Discover The Benefits Of Home Brewing With Hydrogen Cells

Photo: Wikimedia

Visualize if George Jetson had his own microbrewery; what would it be like?  Would the look be lustrous and space-like?  How much superior and rapid could it would it operate? How about the formidable S.S. Enterprise?  Can you just comprehend Captain Kirk or Captain Picard enjoying a pint of their own galactic beverage? As well as what would provide power to the machine making such incredible homebrews?  Hydrogen cells are creating waves and news as well as the whole lot in between on a planet where shortages of energy are not about economical folklore.

What exactly is a hydrogen cell? What does home brewing have in common with energy conservation anyway?  Hydrogen cells are a class of fuel cell, which is, on the whole, an energy conservation device. Fuel cells deliver their own energy, almost always wit the service of a specific source of fuel and an oxidant. Hydrogen acts as the primary source of fuel and oxygen act as the oxidant.

Breweries want engine capacity to manufacture their ales and lagers, and in reality cannot be lacking power at any time. That is where hydrogen fuel cells play an important role; they keep the energy flowing.  And being able to "make" energy at home is pretty darn cool. It also helps you being both energy conscious and pretty cost conscious.  You might even grace the covers of some magazines.

What can hydrogen cells be used for? Currently, they can be looked at as especially useful support generators of sorts. Scores of companies, including several respected breweries are looking to fuel cells as a means to be extra self-sufficient as far as energy is concerned.  This could be excellent news for the future of making beer as a hobby; home breweries running on hydrogen cells.  There would be significant reductions in energy usage.

Can hydrogen cells help home breweries?  The hope for persons investigating fuel cells is that every individual will be able to exploit most of the advantages that this invention has to offer.  You would be able to provide electricity to so much, from your microbrewery to each electrical device in your home by reducing your energy consumption.  

There is a general shortage of information on the likely applications of hydrogen fuel cells. Even as some are using fuel cells, the level of what they have got to offer is still being studied.  The Sierra Nevada Brewery is using molten carbonate fuel cells and is projecting a reduction of more than $400,000 a year in energy expenditure.

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New York Wildlife

Central Park Zoo Area - Photo: Wikimedia

New York City might be a jungle according to many but the animals can be found in its many zoos. If you'd like to check out one or more of the many zoos in New York City I highly recommend purchasing a city pass that will allow you free admission to many of the area zoos. Keep in mind that some of the attractions inside the zoo will cost extra so you should expect to pay something for your day at the zoo(s) but every little bit you can save along the way helps and you will be surprised at how quickly you can recover the cost of your pass.

Bronx Zoo

The Bronx Zoo is the largest urban zoo in the U. S. and is open 365 days a year. Those that have city passes can enjoy free admission to this zoo. Once you've had your fill of the award-winning exhibits the Bronx Zoo has to offer you should check out the New York Botanical Garden, which is located nearby and offers great fun and many activities for children to avoid (this experience is another that can be enjoyed for no additional charge with the New York pass). Also nearby are Wave Hill, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and Van Cortlandt House Museum. All of these activities are free with the New York pass and are all very much suited for family members of all ages.

Central Park Zoo

The Central Park Zoo offers a view of animals in their natural habitat rather than in cages. While this is becoming more and more of the norm as far as American zoos are concerned the Central Park Zoo was a relative pioneer in this particular process. Today the Central Park Zoo boasts an indoor rainforest; a chilled penguin house along with a pool for the polar bears while also being home to breeding programs for certain endangered species. While you're there be sure to have lunch in the Leaping Frog Café, which offers kid-friendly fare that is surprisingly health oriented (such as trans-fat-free French fries). If you walk through this 6.5-acre zoo wasn't enough exercise for your day be sure to stop by the bike rental area of Central Park, which is located nearby. 

New York Aquarium

The New York Aquarium while not exactly a zoo is another great place for the family to experience animal life. This happens to be one of the highlights of many trips to New York. Young and old alike will enjoy watching the marine animals play and frolic while learning important lessons about our marine friends. The aquarium is located at Coney Island and is near Astroland Amusement park if you want to make a day of it. The New York Aquarium offers free admission to holders of the New York Pass and Astroland offers discounts for these holders as well.

 Prospect Park Zoo

Prospect Park Zoo offers a unique experience for children to have interactive contact with more animals. This increased interaction makes the trip much more enjoyable for youngsters than many larger zoos which allow little interaction with animals or a very limited number of animals to interact with. The Prospect Park Zoo hosts more than 400 animals representing over 80 species. This zoo is located near the Brooklyn Children's Museum, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art-all of which allow free admission for The New York Pass holders.

