Just to clarify.
One millimeter is 1/1000 (one one-thousandth) of a meter, 103mm = 1m
One micrometer is 1/1,000,000 (one one-millionth) of a meter 106μm = 1m
One nanometer is 1/1,000,000,000 (one one-billionth) of a meter. 109nm = 1m
Nualgi's particle size is 20 to 120 Nano meters.
Diatoms are about 0.05 to 0.5 milli meters in size.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Canada is full of crap (Sewage)
http://www.torontosun.com/news/columnists/greg_weston/2010/02/17/12919366.html
Canada is full of crap
When it comes to sewage, many places aren’t as pretty as they seem
By GREG WESTON, QMI AGENCY
Last Updated: February 18 2010, 9:26am
While Olympic ads are pitching Canada to the world as a land of vast beauty and pristine waters, a damning internal government report describes a country that’s full of crap. Literally.
Hard to imagine in the 21st century, but a federal environmental study has found almost 400 cities and towns across the country are flushing their raw sewage directly into lakes, rivers and the ocean.
The issue isn’t just about tourists holding their nose on the Halifax waterfront as they watch what the sewage industry calls “floatables” drift merrily by.
The water communities are using as an open sewer is what they — and hundreds of others — use for drinking, bathing and food preparation.
On both coasts, Canada’s stewardship of the oceans, fish stocks and protection of marine life includes huge sewer pipes spewing the output of a few million city toilets.
And that’s just the worst 399 offenders.
The federal environment ministry has also identified another 550 sewage systems across the country — including 106 in Ontario and 46 in Alberta — that will ultimately have to be fixed or replaced.
The alarming federal study of municipal sewage dumping is part of a federal campaign to force cities and towns to clean up their act.
‘Not acceptable’
Environment Minister Jim Prentice recently announced new federal regulations are in the works, adding the obvious: “It is not acceptable that we continue discharging untreated waste water into our waterways.”
The regulations would give the worst polluters 10 years to fix their sewage problems, and others up to 30 years.
While Prentice’s plan seems more of a nudge than a crackdown, the feds are clearly hoping municipalities will simply be shamed into action.
For decades, cities and towns have quietly flushed away their sewage treatment problems, opting instead to spend tax dollars on hockey rinks and other more politically sexy projects.
Even among all the mega-billions being handed out during the federal government’s great infrastructure giveaway, the amounts being invested in sewage treatment are a drop in the toilet.
By far the largest number of offending municipalities are in Newfoundland and Quebec.
The federal study also lists three in Ontario — Owen Sound, Cornwall and Brockville, although the latter is currently constructing a state-of-the-art fix.
There are two in Alberta, although no one at Environment Canada could say which ones.
Manitoba, New Brunswick and P.E.I. have no facilities requiring emergency attention.
Quebec has 33 sewage disasters in progress with Quebec City, Montreal, Laval and Longueuil all pumping raw sewage into the St. Lawrence.
On the West Coast
Finally, there’s “supernatural B.C.,” host of the Olympics, home to some of the most acute environmental smugness on the planet, and site of eight of the most polluting wastewater systems in the country.
Picture-perfect Victoria is hoping to stop flushing its toilets into the sea by 2016. Sweet.
How bad are the worst 399?
Apparently they are even more polluting than the nation’s capital, and Ottawa’s record is truly disgusting.
In one incident, the city released over 700 million litres of raw sewage into the Ottawa River just in one nine-day period.
Ottawa isn’t even on the list of the country's worst offenders.
It’s time the poop hits the fan and not the nearest river.
Canada is full of crap
When it comes to sewage, many places aren’t as pretty as they seem
By GREG WESTON, QMI AGENCY
Last Updated: February 18 2010, 9:26am
While Olympic ads are pitching Canada to the world as a land of vast beauty and pristine waters, a damning internal government report describes a country that’s full of crap. Literally.
Hard to imagine in the 21st century, but a federal environmental study has found almost 400 cities and towns across the country are flushing their raw sewage directly into lakes, rivers and the ocean.
