selling veggie hot dogs out of the back of a Volkswagen van at Grateful Dead concerts. Since then, Baur has aided in getting major farm-animal protection laws passed in many states, some of which include Michigan and California. The Farm Sanctuary's shelters in Watkins Glen, New York and Orland, California provide protection for abused pigs, cows, sheep and other farm animals. Baur is a vegan who feels that people exploit animals. He makes the point that regardless of how variable the food movement's attitude toward eating meat is, foodies are bonded together in opposition to modern factory farms. Modern factory farms are also known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). CAFOs have recently been under attack by environmentalists for their negative effect on the environment in the way of yielding large amounts of waste in the form ...

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South Carolina Opposes Ban On Incandescent Bulbs

Legislators are looking to exempt South Carolina from the new federal law that is phasing out incandescent bulbs for energy-efficient compact fluorescents. Legislators suggest that Washington has no business advising the state on which light bulbs to use. The law that is being proposed is called the Incandescent Light Bulb Freedom Act, and it allows South Carolina to tell the federal government that they are going to exercise their rights, according to Republican state representative Bill Sandifer, who is also a co-sponsor of the bill. The federal government is phasing out incandescent lights beginning with 100-watt bulbs in 2012. In 2014, manufacturers will stop producing 75-watt, 60-watt and 40-watt bulbs, which is in accordance with the 2007 Bush administration law. The energy-efficient fluorescent bulbs have amassed complaints that they put out a dim, sickly light, that they are too much money, they contain traces of mercury, and they take too much time to achieve full brightness. The South Carolina House will start debating a bill that would allow companies to produce incandescent bulbs in South Carolina as long as they are marked "Made in South Carolina" and are sold only within the state. Supporters of the bill claim that the federal government ...

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