Queens Zoo

The Queens Zoo offers a unique experience for visitors in that it is less like a zoo and more like a prairie home for the animals it houses. This 12-acre park is home to 70 animals that live in very authentic habitats. If you choose to visit this particular zoo, be sure that you take the time to visit the barnyard area so that your little ones can feed some of the friendlier creatures. This zoo is located fairly near the Queens Museum of Art, the New York Hall of Science, and the American Museum of the Moving Image. These attractions are all free with the New York Pass.

If you are a true animal lover, then New York City has you covered for opportunities to get your fill. Who would have thought that a city this full of skyscrapers and commerce was also the home to some of the most beautiful and exotic wildlife in the world?  (2007)

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Achromatic versus Apochromatic Lenses in Telescopes

Achromatic telescope made by Dollond with handle by Hooke - Photo: Wikimedia

In 1733, an Englishman, Chester Moore Hall, created the Achromatic refracting lens.  His design limited the color aberrations by using two pieces of glass that were both ground and polished.  These lenses usually were employed to see red and blue light.  However, the design does not block out all of the rainbow of color around the images.

Achromatic lenses are made from a convex and a concave lens.  The concave lens is usually made out of Flint glass, and the convex from Crown glass.  They form a weak lens together and can bring two wavelengths of light into a single focus.

Apochromatic refracting lenses are made to view red, green, and blue light wavelengths. The first ones were designed by the German physicist, Abbe.  

Some type of fluorite or extra-low dispersion glass is also used and the ending result is a crisp clear image free of the rainbow of color around it.  These types of refracting lenses are more expensive than achromatic lenses.

Apochromatic lenses require lenses that can handle three color crossings.  They are usually made from expensive fluoro-crown glass, abnormal flint glass, or transparent liquids that are used in the space between the glass.  These newer designs allowed for the objects to be free of color around the edges, and they produced way fewer aberrations than achromatic lenses.

Prices on these types of refracting lenses can run high depending on the size aperture you need.  Two to three-inch apertures for Achromatic refractors can run between $250 to $1000.  Three to five-inch apertures for Apochromatic refractors can run between $2000 to $10,000.  Decide which kind you will be using before you buy one.  You may just want to look at the night sky or you may want to gaze into the next galaxy.

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USA - Copper Mountain

Copper Mountain - Photo: Pixabay

Copper Mountain was referred to as the best ski slope in “North America” by the US Forestry Service, for its amazing resources and ability to cater for beginner, intermediate and expert skiers. Based only 120 KM from Denver airport and with 160 metres of pure skiing fun, Copper Mountain is the only place to go skiing in America.  

With a 3 Kilometre base and a summit of nearly 4 kilometres, it is no wonder the slope is big enough to handle over 30,000 visitors on a monthly basis. With twenty-two lifts, the Copper Mountain is renowned for its 6 men high-speed lift, 5 doubles, 5 triples, surface chairs, quad lifts, tubing zone and even quad lifts that can travel in excess of 40 kilometres per hour. 

The upper lifts close at 1500 every evening, meaning you get 30 minutes to complete your last run before your day's skiing is over. Opening at 9am in the morning Monday to Friday there is no excuse for not getting an early start. At the weekends the lifts open around a half an hour earlier, making it much easier to fit more skiing into your day.

In total Copper Mountain covers two and a half thousand acres, and stands nearly 800 metres tall. With 125 trails in total, 18% cater for expert skiers, 36% for advanced skiers, 21% for beginners and 25% for intermediates.  The snowfall in Cooper Mountain is also something to be reckoned with; the total snowfall from November to April of 2005/2006 (!) was 283.58, with March appearing to be the best month for snow. Although April to November provides the best snow, Copper Mountain also has an avalanche machine keeping the slop active for around 12 months in the year. This machine works by releasing a gas that turns water into snow. The machine provides genuine powdery snow that can even be altered to be icier, or softer to meet the needs of the skiers. 

The Copper Mountain is set to be active for 12 months of the year, as of some point in the next two years, whilst plans are also unveiled for an indoor facility. The massive success of Copper Mountain is said to be partially attributable to hosting world snowboarding events, and also offering other activities such as snow tubing which is becoming increasingly popular, as well as snowshoeing, hiking, biking and snowmobile vehicles.