The issue isn’t just about tourists holding their nose on the Halifax waterfront as they watch what the sewage industry calls “floatables” drift merrily by.
The water communities are using as an open sewer is what they — and hundreds of others — use for drinking, bathing and food preparation.
On both coasts, Canada’s stewardship of the oceans, fish stocks and protection of marine life includes huge sewer pipes spewing the output of a few million city toilets.
And that’s just the worst 399 offenders.
The federal environment ministry has also identified another 550 sewage systems across the country — including 106 in Ontario and 46 in Alberta — that will ultimately have to be fixed or replaced.
The alarming federal study of municipal sewage dumping is part of a federal campaign to force cities and towns to clean up their act.
‘Not acceptable’
Environment Minister Jim Prentice recently announced new federal regulations are in the works, adding the obvious: “It is not acceptable that we continue discharging untreated waste water into our waterways.”
The regulations would give the worst polluters 10 years to fix their sewage problems, and others up to 30 years.
While Prentice’s plan seems more of a nudge than a crackdown, the feds are clearly hoping municipalities will simply be shamed into action.
For decades, cities and towns have quietly flushed away their sewage treatment problems, opting instead to spend tax dollars on hockey rinks and other more politically sexy projects.
Even among all the mega-billions being handed out during the federal government’s great infrastructure giveaway, the amounts being invested in sewage treatment are a drop in the toilet.
By far the largest number of offending municipalities are in Newfoundland and Quebec.
The federal study also lists three in Ontario — Owen Sound, Cornwall and Brockville, although the latter is currently constructing a state-of-the-art fix.
There are two in Alberta, although no one at Environment Canada could say which ones.
Manitoba, New Brunswick and P.E.I. have no facilities requiring emergency attention.
Quebec has 33 sewage disasters in progress with Quebec City, Montreal, Laval and Longueuil all pumping raw sewage into the St. Lawrence.
On the West Coast
Finally, there’s “supernatural B.C.,” host of the Olympics, home to some of the most acute environmental smugness on the planet, and site of eight of the most polluting wastewater systems in the country.
Picture-perfect Victoria is hoping to stop flushing its toilets into the sea by 2016. Sweet.
How bad are the worst 399?
Apparently they are even more polluting than the nation’s capital, and Ottawa’s record is truly disgusting.
In one incident, the city released over 700 million litres of raw sewage into the Ottawa River just in one nine-day period.
Ottawa isn’t even on the list of the country's worst offenders.
It’s time the poop hits the fan and not the nearest river.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
US EPA funding for research
http://www.wateronline.com/article.mvc/EPA-Unveils-Great-Lakes-Restoration-0001?user=2077167&source=nl:26798
EPA Awards $17M To Support Research On The Impacts Of Climate Change
February 18, 2010
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is awarding nearly $17M in Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grants to universities across the country to study the consequences of climate change on the air we breathe and the water we drink.
http://www.wateronline.com/article.mvc/EPA-Unveils-Great-Lakes-Restoration-0001?user=2077167&source=nl:26798
EPA Unveils Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan
February 22, 2010
Washington — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson has released an action plan to guide the Obama Administration's historic efforts to restore the Great Lakes. The action plan, which the administrator unveiled at a Sunday meeting with governors from the Great Lakes states, lays out the most urgent threats facing the Great Lakes and sets out goals, objectives and key actions over the next five years to help restore the lakes.
EPA Awards $17M To Support Research On The Impacts Of Climate Change
February 18, 2010
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is awarding nearly $17M in Science to Achieve Results (STAR) grants to universities across the country to study the consequences of climate change on the air we breathe and the water we drink.
http://www.wateronline.com/article.mvc/EPA-Unveils-Great-Lakes-Restoration-0001?user=2077167&source=nl:26798
EPA Unveils Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan
February 22, 2010
Washington — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson has released an action plan to guide the Obama Administration's historic efforts to restore the Great Lakes. The action plan, which the administrator unveiled at a Sunday meeting with governors from the Great Lakes states, lays out the most urgent threats facing the Great Lakes and sets out goals, objectives and key actions over the next five years to help restore the lakes.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Biofuel from Algae @ $2 per Gallon from DARPA
http://biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2010/02/15/darpa-official-says-teams-at-2-per-gallon-algal-fuels-headed-for-1-50-mgy-scale-by-2011/
DARPA official says teams at $2 per gallon algal fuel, headed for $1; 50 Mgy scale by 2011
In Washington, the special assistant for energy at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which has been conducting two algal fuels projects, said that “Darpa has achieved the base goal to date. Oil from algae is projected at $2 per gallon, headed towards $1 per gallon.”