When I last visited Copper Mountain major regeneration work had just begun. They had started re-building the lift, there were hotel and lodging developments, and they have even started investing in real estate. From what I understand you will be able to buy a property overlooking the amazing slopes in a small amount of time. They had also seen the importance and the market that exists for training skiing. When a facility has the best training facility, new skiers are more likely to come along, learn how to ski at Copper Mountain and then come back year after year. They have built a complex that will house and support their training team, and they intend to offer lessons for a great price to encourage people to learn how to ski at Copper Mountain. 

Copper Mountain is also home to freestyle snowboarding facilities which are becoming increasingly with teenagers looking to get started in winter sports. The snowboarding facilities include ramps, half-pipes, jumps and runs, whilst also being flood light, allowing the facility to operate much later than when the lifts stop functioning. 

If you have never been to Copper Mountain then you will soon realise why it is rated as the best Skiing facility in America. Did you know that many film scenes have been completed on this mountain? It may also surprise you to know that this is usually completed when there is no snow on the mountains, and an avalanche machine generates snow in the absence of any skiers or tourists.

(Article from 2007)

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How To Keep Your GARDEN Healthy In Winter

Evergreen perennials in a shade garden under winter light (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Old Man Winters' arrival doesn't mean that the Winter garden can be neglected. Keeping the garden on an even footing against the ravages that winter can bring is ongoing. Neglecting proper garden closing chores and winter maintenance tasks is only a recipe for a headache in the spring. Follow a few of these winter garden tips and a bountiful spring will be waiting in a few months time.

Setting the winter garden table

An interesting to look at and healthy winter garden depends upon taking steps in the late fall or early winter. Clean up the garden. Make sure that any garden trash is picked up before the snow flies. If this "trash" is left behind it presents an opportunity for bacteria to find its way into any cuts in the plant or onto the plant's roots. Bacteria growth, and possible disease, on the plant, is the biggest danger to a winter garden.

Watch out for color when trimming

If you have had your garden for at least one winter season you know what has color during winter and what does not. Trim this color judiciously looking for maverick branches, but be sure to keep the overall form of the shrub so that winter color can shine in a uniform way. If you are not sure, leave it alone and get a feel for what has winter color for next winter. If a shrub has a winter bud on it, leave it be as this is where the flower will come from next spring.

Trim out the cut or torn limbs

Chances are that a torn or cut (looks like a knife cutting into an apple about an eighth of an inch deep) limb will end up dangling, or on the ground, as winter progresses. Take care of it early and your garden will look sturdy and ready for whatever the winter has to offer. Look for a nodule on the limb (looks like a knuckle of sorts) and cut about one-quarter of an inch above it on an angle for a proper cut.

Weed to a clean ground

Weeds also present a messy problem through the winter. Not only will they decay and offer disease potential, they will also continue to grow their roots until the ground freezes hard. This will only make them more invasive in the spring. Besides, if you need to a clean ground you will have a nice clean contrast to the dormant plants in the garden.

A nice clean edge

Unless you are going for a more informal look, give a nice edge job to your garden flower beds before the ground freezes. Not only will this make for a crisp look during the winter months, as the edge freezes, but it will put you one step closer to a solid start in spring.

To wrap or not to wrap

If you look at many winter gardens you may notice that people have wrapped burlap or some other material around their evergreen shrubs. Generally, this is to prevent a snow load or high wind from damaging the plant. Unless you have the potential for a snow load or predictable high winds this is not necessarily needed. The wind issue is an issue, but remember that all plants need air circulation, no matter what type of plant they may be. If you wrap a shrub/plant to tightly air circulation will diminish and present the opportunity for moisture build up and disease. If you wrap your shrubs make sure to do it securely but with air circulation in mind.

It cannot hurt to a mound

Mounding around the base of a plant is intended to give the root systems of a shrub/plant a little extra insulation during hard winters. Depending upon which zone you happen to be gardening in the need for mounding rises and falls. In any case, you want to make sure that you compress the dirt of the mound with a firm push of the hands. This gets some of the air out of the mound and generally makes a mound of dirt look a bit nicer. It also shows that you took a little care in your gardening. This sometimes impresses people that visit your winter garden.

Trees are plants too

Take a few moments to assess your trees before the winter winds start to howl. Look for any branches that may have grown old, look to be growing across the desired vertical path of a properly trimmed tree or have died during the season. What you are looking for is any limb or branch that may rub constantly on another opening a wound in the bark. Generally, you would not want to cut a branch as winter approaches, or during the winter months, but sometimes you need to.

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2007 Dodge Caliber: A Lean and Mean Machine

Dodge Caliber Hatchback - Photo: Wikipedia

The new 2007 Dodge Caliber has been set so as to be the very first car from Chrysler to offer a continuously variable transmission or CVT. This new vehicle will also hold the new World Engine family that has gasoline engines with four cylinders. Along with that, enter the 2007 Dodge Caliber with a new electronic all-wheel-drive system plus another new part – a 2.0-liter diesel engine. More power has been made to this vehicle, it seems. 