Barbara McQuiston told the Guardian that the General Atomics and SAIC-led projects have been recording harvests at more than 1,000 gallons per acre and predicted that large-scale refining, at the 50 Mgy level, would commence as soon as 2011. DARPA is chasing a US military-based goal of obtaining half its fuel from renewable sources by 2016. In Afghanistan, if you could be able to create jet fuel from indigenous sources and rely on that, you’d not only be able to source energy for the military, but you’d also be able to leave an infrastructure that would be more sustainable,” McQuiston told the Guardian.
Last year, the Digest reported that the fuel cost in forward areas for the US military had reached $413 per gallon, due to the cost of supply convoys.
More on the story.
DARPA official says teams at $2 per gallon algal fuel, headed for $1; 50 Mgy scale by 2011
In Washington, the special assistant for energy at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which has been conducting two algal fuels projects, said that “Darpa has achieved the base goal to date. Oil from algae is projected at $2 per gallon, headed towards $1 per gallon.”
Barbara McQuiston told the Guardian that the General Atomics and SAIC-led projects have been recording harvests at more than 1,000 gallons per acre and predicted that large-scale refining, at the 50 Mgy level, would commence as soon as 2011. DARPA is chasing a US military-based goal of obtaining half its fuel from renewable sources by 2016. In Afghanistan, if you could be able to create jet fuel from indigenous sources and rely on that, you’d not only be able to source energy for the military, but you’d also be able to leave an infrastructure that would be more sustainable,” McQuiston told the Guardian.
Last year, the Digest reported that the fuel cost in forward areas for the US military had reached $413 per gallon, due to the cost of supply convoys.
More on the story.
Diatoms key to evolution of whales
Sydney, Feb 19 (ANI): A new study by scientists has determined that a type of algae called diatoms have been key to the evolution of the diversity of whales.
According to a report by ABC Science, the research was carried out by Felix Marx of the University of Otago in New Zealand and Dr Mark Uhen of George Mason University in the US.
“The fossil record clearly shows that diatoms and whales rose and fell in diversity together,” said Marx, whose research was part of a PhD project under the supervision of Associate Professor Ewan Sordyce.
Marx and Uhen looked at the diversity of dolphins and whales (cetations) in the fossil record dating back 30 million years.
They then compared this with records of climate change and estimates of various food sources in the ocean.
Marx and Uhen measured the abundance of two different types of algae: nanoplankton and diatoms, which are key “primary producers” of the ocean – converting sunlight into food.
They found diatoms were the key to cetation diversity.
“The greater the diversity of diatoms found in the fossil record (a proxy for diatom abundance) the greater the diversity in species of whales and dolphins,” said Marx.
Marx said that the importance of diatoms is linked to their larger size, compared to nanoplankton.
The larger the primary producer, the fewer the links in the food chain between it and the top predator, and less energy is lost on the way.
“This suits a whale,” said Marx.
“You get a relatively large diatom, a krill can come along and eat the diatom and then a whale can come along and eat the krill. So you have two steps in the food chain,” he said.
The findings suggest it will be important for scientists to consider the role of diatoms when modelling the long-term effect of climate change on cetations. (ANI)
http://buzz7.com/science/diatoms-key-to-evolution-of-whales.html
According to a report by ABC Science, the research was carried out by Felix Marx of the University of Otago in New Zealand and Dr Mark Uhen of George Mason University in the US.
“The fossil record clearly shows that diatoms and whales rose and fell in diversity together,” said Marx, whose research was part of a PhD project under the supervision of Associate Professor Ewan Sordyce.