This new vehicle from the Dodge brand is targeting the market that holds the 20-somethings who are also first-time new car buyers. Their statistics show that mostly these consumers are those who have a median income of around $45,000. Although, of course, anybody who wants a Dodge Caliber can buy a Dodge Caliber. 

This vehicle sports five doors. It has a profile that is very much like a combination of a sports car and a coupe. Yet, it also has the strength, stance, and great functionality of a sports utility vehicle. The 2007 Dodge Caliber has a very sheer surface treatment. This evokes attention and exudes just what a Dodge is – bold, powerful, capable, and very street smart. Unmistakably, the 2007 Dodge Caliber is totally a Dodge vehicle. 

Aside from the change and improvement in power, the 2007 Dodge Caliber also boasts of new styling designs that is very much has a crossover feel. The design is very much a Dodge’s and it is very much predicted that it will make soaring sales internationally. It sports innovative features for its owners and users. The change in power now gives its driver the chance to do more things unlike previously. 

The 2007 Dodge Caliber redefines the whole idea of an entry-level vehicle. It comes with high value as well as bold styling that is unmistakably a Dodge and a very flexible interior that is the delight of its passengers. This vehicle has been designed so as to target the fancy of people and consumers who are opting for a Dodge attitude as well as the capability and versatility that a sports car could only hold. However, despite these, the 2007 Dodge Caliber still retains the affordability and excellent fuel efficiency of an entry-level vehicle. This vehicle gives its owners the flexibility to seat more friends and family as well as a store in more packages and stuff in its rear storage area. 

George Murphy, the senior vice president in Global Marketing of Daimler Chrysler, states, “Dodge Caliber is not your typical small car. The all-new 2007 Dodge Caliber redefines the compact car by combining crossover styling with space-efficient packaging, interior flexibility, innovative features, and affordable performance. Caliber allows owners around the globe to be active, do more, and stand out – to live life to the fullest, and do so at a very competitive price.”  (2007)

Author: Joe Thompson

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My Skiing Vacation To Europe

Photo: Pixabay

Sometimes ago, I went on a skiing vacation to France and had a great time by all accounts. The best part was that I went with all my friends, all of which had varied abilities, but we're all eager to give it a go. Some of my friends compete in competitions and the like, whilst others have only been on the slopes a few times in their life. The fact is that we were all really looking forward to it, and we were all sure to enjoy ourselves whilst we were away. Unfortunately, we don’t spend much time together, as we all go to different colleges, whilst others are trying to make it through the rat race. 

When we decided to book the holiday I was delighted to hear that everybody was able to make it and that everyone had promised to save up enough money to really enjoy themselves while we were away. The cost of booking the holiday worked out at around $300 for accommodation for the week as we were going to be staying at a backpacker’s location, and it was only going to cost $150 for return flights. We really felt like we had struck a bargain, and we were even more delighted when we heard that the cost of living would be really cheap when we got there. We had decided to save up $1000 each, which meant that we would have more than enough spending money for when we arrived. 

I have to say, I never quite expected Europe to be such an excellent skiing destination for people like us with mixed abilities.  Sure, there are the Alps, but I thought these were only the playground of the expert skiers.  How wrong I was!  There are simply loads of different places in Europe you can go, regardless of your skiing ability, and you’re almost guaranteed to have a great time.  Also, the facilities right on the resorts are out of this world.  It really is a great place to go skiing.

We arrived in France, and we were firstly shocked at how laid-back it all seemed.  It was some surrealist painting, except in motion, with strange, stereotypically French characters passing by.  Regardless of this initial culture shock, we soon got our skis on and experienced the awesome slopes for ourselves.  Trust me - France is a great place to go skiing with your friends, and a great place to go on a vacation if you’re looking to have a good time.

We chose France for our vacation, but there are loads of great European ski resorts, and in fact, some people even say that Europe is the home of the sport, and it is easy to see why.  If you’re looking for a great time, go for Europe, to experience a wholly different way of life, and skiing that is simply second to none.  Check out your travel agent for good deals, and remember that the more flexible you are, the cheaper your holiday.  By booking up the flights at the last minute, you can end up saving loads with some of the budget airlines, and by being totally flexible, you can avoid peak times, which means you can avoid peak prices.  Your vacation in Europe doesn’t have to cost the earth, but it can be a once in a lifetime experience that you will never forget.

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