Marx and Uhen looked at the diversity of dolphins and whales (cetations) in the fossil record dating back 30 million years.
They then compared this with records of climate change and estimates of various food sources in the ocean.
Marx and Uhen measured the abundance of two different types of algae: nanoplankton and diatoms, which are key “primary producers” of the ocean – converting sunlight into food.
They found diatoms were the key to cetation diversity.
“The greater the diversity of diatoms found in the fossil record (a proxy for diatom abundance) the greater the diversity in species of whales and dolphins,” said Marx.
Marx said that the importance of diatoms is linked to their larger size, compared to nanoplankton.
The larger the primary producer, the fewer the links in the food chain between it and the top predator, and less energy is lost on the way.
“This suits a whale,” said Marx.
“You get a relatively large diatom, a krill can come along and eat the diatom and then a whale can come along and eat the krill. So you have two steps in the food chain,” he said.
The findings suggest it will be important for scientists to consider the role of diatoms when modelling the long-term effect of climate change on cetations. (ANI)
http://buzz7.com/science/diatoms-key-to-evolution-of-whales.html
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Nualgi Foliar Spray - Nano nutrients
The Nualgi foliar spray for Agriculture and Horticulture contains all the micro nutrients required by crops and trees. These are in nano size particles and are easily absorbed through the leaves.
A video of Nualgi Foliar Spray used in a Banana plantation in Tumkur Dist, of Karnataka on youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS1OFCMv-x8 .
A presentation about the Foliar Spray is available on SlideShare -
http://www.linkedin.com/osview/canvas?_ch_page_id=2&_ch_panel_id=3&_ch_app_id=9481180&_applicationId=1200&appParams={%22from%22:%22profile_view%22,%22view%22:%22canvas%22,%22page%22:%22slideview%22,%22slideshow_id%22:%223204551%22}&_ownerId=4066253&completeUrlHash=XS5f
A video of Nualgi Foliar Spray used in a Banana plantation in Tumkur Dist, of Karnataka on youtube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS1OFCMv-x8 .
A presentation about the Foliar Spray is available on SlideShare -
http://www.linkedin.com/osview/canvas?_ch_page_id=2&_ch_panel_id=3&_ch_app_id=9481180&_applicationId=1200&appParams={%22from%22:%22profile_view%22,%22view%22:%22canvas%22,%22page%22:%22slideview%22,%22slideshow_id%22:%223204551%22}&_ownerId=4066253&completeUrlHash=XS5f
Monday, February 15, 2010
Phytoplankton bloom off Argentina Coast
Please see a photo of a large Phytoplankton bloom off Argentina Coast.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=42618&src=nha
Jewel-toned waters glimmered off the coast of Argentina in early February 2010 as a phytoplankton bloom colored the Atlantic Ocean’s waters blue-green. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image on February 9, 2010. Roughly mimicking the shape of the shoreline to the west, the phytoplankton bloom forms a semicircle.
Tiny, plant-like marine organisms, phytoplankton often thrive in nutrient-rich waters, and this bloom might owe its existence to multiple factors. The sea floor drops dramatically off the east coast of South America, and water welling up from lower depths can bring nutrients that feed phytoplankton. In addition, dust storms, such as the one that occurred in late January 2010, can also deposit iron and other nutrients into the ocean.
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=42618&src=nha
Jewel-toned waters glimmered off the coast of Argentina in early February 2010 as a phytoplankton bloom colored the Atlantic Ocean’s waters blue-green. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image on February 9, 2010. Roughly mimicking the shape of the shoreline to the west, the phytoplankton bloom forms a semicircle.
Tiny, plant-like marine organisms, phytoplankton often thrive in nutrient-rich waters, and this bloom might owe its existence to multiple factors. The sea floor drops dramatically off the east coast of South America, and water welling up from lower depths can bring nutrients that feed phytoplankton. In addition, dust storms, such as the one that occurred in late January 2010, can also deposit iron and other nutrients into the ocean.
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